Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 4/3 - 4/9)

Friday (4/3) - Day 21 of "Corona break."  Zak and I were up about 8am this morning and everyone else slept in.  He and I had breakfast and some TV time before everyone else woke up.  I jumped online and went to one of my friend's Zumba Gold classes which was super fun!  When that was over, everyone was up so we started our school day.  I was lucky enough to get to jump into another friend's Zumba class around lunch time too, it was such a fun morning of dancing with friends!!  The boys did a great job of staying focused and finishing up all of their work for the day and the week, especially Daniel who had a ton to finish up today.  They all worked hard and I feel pretty good about what they got accomplished this week, and what they learned to change for the upcoming weeks.

The day passed pretty quickly with me helping them with their school work, working around the house and getting some time outside in the beautiful weather.  I talked to my mom for a while and had a Zoom call with some Scout friends tonight so I got some social connection as well.  After finishing up for the week, we ended the night with a family movie night watching the new movie "Onward" that Disney released on Disney+ today.  It was a great movie and we all loved it!!  It was also sad and some of us cried (read: me) which lead to a discussion on how not everything has a happy ending.  After the movie and our great discussion, we put the boys to bed and then we watched "The Goldburgs" from this week and headed to bed for the night.

Saturday (4/4) - Day 22 of "Corona break."  We stuck with our routine and made today a fun day for us, very little work and lots of fun.  It started a little early since I had to get up and teach a Zumba class at 9am, but I had a ton of fun and it felt great to start the day out with a fun workout!  After class, I came home and we started hanging out.  Adrian made us omelettes for brunch and we started catching up on our comedies from the week.  Then we spent the rest of the day switching back and forth between watching TV and playing board games.  The boys spent most of their day playing video games upstairs, which is what they wanted to do for the day.  I learned two new games today including "Castles of Burgundy" (I won) and "That's Pretty Clever" (I won one & Adrian won one).  AJ and Adrian played "Unlock" and won earning 3 out of 5 stars and we played "Castle Panic" with Daniel (we won).  Adrian and I also played "Ticket to Ride Europe" (Adrian won), "Gizmos" (Adrian won) and "Hanabi" (we did great and got 20 out of 30 possible points).  We also caught up on all of our comedies from the week and finished up "Tiger King" on Netflix.  It was a great day of relaxing and having fun together as a family!!

Sunday (4/5) - Day 23 of "Corona break." We all slept in after staying up past midnight last night.  Adrian and Zak were the first two people up and they played (and won) a game of "Flip Ships" this morning before everyone woke up.  When we were all up and moving, we started working around the house because since yesterday was a fun day, today is a work day.  We worked on our weekly chores and got some stuff done to get set up for a successful week of school.  We also made some fun plans since this is Easter week and the kids are "off" on Friday.  We finished deep cleaning the kitchen, downstairs bathroom and laundry room today as well.  We were done our list of chores by around 7pm so the boys got a little bit of video game time while Adrian watched some YouTube and I got my giant grocery shopping list made for the week.  I'm hoping I can find everything we need this week!  We finished the night by starting a new series together as a family, "Stranger Things."  We all really enjoyed it and are planning to watch it as a family over the next month or so.  After the show, we put the boys to bed and came down to watch "Man with a Plan" from last week and then headed to bed too.  It was a super productive day and I'm ready for a great week!!

Monday (4/6) - Day 24 of "Corona break." The boys all slept in this morning since we were up late last night but Adrian and I were up around 8am.  We enjoyed a cup of coffee together before he headed upstairs to go to "work" for the day.  The boys eventually got up and moving and we started school for the day.  AJ and Daniel both had Zoom calls so I made sure they were online and ready for those.  The boys did great today doing schoolwork, I had a rough day.  It's really hard for me to keep them all on task and make sure they are doing what they need to do.  Plus it seems like one kid is always done way early so I have to have stuff ready for them to do too.  Thankfully AJ and Zak have Scout requirements they can work on, Daniel is a little more challenging.  I know it's just a season and we will get thru this but it was just a rough day for me.

