Which season is it?

It has officially been spring for almost one full month. I know it's not officially summer until June 2020, but we tend to think that "summer" begins once the school year is over. When I was a child our school year ended right around Memorial Day. Summer break for my kids usually begins in early May, but this year because so many field trips were cancelled and because we've been home almost 24/7 for a month, we finished earlier than planned. Our last day was April 15. The kids opted to do extra work in some subjects to make that possible. For example, Nadia and Ian did four lessons in Liver (Life of Fred math textbook) on Wednesday. It feels strange in April to say we've started our summer break, but it's true. What makes it feel even stranger is it snowed yesterday and today. Yesterday it didn't stick to the ground, but it did today. Snow might be pretty to look at in January, but I don't have that opinion of snow in April. I mowed the lawn and power washed one side of the house last Saturday. I haven't really been outside since then. I'm longing for warmer weather so I can get back in the habit of walking. I ordered some new sneakers online because I was bleeding through the sock and soaking the inside of my right sneaker in blood. The sight of my sneaker grossed my kids out, ha ha! I made sure to put on band-aids every time I went for a walk after that happened. I have never bought sneakers online before. I always felt the need to try shoes on because I don't always buy the same size. Hopefully these new sneakers will fit.

The kids have a list of activities they can pick between to earn screen time, and there are limits on how much screen time they can earn. Nadia really wanted to take pre-algebra next year, but when I gave her the placement test, the recommendation was that she take Math 7. So she decided she wanted to do both during the next school year. She started Math 7 yesterday, and she's already completed five lessons. It's completely her choice. She's chosen to do math, practice the piano (with a guinea pig on her lap), and read the last two days. She's been reading on the Kindle recently. She really, really prefers to read an actual book, but when the library is closed for an indefinite length of time, she is willing to read library books on the Kindle. Ian has practiced the piano for at least an hour a day the past two days. He also has done one puzzle each day and read a library book on the Kindle. Yesterday Oliver did a typing lesson, read a book about snakes to me, and did a puzzle. Today, he didn't want as much screen time so he only did two puzzles. Ian built a new Lego set that came in the mail today. Nadia still memorizes 3 Bible verses a day. It doesn't earn her turns, but I do give her $1 for every 10 verses she memorizes. I also give Nadia and Ian $1 for every 1,000 pages they read. Oliver is expecting to get $1 in the near future as he has a loose tooth.

Summer break means I spend more time planning for the next school year and doing projects around the house. I'm not putting any dates on the lesson plans for the upcoming year. I usually plan for 150 days and the other 30+ are usually field trip days. Hopefully we WILL be able to go on some field trips during the 2020-21 school year. It takes me many, many hours to plan out all the subjects for three kids. Today I worked on Bible. We read through the whole Old Testament together four years ago and the New Testament three years ago. I've decided this second time around to take two years to read through the OT. The plan I devised today for the 2020-21 school year is to read Genesis through 2 Samuel plus Psalms. We will also use a global prayer guide from Voice of the Martyrs and a book called Window on the World, which I intended to use 5 years ago but didn't actually use. We'll also be learning about various religions (Mormonism, Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jehovah's Witness, etc. ) as well as praying for a specific country or people group most days. I have plenty of time to invest in lesson planning since we're home all the time! I'm not sure whether I should include resources from the library that I can only obtain if they reopen. In the past that never crossed my mind, but considering the libraries have been closed for a month and haven't yet determined a date when they will reopen, it's a valid concern. I did decide this week to scrap our plans to go to MD/DC next month after I saw the Blue Angels show was cancelled and Ford's Theatre extended their closure. Hopefully we'll make it down there in June or July, but I will probably reschedule many of the places we planned to visit for 2021.

Buttercup

For the first 15.5 years of our marriage we didn't have any pets. I am a cat person, and Paul is a dog person. Paul is allergic to cats, and we usually travel too much to have a dog. From the end of December 2016 through the beginning of February 2020, we had two guinea pigs. Sadly, Ian's much loved guinea pig, Patches, had to be put to sleep unexpectedly in early February. We adopted two male rabbits two days later. After they were in our home for almost 10 weeks, we surrendered them back to the SPCA and purchased a new guinea pig. We've had a total of five different pets in our home thus far in 2020, and we're planning on purchasing another guinea pig on Saturday. Instead of placing a grocery order online with Weis or Walmart this week, Paul is planning to go to the Aldi in Williamsport this coming weekend. Nadia will go with him so she can hopefully pick a guinea pig at the pet store. When I came down this morning I felt a little sad because I always eat a banana first thing in the morning, and for weeks I had been sharing my banana with Cocoa and Coal. It felt strange to eat the whole banana myself. Similarly, when I removed an empty roll of toilet paper, I thought of the bunnies as for the last 2 months we hadn't put any of those in the garbage because the bunnies liked to eat the little cardboard tubes. When Ian came down this morning, the first thing he said was that he was relieved he didn't have poop duty this morning. Nadia and Ian took turns cleaning out the bunny cage. So far Buttercup seems like an excellent addition to our family. I've definitely been holding her more than I held Patches or Jenna in one day. After all the stress of the bunnies, it's very soothing to have a little furry body purring away under my chin. Ian interacted far more with Buttercup today than he ever did in one day with Coal. I personally never aspired to own a guinea pig (or a rabbit), but I really think guinea pigs are just the right pet for our family. They don't bite (the bunnies bit the kids a few times). The only way the rabbits could communicate was by thumping, and I didn't appreciate being awakened in the night by their loud thumping. Guinea pigs use a variety of sounds to communicate including squeaking and purring. Guinea pigs definitely are more prone to snuggling than our bunnies were. Nadia and Ian love to practice the piano with a guinea pig on their lap or sitting next to them, and Ian loves to read with his guinea pig on or beside him. If Oliver continues to want a fish tank and fish for his birthday in August, then 2020 will definitely be the year we had the greatest number of pets spend some time in our house! Hopefully all three guinea pigs will get along nicely, but if not we can separate them as we do have two cages now. This morning we moved Jenna to the larger cage with Buttercup. We're hoping maybe she'll have a sort of motherly instinct toward our new little arrival.

