The Difference Seven Days Makes

Last week at this time, I had my regular Wednesday babysitter over in the morning. She got her at 9am and Elisabeth and I headed out to my favorite coffee shop. We ordered our usual coffees and sat down so I could spend a couple of hours reading my book and she could get some work done before I drove her to school for her afternoon classes.

When I got home, I piled all of the kids into our car so we could drive the babysitter home. I forgot to put the new checks in my purse and had no cash (per usual), so I told her I would just pay her for both weeks next Wednesday. 

I dropped Julia and Vivian off over at their friends' house (they are both friends with sisters from a family we go to co-op with) and their mom was going to drop the girls back off at our house before dinner time because her oldest was in both weekends of the show Julia was in--Music Man. It was tech week for Weekend One and Julia's friend wasn't going to get to go to youth group. Julia was disappointed, but the next week was going to be her turn to miss youth group for Weekend Two's tech week. I had sighed at the time because Julia was in the local community theater's (The Studio) production of The Music Man and Elisabeth was in her high school's production of Once Upon A Mattress and both of their shows were the same weekend. The next week was going to be chaos schedule wise.

I came home with only David and Thomas, which is rare since we homeschool, and the boys were SO WONDERFUL!! Seriously, it was like a gift. I added to the Walmart list I was making because Evan and I had been talking earlier in the week to make a big grocery run this Friday, just in case. We had decided to have enough food for two weeks at a time and to make a plan to do that for a while, just in case. 

I am sure I fiddle farted around on social media, did some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and read my book some more. Elisabeth had play practice after school and I didn't have to get her until 8. Julia was getting a ride home from a friend, so I didn't have to worry about being two places at once. Evan came home at his normal time and we had dinner with the younger three. After dinner clean up, I went to go get Elisabeth and got home just as my friend was bringing Julia home. She and I chatted in the driveway for a while about how two of her kids were sick again, how hard it was to believe that some of our friends' schools in other states were closing for a couple of weeks because of this coronavirus. We both wondered if that would happen with our district as well. Later that night, I offered to host a few friends on Friday morning for coffee because we were on spring break from co-op and we try to meet for coffee on Fridays during the school year when we can (something we do every Friday in the summer!).

Everyone went to bed that night like normal; I put Vivian to bed after reading a chapter of Harry Potter, Evan read books to the boys and Julia helped him by cuddling with Thomas (the worst kid at bedtime currently! Holy moly, he is a beast), and Ebeth worked on homework in her room.

I'm writing all of this down because that was just one week ago from today and it feels like a freaking lifetime ago. I feel like every day since last week had actually been a week unto itself. I want to have it written down what we were doing that last week before our lives were turned upside down. 

Today, we woke up and got dressed. One friend told me about the shortage of eggs in all of the stores she had tried in Rockford and I let her know I had reached out to another friend who (THANK GOD) has chickens and that I would go and pick up some eggs for the both of us. I asked the kids if they want to go with me and they all enthusiastically said yes! (Except for Elisabeth who decided to take her hour of solo time while we were gone because she is a genius). We all piled into the car and I realized I hadn't driven since last Friday when I had gone grocery shopping at noon. I looked at the gas prices as we drove to our friends' house and realized that the prices had really tanked and felt that continuous knot in my stomach get tighter.

We got to our friend's house, the same friend I had dropped my girls off to the week before, and kept a socially acceptable distance from each other as we talked the last few days, things we can't find at stores, meals we're planning, how bizarre the world has become. 

We drove home, had lunch, and went about our new schedule: school work, playing, art work everywhere, not leaving the house, washing out hands to the point they are now cracking, worrying that there is a new news break that I both do and don't want to read.

But, as with all things in life, time keeps moving forward, and we adjust and adapt and hope for better days soon. We make the most of what we have and try to live life well. It's our job to make home a safe place, and not just from this virus. It's our job to keep our home the safe place--where expectations of kindness, responsibility, growth, love stay stable and firm--when the world feels scary and unsure.  

