Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/21 - 2/27)

Friday (2/21) We made it to another weekend and all got up on time.  Unfortunately, AJ woke up nauseus and not feeling well so he stayed home from school.  Adrian helped get everyone up and then he headed to work for the day.  I drove Daniel to school then came home and got Zak and myself ready and made sure AJ was all set for the day.  Then I headed in to school with Zak to sub for the day.  I thought I had 2 assignments, but ended up bouncing around to cover whatever needed covered and ended up being 4 different teachers in 4 different grades.  I was exhausted when the day was over and really just worn out.

When I came home, I saw that Rocky has not behaved during the day with AJ and chewed up a bunch of things.  It was not a great start to our weekend!!  We took some time to catch our breathes and then assessed the damage.  Thankfully everything she chewed up, we can replace pretty easily.  I hung out and rested for a bit and then I got ready to go to my Zumba class at the Y.  AJ was feeling better so he did a little homework and then got ready for his campout this weekend.  Adrian fed himself and Zak and then the two of them headed to the church for basketball.  Zak played really well and also did a great job learning his memory verse this week so he earned the "Christ-like Attitude" award!!

When we all got home, the boys had some video game time and I was honestly so tired I could barely function to get anything done.  Adrian and Zak finished up his car for the Pinewood Derby tomorrow and then Adrian and AJ got packed up to go camping.  The boys wanted to stay up a little later so we let them but got them down around 9 because we all have early mornings tomorrow.  After getting them down, Adrian and I watched "Modern Family" while having snacks and then headed to bed.  We were both exhausted after what felt like a very long week!!

Saturday (2/22) We were up super early this morning getting moving for a busy day.  Adrian and AJ finishing packing up and headed out to AJ's Scout campout.  I got Daniel ready and our friend picked him up to take him to art class.  Then Zak and I got ready and headed to the church.  I set up for my Zumba class and then Zak was picked up by his friend to go to his weekly bowling game.  I am so thankful for my village and that we were able to do all of that today!!  After I taught an awesome Zumba class, I headed to Gahanna to pick up Zak and then we headed downtown to pick up Daniel and David.  When we all got back home, we had a quick lunch and a little relaxing before round two this afternoon.

Daniel, Zak and I headed out to Zak's Pinewood Derby for Scouts in the afternoon.  His car was a little below the weight limit so I add a few coins to boost the weight.  Zak won all three of his races and won first place in his den this year!!  He was super proud and excited!  He also did a great job of cheering on his other den mates and not gloating that he won.  All of the Scouts did great and I'm proud of them.  When the race was over, we headed to Target to get Isabelle's birthday gift and spend some of their birthday money.  They did great picking out what they wanted and we had fun shopping.  When we were done, we finally headed home for the day.

When we got home, the boys started playing with their new toys, including a new marble maze and some stuffies.  I started working around the house trying to catch up on all of the stuff we hadn't done all week.  I was really worn out already from the day though so I wasn't as productive as I hoped, but I still managed to get a lot done including catching up on laundry.  We also spent some time in the yard playing with Rocky since it was a nice day.  The afternoon and evening passed quickly and before long it was time for the boys to go to bed.  I came back down to have a snack and watch a little TV and didn't even make it thru one show before heading back up to bed myself.  It was a fun but exhausting day!!

Sunday (2/23) We all slept in this morning until after 9am!  I felt so well rested when I got up, it was fantastic!  Since we were too late for first service, we weren't able to go to church this morning so we had a relaxing morning at home.  Adrian and AJ got back from camping around noon and said they had a great time.  AJ did a 5 mile hike and earned his Second Class rank!!  They also did some shooting, cooking, played some games and slept outside in tents even though it was pretty cold.  Soon after they got home, I headed out to the Y to teach another huge (over 40 people!) Barre class.  Thankfully they hired a new instructor so starting next month there will be 2 more barre classes on the schedule, yay!!

After class, I came home and got the house and food ready to celebrate all of the February birthdays with Carl, Sarah and their kids.  They came over for a few hours for a relaxing, fun time.  The kids all played together while the adults chatted and caught up.  We enjoyed meatball subs, salads and ice cream cake to celebrate Zak, Daniel & Isabelle turning another year older!!  They hung out for a while and when they headed home, we got our crew ready for bed.  We did some clean up around the house and then had the boys watch a show before heading up to bed.  Adrian was exhausted from camping so he went to bed then too.  I came down and watched a little TV and did a few other little things around the house before calling it a night too.  It was a fun but tiring weekend and I don't think any of us feel ready to start the week ahead!

Monday (2/24) We were up bright and early to get back to our normal schedule for the week.  Adrian decided to take the day off today so I let him sleep in while I got everyone off to school.  I dropped all three boys off at their respective schools on time.  We were all sleepy and slow moving, but we made it.  I also had the day off today because I'm waiting for the guy to come and set up the boys' birthday present.  I got started on things around the house early this morning since I didn't get very much done this weekend.  It was a super productive day and before long it was time to pick everyone up from school.  I picked up Daniel and Zak when they were done for the day and AJ took the bus home. Unfortunately the guy who was supposed to set up our trampoline never showed up so I took the day off for nothing!