The kids have been very motivated to finish their subjects earlier than planned. Oliver did three math lessons yesterday! Ian and Nadia did 2.5 history lessons today. We have only two days left of school, but they will be shorter days. Oliver and Nadia are done with spelling. Nadia passed her final word today, "camouflageable." All of them have finished math, science, handwriting, grammar, and writing. Today I posted the list of activities that they can each pick between to earn the privilege of watching tv, playing the Wii (or Switch), or using an iPad during the next four months. We'll finish history tomorrow and Spanish plus Life of Fred on Thursday. They are all still reading every day, and Nadia and Ian are still practicing the piano. Nadia is still memorizing 3 verses a day Monday through Saturday. On Sundays she reviews and recites a chapter previously memorized plus learns one new verse. She finished memorizing 2 Peter today! Prior to this year she had never memorized an entire book of the Bible before, but in 2020 she has already memorized 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Tomorrow she will start memorizing Hebrews chapter 7. She has already memorized the first 6 chapters. She's really hoping that COVID-19 won't cause the nationals to be cancelled in Oklahoma in July. Although life has definitely been abnormal over the past month, I keep reminding myself it's far better than what I experienced in 2012 while on bedrest in the hospital. Although we're pretty much confined to our home (aside from walks in the neighborhood when the weather is nice), I am NOT confined to a bed like I was for 10 weeks in 2012. Also, I spent the vast majority of that time in a hospital around 90 minutes away from my husband, toddler, and preschooler. Aside from visits from medical professionals, I was alone almost all the time. I don't know how many weeks this lockdown will end up lasting, but I am not spending it alone. We see Paul a little bit six days a week (and all day on Sunday), and I'm with my three kids for about 14 hours a day seven days a week, which is so much better than spending it all alone.

Tough Decisions

The last few weeks I've had two decisions on my mind. The first has related to our time share. I bought a twenty-year, biennial time share at the end of 1999. We have absolutely, positively gotten a lot of good use out of it, and we've been able to obtain weeks for some family and friends as well over the years. Recently I received a renewal notice. If I pay a one time fee of $370, my ownership will be extended through 2045. Back in 1999, I was planning on renewing when the twenty years had passed. Now I'm not sure what to do. First of all, most of the upcoming vacations we're hoping to take (presuming this quarantine does end) are not the kind where you just stay put at one place for seven days. Secondly, Interval changed their policy a couple of years ago. Most of the time I owned my time share we didn't pay any extra fee to exchange our efficiency for a two, three, or four bedroom unit elsewhere. It's hard to turn the offer down knowing how much we've benefitted from our time share the past 20 years, but I'm not sure it's right thing to do at this point. We have a little more time

before we have to decide one way or the other. Hopefully we'll make the right choice.

The second decision has related to our rabbits. When we went to the SPCA on February 5, we were planning to adopt two female rabbits. We looked in the cages and picked two females. Then the people at the SPCA convinced us to adopt two almost 3 month old twin male rabbits instead. We had some problems from the get go such as biting windowsills, but we hoped in time they would learn not to do that. Then about a week ago or so things started really going downhill. The bunnies male hormones were out of control. The frequent humping had been annoying, but when they started spraying urine on each other and marking their territory incessantly, it was just plain disgusting. I have been wiping urine off the walls, floors, windows, all over their cage, etc. in the dining room and living room. We hoped things would improve after they were neutered, but that surgery was probably going to be postponed because at the moment vets aren't allowed to spay or neuter animals because of COVID-19, and it takes 6-8 weeks after the surgery for the hormones to fully leave. Paul and I separately spent hours trying to pick an outdoor hutch. We were rather overwhelmed at the cost of paying for their neutering surgeries PLUS an outdoor hutch. The bunnies also had not gotten to the point where they enjoyed being held. They would lick us; Cocoa in particular gave Nadia many "kisses." I had floated the idea of returning the bunnies to the SPCA, but Paul wasn't in agreement. I figured part of our "stimulus check" that everyone will be receiving at some point would be going toward the rabbits. 

Paul called me from work this morning and surprised me by saying his opinion had changed. After lunch I talked with the kids about returning the bunnies and getting 1-2 more guinea pigs. Nadia seemed fine. Ian cried some. I made the dreaded call to the SPCA, and they gave me an appointment at 2:30. This happened one time to us decades ago when we had two male cats. I remember when we had to give my sister's cat, Domino, away because the two male cats kept marking their territory. It seems it's always best to have either only females or at most ONE male whether we're talking about cats, dogs, or rabbits. This afternoon we surrendered the bunnies back to the SPCA. Tomorrow I need to call the vet and let them know we aren't having any rabbits neutered after all. In December 2016 we got two guinea pigs at Petco. I called Petco today, and at first they said they had one female guinea pig, but when they checked they said they had sold her today. I called PetSmart, and they said they did have female guinea pigs available. We went there right after we left the SPCA. Unfortunately they only had ONE guinea pig left, and we had planned to buy two. Ian had wanted another Abyssinian guinea pig, and that was what kind they had available. 

Abyssinians come in all different colors, but the guinea pig they had was another white Abyssinian, but this one has bigger patches of black on it than Patches did. I think if I were choosing a name I'd probably have picked Oreo or Domino, but Ian picked Buttercup. He asked me to tell Aunt Yvonne that because he knows that Princess Bride was one of her favorite movies decades ago. This guinea pig is TINY. The picture makes her seem bigger than she is. Jenna looks gigantic in comparison to Buttercup, but I imagine in time they'll be the same size. Now to begin litter training Buttercup. This is not my favorite aspect of pet ownership! Hopefully Buttercup will live for many happy years in our house. She is a PURRING machine. I couldn't believe how long she purred when I held her. Honestly she already seems more affectionate with us in a few hours than the bunnies did after 2+ months. We have already begun praying that Cocoa and Coal (whom the SPCA have renamed Cole and Jaxx) will be adopted into loving homes in the near future. When we adopted them in early February, there were MANY rabbits up for adoption. They only had one available before we surrendered ours. 