So, I have decided I am going to keep trying to bake my way through this cook book:

 I love Judith Jones! I read her memoir years ago and bought this cookbook. She was good friends with Julia Child and I just found her life of cooking and working as a cookbook editor fascinating. I had made it a goal last year to bake our way through the whole cookbook, but as my mother-in-law's health continued to deteriorate, and with her passing away last summer, I found myself avoiding the kitchen because it reminded me too much of her. She'd taught me to cook and bake and really ignited my passion for the kitchen, but being in there was too painful and raw.

But, I have found myself drawn to the kitchen during this past week. Baking is how I often deal with really stressful things, and I wanted to be doing something that I know Jana would have totally understood--using the kitchen as a way of making something productive at a time when I have zero control. So, I used this cookbook last week to make pumpkin bread, we are using the recipe in it to make a sourdough starter, and tonight we made cloverleaf dinner rolls.

We are also loving the free art classes from McHarper Manor in Ohio that has opened it's studio online to anyone who wants to participate! The owners are putting up live videos daily and leaving them up for people to look at at their leisure. Tonight, the girls and I painted peg dolls.

 Vivian painted a penguin, a girl, and a fox (who still needs ears, she'd like me to clarify).

Julia made Harry Potter, a dotted non-person thing (?), and a girl.

I made me and Evan.

We ended up staying up later than normal, but it was fun.

Now, if this bedtime monster would SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT, I will be much better prepared for another day of quarantine in the Bonnett household.

This Will All Make Sense When I Am Older

Another day of isolation in the books for the Bonnetts. 

I didn't have us go back to our usual homeschool schedule because, to be honest, I needed one more day to process this new reality. I needed another day to let it really sink in. Honestly, my kids have been really great about all of this. They've been accepting of us being strict with restrictions and not getting to do things. It's actually been Thomas who asks almost daily, "Where are we going today?" When I answer, "Nowhere", he's just kind of nods and goes about his way to find something in the house to destroy.

It was absolutely gorgeous today. The kind of spring day we wait for all winter long. I told the kids we could go for a walk, which they were thrilled about. Elisabeth went for a run on her own, Julia rode her bike with us for a bit and then rode around the neighborhood by herself, so the three younger ones and I were left to meander on our own. Every person we ran into crossed the street and waved at my kids; same with older kids on bikes and scooters. 

We saw signs of spring! Birds were singing! Trees were budding! Green grass is growing!

Where the Sidewalk Ends.

As were walking back home, I noticed this:

 I have no idea, but my kids thought it was amazing and suggested we get one.

Junior highers practicing social distancing.

Actually, today was kind of hard with friends. It was a beautiful day, my kids wanted to be outside, but so did the neighborhood kids. I can tell Julia to stay 6ft away from friends and have her understand what I mean, but it's hard with the younger three. Vivian played soccer in our cul-de-sac with her best friend, which they stayed far apart from each other pretty well for the most part, but then they went to play with chalk and were shoulder to shoulder. They don't even think about it, because why should they?!

I ended up calling the kids in (and making them scrub themselves) and telling them that we probably should only play in the backyard, especially the boys. I think I can trust the girls to play within social distancing standards by being more specific, but I can't with the boys. But, maybe I should just make the girls stay in the backyard, too. Ugh. I feel like it's just such a hard thing for them and today was so lovely and I desperately wanted to be like, "Yes!! Go play!!".

This all is just scary. And it sucks.

Tomorrow we're going back to our regular schedule. Every one up by 8:30 (which is really just Julia and Elisabeth because the younger three are always up before 7), everyone breakfasted and dressed by 9. Do some school work, holler at the boys for trying to break all of our possessions, keep trying to do school work. Break for lunch, do some arts and crafts and/or play while Julia finishes anything she has left on her schedule for the day. Then it's a free for all till dinner.

Something we are adding is scheduled break times for me, Elisabeth, Julia, and Vivian. The older two and I get an hour each where we get to go to our rooms and do whatever we want with no interruptions. We started it today, and it was exactly what I needed. I read in my bed and was shocked how fast an hour can go by when not constantly interrupted. Vivian gets to take a break from having to play with the boys and can either go play in her room for 30 minutes alone or gets to play on the Wii by herself for 30 minutes. (Elisabeth got the Wiii working again! 10 years old and still kicking!!!)

