Day 30

Since there was no school today and the weather was cold and gloomy I decided it was clean out the closet day! Everyone was really excited about this. We sorted through the kid's closets and pulled out the clothes they have out grown. Now to maintain the tidiness!

Grant and I played 4 games of Catan and I still couldn't beat him! Brandon would pop out of the office to check on us and every once and while. Elizabeth picked the afternoon movie of Sing. Brandon wrapped up his work day and started on the fence. I went out to help prime. It was cold, very cold. The paint was freezing and my fingers were numb. Elizabeth wants to make masks so she worked on cutting out the fabric. I'll set the sewing machine up tomorrow.

Kids ate dinner a little earlier, but I sat down at 7:50. Brandon tried to send them to bed, but was quickly reminded that he had promised them a game of Ticket to Ride. He was the big winner and at 9:00 we all went to bed! Auggie was so ready!

Day 29 - Easter

Easter Sunday - COVID-19 Style. Well this day is full of a lot of firsts so I thought it would be fun to make a list...

Showered and dressed in non sweatpants!

Things we have never done on Easter before:
- This is our first Easter in our new house!
- Grant got a haircut
- Zoom Heller Easter
- We all got up, showered, put on nice clothes for no other reason then it is Easter - ok I guess we actually do the every year, it just seems special this year!
- We didn't watch church in our jammies
- We hunted eggs, got ready, had a nice breakfast, Heller Zoom and then went to church (it was really nice and relaxed and not rushed like it sometimes is)
- Went for a 10 mile bike ride - rode home against the wind and spitting rain
- Sat in the hot tub
- Easter dinner, just the 4 of us

She might outgrow this dress before anyone sees it! It was supposed to be her first communion dress. The shoes will fit  me when she is done with them!

Very quiet day. Brandon struggled to just relax. He fixed the crank on our window and a drawer on the outdoor grill just so he could feel productive! Some of us relax easier than others!

It was so much fun hiding eggs in the new house. Grant found the golden egg. It had two $5 bills in it. After a brief moment of contemplation he said "I think I'd like to share the money with Lizzie". Good choice - Brandon put two bills in the egg as a test- he passed! There were no easter baskets this year. Instead we told the kids they could shop for something they really wanted.

We also Facetimed with Aunt Sandy and the Campbells. The kids had made catapults to launch Peeps so they had a competition. The Paulis won with 165 inches! We played Catan and I won!. We had agreed that Brandon had to get 11 points to win and the rest only 10. However, I would like the record to show he only had 9 at the end of the game ;)

The real cherry on the Easter Bunny cake came at bedtime. Although the kids did make us brownies sundaes which were delicious! I was tucking Grant in and he asked for the third time if we were the ones that hid the eggs. It was time. I responded with the standard "What do you think?" He grinned and nodded his head, yes. He was pretty quick with the follow-up question - Santa? Why do we have elves? When I told Elizabeth there were no follow up questions, she was way too upset about Santa to think about anything else! I think Grant just felt very witty for figuring it all out. He was not mad at all. I called the rest of the family in to let them know that Grant was in on the secret and we stressed the importance on keeping the spirit alive the ones that still do believe. Brandon also clarified the tooth fairy in case there was any question about that. We promised them that the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa will still come visit them and that it brings us joy to continue to do it for them. I honestly went to bed with such a sense of relief.

Sorry, dear Easter Bunny, but you have always been a little creepy and I had no idea how to loop you into the He has Risen - you know the real reason for Easter!! Of course we have some work to do there too. When I tucked Grant in Saturday I said, "Dude you know what is so cool about Easter? The tomb was empty" He said "Yeah, Jesus was alive right? There are so many names in the Bible mom, it is hard to keep them straight. Jesus, Bethlehem..." "Um honey, Bethlehem, is a location, not a person"  He also thought it was the last breakfast, not the last supper!

Having a conversation with Grant sometimes is very difficult. Let me just try to give you a very simple example. Auggie gets a special dental bone every morning. "Grant, did you give Auggie her bone?" Grant: "What do you mean?"  What do I mean?! I mean what I just asked - DID YOU GIVE AUGGIE HER BONE?  Sorry, I digress...

So Covid Easter was weird, but most of the days are. Nothing really seems normal. Depending on which news channel you watch you don't know if this is going to last until August or be done at the end of April. So many different versions of the same story. My bigger concern is that when we go back to what was our normal before, it will then feel abnormal too. Our physical environments are moving slow but our mental spaces are really in constant motion just trying to figure out how to manage all of this.

Easter Zoom

Ham, homemade rolls, au gratin potatoes and at the last minute we remembered we needed a vegetable!

Elizabeth and the Peep catapult 

Elizabeth dyed a few eggs while Grant made brownies. Yes she only got 3, and Brandon will eat them . A few weeks ago we couldn't get eggs so no more wasting eggs, even if they are cheap!

Day 28

Saturday...the weekend...everyday is really starting to feel the same. Yesterday was an especially long day. For not particular reason, it just felt really long. Our bodies are feeling all of the fence work too. Everything just hurts. Brandon is cycling through ice packs and pain meds. We did start with coffee and conversation and Brandon treated us to our last Dunkin Donuts. He swore them off two years ago when they got rid of their nut donuts (their best donuts, in his opinion) and in a moment of weakness he stopped there again after running to Menards, only to learn that they have also discontinued the chocolate filled, powdered sugar donuts. So he is officially done with the DD. The Paulis are no longer running on Dunkin.

We started painting the fence and then we had the marvelous surprise of back-up help. My parents showed up to help. We are very fortunate they they really seem to enjoy other people's projects. The kids were wonderful and they served us lunch outside. Painting in pairs with proper social distancing was a big win. We finished one side with a few hours to spare before the rain came. Elizabeth even lost a tooth in the middle of the day. She only has one more tooth to lose!

