Went Into The Office and Working From Home Update

I had to stop in last week to grab a few things. 

Now that there are more regulations in place and a "plan" in place, we have to go through a certain protocol before we can enter the office.

I had to answer a series of questions.

Questions like: do you have a fever or have you had a fever in the last 24 hours? Have you come into contact with anyone who has been positive for Covid-19? Do you have cough, fever, pains, aches,  lost of smell, etc.? 

Once those have been answered, they are sent to HR. 

We need to wear masks when we enter the building (duh).

We need to do what we need to do in the office.

We need to then wipe down all surfaces that have been touched (door knobs, desks, pens, common areas, etc.)

It's not exactly a hassle, since we've all been doing things like this for months now, but just to pop into the office and literally be there for 10 minutes?  

I sanitized my entire area and walked out holding a disinfecting wipe to close the door.

It definitely doesn't seem convenient for everyone to have to do this if we are to go back into the office full time.

All the time.

Every time I leave my office to go get a drink? Go to the bathroom?

My company just sent a notice out to all employees stating now that our return to the office date is now tentatively Monday, September 7.

I appreciate that very much. 

We don't know what's going on with camps and school yet, so it makes sense for us to wait. I can't imagine going back in July and still be figuring out childcare.

As much as I feel like we've found our "flow" we have our days. 

Like yesterday. 

Which was rough.

SO. 

Having the flexibility to be home is nice.

But I have to figure something out. 

Rocket Launch Day

I hate to jinx it, but we've had some nice weather lately. 

As we head into our July 4th holiday and boat vacation, our group of friends (same friends going on vacation) decided to hold a rocket launch for our kids. You know, like the ones we did back in middle school.

Nick decided he'd get the kits for the kids and we had to put them together prior to launch day.

It was tentatively scheduled for Saturday, but because we had wind and some rain, we decided to postpone launch till Sunday. 

Perfect weather! 

That's a lot of kids! These are the same two families we will be vacationing with in a few days. 

My friend built a new barn. And it's huge. (Also, notice my lashes? Got them lifted Saturday! Oh and my brows! Cuz good Lord those were outta control!)

Like, legit, huge. 

Feels like summer camp. There are only 3 girls in the bunch. My two and Steve's BFF's kid. 

Do you see the tiny white dot? That's one rocket.

Looking for it!

My Bubba enjoying her plain chicken wings and watermelon! And her first time having pop - grape soda! 

Getting ready!

We took a little walk and found this swing.

Almost Ava's turn! 

Dad back there looking like a criminal, as per usual. LOL. And my BABY! Looking so old these days. 

Getting a lesson on pushing the button.

That tiny black dot is the drone.

Just a gorgeous day, all around! 

Here all the kids are on their scooters. My mom actually JUST got the girls theirs and they wanted so badly to bring them. We also brought the golf cart and the girls had a blast driving the kids around on it. It was funny to see their "posse" driving around. 

So all of these kids...I've known one of their parents (the dads, actually) forever. One since I was 10 and in 5th grade. We dated in 7th grade. He has two boys (11 and 6.5). Then Rich, the one with 4 boys who are almost 9, just turned 7 and 5.5 year old twins (lol). I've known him since he was 19. I told one of his boys the story of when he was 19 (and I was 23?) and we were riding crotch rocket motorcycles (Steve had one) but I was riding on the back of Rich's for whatever reason and he just went up in a wheelie! Scariest thing ever. But since we survived it, it was pretty cool. 

Then there's Steve's BFF who has a little girl who is 4 days older than Ava. They've known each other since grade school (lived across the street from each other) and he was the best man at our wedding. 

We had a great day hanging with some great people. I can't wait to do it again in a few days...on BOATS! 

Baby Birds

It's that time of year.

We have birds' nests all over our property. 

It's become a ritual for us to check trees each spring to look for any new families moving in. We do NOT disturb the nests, we just peek through the leaves/branches and do our best to see without disrupting anyone.

As we built our deck, we realized birds found the underneath a nice place to build a nest (there were two, actually).

We watched these babies grow and then fly away. So cute. 

Brand new babies

I started talking to them each time so they started doing this each time! 

We watched for a couple of weeks as they got bigger, grew feathers and ultimately, fly away! 

WHY. JUST WHY.

Another WHAT THE FUCK POST.

Listen.

I love my kids.

But they REALLY have to stop bringing dead animals into the house to "show me"

BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT. 

And it always starts with "mom, mom! We found a toad." so I'm sitting here thinking "oh cute!" because I'm assuming it's ALIVE. NOPE. NOPE.

It's dead. 

LIKE REALLY DEAD.

WTF.

Amazing Sunsets

Something I try not to take for granted is the beautiful scenery out here. 

Living in neighborhoods growing up, it was just different. 

