Our New Routine

It’s Thursday! Otherwise known as Day 5 of who knows how many days we will be at home!

I must say, we have settled into our quarantine routine rather nicely. Matty is working from home at least until the end of the month, but possibly longer. I am going to have a really hard time once he goes back to work because having him home during the day is pretty awesome so far. #itsonlyday5

My 5:30am workouts have turned into more like 7:00am workouts. By the time I’m done, Matty has usually made his way downstairs to check his email and there might be a girl or two awake as well. This is a lot what “working from home” looks like at 8:00am!

I usually jump in the shower after breakfast, but have mostly forgone my usual hair and make up routine. I know I can’t keep that up forever, but it feels kind of freeing right now! I’m not seeing anyone or going anywhere, so I might as well take advantage.

Our morning is spent playing, making beds, doing chores, and going for a walk or bike ride. Thank goodness the weather is being somewhat cooperative!

My friend Lisa sent me a link for Scholastic that has a story read aloud, a non fiction book read aloud, and then some activities. The girls have been enjoying those in the morning.

I took them to the playground on Monday morning, and we were the only ones there. I found out Monday evening that playgrounds aren’t considered safe because the virus can stay on surfaces for 2-3 days. #oops It was fun while it lasted!

When Matty’s not working, he’ll come out and join us when he can. The other day he took a work call while riding around on his bike!

We all eat lunch together, and then the girls and I usually do an activity or play outside until rest time. For St. Patrick’s Day we made rainbows out of Fruit Loops.

We usually ride bikes around our Circle, but the other day the girls decided to take their babies for a walk.

I try to be inside a few minutes before 3:00. I set the girls up with a snack and my laptop so that they can watch the Facebook Live shows from the Cincinnati Zoo. They last about 20 minutes, and we all enjoy them. So far we’ve learned about hippos, porcupines, and ocelots.

We all loved Rico the Porcupine, and the girls thought it was so funny/gross when they learned that porcupines smell like rotten onions!

Around 3:30 the girls go into their rooms for 45 minutes of rest time. If they play/rest nicely and don’t come out then they earn 45 minutes of iPad time afterward. This is the favorite part of everyone’s day! 😉

Around 5:00 we all gather back in the living room and the girls play or do an activity until we eat around 6:00. On Monday they played with their toys inside, on Tuesday we sent them out on the deck to blow bubbles, and yesterday they played with a stamp/drawing station I set up on our table.

After dinner Matty and the girls run around like crazy people while I clean up/close up the kitchen, and then we’ve been ending the night with a Cosmic Kids Yoga video on YouTube. I just found out about these, and the girls have been loving them so far!

We end our day with baths and couch cuddles to watch a show before bed.

I did not plan out this routine; we just kind of naturally fell into it, and we’re rolling with it for now.

Here are a few other things we’ve been up to:

Matty roasted the girls marshmallows over our gas stove the other night. Emmy enjoyed hers, but then seemed really confused when her fingers stuck together.

Yesterday we decorated for Easter, and I found myself desperately wanting to go to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. #ohwell

The girls started playing “witches” outside yesterday by running up and down the street together with our broom. No judgement from neighbors since we’re all in this together!

It was cold and windy yesterday afternoon (rain was on the way), but we got out and collected pine cones that were all over the ground in one of our common areas. I think I see some pinecone painting in our future today!

And that’s all she wrote! We’re doing fine, and I hope everyone else is too. I’m enjoying the slower pace of our days (I almost put “quieter” instead of slower, but rest assured there is absolutely nothing quiet about our days!), but I wouldn’t want to keep this up forever.

We certainly aren’t scared over here, but just a little unsure/worried about what to expect. We’re going to be out of fresh fruit and veggies soon, so one of us will be taking a quick field trip to the grocery. #exciting

We aren’t taking any chances with seeing grandparents, so we’ve been doing a lot of FaceTiming. By the time this is all said and done, I feel like the grandparents will be missing their sweet grandkiddos so much that they’ll want to take them for two or three nights at least . . . right?! 😉

Here’s hoping for a quiet, uneventful weekend!

XOXO