After a short break for everyone, we finished homework and then all had dinner.  Then we headed out for our night stuff.  Adrian and Zak headed to basketball where Zak played great again, getting a bunch of rebounds, making a few shots and playing really hard.  While they were there, I was also at the church teaching my Zumba class.  We had a great time dancing together and burning a ton of calories.  After we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and down for the night.  Then Adrian and I finished up a few more things around the house, watched two more comedies from our DVR and headed to bed for the night.  Back to our busy routine tomorrow!!

Tuesday (2/25) We got mostly back to our normal routine today. Adrian got AJ up and started on getting ready and then headed to work for the day. I got AJ and Daniel to school and then came home to get Zak and myself ready for the day. I dropped Zak off at school and then headed to the YMCA to teach two classes this morning, a Zumba Gold class and a make up Aqua Zumba class. I had a great time doing both classes and was ready to drop when I was done! But no rest for the weary so I headed to Costco to do a major stock up trip for us since it's been a while since I've gone.

After that, I came home and rested for a bit and got everyone from school. Daniel was excited to tell me about the special assembly he had today learning about making smart choices and the basics of CPR. He said it was cool to learn it but he hopes to never have to use it! After I got everyone home from school, I headed up to West to teach my 3rd Zumba class of the day to the teachers there. When we were done, I came home and cooked a quick dinner before heading out with Zak to his Scout den meeting. We had a fun time there working on our coding belt loop even though I was really exhausted. When we got home for the night, we got the boys thru their night time routine and down to bed. Then Adrian and I watched a comedy before also heading to bed for the night.

Wednesday (2/26) We all got up and moving on time again today. Adrian helped get the boys up and started for the day and then headed to work. I dropped AJ and Daniel off at school and then came home to pick up Rocky and drop her off at daycare for the day.  Then I came home to get Zak and myself ready for the day. I dropped him off at school and headed to the Y to teach my normal three classes all day today, Zumba Toning, Aqua Zumba and Silver Sneakers. I had fun at all three classes and was not nearly as tired as I thought I would be after teaching so many extra classes yesterday.  After class, I ran a few quick errands and then got all of the boys after school.

We quickly got thru homework for everyone and then I ran out to pick up Rocky. When we got home, I got dinner for everyone and then headed to the church to work for about an hour tonight. Adrian had Bible study so he went straight there from work. When we all got home after the busy day, we finished up a few things around the house and then got the boys thru their night routine. Then Adrian and I got our snacks and watched "Survivor" for the week together before heading to bed. Wednesdays are becoming the busiest day of the week for us!

Thursday (2/27) We got up and moving on time again today, we're doing great with that this week! Adrian helped get AJ and Daniel up and started getting ready and then headed to work for the day. I dropped AJ and Daniel off at school and then headed home to get Zak and myself ready for the day. We headed in together since I was subbing for the whole day today in his school. The day passed quickly and I had a great day in 2nd grade, including seeing Zak at lunch and recess.

When we got home, we got quickly thru homework and dinner after a short relaxing break for all of us.  Then I headed out to the church to teach my Zumba Toning class for the night.  I had a great time with the group of ladies that were there and we got a great workout, as always. When I got home, we finished cleaning up a few things from dinner and then watched yesterday's "Lego Masters" as a family before getting the boys to bed for the night.  After they were in bed, Adrian and I watched two comedies from our DVR and then headed to bed too. Not the most exciting day, but productive and a little fun too.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 5/1 - 5/7)

Friday (5/1) - Day 49 of "Corona break." We had a very slow start to our day, we all slept in and were very lazy when we got up.  Adrian finally headed upstairs to work and while the boys were showering and eating breakfast, I did a quick Zumba class that my friend recorded.  Then we started school for the last day of this week.  The boys were really focused and worked hard to finish up everything they needed to for this week.  We are all excited to only have two more weeks of school work left to finish up for the year.

After they finished school, they headed upstairs to play video games and I logged on to Zumba to do my last virtual convention session of the week.  It was another session of "Latin Urban" and even though it was the same information as earlier in the week, I still learned from the amazing couple.  I had a blast sharpening my dembow skills and dancing with Heidy and Armando again, and Rocky enjoyed watching it too.  When the session was over, I ran out to pick up our custom made masks and grab a few things from Dollar Tree to make posters for all of our parades next week.  It was a quick and productive trip.

When I got home, Adrian and I made dinner together and then cleaned up pretty quickly to move on to have a relaxing Friday night.  I headed upstairs with my wine and my homemade cookie that my friend dropped off earlier for a virtual wine night with friends.  I chatted, laughed and drank for 2 hours with them, it was fantasic!!  I wish we were in person, but it was still nice to socialize with them even if it was virtual.  While I was doing that, Adrian finished cleaning up and he and the boys got our popcorn ready for movie night.  Instead of doing a movie, we watched 2 episodes of "Stranger Things" and will watch 2 more on Sunday to finish season 2.  We were going to watch them all tonight but got started too late since I was on my call.  When the show was over, we all headed upstairs and to bed for the night.

Saturday (5/2) - Day 50 of "Corona break." The alarm felt very early when it went off this morning!  I got up and moving and headed to the church to teach my Zumba Toning class.  We had fun and got a great workout, but man do I miss seeing my students in person!!  I'm hoping this is the last month of virtual only classes and that by June we'll be back to in person classes.  When I got home, we had our weekly family fun day.  We spent the whole day relaxing, playing board games and watching TV.  We played two new to me games, City of the Big Shoulders (Adrian won) and Awkward Guests with the boys (I won).  I didn't love either game, but will play both of them again.  Then we played two favorites, Castles of Burgundy (Adrian won) & Splendor (Adrian won), it clearly was not my best game playing day.  We snacked on junk food all day and let the boys stay up until midnight.  It was a fantastic lazy day and I loved every minute of it!!

Sunday (5/3) - Day 51 of "Corona break." After fun all day yesterday, today was a work day for us.  We started pretty early since we all got up and moving quickly.  The boys did a great job finishing their lists by early afternoon including making a fossil craft from Zak's schoolwork last week and making posters for our upcoming school parades this week.  Adrian and I worked hard and quickly to get the house in order for the upcoming week.  It's a lot easier now that we've gotten rid of some things and also have the boys helping us to clean up now.

I got a surprise this afternoon when the doorbell rang and I found a gift from the staff at Licking Heights West for teacher appreciation week.  I was overwhelmed that they thought of me to drop it off during this weird time.  It's filled with tons of snacks and school supplies that will all come in handy. I also have an envelope to open each day which I'm not so patiently waiting to open.  We also took Rocky on a nice long walk around the neighborhood and saw tons of friends and neighbors out and about on this beautiful day.  We enjoyed delicious grilled steak for dinner and I realized I haven't had to cook dinner for the past 4 nights, that's a record for this quarantine period!!

The boys were super helpful all day and did a bunch of cleaning around the house.  We also made our signs so we are ready to spoil our teachers from afar for the teacher and staff parades this week.  After dinner and some free time for everyone, we finished the night with the final two episodes of season two of "Stranger Things."  What a great ending to the season!!  We all loved it and are so excited to start season 3 very soon.  After the two episodes, we put the boys to bed, finished up a few things and then watched an episode of "Young Sheldon" before heading to bed too.  Ready for another week of sheltering at home!

Monday (5/4) - Day 52 of "Corona break" and day 6 of the virtual Zumba convention.  My day started earlier than I wanted it to because I had the "House Experience" session at 9am this morning.  I got up and ready and was glad I tuned in because I had a blast dancing with Rodrigo and Benjamin.  After my Zumba session, I got the boys up and moving and ready to start their school day. AJ had speech first thing this morning so he logged on and did that while the rest of us got started on work for the week.  Zak had a rough day and didn't want to do any of his work.  There was some tears and raised voices (from both of us) but we finally got thru what we needed to get thru.

 

After the rough day of school, I sent the boys upstairs to play so I could try to get some things done. AJ had his virtual merit badge class, this week he is taking animation and said it's really cool!  I had a ton of unexpected things come up so I wasn't able to finish what I wanted to finish, but that's the way life goes sometimes.  I did roast a whole chicken for dinner and Adrian and I enjoyed a nice dinner alone before I left to teach my Zumba class this evening.  While I was there, he mowed the lawn and got AJ settled for his 3rd Zoom call of the day, this time with his Scout troop.  When we all finished up, we did what we could around the house and then settled in to watch "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" When that was over, Adrian and I got the boys to bed and watched an episode of "Young Sheldon" before he headed to bed and I had some time to myself to finish a few things and watch "Married to Medicine." It was a rough start to our week, I'm hoping it improves tomorrow.

Tuesday (5/5) - Day 53 of "Corona break" and day 7 of the virtual Zumba convention.  I was up early again today for another convention session.  This time is was "Street Style" and while it was not my favorite session of the 2 weeks, I still had fun dancing with Prince and Madelle and learned some tips. When that was over, I got the boys showered and dressed and we started school for the day.  We worked quick and were very focused because we have Zak's teacher parade this afternoon and want to be done for the day by then.

We weren't sure exactly when the parade would come by but we made the best guess we could and met up with some friends outside to see the parade. It was super emotional for me seeing all of my co-workers over the past few years parading by. Zak loved seeing his teacher and the other boys enjoyed seeing their teachers from past years. It was a fun afternoon, I just wish it wasn't so cold! When the parade was over, the boys headed upstairs to play some video games and I dried my tears and attended "House Experience" again with my two new favorites, Benjamin and Rodrigo. I had a great time dancing with them and reviewing the songs I learned yesterday from them.

