Friday Things #363
Hello friends!
So, the last week to 10 days has been absolute insanity, am I right? How are you holding up? Are you holed up at home, do you still need to go into work, are you trying to homeschool kids? I’d love to hear where everyone is right now, both physically and mentally.
We’ve been in a self-imposed self-quarantine since last Wednesday, so we are on Day 10 of not leaving our house. The boys’ school closed on Friday along with the rest of the state, but we had pulled them out a few days before that on our own. So, we’ve been here and have been ordering groceries when needed and avoiding anyone outside of our immediate family to try to give everyone a fighting chance at beating this thing. Just taking one day at a time and thankful every morning when we all wake up healthy.
Needless to say, there’s nothing too terribly exciting to report since we’ve been pretty consumed with what’s going on and haven’t left our house. But here’s a peek at what we’ve been doing…
About a week and a half ago, Joseph lost ANOTHER tooth! When he went for a cleaning at the dentist two weeks ago, she said the other bottom tooth was pretty loose and the top two were starting, as well. Crazy!
The kids wore green for St. Patrick’s Day ☘
Since the boys are only in preschool, we don’t have any mandated learning or teaching we need to do, but Dominic’s teacher set up Zoom meetings for the days they would have been in school and they have their 15 minutes of “carpet time” together. They sing their hello and goodbye songs, she taught them a new letter, read a book, and yesterday they did a virtual show and tell. Joseph and Isabelle love sitting in, too 😄
At Dominic’s parent/teacher conference a couple of months ago, his teacher mentioned that he really loved (and is good at) puzzles. After that, he started doing them more at home, on his own, and with ease. This week, he completed a 72-piece puzzle with very little help from me. He’s definitely in the zone with a puzzle (boy after my own heart!).
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I’ve enjoyed having the free time to just sit and color with them for an extended time, or build something together, or read book after book, but full disclosure: these are LONG days. The boys are used to having school, Isabelle is used to getting out of the house and running errands, they all miss swim lessons, etc… so it’s definitely been an adjustment as we try to fill the time and keep everyone entertained and happy.
Luckily, the weather has been decent so the kids have been able to spend time outside most days.
We’ve also done a number of baking projects, including chocolate chip cookies, soft pretzels, hot cross buns (testing an updated/improved recipe!), and challah (in order to test a new French toast casserole!). Speaking of baking, I’ve noticed my homemade bread recipes have been getting tons of traffic, likely because so many stores are out of bread. If you’re interested, these are the most popular: my favorite white bread / Italian bread / ciabatta bread.
I’ve thought about my grandma so much this week; she lived through the great depression and never wasted a single thing; she would plan everything around the grocery store sales flyers, kept her freezer and pantry stocked, and would put an item on her grocery list when she opened the last one (not once it was already nearly used up!). She would reuse aluminum foil, plastic ricotta containers, wrapping paper, and anything else she could think of. I have found myself this week rationing paper towels and Clorox wipes, and never in my life did I think I’d utter the words, “well, I couldn’t get regular potatoes or broccoli, but I did get the sweet potatoes that were in my order”. Perhaps it had been naive of me, but I now have such a deeper appreciation for how my grandma lived her life ❤️️
TV Shows to Watch!
We just finished season 3 of The Crown and can we please hurry up with season 4? Love that show! A few weeks ago, someone asked if I had a big list of all the shows that we’ve watched and enjoyed, so over the last week I worked to put all of our favorites into a document for you since I figured everyone might be in need of some binge-watching right about now! You can see it HERE.
And if any of you have any suggestions, we’re still looking for the next thing to watch, so leave recommendations in the comments below!
Sweet Pups
TGIF to you! Our kids have loved playing fetch with the dogs in the house and out in the yard. I hope that you and your family continue to stay safe and healthy and make the most of this time we are all relegated to our own little patch of Earth, xoxo
I am part of the administrative team for our small Setting IV Special Education school district in southern MN. I’ve had to be at work every day as we develop plans for implementing distance learning. I am dealing with an organizational nightmare of keeping a school district afloat and moving forward, managing the safety and anxieties of parents and staff, all while dealing with my own fears and trying to keep things calm in my home. I’ve seen some of the best in people as our Education Assistants have volunteered to care for the children of our teachers while they prepare and plan, deep clean classrooms, and prepare materials to go home for students. A local farm where I help out on the weekends is donating their unsellable eggs to local food banks and families in need. Another local farm opened up their root cellar and sold out of 10,000 lbs of organic carrots as people bought for food shelves, friends, and neighbors, Eventually my admin team will be running materials to all students in their homes/group homes/to their social workers every week. This is a colossal organizational undertaking. I am desperately sad for the many people in this country who are out of (or will be out of) work, the small businesses that will close. I want to fix it all and, while I know I can’t fix it, what I can do in the meantime is plug away at my own little corner of the world to make life better for those around me: our students, our neighbors, and our local businesses. Together we WILL get through this. Please keep posting pictures of your children and your dogs!!! They totally make me remember the GOOD THINGS!!! And they make me smile. Stay safe, everyone.
We just started this new show; https://www.netflix.com/title/80244781
and just started Sherlock on Netflix ! Wow!! We had watched Elementary all these years and loved it
Hello everyone from locked down CA. I will be off work for awhile unrelated to this virus so being at home is weird timing or Sovereign timing really. I’ve been thinking a lot about my Grandma too. She was frugal for as long as I was blessed to have her and my Grandpa in my life. She re-used cereal bags, she taught me to boil down the hard end of broccoli stalks..she would peel off the firm outer part of the stalk and slice them up showing me they “tasted just like arty-choke hearts..” she would dunk them in mayo and I still have done this occasionally with broccoli stalks. She too would shop by the sales, she built care boxes for family with staple goods and household items. Grandma loved simple pleasures, having the basics and not excess and she loved the Lord. So miss her
But she gives me a focus during these uncertain times that we in faith know it is well.
I’m still working, though I took today off – just because. The Federal government hasn’t sent us home so I’m trying to keep my distance from co-workers & sanitize my work space., while trying to get tax refunds out to those who I’m sure can use them. I had groceries delivered yesterday – a luxury but necessary for those of us seniors with health issues. My order was messed up so I’ll probably not use Instacart again. I’ve been recommending Scholastic’s free lessons to family & friends. I watched the Pre-K lesson on bunnies yesterday & it was delightful. https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html. Stay well at home with your littles.
It’s unfortunate that your first experience with Instacart was messed up. I’ve been using Instacart for 4+ years and would be lost without it. I’ve had one bad experience. I ordered from them yesterday and the store was out of so many things (still is) but the shopper was great, offering alternatives tony choices.
Actually it was the 4th time I’d used Instacart. I think the delivery person must’ve pulled multiple orders at the same time because I got some items I didn’t order, while missing other things. And my frozen things were lukewarm. Hopefully the others reported the wrong items so this person isn’t allowed to work anymore. Very frustrating. Some of the grocery stores are offering early a.m. hours for seniors, so I’ll go there myself. BTW – just heard that I’m laid off with pay. I’m relieved.
The Morning Show on Apple+ is pretty good. Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrel are in it.
Here are some of the Netflix series and movies I always recomend, some new and some old:
Anne With an “E”
Wind River
Last Tango in Halifax
The Hundred Foot Journey
Chocolat
The Duchess
Safe by Harlan Coben
If you run out of things to watch (as if!), for a $60 donation to PBS, you gain access to their programming. I love what they have to offer and consider that an excellent use of my donation dollars. Stay safe and healthy!
My life hasn’t changed at ALL (I’m a tax accountant and so I have zero social exposure this time of year anyway, haha – although we are encouraging clients and staff to handle things by email and phone whenever possible). My husband is having to work from home now, though, and he is starting to feel like the walls are closing in on him! My sister-in-law is stuck at home with 3 kids (ages 6, 4, and almost-1) and her husband is deployed overseas, so she is getting desperate. Something I mentioned to her that I’ll pass along here, too, in case it would be helpful to anyone – Audible has opened up a completely free (no membership, no login, no payment info) section at stories.audible.com with FREE audiobooks for kids ages 0-18. It’s great for screen-free family time!
Wishing you all happy, healthy, full-of-good-memories days as we all navigate through this craziness. <3
Thank you for the heads up on Audible!! We haven’t delved into audiobooks yet for the kids, and this may be the perfect time!
Luther with Idris Elba is very good.
You’ve got some great shows on your list! There’s a 5th season of Line of Duty that’s not on Hulu yet and I might treat myself to a month of Acorn or get it from Amazon. My fav shows that aren’t on your list are (Netflix) Glitch, Wanted, and Call the Midwife and (Amazon) Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Downton Abbey. Hang in there, we’ll get through this!
To add to your tv list
Amazon prime- Sneaky Pete is really good- I’m currently on season 2, I think there are 3 released
Netflix- Sex Education is great! Just finished season 2, I think season 3 won’t be released until next year.
Also- have been watching Schitts Creek which is very funny for something light.
While I always enjoy Friday things, now more than ever I appreciate your sharing how your family gets through the day. As a 65-year old, with a 97-year old Dad that I help out with shopping, cooking (with lots of leftovers for the rest of the week!), and cleaning, we’ve been keeping busy around our two houses while “sheltering in place”. I’m the one with the health condition, so I started staying home a few days before you did, except for Dad. Thankfully, I got him an iPad so he can download books-our library shut down last week, at least until April. And our church did a rush job to start streaming services, etc., and I can hook my Mac to his TV. I’m, as my sister said, in “anticipatory boredom”. Good thing I’m a bit of a loner anyway. And I may have to bake bread this weekend, given the circumstances. Made your Irish soda bread last weekend to go with the corned beef-excellent! Wanted to make the rye one, but the nearby market didn’t have rye flour, so I subbed in whole wheat at the same ratio. Worked fine. Will be checking your other bread recipes. I appreciate your concise instructions as I’m new to bread baking. Stay safe, keep up the good work, Peace, Buddy.
Shakespeare and Hathaway is a great show. Its a BBC one, I watch it on PBS. Watch it with a cup of tea! Super charming.
Me and my 2 younger kids have been staying in but my oldest son works at Giant Eagle and my husband is a police officer at a Pittsburgh hospital. So they have to go to work in all this. I make them shower when they get home! Lol
Please thank your son and husband for working through this stressful time. They are doing important work. I made a quick stop at Wholey’s today and tried to remember to thank all the team members I dealt with in the store.
I was happy to read you and you sweet family are healthy and holding up.
It seems like we are all living in some kind of horror movie, fighting an invisible enemy that we really don’t know much about. even with all of our knowledge and medical expertise, we were so unprepared for this on so many levels. Life as we knew it will never be the same after all this is over.
On another note, I noticed, in one of the pictures, rows of 3×5 cards taped onto a wall. I am guessing those are site words for Joseph? I used to make individual ” flip books” for each of my kindergarten kids with the class site words and additional words master individually. I just punched a hole in the upper left corner and used a large metal ring. The kids loved adding “pages” to their books when they learned a new and they really enjoyed flipping and reading.
We also made flip books with picture clues…an alphabet book with a picture to cue or a color book with the color word written in the color…all promoting early literacy skills.
Hi Nancy, Yes this all feels so surreal! I never thought I would witness something cripple virtually the entire world, it’s astounding.
And yes, those are Joseph’s sight words! They learn two new ones each week at school, and then the cards are sent home with them. He’s loving figuring out reading!
Thank you for this look at your children and your life with them. I enjoyed it very much as my first thing this morning. I also want to thank you for the list of television shows to watch. We can’t get out of the Blacklist and sometimes watch several episodes at a time. That’s saying a lot since I don’t watch tv as a habit. The computer is my game. I’m no longer much of a cook since we are quite old by today’s standard (82 and 92) and we don’t eat much. It seems ridiculous to cook for the two of us. Entertaining is a thing of the past, but I’ll read the recipes every time.
You’re not watching the Great British Baking Show LOL?! We just started watching Shameless (Netflix) and my guilty pleasure is Lucifer (Netflix).
Glad to hear your family is fine. I don’t have small children at home anymore. My daughter and I work for a school district and and were on Spring Break last week. As the schools are currently closed we are working passing out lunches to students everyday. Everyone stay safe!!!
I can’t believe it’s only been 10 days. My public health/epidemiologist friends estimate that we’re in this for four months – day by day, right? My kids are 8 and 13, and we both work full time. I just want my kids to retain a love of learning – I’m not thinking that we can homeschool or anything – that’s just unrealistic.
Watch Succession! And you did Downton Abby, right?
I’d love to hear what you’re making every night – I love to cook but we usually do takeout 1x a week or so and it’s hard to cook 7x a week (plus lunches, plus breakfasts…)
Hi Sally, We haven’t watched Downton Abby! We watched the first episode or two but really weren’t into it :(
As for dinners, we had fish sticks and pierogies last Friday, pasta on Sunday, then we’ve also had chicken nuggets and my crock pot mac and cheese, homemade pizza, and chicken enchiladas. I try to make enough so we can repurpose for at least one other meal (it doesn’t always make that much!) and save some cooking.
Glad to see Friday Things. Brings a sense of normalcy!! I’m working on an afghan from Attic 24’s blog called cupcake stripe. Need to keep my hands busy. There’s also a new movie today on Amazon Prime that takes place in New England called Blow the Man Down. Got good reviews in the paper today so I got that cued up. Ready for another day on the roller coaster!!! Stay safe everyone.
We just binge watched “Hunters” on Amazon prime and loved it. It has some violent scenes but also includes a bit of comic relief, and we thought Al Pacino was very good. The storyline is great. Definitely recommend!
My parents both lived through the Depression years and did so many of the things you mention about your grandma! I hope you and your adorable kids and the rest of the family stay well.
These are weird times, for sure.
Thank you for keeping this tradition despite all the turmoil in our world.
I understand and feel your introspection. I’ve thought of what is really important, and it’s been easy to set priorities. My dad is elderly and lots of medical conditions. I’m limiting any out of house time to urgent store trips and checking on him. Nothing of any social nature.
Many here in Maryland have not heeded the guidance. Earlier in the week, a local county park (with a fantastic playground) was closed to vehicle traffic as over 250 people were observed on the equipment by Parks & Rec. Undeterred, they’re now parking on a nearby thoroughfare and walking there. It’s a cruel irony that so many parents have so much time with their littles right now, and the weather has been wonderful…and yet they’ve been so cheated out of the joyful activities they love.
We’re walking our 4-year old GR often, and he has never been so happy to have us both home and midday walks. We lost our 12-year old GR in January, and he wasn’t doing well being an only dog by himself during the day. Oddly, we realized how very much our old girl preferred to be an only pup…after we got him. 😊 We never realized how much peace and assurance she brought him despite how indifferent she was toward him.
I’m trying to keep grateful and focused on the little that I can…cooking at home, staying calm, and tapping into patience, that I’ve never really had.
Today, I am healthy.
Today, I have enough.
Today, I will be okay.
Wishing you the very same.
Stay well.
I just want to say a big THANK YOU for still posting during this weird time. It’s nice to keep something normal during all this craziness. This week was our scheduled Spring Break, so we already had appts & other important things scheduled earlier in the week so we were able to get out for a couple days. As of right now, my kids are out thru March 30, but I have a feeling it will be extended. Good Luck to you & all the other parents out there!!!!! We WILL get thru all this!!!!! :)
Thank you so much for continuing the Friday posts. I really look forward to them. I have been following your blog for a very long time and rarely comment. I want you to know that I truly appreciate what you do. Thank you for sharing your life!
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you’re all doing well! I’m still going into work to keep my mind off this craziness. I work fir a university & we’re down to 4 people in the office. My oldest son is a police officer & my youngest had been asthmatic since birth so I’m really trying to take each day as it comes, limit the news & pray, pray, pray. Also doing some baking (birthday brownies for my son, Irish soda bread, rice iris pie treats, Irish stew (there’s a theme here) & corn beef & cabbage. I’m trying to catch up on reading my magazines, going for short walks or just listening to my iPod. Please be safe & stay well. Sending you a virtual & socially distanced hug!!!
Michelle
xxoo
Michelle, I really love and enjoy your Friday Things.
I like the recipes you share too.
Thanks for starting my Fridays so pleasantly.
Pam
Like most others, we’ve been keeping to the house primarily, except for the weekly run to Giant Eagle or Target for supplies. I liked to think I was prepared, but I really wasn’t 2 weeks ago. NOW I’m ready to be holed up. The only thing causing problems are the perishable items, but I’m going to start ordering those for delivery or curbside pickup. Wexford Market District is already a week out of sold out spots.
My son’s school was on the ball and really prepared before most others, and had been sending packets, textbooks and bridge activities home before the mandated closure. He’s in 2nd grade and so far it’s not horrible (helps that I used to teach 2nd and 3rd grades). Worst part is missing his friends. It’s hard being an only child and it’s taxing on ME to be his go to for everything 24/7.
I’m still binging Great British Baking Show and Masterclass. I’m so far behind on everything else, but will start The Crown too.
Stay healthy and safe, everyone.
God blessings on the children. Love seeing their photos. Stay safe and trust in the Lord.
One of our favorites was Hanna. The first few are slow, but then! Also, 100 Humans was really interesting! Both are on Netflix. Wait until the kids are in bed for both.
Virgin River on Netflix is the BEST! Also Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, great relatable stories to her songs!!