Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 50 (Sick Kids and Olivia’s Birthday)

Whew, last week was busy and it flew by faster than any week has flown by during this whole pandemic, I think.  The week definitely started off on the wrong foot, but the rest of it ended up being pretty great since we got to celebrate our girl for her birthday and spend lots of time (outside) with family.  Let’s get into the details…

Monday, February 22 (Day 346 of Quarantine)

Just after midnight between Sunday and Monday, Jacob came down with what we’re assuming was a very quick stomach bug.  He was extremely sick for a span of 15-20 minutes just after midnight… I’ll keep the gory details to myself because I know y’all don’t want to hear about that, but it was by far the sickest he’s ever been with a stomach-related illness.  Fortunately, it was very short-lived, and he was able to get back to sleep for the rest of the night with the assistance of a nice, cool rag on his forehead.  Bless him. 

I stayed up for a bit to keep an eye on him, and while I was waiting, I went ahead and emailed the kids’ teachers to let them know they wouldn’t be at school on Monday.  Normally, we don’t keep Olivia home when Jacob is sick and vice versa, but with Covid floating around, we just didn’t feel right about sending her either.

Everyone slept in (kind of) Monday morning, and then first thing, B and I started calling around to find out where we could all get Covid tested.  Olivia had a stuffy nose all weekend, although, she had no other symptoms, so we figured that since she and Jacob had both come down with something at the same time (although very different symptoms), we thought the responsible thing to do would be to get tested.

Finding a place that could test all four of us the same day and give us results the same day proved to be extremely tough, and we ended up being on the phone for a couple of hours trying to find a place that could.  Most places won’t even test kids under the age of 16, and the ones that will require them to have very specific symptoms.  A lot of places also won’t test you if you have no symptoms, and the ones that will didn’t have appointments available for several days.

Thankfully, we ended up finding a place that would test all four of us (B and me included even though we didn’t have any symptoms) at 3:30 the same day, and they guaranteed we’d have our results in 15 minutes.  YES. 

Once our appointment was set, I headed to the school to pick up Jacob’s work and school books for the day, and then he spent the rest of the afternoon getting his work done.  He woke up Monday morning feeling completely well, thank goodness, so we figured he might as well go ahead and catch up on that work!  While he did his work, Olivia read, and I canceled all of my appointments for that day and the following day.  Naturally, the day they were sick was the day that I had scheduled a gazillion appointments for myself.  Isn’t that the way it always happens?

The four of us headed to the drive-up Covid testing center at 3:30, and all four of us were swabbed.  We’d heard that the swabbing process is pretty dang uncomfortable, so we were a little worried about the kids, but both of them were rock stars.  Olivia wanted to go first to get it over with and Jacob wanted to go last to see how everyone else did, and both of them did so well.  I ended up going second because I wanted to watch B get his, but I didn’t want to see it before I had to do it.  Haha.  That swab literally goes a good 3-4 inches inside your nose... just when you think they’re going to stop, they keep going.  Aaaaahhhhh.

It was definitely uncomfortable, but bearable, and the best way I can describe it is that it gives you a similar feeling that you get when you accidentally snort water up your nose… kind of like a sensation that makes you feel like you’re drowning.  It made my nose feel like it was burning very strongly, and it made my eyes water like crazy… mostly just the eye above the nostril that was swabbed.  It actually made Olivia sneeze while the swab was still in her nose.  Haha.

We waited in the car for about 10 minutes afterward, and then the guy came back out and gave us the good news… all four of us were negative!  Woo hoo!  We made it almost a whole year without any of us having to be tested, so there went our streak.  But I guess all good things must come to an end.  Haha. 

By the time we got back home, it was time for me to start cooking dinner, and then we watched American Idol with the kiddos before sending them to bed and watching The Bachelor.

Tuesday, February 23 (Day 347 of Quarantine)

Tuesday morning after I dropped the kids, I got in a quick cardio workout and then spent the rest of the day catching up on all the things that had gotten pushed to the side Monday – laundry, blog stuff, and some other odds and ends.

Jacob had baseball practice at 5:30, so Brian took him while Olivia and I stayed home.  The weather was insanely beautiful on Tuesday – sunny and 70 degrees – so she and I took full advantage and went for a walk around the neighborhood with Maui.  When we got back home, we watched Olivia’s Grandparents Day Zoom video from earlier in the day, we played a round of the Saint Memory game, and we took her birthday chalkboard pictures for the blog.

I had dinner ready when the boys got home from baseball, and we ate quickly and got the kids in the bed a little later than usual before settling in to watch This is Us.  Just another run-of-the-mill day.

