No time for the blues...

Mondays are our busiest work day - we are in back to back meetings from 9am to about 2pm. While we are in these meetings the kiddos are knocking out school work. Ben needed to do a quick Science project today. He chose, "Is there a difference in a popping between touching bubbles with wet hands or dry hands?" He hypthosized there would be no difference and he was mostly correct...the bubbles popped with immediate contact on dry hands and lasted just a smidge longer on wet hands. Who knew? hahahaha (Aren't you glad I am blogging again?) Check out this cutie pie pic of a WFG kiddo watching Brian train her mama on zoom.

Ben also needed to record himself playing the cymbals for the Star Spangled Banner - thankfully we don't own any cymbals and he just clapped his hands together in the correct spots. The 5th grade band was supposed to be playing the Star Spangled Banner to kick off a Long Island Ducks baseball game in June. While I fear that will also be cancelled, their teacher is challenging them to practice every day anyways.

The meatballs I made for dinner last week held up nicely after being frozen and reheated in the air fryer. They made for yummy "meatball burritos" for lunch today. Chef Daddy threw together a fun and funky casserole for dinner with rice, green beans, corn, swiss cheese, hard boiled eggs and salmon. It was actually pretty darn yummy!

Ben and I went for a walk before dinner around the neighborhood while Emma made homemade BOBA for milk tea and daddy prepped dinner. It was an absolutely beautiful Spring day with blue skies and birds chirping.  We cleaned up the yard tonight after dinner and the kids jumped together on the trampoline and played basketball and some playstation video games... Pretty typical day in quarantine! 

That sucked...

Grandma Nancy passed away on Saturday due to non covid related causes. We are unable to go to PA and hug Grandpa because of this stupid virus. Ben shared the sad news with his class today when they "met up" in their virtual classroom and they were very sweet and supportive. It was interesting to hear him talk about it - he is such a sensitive little guy. Rest in Peace, Grandma Nancy....

Days 1-21... What to do when all you have is time?

It has been an interesting 21 days in the lives of the Batter Bunch - that's for sure! On Saturday, March 15th we made the decision to move our business 100% online, lock the doors of our office in Hauppauge and hunker down here in PJV.  The transition - while scary at first - was oddly seamless! We have the most incredible people on our team who "flow like water" and our business has not skipped a beat. We had a record month with recruiting and building and helping a ton of families make better financial decisions. I've no doubt this way of doing business - virtually - will be a game changer for our team, everything happens in double time when you no longer have to commute to an office!

On Friday 3/14 as I dropped Ben and his best buddy off at school for early band practice, I had a feeling in my gut the state of NY was ready to shut the physical schools down and go online as well.  I suggested to Ben and Sam to grab anything in their desks and cubbies that was really important to them and bring it home in their backpacks for the weekend. The teachers must have caught my vibe as all the schools sent the kids home with books and calculators and chromebooks, etc to transition to online learning.

3/16 Monday and 3/17 Tuesday were spent with the kids transitioning to online learning. Then the district had the brilliant idea to STOP, regroup, call 3/16 - 3/20 "snow days" that we did not use, and the following week 3/23 - 3/27 "Spring break" (moving up the already scheduled break a few weeks.) This was a truly great idea in my humble opinion... it gave the kids a chance to process the idea of quarantine and social distancing without the pressure of completing school work.

On Monday 3/30 we jumped in full force with online learning ready and focused to find a schedule. That being said, the workload is a joke - both kiddos are done in minutes and spend their time doing other stuff.

What other stuff?

Well, we are absolutely blessed with a giant yard with space to do many things. As it is Spring the weather is touch and go... On the good days we "require" outdoor PE. Their favorite PE activity seems to be our trampoline. It's their go-to when I say OUTSIDE TIME!

They / We have also FINALLY spent significant time on the fancy basketball court that we put in two years ago and barely used. YAAAYYY!!

We try and take walks around the neighborhood daily. We hit the beach the first week shut in. As much as they main complain about getting out and moving, they always come inside with a better attitude = fresh air soothes the soul.

We have been cooking up a storm rediscovering old favorite recipes and trying new ones out. I dusted off the bread maker and have been making fresh bread every few days...

While there is a whole lot of screen time happening... I'm not going to torture myself about it. Em spends a lot of time chatting with friends via FaceTime and Ben plays video games with his buddies over the web. It's a connection we find beyond valuable. Thank god for the internet. :)

 

Batter Bunch 2020 Covid 19 Edition...

Hello old friends. Yes, I know I have been away for a very long time. Business is "booming" and I "haven't had time". That last part is a lie... I have the time, I simply didn't make this journal a priority. But being quarantined at home with my favorite people for the past 21 days I am reminded of what I loved doing so much when the Bunch were babies - sharing our adventures with you!

They have given me permission once again to share our days in this Covid 19 time period as a journal of sorts they can share with their children in 30 years. Some of our favorite moments now that they are tweens are reading over old blog posts and laughing at their antics. Every one has been printed and bound and these books are truly my favorite gifts to myself and our families.

 Soooooo, here we go!!!