Covid-19. One month in.

I can't believe it's been one month! This morning, Thomas went upstairs to the kids' rooms and Luke asked him if we were going somewhere. Thomas responded that yes, we were going to rope drop Small World at Disney World. The older kids knew he was kidding, but Luke wasn't so sure. When Thomas told him he was just joking, Luke was happy--he didn't want to go anywhere. My kids have become fully acclimated to staying home all day every day. Ugh! Well, we do leave the house for the occasional car ride or to go for walks or bike rides, but we haven't been anywhere in a month. No theme park, no playground, no visit with family, no restaurant, no Target or Walmart. How can they be okay with this??? I will admit that staying home hasn't been nearly as constricting as I expected, but I still can't wait to get back into the world! Hopefully, I will be able to drag someone with me when the time comes.

So, this week. For me, work was better. One of the more senior attorneys has volunteered to help me through my difficult actions. It has been so helpful to have someone to directly contact for guidance. Work is still busy, but not overwhelming now. Our organization has actually had an increase in productivity since telework began. I think it would be awesome if we could keep teleworking, even when this is all over with. Maybe not everyday, but once or twice a week would be amazing!

For the kids, Luke was a little better, but it is still a struggle to have him get everything done. Kara seems to be doing really well. She has some projects to do and I think her teachers are trying to do the same type of lessons they would have if they were in school. They have not posted any grades, so I actually have no idea if she is getting everything done, but I think she is. Unfortunately, Anna is struggling, but improving, at least in some classes. Jack is doing really well, except for Spanish--his Achilles heel this year.

Thomas and I have been a little more productive. We actually did some deep cleaning. And, we took on a big project--the garage! It will be nice if at the end of this, we can look around and see some visual evidence of all this time spent at home.

I didn't get a picture of the garage beforehand, but it was a disaster. We never really unpacked it.

So much better, we can even fit a car!

One sad story about cleaning the garage. Luke has been asking to switch to a booster seat and we told him when he was six we would make the break. When we were cleaning the garage, we had to do a dump run. I decided to throw his car seat in, it is fairly close to its expiration and not really fit to give away. It was a last minute decision and I didn't think much about it. Then, as I was leaving the dump, I realized that I didn't say goodbye. Luke has sat in that thing for at least 5 years (I think he had a different one as a newborn, but this has been it for a long time). And, I didn't get a last picture, I didn't pay it the proper respect it earned. I went through all my pictures from the last year and couldn't find a single one. Maybe it is stupid, but I feel pretty sad about it.

We haven't done any family workouts this week, but we have made sure to get in some physical activity every day. Anna and I have gone for walks most nights, which I've really enjoyed. All of us have been taking advantage of the pool. Most days it has been really hot. March was the hottest March since 1907! I feel like it has been one broken heat record after the other since we got here. But, at least we can use the pool.

Yesterday, the Governor announced that schools would be closed through the end of the year. Kara is a little sad to miss all the end-of-year 5th grade events. She is the only one who would rather be in school. Luke likes school, but he likes wearing his pajamas all day even more. I think Jack and Anna are pretty indifferent, but Jack likes having lots more time to do electronics. We may have a hard time breaking him of the habit when we get back into a normal routine. Regardless, I think closing schools is the right call. I don't know how or when this is going to end, but at least I know that for the next 6 weeks or so, we will be doing the same thing.

And, this week's random pictures. I finally realized why I have so many pictures of Luke, but not the other kids. It's because he constantly asks me to take pictures and videos of him. The other kids don't ask and I usually don't think of it.

Luke also enjoys practicing his roller skates.

Sheet pan dinners have become a regular staple in our house. 

Luke played Jenga by himself one night. He was so impressed with himself, he took a picture of the tower after each move.

Random Info

My friend Alecia did a blog with some "random info" about herself. It was fun to read and she challenged her friends to do the same. This is mine.

