Hello April, Goodbye April

I've got 10 blog drafts waiting to be written or completed.  April got away from me.  When I was looking at the calendar, realizing tomorrow is May 1st it just sort of surprised me.  Where has this month gone? 

We've been living the at home life I guess.  Let's see, during this COVID 19 time Mason's only had to go into work a few times. That's honestly been a huge blessing to me because he's helped tag team the kids when we need to do school work, and just making sure I get some sanity.  When this first hit we discussed that we both needed a bit of quiet time (time away from the kids each day) and I think that's been helpful. 

The kids have gotten into an okay routine with schooling at home.  We've been doing about 3-4 days a week of schooling.  Theo meets with his class on Zoom twice a week, and Woodrow meets once a week with his class, usually to play learning bingo.  1-2 days a week exploring nature and 1-2 days playing and staying home.  As the weather warms up and people get more stir crazy, the outdoor nature locations get more and more crowded.  It doesn't really bother me because of Covid, but more so that there are people in my nature spots. 

We've been doing Lego Masters Jr. challenges at home, let the boys take a solo bike ride in the neighborhood, have had lots of outdoor time, tv time, playing time, and we let the kids camp in the backyard overnight (Theo and Woodrow)  

Nebraska didn't go into a stay-at-home order, but we are getting to our peak numbers this week.  Apparently places of worship, salons, and restaurants are allowed to open back up next week for offering services in their buildings so we will see how that goes.  Other places like libraries, museums, the zoo, etc...are extending their dates.  Mason's base has extended their min. manning until the middle of May, but he'll still work a few days.  This was the first season we'd signed the boys up for team sports (baseball for Woodrow and Flag football for Theo) but both have officially been cancelled.  School also cancelled for the remainder of the year, which ironically is only until May 15th, but if things are still closed we may continue our plan with schooling and exploring a few days a week to help the summer slide.   

Work has been pretty busy for me lately.  I started working full time in January, still for K12, teaching online, so there are some more things that are mandatory for me and it's taken me some time to work on those.  I also have a larger course load.  This week I was given 9 extra courses because a teacher left.  Setting up courses is one of the most time consuming processes, so adding that at the end of the semester where more work naturally is being submitted, plus getting in all of my required trainings and "proof that I do my job" was a bit much.  Again, I'm thankful Mason is home to help with the kids when I have times I need to focus on work. 

My brain has been fuzzier than lately, or just filled with lots of stuff, so it's been nice to get out for a daily walk by myself or have quiet time to read.  I'm hoping to write more for our personal blog and the Omaha Mom Blog.