Today was a rollercoaster day emotionally. It was hard to return the rabbits, but I also feel a sense of relief as they were definitely stressing me out. Ian is very, very happy that Buttercup has been added to our family. I used to think that our first two guinea pigs were our "starter" pets and then we'd next have either rabbits or a dog. At this point I think we are declaring that guinea pigs are our pets for the foreseeable future. If the kids want to have a cat, rabbit, snake, or dog, I think they'll have to wait until they are adults and living somewhere else. Oliver did ask me if he could have a goldfish. Sure. I am quite certain a goldfish isn't going to chew my windowsill or spray urine all over the place. I'm thinking we might get him a goldfish in August for his birthday. For now Buttercup is in what had been the rabbits cage, and Jenna is in the same cage she's been in for 3+ years. If we find that they get along well, we are planning to move them both into the newer cage. Nadia still wants to get a second guinea pig. Once one of the pet stores have some available, we'll be heading back up there. It was the first time in a few weeks that the kids and I had gone anywhere in the van. The kids didn't go in the SPCA. They went with me into the pet store. We didn't have masks on because we didn't expect to leave the house and don't have any at home. The way they have things set up to follow social distancing was rather surreal. 

Although Easter was certainly very different this year, I think it was still special. We watched two services online on Sunday morning. I asked everyone to get somewhat dressed up. Usually the boys wear a shirt and tie on Easter Sunday, but I said a polo shirt would be fine given we weren't leaving the house. I had planned to take a picture of the kids, but Nadia changed out of her dress before I got a picture. Because they always came home with many hardboiled eggs from the egg hunts, we hadn't colored any eggs in quite awhile. I decided we'd dye eggs this year and hide them in the yard and inside the house. Plastic eggs work much better for that activity, but we didn't have any around, and this way the kids got to color some eggs. I'm planning on making egg salad and also creamed egg on toast with the 18 eggs we hard boiled. Creamed egg on toast reminds me of my mom, as that was something she made periodically. The rest of my family aren't really crazy about it so I only make it once a year. I got the kids each a bag of jellybeans, and today Paul stopped at CVS and got them each a chocolate bunny now that they are marked down 50%. Grandpa and Gubba had mailed them some candy as well. They got FAR less candy this year than they usually do because of all the egg hunts being cancelled, but they still got some sweets. The pit game that I gave Oliver has been a hit. The kids love it and have asked to play it multiple times already. Grandma and Pop Pop gave them each a gift card on Amazon, and Nadia and Oliver each already received one of the two things they ordered today! Oliver was thrilled that we had sweet potatoes on Sunday. Nadia was very thankful for the cranberry sauce. I forgot to get rolls, and realized it too late in terms of making some from scratch. Ian was disappointed about that as his idea of a good holiday meal (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) is to just eat turkey (or ham) plus rolls, but otherwise I think we had a special meal together. The two decisions we've been wrestling with are so miniscule compared to the ones the President and Governors are wrestling with right now regarding when to start reopening businesses and easing the stay-at-home orders. Praying that they make wise decisions!

Good Friday

The date when we celebrate Easter moves around more than most holidays. We had planned to be in Chicago with my sister and her family this week. This week Facebook has been reminding me of this by showing me pictures from when we were in Ohio and Chicago on these same dates in April 2017. Usually we celebrate Easter with Paul's family. I believe this is this first year that we won't be celebrating Easter with any extended family. The kids and I haven't seen Paul's family since December 25, and at this point we don't know when we will be able to see them again even though they only live an hour away from us. It's also going to be very, very, very strange not to go to church on Easter Sunday. Last night we viewed FBC's Maundy Thursday service online. We turned off all the lights (as the pastor suggested). We didn't have any crackers on hand so we each ate a little pretzel during the communion portion of the service. Today we are planning on watching the service on GoodFriday.com at 5pm as well as another Good Friday service on TBN at 8pm. We haven't decided which service we'll watch on Sunday morning. I'm planning to cook sweet potatoes, ham, and such for our Easter dinner on Sunday. Usually we do NOT do any shopping on Easter, but that happened to be the only time I could get a slot for an online grocery order pick-up from Walmart or Weis. I'm hoping that will be Paul's only trip to a grocery store next week. We haven't attempted to buy toilet paper yet, but at some point we will need to get some.

Thankfully the projected number of deaths in the US has fallen to 60,000, which is higher than a typical seasonal flu but not as bad as the 2017-18 flu which claimed more than 80,000 lives in the US. At the same time we heard that good news, our Governor declared that the public schools are closed for the rest of this academic year. I figure that means the public libraries will also be closed until at least some time in June. We will be thrilled if things begin to reopen in the middle of May, but I'm praying that at least by July the kids will be allowed to attend camps, amusement parks, etc. I'm imagining that the restrictions will probably be gradually removed, and I think it will be a longer time until larger crowds are allowed to assemble which might mean no concerts this summer. I also wonder what that will mean for our church, which has an average attendance around 1,500 people on Sunday mornings? Politically I strongly lean towards the Libertarian position when it comes to many issues (on other issues such as abortion, I lean toward the Republican position). I hope that the government being this intrusive into our daily lives and into the economy doesn't become the norm! As a person who longs to see the government operate within a balanced budget and decrease the national debt, the financial decisions of our government recently have been very distressing to me. The government created the surge in the unemployment rate by requiring many "non-essential" businesses to shut down, and then they are now paying many of those people more than they made when they were working. If you made $400 a week before, you will be receiving $950 a week through unemployment due to the $600 bonus they are giving everyone. Why pay people more than double to stay home than they were paid to do their job?!?! Where is all this money going to come from?!? And then some epidemiologists don't even think that these measures are helpful in terms of ending the virus. If you are interested, look up Dr. Knut Wittkowski, and see what he has to say. He agrees that those with a higher risk (ex. those in nursing homes) should be quarantined right now, but not all school children and other healthy adults who don't have any risk factors. He says that not allowing herd immunity to develop is going to lead to a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall. My personal opinion is that decisions should be made for much smaller areas. ALL of the states don't need to be on "lockdown." Certain states (like NY and NJ) are definitely in a different position than say North Dakota or Wyoming. Similarly, certain counties are in a VERY different position within a state. There are counties in our state that still have as few as ONE case of coronavirus. Why should the "non-essential" businesses, churches, and schools in those counties be closed?!? Even in our county (population of about 91,000) we have fewer than 30 cases and zero deaths. It's a completely different story in Philadelphia, Allentown, and Luzerne County. Well I am definitely not a politician or an epidemiologist. I certainly hope that all of this social distancing and stay-at-home orders are doing more good than harm. 

