Let things slide

Multiple times a day, possible blog post titles flash before my brain. "Bite off more than you can chew" since we're baking and cooking (and snacking) so much lately. "In it to win it" because we're, like, never socializing again until 2021. Or "The Neverending Story" because we just watched that movie with the kids for the first time--they loved it--and since this time in our lives feels never-ending. "This is war, Peacock!" also came to mind. If you know the movie and the reference, you'll understand why. "Eat, Live, Breathe" occurred to me, too...as did "Quarantine pizza is the best pizza ever," since Tony made spectacular pizza recently with black market yeast that we acquired from a good friend (Kroger has been sold out for weeks). Ha! And then there's something that Tony uttered the other night...my current favorite: "Since we're both working from home and the kids are doing remote learning, we actually moved to Hawaii weeks ago and no one noticed." Now that would be an awesome post title. 🤣

But I picked this one because life is such a far cry from normal lately that we all have to let things slide a bit...whether it's for survival or simply ease. Chocolate chip cookies for breakfast? Sebastian had them twice last week--a first in our house. Open three bags of chips at the same time? Well, they'll definitely be eaten since the five of us are eating meals at home around the clock. Extra video and movie time in the evenings? Again, we're filling our long days in the best ways that we can. Fingers crossed that the kids will look back on these days and have (mostly fond) memories of us having delicious meals together and watching lots of movies and episodes of "Lego Masters," "The Masked Singer," and "The Mandalorian." A girl can dream, right?

So, essentially, our lives have become a mix of Baby Yoda and good eats, like our Thanksgiving in April! Seasonal dishes are yummy any time of year and we have a lot to be thankful for right now.

And we've been trying to frequent local places, so they get our support and (fingers crossed) are there when it's time to reopen. We REALLY enjoyed Blue Ash Chili recently! 

Even our hamster is loosening her belt a bit. We recently had to remove the "Snack Shack" from Snowflake's cage. She was pretty much only snacking on that and not eating her real food. Given the state of the world, I know none of you are really surprised...

The alternate universe we're all living in likely prompted my totally bizarre dream the other night, too. I dreamt that I was staying by myself at a small hotel and so was Kellyanne Conway. (Yes, that's right.) And twice we met for breakfast in the hotel's little restaurant. And...she was totally lovely to talk to. And then...I left my favorite piece of jewelry at the hotel and had to figure out how to get back and see if it was still in the room where I stayed. Ugh...

More weirdness? I cleaned out my fridge. It had been years. Yikes! Now it's gleaming...

 Also weird: Thank you, Niki, for making these for us!

Even weirder: I filled up Tony's gas tank the other day with my Kroger gas discount. My total was less than $4. 😲

Online school continues to go reasonably well for the two older kids. They still miss school and their friends, but (for the most part) remain determined to tackle their daily work. Sebastian, on the other hand, really misses his buddies and the learning by play that happens in a kindergarten classroom. Each child takes a turn having a total meltdown every couple of days about life as we know it. Who can blame them?

Last week, Governor DeWine announced that school will NOT resume this year. That did not go over very well. Poor Brie cried. Tony and I feel very good about this decision, but still feel bad for kids everywhere. This probably feels unending to them (it sure does for the adults)...

We try to look on the bright side...here's one thing that we came up with: We've eaten the most breakfasts and lunches together EVER while self-isolating. And not just the five of us...me and Tony! In the real world, our mornings are usually pretty frenetic; I typically eat cereal while standing and making lunches. It's so different for us to be waking up a bit later and leisurely eating our breakfast and sipping our coffee together while we read the doomsday news on our phones.

On the other hand, Tony and I certainly did not predict or anticipate a few aspects of weeks-long family together time. I'm talking about the constant neediness, the volume (both amount and noise level) of questions, the incessant number of times that "Mom!" and "Dad!" would be yelled just audibly from another room or floor of our home at the most inopportune time, the onslaught of snack requests, and the kids's exasperation over feeling both overwhelmed and underwhelmed by the amount of time in a day that there is to get things done... I haven't even mentioned the whining, kvetching, moaning and groaning over the littlest of things. If you've forgotten what juvenile perspective looks like, Coronavirus quarantine is a perfect reminder.

So we try to do things that are good for the spirit, like video chats. Here's one with Sarp in Cali!

And a video birthday celebration for Cousin Lucas in Western Mass!

Brie's book club on Zoom with the book's author Jen Cullerton Johnson (top left)!!

And a Zoom happy hour with the Shimizu JETs!

In (all) our spare time, we've continued to cook, bake, create and build with Legos!

We also played the Carmen Sandiego card game during national Spy Week!

And hosted several "Masked Singer/Dancer" competitions.

You'll never guess who's behind the mask!

As for sunshine to our gray days? Brie got a new book shelf and LOVED setting it up in her room. Now she plays "library" with all of us.

And our across-the-street neighbor threw a "Make a plate, take a plate home" BBQ, so we all got yummy grill food, but didn't have to cook. So kind!

A year ago this week, we were eagerly anticipating the New Kids concert that we all attended on May 2. It's unbelievable how much has changed in a year. We're hanging in there...and making accommodations certainly helps. Here's to a slippery slope!

P.S. Our all-time favorite ice cream has been in stock at Kroger. This makes up for the lack of chicken, bleach and soap refill (but not yeast).

P.P.S. I'll leave you with a little humor: Samuel's parody of a biblical scene (Sunday School homework). He cracks me up.