I remember when we moved out here and we were outside. I said something along the lines of "wow there are so many more stars out here" like an idiot.

Steve was like "no, you can just SEE them better because there are no lights"

No street lights.

No neighbors.

It can be dark people.

What we DO get are some amazing sunsets though. 

Just check out that sky. That cloud looked like it was on FIRE! So cool. 

Happy Father's Day

We don't make a big deal out of these "holidays" - just never have.

I mean, we totally acknowledge them, but we don't like DO anything. Because, frankly, we try to appreciate each other all the time.

Steve's a fantastic dad. He's super involved and does a LOT with them. He single-parents it 4 days a week (sort of). And works full time in the other 3 days to help support our family.

He does all the disgusting chores that I just will. not. do.

This year, he "chose" his Father's Day gift to be 4-wheeling with his friends for an entire day, out of state. 

Not that I care what he does, but now that I'm HOME ALL THE TIME WITH THE KIDS and when he works, he actually GOES to a different location and doesn't have to juggle work and kids at the same time...him going somewhere for an entire day (gone before we wake up, home after dinner)...after I've been solo-parenting for 3 solid days...it can be tough. 

So on the ACTUAL day, I woke up and made a big breakfast for everyone.

Bacon, two types of sausage, hash brown potatoes, fresh fruit, oatmeal and fresh eggs. OMG.

Then.

Steve went and hung out in our master bedroom. 

In the air conditioning.

His work (a shop) understandably does not have AC.

We don't have Central Air either.

We have window units in the bedrooms.

So he spent the day (THE ENTIRE DAY, PEOPLE) in our room, watching TV, napping, etc. The girls would go in, snuggle, watch TV, come out, play, etc. 

I went swimming with Ava. 

The Sun was so. hot. Also, how CUTE IS SHE? My bubba.

Steve and Mila finally made it outside after dinner for a nice evening swim. The water is so warm!

Making waves!

Family time! (Before anyone judges me about not having Bella up here, she REALLY wanted to lay down in MR's crate and nap. Trust me.) She doesn't love the heat. Or the cold. Or the wind. Again, I attribute this to her being a stray and outside her WHOLE LIFE OMG. I'm crying. 

Oh and because we were just starving for dinner, I didn't get any photos. We ate outside and it was beautiful out. 

Even though we don't really "celebrate" (I didn't get him a card or gift or anything), we do love to eat. So I got ribeyes, chicken, shish kabobs, sautéed mushrooms, peas, I made risotto too. It was SO good. 

I did also call my dad and wish him a good day. He was having dinner with an old golf buddy. Glad to see he was having a good time when I called him.

It was a good day. 

Review: Speedo Swim Vest

In a previous post I mentioned getting the kids' life vests for our upcoming vacation.

Came across this Speedo swim vest for Ava. We. got ours on Amazon so it was actually a couple bucks cheaper. (And it's even cheaper now than when we bought ours!)

When it came, it was rainy and shitty out for several days so we weren't able to really try it out.

Well, the day finally came and she was so pumped to use it.

This is a fantastic vest, people! If you have a kiddo who is almost there with swimming but isn't quite there yet 100%, get this!

Yes, we have to of course have our eyes on her all the time, but we would have to REGARDLESS. 

I like to have my eyes on the kids when they are in the pool. I also try really hard not to get too distracted.

Because I know how water is. It's so easy for a kid to slip under water and honestly, it's not that noticeable.

This vest allowed her full use of her arms and kept her above water just enough.

We got her the Medium size, for the weight range of 33lbs - 45lbs. She's only 36lbs so we're good to go.

It's made out of UV50 SPF polyester but is soft to the touch. Not at all scratchy or restrictive. 

This is considered a "Level 2 swim aid" meaning it's for kids who are already familiar with water.  

Ava feels confident when wearing it and loves that she doesn't need a parent on her at all times. 

We are excited to bring it on vacation and use it there as well.

So happy with this purchase! 

Chicken Coop Addition

We have a good amount of chickens. We hover around the 35-40 range. When we first built our coop, we only had 12 chickens.

As we got more and more chickens, we knew we had to expand. Their current coop is 8 feet wide by 4 feet deep. 

We doubled it.

And we also moved the automatic chicken door to be on the outside of the run, so it'll lock the chickens in the run at night and not just the coop. They are likely feeling a bit exposed with having their wall pushed back and no door! 

Steve is putting down the floor joists.

Cutting the floor board down to size

Floor is in. And while it looks like Steve is smoking something, he's just eating a popsicle. lol.

Up goes the wall

View from the other side

We also relocated the automatic chicken door so it's on the outside now. This way, if they don't all make it into the coop at night, at least they will be locked in the run and safe from predators. 

