Well y'all, a lot has happened since I last posted a few short weeks ago. I'm not a news watcher - and I'm pretty terrible about keeping up with current events - so everything that has gone down recently has certainly taken me by surprise. I'll begin a couple weeks ago with a short trip I took to Dallas.
A few months back, Tia invited me to go to Dallas with her for the weekend to attend a Kickee Pants sample sale like we did last summer. I didn't care too much about the sale, but a weekend getaway sounded like fun to me, so I was on board and excited. Tia's friend, Jennifer, also joined us. Chris agreed to take off work to be with the kids, and we left the evening of Thursday, March 12th. Brianna's class was showcasing Friday morning at Rise and Shine, but Chris would be there to watch her and I let go of the guilt of missing one showcase. I mean, there will be others, right?
On the drive to Dallas, Jennifer kept talking about the world "situation", how the word "pandemic" is being thrown around, and how "Covid-19" is a virus that could potentially change things for America. This was really the first I'd heard about any of this. Shut-downs? Quarantines? Social distancing? All news to me!
We got up Friday morning, grabbed breakfast, then headed to get massages. Chris asked how my massage went - and aside from the lady repeatedly calling me Tia - I replied that it was amazing!
Massages were followed by Thai food . . . I had to send this pic to Chris to impress him with how adventurous I was being :-).
I had also started to see rumors on social media about Oklahoma public schools extending spring break for a couple extra weeks. I was skeptical that it would happen, but at the same time things seemed to be blowing up all around me. We visited The American Girl store (I had to send this pic to my girls), and while there my niece called to tell me that the college she attends announced they would be virtual for a few weeks after spring break. At this point, my head was kind of spinning.
We were all trying really hard to enjoy our time away, but all our conversations seemed to be turning back to the pandemic and all the changes that were happening. Even Jennifer's job was seeing major changes, and I began to realize that forced shut downs of businesses could have a major impact on our economy. I also stupidly made the comment to Jennifer and Tia that at this point I would be disappointed if my kids' school didn't extend spring break. Be careful what you wish for, right?!?
That evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Kenny's Italian Kitchen, then headed back to our hotel room to relax.
We needed both eggs and milk and had been struggling to find either. We buy those products at Braum's, and when Chris went to get them an employee told him that the shipment was wiped out within a few hours. Brenson and Brianna have both noticed some strange things going on, and have had many questions about "the virus", "shutdowns", "shortages", etc. We have done our best to explain to them what is going on. During one such conversation, we were reassuring the kids that God is bigger than coronavirus, panic doesn't help anyone, and that we know who holds our future and where true hope lies. Brenson responded to that by saying, "Yes, we have everlasting water!" It was truly exactly what we needed to hear and focus on in that moment!
I figured there was no time like the present to finally do some deep cleaning that I've been wanting to do for a while. All the kids got involved in grout cleaning, and that task was accomplished quickly!
We've been having more in-depth daily Bible studies with the kids, including hands-on activities and object lessons. This day, the kids were learning about the paralytic man whose friends carried him to see Jesus to be healed.
While we haven't been leaving the house much, we have gone on a few long drives. Several communities have implemented "bear hunts" where people put stuffed bears in their windows for others to walk or drive around and hunt. It was just a little thing, but the kids really enjoyed going on a bear hunt and drawing the bears they saw.
And, of course, we've been spending a lot of time outside. I'm so grateful the weather has been decent enough for us to enjoy the fresh air! Also, the kids can scream all they want outside and not disturb Daddy! Or that's the idea anyway . . . a few days ago it didn't work out that way. We've had several good, spring rains, so the ground has been wet and a bit muddy this week. I think the kids get muddy if they even look outside, so I wasn't surprised when they were covered in mud after playing outdoors for just a few minutes.
The sample sale that we had traveled to Dallas to attend was canceled "due to an abundance of caution", and when we got up Saturday morning it was raining. We went in search of breakfast, and while at breakfast Tia's brother called saying that shut-downs were going to happen and that she needed to stock up on groceries and get prepared. That prompted a string of phone calls from Tia's mom, aunt, husband, etc. It seemed like many of them were very concerned about forced government shut-downs.
We decided to head for home, but stopped at an outlet mall on the way. Even the outlet mall was practically deserted on a Saturday! The rain continued to pick up, so we finally just gave up and started for home.
Although I still wasn't sure what to think about forced shut downs and the whole pandemic situation, I didn't want to be caught unprepared. I knew that stores were being cleaned out of things like milk, bread, beef, and toilet paper. I made a long list of things to stock up (a little) on, and Chris made a run to the store early Sunday morning before worship. We actually ended up making another large grocery run a little later that week. He also made a grocery run for my parents.
On the evening of Sunday, March 15, we went out to eat at the Golf Club with the S family. We didn't realize it then, but this would be our last time in a restaurant for at least a few weeks. These girls' friendship is so sweet. While the adults were discussing the economy and government decisions, these girls were all carefree smiles 💓.
Chris was informed on Monday, March 16th that he (and all other Tulsa employees) would be on "work from home status" for at least three weeks. It was so strange that evening when he came home knowing that he wouldn't be going back to the office for a few weeks AND that we weren't going on vacation, haha!
Although restaurants were closing and small businesses were unsure about how long they would be able to stay open, we were trying to keep things as normal as possible at home. On Tuesday, March 17th, we had green milk and Lucky Charms just like we always do!
And we wore our green although we stayed home all day!
Chris set up a work space in our bedroom, and tried to accomplish a few things. This was not an easy task!
Meanwhile, I knew the possibility that the kids would not be returning to school for a few weeks was very strong, so I tried hard to establish a routine. Chris needed the children to be semi-quiet, so we filled our time with some workbooks, reading, and scripture writing.
Later that day, we received word that spring break was extended by two weeks. The kids certainly weren't sad about this, but I was a little concerned with how I was going to balance having all the kids home while the hubby was also working from home for three weeks.
I mean, the kids just want to be with Daddy all day, every day. And I can't blame them because I'm not great about leaving him alone, either :-).
So, how have we been filling our time at home together?
We've been doing a lot of cooking. Since I had stocked up on groceries, I decided to make a bunch of freezer meals to have for later. We also made a few batches of cookies.
Brenson was the guinea pig, haha!
Once they had finished playing, I told the twins to come into the laundry room, take their muddy clothes off and put them in the washer, then run to their room to get dressed. Once they were in their room, I had Bren come in and do the same thing. He had no sooner gotten all his clothes off when Brooke came busting back in the laundry room to put her panties in with the muddy laundry (I have no idea why she thought this was necessary). Bren screamed, "Brooke, no! I'm naked! Mom, help! I'm naked!" Now, all of this would really be no big deal (and definitely not out of the ordinary), but Chris was on a conference call for work and the others on the call could hear everything with no idea what the situation was. Whooops! 😂
Well, now that this post is much longer than I intended for it to be, I think I'll wrap it up. Can you tell I haven't seen many people lately? Haha. Also, I want to mention that there has been serious talk of Oklahoma public schools being canceled for the rest of the school year. In my head, I think that there's no way that will happen because how would that even work? I know I would be diligent about continuing to teach my kids, but what about all the other kids who would be left hanging? However, Kansas just recently made the announcement that public schools in that state will be transitioning to virtual learning for the remainder of the school year, so who knows what will happen here. I told my kids that they needed to wrap their brains around the possibility of it happening. I'm certainly not sure how I'll feel about it, though. Sigh. The Oklahoma legislature is scheduled to vote on it tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment