Corona Craze

The world has gone crazy and our lives have been turned upside down this month. I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime. As I type this at the end of March, Corona virus has completely changed our life style. Corona virus (COVID-19) is a very contagious disease that started in China. It's a virus infection starts out as a sore throat and dry cough. In some people it is just a mild cold, but with some people, especially older people and those with underlying conditions, it can send them to the hospital unable to breath. Some people in the hospital are on ventilators, and as I type this at the end of March, almost 2,400 people in America have died. I remember back in January hearing stories on the news about the disease spreading quickly in China and that some experts predicted it would infect the entire world. I remember thinking it wouldn't come here and that it was just something that was happening in a different world, but that definitely hasn't been the case. The first week in March when people started preparing for the worst, people started panicking. Store shelves were empty. People were stocking up (borderline hoarding) on food and toilet paper, of all things! Like literally, you couldn't find toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or soap at any store.

Remember last month when I posted the picture of my massive Costco shop? I was so grateful I spent our rebate money stocking up on all the things that are so hard to find now: toilet paper, tooth paste, and meat. And I went to Macey's early because they were having their case lot sale and I stocked up on all the canned goods we use frequently, so considering all the stores were empty, I felt okay about things. 

Although I was slightly panicked, I tried to not worry and I especially tried not to let my kids see that I was nervous. News flash, but our kids don't handle stress well, and I wanted to try to protect them as much as possible. We tried to continue on with our normal day-to-day activities:

Brynnli had Wacky Wednesday at preschool. She wanted lots of bows in her hair and mismatched shoes. She also wore her shirt and pants backwards. 

 Brynnli loved it and said her favorite part was when they got to eat green eggs and ham.

Caden got to go to Primary Activities (Makayla had cheer and couldn't make it) They went to the rec center and went swimming.

 Makayla and Caden went to school early for National School Breakfast Day. Free breakfast? Why not?

 Brynnli and I went to lunch. It makes me sad that this was our last "normal" day.

That night (March 11) was when things started to change quickly. The Utah Jazz were about to start their game when it was postponed, then cancelled because Rudy Gobert (a player on the Jazz) tested positive for the corona virus. The NBA announced they would be cancelling all games. 

The next day (Thursday, March 12th) everything started to change even more. It was almost like I couldn't keep up with it all. Governor Herbert held a press conference and said that gatherings should be kept to less than 100, which meant church was cancelled. Disneyland shut down, all sports were cancelled, and many people were encouraged to work from home. That only lasted a day or so until the government suggested that gatherings should be kept to less than 10. Within a few days, school had been shifted to "home school" and all the kids' activities were cancelled. I think this was the part I was the most stressed about. While I was excited about having the kids home all the time, I was really nervous about them going stir crazy and in turn, driving me crazy. I had no idea how home schooling was going to work, and our kids were so disappointed that they couldn't go to dance, cheer, piano, baseball, and cheer competitions. 

The first couple of days were interesting. We did some fun things together while trying to adjust to our new normal. We had a picnic downstairs.

 Lots of late night snacking.

 And started a few big puzzles.

On Wednesday (March 18th) the kids were supposed to start online school. Tyler got up and went to work. All the kids and I were asleep. Brynnli was asleep in our bed next to me and I suddenly woke up to the house shaking. Just when my anxiety couldn't handle anymore stress, let's add a 5.7 earthquake to the mix! I was so confused I grabbed Brynnli but she was half asleep. I started screaming at Makayla upstairs to come downstairs. By the time I was half way up the stairs, the earthquake was over. Makayla was freaking out, running down the stairs. Caden walked out of his room half asleep, and oblivious to what was going on. I didn't think straight and had all the kids go downstairs in our storage room. Granted the storage room is not the best place to go during an earthquake, but I was not thinking rationally. Looking back on it, I definitely overreacted and could have avoided a lot of worry if I didn't freak out. But my biggest fear has always been being home alone and having to take care of all three kids by myself during a natural disaster. I called Tyler and he rushed home. Once we all calmed down, things went back to our new normal, but I was glued to the tv the rest of the day. The earthquake was scary, but we were all fine. No one in Utah was hurt, and there was minimal damage to buildings. It was a great reminder to talk with our kids about our emergency plan for an earthquake, which we all know now not to go to the storage room. 

