Life hack: failed

I was cutting mangos for dinner when Elijah walked in and said, 

"Mom, I saw a life hack for that!  

Where is your drill?" 

Life hack #1 (after disinfectant, of course):

I had peeled two before he finally gave up and peeled it with his hands.
Life hack #1 = Fail
then on to
Life hack #2
He installed a spoon into the drill to stir his mango pulp in a cup.
After creating a mess, he dumped the pulp into the blender with ice and a strawberry...
indicating...
Life hack #2 = fail
Nevertheless, upon sampling his concoction, he exclaimed,
"This is legit, not even kidding, really good."
Success!!!

Success story #2: E smiled today when I told him that his aunts and uncles commented after E's testimony via virtual church, "When did Elijah's voice get so deep!"

We just had dinner at my sister's place.
Sybil and I are spending the night with my parents.
Tomorrow is my second, and last, fake clinical day.
Since the quarantine, students aren't allowed into the hospitals.
I heard there was some debate by the state accrediting board whether nursing students would have to repeat the semester because of this.
Instead of in-hospital clinical, we talk to classmates who pretend to be psych patients and write monstrous care plans on the fake conversations.
I'd rather be in the hospital, of course, but it's much better than having to repeat the semester.

Sybil does not have a boyfriend named Donald Duck

Toilet paper is back: 

at least enough that I stole the last-ish 2-overpriced 4-packs = 

scientific proof that the viral respiratory pandemic is on the downturn. 

Nevermind the fact that guards were patrolling the entrance of the grocery store 

(only a certain amount are allowed to enter at once) 

and that half of the clientele and employees were wearing masks

(not me--homey don't play that). 

David and I agree that quarantining has been 

more positive than negative in our house (besides the sick and dying people).

David took the kids to meet Hunt and kids in Sedona during my study binge:

Iris and Sybil and I went on a run/bike ride after my test on Friday 

(a lot of the class failed, but I aced--b/c I study like a freak) to help me calm my testing nerves. 

We stopped by the waterless water fountain when Sybil said with a sly grin on her face, 

"Mom, do you know who Donald Duck is?"

Me: "The Disney character?"

Sybil: "He's not my boyfriend." 

Claire has been creating a fictional boyfriend for Sybil for months named Donald Duck.

Iris filled me in on some of the specifics: 

"He has a lot of hair, like a lot. He's the first to ever have eye hair. It's rainbow colored.

He glows in the dark, but only out of his nose. It's a very powerful light.

And he thinks he looks good!"

She told me I should ask Claire for more details. 

Which I surely will!

I pee like Dad!

David and I hiked Flatiron yesterday morning; lots of rock climbing. 

I'm feeling the burn today, but it was fun and hanging with David is always good times.

Then we met family at Bahama Bucks which turned into an overnight cousin swap. Hunt took E and Max mountain biking and right now there are 4 girls asleep in the TV room 

(Iris somehow escaped to her own bed). 

They spent most of the evening creating, rehearsing, and performing a skit in which 2 horses (Claire and Elise) kidnapped 2 sassy kids (Sybil and Livy) and took them to Mexico where the border control agent (Iris, who was also in charge of sound effects) threw the horses in jail. 

This pic is from last week.

Fernando is part of our family. It's been a few years since he lived with us, but we love seeing him.

He comes most Sundays, sometimes with TJ, his quadriplegic client.

Elijah has been all about projects of his own design lately. I'm not exactly sure what he makes but I the ingredients are usually haphazardly strewn across counters: borax, matches, vinegar and baking soda, items from the recycling bin, salt, flour, toothpicks and many more. He's gotten into a new book series: Fablehaven.
Claire takes pride in the cleanliness and organization of her room, especially while listening to a book (most recently, Little Women). Every day she writes a list of her homework and chores on a whiteboard or on her window. On her latest report card she was only one point off from missing the 90s club and she's killing it in math! Her new obsession is NitroType, a game to help improve typing speed. Elijah is hooked on it too.
Iris is still taking violin lessons, but via FaceTime. She also FaceTime's her friends while they play world-creating video games, although we have limited her to one hour a day.
Earlier this week, Sybil announced to David and I, "I pee like Dad!" We later learned what this meant: she often calls her siblings over to witness as she stands over the toilet to pee, just like dad.

