Mothers Day 2020

Mother's Day included time by myself staying in bed as long as I wanted, breakfast made by Mark, presents, notes from Jared and Lydia, Costco cheesecake, forced photos and dinner made by Mark.  A few years ago I bought a small notebook and asked Mark to have the kids fill in a Mothers Day questionnaire every Mother's Day.  I love reading the updated notes and previous years entries. We sang songs to our Mom's via Marco Polo and I got some really sweet messages from friends. It was a really nice day and I am so happy to be their mom. 

We bought a plain cheesecake and had fun adding toppings.  We had Oreo's, Reeses Peanut Butter 

Cups, strawberries, raspberry jam and whipped cream. 

There is no one else I would rather take on this parenting gig with.

Corona Virus week 8

Virginia is supposed to begin phase 1 of reopening next Friday, May 15th so this could be the second to last post of this variety.  I don't see our life changing a whole lot come next Friday, we won't be rushing out anywhere but maybe a few changes.  I am not sure where UVA stands on letting people on grounds after the 15th but the last I heard nothing was supposed to be happening on grounds (the academic side) until the end of June.  Even if they did have people start coming back on grounds (which I doubt very much) the three of us in our office would rotate having only person there a day, the original Corona Virus plan.

Monday we celebrated May the 04th. For whatever reason Jared was super excited to plan this day.  Star Wars hasn't been big in his world for quite awhile so I was surprised he was so into it. Maybe my slight holiday obsession is rubbing off on him?  Or maybe he was just really excited for a change in our routine? A few days before we had a little planning session and then all day Sunday he mentioned how excited he was.  We made some themed snacks, looked up some LEGO instructions for Star Wars items and made a playlist of Star War clips from Youtube.  One of the videos was the whole saga explained in under 20 minutes.  I was a huge Star Wars fan in middle/high school but learned a lot from that clip. I have only seen about half of the movies now if even that. Even after watching that I was still really confused about parts, there are just a whole lot of movies!  We picked out an art project but ended up not making it. It was a fun day.

Lydia made an R2D2 and a BB8 and Jared made a speeder.  We listened to Star Wars music for background music as they built which was fun.  So much great music from those movies

Han Solo in carbonite Jello and tie fighter Alfredo with light-saber breadsticks. 

Yoda Soda.  I didn't really think it tasted that good so I do not see it being a regular part of this day but themes are fun. 

Tuesday was another exciting day.  Not only was it Cinco De Mayo but we had plans to leave Charlottesville! I saw online that the Goochland Drive In Theater was open for business. They were operating at half capacity so they could maintain social distance rules.  We had never taken Jared and Lydia to the Drive In (too far away since the movies start so late!) and were excited to take them.  The Drive In is about 45 minutes from our house, on the way to Richmond so we decided to make a trip of it.  We drove past the Drive In exit over to the Richmond Temple site.  Ground was broken about a month ago so we decided to see what had been done.  After the temple site we stopped by a small restaurant to pick up tacos for our Cinco De Mayo dinner.  Mark ordered them ahead of time and they were so delicious. I don't really mind making dinner, its just part of the day but it felt really good to just pick it up and eat it in the car.  On the drive to the Drive In we read about Cinco De Mayo. I was impressed about how much Jared and Lydia already knew.  Especially Jared, he has such a good memory.  There was an article titled, "Actual questions people have asked about Cinco De Mayo" and we got some really good laughs.  For example, "what day is Cinco De Mayo?" I know not everyone speaks Spanish or has studied it but we found it really funny and it was great to laugh at something silly like that together. We made it to the Drive In about 45 minutes before the movie started.  It was supposed to start at 8:10 and ended up starting about 15 minutes late. We got all situated in our car and had a great time together.  It was so nice to be out of town and do something new together.  We watched Trolls, World Tour and it was much better than I thought it would be which was a pleasant surprise.  It was a great outing.

Richmond Temple Site

It was a little chilly which made it so pleasant.  I can't imagine going in the summer when its hot and humid and probably starts even later.  This was perfect for me.  It was a late night for sure, we got home around 10:50 but it was worth it.  Jared and Lydia are great ages for this kind of outing and I am sure they would love to go with friends and park next to each other 

School was better for Lydia this week.  Just two more weeks to go!  It was teacher appreciation week so we had both of them record messages for their teachers. Mark got a few messages from students and even a gift card from one family which was really nice.  He had a parent reach out to him earlier in the week about doing a birthday drive by for a former student so he went and did that at the begining of the week.  He is a good guy.  Once school is out we think we will have Jared and Lydia do some DuoLingo each day and they want to play Prodigy so that can be out simple Summer lessons. Just some structure to the days.