I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I also wanted 5 kids. I ended up with 4 and I think I am not very suited for a large family. I constantly struggle to be patient, although I think I am getting better. Once most of them were in school, I realized that I missed working and feeling independent. I am happy with this choice and think it was the best one for my family, although I still feel guilty sometimes.

Whenever I think of my biggest accomplishments, the weirdest one, of which I am very proud, is that I never paid to take a test in college. I think I've actually written about this before, but, in my college you took all tests at a testing center. A professor would give you a few days to take it and then there would be late days where you would have to pay a fee. The testing center was entirely funded by these fees. I thought it was ridiculous that anyone would pay to take a test and vowed to never do it and I never did.

Along those same lines, I am not really a procrastinator. I like to get things over with. I also have a little mantra I think whenever I have a deadline. I have been saying it at least since high school, it is, "don't worry, you always get things done, this time will be no different." Maybe because of this, I generally feel like things are within my control and I rarely feel stressed out.

I have always been an "early to bed, early to rise" person. I like to go to bed around 9:30/10 and get up around 6. Even on weekends. I am not rigid about it, but it is my preferred sleep timeline. I really like the early mornings when everyone else is sleeping and I have a quiet house to myself.

My mom died just a few months after my first children were born. I miss her everyday and really regret that I never got to know here while I was a mom. She was everything I strive to be as a parent and I wish I could tell her that.

I always start the day with an empty dishwasher. We run it at night and it always gets emptied first thing in the morning. I can't stand having dishes sitting around, even in the sink. I assigned each of my kids a cup color because I needed to know who was responsible for not putting their cups in the dishwasher and I wanted to limit the number of cups sitting around during the day.

I don't like things. I hate spending money on stuff, which can be challenging for some of my family members who may view me as frugal (ahem, a certain preteen girl). But, I would much rather spend money on vacations and experiences. I am constantly planning our next trip, well, except now.

Similarly, I don't really like to be home. I like to be out doing stuff (not work, I am pretty lazy when it comes to housework or home projects). This one is a struggle because all the males in my house are the opposite. Although, I will say that now that I have gotten used to it, being home all the time isn't as bad as I thought and maybe I will be happy to do more of it when given the choice.

I can't think of a most embarrassing moment. But, I hate it when I am asked to introduce myself to a group and say something interesting (this happens way more often than an adult should expect). Even when given notice, I can't think of anything. It is embarrassing to me that I don't have any exceptional stories or experiences to share. I lack special talents and I've never done anything that is amazing or overly interesting (not even a most embarrassing one!). Unfortunately, I can think of a few shameful moments, things that I truly regret, but those are not suitable for a room full of strangers.

One last sentiment--I love this blog. I love going back and seeing the memories. I am thankful to Sarah and Debby for talking about blogging all those years ago and encouraging me to join the world of bloggers. Just yesterday, I was reading through memories from 2015 and I am so glad I can just go back 5 years and know exactly what we were doing. I started it in 2011 and I wish I had done it earlier.

Week 4, Happy Easter

We have now been self-distancing for 4 weeks. This week passed much like the 3 before. Although, distance learning was a little bit tougher. Luke doesn't want to do it and it is a daily struggle to make him sit down and do all his assigned work. And, yesterday I looked at Skyward, the online system to view grades, and saw a number of missed assignments for the older kids. It is really hard for us to stay on top of them, plus work a full time job from home. I know I have griped about this in previous posts, but it is not getting easier. For Luke, they have gradually added more work and thus more of a time commitment. For the older kids, seeing that they are missing assignments means we have to be more diligent in making sure everything is getting done. And, they sometimes require help. But, we both have to work every day. It is a huge challenge. Well, some days it is a huge challenge and some days is a minor inconvenience.

They closed the track at the school, so we had to modify our workout plan. This week, we rode our bikes to the park, jogged one mile, did a short sprint (about 20 seconds) and then rode home. Kara, Luke, Thomas and I went 4 days. Jack and Anna joined in on a couple of those days. The other days, we still tried to get in some form of physical activity. The girls, Luke and I made up a synchronized swimming routine. We completely lack any semblance of gracefulness, so we have joked that it is the Country Bears version of synchronized swimming. We laugh a lot and had a good time coming up with our routine. I imagine we will keep adding to it throughout the summer.