And the girls just playing with their chickens

Remote Learning

"Remote Learning"

That's what they've come to call this crazy "homeschool" situation.

The people who do traditional homeschool were the first to be like "BUT THIS ISN'T WHAT WE DO"

Traditional homeschool still involves activities with other people/kids. They learn a curriculum that is not directed by the school, (and I think, I'm no expert) they just have to complete that curriculum however and they test and move on to the next grade.

THIS was NOT homeschooling in the traditional sense.

We couldn't go on field trips.

We couldn't learn with other friends.

Neither parent could spend 100% of our effort teaching these kids.

However.

Something VERY surprising happened.

I'm still processing it.

If you know me and Steve IRL, you'll all know that I'm the crazy one and he's the calm one. He's super laid back and is very much a fly by the seat of your pants, make NO plans and just go with the flow.

It drives me BATTY.

I'm extremely rigid, structured, Type A all the way.

Steve is patient. 

Steve is kind. 

I'm incredibly Impatient.

I'm not the friendliest of folks. 

But yet.

He could not for the LIFE OF HIM do school with the girls.

He did it a few times and immediately said "I have no idea how to teach them" 

Don't get me wrong. 

He's taught them a lot during this time.

Just not typical school work. 

They definitely started doing more chores around the house - regularly. 

They helped him outside with those chores.

Feeding the dogs.

Feeding the pigs. 

Gathering eggs.

I, on the other hand, have shocked myself with my patience with the girls while doing school. 

I mean, of course I can have my moments, but overall, the times when I could really help them, it was really cool and fun to see them "get it". Those moments were awesome. And I have to say, I didn't DO any of Mila's work for her at all - I helped her through things, but she did 100% of her work by herself. 

While we didn't keep up with EVERY SINGLE assignment, I think we put in a pretty decent effort, considering Steve and I are still working full time. 

I was so much more patient than I ever, ever thought I'd be. 

It's clear I cannot do it all effectively - parent, work, teach, clean, cook, animal carer, etc. 

However. 

If I can just manage my stress.

And manage my calendar and know what I can handle at any given time, I can make it less stressful. 

Not stress-free because that's nearly impossible, but figuring this shit out over the course of 3 months has proved fruitful. I definitely feel better about it all now than I did a month ago.

They also had their last "day of school" today and we had Mila's last zoom meeting with her class. Yesterday she read a letter she wrote to her class. 

Today everyone got their awards and Mila got the "Best Behavior Award" and I yelled and clapped and all that when her teacher announced her name. LOL. I'm sure all the other kids and parents think I'm a nut. 

"I'm cute and you're Chinese"

After a long day of swimming and being outside, we took the kids to Lowe's to get the flowers for our backyard. We are finally at the stage in our lives where we can buy it all at once (I mean, it still fucking hurts) instead of buying little by little and never having it all bloom and be pretty all at once. Flowers are fucking expensive, by the way. 

This post actually nothing to do with flowers.

The girls got dressed and ready to go.

And my god. 

They are so cute.

GF got a little sun today! Qipao dress is from Aunt Lisa :)

Even had to add in the chopstick in the bun ;)

As we headed out the door, Ava said to Mila "I'm cute and you're Chinese."

Um, what? 

WTF, Ava. 

Safety First

As you know, we'll be heading out on our first boat vacation for July 4th.

Mila is a competent swimmer. She can make it from one side of our pool to the other. She's not afraid of going under water and doesn't mind getting her face wet.

My mom and sister were really the ones who were there when she "got it". It was a couple of summers ago. I remember it clearly when my mom was like "SHE GOT IT"

And Ava?

Well. 

She sinks like a rock.

She uses one of those typical puddle jumpers (coast guard approved) that is supposed to save her life. It keeps her head and chest above water and has arm floats as well.

It's prevents her from sinking.

It's great. She's being using it since she was 1.

The thing is, it does not allow her to learn how to swim. Either me or Steve need to be there to keep her above water if she's not wearing it. 

When we booked our vacation, I knew we'd need life jackets. 

Mila needed a life jacket.

Ava could use her puddle jumper.

But as I was doing research for Mila's life jacket, I came across this swim vest.

A swim vest is supposed to be used for learning how to swim. 

IT WILL NOT SAVE A LIFE.

But, since Ava is incredibly independent and wants to swim SO BADLY, but with the fact that she CANNOT SWIM YET, this sounded like a cool thing.

It had great reviews and reviewers said it did exactly what it says it does. Keeps the kid just afloat enough, allows them to learn how to stay above water. I think this is perfect for what we need for Ava!

It was only $20, people. 

It's been chilly, so she hasn't been able to try it out yet. We're so excited! 

Obviously since it's not Coast Guard Approved as a life-saving device, we'll need to bring the puddle jumper anyway. 

But this was a lucky find!