Home Learning

Pretzel day.  This weeks Saturday project was homemade soft baked pretzels. I love Pretzel stores.  I rarely go to the mall and therefore rarely get soft pretzels but they are so delicious to me. So I looked up a few recipes and tried them out.  They were great!  I did half of the batch regular salted and the other half I dipped in cinnamon sugar.  I have felt intimidated by pretzels in the past, shaping them and dropping them in the the boiling baking soda water but it was so easy.  Especially since I just did pretzel bites.  The dough raised really well and I ended up with a lot of it so to save some time I made the bites bigger than I originally planned. They were more like mini rolls. Next time I would cut the recipe in half.  We were all big fans of them. I am happy to know I can make these at home and have them turn out should all the malls close and pretzel shops go with them.

Jared and Lydia spent a lot of time playing with Barbies in the yard. On a rare occasion in the past Jared would play Barbies with Lydia inside but taking them outside this week brought on lots of imaginative play.  There were camping trips, pools and giants carrying the Barbies away that I heard in passing.  Watching their relationship deepen the past weeks has been so satisfying.  They have come to enjoy each other even more and I love it.  Our trampoline is getting great use as well.  We are so thankful for all the space we have.

Mark and I ended the week with a Saturday night date walk in a nearby neighborhood.  I really like this neighborhood, its small, about 7 minutes from our house and some fun friends live there.   The house I really wanted to buy 5 years ago is located there.  We walked by it and I did think it would have been a good fit for us but it wasn't meant to be and we are happy with what we have.  We told Jared and Lydia to get themselves ready for bed at 8:00 if we weren't home yet.  We pulled into the driveway at 7:58 and they were inside in pajamas brushing their teeth.  We have made it to an awesome stage of parenting and are so thankful for these two kind, fun responsible kids. It was a great end to another week.

Corona Virus Week 7

Marathon in a Week.
After seeing our post about marathon in a month some friends decided to do a marathon in a week and Jared, Mark and I decided to join in.  We hiked, biked, ran and walked 26+ miles in one week. It was really fun.  I finished my marathon Wednesday and ended the week with 30 miles. Jared and Mark finished Friday, Mark with 36 (he ran 11 miles Friday!) miles and Jared did the required 26.2.  It was really motivating to have the goal to complete that distance in one week.

We went over to the John Warner Parkway to get some miles in one day  We used to walk/bike over there all the time the first two years we lived here but haven't done it the last few years.  Lydia rode her bike and did awesome.  There are some hills and she handled them like they were no big deal.

We also did a quick loop on the trails at Chris Greene which we had not done for over a year.  We just stayed on the street last month so it was nice to get onto the trails.

UVA Research Park Ice Cream Walk.  Last night Mark and I wanted to go on a quick walk before bed.  Lydia and Jared just wanted to stay home and read (Harry Potter) but when they heard there would be ice cream they decided to come along.  As we were walking and eating our ice cream the sister missionaries called.  Mark had set up a time for them to share a message with us and then forgot so they walked with us and then we went up to the overlook for the lesson.  It was a really pretty evening and the view was perfect.  Jared brought his quaffle with him so we played some quidditch and loved being outside. I loved how the scenery changed when the sun came out.  These pictures were less than 5 minutes apart.

Saturday Bike Ride

Since Lydia did so well riding her bike earlier this week we decided it would be nice to go on a family bike ride Saturday.  The bike we had bought Jared at the beginning of all this had bad brakes so we took it back.  Mark stopped at the sports store really quick after our John Warner walk and they had just gotten a bike his size in so we grabbed it for Jared.  Jared is really happy to have a bike again.  Unfortunately this bike ride did not go well for Lydia.  She was so happy to be riding earlier in the week we thought she would love it but the hills were more than she wanted to take on and she pretty much just gave up and walked her bike more than half of the ride.   