The Easter Bunny drove through the neighborhood yesterday. It was cute. Luke and I went for a short walk and there were tons of people sitting on their porches waiting. I talked to a couple more neighbors, from a socially acceptable distance, which was nice. They also encouraged people to make sidewalk bunny trails in front of their houses. We took another walk today and tried out several. They were pretty fun and some were very creative. I do appreciate living in a very walkable/rideable neighborhood.

This morning (Easter), Kara and Luke had a surprise for us--they created a scavenger hunt! Luke drew the first clue and Kara hid Lego pieces with each answer along with another clue. When we reached the end, the adults had to use their pieces to build an Easter basket and the kids had to build a bunny and his carrot. It was very creative and we had a lot of fun racing through the house figuring out the clues.

The kids' clues and finished product.

We chatted with our family, swam, and made an Easter cake. We also talked about what Easter symbolizes. It was a nice day. Although, I was sad we couldn't spend it with more family. We have a giant ham to eat all by ourselves! The whole reason we moved to Florida was to spend more time with them and here we all are--sitting separately in our houses. But, I know that this will pass soon. Well, hopefully soon!

Easter Cake

Random picture of our tree swing getting some use. I didn't feel like putting my shoes on, so I took it through the screen. :)

Lego Master Challenges

For four days in a row, we have had an afternoon Lego Challenge. We enjoy watching the Lego Masters competition, so we decided to give a home version a try.

Kara especially loves any type of competition and we have thousands of Legos, so it is a good fit for the family. We typically give them 1.5-2 hours, depending on when we start, and it has been great for keeping them occupied and away from the screens. And, I have actually taken pictures!

Our first theme was "quarantine." We only gave them an hour, which was not enough time. On the show, they generally have 10+ hours, but our sweet spot appears to be just under two. We declared Luke the winner in the 5-7 category and Kara the winner in the overall category. Kara did a scene with a mermaid in quarantine and Luke did a house and car.

My favorite part was she had the slides roped off :)

Day 2's theme was Monsters. I  am actually not quite sure what Luke did. But, Kara did a Rapunzel-like tower being attacked, which was great. Jack built something with K'Nex that was cool, but I didn't get a picture and he only spent about 20 minutes on it. We declared Kara the winner in a close match and told Luke that we felt his time was coming and not to give up. For the prize, Kara got to choose the family movie and picked the Princess Bride (all participants get something, I think this day it was a juice box).

Day 3 was Party. Anna decided to join in, but apparently Luke kept taking her Legos, so they decided to work together. Luke and Anna did a Polar Bear Party and Kara did a Bunny Birthday. They were both really cute. But, Luke and Anna were the victors. Luke's prize was also choosing the family movie. He decided on Coco.

The polar bear with the hat was a super cute surprise

I loved the carrot car and sculpted bunny

Today's theme is the "the most bricks". They are upstairs building as I write. I am not a huge fan of being forced to pick a winner, but other than that, I love the challenges and hope the kids don't get tired of them anytime soon.

Star Wars Rankings

As promised--the Star Wars rankings. I am pretty confident that absolutely no one has been eagerly anticipating this post. Of course, now that I think about, does anyone ever eagerly anticipate any of my posts???

Thomas, Jack, Kara and I each ranked all the movies independently. Then, I added up our rankings and divided by 4 to determine final placement. The master Wilson ranking is as follows:

1. Rogue One
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rise of Skywalker
5. The Last Jedi
6. Solo
7. A New Hope
8. The Phantom Menace
9. The Force Awakens
10. Attack of the Clones
11. Revenge of the Sith

I think Kara and my rankings are more character-driven while Jack and Thomas are more plot-focused. In a funny twist, me and Kara had the same #1 (The Last Jedi), which came in dead last for both Jack and Thomas, giving it an overall placement of #4. Jack claims that our "love of The Last Jedi proves just how shallow" our understanding is of the Star Wars Universe. His #1 was Return of the Jedi. Thomas' was The Empire Strikes Back.

