I feel like so much has happened but nothing at all. Time is a really strange concept and if there was ever a time that it was made blatantly obvious I have no life, it is definitely my time in quarantine. I miss people. I miss going to the movies and paying for outrageously priced concessions. I miss concerts. I miss going to Target to see if there is anything new in the dollar spot. I miss going to the bookstore to wander the aisles.
I miss going places and having
things to do.
Right now I have no concept of time. Sure, days go by but it feels like the last month has lasted forever and I have NOTHING to show for it. Not a thing. When I try to think about the first thing I would do when this over, the first thing in my head has always been, "What if it never ends?". What if our lives will never be the same? What if we'll never go to the movies again? See live music? Hug our friends? Be able to travel?
Clearly, my anxiety is on a roller coaster, so just ignore me.
Let's talk about life though.
The great thing is that while I'm not really losing weight, I seem to be losing inches. Which, I'll take it. My pants are all too big and some of my shirts are too. Incidentally, while moving I found a bunch of shirts I bought pre-Penelope and never got to wear. I've been excited trying things on and being pleasantly surprised they actually fit.
Oh Penelope. Penelope turns 5 next week, if you can believe it, and she is all about it. She asks if its her birthday EVERY SINGLE DAY, multiple times. I already have her presents here (I just have to wrap them), she informs me she wants hot dogs for her birthday dinner (oh yay), and I have to order her some kind of a unicorn birthday cake.
We've gotten to do some Google Hangouts with her teacher and class, but those are basically chaos with a bunch of preschoolers. She likes to see her teacher anyways and I know that she is missing kids.
Oh Lucy. Lucy also is desperately missing school and her teachers. She really doesn't understand why she can't go back and it breaks my heart. Her last day of school is actually May 7 and I am really sad about it. I feel like having her teacher post on the SeeSaw app every day is so important for her. Some days its a story, some days it is seeing the bunnies in her teacher's yard, or it is just a check in hello, but it has become kind of routine. I really worry about it when I tell her that is all done. I might keep "homeschooling" the girls and finding activities everyday because they are not as well behaved when they don't have that, oddly enough.
The weather here is just crap and every year I wonder how I made it through another winter and why do I stay and do it? It's not quite spring here (it is still freezing) but we try to get outside every day even for a little bit. It dawned on me my kids haven't be in a vehicle since mid-March. Isn't that crazy? But, Matt brought our bird feeder from the other house and so we are hoping some birds will find it in our new yard. I need some new ones though.
Easter happened. Easter was pretty low key. That was Penelope's basket. We are on year three of this one, still going strong. Some candy but mostly play things (bubble, chalk, bathtub paint, flower seeds, etc).
Same with Lucy. Oh, and a small notebook that had a scratch and sniff cover (which smell as gross as I remembered), but they also got a pogo stick (more on that later).
Olivia got some cards to send, new face wash, candy, face mask, and these
LED lights that go around the room. Same with Jackson. Matt help them put the lights up, and I wasn't allowed to get a picture, but they are pretty cool. They use an app on their phone to turn them on, and they can change the color or make them blink/strobe/etc. I totally would have liked that as a kid.
I only got one photo with all four kids but that's a step up because I usually don't even bother.
The big kids hid eggs all over the yard the night before, which was nice to hand that job down. Pep and Lu had
the best time running around looking for them.
A few years ago I got Olivia and Jackson this
pogo stick for Easter. They were terrible at it, and it took a year or so and then they got the hang of it. Penelope and Lucy so badly want to do it but those are way too big for them and I couldn't find a smaller version.
Thank
you, Internet ads, because I saw
these foam ones and I thought this would totally work. They are a foam block with a bungee attached to a handle. Super lightweight and the girls LOVE THEM. We've only used them inside (even though it squeaks, they can't bounce long enough for it to get annoying) but once it is reliable more dry outside we'll use them out there, too.
We've had some rather intense pogo battle stare downs. Clearly. But if you're looking for a different outside thing and you've exhausted bikes, scooters, yard games, try a pogo stick. They've actually been fun.
Real quick though: did anyone else have pogo sticks in gym class? Like elementary school? One school I was at had them but you were supposed to pogo from one end of the gym and back and I could not do it. I was a new kid at the school and it was
pretty clear these kids had extensive pogo experience and I had none because there was a time EVERYONE was at the end and I had only moved like six feet. At best.
Needless to say, I have very few good memories from gym class.
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