After the session was over, I headed out to Aldi to do some grocery shopping for the next two weeks. I got just about everything that I needed and only have a few things to grab from either Kroger or Meijer now. I came home and made tacos for dinner since it's both Taco Tuesday and Cinco de Mayo. I also grabbed a Spanish wine for Adrian and I to enjoy since I forgot to get margaritas for us to celebrate with. After dinner and some clean up, we settled in to watch "City of Ember" for family movie night. It was Daniel's pick since he just finished the book. The movie was kind of boring but AJ and Daniel both read the book and enjoyed it so we're going to read the series this summer. After the movie was over, we got the boys down to bed, watched one comedy from our DVR and headed to bed too.

Wednesday (5/6) - Day 54 of "Corona break" and day 8 of the virtual Zumba convention. Today started earlier than I wanted it to for me but Adrian and I got up and moving so he could drop Rocky off at daycare and I could get to the first session of the day. It was a session about setting goals and while it was very interesting, it was hard for me to focus because the boys were all over me this morning. I eventually gave up and just got them started on school. Once again they were really focused and finished up quickly so that they were done in time for parade number two of the week.

Today was Daniel's turn to have his teachers come around the neighborhoods. Although they were super late and caused us a little bit of stress since we didn't know when they were coming, we were glad we waited it out and saw them. Daniel was really excited to see his teachers and I'm sad for him that this is how his year is ending. Thankfully his Math teacher will be looping with him and teaching Pre-Algrebra next year so he'll have her again. When the parade was over, AJ logged in for his animation merit badge workshop, Adrian went back to work, the other boys played video games and I started getting ready for our evening.

After I picked Rocky up from doggy daycare, I stopped by to pick up our dinner from the taco truck that was in our area tonight. We got tacos, churro sundaes and margaritas to go. We ate our tacos for dinner, then I headed to the church to work for an hour while Adrian fed the boys and logged in to his Bible study Zoom meeting. On my way home, I picked up our sundaes and we enjoyed them while finishing up a few things. When we were done for the night, we started season 3 of "Stranger Things" with the boys and enjoyed our delicious and strong margaritas! When the first episode was over, we put the boys to bed and started tonight's "Survivor" but since it's 2 hours we only watched part of it before heading to bed.

Thursday (5/7) - Day 55 of "Corona break" and day 9 of the virtual Zumba convention. I started the day with an awesome session with Ricardo learning about African beats and dances. It was way out of my comfort zone but he made me feel comfortable and ready to try it. After that session, I got the boys started on school and thankfully the work is dwindling down and we have less to do each day. After they were done for the day, we got ready for our third and final parade of the week. This was AJ's teachers and earlier in the week, he was not interested in participating but by today he was interested and downstairs at 1:00 listening for the horns in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately I had another Zumba session at 3 and AJ had his merit badge workshop at 3 and the parade had still not come thru. We set up so that I was outside listening for the parade and trying to do my session while AJ was in the kitchen doing his merit badge. Thankfully his session was short today so he was done when the parade did finally come by our house. We were happy to see so many of AJ's teachers and be able to send them off for the year. When it was over, the boys went upstairs to play video games and I was able to catch the last half hour of my Puerto Rican Flow Zumba session.

After that session, I was not feeling well so I decided to cancel my Zoom Zumba class for tonight and instead just upload two classes for my students. My allergies are horrible this year and I'm really struggling with them. I am also mentally and emotionally exhausted from this week! I got dinner together for everyone and then spent the rest of the night relaxing. We watched another episode of "Stranger Things" with the boys before they went to bed for the night. Then Adrian and I finished last night's "Survivor" before we also headed to bed. I'm hoping my allergies let up soon!!

Keeping Up With...2020 Goals (April Recap)

Well I did much better getting my goals recap done this month than I did for the first three months of the year.  I guess when I have more time to work on this stuff, it actually gets done. We spent the entire month of April sheltering at home as well as Adrian working from home and the boys doing school from home. It was a weird month for sure! Some days were hard, others flew by. It has been an adjustment to staying home all the time but we are really trying to make the best of it! I go back and forth between being super productive and super overwhelmed with how much I still have to do here at home. I'm just trying to do the best I can, have a lot of fun with the family and not worry too much about how things are changing all the time.

Some of my goals I made really good progress this month, others I wasn't able to do at all. Any thing that is not in our house is on hold for right now. We made great progress on cleaning the house and getting rid of a bunch of stuff. Of course almost all of it is still in our garage, but it will eventually be donated to either our church or Volunteers of America. Now we are working on the maintainence of the house and we are including the boys in that. They clean the house each weekend, all three of them go to each room and clean what they see is dirty.  We plan to continue this, even when we are no longer sheltering at home. Now that the cleaning is all done and school is wrapping up, I'm going to move on to painting a few of the rooms over the summer. We are also coming up with a summer bucket list and expectations for this summer since most of our favorite places remain closed. I'm getting creative to keep the boys engaged and not on video games all day long. Stay tuned for more updates on that!!