Rogue One was in the top 3 for me, Jack and Thomas and ranked fourth for Kara, which is how it earned the overall number 1 spot. Kara and I both really disliked the first three movies (IMO Anakin is the worst character ever and the love story between him and Queen Amidala is so unbelievable that it skews everything else). However, I will say that I really liked Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi, but it was not enough to overcome my dislike of Anakin.

I appreciated the slower pace of the originals, it was easier to know where they were and what was going on, I feel like in the newer movies, they are always on their way to someplace else and I am never quite sure of where, why or how. However, I found the characters a little less likeable than in the newest 3. I really liked Finn, Rey and Luke. Although, I hated that the Emperor came back, that made no sense. But, whatever, none of it really makes any sense.

Luke's favorite was Return of the Jedi. He watched some of them, but not enough to earn the ability to participate in the rankings. Anna did not want to watch at all, she is not a fan (although, I am not sure how you determine you are not a fan if you don't watch them?).

Other movie night choices include: The Princess Bride, Cool Runnings, Onward, Aladdin (live action), Frozen 2, That Thing You Do, and The Muppets (2014 version). We have now spent approximately 12000 hours watching movies.

Kara's Thoughts & Kori's Weekly Update

I told the kids they could write something for the blog. Kara immediately took me up on the offer. Below are her words:

With the Coronavirus going on, they cancelled school until May 1st! The government also issued a stay-at-home rule so I have not been anywhere but the drive-through for Chicken Salad Chick and in the car waiting for mom to get Moe's. In the morning, we do bike rides and if it is warm enough in the afternoon I go swimming. In between that is online school. Online school has been pretty easy so far. We have had Zoom meetings, where everyone can talk to the teachers. Zoom is an app like Facetime, you can see people you know and talk to them. During the meetings we talk about the work that we are doing. I had to do two hours of iReady and Social Studies Weekly Week 6. iReady is just you read the passage and answer questions about it. Social Studies Weekly is a magazine. For math and science we do Study Island and Go Math. Study Island is a test and Go Math is a workbook. I have been doing LOTS of Prodigy. Prodigy is an educational math game.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I wish I was in school. There is nothing to do here. It is too hot to go outside and I finished a TV series (Total Drama Island). I am reading every night, but I am running out of books. I am currently reading "A Woman in the House (and Senate)". It is about a woman in the House of Representatives and Senate. It is interesting.

Now onto thoughts about Coronavirus. For starters, it is very chaotic. We are cooped up in a house with 5 other people. To follow-up, it's kind of sad. We all saw this coming, yet nobody did anything about it. Now, almost everyone has it. Ultimately, the whole thing is odd, no one has seen anything like it. Plus, it is kind of weird not going anywhere. I personally think I would prefer to go to school on a Friday and walk home and then go to Disney and ride Slinky Dog Dash in the dark, then come home at 10 instead of doing online school and electronics and a family movie and ice cream.

Those are my thoughts about the Coronavirus.

Kori again: it is interesting to read what Kara wrote. I guess we will have to clear up the perception that "everyone has it".  Although, it can certainly feel that way as we look at the increasing numbers. But, right now, Florida has 11,500 cases. The population of Florida is 20,000,000. That is less than a quarter of one percent.

And, now here's my weekly update:
We have now been living with our new normal for 3 weeks. Nothing has changed since my mid-week update. The weekends are more fun than the weekdays, because we are responsibility free. Saturday, we rode our bikes to a park with some running trails and we all jogged the half mile loop. Then, we rode our bikes to the school in our neighborhood which has a walking track that is a 1/3 of a mile. We jogged that and then rode our bikes home. The whole evolution took about 30 minutes. We all agreed (except Luke) that it would be fun to set some fitness goals while we are quarantined. We have been riding bikes regularly, but it was nice to add in some jogging. We will see what kind of improvement we can make by the end of the month.