Many, many resources are being made available online these days. An art studio in our area (Independently Made) has been offering free online video tutorials for paintings twice a week. If I were choosing, I would have chosen her lilac painting. I let Nadia pick one, and she did that painting yesterday. It's already hanging on a wall in her bedroom. Today Nadia watched a photography lesson for teens put on for free by Kyle Shutlz. One tv news station had their weather team put three weather lessons online. I don't want the kids to be staring at a screen for too many hours a day so I've been very selective in picking what we will use of the myriad of wonderful options out there. Everything we've been accessing has been free, but yesterday I did buy a personal finance class for middle schoolers for Nadia from Dave Ramsey's site as the price was REALLY marked down. She has one year to finish the 22 lessons, so there's no rush in starting it. Last week I walked over 18 miles, which was a huge improvement for me. The weather was beautiful Sunday through Wednesday. I didn't take a walk on Sunday but spent the time outside cleaning our fence. Monday through Wednesday I walked over 12 miles, but the weather turned cold again yesterday (we even had snow flurries this morning!) so I don't think I'll be logging any more miles this week. I'm hoping to go for a walk on Sunday afternoon. Well the true meaning of Easter is that Jesus died for all of our sins and then ROSE from the grave. We don't need to be in a church building, participate in egg hunts, or gather with extended family to celebrate His death and resurrection.

Spy School 101

Our first field trip that was cancelled due to COVID-19 was a maple sugaring program that we planned to attend on March 14. I have been assuming that under the best case scenario our next field trip will be in the middle of May, but I also won't be surprised if we have to wait until June or possibly even July to go on another field trip. As I was checking various websites of places we had planned to attend in May and June, I found out that the International Spy Museum (in DC) was having a virtual field trip on April 3 for grades 4+. I signed up to participate, and on Friday we received our Zoom invitation for a one hour program. It was very well done, and the museum sent us a variety of links to other resources after the program was over. Speaking of Zoom, Nadia is using it right now with the FBC youth group. She uses Zoom on Wednesdays at 4:00 with the Bible quizzing team and at 6:15 on Friday nights and Sunday nights with the FBC youth. Our church offers something on YouTube live or Instagram live on Wednesdays and Sundays at 6:05, but she only participates on Wednesdays

because she prefers to join the FBC group at 6:15 on Sunday nights. Oliver, Ian, and I could very easily get all the days mixed up because we don't have certain days when we are scheduled to do something in particular. We've still been doing schoolwork M-F, chores on Saturday, and online church on Sundays, but once we finish our schoolwork it's really going to be hard to remember what day of the week it is. Usually we wear different clothes on Sundays. Ian has worn a polo shirt every Sunday of our confinement thus far. This morning Nadia and I wore dresses for the first time since March 8. We didn't discuss it, but rather just both independently made the same choice.

The new normal at this point means:

1. The kids and I are never in an automobile. Thankfully as the weather has been getting nicer recently, we have been taking some walks or riding bikes without wearing masks. If we encounter anyone else outside, we make sure to practice social

distancing. The upside is that I'm getting more exercise! I went on four walks last week, and two of those were about 5.5 miles each. Yesterday I mowed the lawn in addition to the 5.5 mile walk. Today I cleaned our fence. The kids have been spending more time than usual on the swing set and trampoline in our backyard. Our lawn mower will be going through more gasoline than our van over the next two months. Who would have ever thought that was possible?!?

2. Paul has taken over the grocery shopping, and he now wears a mask if he needs to go in a store. I am trying to order the vast majority of the groceries online, which means someone from Weis or Walmart brings the groceries out to his vehicle. Grocery shopping is definitely more challenging these days because of shortages. Thankfully, Paul was able to get some meat today. Walmart's online ordering process is much better than Weis's, but there is a Weis on the way home from work, whereas he has to make a special trip to go to Walmart. Plus some things are cheaper at Walmart. I am going to try to do most of the orders from Weis if possible to make it more convenient for him. We haven't tried to buy any toilet paper over

the past few weeks. Hopefully by the time we need some it won't be such a challenge to purchase it. There have been times in my life when I recall for a very brief time the shelves were empty at the grocery store (ex. bread and milk when a snowstorm has been predicted), but I've never experienced anything like this in my life where the shortage for a wide variety of items lasted for weeks.

3. Our calendar used to contain a variety of activities outside our house each week. March 15 was the last day the kids or I had something on the schedule that took place outside our home. We shall see when our first outing "post quarantine" will take place.

4. We've been playing more games together as a family. Typically the boys watch something different than Nadia (she uses the iPad while the boys use the TV). That still happens some of the time, but all five of us have watched a few movies together such as Onward (Disney+), National Treasure, and The Race to Witch Mountain. I don't often watch TV, but I've seen three episodes of Little Women on Amazon Prime and plan to watch Anne with an E on Netflix starting this week. I wanted to rent Jeremy Camp's movie "I Still Believe" until I found out it would cost $20 to just rent it. Yikes! I'll wait until it comes out on DVD and get it from Redbox or the library if the libraries are open at that point.

What our calendar used to look like

5. We wash our hands ALL. THE. TIME. If we get the mail or a box from UPS, we wash our hands after touching such objects as they might have the coronavirus on them. I also find myself checking our state's page for coronavirus statistics a few times a day.