When everyone finished school for the day, I headed out to Aldi to stock up on some things that we need for the next 2-3 weeks.  I was pleasantly surprised that they had just about everything I needed and I was in and out quickly.  When I got home, the boys helped me unload and put away all of the groceries.  Then we had dinner and I headed out to the church to teach my Zumba class.  I finally figured out my music issues and we had an awesome class together!  I did hurt my back somehow over the past few days and it was screaming at me after class tonight.  While I was at class, AJ had a virtual Scout meeting and Zak practiced learning how to ride a two wheeler (a goal for this month!)  When we all finished up, the boys had some video game time while Adrian and I cleaned up the kitchen.  Then we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed.  Adrian and I watched 2 comedies from our DVR and also headed to bed.

Tuesday (4/7) - Day 25 of "Corona break." After a great night of sleep, Adrian and I were woken up a little early by thunderstorms coming thru our area.  We got ready to start our day and he went to work in our bedroom while the boys slept in so I enjoyed some "Housewives" while drinking coffee.  I was supposed to do a live core workout on Facebook but since my back is still bothering me I decided to rest instead and hopefully be OK for the rest of the week.  When the boys got up, I got them showered and dressed for the day and then we started on school.  They did great again today and got everything done that needed to be done.  Zak had a live Science class today and since AJ was downstairs for lunch at the same time he decided to join in for it.  They had fun watching Mystery Doug live from his house and learning how to make animals out of tinfoil.

Around the boys' school schedule I was able to do about half of a Zumba class with my friend Liz and half of a Zumba class with a Zumba trainer named Steve who is awesome.  He broadcast from his home in Brussels and I loved every minute of dancing with him.  After the second Zumba class, I headed out to run a few errands which did not go as planned.  I went to rent E.T. only to find out that the video store is now closed (should have known).  I went to Giant Eagle and found almost everything I needed there then headed to Meijer to pick up the boys medicine.  Unfortunately that wasn't ready yet so I went inside the store to finish up my shopping and got everything except mac and cheese for Daniel.  I wasn't planning to do all of the errands to day, but I'm kind of glad that I am done for the next two weeks now.

When I got home, we made tacos for dinner for everyone.  The boys had regular beef tacos and Adrian and I had pork tacos with salsa pork that had been slow cooking all day.  After dinner, we cleaned up a bit and then settled in to watch E.T. together as a family.  The boys all really enjoyed the movie, it was a fun family night watching an old favorite with them.  After the movie, it was really late so we got the boys to bed, watched one comedy and then headed to bed too. 

Wednesday (4/8) - Day 26 of "Corona break." I really struggled to sleep last night and had a hard time getting up this morning.  I finally dragged myself out of bed because I had to drive Rocky to daycare and then get home in time for a Zumba mini-jam.  I loved the song and choreo we learned and am hoping to add it to my classes next week!  After the jam, I got the boys started on school work and grabbed a quick shower.  The day passed quickly with Zoom calls for each kid at a different time and lots of school work due either today or tomorrow since there is no school on Friday.  When the boys were done with school for the day, we spent some time working in one of their bedrooms and then I gave them free time to play some video games.

Adrian finished up work early today and went to pick up Rocky from daycare.  She came home and immediately went to sleep on the floor in the living room.  We cooked spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight, which was a request from Zak.  After dinner, I headed to the church to work my one night there and Adrian got on his Zoom call for his Bible study.  When we were both done and back home, we cleaned up from dinner and then got ready for family night watching "Lego Masters."  We really enjoyed the Star Wars themed builds tonight and were glad that none of the teams went home.  Can't wait to see the finale next week, it's been a fun series to watch as a family!!  After that was over, we got the boys to bed and watched this week's "Survivor."  We were happy to see Adam go home, he has been driving us crazy for weeks!  This is such a good season and so fun to watch past winners fight it out!!

Thursday (4/9) - Day 27 of "Corona break." We all slept in this morning and got a very late start on our day.  I have been struggling to sleep the past few days since we've had some storms come thru every night.  I think we all needed the rest and I'm not even upset that we started late today.  The boys did great staying focused and finished school early today.  We finished purging AJ and Zak's clothes and moved on to cleaning that bedroom as well.  When we were all done with the work we needed to do, the boys played video games and I got dinner together.  Adrian and I ate an early dinner together and then I headed to the church to teach my Zumba class.  He fed the boys pasta for dinner and then mowed the lawn since the weather doesn't look good for the rest of the weekend.  When I got home, we cleaned up from dinner and then watched the first episode of the series "Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events."  The boys really liked it, Adrian and I thought it was just OK.  But we'll watch it since the boys liked it.  After the show, we got the boys to bed and watched one comedy from the week before heading to bed too.