Here are my goals for 2020 and how I'm doing.  The blue ones are new goals (none this month), crossed out ones are revised goals and red ones are completed (still none, but some are close).

• Lose 25 pounds - I gained 5 pounds this month. My eating since we've been staying home has been pretty bad. I'm moving a lot so thankfully that number isn't too big, but I need to get a handle on my eating next month and hopefully start to see the number go down.
• Exercise for 20 minutes every day - I've exercised 103 days so far this year!! I exercised just about every day in April only missing Easter Sunday. Some of the days were just a long walk with Rocky, other days it was 3 Zumba classes. I'm thankful I can still stay active at home!
• Finish 12 exercise related calendar challenges - I finished 24 of the 30 days in April. I picked to do 30 days of yoga in April and I honestly hated it! It was causing me stress and I was not enjoying the practice at all. So about 10 days in to the month, I switched it to some type of strength or stretching exercises each day. I still missed a few days, but I did way better than when it was just yoga.
• Do 30 40 Bible Plans in the You Verse app - I've finished 17 so far this year, including one that was 40 days long for Lent and was a study of Jesus' days here on Earth. I really enjoyed that one!
• Read "A Little God Time for Women" - 121 days done, on track to finish this goal
• Read 20 books - I've finished 4 books so far this year.  In April I read "Girl, Wash Your Face" and "How to Ride a Dragon's Storm." I really enjoyed both books and they were both quick reads. I'm a little behind on this goal but I'm hoping to pick it up this summer.
• Read the 12 How to Train Your Dragon Books - I finished book 7 this month and loved it. I'm on the wait list for book 8 right now.
• Read "Feminine Mystique" - I have read 26% so far this year. I'm still not loving this book, but know it's an important one to read.
• Write 45 meal plan blogs - I did 4 posts this month, 9 blog posts so far this year. I feel like all I do is cook and clean up after cooking! I know I'm not acutally cooking any more than before, but it feels like it because that's all I'm doing some days!
• Write 52 weekly summary blogs - I did 6 posts this month, 15 blog posts so far this year. I did really well with staying up to date on all of these for the month and I even did one from earlier this year that I needed to catch up on. I'm focusing on the blog this month so I hope to finish all of the unfinished posts in May.
• Write 12 4 goal recap blogs - I've done 2 so far this year. I'm really hoping to be able to keep up with this every month!
• Pay off $5,000 of credit card debt - We are back to even after this month. We are still planning to work on this although it is very hard since I am out of work right now. We will pay our large payment in May for sure and reevaluate each month after that.
• Renovate the boys' bedrooms - We are currently deep cleaning the whole house & then will focus on this.
• Finish my daily to do list every night - I did 22 days in April which is pretty good for me. I'm really focusing on getting my stuff done each day and then working on catching up with stuff on my giant to do list. I think once the boys are done with school I will have more time to focus on this stuff.
• Watch 50 movies - We've watched 18 movies so far.  Our April movies were "Onward," "Avengers: Rise of Ultron," "Ant Man," "Storks," "Smallfoot," and "E.T." We also started "Pan" but no one liked it so we didn't finish it and I didn't count it in our total. We're watching a ton of movies at home because we can't go anywhere!
• Go on 12 dates with Adrian - We've gone on 3 dates so far this year. This is kind of on hold since everywhere is closed. However restaurants are opening back up in the next few weeks so I'm hoping to go out once a month for the rest of the year.
• Sub 80 days in the schools - I've subbed 21.5 days so far since January.  Unfortunately this goal is on hold until schools reopen, or possibly next year.  
• Go to 6 Zumba jam sessions - I haven't gone to any in person but have done a bunch of mini-jams at home.  All of the in person ones have been cancelled or postponed.  They are doing virtual ones but since my income is non-existant I am holding off on those for right now. I am registered for one in June and I will see how that goes and where we are after that one but I may sign up for one or two more.
• Clean out master bedroom - We are currently deep cleaning the whole house & then will focus on this.
• Play 1 game with Adrian each week - I have done this all 17 weeks so far!
• Play Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 with Adrian once per month - We have played all 4 months so far.  We won again in April, but just barely!!  
• Play Machi Koro Legacy with the boys - We have played all 4 months so far and are having a great time playing this game as a family!!  I won April and we love all the twists that this game is taking.
• Have 6 nights out with friends - I've had 1 night out so far (really this is just a bunch of video chats with friends but I'm making sure to make these a priority)
• Go on an awesome family vacation to the Outerbanks - We have decided to cancel this trip due to the uncertain nature of travel right now.  We are waiting to hear if someone else books the week for the house we're committed to.
• Do 100 fun family things (one thing each week during school & one thing per person each week over the summer) - We did 12 fun things so far this year and obviously this is on hold for right now.  We are still having fun, it's just a different kind of fun right now.  I'm hoping we can still get close to this goal by having an epic summer, but we'll have to wait to see what is opened back up.
• Go on 2 family camping trips - hopefully this can still happen!!
• Deep clean the whole house - In April we finished the kitchen, the boys' bedroom, Daniel's bedroom and the toy room. Only our bedroom left and then the whole house will be done!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for May 10 - May 16)

I missed writing a meal plan blog last week because we were super busy. We had so much going on last week and I was really overwhelmed most of the week. I had the second week of the Zumba convention, the boys had a lot of school work since it was the last week of instructional learning, we had parades for each of the boys' schools and I had to go shopping for the celebrations this weekend. I did what I could but a lot of things didn't happen last week and I'm OK with that. Then I took the weekend off to relax and celebrate and I'm also OK with that. I'm getting things back on track this week though and am looking forward to our summer break!