6. We enjoy watching parodies online. People are really being creative in writing new lyrics that have to do with COVID-19 to a variety of songs. Some of my favorites have included a Christian school principal that did one using Frozen songs, a family who did one to the VeggieTales song "We are the pirates who don't do anything," a song that was using Maria from the Sound of Music, one man that included a wide variety of Disney songs/characters, and a reworking of a song from Les Misérables. This situation can very easily lead to stress and anxiety. We are trying to continue to laugh and find joy through this abnormal time. You know how sometimes we as parents accidentally call a child by their sibling's name? Well, today was the first time one of my children accidentally said to me, "Alexa" and then "oops I

mean Mommy." It was bound to happen given how many times a day we say "Alexa" in this house, LOL! Ian put a smile on my face last night as he was gathering his myriad of stuffed animals to take back up to his bed, and he said, "I need to get a drink first because those two actions aren't commutative." Since I'm his math teacher, I was pleased to hear evidence he definitely has grasped that concept. Similarly, on one of our walks a few days ago Oliver asked me, "Mom, what do you think the founding fathers would think of how the government ...." I have been far more laid back with Oliver when it comes to science and social studies instruction, but my seven year old initiated a conversation about the founding fathers and current events that we carried on for awhile as we walked.

7. Church takes place in our living room with our television. The first Sunday we did watch our church's online service, but since then we've been "church hopping." Today we watched a Palm Sunday service aired by a church in California. Jenna, our guinea pig, usually attends church with us, which of course never happens when we attend church in person! The bunnies

What our calendar looks like now!

are not well behaved enough to even join us for online church. They NEED to be neutered, but sadly that isn't allowed to take place until businesses are allowed to completely reopen. Let's just say I'm not too thrilled we have two male rabbits. We had planned to get two females, and I wish we had stuck to that plan!

8. I've been doing spring cleaning, and the kids have been earning junior ranger badges at a faster pace than usual. So far we are not bored. March 12 was the last "normal" day for us. March 13 was the beginning of cancellations and postponements. Nadia had planned to attend the Creation music festival the end of June, but that has already been cancelled, and I saw on the Camp Good News website that they are waiting to see if the camps will really run in July. I really, really hope that life can return to normal in July (if not sooner), but all we can do right now is take it one day at a time and continue to pray!

9. I've been taking far fewer pictures than normal, but I did better today! I'm planning on spending more time giving Nadia photography lessons over the next couple of months.

10. My back has still been giving me a LOT of grief. This has been the case for 2 months now. Lying down in bed and sitting on the couch are by far the two worst activities for my back. Hoping and praying that my back improves in the near future!

Grocery Shopping

Ian carries these stuffed animals around the house every day. This photo (taken today) was not staged in any way.

Paul has taken over the grocery shopping for our family because he's the one who is still interacting with people outside our house since his business is allowed to continue operating. The man who works in the office is working from home. Paul's dad is taking a hiatus from working. Paul has most of the crew only working four 10 hour shifts (Tues-Friday). There are only three people (including Paul) working there on Mondays and Saturdays. Shopping for groceries is not an easy task at the moment as the prices have gone up dramatically for some items at some grocery stores, and all of the stores are struggling to maintain an inventory that matches the demand. I've seen so many memes about the lack of toilet paper, but that's certainly not been the only item that is hard to get these days. A few days ago I thought I'd place an order online through Walmart, but I didn't do so at first because so many of the items I wanted to get were out of stock. Also, I found it was very difficult to reserve a time slot because they are only booking one day in advance. Yesterday I went online in the morning and was able to get a slot for this evening, and more of the items we wanted were available. I planned out our meals for three weeks to determine what we needed to buy. Then I emailed Paul a list of what items we needed that we couldn't get at Walmart (margarine, hot dogs, bologna, ground beef, chicken breast, etc.). Paul got some of the things on my list at the Weis in Danville on his way home from work last night.

This morning I went on Weis's website and placed an order with the Weis in Lewisburg. The earliest available slot was Sunday afternoon. I knew when placing both orders that there was no guarantee we would get everything that I requested. Never in my life do I recall praying about the inventory of Walmart or a grocery store, but I found myself praying about it today. I was relieved when I saw that they filled about 90% of my order at Walmart. They were out of sausage, one of the cheeses I tried to buy, one of the kinds of yogurt, and only gave me one dozen eggs although I had tried to buy two dozen. I will say that I didn't notice any price increases at Walmart. Hopefully Weis will be able to fulfill our entire order on Sunday. Walmart lets you modify your online order, but Weis doesn't so I couldn't add the items that Walmart was unable to fulfill. The plan is that when Paul picks up the online order on Sunday that he'll also go into the store and pick up a few things. If Weis fulfills all of our order and Paul can pick up the other few items, then I think the only shopping he will need to do in the next three weeks will be to pick up things like milk and produce that can't be bought three weeks in advance. The governor has said we are only to go grocery shopping once a week, but Paul will have gone three times in five days by Sunday, but that's only because it's been hard to find things. I had to pay more for ground beef than I think I've ever paid before, but I did find a price that wasn't utterly ridiculous. I'm thinking at some point we should invest in a chest freezer. My normal grocery shopping routine is that I stock up on items when they are on sale in the hopes that I buy enough that it will carry us through until the next time that particular item is on sale at a great price. It's easy to store extra boxes of pasta, canned goods, and cereal, but I'm very limited in what I can store that needs to be frozen. If we get a chest freezer, then I think in the future (once life returns to normal) I could stock up more.

Since the kids and I are not going anywhere by vehicle these days, we have more time for being outside. Nadia and Ian went a short distance today on their scooters and then played in our yard until Oliver and I got home. Oliver rode his bike for almost 5.5 miles, and I walked most of that and jogged part of the time. That's the most exercise I've gotten in awhile! I used to go that route (or other longer routes) 3-4 times a week when Paul was a professor. When he went back to the family business in May 2016, that was one of the sacrifices I had to make - no more running. I'm not in good enough shape to run that many miles yet, but I'm so happy that Ian and Nadia are now old enough that they can be unsupervised for a short amount of time and Oliver is able to ride his bike for 5+ miles with me. I believe I'll be exercising outside on a far more regular basis over the coming months! I vastly prefer exercising outside to exercising in the basement. Oliver and I were enjoying seeing different animals, and I was thrilled when he noticed things that we've studied recently in science such as moss.

