Advertising Shifts

Ads advertising masks are all the rage now. Who would have ever expected?

Ryan drew a Solar System

Luke is 70?

The kids ended the night with BuzzFeed quizzes.

The kids took one quiz where they picked their favorite BaskinRobins treats from about 10 different categories and based on your guesses it would tell you how old you are.

Results?

BuzzFeed says Jeff is 36, Dawn is 25, Brooke is 18, Ryan is 11 ... and Luke is 70.

The kids literally almost fell over laughing.

The "New Normal" is pretty weird

Ryan's class has been having guest speakers over Zoom calls. Afterwards they ask the kids to draw pictures and signs to say thank you - and these pics are either sent directly or put into a collective card for the presenter. No longer can they say thanks face-to-face, and the mailing and sending of letters is a thing of the past.

One of the strangest shifts we have undergone is the addition of two new inhabitants into the house. Pixie and Eri are not the most social cats, and both spend a lot of the day hiding. Eri has claimed this basket under a shelf in the family room. Whenever we cannot find him, this is generally where he is.

And visits, while infrequent, are strange and distant. Here the boys are visiting with their cousin Haley. They generally yell at her out the window, so this isn't so weird. What IS weird is the fact that they cannot actually run up to her, show her their new tricks (or whatever they're gonna show off that day) and interact with her in ways that we are used to.

All is Quiet: Good or Bad News?

Everyone was really quiet. Honestly, this generally does mean they're all getting along. When bad things happen they've yet learned to be quiet ... they instead tend to get insanely loud. So I expected some sort of cooperation. Here they are bonding over YouTubers. Annoying for us, but its one of the few things they all three agree on.

The cats seem to have learned from the best. When they're causing trouble, they are LOUD. When they are quiet, we can often find them cuddling.

Online Learning, Letter Writing & Team Workouts

Ryan & Dad worked on some elearning... in pajamas

Luke had to write a Persuasive Letter

He decided to write to Uncle Brad and basically try to
persuade him not to suck so bad at Fortnite

Brooke had a team workout via Zoom

Typical Monday - Quarantine Style

Cats did lots of cuddling

Ryan had a Zoom meeting... with an ASTRONAUT

Luke, still wearing his pajamas from the day before,
found an old comic book that Brooke & Ryan used to read...
and now has a new obsession

Walking & Baking

Went for a little walk around the community. The kids have gotten so used to staying in and not being active, that they believe going out is a CHORE. You'd think they'd be dying to get out, but we need to essentially threaten them to get out. We barely walked anywhere before they proclaimed their legs to be tired. Then when we decided to walk a little bit further, there was some whining and sighing. This is a little bit of a challenge!

Thanks to a recommendation from Haley, we made Busia bread. It took a while (mostly because there were two separate hours where it needed to rise) but overall was pretty easy! In the end, none of the kids really liked it. Small problem, because there were THREE loaves. But ... the grownups handled that problem. Yum!

Busia Bread!

Movie Night

The snow came and went, so there was defnitely no sledding. But Movie Night happened, as is the usual for us on Fridays.

We were supposed to watch Trolls 2 for Lukes birthday but he just wasn't up to it. We saved it for tonight, our Friday Night Movie night. It was worth the wait. Luke, who is more of an Avengers / Fighting / Killing kind of kid has always been into Trolls. He's been begging to see this movie. And proclaimed it the Best Movie Ever. While we have had LOTS of family time, this family night was still needed.

Snow Day?

8am and still snowing. We are hoping for a chance to sled ... but it's not sticking to the sidewalk or ramp so far. Fingers crossed!

Luke is 6!

Last year we didnt have a birthday party for Luke because we knew he was going to be at a new school this year (and thus forming relationships with the kids at Aududbon was really not a priority). Hes been counting on and planning this years birthday for a year. He's been excited about being 6, about picking activities to do, and about his birthday party. None of that happened this year due to COVID-19. Honestly, of all three kids he is the one who is most negatively impacted by a quarantine birthday.

But ... it turned out ok! He seemed pretty happy with the level of attention. He was thrilled that his class sang to him on Zoom. We let him pick all the meals and he felt pretty great about that. And we got him a Nintendo Switch (to make sure there was a big bang / memorable gift). We got a Fortnite themed Pinata, and THAT might have been the biggest deal and thrill of all. For a pretty worst-case scenario, I think we had a pretty great day.

Luke's door was covered with balloons,
so when he opened it he began his day with a balloon surprise.

In a morning Zoom meeting, his whole class sang Happy Birthday!

Brooke made a sign to greet him on the way down in the morning

We had a hard time figuring out how to celebrate a birthday in quarantine, and then had the idea of a pinata!
It was the first time all three kids had ever had a pinata. It was a bit hit (literally).

Cake pickings during a global pandemic are slim. We have quite a few requirements which also limit the selection (i.e. cant be chocolate and cant have whipped cream frosting) and this was what I ended up with. A full 1/2 sheet of cake (for 5 of us) with a shots/party theme. Luckily the "really cool sipping cups" (according to Brooke) came off pretty easily and some candles took their place.

Brooke also make a cookie cake, and (of course) covered it with ice cream, chocolate, caramel and sprinkles.

Family Easter Pictionary Zoom

We couldnt be together in person this year, but we did get together via Zoom. The whole Schneider Family played a game of Pictionary ... all organized by Brooke.

The Schneider Delivery Service

Kids helped deliver packages for Kilwins today. They spent 6 hours in the car. They were honestly great, and we are lucky that they know (at times) how important it is to chip in for the family. Also, we are very thankful for the invention of the Apple iPad, without which most of our lives would be much more dramatic and complicated.

Social Distancing Visits

Grandma & Grandpa dropped off some cat supplies for the foster cats. This is how we do visits in midst of COVID-19.

Brooke loses a tooth

After weeks of being annoyed, Brooke finally lost her tooth. It was a bloody battle!

Delivering Kilwins Orders to Roscoe Village.

Today Luke and Ryan did neighborhood Kilwins deliveries!

Cats Warming Up, From a Distance!

Pixie is sleeping 2ft away from me on the bench.
I think we are ALMOST friends.

Cat Hideout

The cats found the tent in Lukes room.

Michigan Avenue: Chicago: COVID-19

Michigan Ave void of people and cars as workplaces are shut down and people shelter at home. The coyotoes are now taking over ;)

Baking Queen: Cupcake Edition

Much Needed Fresh Air

Warming Up ... A Little!

Pixie finally let Brooke pet her. Brooke has been really patient. She sat in her room for about 6 hours today, motionless, to encourage Pixie to feel comfortable. She said she did come into her room and explore several times, including checking out her stuff and getting close enough to sniff her pants. By the end of the night, she did let Brooke get close. But she still had to stay a couple of stairs away :)

Kilwins Neighborhood Deliveries