Day 5

Day 5, March 18

I started my day with a 5 am run. Then I hit Walmart around 6:15 am and was freaked out by the lack of basic foods. Limited fresh fruit and veggies, very little fresh meat, no bread, no pasta or rice, very limited canned goods. I grabbed a few things and some toiletry items and came across some hand soap, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer so I grabbed a couple.

Home to get people up and then I hit Aldi. All I really needed was ground beef! Thankfully Aldi was a completely different story. Well stocked. The only thing they did not have was toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Got my beef and a few other items and left in a much better frame of mind!

Grandma came by for baking, bridge and Norwegian. The kids made almond bars, got a bridge lesson and got the assignment to learn the Norwegian birthday song on their instruments.

Both kids did a good job on their e-learning. We need to make playdough tomorrow to finish up Cole's art assignment. 

Brooke made us shepherds pie for dinner and we watched The Aeronauts (kids were not fans!)

In the news, first COVID-19 case in Kendall County today. We knew it was coming. Some towns are going on lockdown. I think that is coming too.

Day 4

Day 4, March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Started the day with Norwegian pancakes from Grandma and finding Leprechaun pee in our toilet. Always fun!

Today was a tough day.  A busy day of work for me and the kids' first day of e-learning. Cole had a list of tasks which he worked through in a couple of hours. Brooke had less (her principal said everything was starting up tomorrow) but she did work on a science project.

Greg got close to the end of his closet project. Just the upper shelf, a new light and hooks on each side wall to go.

                                                                          BEFORE

                                                                                    AFTER

It was cold, but sunny out so we took advantage of the sunshine. Kids played basketball, Greg cleaned the garage, I took Chewie for a walk, then Greg and the kids worked on pop flies in the field across the street.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our traditional meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes with Barb, Ken, Matt, Crystal, Greg, Carter and Hazel. It was so nice to see everyone.

No movie night tonight since company was here until after 8.

Day 3

Day 3, Monday, March 16

First day of no school. I got everyone up by 9 a.m. Cole was in charge of breakfast. He wanted to make biscuits and gravy so we had a cooking lesson and he made both from scratch.

It was a delicious breakfast!

I am working from home and Greg had to go into the office. Kids started the day with reading and practicing instruments. Then some screen time. It's hard to be working and staying on top of them at the same time. Hopefully tomorrow will be better when they have some specific e-learning assignments from their teachers. 

Following screentime, we did a blindfolded taste test. Lots of fun! 

The video was 13 minutes long, but here's a snippet.

The back to work and they watched a show. Kids played a couple games including the classic Chutes and Ladders which Cole won all 3 times. 

Brooke worked on an ELA project, Cole did Kahn Academy and then they were released for the day. Got the official e-learning email from the district. They have to check in by 10 a.m. each day and the teachers are supposedly prepping 5 hours of work...wow! We'll see how it all works out.

We had leftovers for dinner and watched an episode of Lost in Space.

Days 1 & 2

Day 1, Saturday, March 14

We found out yesterday that schools across the state will close March 17 through the end of the month. Yorkville kids will not go back next week. Y115 will use Monday the 16th to train teachers on e-learning. Kids will get instructions via email or canvas Monday night. So school will go on in some fashion. I got word Thursday night that Shaw was closing the office effective immediately. We are all working from home until April 3. Greg is still waiting to hear his office status, but with schools closed he will be home also.

Pretty normal Saturday, but strange to not have anywhere to be. No practice, no games. Greg and I picked up puzzles from Rosie and ran to Menards which was pretty calm. Picked up items to keep working on the front hall closet transformation. Later Greg ran to Aldi in hopes of burrito shells. Bread shelves empty, zero produce and meat, no canned goods, no cleaning or paper products...and no shells. He did come home with a bag of pretzels and 2 gallons of milk! We made rice and beans and heated up leftover taco meat for tacos. We talked about why we are socially isolating after dinner. B is having a hard time understanding why she can't see her friends. We watched A series of unfortunate events and had Swiss cake rolls. Church is still on but Sunday school and confirmation class have been canceled so we will not go. The 30 hour famine with the youth at church has been postponed.

Day 2, Sunday, March 15

Another kind of lazy day. I feel like it will get real tomorrow. I went to a small baby shower for Maggie Davis. Greg had a coaches meeting at Flight. I went into Jewel for potatoes and frozen veggies for B's dinner this week. It was busy but not insane. I was going to grab bread...but no bread to be found. We do have a whole loaf so it will be fine. Homemade Mac and cheese with ham in it for dinner and we watched Frozen 2 which Disney released to Disney plus months early. A nice gesture. Today the governor mandated all restaurants and bars close to dine in patrons beginning tomorrow night. What a strange world we are suddenly living in. I told B this is a story she will share with her kids and grandkids. We are living through a hugely historical event. Cole and I did our video diary entry. Made a tentative plan for tomorrow. Wish us luck!