On Sunday, we celebrated both Mother's Day and Adrian's 51st birthday! We still can't really do much since most everything is still closed, but we made the best of what we have. We spent the day relaxing, playing board games and eating great food that we didn't have to make. We had cupcakes from Smallcakes in Gahanna, bagels from Panera and dinner from Piada. We also had a cookie cake from Meijer for dessert since the boys don't really like cake and we didn't feel like having another ice cream cake.

This week I am getting caught up on stuff around the house that I haven't been able to do the past few weeks since I've been busy with keeping the boys on track for school. They have just a few small assignments to finish up this week and then they will be done with school, and Zak will also be done with Scouts for the year. This weekend we are making a plan for our summer to try to have some fun even though most of our favorite places will not be open. We are finishing up some leftovers this week and then next week Adrian and I are buckling down on our eating habits. We have both gained weight during this stay home order and are ready to start working to reverse that. Our CSA deliveries start soon so that will make it a lot easier to eat healthy. I'm looking forward to that!!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Piada takeout (very dangerous now that we know they deliver to us!)
Monday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and air fried cauliflower
Tuesday - Beef Fajitas for the adults and Tacos for the kids
Wednesday - Pesto Shrimp over spaghetti for the adults and spaghetti and meatballs for the kids
Thursday - Frittata
Friday - Chili Mac
Saturday - Leftovers or frozen apps to give us the most time to have fun and also to empty our freezer

Water Flavor:
Last week I used up the last apple that was going bad in my water. This week I will start working on the pears that I forgot I had and are now iffy to eat. I'll use them up in my water for at least the next week or two so I don't waste them.

Baking this Week:
Amish Friendship Bread - I baked this on Saturday with the second batch of the start that I got a few weeks ago. I gave away 3 starts and have another one started that I will bake next week again. I'm going to keep doing this until I give starts to all of the people on my list, or the boys get sick of eating the bread.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread - The boys keep asking for this for breakfast so I'll be making it again later this week, after some of our baked goods are eaten.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 4/24 - 4/30)

Friday (4/24) - Day 42 of "Corona break." We survived another week of working and schooling from home, but just barely.  This was a very tough week for us, not sure why it felt so long and hard but it did.  The boys did great focusing on their school work and finished up a little early again today.  I'm hoping this continues for the last 4 weeks of school!  When they were done, I had very little motivation to do anything so I finished up an online training for Silver Sneakers that needed to be done by this weekend while the boys played video games.  I didn't feel like cooking dinner so we ordered Chinese from the place up the street and had that for dinner instead.  After dinner, we had a little more free time and then we did family movie night and watched the movie "Storks."  We have HBO for free this month so we're watching the new movies on there that we want to see and this is one of them.  It was really cute, we all really liked it, even Zak who claimed he didn't want to see it and then ended up right in front of the TV for the end of the movie.  When the movie was over, we all headed to bed because we were all exhausted!!

Saturday (4/25) - Day 43 of "Corona break." It's our weekly family fun day and not a minute too soon!!  It started weird because I accidentally forgot to turn on my alarm and slept too late to teach my Zumba class this morning.  It was nice to have the Saturday morning home though.  Adrian ran to pick up our Kroger order since I didn't get up in time for class and after we put it away, we started with our fun day.  We spent the whole day playing board games and watching comedies from our DVR.  We played two new to me games Age of Steam, which II won but hated and Watergate which  Adrian won but I enjoyed and want to play again.  We also played some old favorites including Lost Cities (Adrian won twice), Sagrada (I won), Azul (I won), Hanabi (we did OK, not our best effort), Forbidden Island with Daniel and Zak (we lost twice on legendary) and Takenoko (I won).  Adrian and I also took Rocky on two walks and came home from one to find a present on the porch for me from my Secret Sister from church.  It was the perfect present for me and I will enjoy the wine, cookies and flowers for sure!!  The boys spent most of their day playing video games, playing on the trampoline and watching TV.  It was a super fun and relaxing Saturday!!

