Apart and Together

Last night Kyle and I got the kids to bed and then masked up and went to work tackling the MESS that was Nora's bedroom. We cleaned out all the stuff...bedding, clothes, books, garbage, pens, cups, whatever else she was hoarding in there. There are bags upon bags of laundry to be done, a giant bag of stuff to be put out in the sun to kill spores and a bunch of other stuff has overtaken the living room. This afternoon over lunch time we disassembled the bunk beds and reassembled them in Lincoln's room. That meant this evening Kyle had the green light and space to start the demo process. Carpet was the first thing out and then once we were able to assess the extent of the mold on the baseboards, drywall, floor, etc. he marked off where the wall needs to come out. We've been doing a halfway decent job of keeping the house somewhat put together during this whole quarantine time but walking through now I feel like this could be the beginning of the end of that! With everything getting torn up I needed some balance so

while Kyle was tearing out carpet I put together and touched up the crib. It's amazing how after doing it three times (and locating the hardware) fast it goes together! So, while some areas of the house are being torn apart at least one calm place is coming together! Give and take or something like that!

Not Often

As many of you know, especially these days, it takes a lot for me to feel bad for Cort. This scene repeatedly taking place in our backyard has made me feel bad for him a time or two. When I initially looked out the window I saw the two boys with the leashes around the waists, hooked up to Cort and THEY were running in front of him with him trailing behind. It was like a sled dog race but backwards - all while Nora was cheering for them. I'm pretty sure Cort has put in more miles in the last few days than he has in months.

Sunday - I think

Kyle headed out to the grocery store this morning to get us stocked for what will hopefully be closer to 2 weeks this time. The only MAJORLY limiting factor is that they have a 1 gallon limit on milk - which in this house lasts roughly 2, maybe 3 days if we're lucky. We're going to have to figure that out - maybe we'll switch to milk boxes for a bit and have them delivered. (Nevermind - sold out, argh!) Anyway, the kids have been pretty good at self entertaining despite the fact that it's been raining ALL day. Cort has never looked more miserable as he has being dragged around the yard in the rain while Nora runs laps with him on leash. At least she's outside! Marc Roberge from O.A.R. did an Instagram Live concert from his home today which added some levity and a very much enjoyed hour of entertainment for all of us, so that was a great diversion. I got a little more done in the baby's room and then spent hours working on getting Nora's school work ready for the week. It's already circling back to Monday. In this new world we're living in I feel like weekends should be extended - just because!

Floors and Walls - In and Out

I was not overly productive today - I had my moments early but tapered off into the afternoon. That's when Kyle picked up though and got a ton accomplished in the baby's "room". Here's a little sneak peek of the work in progress. It's looking even more complete now than it does here. I'm getting excited! I have to slow my roll a bit though because at least for a while we're planning to move Nora into here while her room is being fixed. The jury is still out on if we're going to be tackling that project on our own or if we're going to bring people in to do the demo. In other news, there isn't much other news...just doing the same thing everyone else is doing - staying put and trying to stay safe!

TGIF

Phew...I am very happy this week has come to a close. Not that I don't appreciate all the hard work all of the teachers have been putting into their online lesson plans but our little school from home was running much smoother from an instructor and student standpoint before we had assignments to upload and videos to watch for every topic and all the other random stuff that is now required but not really all that productive. Nora did decide this week that she loves poetry, so I guess that's something. Anyway, the kids finished up their work I got everything submitted to Nora's folder on time and we called it the weekend by noon. Kyle was feeling a little less than 100% today - might have had something to do with his late night birthday hangout with family and Nikos (they always have loved to celebrate their birthdays together!) Anyway, we made it to the weekend where we now have a different to do list to tackle. The fun never ever ends!

Crabby Birthday

Today was Kyle's birthday. It was lack luster to say the least - at least from my perspective. And, with as much yelling and fighting and all around negativity and bad attitude that was pulsing through the house today, I think it's safe to say it probably wasn't his dream birthday either...at least the daytime part of it. Phew...it was a doozy. It's never a good sign of how things are going to go when the first though you think before opening your eyes is that you want to call off for the day. Clearly I wasn't the only one because Nora (after yet another waaaay too short night's sleep) had a chip on her shoulder from the start too. She requested to do school this afternoon which due to the state of the house and the opportunity I saw to get some things cleaned up, I agreed to - also knowing full well it was totally going to blow up. As hoped, I did get some good cleaning done and we started school after lunch as the mold people came to give Nora's room a quick once over. They were in and out - school however dragged on in a battle that included tantrums and even a short nap for one of the "students". My patience was/is shot. Thankfully the boys didn't follow suit too too much. After slogging through completing the required assignments we rallied a bit and ordered dinner, went for our evening walk/bike ride and had a nice family meal followed by an early bedtime for an EXHAUSTED Otto. After Kyle opened his big box of presents and went through all the gifts, artwork and and other surprises we put Nora and Lincoln down and settled in to relax. Only, they're not asleep. Yep, 10:30pm and both are still awake and one of them is looking to go another round. Uhg! Anyway, I think Kyle is ending his night on a high note getting to socialize online in the game room, so at least there's that. Here's hoping Friday proves to be the medicine we all need!! Guys, this is hard! Haha!

No Fooling

Despite being up until nearly 10pm every night, Nora has been up and at 'em. This morning she set to work making pancakes for everyone on the griddle. There wasn't a whole lot of fooling around today from a prank aspect, Nora had a couple of attempts here and there but otherwise it was a pretty straightforward day of refereeing and kids who just need to run and play.

There also wasn't fooling around when we opened up the wall and not only found the leak but found mold to go with it. The mold remediation company is coming tomorrow to assess and let us know what all needs to be done and of course how much it's going to cost. Yay!!