It has been a l-o-n-g time since I published a 'Week in the Life' post! Honestly, it felt a little painful for me to move forward on a post like this because, just the act of documenting a week of life during the winter of 2021 made me miss our 'old' life so much!! :( The Rhinelander days when our calendars were full of activity, when our days were filled with co-workers and friends, when school and daycare were stable, etc. Sigh. But I know that one day I am going to want to look back and remember what our lives looked like during this crazy time so here we go! This is a long post so - grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and take a glimpse into the Storm household during the last week of February 2021.
My two L's have started baking together and I just love it. I mean look at both of their little hands on that measuring cup. So dang cute! We try to kick off our Sunday mornings with tasty treats and start the week with a good breakfast.
On this day sous chef Leon assisted with muffins.
Lucy loves all things slime, fidget toys, stress balls, etc. Uggg ... mama is not a fan. Hah! Here she is squeezing a homemade balloon stress toy filled with who knows what.
Both of the big kids have school issued i-pads and they spend a fair amount of time on 'non-learning' apps and activities as well. I don't know what we are going to do when these tablets need to be returned to Sam Davey someday! Haha!
Back in April 2020 when it looked like we would be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, Lucy, Roman and I started reading the Harry Potter series together. They loved it! By the end of February we were at the very end of Book 5. Good thing that I still have my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from circa 2003.
Leo sometimes hangs out with us when we read Harry Potter - he definitely knows when we are about to read from the HP series, he gets excited and exclaims, 'Read Harry Potter!'
Then he inevitably gets bored and zips over to his toys.
On this snowy Sunday we finished the Order of the Phoenix so we pivoted topics and picked up our 'Who Was' series books featuring the lives of Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket. We were busy planning our spring break adventures to Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Great Smoky Mountains so this was my attempt to give the kids some historical context. Roman loved Daniel Boone ... Lucy wasn't so impressed. ;)
Our lunches are pretty simple on weekend days - yogurts, fruits, cheese, and salami. Nothing fancy but the children eat it!
Leo still takes really good naps in the afternoon. Sometimes mama or Dad snuggles with him - no better way to spend a lazy Sunday.
Lucy has dance class on Sunday afternoons this year. She takes a ballet and jazz combo class with a handful of other girls. Her dance program has a pretty big studio space so they wear masks and socially distance; there is also the option to participate via Zoom but the in-person set up seemed to work really well. It is a great way to keep Lucy active and busy with something that she enjoys. Here is Lucy's dance bag with her jazz and ballet shoes. On this snowy Sunday she quickly zipped from our vehicle right into the studio.
I had some free time during Lucy's class so I ran to the grocery store and picked up a treat for Roman's 1/2 Birthday celebration at school. Once again - Little Debbie is the Queen of Quarantine, gotta get the individually wrapped treats. :)
After dance class I took Lucy to a Girl Scout sledding/winter fun event at Pinehurst Park. She quickly found her friend Callie.
Roman tagged along too since it was a family event.
Of course he found the hot chocolate bar and treat area right away. ;)
The girls enjoyed sledding and Roman stuck to the playground on this afternoon.
On our way home we grabbed some McDonalds for the kids. Dinner of champions!
We practiced Lucy's spelling words and packed school bags since everyone has school on Mondays.
After bath Lucy asked me to put a bunch of braids in her hair so that it would be wavy in the morning.
Hello Monday! I had been working to shed some of my own COVID 19 pounds gained during these stay at home pandemic days so I dusted off my step and found a whole series of step videos on Amazon Prime. The instructor steps through all 50 states, national parks, etc as the backdrop. On this day we exercised in Colorado. Hah!
I always listen to public radio on my phone in the mornings. No better way to start the day!
Leo is usually the first child awake in our house. Here is breakfast time with the babe.
Dan does school and daycare drop offs on Mondays while I get started with my work day. Here I am logging into my computer in my home office, cup of coffee in hand. :)
I don't have snapshots of the bigs at school but here are some pics from Ms. Bev - Leo walking the halls with his bestie Noah.