Sunday (4/26) - Day 44 of "Corona break." And today was our weekly work day for the week.  Since Adrian and I were up first, we decided to take a quick trip out this morning.  I heard there was another gift for me at the church, so I went to pick it up this morning.  I got another beautiful flower from one of my students, but I don't know which one.  After that quick stop, we went to Krispy Kreme to pick up donuts for breakfast for everyone.  Then we came home and got started on working around the house.  The to do lists were small for Adrian and the boys so they were finished in the afternoon.  Unfortunately I still had a bunch of stuff to do, but I made really good progress all day.  We pretty much worked all day, taking a short break to make dinner for everyone and take Rocky on another walk since it stopped raining.  We finished the weekend with another make your own sundae bar and started Season 2 of "Stranger Things."  It's starting out just as great as the first season ended!  When that was over, we put the boys to bed, finished up a few little things to clean up the kitchen, watched two comedies from our DVR and headed to bed.  Ready to start another week at home tomorrow!!

Monday (4/27) - Day 45 of "Corona break." And it's day 1 of the virtual Zumba convention for me!!  I have decided to put this convention at the top of my to do list this week and work everything else around the session that I am taking.  Today started out early for me with the opening session for the convention.  I heard heartwarming messages from many people in the Zumba home office and it brought me to tears.  I am so thankful that I work for this company and that I am still able to provide classes during these times, even if they aren't in person classes.  I know I am bringing happiness and health to people and that makes all my struggles behind the scenes SO worth it!

After my session, everyone got a shower and then we started school for the week.  Daniel had his weekly Zoom call this morning and AJ had his weekly speech teletherapy session this morning as well.  When they were finished on their calls, they got to work and I helped Zak navigate his work as well.  They were all very focused and finished up early again today.  AJ had three other Zoom calls this afternoon, one for his ELA class, one for the digital technology merit badge he is doing for Scouts and then his weekly Scout troop meeting tonight.  We were certainly a Zoom family today!!

When everyone was done with school, they played video games while I attended my second ZINCON session, Hip Hop Turn Up.  It was a super fun session with two trainers from Oregon, but it reenforced that I am definitely not a Hip Hop dancer.  I had fun and got a great workout dancing with Darhio and Gina though!  After the session, I got started on dinner making ham and bean soup with the rest of our Easter ham.  After dinner, I got ready and headed to the church to teach my Zumba class.  I had a big group and we had fun dancing together yet apart.  When my class was over, I dropped into one of my friend's classes and had fun dancing with her the first half of her class.

While I was at class, Adrian fed the boys dinner and mowed the back yard since it rained over the weekend and he didn't have time to do it.  When he was done and I was home, we cleaned up from dinner and then settled in with the boys to watch the next episode of "Stranger Things."  We are loving season 2 although we all think it's a little slower to get started than season 1 was.  When the show was over, we got the boys to bed, watched one episode of "Black-ish" from our DVR and called it a night.  We were both exhausted after a jam packed Monday!!

Tuesday (4/28) - Day 46 of "Corona break." And it's day 2 of my virtual Zumba convention.  The day started early for me again with a Tropical Urban session.  I loved dancing with Heidi and Armando this morning and learned so much about Dembow!!  They are super cute and are really easy to follow and learn from.  While I was dancing, the boys got dressed for the day and watched some TV until I was ready to get started for the day.  We didn't have any Zoom calls for anyone today so we all just started on our Google classroom work.  They were all super focused again and everyone finished before 2pm.  We did our final bit of deep cleaning on the play room and are officially done with cleaning the house other than the upkeep of all of the rooms.  We are hoping to start painting soon, but probably not until school is done for the year.

I got a few things done this afternoon around the house and then logged on for my second session of the day, Best of ABBA with Steve Boedt.  It was SO much fun dancing with him to such fun songs!!  I always learn so much from him, he's a great role model for cueing and so much more.  I learned 2 ABBA songs and then enjoyed dancing the rest of the afternoon away with him.  When that session was over, I got AJ set up for his digital merit badge Zoom call and relaxed a little before logging on for one more Zumba class of the day.  I took my friend Annie's Zumba Toning class and had a blast dancing with her!  I've known her for a while, but she lives out by Dayton so it's hard to drop in to one of her classes.  I'm thankful for these small blessings during this time.

 Rocky enjoyed "Zumba Toning" as well - she wanted to eat my sticks!

After that class, I was exhausted!  While I was taking the class, Adrian went out and mowed our front lawn because all of this rain is making it grow like crazy!  When he came in, he was also exhausted!  But we pulled it together and made chili mac for dinner.  After everyone was fed, we cleaned up a little and then settled in for family movie night with the boys.  We started watching "Pan" which was the last of the HBO movies that we wanted to watch while it was free.  It wasn't very good so we turned it off after about 45 minutes and watched another episode of "Stranger Things" instead.  When that was over, we got the boys to bed, watched one comedy and headed to bed too.  It was a fun but tiring day!!

Wednesday (4/29) - Day 47 of "Corona break." We got up and moving again pretty early.  Adrian and I got Rocky ready for daycare and then he went and dropped her off.  On his way home, he picked up coffee for us from Starbucks using a giftcard that we found when we were cleaning last weekend.  The he headed up to work and I got AJ signed up for next week's merit badge virtual classes & ordered our Kona ice for tomorrow before starting my day.  When the boys got up, I got everyone showered and then we started school for the day.  The boys did a great job of staying focused and we finished everything a little early today.