In order to thank the kids for such great cooperation the last few days we let them pick dinner. Two trips later to Taco Bell (they forgot half of our order the first time) and we had our bellies full. A game of Ticket to Ride (which I won - big - but couldn't whoop it up because EB was crying because she fell short one track) and a little Ultimate Beast Master and it was lights out. The Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy don't come until everyone is asleep!

Day 27

Good Friday. I actually woke up thinking it was Saturday. Keeping the days straight is a real struggle. Brandon decided to take the day off so he could work on the fence. I went out and joined him a little later and by the end of the day we had the whole westside primed and ready for paint - Saturday's mission.

Proof of my painting and face touching :)

The kids were really good keeping busy entertaining themselves. Amber had sent a Peeps STEM project so they spent much of their day building a raft that would float and keep their Peep dry. It was national sibling day and they really got a long quite well. While I ran to the paint store for more supplies - literally the only shopping I have gone out to do in 4 weeks - Elizabeth made Grandma Briggs' chocolate chip cookie bars.

We treated ourselves to some take-out from Avantis. I think we sat down at 7:50...these dinner times are getting out of hand.  One more day of hard work and then we have to take a rest and spend it with the kids. Plus it will be Easter and I already declared no grinding rust off the fence on Easter!

Happy National Sibling Day

Day 26

First day of our 2nd spring/Easter break! We started with a little schoolwork this morning, followed by some reading time. I did some cleaning and then we played Catan. The kids were kind of at each other so I decided to read them the suggested bible reading for today, seeing as it is Maundy Thursday. When I finished I asked them "What do we call this event that I just read about?" Grant: "Oh I know - the last breakfast!" I mean really does he just do this to honk me off or does he really not know?! Don't worry Elizabeth got it right ;)

We played a few more rounds of Catan. I lost all the games. We had lunch and then Elizabeth requested an afternoon trip to the hot tub. It was so windy. Grant brought a kick board in and could not sit still. My new expression is I need the Good Grant. The Good Grant is such a good boy and I told him that the other day...I need more of the Good Grant! Just keeping it positive. I know he is bored. So am I! We all are! Heck, I even went and just sat with Brandon while he worked today! It's going to be a long 5 day weekend!

After hot tub time was movie time. I had technical difficulties and it took forever to get it up and going. We watched Peter Rabbit and I might have dozed for a minute, but awoke to Grant sticking his fingers up my nose and Brandon at the door egging him on! I was not happy. Such a good movie regardless of my interrupted nap.

The weather has turned real cold. Brandon was back and fourth on if he was going to work on the fence. When it started SNOWING his decision was solidified! What in the world - no breaks from mother nature.

He did brave the elements and grilled out cheeseburgers for us. We didn't eat until 7 and then decided to watch the finale of LegoMasters. Today has felt like a really long day.

Day 25

The last day of school for the week. On the original school calendar we were off Thursday and Friday and then Monday also. The last thing we need right now is another vacation day! But all of those "can do" assignments will get some time on Thursday and Friday :)

Schoolwork outside! I didn't get a picture of Elizabeth in the swing, but everyone enjoyed a little outdoor school time!

Brandon's office looks more like a cave of monitors!

Elizabeth had piano lessons in the morning and it took most of the morning to get the schoolwork wrapped up. I pulled weeds - by myself while catching up with Aunt Sandy. Lunch was leftovers. I went out and mowed and then we took a bike ride. I was hoping we could make it a little further then we did, but 3 miles is all they had in them! We had a birthday car parade for our old neighbor and got home just before the storm rolled in. Which was good because we had windows opened that needed to be closed. It was also great timing to send Brandon to the store. I asked to take a picture of him with his buff, but he wouldn't let me. He did say he had his face covered while he shopped. The rain meant that we got a night off from the fence work. We tried to make our favorite pizza at home and came pretty darn close to it tasting like the real deal - with the exception that we ate on real plates and had a spinach salad. Two things that wouldn't happen if we ate the pizza there! We ate at 7:00ish, but I had made pretzels at 5:00 to tide the kids over.

The kids watched some Brady Bunch and Brandon and I sat in the front room and played "name that tune" - who has ever heard of Rush??

Day 24

We had a rough start this morning. Grant was up with the birds starting his work, but his work was reading comprehension which is not his favorite and it shows. After 30 minutes of trying to explain what the word mind means in the sentence "no, you didn't mind me yesterday" meant - I finally said - "What would you do if you were at school?" He grinned and said "I would think real hard and then we would work in partners!" So you want me to be your partner? "YEP!" Here is the problem with this group project - one partner is pulling a lot more weight than the other!

Elizabeth woke up and ran for 20 minutes and then took a shower. And here we went again with everyone working at their own speed wanting breakfast at different times. Do you know what happens when you eat breakfast at different times? You want lunch at different times! My lack of being able to put a schedule in place is frustrating to me!

It was chicken nuggets for everyone for lunch. Brandon had bought a big bag at Alwan's which turns out taste exactly like McDonald's. I'll let you decide if that is a pro or con. After lunch it was weed pulling time. Phrases that might have been overheard..."We are Paulis. We play hard because we work hard." "Perspiring does not mean you need a break - it's hot - we are all hot, but unless you are stroking out on me - toughen up!" "Just go inside." "No, you can't change jobs again, you have only been doing this one for 2 minutes." There was pouting, shouting and tears. Want to guess those emotions up with the right person...Grant is the pouter, I am the shouter and Elizabeth is the crier. We got through it but it wasn't pretty.

We worked on another section of the fence and had dinner at 7:30. Apparently Grant told Briggs - "I got to eat another snack - we don't eat dinner until like 8:00!"