Can't Stop Us Now

We have a standing date with the Groden family each year to participate in their "Passover for (mostly) non Jewish families" and we were not going to let a global pandemic stop us this year! We just had to make a few minor adjustments. For starters, we didn't have to go anywhere and we carried out the Seder on Zoom. Secondly, I had to cook a lot more than I typically do, but who cares? It was fun and what else to do when stuck at home on a Saturday but cook? I had my assistants here to help. Chris made the Charoset...

Jonathan helped make the matzo balls for the soup...

In place of the lamb shank, I roasted some beets (for the first time ever)...

And of course I made the potato kugel which is the dish I usually bring to Danna's house...

Due to the nature of things at grocery stores, I was unable to find horseradish but aside from that, our Seder plate was complete! We also made it a vegan Seder plate and meal from start to finish!

It was a very fun evening, different because we couldn't actually hug our friends but it was as great a substitution as possible!

It was fun to dress up too! Mostly we've all been hanging out each day in comfy clothes and it felt great to dress up for a few hours. Jonathan even wore buttons... by choice!

Who me?

Me? Steal food while you're not looking? How could you even begin to think of me like that? When have I ever stolen anything? When have I waited until you weren't looking to snag food off the counter? When have I ever jumped up on the bench and swiped your child's peanut butter and jelly sandwich right out of their hands? When have I waited for the doorbell to ring before getting up from under the table while you ran to answer it and hopped up to the counter to eat the whole block of tofu you were planning on cooking for dinner? I am just an innocent pup, wrongful accused of misdeeds. I implore you! Observe how I sit so patiently, waiting for you to summon me into the playroom so you can eat in peace. I am such a good hound dog. I would never do anything to cause a loss of food in this household. Never...

Our Backyard

As many of you know, we are planning to move back to New York in the summer to be with our family and friends. Today in Kansas, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and I just sat out back soaking in everything. Here is a little video so I remember the peacefulness of our backyard. Of course, there is a kid with no shirt and two dogs barking but it was as good as it gets!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy7kH_x5YKs&feature=youtu.be

Crazy Doggies

After dinner it was so nice out so we all went out and watched some backyard entertainment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSi2vGRUMMM&feature=youtu.be

Spring

In the fall, I tried planting tulip bulbs for the first time and they came into full bloom today! Very exciting. Also, Jonathan had to build a house for his pet "Athena" today. He made it out of fort magic and Holly was wondering if she could come in too!

We also measured our iris sprouts and they are up to 6 inches...

Also, this is what social distancing is starting to look like...

Stuff

Here are some things we've been up to recently...

We've been fortunate with the weather but even in the rain, we need to take a walk. It actually wasn't too bad out and when we were out, the sun came out. Today it is chilly though! There were mini icicles on our fountain this morning.

Jonathan had several fun activities this week. He had a couple of his specials including Spanish with Señora Meli! It was a lot of fun and I think he enjoyed class from his beanbag chair...

Mommy learned a thing or two also! We also did a Zoom with some friends from class and his teachers. The parents are taking turns hosting a "story time" and yesterday was our turn to read! Jonathan chose The Day the Crayons Quit. It was fun!

One of the things his teacher asked the kids to do was create a page for an alphabet book. They posted a video of the teachers reading an ABC book and each child was assigned a letter. Here is Jonathan's page. He made jelly, a jug and Jonathan holding a jar...

Chris has also been doing his dance classes via Zoom. Thank God for that! Here is the only picture I was allowed to get...

He usually emerges from the playroom sweaty, rosy cheeked and happy so we'll take that as a win! Jonathan wanted to show off his moves too. This was supposed to be a slow motion video but for some reason it didn't upload as one. Nevertheless, it is funny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3hMu9im5pQ&feature=youtu.be

This morning we picked up breakfast at Eggtc in an attempt to support one of our favorite local restaurants and now the boys are watching Looney Toons (J) and customizing cars online (C). Yes, the older of our children is a "car guy." We hung out watching Jay Leno's Garage on CNBC last night and I'm pretty sure Chris knows almost as much as Jay about the cars he talks about!

This Week in School

We've had some absolutely beautiful weather this week and we've been outside quite a bit. There was some tape left after our chalk walk last week so fit in one last driveway mural yesterday...

Jonathan's class has a a Facebook page where he posts (or I post, really) different activities that we do throughout the day. Yesterday, his teachers posted a video where they read a story to the class and they asked the kids to draw a picture and "write" about their favorite character in the book. Here is Jonathan's entry where he chose "cupcake" as his favorite character...

Jonathan was also continuing his recycling project at home and made a representation of Athena out of recycling things from our house...

Today, J's art teacher asked the children to create a picture of their pet or favorite stuffed animal. In keeping with the Athena theme, he used colored pencils and markers to show his favorite pup...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33cEmXjZSnI&feature=youtu.be

A Love Story...

Beans is in love.