After getting a few things done around the house, I logged on to Zumba for Beto's master class this afternoon.  It was fun to dance with him and 5 or 6 other Zumba instructors that were helping him lead the class.  I had a great time and got a great workout too.  When the class was over, I recorded my next Zumba Studio class for my students.  After over 2 hours of Zumba, I was exhausted so I took a short break.  Adrian finished work and went to pick Rocky up from daycare while I cooked dinner.  Then I headed to the church to work for an hour and picked up our Kroger order after work.

While I was out, Adrian helped Zak join his class Zoom call where he found out the teachers will be driving around the neighborhoods on Tuesday.  We are all excited for this!  After his call, Adrian jumped on his Bible study Zoom call for about half of that meeting.  When I was home and all of that was done, we cleaned up a little in the kitchen and then settled in to watch another episode of "Stranger Things."  After that, we got the boys to bed and watched this week's "Survivor" before we also headed to bed for the night.

Thursday (4/30) - Day 48 of "Corona break." I had a rough time getting up and moving this morning, but I did it.  Adrian and I enjoyed a cup of coffee together and then he headed up to work and I logged on to Zumba to "watch" the second showing of "Best of ABBA" with Steve Boedt.  I wasn't really feeling like dancing, so I planned on just watching and learning from Steve.  Well, half way thru class, my shoes were on and I was ready to dance!  I did the master class with him again and loved every minute of it!!  After class, I got the boys started on school so we could be done by early afternoon.  They did a great job of staying focused and we finished up early.

We had a slight scheduling snafu this afternoon when everything I was looking forward to for this week happened at the same time!  The Latin Urban workshop on Zumba was running late so it didn't start until 3:30, which was the exact time that our Kona Ice was delivered and our friends came over to enjoy it with us!  The boys were super excited to see the Kona Ice truck pull up in front of our house and loved having the ice at home!  We hung out with our friends for a few minutes, but it was really cold so they headed home and we headed inside.  I caught the second half of Latin Urban and was able to get both choreos and the master class so I was happy.  I loved dancing with Jhon and thought both choreos were fun and will be easy to add to my classes!!

After all of that excitement, I needed a bit of a break.  AJ did his merit badge Zoom call and everyone else just pretty much hung out.  I was too busy and stressed out to cook dinner so we decided to have leftovers instead to make the night easier.  I finished up cooking my first batch of Amish friendship bread and then headed out to the church to teach my Zumba class on Zoom.  I saw two friends at church and then dropped off two starts for the friendship bread to two friends after class.  I was SO excited to talk to so many people in person today!!  When I got home, we watched another episode of "Stranger Things," got the boys down to bed, watched 2 comedies on our DVR and headed to bed.  It was a super fun but exhausting day at home!!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for April 26 - May 2)

I did great with my meal plan until Friday last week, then I just didn't feel like cooking at all.  We were all exhausted after the week on Friday, probably because it was a pretty emotional week for all of us.  We decided to scrap our dinner plans and order Chinese from the place up the street instead.  Then on Saturday we were having so much fun playing board games and watching TV that we again didn't feel like cooking so we decided to just have frozen pizza, leftover Chinese and snacks for the day.  So some of our meals from last week are pushed to this week instead.

This week I'm back to baking up some goodies for us to have for breakfasts.  We went out to get donuts yesterday for breakfast so the boys had them for today, and Adrian and I made a breakfast casserole with our leftover ham.  I'm also not shopping this week so we'll be using whatever we have around the house.  I'm actually hoping to not shop again next week, although I may be out of produce by then so I may have to go.  I can't wait for my CSA to start in a few weeks, then I'll have fresh produce every week delivered to my door so I won't have to worry about that.  I will also need a trip to Costco pretty soon to restock on some of our snacks and meats, but I'm hoping to wait until mid-May for that trip.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday -  Fully Loaded Deviled Eggs and Air Fried Buffalo Cauliflower to use up more hard boiled eggs and a head of cauliflower
Monday - Ham and Bean Soup and Air Fried Zucchini to use up more ham and 2 zucchini
Tuesday - Chili Mac
Wednesday - Mac and Cheese and salad to use up the other half of the can of evaporated milk from when I made this a few weeks ago
Thursday - Salsa and Veggie Soup to use up the black beans that I have in the fridge
Friday - Cavatelli to use up ricotta that I have, plus it's my favorite pasta and I can never find it
Saturday - Leftovers from the week or frozen appetizers since it's family fun day!

Water flavor - Apple again this week.  I have this apple and one more and then I can move on to another flavor.  But again, produce is scarce around here so I may need to use some of my frozen fruit for this in 2 weeks.

Breakfasts this week:
Ham and Hashbrown Casserole - to use up our Easter ham
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars - to use up the half of can of pumpkin from when I made these a few weeks ago
Amish Friendship Bread - I got a start from a friend last week and am excited to do this with the boys.  I'll have a few starts to give away later this week if anyone is interested.