We also played games, sang karaoke, and watched the movie Onward (I was not a fan). We finally set up Luke's tree swing, which has now been tested by everyone but me. It already seems to be a favorite reading spot. In other words, it was just like virtually every other day we've had for the past 3 weeks (well, except the swing, that is new).

My only two pictures. Both of Luke.

He gets his picture taken the most, because he asks most frequently. He wanted to send this one to his teacher.

Zooming with his class.

Mid Week Update

The kids have now been doing online school for 4 days. It has gone okay. Anna, Jack and Kara had some online classes, but most work has been assigned via e-mail messages. Fortunately, the district was already set up pretty well for digital learning. All middle and high schoolers have their own laptop and class assignments were already done primarily online. So, while it is a big change, it is not as difficult as it would have been otherwise.

The middle-schoolers weren't interested in having their pictures taken. But, half of the Wilson class:

I am feeling a little down. Work has been really busy this week with lots of long phone calls, including several with my bosses bosses boss (my third level supervisor). I want to do a good job, but I have no desire to rise any further in the ranks.Therefore, I like to try and fly under the radar. With my current workload that has been impossible. Frankly, I am in a bit over my head. I have no issue with admitting that; I know I can't get better if I don't ask for help. So, lots of high level phone calls (not about my ineptitude, but the underlying issues). Some of these phone calls last for literally hours. That isn't difficult for the older kids, inconvenient, but they understand. But, for Luke, it has been torturous. Usually, Thomas or I can take a minute to redirect him, but sometimes both of us are busy. We are getting paid to work from home, and are expected to do so. Luke doesn't always understand. One day this week, I was giving him the standard, "do you like having a house to live in, food to eat, and clothes to wear" line and his response was, "why isn't this house paid for yet, it is taking forever!" Apparently, we've used that line a lot!

So, it has been stressful, we are doing the best we can, but it isn't easy. The other problem with working from home is I feel like I am expected to be available at all hours. The e-mails frequently go far later than I would typically be working. And, I know I am really lucky to have a job and the ability to work from home, but I would rather be baking or playing games or assisting the kids with their schoolwork. I feel pulled in so many directions! And, I don't feel like I am succeeding in any of them.

One exciting thing--I was able to order toilet paper from Amazon! I checked periodically to see if they had it in stock and just lucked out yesterday afternoon. That is one less thing to worry about. Our grocery stores were much better stocked this week, except for toilet paper and paper towels. Now, we will have plenty of both. And, it was a relief to see most grocery aisles full of food. I hope the "hoarding" part is over. I put hoarding in quotes, because I got frustrated at people directing us to buy only what we need. There were no further directions. Buy what we need for a week? A month? What happens if interstate commerce collapses and we can't get what we need, was it "hoarding" to buy extra frozen food, just in case? I am all about being a good citizen, but I also want to be prepared. So, I stocked our freezer a bit more than usual, but tried not to be overzealous.

Back to the toilet paper. When it first disappeared from shelves, I began counting our rolls. I knew we would need more than usual because we would be home all day. I literally laid in bed thinking about how many we had and trying to average how long they would last. And, even though the number didn't change, I counted them daily. It gave me comfort, I'm not even kidding. I read the toilet paper obsession was a way for people to feel in control and I think that was definitely the case for me. Now, with my latest Amazon purchase, I have freed up my mind to obsess over other things.

With all the stress and frustration I feel, I can't imagine what the 6.6 million people who filed for unemployment last week are feeling. All of this on top of fears of money worries?!?! Our retirement accounts have taken a major hit, but we still have a lot of years left to rebuild. So, I am trying to keep things in perspective. But, it can also be hard not to go down the rabbit hole of "what-ifs". What if this is not temporary, what if another deadly virus strikes? What if normal is never the same? But, then I talk myself down and I know that this too shall pass, or at least we will adapt as society always has, then I feel a little silly for overreacting, at least about those concerns. I think the increasing numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are scary and worthy of concern. We will do what we can and hope for a quick resolution and a minimization of harm.