Donut Day #2. I tried out two different recipes this week. One, I made yesterday after work that proofed overnight in the refrigerator and the other I mixed up this morning.  They were both better than the three recipes I tried last week which makes sense, they took way more time.  Mark decided to get involved this week which also stepped up the end results.  As I was cutting out the donuts we realized it would be fun to leave some without holes and try to fill them.  He found an amazing lime buttercream recipe that we loved and also filled some with nutella. They were so delicious.  Mark did a great job frying them and I made a new maple glaze, the one last week was not quite right and a Peanut Butter glaze that was delicious.  We fried them all and then called Lydia and Jared in to decorate them.  It was a fun way to spend some time.  Mark never wants to buy donuts again.  Making the recipe the night before was actually really helpful because then it needed less time to rise today and it was our favorite so I guess after all of this we now have a family donut recipe and I feel confident we can make donuts if we ever can't buy them.

Key Lime Buttercream filled and Nutella sugar cinnamon 

Work was pretty slow this week which was hard.  It is still completely unknown if UVA will bring students back this Fall.  There is talk of pushing back the start of the semester to October.  If they do that and do not bring grad students back to the labs in July then it is likely that the three of us who are office staff will be furloughed for July/ August or August/September. If labs are opened for grad students this Summer then Jen, Jennifer and I will implement the rotation schedule we had intended  to use in March until everything got closed down.  So no idea what this Fall or even Summer will look like.

Lydia and Jared read a lot of Harry Potter this week. Lydia finished books 3 and 4 and Jared powered through 5 and 6 so he could start reading 7. He has been waiting 2 years to read it and is so excited. He commented to me that he thought 6 was action packed but it was nothing like 7. I asked if he thought it was good I had him wait until he was this age and he said yes. I'm sure he will finish in the next day or so. They watched the third movie and we are debating letting them watch the 4th. I think it will be fine.

Jared and Lydia were less excited about school this week (week 3 of distance learning).  Especially Lydia.  She commented to me that online school was just not as fun as real school and she did not want to do it.  I had her take a beak and we talked just a bit and then she was ok. There was one day Mark was out running and had started Lydia on her school work before he left.  The computer wasn't working so she came down to get help.  I was working on some small work project and had just the slightest glimpse of what so many parents are trying to manage right now.  Trying to work and manage their kid school needs. We have been so fortunate in our set up.  We aren't that stressed about them doing all the work (and it has been really reasonable) and it was an easy fix but it just made me think about other peoples situations and realize again how good we have it.  Lots of states are opening up now and it will be really telling to see how this plays out.  Virginia still has June 10th as its day for the stay at home order to be lifted but hospitals are opening Monday.  I'm not sure if anything else is.  We will be sticking to what we have been doing which is mostly staying home and near our home. I have been so grateful  for the awesome weather we've had. We had another campfire which ended the week nicely.

I am not a bacon fan but Mark is. He was excited to try bacon wrapped sausage over the fire. My posion ivy is almost all healed so I came up with a new yard work job I am willing to do. Spray weed killer everywhere. Mostly just by the trampoline and fire pit and entry  gate. I will not worry about the rest.  It's not as good as leaf blowing but maybe it will keep weeds down this year. Probably not but worth a try.

Wand making, Jared decided he wanted an indoor and outdoor wand.

Sipping smoothie while reading Harry Potter

Corona Virus Week 6

Jared and Lydia have been spending some good time at our creek the last week or 2.  I went down and joined them one afternoon and we had a lovely time together.  I hadn't spent any significant time by our creek for years.  We can see and hear them from our deck and let them explore by themselves.  They built villages and towers and lookouts and had some figures to use with them. I got down there and decided it was time to clean the leaves out of the creek bed so there could be more flow and less decaying stuff and got a lot cleared. The stepping stones we placed to cross the creek with had been buried by leaves and sticks from when the creek filled up from rain storms so we got them back in place.  It looks great.

Final mile for marathon in a month!  We did our last mile Tuesday and finished with medals and Klondike bars.  It was a little sad to not be with friends to cheer each other on when they crossed the finish line and have a Popsicle party with but Lydia and Jared were great sports.

Some friends here in Charlottesville decided they wanted to do a marathon in a month too after seeing our pictures but then the husband challenged then to do a marathon in a week so they decided to go for it and Jared, Mark and I are joining in.  Jared and I went on a 4 mile walk this morning and it was so great.  I loved having that one on one time with him.  It was so lovely.  We had lots to talk about and just enjoyed being outside together. He is a really great kid.  We need to finish by Friday so it will be intense.  After 2 days (we started yesterday) Jared has 8 miles, I have 10 and Mark has 12.  Mark really wanted to go on a walk this evening and Jared and Lydia were not buying it so he and I decided to go and had a nice brisk walk together.  Like a corona virus date. Mark set the pace and he is much faster. He pointed out that today is April 26th which is the day we got engaged 16 years ago so it was perfect to slip away together for a little bit.

