Day 33.

I find this picture amusing for a couple of reasons: 

1. Thomas's face.

2. The fact that my kids were so excited about the giant box of toilet paper showing up from Amazon a month earlier than it first said it would (!!!).

3. That I documented toilet paper being delivered because life is so different than it was even a couple of months ago. 

The kids were ECSTATIC to recieve fun mail from Aunt Kyle. It included Star Wars costumes and pajamas from Owen and they instantly started dressing up.

She also sent a couple more masks from the material that Jana used to make Julia a Pink Baby costume for Halloween when she was four.

Halloween 2011

Here's the menu for the week:

Julia put Vivian's hair in a bunch of braids to sleep in and her hair was so cute the next day!!

We've been doing a lot of singing of Frozen II songs.

And went to another virtual birthday party for a friend.

Today, Julia made a treat my mom used to make when I was little--bird nests. They're a butterscotch and lo mein noodle concoction that is yummy and cute!

She is going to deliver some to our neighbors.

I wish the weather would decide to stay warm. Yesterday we had light snow showers off and on all day and it was barely above freezing. It would have been bad form to kick the kids outside all day, or that I wasn't tempted because oh.my.word. there was so much whining and fussing yesterday. Roaming around outside would be a great reprieve from being cooped up indoors.

We're halfway through the longest month in history!

I'm making grocery runs tomorrow and then on Friday, Julia has to go to the dentist. She's had a couple of small cavitites on some baby teeth that weren't causing her any pain initially, but have started getting more and more painful. I called and got her in Friday (our dentist is now only open on Tuesdays and Fridays) to see what we can do to help her since she's having daily pain that is miserable. She's pretty nervous about going, not just because of the tooth procedures, but because of being out in public. We talked about how this was an essential because we need to get this taken care of before it becomes infected or something worse, but that still didn't negate her nervousness about leaving the house.

I feel like this week has been extra long and heavy. Besides the necessity of still parenting and holding kids accountable not only to our family rules and expectations (ex: no Legos on carpeted areas; you still can't punch siblings out of anger; I do actually expect you to follow house rules, thankyouverymuch), but also trying to motivate them to continue putting in the work for classes that they no longer physically attend and dealing with big emotions about still not seeing friends (poor V has been taking it really hard this week). Then there's the added stress of news updates, hearing about job losses or cuts in pay, knowing people whose loved ones are sick,waiting for stimulus checks, having friends and family working in the health care field, trying to imagine what the next month, two months, three months will look like. It seems like this week has been a transitioning week from "waiting" to "this is our new normal" and adjusting. To stop thinking about this as a limbo period and accepting that the way things used to be will forever be altered.

That sounded much more melancholic than I had intended, because I actually felt a lot of peace after making that mind change. I know we won't be stuck in our house forever, but I do think that more sheltering in place will be in our future (like in the fall and winter). Maybe not to the same extreme, but that's my prediction. So, with that thought in my mind, what would I have done differently if I had known that this shelter-in-place was coming and staying for so many weeks? Besides stocking up on essentials?  What would I do in certain rooms, with certain spaces, to make sheltering in place an easier transition?

I would have had a better area for schooling and art supplies. I definitely would have had the basement better organized and cleared out. I would have had bedrooms better situated to do schooling or be away from siblings easier. I would have had our room even more prepared as a place for Evan to work from home. I would have had a second refrigerator and shelving in the basement specifically for extra essentionals. I would have had more yarn for crocheting (!!!). I would have had Evan and I get those garden plans ready sooner for a bigger vegetable garden. It's these kind of things that I keep thinking about right now and I'm feeling led to make happen. To be more intentional with what we have, how we're using spaces, and how to accomodate future needs. 

Now that I sound like a Doomsdayer.

Do any of you feel that way, though? That if you could go back in time and better prepare to be all in at home, what would you have changed ahead of time or gotten ready?