Showing posts with label New Normal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Normal. Show all posts

Monday, July 6, 2020

Our COVID-19 Adventures- Week 5

Week 5 of Quarantine
April 12- 19, 2020

April 12- EASTER
Easter is my Absolute favorite holiday of all time and while this Easter was different, it still turned out to be a very good day. We woke up and had a good Easter breakfast of bacon and eggs and then got dressed UP to have Church in our living room. I really wanted to make an effort even through we would not be going anywhere. The kids and Chris were not a fan but they indulged me and I appreciate it. 


Stop it... Just stop it! STOP growing up! 




My beautiful Mini-Me! 

Happy Easter from The Davis Family! 

We participated in our SS class Zoom meeting and then we were able to watch Poppy (my Daddy) preach LIVE on Facebook from Arp Emmanuel Baptist Church. Never in a MILLION years would have thought this was possible! IT WAS AMAZING! I was crying tears of joy as I watched him spread the Word of God and the Easter story to ANYONE and EVERYONE watching! It was incredible. 

Shortly after my Dad's sermon was complete, the Mims Online Service started and we watched it Live. This, too, was an AMAZING service and we prayed the entire sermon and especially the invitation for many to be saved. 

I also wanted a normal and fancy Easter lunch so I cooked steaks, mashed potatoes, broccoli and even deviled eggs. It was a great lunch and made it feel more like a traditional Easter. 

Well, that's something we've never done... Easter Morning in our living room! 

In the afternoon we had the kids hide and find Easter eggs in the front lawn. It was not our traditional Easter Egg hunt but the kids enjoyed hiding the eggs for each other. Later in the afternoon, the kids did Part 3 of Baking with Auntie Allie and made "Resurrection Rolls" to represent the empty tomb of Jesus. This was a REALLY neat way for kids to see a visual representation of Jesus's death and resurrection. Plus, they turned out GREAT and the kids had a blast. 

An Easter tradition... Now in our front yard! 


The kids LOVE baking with Auntie Allie! 
We are so grateful for technology! 

We called both grandparents and ended the night playing Phase 10 as a family again. It was not the Easter we expected or even wanted by any means but we still worshiped our Risen Savior and had a great day with each other. We were supposed to be boarding a Cruise Ship to the Caribbean as a family but instead, we celebrated our Risen Lord and shared our love with each other and family near and far! 

April 13th
This week was our Spring Break and we should have been on a cruise ship so we decided to unplug completely from school and just chill out. We also made a goal to go to the track at Irons JH just outside of our neighborhood everyday. I made a goal of running 2-3 miles everyday so on the weekend I could run a 10K. Natalie was able to see her friend Sarah, who lives in our neighborhood, but only through the door. 
We are loving going to the track each morning! 

Locally
Our mandated "Stay at home order" was supposed to be lifted on this day but it was extended until the end of the month.

April 14th 
This was another day spent doing just about nothing. We DID get up and go to the track and Natalie and I ran just over 2 miles while the boys played baseball. We also started playing games everyday to try and just sit in front of the TV. We played Phase 10, Uno and Yahtzee. It had been over 10 years since I played UNO but it was a lot of fun! 

I got my two miles in... Before the humidity arrived! I am happy! 

April 15th- TAX DAY 
This day started with a large $3400 in our account as part of the stimulus plan that the government pushed out. It gave us $1200 per adult and $500 per child. With the fluidity of this and not truly knowing if we will take a pay cut or similar, we decided to just put this straight into savings. Usually this would be for a trip or cruise but obviously, we cannot do that during this time. We went to the track and got our miles in, 2.6 to be exact, and then spent the rest of the day playing games and watching movies DURING the day. 

April 16th 
Another day of doing a whole lot of nothing. We got our miles in at the track and then spent the rest of the day watching a marathon of Cake Wars, Nailed it and 24 for the adults. I was tried of cooking daily so we ordered wings from Wing Stop. 

More miles... Let's go! 