4 miles later! 

Work project:  This week I had a nice time intensive project to work on which made me happy.  I even spent one day at the office (well 2 hours there) working on it.  UVA's Spring semester is ending soon.  This coming week is the last week of classes I think.  Normally there is an end of the year awards picnic for the Chemical Engineering undergrads but clearly that was not going to take place this year.  So it was my job to collect the engraved Jefferson cups from the business and get them ready to mail to the students who received them. I went to the post office and waited while the sweet worker processed the 35+ packages needing to go out.  Fortunately only one person had to wait and they came in when we were about half way done.  It was a lot. 

UVA Virtual Run With Jim.  I really like UVA President Jim Ryan.  When he started working at UVA in 2018 he started organized school/community runs a few times each semester.  I have wanted to attend one but timing is hard.  I am a sweaty mess after I run and driving to UVA, finding parking then running and either going to work all gross or coming home and then driving back seemed wasteful.  So I have yet to attend.  Friday night I saw on Instagram (yes I follow him that is how great I think he is) that he was hosting one virtually Saturday and decided to join in.  It was fun.  Jared and I did 4 miles and Mark ran 10.  He just keeps adding another mile each week, he is dong great. Over 3,000 people signed up just over night! When they start up again in person I am just going to go for it.

While I was making donuts Lydia and Jared were having a mini Harry Potter marathon.  They both started reading the books again this week. I knew it was only a matter of time before they did during COVID 19.  Jared read 1-4 this week and Lydia read 1-3.  We decided Lydia could read 4 but will make her wait to read 5 and 6.  We had planned to let Jared read 7 after the school year ended but he gets to start a little early due to this pandemic.  So they watched the first 2 movies and enjoyed some delicious butter beer. They both want to do some more exploring on Pottermore and I told them about the new site J.K. Rowling put out because of the pandemic so we will do that too. 

In between movies they got some good time jumping on the trampoline in the rain which made it extra fun.  They always want to do this and were so happy it was just rain not thunderstorms.  They got drenched and loved it. 

Donut Saturday:

I have noticed that Saturdays are my hardest day.  A full day of no structure and not many places to go is really hard on me.  So I decided to choose a day long activity for myself.  This week was donuts.  I love to bake yet I had never made donuts.  They always seemed like such a hassle and  I like how store bought ones taste better so I did not see any reason to make them at home.  But should I ever live somewhere and not have access to American style donuts and find myself really wanting some I figured I better learn how to make them myself.  I tried 3 no yeast but still fried in oil recipes and 2 baked donut recipes so 5 recipes in all.  It was a great, time intensive activity, just what I was looking for.  The first baked recipe was a total flop but the second one was pretty good.  Not what I was looking for but good.  The fried ones were better and I think the third recipe ended up being my favorite but still not quite what I was looking for so even though I was trying to avoid it (2+ hours for donuts is so long!) I think I will have to try the yeast ones to see if I can get that store bought/bakery taste.  I was trying to replicate Duck Donuts and wish I could have found a copycat recipe online. It was fun to try out lots of different glazes. I don't generally choose chocolate donuts when we get donuts but it was my favorite.  Surprisingly they actually tasted better the day after which I thought was impossible.  Maybe I was just burnt out on them yesterday.  

Vanilla, Chocolate, lemon, and maple glaze.  Lydia suggested PB glaze after I had glazed the donuts and I wish I thought of it when I started. I made all the glazes before cooking the donuts so I could dip them soon enough.  We added cinnamon sugar mix and sprinkles as well. 

Got a fun, safe visit with a good friend to borrow her candy thermometer.  It was nice to visit with someone in their driveway and even be in a different driveway.  I also chatted with a friend who lives far away for tips and loved that this activity helped me check in with people. 

Baked donuts.  The mini ones were fun. 

My poison ivy is finally starting to clear up.  It has been so rough this week.  It was waking me up at night and just being irritable and itchy and gross all week. I finally called my doctor's office to see if they could get me some relief and after a video appointment I got a prescription.  I so wish I had called sooner.  Hopefully it will get better in just a few more days.  So that was week 6.  School was fine, much the same and we are just going to keep on trying to stay positive.  Jared and Lydia are being such good sports and enjoying being together for which I am really grateful.