The Year of March 2020

What a year…

How has it been a full year since I have written here last? Soooo much has happened. I can’t get into it all in this post for obvious reasons. But I wanted to write – needed to write, as we like many are Pandemic Schooling in our house and it has been a little bit crazy.

Pandemic Schooling

Why do I say Pandemic Schooling vs Homeschooling? This is not Homeschooling. I know that we, as a family, have a lot of experience being at home. Five years with only one vehicle, and then my multiple surgeries, have made us pretty much a pro. But, homeschooling means you can still go out. You can still visit your friends, have playdates, go to the library (or libraries in our case), and right now we can do none of that. My youngest two keep saying “When I can go to Mrs. P’s …” for an art project. Trying to explain to them that they cannot go visit our 85-year-old neighbor, has been honestly rough.

We also have been doing some out of the ordinary things like 3D printing pieces for hospital face masks.

My husband had been contacted by someone at his college because they knew he would know what to do to help under the direction of the hospital. Right now they have decided they don’t need them but we are going to get a dozen printed regardless to hand off so when he does have to make a trip across the state to drop off for someone to finish them up with acetate sheets. We are also trying to figure out locally if our hospital will need them.

Adding to my list of things I never thought I would be doing.

Book Heaven??

Like many, we have had our library close. One of our libraries closed without notice. The other we had a bit of notice, so I spent two late nights searching our curriculum, searching the library catalog for what our local library had as there was no time for interlibrary loans to arrive. My oldest went with me, and with a list, we got what we could and a few that I found as we searched the shelves.

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So what is the plan??? There is no plan, to be quite honest. Survival is my plan. But we have Torchlight levels K-3 at the house. My older two girls want to do mythology. Miss C has been into Percy Jackson and basically anything by Rick Riordan. Miss L really wanted Japanese myths but that I could not do without interlibrary loan. So her interest before that had been Egypt, and that is a classic in the study of Ancients so that is what we got.

The funny thing was after we had returned home, I received an email saying that I had a book in so I hurried over and then the Japanese myth book I had on hold was being checked in as I stood in line to get my hold. Score!

We have currently 70 books from one library and likely 80 total between the two libraries out. Thank goodness they will have no fines, no matter how long libraries are closed.

Turning Six

It is hard to believe that Miss M has turned six. She had a very complicated cake all planned out and then changed it about a billion times. {face palm} But as the date got closer I realized we were not going to be able to have her friends over so I really wanted to try and make it a little special. The last five years her birthday has been overshadowed at times because of my surgery or my recovery. With her being gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free; I can’t just go out to the store and have them make a cake for her.

So off to Amazon I went searching for gel food coloring that was certified gluten-free, I have learned to be very careful and I discovered Wilton is not necessarily safe. She originally wanted a pawprint on the Pokeball, that I couldn’t do. So instead she had a pawprint with a Pokeball on the paw.

I made a chocolate cake from scratch using this recipe from The Loopy Whisk. For making it dairy-free I simply used Silk Almond-Coconut milk, and for the frosting, I used Earth Balance soy-free butter. The recipe had two 7″ circles, but I only have one 9″ pan, so we did a 9″ pan and 9 cupcakes. I will have frosting in my fridge to just eat for quite a while, or I will need to make more cakes. 🙂 Then I made marshmallow fondant with this recipe from Bargain Mums. I’ll be honest I’m not sure I would have had the confidence to make it, but she saw the kids doing it on Kids Baking Championship on Food Network and I knew I should be able to pull it off. Mine might have been a little dry but it worked.

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Highlights in the Chaos

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Despite the pandemic and assumptions that being at home we have all this time to craft, clean, whatever… that is not the case. With both of us being with education, we have to work from home.

Struggle of Working from Home

My husband is teaching from home for the rest of the semester. While we have always been dismayed when it was time for the semester to start, his traveling for work, and staying away from home half of each week; we had a routine that has been interrupted rather rudely. I started realizing what might happen before the announcement was made. But what I had hoped would be a relaxing spring break of me disappearing from the house, turned into us running around trying to find materials to set up a whiteboard setup in our basement for him to teach from using my laptop and a webcam.

Technology in the house has become a premium. We have a desktop that can be a bit temperamental. My laptop which has no sound, and my old desk/laptop that is ummmmmmmm…. 12-13 years old (it will not work unless plugged in, hence the desk/laptop designation). With the girls using Teaching Textbooks, doing Typing Club, writing using Google Docs it can get interesting to get time on the tech. This has been complicated by the fact of him teaching from home because depending on which class he is teaching, that determines which computer he will have to use between the laptop and the desktop. Thankfully I have a new iPad so I can get some done, like the drafting of this post… but it has still taken me two days to get this post completed.

Struggle Physically and Mentally

As much as I’d like to say differently, things have been more than a bit rough lately. My friend posted about reading the book Untamed by Glennon Doyle and off to the library I went to try and secure a digital copy. I posted about it being a 20-week wait and she so generously sent me my own copy. I’m looking forward to reading it.

So between that, the changes in routines, and the weather playing havoc on my body causing many aches and pains there are some days I have struggled mentally and physically. I have been so thankful for my Fit2B membership {affiliate} allowing me to gently workout here at home. In fact in the newly released color series of Blue {affiliate}, I have a new favorite. Azure Awakening has enough simple moves I can remember even in my often sleep-deprived morning state and it gets me moving slowly and carefully. If I can’t do them slowly then, I have ended up with a nap a few days lately and I can do the moves then as I wake up slowly.

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I also know it is okay to not be okay some days. I’m trying to give myself the grace to allow the big feelings, the anxiety – but not let it get away from me, to help the girls process the changes in routines. Most of all to process their fears with what they hear on the radio or might see in the news.

Be gentle with yourself today, this evening, this week. The month of March has felt like a year here, seriously.

I have a lot I want to share with you, but this has become a book unto itself. So signing off for now.

Be safe my friends…