How We’re Surviving Right Now

Well, well, well. 

Things got crazy real fast! How are you all holding up?

I had to hunker down over here, as I’m sure many of you understand. I’m okay – we’re all okay here – but it took all the energy I could muster to make everything feel okay for my kids and for the last few weeks, that’s all I had in me. 

I think – fingers crossed – that we’re all settling into this new and strange state of limbo now . . . well, as much as one can “settle” under the weight of a thousand unanswerable questions. We have some routines, and we’re all feeling better about letting some things slide too. It doesn’t hurt that the temperature is hitting 70 degrees nearly everyday and we’re spending a lot of time enjoying the backyard sunshine. 

Here’s a little of what we’ve been doing, well the good stuff anyway. Keep in mind that there have also been tears, worry, pajamas until noon (or all day), bickering, and boredom. Everyone needs a haircut, I read the news way too much, and bed times have gone the way of the buffalo. There’s good, bad, and ugly over here too. 

We’ve had two (soon to be three and maybe even four) birthdays, which were different than we had planned, but were definitely still bright spots. 

Taking walks everyday is really what is keeping us all sane right now. Most days, we just walk on a hidden little trail right here in our own neighborhood. We’ve also ventured out to a few walking trails around town for a change of scenery. It’s extremely rare that we encounter anyone on these walks, and when we do, everyone gives a wide berth, so it feels safe. Although, we did recently encounter a pair of very aggressive geese while walking and had a moment where we actually had to run for our lives (ha!). 

There has been a lot of baking. The kids have made cupcakes a few times, and this Lemon Strawberry Cake made an appearance three days in row (once for breakfast!) before we ran out of fresh strawberries. We’ve made a lot of pizza on our pizza stone, homemade bread, and muffins everyday. I even joined the trend and ordered a sourdough starter. These chocolate chip cookies are my new favorite and Jamie’s Chocolate Cake has been eaten at all hours of the day. Good thing we’re taking all those long walks! 

We’ve still been having violin and piano lessons virtually, so the kids have been motivated to keep practicing. Their school teachers have sent some assignments through Google Classroom, mostly busy work, but the kids have been happy to have some work to do. I’ll share more school resources here soon, but really, we’re keeping things pretty low key. 

I attended my bookclub virtually last week, the kids have been video chatting with friends and cousins, and we’ve had some conversations with neighbors yelled from across the street. It’s not the same, but the virtual social contact has been really good for all of us. 

We’re reading everyday, but that’s no surprise. We have a lot of great books to tell you about, so stay tuned! 

The girls have picked up some embroidery that they started last summer and it’s been good to have handwork to turn to when they need some time to themselves. There’s also been a lot of coloring, painting, and clay work happening around here. I’m ordering yarn for a new knitting project too! 

I’ve never loved our KIWI Crate subscriptions more! You can read more of my unpaid review of Kiwico here, plus get a code for a big discount on your first box. Right now Esme (13) has the Maker Crate, Eila (12) has the Atlas crate, Ada (10) has the Doodle crate, and Rory (5) has the Kiwi Crate. They are pure happiness when they arrive in the mail! Esme had a punch pillow in her last kit (photo above) and it was so much fun for her! 

We’ve also been turning to the game closet every single day. I just updated our post of our favorite family games here with a few new ones that have been keeping us entertained. Here are our favorite preschool games too. 

And we’re so grateful for our backyard right now. We’ve been working in the garden, planting flowers, and jumping on the trampoline. It’s probably not really warm enough, but the kids have been in swimsuits with a sprinkler on the trampoline almost everyday. 

How about you? Are you holding up okay? What’s working for you right now? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. And, we’ll see you back here tomorrow!