That's right, our younger pup has met her match. Our neighbors next door used to have a basset hound named Sidney. Sadly, Sidney passed last year. Recently, through the fence next door, we saw the next generation of basset hound to follow in Sidney's footsteps. Meet Humphrey!

A word about Humphrey's name--when we first met him, he was known as Bogie. According to our neighbors, he wouldn't respond to that name so they changed it to Humphrey (as in Humphrey Bogart). And yes, he is as cute in person as he is in the pictures. Anyway, Athena is lovestruck! She waits by the fence until Humphrey comes to his side of the fence to visit. She would stay there all day if she could! Some might refer to this as stalking...

She even hides behind the bushes while waiting. Anyway, once Humphrey comes to the fence and starts whining, Athena runs over and starts barking which then spurs Holly to bark (doesn't take much!) and then Humphrey barks too. It's like a Hound Dog Fest! Jonathan loves Humphrey too and insists on calling him Bogie. Bogie for life!

Here are some other things we've been up to...

Watching The Honeymooners:

Baking cookies:

Measuring our irises that are starting to come up:

Practicing yoga which now needs to be done online, via Zoom:

And this, because we didn't get a proper St. Patrick's Day celebration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL-oiT9XTco&feature=youtu.be

Yes, we do have another child but he prefers that I don't take his picture while he is doing his online learning through school! 

Chalk Your Walk

People are finding all manner of ways to keep their kids busy during this social distancing era of life. A friend of mine saw and suggested this "Chalk Your Walk" thing where you decorate your sidewalk and/or driveway and she also showed us how to make these "taped" pictures! We put the sidewalk chalk to good use on this beautiful day!

Also, we tried a new real estate strategy!

Although we've been sticking to somewhat of a schedule, the boys are technically still on spring break. Starting Monday, Chris will be getting more regular work and Jonathan will have some activities too. However, our day consists of new ways of communicating and getting around. We did a FaceTime with Grammy and also with Bennett. We also took a nice walk/bike ride on a "new" street after lunch. Our field trips consisted of curb side pick up of dog food in Brookside and dropping off Cameron's iPad at his house. While on this last mission, we saw Christopher's art teacher walking her dogs and then Cameron came out and, from 6 feet away, caught up with Chris. We also chatted with his teacher. I think everyone is becoming more social, albeit from a distance, but I've had more conversations with people who are walking by because we are all craving the interaction! Meanwhile, our dogs are super happy because we are here at the house all the time and they are getting unlimited attention!

What's Happening

Throughout this odd time of being at home so much, people everywhere are getting creative and figuring it all out. For starters, although the economy may be having many issues at the moment, I would highly recommend investing in companies that make sidewalk chalk...

Parents everywhere are sending their children out to see how much of the driveway they can cover in an afternoon!

Another thing that's happening in our house is: Athena is looking cute as usual and both dogs are getting completely spoiled. They do not want this "stay at home" business to stop!

Many of the boys' lessons and classes are going online for the moment. Today, Jonathan had his yoga session via Zoom and also got to chat with a number of his friends from school via Zoom as well. It was really fun! And I'm learning quickly how to make all of these things work. Yesterday, we had church from our couch in our PJs on Facebook:

Christopher's dance classes will also be a combination of videos posted on the school website and Zoom classes starting tomorrow. Chris watched a few of Joseph's videos today and learned "Vanishing Lake," a new set. Now that we don't have the dance floor in the playroom, Chris has moved to the driveway to try out his new steps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-hCC0-pxbA&feature=youtu.be

"Ordinary" Saturday Morning...

Why not document an ordinary Saturday (which is actually starting to look like every other day of the week except Daddy doesn't have to park himself at his "work station" also known as the dining room)? I wish I had pictures of the first thing this morning but I'll just tell you about it. I went to Target to see if I could get my hands on some paper towels. I was there about ten minutes before it opened and we were all kind of just standing in the parking lot (six feet away from each other of course) and waiting in the cold for the doors to open. Everyone was silent. I was thinking of saying, "You guys! We have a chance right now to talk to multiple people before we have to return to our homes--let's have '6 feet away conversations'!" Alas I did not say that but it would have been interesting to see who would have taken the bait. It is the midwest after all... I just needed two things at the store (paper towels being one of them). When the doors opened everyone who had been standing 6 feet away from the next person went right into the toilet paper aisle and were, therefore, 6 inches from the next person. I was able to get my paper towels which were in an adjacent aisle. I made it home in one piece and proceeded to wash my hands for 20 seconds while singing Lizzo in my head...

Meanwhile at home, this is how our kids were spending the morning while I was the sacrificial shopper...

Jonathan was assembling Legos:

Chris was working on developing his car company (I'm not kidding, the kid is going to have a business plan and a patent by the end of this quarantine!):

Holly was getting cozy on the couch:

And Athena was working hard at being cute:

Meanwhile, Daddy is on the elliptical and I went for a walk/run. I probably ran more than I should have but that is what this being home bound stuff is doing to me!