Summer has arrived

School is officially cancelled for the year.  There is some optional distance learning happening, but who is going to do that if it doesn't count for a grade?  My two girls are doing some of the work, but not much.  A few teachers set up Google Classrooms to give out assignments.  Some aren't doing anything.  They both ended the year with A's.  Veronica has straight A's across everything in 7th grade for the whole year.  Valerie made one B in 9th grade Algebra the 3rd 9 weeks, but her final grade is still an A.  This mamma can't complain about that!!  Both girls are on summer sleep schedules already - staying up until dawn and sleeping the day away.  That's what teenagers do, right??

We've been baking a lot of cookies lately.  I almost always have cookies made, but lately it's more than usual.  Sometimes from scratch, but often not.

I discovered this Betty Crocker mix quite a few years ago.  It is SO good and so easy.  Sometimes it is hard to find so when I see it, I buy several at a time.  A stick of (real) butter, 1 egg, add in some extra vanilla and more chocolate chips.  The perfect chocolate chip cookie!  Crispy edges and soft in the middle.  Pro tip:  Let the butter sit out for a few hours to soften.  Beat the butter, egg, and extra vanilla for a few minutes first.  Then add cookie mix and chocolate chips.

The swimming pool is filling up as I type.  We did not put it up last summer and I really missed it. We have a salt water system so upkeep is nothing once we get it going.  I'm looking forward to some lazy afternoons just floating around!

It took me a while, but I finally finished this 1000 piece puzzle I'd been working on. 

No, those aren't extra pieces in the top corner.  They are from another puzzle! 

Our stay at home order was extended to May 15 yesterday.  I really hope this lock down ends soon.  We've been staying home with very few outings to the store.  Bored, bored!! The break from the routine has been nice, but at some point things need to return to normal.  You don't have to agree, but I have to wonder if we are being played.  If all of this was even necessary?  Will we ever know?  I think everybody has had enough.  I decided to roll the dice and book a beach trip for mid-May.  No school.  Nothing to do.  And it was too cheap to pass up.  The beaches are closed at the moment, so fingers crossed they will be open soon.  If not, I can request a refund, and if they are, I got a heck of a deal on a beach condo.

Hope you all are doing well! 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone.  It's going to be a quiet day here.  Who am I kidding?   Since my dad died in 2011, holidays are always quiet and just the four of us.  I guess that is a good thing under these circumstances.  Honestly, not a whole lot has changed for us under this lock down because we don't have family to visit.  The kids' activities went to zero and I've cut down on my shopping trips.  Clint is working from home, which is a huge blessing since he transferred to the Houston office.  He was on the verge of quitting, but working from home makes it so much easier to stay employed.  Other than that, it's almost business as usual 'round here!!  Almost.

For the first time ever, no one got up in the middle of the night to see if the Easter Bunny had passed.  The bunny didn't even bother hiding any eggs, as those days seem to be over.  Wouldn't you know it - Veronica got up and said she couldn't find any eggs.  And she said maybe the bunny didn't hide any because of the virus?  Uhhhmmmm  okay kiddo.  I mean, she's 13 and seems to still believe or maybe she just wants to believe.  I really don't know.  Valerie probably won't get out of bed until this afternoon. 

Clint is working the night shift this week from home.  He wasn't supposed to be here at all, so I'm just glad he's home and not in Texas.  He'll be sleeping most of the day, so Easter dinner will be late this afternoon.  On the menu is turkey breast, ham, rice dressing, corn casserole, mac n cheese, bacon wrapped green beans, dinner rolls, and I made a totally from scratch lemon pie. 

Other than that, it's going to be a lazy day around here.

I know this Easter isn't going to feel normal for anyone, but I hope you all enjoy your day!! 

Random Tuesday thoughts

Here's the answers to the band name picture puzzle from last week!

Last week we finished up our flowerbed project.  It was quite a task pulling all the mulch out and digging out all the overgrown shrubs.  What a disaster my yard was for a while.  Clint pressure washed the edging, the porch, walkway, and driveway.  It looks great!!  I'm hoping the plants we moved survive and the lava rocks will make it easier to maintain.

I'd really like to paint my porch and gables a darker shade of green, but there's this whole 'stay home and only go out for essentials' thing happening.  

With the gym being closed, I've been riding my bicycle a few miles every morning.   My bike is at least 15 years old.  I'd really like a new one, but they are so expensive!  Even second hand, people want crazy amounts of money for them.  We found a fixer upper Schwinn Beach Cruiser on Facebook Marketplace for $15, so we bought it.  At a glance, it looks like it'll be about $40 to get it back rolling.  

Current bike

Fixer upper bike

Gizmo brought in a present Saturday morning.  At least we are assuming it was Gizmo.  I found it in the kitchen - a tiny snake with its head chomped off.  Gross.  NO THANKS! 

Clint wanted a face mask to wear when he does have to go out.  I got out my Mom's sewing machine and followed a YouTube tutorial.  I made myself one too, just in case.  I'm no seamstress but I think I did pretty good over all.  It has a pocket to put a filter inside. 

Both kids are doing fine with this stay at home stuff.  They are bored at times, stay up late, and sleep the day away.  They have optional school work to do, which I am not really making them do.  It's not even from their teachers - it's just packets the school board put together.  Busy work.  As of now, they are supposed to go back to school in May.  I honestly do not see that happening and believe we are done for the year.  

I don't mind staying home, and we stay home a lot, so not much has changed.  I've cut down my shopping trips and there's nothing to drive the kids to.  Everything is closed and cancelled!  At times I do feel a little stir-crazy just sitting at home.  The break from the routine and constant running around has been nice.  I can sleep as late as I want!  No alarms going off at 5am!  But on the other hand, looking ahead, the days feel endless with nothing to do and no where to go.  And no idea when this will actually end.  

Got Jokes?

This is what we woke up to this morning: 

Oh how I laughed and laughed.  Courtesy of Valerie of course.  She always tries to prank us on April 1st but this one is pretty darn good!! 


And just for fun, this is an old one but how many bands can you name in this picture??   There's about 70!  (I'll post the answers next time.)