Leo loves playing with Gemma at gym time.
Working on jumps!
Eating lunch.
Dan and I are both working from home these days. Some days I eat at my desk and some days we eat in our 'break room' together - AKA the dining room table.
I picked up the kiddos from school on Monday afternoon. On this day Roman was hanging out with his friend Henry on the playground.
Nothing better than jumping off a snow cliff with your best buddy!
The back of my car always has sleds, ice skates, and a box of donations that need to be dropped off at Goodwill. Haha!
Leo's day care is right across the street from school so we picked up this cute little guy and headed home.
When we arrived back at the ranch we found Dan working on one of his organizing projects - getting our crazy spice cabinet under control.
On Monday evenings we track down all of the children's library books because they both have library time on Tuesdays. This year they don't actually visit the library at school, they fill out a 'book menu' worksheet with their choices and the librarian will select books on their behalf based on their feedback.
Roman received his book order books on this day so he got a Dog Man dog tag with his purchase. He was pretty excited. This guy loves the Dog Man series so much!
Even though it is the middle of winter Leo still begs for popsicles as his after dinner treat.
Roman got into his pajamas early on this evening and celebrated the fact that he had so many new Dog Man novels to read at bedtime. He has gotten to be a very avid reader this year and I love it!
On Monday evenings during Bachelor season, the children are Dan's responsibility! I enjoy a glass of wine and watch my guilty pleasure!!
Always multi-tasking ... making meatballs,
organizing snacks, plugging in i-pads, packing lunches ...
...but still keeping Matt's season on in the background! Hah! Can't believe that I have been watching this show for almost 20 years.
On Tuesday the alarm goes off and we start another day.
I make eggs for breakfast and wake up the crew.
The baby is dressed and ready so he plays in the basement for a bit while I answer emails and wait for the big kids to get ready for school.
Dan drops the kids off - both of the big kids have school on Tuesday. Ms. Bev sent this picture of the Bumblebee class in the elevator headed to chapel on Tuesday morning.
I snuck a picture of Daniel at work in his 'office space' also known as our living room.
I had a free 10 minute block between meetings so I quickly emptied the dishwasher. I tell you what -- working from home is both a blessing and a curse. It is so nice to have a few minutes to switch out laundry or empty a dishwasher but on the flip side there is no getting away from this space and all of the messes/tasks from work and home life are mingled together! Insert crazy eyed emoji here.
I picked up the big kids from school, the first task at hand was throwing them snacks in the back seat. Hah!
Then I scooped up this handsome boy. We stopped by his cubby to grab his coat.
Our after school time is usually spent coloring and crafting while Mom and Dad try to finish up their work days.
After supper, it is time for dino jammies and dino play time.
Lucy opted to play Mancala. You can see that she still has a tiny bit of wave in her hair thanks to those braids on Sunday night.
Roman filled me in on all of the Dog Man antics.
Out of the blue Lucy lost another tooth on. Here is the note that she left for the Tooth Fairy. Our 9 year old lost her 9th tooth!
After the big kids went to bed Dan and I watched television for a bit and I quickly threw together a note and $$ from the Tooth Fairy. Thank goodness that I was able to find a dollar! Hah! You can see that I stuck with the Harry Potter theme - I was pretty proud of my Hedwig drawing.
Wednesday morning is trash day so we pushed our bins to the curb.
Only Leo leaves the house on Wednesdays because the big kids have virtual school.
Leo was happy to play MagnaTiles with his friends.
So thankful that Leo has a great day care center!
I just love that Ms. Bev sends all of these sweet pictures. It brightens my day!
On Wednesdays we read with the grandmas. I am so grateful for our sweet mamas and for technology. Our children have spent literally hundreds of hours reading and talking with their grandmas during this pandemic.
Here is Roman doing a bit of his school work on Seesaw.
The kiddos built an elaborate fort on this day.