A little taste of sanity

Today:
Claire went running with some friends and then biked to get slushies with them.

Iris stayed at home doing homework.
I made her get out and pick weeds with Sybil though, so she got some Vit D in her.

Today and yesterday E went to work with David.

And I've had to bribe Sybil to go out with me these days.
I love finding beautiful spots in our neighborhood.
I'm so grateful this craziness in the Spring when going out to run at 10am isn't unbearable yet.

The game changer for me lately has been the noise cancelation AirPods. David got them for me as a very belated V-day present. They have kept me sane. I pop them in and turn on my soft nature sounds and Navajo music podcast. The world melts and I soak in about 5% of the hundreds of pages I'm supposed to be digesting about Mental Health (very apropos!). The final is in 3 weeks. Can't wait to be done with this semester!

Yesterday: I'm glad you're gone, but today is starting out better.

Monkeys in the tree

Sybil got bored of the same run every day so I've been shaking it up.
Iris was forced to come today. She's been so focused on getting her homework done so that she can video game/ FaceTime with her buddies that last week she went 3 days without direct sunlight.

So, we biked around the dog park, to the canal and through the golf course, stopped to jump rope, make mushroom soufflé, mushroom juice, and mushroom ice cream. I braided some weeds into Claire's hair and they climbed. We have found 6 bridges to go under so far and are on the hunt for more.

The 2 men stayed home doing their swole iron-pumping.

Easter week

What has been eventful this week?
The garbage truck emptied our full can.
Quarantining = garbage is a exciting
I feel like we vacillate between hyper-paranoid and don't care that much anymore, but either way, the days drag on which will become our new normal since school was canceled for the rest of the year.

Iris is exploring fashion. I love seeing her new outfit creations.
Claire is learning to be more efficient with her time so that she's not up late and doing homework on Saturdays.
Elijah is trying to survive homework without sneaking Youtube or NitroType games during "breaks."
Sybil's reading is progressing quite well, against her will.
Tomorrow will mark the beginning of 4 weeks of intense school for me.
David is getting a lot of reading done.

The kids are bonding more (most of the time). 

They still have a slumber party every night, rotating bedrooms.

Right now, Elijah is teaching I & C Dungeons and Dragons.
I just taught Sybil how to play War (the card game). She and David are battling. 

Jam sessions:

Some restaurants are still open, but you order and then pick up at their door. We try to support local restaurants once a week, which is definitely more than before--I prefer eating at home. Yesterday David and the kids picked up take-out pupusas and met the cousins at the bike park (I was studying).

Today is Easter.
I miss church. Getting sacrament with slippers and Mardi Gras cups is quaint, and even spiritual, but not quite right. We did a video call with the Garcias. Everyone took park in the sacrament meeting. Marguerite told a touching story about her father dying, the living room being packed with crying, then kneeling, then praying family (there are 10 siblings). As his body was taken away, there was a beautiful sunrise and she thought, "He's not dead. He's alive!"  Pres Nelson asked for a worldwide fast on Good Friday. This is the second one he has called for in the past few weeks. I have been reading encouraging stories of hope and faith as a result of the fast.

This morning the kids and I ate crepes and did the Easter egg hunt while David was getting ready for the day. He has a semi-hostile reaction to consumer-tainted religious holidays. But I bought Easter presents 3 weeks ago when I thought the world was coming to an end and thought presents might be a bright spot in the kids' life. As I write this, I can see David's point: Christ should be our light, not presents.

Back to consumerism:
Iris woke up this morning and said, "I'm ready to get sugared up! I forgot what ice cream tastes like and that's horrible because I'm a kid!"
Claire: "No, you are a savage."
Iris: "There is some truth in that."
David clearly has nothing to worry about.

Notice the "scrunchy" on Sybil's wrist. 

She was jealous of her sisters' scrunches. 

Since store time is limited, I cut off the sleeve of one of her shirts, 

put in some elastic = she's happy.

My parents and Fernando are coming over soon for an Easter lunch. We invited other family too, but then we all decided it would be better if we don't congregate inside. I think we will opt for a family hike later this week.