One thing that is a concern for us is the our next grocery shopping trip. We did a huge grocery run on this past Friday, but since then it sounds like the stores are all short on supplies. I am planning on going this weekend to restock on perishables, but I am kind of dreading seeing what the stores look like. It gives me some anxiety and it's something that we can't control and are just going to have to do the best we can with what the stores have to offer. Honestly, thanks to my mother-in-law and her mad cooking skills that she taught me, I am confident I can make a lot of things from scratch if I have to (like bread) and can make meals from those odd cuts of meat that seem to still be in stores. I told the kids the other day that I could make pasta if the stores didn't have any and they all looked at me like I had lost my mind. Jana had bought me a pasta roller ages ago and I haven't used it in years, but she had me make it with her enough times I know I could if needed. But, as Evan pointed out, I can't make toilet paper, so I'm going to need people to quit hoarding it (and the soap and the paper towels and the loaves of bread and the chicken because, honestly, hoarding it is just not neighborly).

Here's to another day of making it through! I'm so thankful for smart phones and social media right now for being means of communication with loved ones. Despite their many flaws (I sometimes have to put my phone down for hours to stop myself from constantly trying to refresh the news), their redeeming qualities are much appreciated during these days of quarantine.

Into The Unknown

This might be a bit harder than I thought.

Not necessarily the homeschooling part, we're at a good place with that aspect. It took a while (which is why those of you with kids suddenly off of school should *not* panic!), because we basically had to find our rhythm and figure out how to get everyone's needs met while having babies and toddlers underfoot. It still gets sticky at times, but we've kind of found a groove.

What's going to be hard is not having our outside activities to break up our day. Vivian usually has piano lessons on Monday, which means school and things need to be done and picked up by 4:30. Elisabeth has to be at her high school by 11:15 to get to her first class of the day on time, which means that now our morning routine doesn't have a definitive time to be done.

No play practices, no times that neighborhood friends come home from school, no kids asking if our kids can play that gives us all a much needed break from each other (sibling bickering is strong with my crew).

It kind of dawned on me today that our new routine during these weeks of quarantine is going to be a lot like how it was first starting out with full time homeschooling--a big learning curve. We're going to  have to figure out how to live together-together. Like the Ingalls. We're like full up Little House on the Prairie-ing it up now, just with occasional trips to Walmart's pick up lane.

I think there's going to be a lot of fighting and crabbiness while we learn to carve out alone time in this house and how to always be around each other in a way we've never really had to be before. It isn't like a few snow days where we're all cooped up with movies and hot cocoa and a few days off of our normal routines. We're being forced to actually change our routine.

One thing that I am trying to be mature about is that I will not be getting any alone/away time for a loooooooooooong time. I have a sitter that comes each Wednesday for a couple of hours to watch the younger four kids while I get away and read a book at my favorite coffee shop. I usually go and run errands or grocery shop solo on weekends or after Elisabeth gets home from school. Evan and I try to go out for dinner alone every month or so. I think I am going to to have figure out how I can institute some alone time in my room. I'm sure no one will mind my disappearing regularly...

So, we're going to be doing learning as usual, but I'm going to try to implement more down time. I've never really had a designated quiet time, but I think we're going to all really need to add this to our schedule. I also would like to set up some goals, both domestic (all the cleaning and organizing!!) and personal (I'm looking at you TBR pile).

I'm thankful this is happening in as the weather is getting warmer all the time and I can kick kids outside. I'm thankful for the ability to still be able to connect with others through social medias and phones. I'm thankful for this space as somewhere where I can dump my thoughts and try to process this all. I'm also thankful to Disney+ for releasing Frozen II early because it truly was such a treat for them and they have watched it a million times already!

Vivian in head to toe leopard print! Her fav.

All of my kids are really into coloring and painting right now. It's actually a perfect activity right now.

Quarantined Times

Over four years is a long time to go between blog posts. I'm not even sure I remember how to write anymore!