Nationally
President Trump had a briefing at the White House about the steps taken to re-open the country and it was in 3 phases. But there was going to be a 10-14 day buy in process to get to these phases. During this buy-in times, the local numbers of COVID 19 cases would have to be on a decline. Once the numbers decline, the states and counties would follow these phases steps:
Phase 1
Restaurants, Movie Theaters and Churches will be allowed to re-open but at a very reduced capacity. Older and most vulnerable will be asked to continue to shelter in place. Schools, gyms and bars will remain closed.  
Phase 2
Schools. Gyms and bars can re-open but with reduced capacity. Elective surgeries may resume. Older and most vulnerable will be asked to continue to socially distance themselves from others.
Phase 3
We will go back to a "New Normal" and bars, businesses, churches will re-open fully. Hospital and senior care facilities may now take in visitors and people can stand around in groups.

After listening to this press conference I feel a little worried but know this will be a very long process as during each phase the county, city and state must continue to show a decline of cases. It is going to be a LONG road ahead of us. 

April 17th
Happy Friday Y'all! I should be in Cozumel on a beach with Carlos bringing me drinks as I stare into the gorgeous blue waters, but instead it is just another day of cleaning and spending time with the family. We spent over 4 hours playing games and then ended the day watching a family movie. I did go to Costco to get more groceries and the line was so long I had to wait outside nearly half an hour to get in and then the line to check out was about 30 minutes long as well. They had tape on the floor and even on the parking lot to tell people where to stand and wait! It was surreal.  

Locally
At noon Governor Abbot had a press conference to give his plans for re-opening Texas according to these new 3 Phases Opening guidelines given by President Trump and the CDC. This is when we officially learned that Texas schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. This was ABSOLUTELY devastating. This was the most I have cried during this whole thing. I miss my kids so much and I just want to go back to making music with them. 

April 18th 
It is Saturday and that means we have our BIG day at the track. The boys played some baseball while Natalie and I ran the track. I was able to jog 6.21 miles. That was the longest I have ran since 2016. Natalie clocked in 4 miles of walking and jogging and even Chris was able to jog 2+ miles. We were feeling REALLY good! We pretty much crashed as soon as we got home and then ordered pizza from dinner. I figured with those type of miles, we deserved it. 

It was NOT the Spring Break we hoped for, or even dreamed of, but it was good to spend time with the family and just try to escape it all. 

But through it all, we know that GOD is still in CONTROL and HE IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! We will continue to look to HIM for answers and continue to pray for this situation and those it is effecting! 


Even in the midst of all of this... 



GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME!

Check out our COVID Adventures: 





Monday, April 13, 2020

The Davis Family Rides Out COVID-19

The Davis Family Rides Out COVID-19
This will be a daily entry of our life, experiences and memories of COVID-19, the Coronavirus. Many of these entries will be our thoughts and opinions or just world events but will be a reminder of what happened during this unprecedented time in our world. There will be some monthly, weekly and eventually daily entries for these events.

Click on our weekly entries and experiences, starting with a prequel to this whole MADNESS! 

The Prequel

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4 (Holy Week)

WILL THIS EVER END? We do not know! But we DO KNOW that God's GOT THIS! We are giving it to Him!


But through it all, we know that GOD is still in CONTROL and HE IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! We will continue to look to HIM for answers and continue to pray for this situation and those it is effecting! 



Even in the midst of all of this... 



GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! 

Our COVID-19 Adventures- Week 4

Week 4 of Quarantine 
April 5-11, 2020 

It is HOLY WEEK and once again, it is not the way we expected this week to go but here we are KILLING IT! 

April 5- Palm Sunday
It wasn't the traditional Palm Sunday of gorgeous music and palm leaves in the aside of our church. We did a Sunday School Zoom with our class, watched the Mims Service online and for the 1st time EVER I got to see my Daddy preach from AEBC on Facebook! It was SO AWESOME! In the middle of all of this chaos, we can still come to Jesus! 

Sunday School with Travis via Zoom! This was interesting! 


Church (in our PJs) in the living room! 
I am so glad our church has the means for Online Services! 

In the afternoon, the kids did Part 1 of  Baking with Auntie Allie and made Allison's famous Cake Mix Cookies all by themselves. They did so good and had a blast virtually cooking with Allie! 


