Day 65. How are we halfway through May?

How have we been home bound for SIXTY FIVE days?!

Illinois is still in Phase II of reopening and will hopefully get to go into Phase III on June 1st. My sister made an awesome social story chart for my nephew (who has autism and needs very concrete visuals) to show him each phase of the reopening and what that means for them and their day-to-day lives. I'm not going to lie, I kind of need one for me. My favorite is that she has a picture of my parents, Memaw & Pepaw, and the height difference is spot on! 

So, if you look at her chart, you can see that in Phase II, we're still pretty shut down tight with only essentials still being what we go out for (you'll notice she considers coffee as essential as I do). In Phase III, we get to do more, but I think we as a family will be taking it slowly. I'm not sure when I'll be comfortable bringing the kids with me to stores or whatnot, but I think seeing friends (probably one family at a time, especially since a lot of our friends have gobs of kids) and family will be so lovely again. 

We for sure don't have anything scheduled for summer because most of our usual activities are being cancelled. We got the official word today that spring soccer for Vivian is cancelled (she was heartbroken). The Studio can't have their usual summer theater productions, so no auditions or big shows for the girls (although, they are putting on a small production to be streamed and it's for ages 13+, so Ebeth plans on auditioning). No Vacation Bible School or Totus Tuus, which is so sad. Since we won't be doing anything, I'm really hoping we do actually go into Phase III so that the kids can at least play with their neighborhood friends outside.

The kids have all had big emotions about this whole thing. I think Vivian has kind of had the rawest deal, though, because she's too young to just call and text her friends the way the older two girls can, but is too old to give too big of hoot that she isn't seeing her friends like the boys. She has cried a lot about missing people, which is heartbreaking. Often when we go around at dinner saying what our favorite and least favorite is, she will say that she can't touch her friends or go to their houses. She is a champion letter writer because of all of this, though, and has been keeping up on her correspondence. We also have been letting her see her neighborhood friends with restrictions, which has helped.

This kid. Sleeping is the only time he is silent.

Ooh! Last Thursday, the younger three and I went to the LIBRARY to pick up BOOKS!!! Our library announced they will be offering curb side pick up for books you put on hold and I scrambled to get some for us!

Their rules:

Our holds!!!!

Here's what I got for me! (We are doing a cooking unit over the summer and Julia will be doing a lesson on Julia Child, so I did get a couple of things for the both of us to read and watch.)

Our days still look the same. We're winding down on homeschool. Julia is officially done with her Co-op classes, so she's only doing math, which she will do all summer. Vivian has a couple more weeks of work until she is officially done with second grade, but she'll continue with math and spelling over the summer. Elisabeth is still trudging through her e-learning at her high school and we will all rejoice when on line classes are done for her on May 29. Online only classes are NOT how she learns and these past 65 days have been rough.

We have lots of things blooming in our garden! These alliums my father-in-law bought for me for my birthday in September to plant before winter and they are worth the wait!

Last night's Sunday Dinner Party had a hotdog station and chocolate-y Rice Krispie treats made my Julia:

The other day, Thomas was begging and begging for something and we had said no at least 4,000 times. In pure frustration, he cried out, "Is it because of the cornovirus?!?!" We all just stared at him before saying, "No..."

My current read:

The geraniums are blooming!!!:

Evan made french bread for dinner tonight and it was as beautiful as it was delicious!

David has been a champion eater lately and greatly enjoyed our spaghetti dinner tonight.

I keep thinking about what moving forward will look like for us. I know a lot of states have completely reopened, I know some are slowly opening back up like Illinois. I know each family has their own opinions about what moving forward will look like (because of jobs, health, custody, etc.), and we have started talking to the kids about how we as a family will be moving forward. It's hard to watch your friends have people over to their house or be closer than what your parents have told you you're allowed to be. It's hard being away from grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. We have talked to the girls about why we're making the decisions we're making, but it doesn't mean that I don't also want to just throw my hands in the air and make a beeline for my friends' houses and have our coffee playdates like we usually do when school lets out. 

Throughout this quarantine, my kids have all expressed at one time or another how glad they are that my father-in-law lives across the street from my sister-in-law and her family. They have said that they are glad my sister is still going to my parents' house. We're sad we can't be included in their circle of quarantine, but we're really thankful they all have each other and the ability to share this together. There is no black and white with this because life still happens during this pandemic. I can't control how other people react or choose to respond to this pandemic (which was quite eye-opening, because it turns out that I am a bit bossy and more controlling that I had thought...which I'm sure is not shocking to the people in my life that I like to boss and/or control), but it isn't my job to control others. It's our job to stay updated and educated, to make the best choices we can for our family, and to do the best we can. Which, when you think about it, is kind of always all we can do.