Oliver brings different stuffed animals down each day. He brought these down yesterday and asked me to take a picture.

12 days left

Usually when I submit my documents to our homeschool evaluator, we have logged more than 180 days of school. That would have been the case again this year had it not been for COVID-19. We had some field trips cancelled this month, and our trip to Chicago, Milwaukee, Ohio, and Detroit was cancelled for next month, and that included field trips to five national parks, several museums, an aquarium, etc. If ALL of our field trips are also cancelled for May and June, then we will only end up officially logging 164 days this year. The requirement is normally 180 days, but since the public schools won't be meeting that requirement this year and their annual tests have been waived, the same is true for homeschoolers in Pennsylvania this year. Students don't need to be tested in grades 2, 4, or 6 so that change doesn't apply to our family, but it means I won't be submitting anything to an evaluator, and it's not a problem that we didn't log 180 days this school year. We have twelve school days left, which means our last day will be April 16. By that point Ian will have completed Spelling level 5 and Beast Academy 4A-4D, Nadia will have completed Spelling level 7 and Teaching Textbooks math grade 6, Oliver will have completed his 2nd grade math textbook (minus part of the chapter on multiplication as I didn't feel he was ready for that this year) and half of Spelling Level 3, Ian and Nadia will have completed the Robin Hood textbook (grammar) and finished Edgewood through Liver books (Life of Fred math), and all three kids would have completed 11 lessons of the Spanish curriculum, all of the Botany science curriculum that we started in January, and our social studies curriculum. We have four chapters left in Story of the World and five more Tuttle Twins books to read. We read Education Vacation today about John Gatto's ideas which was very appropriate given almost everyone is currently taking a vacation from attending a school. Oliver will finish the intermediate level on typing.com before we end our school year. Nadia and Ian already finished their writing curriculum earlier this month, and Oliver's last day of being required to write in his journal will be tomorrow. I'm not hopeful that our field trips scheduled for May will actually take place, but I'm still hoping that we can take some field trips in June.

Although our last day will officially be April 16, it doesn't mean all learning will cease on that day. We listen to chapter books together three times a day all year round. Our current pattern has been to alternate between two books each day - a biography and a novel. The two books we completed last week were The Teacher's Funeral (a comedy) and Brother Andrew: God's Secret Agent.  This week we're in the middle of Rascal and Alan Shephard. I have a list of 65 chapter books we can pick between this summer. We shall see how many of those we listen to this summer! Also, in the summer when we have a day at home (meaning we're not on vacation, they're not at camp, and we're not on a field trip), the kids are allowed to earn up to three 20 minute turns to use an electronic device (Nintendo Switch, app on an iPad, etc.). To earn a 20 minute turn they need to complete a jigsaw puzzle (minimum 100 pieces for Oliver and a higher requirement for the other two), read, practice the piano, or earn a Junior Ranger Badge. Oliver will also have the option of doing math flashcards this summer.

A friend came over today to dig up and take our blueberry plant. We also gave them some cards they asked us to make for a friend of theirs who is in the hospital, and I loaned them some of our Tuttle Twins books. It was so nice to talk to another human being in person outside of our immediate family. I wonder how long it will be until that happens again? Paul doesn't want me to go anywhere (not even the grocery store) or even get the mail. He wants to be the only one possibly coming in contact with the virus, and he washes his hands thoroughly once he comes home. The last time I went a lengthy period without driving was 2012 when I was on bedrest for 10 weeks. We shall see how many weeks I go without driving in 2020. Previously our governor had set specific dates when the schools and such might be reopened, but yesterday he just said that the businesses, schools, churches, libraries, etc. are closed indefinitely. I'm sure that means at least until the end of April, but I realize it might mean until the end of May. The only two things I haven't yet officially deleted from our calendar in April are a simulcast at our church on April 25 and seeing Esther in Lancaster on April 21, but I'm expecting Sight and Sound won't actually be open on April 25, and if there is a simulcast on April 25, I think it will only be viewed individually. As of this afternoon, our county has had ONE person test positive for COVID-19. The county where Paul's parents live has had more than 30 positives.

I've been trying to find small ways to add special moments to our days in light of the fact it feels like we've all been "grounded." Last week when Paul went to Walmart for some groceries, I put YoCrunch yogurt and ham and cheese Hot Pockets on the list as a treat for the kids. Nadia would love to have a hot pocket every single day for lunch, but we just buy a big box of them every once in a while. I signed up for a free 30 day trial of Netflix, which means right now we have three streaming services - Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney+. We've been watching at least one movie together as a family each week that Paul or I have chosen. For example, this past Sunday we watched National Treasure. The kids weren't excited about it when we picked it, but they (especially the boys) ended up really enjoying it. I've been making a list of movies I'd like the kids to see through Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon. Right now those include: Hugo, Miracle, Arthur Christmas, Holes, White Fang, Fiddler on the Roof, E.T., Karate Kid (the original one not the remake), It Takes Two, Adventures of TinTin, and Yours, Mine, and Ours (the original one with Lucille Ball). I also have been looking for things I could watch albeit I don't typically watch anything. So far I saw one episode of Little Women on Netflix and the Stargirl movie on Disney+. I'm also planning to watch Anne with an "E" on Netflix.