Wednesday, February 24 (Day 348 of Quarantine)

There was a lot on the agenda for Wednesday, so we hit the ground running and didn’t stop until our heads hit the pillow.  Jacob had an early morning checkup at the doctor, so he and I dropped Olivia at school, swung by Target to return something quickly, and then headed to his appointment. 

His appointment was quick, and I had him back at school by 9:15, thankfully, so he barely missed anything.  After that, I headed to Publix to pick up Olivia’s birthday cake and cupcakes for her class party the next day, and then I spent the rest of the day working.

Olivia had dance after school, and Jacob had batting practice, so the four of us split up and went our separate ways.  I ran my SUV through the car wash while Olivia was at ballet, and got it all cleaned out.  It was filthy from all of the rain we've had, so it was long overdue.

I had dinner on the table by the time the boys got home, and then we did the whole bedtime routine.  Wednesday was Olivia’s birthday eve, so I took her picture and kissed her one last time as a six-year old.  Sobbbb.

Thursday, February 25 (Day 349 of Quarantine)

Thursday morning, Olivia greeted us in our bathroom several minutes before she needed to be up… her day was finally there, and she was going to get every single second out of it!  Haha. 

I dropped her cupcakes off at morning drop-off so she could enjoy them with her class after lunch.  She specifically requested six pink cupcakes, six purple cupcakes, and six blue cupcakes all with chocolate cake, and plastic rings on top.  High maintenance, y’all!  Lol.  Publix came through, and they turned out so cute.  

At drop-off, when the teacher opened the car door to get the kids out, Olivia immediately said, “Mrs. T, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!”  She surely isn’t shy, y’all.  Haha.

I spent the whole day working, and then I grabbed the kids from school so we could get Olivia’s birthday celebration underway.  Jacob was scheduled to have baseball practice at 5:30, but we let him skip it so we could celebrate our girl!

As soon as B finished up with work, Olivia wanted to open her presents from us.  She has been begging for pointe shoes for ballet for weeks, so we bought her a pair for her birthday.  She won’t be dancing on pointe until she’s 11 or 12 because her dance school waits until the girls are older and their feet are more developed, so these shoes are not for her actual dance class.  They’re just for dress-up fun around the house.  Since they’re just for fun, we opted to get some inexpensive ones on Amazon… I wasn’t about to pay $150 for some shoes that are just for fun.  Haha. 

Her pointe shoes also came along with a few basic rules from us as we’re hoping to prevent her from getting injured.  She agreed to the rules, so hopefully she will follow them, and I won’t regret getting these for her down the road.  Haha.

She had also been telling Brian that she wanted another keyboard (hers broke a while back) so that was her other favorite gift.  She was so excited when she opened that thing and she serenaded us all evening long… with the volume blasting for much of it.  I think we will be utilizing the headphones jack on the keyboard quite often.  Haha. 

After she had opened her gifts, I ordered dinner and B headed to pick it up.  I had told her that I could either cook something for her, or she could pick out a place to get takeout from, and all she wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich… but she didn’t want me to make it.  She wanted takeout from one of our favorite restaurants.  Lolololol.  Y’all, this girl is just a piece of work. 

B picked up her beloved restaurant peanut butter and jelly and then mixed up some Moscow Mules for us when he got back home.  We don’t typically drink on a random Thursday, but both B and I have conditioned ourselves to want a Moscow Mule every time we get this particular meal from this particular restaurant, so we figured why not?  After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, and we dug into her Frozen 2 chocolate cake that she had requested. 

After dinner, my parents Facetimed us to chat with her, and then she also got a phone call from Grandpa since we hadn’t yet celebrated with him.  Add the birthday cards she’d received in the mail from Nana and Poppie and Mama Cass + all of the texts and Facebook and Instagram messages she received via my accounts – she was one happy girl.  She enjoyed her day tremendously, and she lived it to the fullest… my little girlfriend loves being in the spotlight.  She truly does.

Friday, February 26 (Day 350 of Quarantine)

Friday morning was a regular work day for me.  I’ve been blogging nearly a week ahead for several weeks now, but because of my headaches these past few weeks, I’ve been dragging my feet and feeling uninspired.  That, of course, means that I’ve gotten behind again.  So Friday, I worked on getting ahead yet again, but I didn’t get nearly as far ahead as I’d hoped.