I have been toying with the idea of blogging again for a few months. I wasn't sure if I should just start a brand new blog, if I should resurrect Elisablog, or just scrap the whole idea. But, my lovely friend Sarah suggested that those mommy-bloggers of ol' should chronicle our lives during this weird, frightening time of coronavirus and quarantine, and I thought that she might be right.

I remember messaging my friends on February 29th about what this coronavirus deal was and if I should be worried about it.  That seems like a really long time ago, but it was only a little over two weeks...which is so bizarre to really think about for too long.

Anyway, Evan (who loves the news and keeps up on it religiously) told me that it was something that was going to get serious and it wouldn't hurt to make sure that we weren't going to run out of things from the store anytime soon. I believe he suggested we make a small stock pile.

Usually, I am not someone who follows the news, but I really felt led to find out more about this virus and to take it seriously. I started following the fabulous Jenna Lee over at SmartHer News (if you are not following her, do it! She's on Instagram and she is such a levelheaded, honest news source). Evan and I started talking about what quarantine would look like for us after seeing Italy shut down and decided to make a big grocery run and start talking to the kids about coronavirus in an age appropriate manner for each of them.

Fast forward to Friday, March 13, when every school in Illinois was told they needed to be shut down by March 16th; all extracurricular events like sports, theater, and anything that would have more than 25 people was to be cancelled; to Sunday when they declared that all restaurants and bars in Illinois would be closed as of Monday (excluding drive thru and delivery). That is a lot of information to try to take in and I have no doubt that Monday morning will bring more changes.

We're holing up. We homeschool now anyway (besides Elisabeth, who is homeschooled half the day and attends the Catholic high school for the other half of the day), so our academic routine won't change too much, but all of our social and extra curriculars are done. No play practice (both girls were to have performances next weekend), no piano lessons, no youth groups, no science classes at the forest preserves or Discovery Center. We decided to not have anyone come into our house anymore and that the kids could play outside with the two families of neighborhood kids that make up our cul-de-sac crew, but after tonight, we're saying no to that, too.

I really feel wound up about this whole thing. I'm struggling with this being so epic and new and not having background knowledge to lean on besides what information China, Italy, and South Korea have given us just a few weeks ahead of our crisis.  I know plenty of people that think this is all being blown out of proportion, but I am following my gut. This is going to be huge and it is going to be like nothing we have experienced before. New things are hard to wrap our brains around, especially things that ask us as a culture to sacrifice in such a big way. We're being asked to think of others that we don't know, to trust medical professionals going through things in other countries that we can't see or witness. It would be so simple to just assume that the powers that be directing our country, state, county, city are talking to everyone else but *us*.

So, I am going to take the suggestion of Sarah and record this time in history with my family--what we're doing, how it's going for us. If anything, it will be cathartic for me and a journal for my kids one day about the crazy year in 2020 when the world shut down.

It's been a long time, but it is so nice to be back blogging. I started this blog eleven years ago to help Evan (who had just started training for the Air Force) keep up to date on me and our girls (little kindergarten Elisabeth and baby Julia!) and so that when we moved to our first base as an Air Force family, our families back in Illinois could keep tabs on our daily ins and outs (we didn't have smartphones yet!!!) with pictures and a play-by-play of our little family's moments.

Now we have five kiddos, we're settled back in Illinois after six years of moving to two different states with the Air Force, and I am rebooting this blog to chronicle a pandemic sweeping the world.

Crazy.

Books I read in 2015

My goal for the year was 65 books and I did not make that number. I ended the year with 39. Sigh.

To be honest, being pregnant and having a new born for all of 2015, 65 books was a lofty goal. Nonetheless, here's what I read:

1. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (so good!)

2. A Dance With Dragons: Book Five of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin  (so much better than book four!)

3. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (great book! definitely recommend!)

4. The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows by Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B. and Richard DeNeut (!!)

5. Coraline by Neil Giaman (very good!)

6. The World's First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton Sheen (I always learn from Fulton Sheen, great book!)

7. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathon Trooper (meh)

8. The Story of A Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux

9. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (I loved this book!)

10. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (ok)

11. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (good book!)

12. The Temperament God Gave Your Kids by Art & Laraine Bennett (dude, these books are game changers)

13. The Temperament God Gave You by Art & Laraine Bennett

14. Half the Sky by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (very thought provoking. important read)

15. Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit (classic children's literature! must read!)

16. Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds by Robin Olds (with Christina Olds and Rd Rasimus) (one of the best memoirs and books I have ever read)

17. Revolution by Deborah Wiles (young adult book, good)

18. Trigger Warning by Neil Giaman (!!)

19. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (fantastic!!)

20. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (pretty good)

21. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (good!)

22. The Road to Character by David Brooks (great book! one I highly recommend!!)

23. Euphoria by Lily King (pretty good)

24. Lord Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession by Scott Hahn (!!)

25. Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol by Ann Dowsett Johnston (interesting)

26. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Dude!!! Read this!!! Thank me later)

27. Rosaries Aren't {Just} For Teething edited by Michele E. Chronister (quick but good read!)

28. Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis (I do so love C. S. Lewis)

29. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (good)

30. One Plus One by Jojo Moyes (good!)

31. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

32. The Paradise by Emile Zola (!!)

33. Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg (great read, great book club discussion!!)

34. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (ok)

35. Slade House by David Mitchell (ok)

36. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (great!)

37. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (hilarious! I laugh-cried!)

38. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd (!!)

39. A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham (ok)


My goal this year is to read 45 books. What are your reading goals? What was your favorite book last year?

Last weekend of the summer

Next week the school year officially begins for us. Julia is starting second grade at Holy Family on Wednesday and, a week from this Monday, Elisabeth will be starting at her new school Marshall Middle School (more about that later).

So, we decided to take a day trip and do something fun yesterday-- go to Lake Michigan!!

Before we got to the lake we made a stop in Libertyville, IL at Marytown where the National Shrine of St. Maximillian Kolbe is located. St. Maximillian's feast day was on Friday and he is Elisabeth's favorite saint. Since it was on our way, we decided to swing by and check out the museum, the chapel and the gardens.

What we didn't take into account is that Marytown would be very busy because, you know, his feast day was the day before, so there was no one available to give us a tour because it was also the feast day of the Assumption of Mary. Plus we got there right as Mass had started and we probably should have just gone to Mass, but we were dressed like beach bums and the kids were borderline hangry.

So we just decided to check out the gift shop (so many books!!!) and tour one garden since the humidity was so thick we choked on it everytime we stepped outside.

We've decided to go back in the fall when the weather is nicer and definitely plan on attending Mass. Then we'll also be able to tour the gardens a little more thoroughly without sweating ourselves into puddles.

We decided to try out the beaches at Illinois Beach State Park in Zion, IL. It was all free and only about 2 hours from Rockford. Turns out we (and a bunch of other people) picked a perfect day to spend at the lake. It was hot but the humidity vanished as soon as we got to the water. We had packed a picnic lunch to keep the younger two girls quiet about how hungry they are all the time (I am officially a snack time referee which is a thankless job).

We were kind of surprised at how short the beach was from the parking lot. But, it fit us and all our gear so no complaints. Plus, the girls just loved it sooooo much. 

This is how David and I spent our beach time-- under our giant umbrella in the shade napping and reading, respectively.

Of course, Vivian brought her trusty dump truck.

The girls found this guy with the metal detector fascinating and got really close to him to watch. 

And now it is back to the school year grind. My calendar is already filling up super fast. It's like a sharpie pen has bled all over the end of August. In a good way, of course.

When Vivian Goes On A Bike Ride...

She supervises the loading of the bikes. 

 She stops to exercise.

Tries to wake up the ducks.

 Watches the trolley go by.

Digs in the dirt.

Throws sticks into the river.

Rides way ahead of Mommy and Elisabeth.

Crosses the train tracks.

Skeptically looks at the swan.

Says hi to her statue friend.

Leads David.

Gets passed by Julia.

Gets so excited when Daddy rides next to her!