Quarantine times

I have been using snap chat to get Everett to read. He has been fighting me on reading his books and if I tell him he can do snap chat after, he is willing! Whatever it takes.

So, of course Clara has to try it all out too!







Just look at the toy room. I busted it all out. You see all the bins in the back, usually I pull out one at a time, right now, all toys on deck so I can do my work during the day. I'm very fortunate, Everett will play by himself all day without needing a thing and Clara will ask, but is fine to play on her own and is now able to do all her work on her own. My favorite is when they play together.

The biggest take-away from this, my silver lining, is their relationship. It was amazing before and now it's even more remarkable. This little girl is a natural born teacher, she knows what I'm working on with Everett because she plays along with us and gets him to participate. I couldn't do four sessions of therapy without her. Anytime she notices he isn't doing what I need him to, she jumps in and models and he wants to be just like his big sissy so he copies and it's perfection. She is a great helper and adores him in a brand new way. They have learned different ways to play together and Clara displays such patience when playing with him or teaching him new things. She is his teacher/therapist half the time and I am not even asking her to help.

I'm nervous about all this time away from therapy but I'm so thankful to not be in the rat race. I would take this any day of the week over our bell to bell schedule Monday - Friday. I just hope I'm giving them both what they need. It's easier to help Clara grow, just her age and she understands it's a must. Everett is fighting me on a light right now. His speech exploded, so that's been awesome. He is stringing two and three words together, today it was four words, "I love you Mommy" I can't wait to get that recorded. He hasn't been feeling well at all and Clara has been so helpful. When he starts to gag/puke, she now runs to get him a cool cloth with an ice cube in it. I asked her one time and after that first time she just heard him and ran. She has been a bit mouthy so we're working on that, I thought this sass came much later. Boy was I mistaken. Most of the time she is an angel, until she's not, so she has had some consequences to deal with, it's not fun.


She is an amazing reader! She reads books all by herself and will ask me here and there if she needs help with a word, I usually say, "Sound it out." and she's got it. Then she takes a quiz on the computer all by herself and looks up her answers, she really impresses me!


Tiffany is doing "porch portraits" - great idea. She gets neighbors to gather on their porches and takes a few shots and emails the pictures. I hope this drums up even more business for her. I went completely corny, COVID19 style. Summing up our last few weeks in one pic, well, a few pics.

Set up

Clara saw me putting make-up on and of course wanted some, we agreed on mascara


Even more grown up, not acceptable.
















I got some of these, with video of him singing, "Take me out to the ball game..." priceless.

We made a bunk bed tent for a day, doing her work in bed today! 

Clara is a bit obsessed with taking pictures of her work. Her Ipad is full of her fabulous photography so now she asks me all day to take pictures of her work so she can recreate.







Andre's beautiful mama, Maria












refusal to smile for porch portraits

We have had a few great rainy days! Time to jump in puddles!

Lots of Earth Day planting


Sideways throwback - mom CHOPPED my hair off, Now I get it.


RACE! Clara LOVES to win, more than anyone I've ever known in my life! However, she let's her bubby win, that's love!



yoga. Poor bubs, by the time he gets into position, they've moved onto the next one. This is for kids, so I'll need to look and see if they have slower moving options.



Clara LOVES to bake - gewy Grammy Lang style


One of my students sent me this, along with the nicest messages. It's little moments like this that make all the chaos worth it. She wants to be a teacher because of me. This was right before I left Shore Acres and got married. The great ol days before all of this amazing responsibility. 

Quarantine date night at "the bar" - it sure is a great bar! Cheap, strong drinks!

Earth Day Clean Up

Clara bit into an apple and it almost brought her to tears. SHE HAS A LOOSE TOOTH! She has been waiting for this day!





My favorite time of day, quiet cuddles.


Our work station.





These two love each other and my phone (selfie side) needs a good cleaning. Clara's loved on Everett so much he may just have had enough...







Zoom gatherings

Two days and it's GONE! I haven't seen her this happy in a while. 

On our Earth Day adventures, we strolled to the end of the neighborhood where the heavier traffic is and clean up the little pieces of trash that reside by the road. I just put new batteries in Clara's remote control Jeep and it was going fast! She had a blast driving it to the edge of the neighborhood. On our way home, she was practicing some reversing at a high speed and she backed right in to the gutter. Oh, I felt terrible, the look on her face. I'll never forget that sweet, sad look. We called daddy to calm her since I knew he could use his magic and fish it out. They sure did, but the sprinklers had been on outside of the house by the gutter it fell in so it was soaked by the end of the day when they got to it. We tried rice, noper. :(


Before the sad incident.

On the Eve of the 23rd, it was SUPER loose and I can't even look at it, I get weak in the knees with loose teeth. I had her use a tissue, that's how I used to rip mine out and I can still hear/feel it and it makes me squirm. The morning of the 23, Ana's 39th, Clara was watching a show on Andre's phone while he was getting ready for work and she was playing with it and Whammo!

She was elated!








Bran sent me this cute pic, social distancing social.

Clara's teacher had us send a pic of their favorite place to read, hers was in bed. I think she is going to post them in the lessons, Clara will love to see her classmates. When she first found out about being home from school she was so thrilled, and then she realized she wouldn't see Mrs. Mangone and got sad. Mrs. Mangone is a special teacher and I'm sad Clara is missing out on this experience with her, although Clara dislikes going to school on most days, she LOVES her teacher. I can't even think about not having a Kindergarten graduation. :( 

Making a rocket booster! She reads all the directions on her own now, and she LOVED this project.






Everett has been sick for a week. Bad. High fever, coughs until he pukes, chills, and sissy is by his side! Almost a week later we finally got a steroid and an antibiotic. Hopefully he is on the med. We did get a script to have him tested for corona virus, I'm not sure if we are going to have him tested or not...his cough is not dry...unsure.




Getting me some exercise and him some air.






Cleanin things up :/ - Everett's school (and someday Clara) is on the other side of town. Needless to say, we're keeping all options open, since we're all spread all over the county. Time will tell.