Our scheduled spring break was March 9-13th. We left on Friday, March 6th to go camping in the Texas Hill Country {about 4 hours away}for a few days {post here}. We didn't watch the news at all while we were there. We were just busy living our lives and enjoying spring break. When we got back home we started seeing the world unravel literally right in front of our eyes, or so it seemed. We got back late Tuesday evening, the 10th of March. Wednesday morning I went online to place a normal grocery order for the next week. We are not the type of family to stockpile anything and usually keep about five days worth of supplies on hand. By the time I was able to pick up my order on Friday I had 8 things substituted and 4 things out of stock. I'm sure you can guess what was out of stock. And because we don't stockpile anything, we were down to 2 1/2 rolls of toilet paper. I can't remember a time of ever having anxiety over toilet paper before. Bizarre times, I tell you.
We were supposed to be in an annual parade that Saturday with our Jeep friends, but that was canceled. Several other Jeep events we were going to attend have also been canceled...all the way up to May events!
Before the weekend we learned that spring break was going to be extended for another week. Which would have the kids going back to school on March 22nd. And then just a few days later school was postponed until April 6th. I'm hearing rumors now that the kids may not even go back this school year. Our school is issuing out iPads, Chromebooks, and hotspots to kids this Friday so that they can complete work at home. All extracurricular activities and sports have also been canceled indefinitely. Our Governor has also canceled the Staar testing for this year. I am so thankful for that!
Our state has asked us to eliminate any gatherings of 50 or more people. Therefore, church was canceled. Thankfully, our church can Livestream and we were able to watch church online Sunday morning. Our church is also going to live daily to share resources that may be helpful to your family. You can check out our church's Facebook page here.
Nathan is still going into work every day. He works in the defense industry and therefore it's hard to shut that down. I am so, so grateful to work from home and to be able to be here with Mason. I've been cleaning up (and out) my office this week so that I can 1.) make it more functional (seems to be a catch-all these days) and 2.) set up a homeschool station for Mason. Speaking of Nate's work and Mason...they have postponed bring your kid to work day (was scheduled for April 23rd). Mason is pretty bummed as that's one of his favorite days of the year.
Oh, and I should probably mention here that my radiator on my Jeep busted Friday evening. Nate spent hours upon hours on Saturday trying to locate a new one. Finding a radiator was almost as difficult as it was to find toilet paper. So, we had that to deal with in all the madness.
We are doing our best to stay home and only get out for the necessities. Anything we can do to help flatten the curve, we are about it. Here's a look at our days since the #coronavirusquaratine began!
Monday, March 16th:
Nate went into work while Mason and I stayed home. I worked and washed/cleaned as many surfaces as I could. I cooked supper and we stayed at home. I did go out of the house (just in my front yard) just before sunset and saw this beautiful sky! It was such a beautiful reminder that we still serve a sovereign God that loves us so much that He paints beautiful skies just for us to enjoy.
Tuesday, March 17th:
Nate went into work again while Mason and I stayed home. I tried to place an online grocery order and the earliest I could pick it up is Monday, March 23rd. That blew my mind! I ran to the store around the corner to grab as many things as I could. I knew that we'd run out of some things before I am able to pick up my grocery order. The cereal & soup aisle were wiped out, but I was able to find many things. No toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, or wipes in sight though! I am so grateful for what I was able to get. We have some friends that raise cattle and had some fresh beef for sale. We were able to purchase 5 lbs of fresh beef from them. What a blessing! We ate supper at home and chilled for a bit. That evening we ran around the corner to Nate's parent's house as they had our beef to pick up (they bought some also) and they were so gracious to share toilet paper and paper towels with us.
Wednesday, March 18th:
Nate went into work again while Mason and I stayed home. I worked to clean up more of my office and to get things ready for home school. We got all of the login information from his teacher and set up my laptop as his work station for now. His teacher sent the most precious little video and the kids could reply via video as well. Mason was so excited to do this and to watch some of the videos from his peers. Setting everything up was a frustration process...just trying to get a new "normal" and we both ended the homeschooling grumpy. But, we later talked about it being the first day and we just have to try many different methods until we fall into a groove and find a process that works for us.
We cooked supper at home that evening and just hung out.
Thursday, March 19th:
Nate went into the office, Mason and I stayed home. We logged in and completed his work for the day. Mason admitted that he's actually loving "homeschooling!" It went a lot smoother on this day as we knew what to somewhat expect. We finished all the work for the day in under 2 hours. We could have finished sooner, but we took our time and even researched a bit further than required on some things. Mason and I enjoyed doing the lessons together. Mason even told me that I was a "good teacher".
For PE we did the Cosmic Kids Yoga (Star Wars style). It was a bit over the top and corny, but we got in some good laughs. It's free on YouTube, in case you're curious. There are all kinds of themes.
While waiting on Nate to come home we went outside to play with chalk. The ground was a little wet, so it made the chalk pretty vibrant.
Nate got home about an hour early and we decided to go for a drive. Mason and I really needed to get out of the house! We knew that we needed to do our part for "social distancing" so we just took a country drive out to see the Bluebonnets. We stayed in the Jeep for the most part and didn't come in contact with anyone. It was a great way to spend the evening!!
Where flowers bloom so does hope. - Lady Bird JohnsonMore on the Bluebonnets later.
Friday, March 20th:
I had the day off work because we had originally planned to go out of town. The event we were going to was cancelled, but I still took the day off. I declared it a "mental health / get things done" day! I had to be at Mason's school at 8 am to pick up his classroom Chromebook. That went pretty smooth, surprisingly! After I did that I decided to check a store near us to get some things we needed. When I got there they were busy unloading a truck. Therefore, there was nothing on the shelves just yet. I went back home to wait for my boys to wake up. Later in the afternoon Nate and I decided to run to town to get some groceries. We were able to find a few things we needed. Thank the Lord! Our (third - ughhh) amp came in for the Jeep so we had to go by Best Buy to have it installed. Unfortunately, this one did not work either. There was a bad batch of amps that had a loose port causing static and such. We have to go with another amp and wait for that to come in. Not sure when it will be installed, though. Best Buy has suspended all installs for the time being.
We came back home and stayed put the rest of day/evening. We cooked supper at home and just hung out and watched TV. Nate and Mason had a friendly little drawing competition!
Saturday, March 21st:
We slept in! Hallelujah!! Then Nate and I got busy cleaning like mad people. We cleaned and sanitized so many different areas in our house and it felt so go to do so. We made cinnamon rolls and pumpkin butter toast for lunch. Then Nate and I got busy out in the shop. Okay wait, that sounds funny! We got busy installing a Jeep part that we've needed to get done. We ordered the part shortly after our last wheeling trip but haven't had time to get it done. We declared Saturday as the day we'd tackle that project. So what did we install? An engine and transmission skid plate. It was a pretty lengthy job, but we got it done. That evening we hung out and ate supper at home. I did laundry and dishes and just more cleaning in general.
Sunday, March 22nd:
I got up around 8:45 and went to the living room around 9ish. I wanted to watch our church's service without waking up my boys. The worship was absolutely beautiful and the message was amazing! I can't say enough how much I love my church!!
We were going to clean out our garage, but we were so tired and sore from all of the cleaning & the Jeep install on the day before. So, we were pretty lazy. I did laundry in between being lazy, but for the most part, we just chilled.
It was a crazy week of trying to find our new normal and falling into somewhat of a routine. While I am so sad about what is going on in the world, I am really thankful for the quality time we are getting to spend together. It's crazy what all you find to do when you're forced to just slow down.
How was your first week of quarantine?
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