Quarantine

We are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so at home we stay.  Who knew the thrill that could come from going to the grocery store, or having a morning outing where we pick up Loki's medicine (at the curb, not in the vet office) and then do curbside pickup to get some Jimmy Johns for lunch.  Rainy or cold days means no outside time and even more of a "stir crazy" feeling (for me included), and days are either a nice time of being together or we're all on the brink of driving each other bonkers.

The boys are actually doing really well with it all things considered.  Gabriel has been doing his school work at home and having a daily "zoom" meeting with his class (and I'm enjoying doing his social studies and science with him (among other subjects).  It's nice to know more about what he's learning).  Corban has been doing some preschool learning and reading lessons most days.  They are both enjoying taking apart and rebuilding Lego sets and having lots of time to pretend together.  They have been outside a lot while Taylor is building them a treehouse in the backyard.  They have generally just had more time for pretending and being creative.

"Quests of yore.  Gabriel's only okay"

One day during "rest time" Gabriel created a game with his Legos based on a game played in the new Pixar movie "Onward".  The game is called "Quests of Yore" and he made playing pieces with Lego characters.  The game rules changed every time he and Corban played it but they had fun.

Even with time with play outside and take walks it's still really hard to be home so much.  The boys and I have always liked to go somewhere each day, even if it's just a trip to the grocery store or the library.  Thankfully we've found some small ways to connect.  Another mom had the great idea to have "story time" where the older brothers read stories over Zoom to the younger brothers.  Both Gabriel and his friend Mathias picked the same storybook one day and Gabriel was able to follow along while his friend was reading.  Another "local celebrity", Joelle, has also been doing live storytime via Facebook and Zoom.  One day she had them gather supplies and make dragons out of toilet paper rolls.  Both boys have also liked saying "hello" to members of our home group when we virtually meet still on Tuesday evenings.  These little connections to the outside world have been small but welcome.

 

 

I had to cut Gabriel's hair with all of the salons closed.  It's not great but it could be worse!

Extroverted Gabriel misses his friends, even more so than Corban.  Gabriel thrives on routine and we've certainly been lacking in that over the past month.  His daily class meetings have certainly helped and he's even talking to him teacher one on one via the phone and Zoom.  We have good days and then not so good days for sure.  I asked him on the way to his OT appointment last week what he would tell Ms Kelsey if she asked how he was doing.  He thought for a little bit and then said "I'm angry. I'm angry that I can't see my friends or go to school."  Totally legit way to feel.  He tells me some days that he also feels very sad.  I have days when I myself swap between sad and angry and I can't pinpoint why so I can't imagine being a kid and trying to figure out those emotions in this strange time.

Class photo in March before the "stay at home" order

About a week ago we really needed to get out. Taylor looked around and realized that the safari park was still open.  The walk around zoo part was closed but you could still buy some feed and drive through to feed and see the animals.  Even though the park is a little over an hour away we have no reason not to take a long drive.  It was a nice change to be out of the house for a few hours for something besides work.

They liked feeding the ostrich the most because of the funny way that it poked it's head into the cup to eat.

 

And then there was Easter.  How strange to not have a sunrise service at church followed by potluck breakfast (I hadn't actually made it to the service in the past few years but got excited about the yummy breakfast followed by Sunday school and worship).  How odd to not have to pick between multiple community Easter egg hunts.

So, I had already bought things for some Easter crafts at home as well as things to go in Easter baskets and color Easter eggs.  Gabriel's teacher sent out the fun idea of painting your front door to look like stained glass (which was fun, easy, and looked pretty good until we had a hail storm a couple days later).  On Easter day itself it was nice that Taylor stayed home and didn't go to help with the livestream of the church service.  Honestly, Sunday mornings have been some of the loneliest times for me this past month.  Taylor is at church helping with the service and I'm home watching with the boys.  As nice as it has been to have Gabriel especially paying more attention to the sermon, it's hard to be basically singing by myself and wishing I was doing that and listening with others.  I know that I'm not actually alone during the worship service, but that's just been a hard time of the week for me.  But, I digress.

So, on Easter morning we had a nice breakfast (including hash brown casserole from Cracker Barrel), had an egg hunt in the back yard, opened Easter baskets, and all got to participate in the service in the living room.  It turned out to be a nice day at home together.

During the church service at home the week before Easter.  Egg bunny decorating.  The boys took a couple to the people across the street.

Easter cookie decorating kit from a local coffee shop/bakery.

Waving a homemade "palm branch" during the service on Palm Sunday

Listening to one of the elders pray for the kids at home during the service this past week.

They both wanted to "match" and wear their vests

Note the tree house in the background

During the past few weeks at home Gabriel has been asking to sew things.  He's sewed some scraps of fabric together to make a bookmark and a small blanket for his stuffed animals.  He sewed two washcloths together and stuffed them to make a little pillow that he now has in his bed.  The washcloth with the two bunnies was from Easter a couple of years ago.  He calls the rabbits on there "Picket and Heather" from the Green Ember Series that we have been reading together.  During this time of being at home Taylor has also started reading the boys the Narnia books and I've been reading them the Winnie the Pooh books.

With so many out of work these days I am very thankful that Taylor and I are both able to work.  Taylor has been going to church and trying to get things done there (though I'm sure he misses going to his "office" at Mill Mountain and working while drinking tea).  My work has been slow, but is still open.  The workflow constantly changes and there are many people in healthcare without jobs right now.  Hours have been cut drastically for some of my immediate co-workers.  So, even though going to work isn't stressful due to it being busy we are still swabbing people for COVID and co-workers are worried about their reduced hours and what next week will hold.  I read somewhere that healthcare workers are experiencing "pre-traumatic stress syndrome."  We are waiting for a crisis situation that may or may not happen.  Elective and outpatient things are cancelled so healthcare systems are struggling financially while also trying to be prepared to meet the possible needs of the public in the coming weeks and months.

That all being said, Taylor and I have been home a lot more in the evenings.  No youth group, session meetings, home group, Ninja class, violin, soccer, etc.  I've had to adjust to us all being home for dinner more.  Taylor has been doing a lot more baking, which he is getting quite good at.  I have to say the chocolate orange scones and the doughnuts (especially with chocolate, salted caramel, and pretzels on top) are a favorite.

Play time with Daddy

And Corban is not to be left out.  He doesn't seem bothered about the end of preschool.  One of his teachers sent him a message to tell him "hello" a couple days ago and he didn't seem interested.  I think that he has enjoyed having Gabriel home more because they do have a lot of fun playing together.  He does miss having the house to himself though I think.  There have been several times that he has just curled up under a blanket and asked to be alone.  Sometimes he says "will you cuddle with me?"  He needs more quiet then Gabriel does and I'm glad that he realizes this sometimes and asks for it.  He is also now sharing Sara with Gabriel when she comes one day a week to watch them.  He hasn't plainly said he has a problem with this, but they had a really nice routine that he looked forward to. She picked him up from school, they ate lunch, he rested, he ate graham crackers, and they went on a walk where they always saw a bunny in a hutch nearby.  Simple but very important to him.

Corban has been working hard to learn to read.  He is working through the same 100 lesson book that Gabriel did when he was about Corban's age.  Corban recently got to lesson 50 and was very excited to be rewarded with a Black Panther action figure that he has been wanting.  Up until this his "prizes" have been various Star Wars Little Golden Books that he likes.  He is very proud of his new toy.

In addition, Gabriel has taken it upon himself to have Corban work on reading a book every morning when they wake up.  I have a box of early readers that I accumulated when Gabriel was learning.  Gabriel has started with the level 1 books and is having Corban try to read one to him and them us each morning when they get up.

Corban has always looked forward to taking Gabriel to OT once a week.  He likes the random toys and books in the waiting room and there was frequently another boy about his age waiting and he would bring toys for them to share.  Now when we go the OT meets Gabriel in the parking lot and we stay in the car.  The first week Corban was so sad about this, but I decided that since we have a DVD player in the car this is the perfect time to watch something.  This past week baby kitty Corban ("who will stay as little as a baby kitty forever") was excited to watch Aristocats.

So, all in all we are doing ok.  All depends on the day.  Or the hour of the day for that matter.  We are learning to be patient with one another (or how to better get on our brothers nerves when they need some space).  We are enjoying and learning from things that we wouldn't be otherwise that's for sure.

YouTube Ninja class with Coach Daniel