Although a few years ago I started buying the kids one small gift for Valentine's Day (book, puzzle, etc.) plus one chocolate treat, I haven't ever bought the kids gifts for Easter. Usually they amass a LARGE collection of candy because I typically take them to at least six Easter egg hunts per year, but this year there won't be any Easter egg hunts. I know our church is planning to deliver a little bag of treats to the homes of kids up through 5th grade right before Easter, and Margie and my dad mailed the kids some treats that I'm planning to let them open on Easter Sunday. I decided to also buy them each one gift this year on Amazon plus I'll have Paul pick up a sweet treat for each of them at CVS. I bought a Princess Bride dvd for Nadia (the kids have not yet seen that movie), Pit (card game) for Oliver, and a world geography game for Ian. Nadia and Oliver's gifts each cost less than $10. Ian's was more expensive, but it's also very educational and perfect timing as we will be working on learning to identify most of the countries of the world during the next school year. I also went on Thriftbooks and ordered Paul 7 books for about $30 total. I had recently used $20 worth of Amazon credits to get him books for the Kindle, but I am wanting to use some of the Amazon credits toward renting or purchasing videos (some of the movies listed above) during this time we can't check out DVDs from the library. Plus I usually use some of the Amazon credits for the kids. Nadia recently read three books that I got for the Kindle through Amazon credits. I figure games, books, and movies are all things we will appreciate during our time of "quarantine."

I keep reminding the kids that although it's unpleasant, it's certainly not the worst thing to ever happen in the world or in our own country. Just in terms of other pandemics, when this one is all said and done, I feel quite certain it will pale in comparison to the Spanish influenza of 1918-1919. It is estimated that between 50-100 million died from H1N1 during that pandemic of which about 675,000 were from the United States (0.5% of the US population at that time). I don't think people are predicting that 50+ million people will die from the coronavirus, and the world's population is much greater now than it was in 1918. Similarly, although the population is much greater now in the US than it was in 1918, the current estimate is that 100-200,000 will die from COVID-19 in the US, which is more than typically die from the flu each year but far less than died from the Spanish influenza. We keep praying it will peak ASAP, that a vaccine will be developed, that those in government will have wisdom, that those in healthcare will be protected, that the elderly will be protected, etc.

Spring Cleaning

Since our schedules have been cleared for at least four weeks, I think many Americans have more time than usual. In most families this likely means they are spending far more time together than usual which might mean eating more meals together and playing games together more often. Eating with my kids for 21 meals a week was already the norm for me, and Paul is still working. We have been playing more games over the past week. I have been compiling a list of all the games we own. I haven't included Paul's games in the list, and there are 72 games on the list. Our goal is to play all of the games at least once during this time of "social distancing." So far we've played Connect Four, Picture Apples to Apples, Oval Office, Spot it, Mastermind, Racko, Mancala, Jenga, pizza fraction game, Skip Bo, Bananagrams, Swipe, and Apples to Apples Jr. We also attempted to play Trivial Pursuit, and then realized that it was too difficult for the kids and rather dated even for adults. I added the game to the growing collection of things that are in the trunk of the van which I plan to take to Goodwill once we are no longer homebound. The kids have primarily gotten their exercise by jumping on the trampoline, but this afternoon I said we'd go for a walk. They used their scooters. Even though I've had time to use the elliptical lately, I haven't been using it. Since the weather should be getting warmer, I'd like to start taking walks on a regular basis. We're also doing more Junior Ranger badge booklets than usual. Tomorrow we should be completing #49!

As for cancellations and postponements, the For King and Country concert was moved from April to June, the Sidewalk Prophets concert was moved from April to August (which won't work for us assuming we are able to travel to Canada as planned), and many other things have been cancelled. The Governor has only extended the closure of the libraries and schools for two weeks thus far, but I'm expecting for the closure to be extended longer than that. I was expecting things to be cancelled in April, but things in May are also being cancelled left and right. Sight and Sound has only cancelled their shows through April 17 thus far. Our tickets are for April 21; I'm not very hopeful we will actually be able to see Esther in April. We already knew our trip to Chicago in April was cancelled due to the coronavirus, but now it seems our trip to Maryland in May will also be cancelled because I already received emails this week that Ford's Theatre and the Washington Monument will be closed then (we had tickets for May 19). Hopefully life will be returning back to normal in June? Time will tell. So far there aren't any cases of COVID-19 in our county or two other counties we frequently visit, but there are cases in counties not that far from us.

I've also begun to do some spring cleaning. First I reorganized the five bookshelves in our living room and dining room. Then on Tuesday I started to organize, clean, and purge in the basement. I was thrilled that evening with the vast improvements. Unfortunately I injured my back working on that project. Yesterday I was in excruciating pain. Thankfully my back is on the mend today. Today I began tackling the tool shelves in the basement. That has been on the honey do list for years. That project isn't complete, but I'm very thankful that in the very near future it WILL finally be organized. The next thing on my to do list is to apply a coat of Drylok to the basement walls. Plus we've still be doing our usual homeschooling. We aren't bored. Yet. Nadia has been interacting with her cousin via Facetime and also using Skype, Zoom, Instagram Live, and YouTube live to interact with two youth groups. Her plan at the moment is to participate online with our church's youth group on Wednesday nights and FBC's youth group on Sunday nights. Since Ian is an introvert, he is definitely the one in our family least bothered by social distancing, although he was bummed to find out we couldn't go visit Wendy's family in Chicago. Here's to hoping and praying they will announce that COVID-19 has peaked in the USA sooner rather than later...

One week down

For the boys and I, today is our seventh day of social distancing. Nadia attended a youth group event on Sunday night, so tomorrow will be her seventh day. Thus far no one in our county or any of the neighboring counties has tested positive for COVID-19, yet some times it feels like we are acting like everyone has the Bubonic plague. The kids in our neighborhood usually play outside. I've seen kids outside a tiny bit, but 99% of the time they've just been playing in their own backyard. Oliver was SO excited when he saw his friend Karyss come out on Thursday. Normally they play together whether that means Oliver joins her or she comes over here. "Playing together" looks very differently with a quarantine. She was swinging on her swing in her backyard facing Oliver and talking to him while he was on our trampoline. After only interacting with our immediate family for several days, he was grateful to at least be able to talk to her even if he had to do so with a fence in between them. Similarly, the youth pastor at FBC hosted a "game night" on Zoom last night, and Nadia enjoyed participating in that. I haven't developed a sense of cabin fever yet, but I know if this lasts for many weeks that will set in eventually. The weather was really warm yesterday (quite appropriate as it was the first day of spring), and I was hoping to go for a walk, but it rained most of the day. Hopefully the weather will warm up again soon, and we can at least enjoy the fresh air. I thought of my mom a lot yesterday because she would have turned 75 yesterday.