Friday after school, the kids and I ran by the bank and then headed home for the evening.  B picked up takeout from our favorite local Italian restaurant, and this time instead of pizza, we tried their fettuccine alfredo.  It came with salad topped with their house made dressing along with their homemade bread with olive oil and spices, and it was pure. heaven.  They handmake every single thing including their noodles, and it was just divine.  Not too shabby for a meatless Friday. 

After dinner, we browsed Netflix and Disney+ and couldn’t find any movies worth watching – we’ve already watched most of them – so we watched a couple of shorts and then settled on a new show on Disney+ called Secrets of Sulphur Springs.  It’s a mystery/spooky show aimed at kids, and every episode ends on a major cliffhanger… it’s so good that we watched three of them in a row (each one is only 20-25 minutes) and the kids didn’t want to stop. 

Our whole family loved it, and we would have binged all five episodes that same night if we hadn’t had some of American Idol left to watch.  I highly recommend if you’re looking for a good show that the whole family can watch.  We always check Common Sense Media to see what other parents say about it, and this one was rated 8+.  Olivia is seven, and she did fine with it… she was a little spooked out at certain parts, but she went to bed fine and didn’t have nightmares or anything.  It’s probably not suitable for kids much younger than she is, though.

Saturday, February 27 (Day 351 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning, Brian and Jacob had to be at the ball field at 9 AM for a work day (to get everything ready for opening day next weekend), so I made some pancakes for breakfast (and struggled yet again… sigh) and then they were on their way.  While they were gone, Olivia and I curled up on the couch with Maui to watch an episode of The Deep (a show on Netflix that she’s been watching at school), and then I got down to business – dishes, laundry, tidying up, etc.  I also got in a great hour-long workout for the first time in a while, and it felt so good to feel motivated again.  I’ve been feeling so unmotivated this month, so I was glad to have my workout mojo back, even if it was just for one day.

The boys got back home just before lunchtime, and we all got ready because my father-in-law, sister-in-law, and one of my nephews were coming over to celebrate Brian’s and Olivia’s birthdays.  My FIL brought pizza and DQ Blizzard cake, and we all ate at separate tables on the back porch as we’ve been doing this whole pandemic.  We had a great time catching up… we hadn’t seen my FIL since our Christmas celebration, so it had been far too long.  Jacob and Olivia were able to spend some time playing wiffle ball with their cousin, too, so they enjoyed that.

They left mid-afternoon, and then the kids played some video games while I got some things done in my office.  B picked up Five Guys for dinner, and then we watched the remaining two episodes of Secrets of Sulphur Springs plus an episode of the animated Star Wars show on Disney + (I fell asleep – ha!), and then the kids headed off to bed.

B and I hadn’t watched a movie in a long time, so we scoured our streaming services and landed on Get Hard with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.  Y’all, that movie had me in stitches and I thought it was so hilarious.  It’s definitely a crass one (super rated R), though, so keep that in mind if that’s not your cup of tea.

Sunday, February 28 (Day 352 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning, we started the day with cinnamon rolls and mass… same way as every other Sunday, and I planned the week ahead in my planner.  I always spend a little bit of time each Sunday morning doing that to set myself (all of us, really) up for a successful week. 

I did a quick cardio workout, meal-planned for the next two weeks, and tidied up while the kids did homework, and then we all had a quick lunch of leftovers before getting ready and heading off to Jacob’s first scrimmage game of the season. 

It was a beautiful day – partly cloudy and 79 degrees – so we all headed to the ball field where my parents and father-in-law joined us.  This was Jacob’s first experience with B-Ball and having a kid from the other team pitch to him, but his team held their own.  We ended up losing 6-5 after three or four innings, but I think if we’d played a full game our boys may have had a chance to come back and win it.  We started out slow but managed to find our sweet spot in the last inning, when all of our runs were scored. 

Jacob struck out both times, both at a full-count, but I’m sure he’ll improve as he adjusts to the erratic pitching of a fellow nine-year old.  Haha.  B-Ball is quite literally a whole different ball game as my dad said.

My parents brought Olivia’s birthday gifts to the ball field, so she was able to wrap up the last of her birthday celebrations.  It was her first Covid birthday, since she managed to get hers in normally last year before everything shut down, and I’m praying it’s her one and only.  I so miss our Sunday dinner birthday celebrations with my parents.

Spending all afternoon outside with family was refreshing, and I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the fresh air when we got home, so we ate the first of many dinners outside on the back porch on Sunday evening.  We had leftover pasta from our delicious takeout dinner on Friday night accompanied by a glass of wine, and it was a great way to end our Sunday before the rain rolled in again Monday.  I’m so ready for sunshine and spring to come and stay a while!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!