The kids started online school. Even though I am a previous teacher, I feel totally out of my realm trying to help teach our kids. 

 The kids' teachers have been great and the kids seem to be settling into home school... well some of the kids like home school more than others....

Even during a pandemic, Lucky the Leprechaun was still able to visit our house and play some tricks on us. The kids set a trap for him, but they didn't catch him this year. 

Lucky peed in our toilets again but he also brought us some treats

 The kids looked great in their St. Patrick's day shirts.

I guess I could sit here and complain about all the things we can't do because we are at home. We don't get to see our extended family as much, we don't get to go to Target and leisurely shop, we can't go eat out at restaurants or movies, and we can't even see our friends. The stock market has crashed, and so many people have lost their jobs. But you know what? There have been so many good things from this corona virus quarantine...

We watch shows together. Our favorite is Lego Masters. 

 Makayla and Caden have started writing letters to both sets of grandparents and get so excited when they get a note back in the mail.

 We've been playing together and spending lots of time doing silly things to make each other laugh.

 We've found new ways to "see" family by facetiming.

Tyler and the kids did a virtual piano concert for Karen and Bill and Bonnie, which they loved. 

 We've been on long bike rides and gone to the park.

 We've had our own Lego Masters shows where the kids have built their own creations. So far we've built cars and raced them.

 We had another contest where the kids had to build their creation, then we dropped them on the floor and watched the mess it made. 

 Makayla's creation was the funniest. She called her creation, "My Life... destroyed" because Corona virus has "destroyed" her life.

 I've tried out new recipes... yummy coconut bread!

Makayla finally lost this tooth. 

We get to sleep in everyday. Apparently Brynnli and I sleep the same. 

 The kids have been very helpful by helping with chores.

 We've done a lot of puzzles... I never thought we would be those kind of people who do puzzles for fun on a Friday night, yet here we are in Corona life.

We are hoping the weather improves soon so we can spend more time outside. Even in the rain, the kids can find ways to entertain themselves.

One of the things I love is that we are spending more quality time together. We have 3 family meals a day together, which I love!

Life is a slower pace now, and while that has taken some getting used to, I am really loving it. I love that we spend so much time together. I know our kids are making good memories of this time home. Our kids spend all day together and they are becoming closer and best friends. Our house is getting more clean and organized, and we are trying new ways of doing things. I really think this is so great for the world to have a chance to reflect on what's important in life: Family. Our prophets have been preparing us for this for years. We are already used to doing home centered, church supported gospel centered learning, so having home church isn't that different. President Nelson asked us to have a world wide day of fasting and prayer for those affected by all the changes. Today we had home church and Tyler prepared and blessed the sacrament. I've never felt the spirit more strongly than I did with our family gathered in our living room. I am so grateful Tyler has the priesthood so that we can partake of the sacrament to renew our covenants. The kids thought it was fun to teach us singing time and I taught our family from Come Follow Me. Tyler dedicated our house and blessed our home to be a place of peace and comfort from the world outside. Even during this unsettling time, I am so grateful we can feel the spirit and comfort that only Christ can bring.

I hope this pandemic ends soon and that our world can go back to normal. I hope all those who have been affected, weather physically, economically, or emotionally, can recover. But I also hope that when things get back to normal we will remember the things we learned during this trial: How important family is and how much we love being together; how important our relationship with our Heavenly Father is and how we need to turn our hearts to Christ; how much we take for granted church, social interactions, school, teachers, restaurants; and how we can enjoy a slower paced life.

Life is definitely different. Yes some days are better than others. Some days I am doing okay and other days I feel so overwhelmed I can't think straight. But I am so grateful for this "reset" to figure out what's important in life. Looking at our April calendar, I think we will have a lot of time still to figure out what's important