They had a nice little reading and homework nook back there.
They were working together and getting along so I had to document it! Hah!
We make the kids bundle up and get some fresh air each day. Check out all of the hearts on Lucy's bedroom window - during the COVID days lots of people decorated their business and house windows with hearts. Gotta send out some love and hope!
On this Wednesday the kids ate lunch in the basement. In a previous lifetime (like back in 2019) I would have made them come upstairs versus eating on the carpet but my standards have lowered in the past year! LOL. As long as they are getting school work done and are being relatively quiet - all is good.
Same philosophy with crafting! As long as everyone is happy and quiet while mom and dad are trying to work, these 2 generally do what they please! Lucy and Roman were working on beach scenes and sunsets on this day.
Somehow I don't have any pictures of the Leo pick up / dinner time / bath / evening activities on this day but the last photo on my phone for February 24 was this note on my night stand. While Dan and I were watching TV Roman went to our room and took my sound machine. I guess he didn't want me to think that anyone had stolen it. ;)
On Thursday the boys head to school and Lucy stays home. Leo enjoyed the sunny February day outside.
The day care children paraded around with their Chinese New Year dragons.
Leo worked on a 10 Commandments coloring page.
No pictures from our home school/work days but I did take Lucy with me to do the afternoon pick up run to get the boys. Both of my monkeys spent a little time on the playground.
Lucy grabbed my phone and took several pictures of her boots and foot prints. We were right at the time of year where snow starts melting and the world gets slushy.
We stopped by the mailbox on our way home and Roman had received a highly anticipated package containing an Imaginext toy - Pigman from Star Wars.
Here is what his bedroom floor looked like later that evening ...
Happy Friday! On Fridays I don't work so, if Lucy is done with all of her school work for the week, we run errands together. It is one of my favorite things to do. Love spending time with my best girl. :) On this day we checked out St. Patrick's Day clothing at Target.
We did our grocery shopping at Aldi.
And we stopped by Panera Bread to pick up lunch (Lucy's favorite). Since spring was just around the corner we decided to add one of these sweet tulip sugar cookies to the order.
We got home in time to video chat with grandma. :)
By the time we went to school to pick up Roman, the sun was shining and the kids wanted to take off their coats. Come soon, spring!
Roman's teacher gave him a book for his half birthday. Here is our 7.5 year old with a new book to read!
On Friday evenings we have movie night. We got our treats ready ... popcorn + skittles and gummi X's and O's left over from Valentine's Day.
Everyone was very excited because ...
...we got to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Yay!
On Saturday, these crazies were up and at 'em so we zipped to the bike trail for a brisk walk.
Gotta love a sunny morning.
We love this little section of bike trail around Half Moon Lake.
We got home and made sure that all of the hover boards were plugged in! Now that the snow was melting, the big kids were eager to hover. ;)
We had an awesome brunch! Dan cooked some fruit compote and we made brioche French toast. Delicious!
The kids took advantage of the warmer temps and busted out the sidewalk chalk.
We had just gotten ready to hover board when ...
We found 2 stray dogs jogging down our street! We tracked down these pretty pups and found an address on their tags.
There was no phone number on the tags so we lured them into the van with dog food and were ready to drive them home when their owner drove by looking for them. Glad they made it home safely!
After all of the doggy excitement our hover board gang hit the street!
When Leo woke up from his nap we decided to walk to Jeffers park.
Leo loves climbing and playing on the equipment
Roman has a taste of one ~45 degree day and there goes the winter coat. Ai yi yi.
At the end of the day, it is time for a bath! Leo adores bubbles and loves singing Baby Shark.
Roman still plays with all of his Star Wars guys in the tub - including his new Pigman!
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen we put together a culinary masterpiece!
Gnocchi, spicy sausage, mozzarella, and tomatoes for the win - so, so good!
That's a wrap on a week in the life - thanks for sticking with me all the way to the end. As you can see - lots of family time & days at home - just trying to stay healthy and sane! :)