We had to cancel our trip to Chicago/Ohio/Detroit that we planned to take next month because of the coronavirus. We had planned to spend two nights at a cousin's house, five nights at my sister's house, and two nights at a hotel. I had booked the nonrefundable rate through Priceline because it was cheaper, but thankfully due to COVID-19, they did give me a full refund when I cancelled that reservation. Our tickets for homeschool day at the Hershey Museum were moved from March 26 to June 4. A homeschool day on the Battleship New Jersey has been indefinitely postponed. The other things likely to be cancelled in April include: Sidewalk Prophets concert (I had bought 2 tickets), For King and Country concert (we don't have tickets but three of us had volunteered to help Compassion), a Priscilla Shirer simulcast at our church (I bought one ticket), and seeing Esther at Sight and Sound (I purchased 7 tickets last summer). I feel confident we'll receive a refund from Sidewalk Prophets and in the case of Esther the opportunity to reschedule or receive a refund. The other things I'm not expecting to take place in April as originally planned would include egg hunts, a dinner at the home of one of our pastors, Maker Faire at the children's museum, homeschool gym class, and art/chorus classes at Meadowbrook. I'm wondering how long it will be until we can return to church for youth group, Sunday mornings, AWANA, choir, Bible quizzing, etc. I also am curious how long the public libraries will be closed. I think libraries could offer only "to go" service like the restaurants are doing now. Thus far the schools and libraries in our state are supposedly re-opening on March 30, but that seems 100% unlikely to actually happen. Assuming the restrictions might continue to become greater, I decided to return our library books and DVD yesterday afternoon in the outside drop boxes and since we were out used a gift card to get pizza at Domino's. One perk of the economy taking a beating is the gas prices have really dropped. I paid only $1.99 a gallon for gas this week, and since the only place I think I'll be driving for awhile will be the grocery store that's less than 2 miles from our house, that tank of gas should last a LONG time.

We have been praying multiple times a day regarding the pandemic - for the doctors and nurses to be protected, for the virus not to spread and to peak ASAP, for researchers to come up with a vaccine, for all those in our state and federal governments to have wisdom, for the protection of the elderly, etc. Our governor ordered many businesses to close on Thursday. I thought at first that Paul's company would have to close, but they don't. The problem is that the governor did close the quarries in the state, which means they won't be able to continue making concrete if this lasts more than two weeks. Also, they are already starting to see a reduction in their orders. So far Paul let one employee go and also cut the hours back of most of the employees. Those who typically worked 60 hours a week will now only be working 40 hours a week. If this lasts longer, he will have to let more employees go. Many people are facing unemployment because of the government's decisions. I hope and pray that these closures are actually necessary because the cost is going to be very great. Time will tell.

Aside from not having access to books we planned to read at the library and having field trips cancelled, our homeschooling hasn't been impacted that greatly by the quarantine. We continue to enjoy listening to audiobooks for free through Hoopla and Overdrive. A few we finished recently include A Night Divided (highly recommend that book that takes place in the 60's in Berlin), The Cay, Echo, and three biographies by Janet and Geoff Benge - on Milton Hershey, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. We've had a little more time for working on Junior Ranger badges than usual, and we've used Right Now Media more than usual. I've had more time to read. I read Chasing Vines by Beth Moore this week as well as a Tea Shop Mystery. If this lasts for months instead of weeks I expect to accomplish some spring cleaning and home repair projects around the house. I'm also working on an eight week Bible study on the life of Joseph by Kelly Minter. Because of the virus, Lifeway gave free access for the next three months to many of their Bible study videos. I signed up for two more studies yesterday and bought ebooks to go with the studies as they were on sale for only $5 each. I chose one on Colossians and another on Job. We shall see if I can complete three Bible studies in three months (each one is supposed to last 8 weeks).

I wrote down all of the games that we own and came up with a list of 62 games (not counting a deck of cards which naturally could be used to play a variety of games). I said that every day every child needs to play at least one game, and we are going to see if we can play all of the games we own at least once before this "quarantine" ends. We played Jenga, Racko, and Spot it on Thursday. Yesterday we played a pizza fraction game and Skip Bo. Five games down and at least 57 to go! Similarly, I'm thinking since we are just watching a service online, we could try a variety of pastors. I've heard good things about Alistair Begg over the years, but I don't think I've ever heard him preach before so I think that's whom I want to try tomorrow either in addition to our church's livestream or instead of our church's service.

Home Sweet Home

Cocoa loves to lick; in this photo he's licking Nadia's face. 

We all attended the basketball awards program on Saturday night, and Nadia attended the youth group at that same church on Sunday night. When she was there, she was told that they were still going to hold the middle school social at the youth pastor's home this Friday night (March 20). Nadia wanted us to attend that church last Sunday morning, but we opted to watch our church's service online. Last Friday we received an email from our church that said the middle school would still be meeting this Wednesday night. Because the CDC's guidelines quickly went from 250 to 50 to 10 people, both churches have now cancelled everything for the time being. Nadia was *very* disappointed. Watching an online service is the only option for this coming Sunday. One positive is that we will be spending less on gas for the van this month. Our lives have been disrupted less than most since we have been homeschooling for years. Who knew that in 2020 just about everyone would be homeschooled for a few weeks (or months)? At this point we assume we won't be going anywhere until April 1 at the earliest. I feel 99% certain that our trip to Chicago will be cancelled. Right now I just hope that life will return to normal within two months so we can still go to Maryland/DC in the middle of May as planned. I'm very thankful that our family vacations were scheduled for the end of August and early October. I would really, really hope that life will return to normal by then!