The kids ABSOLUTELY loved this! This will be our new "Weekend" thing to look forward to! 
Thank you Allison! We love and miss you! 

Locally 
Due to the CDC recommendation of masks and gloves when in public, our friends and neighbors were making cloth masks. We supported this small business of theirs and got masks for all of us to use in public, even though I am the "runner" of the family and I am the only one getting out. 

April 6 
It was a MONDAY and that means it was a crazy hectic day of online learning and online teaching. Luke's teacher, Mrs. Wolf, started a new Zoom meeting process where she actually helped the kids get all of their assignments done in a 2 hour window. The work that was given was MUCH less than the previous week but Mrs. Wolf didn't start the process until 10 and Luke was usually all done by then. Chris and I both had mornings FULL of meetings and then virtually teaching in the afternoon! 

This was a FUN little assignment I had my orchestra kids do. These were creations from some 7th graders. I love it! 


I would MUCH RATHER be at school (I seriously miss my job and kids more than I would have ever thought) but I am beginning to like this Teaching Virtually thing! Today I had 3 kids in a lesson! 


April 7 
What should have been STAAR testing day for Natalie ended up being another busy day of meetings and virtual learning. Natalie had a Zoom meeting with her class and Mrs. McKenney. She really misses her friends SO MUCH! I was able to get in a morning run and a virtual workout with some teacher friends! Thanks again Plunkett. 
I have got to stay in shape. Still doing Keto and Fasting (to a certain degree.. it is hard at home). I still have 20+ pounds to go! But today marks 25 pounds lost since January 6th. 

Chris had a very busy day of virtual teaching and by 4PM he was DONE! We made a very special TACO TUESDAY dinner but all four of us were WIPED out! 

Family movie night and Abbey will not get out of this chair! Luke even sorta sat on her... Nope! She was NOT moving! 


April 8 
This Wednesday proved to be much less busy that the previous two days but Luke still did his online work with Mrs. Wolf. This day it seemed to take forever and the Zoom meeting was not over until about 1PM and poor Luke was HANGRY! We decided that Luke is just better off doing his school work on his own in the early morning times. 

It's April 8th and I just now got my Christmas Thank You cards out in the mail! Complete with Santa stamps! Haha... I guess it is better late than never! Thank you ALL for the great Holiday Season! 

Luke doing his school work virtually with his Teacher, Mrs. Wolf, and his classmates! 


Locally 
The number of cases in Montgomery County was rising DAILY and we were close to 200 cases within our county and there was even 4 in our zip-code. It is getting real and a little scary. 

Nationally 
The US is up to 525K cases. This seems completely crazy to me and hard to believe but that is what it is! 

April 9 
This was a much easier day for us but there were many meetings and Zoom conferences Chris and I had to be on as it was the close of the week and lots of info was given to the staff of our campuses as next week was Spring Break. Both of our administrators are AMAZING and they both really preached about PUTTING AWAY the LAPTOP this week and have a true break. It will not be the Spring Break we wanted, as we were supposed to be on a CRUISE SHIP but it is what it is! We will still have a GREAT WEEK as a family! 

HEB Curbside and Walmart Curbside have been INSANE lately and have had 5-7 day wait times for an order. So I decided to go to the store on Thursday instead of Friday like the previous weeks in hopes that less people would be in the store. This proved to be a GREAT theory and I will be going on Thursdays in the future weeks. I can prepared with my mask in hand and Costco had EVERYTHING I needed. 

The line to GET INTO Costco around 11:30AM. This was VERY long but I was inside the store within 30 minutes. I wish I could go when they open but the teaching online prevents that! 

THANK YOU NURSES and HEALTHCARE WORKERS! 
Not only are you on the front lines of this craziness but you have to wear these masks ALL DAY! Nope, I wouldn't survive! I was SO claustrophobic! It was awful! 


April 10- Good Friday
What was supposed to have been a Holiday and day off of teaching, ended up being another day of online learning and virtual teaching. I am not really sure why or how it became a teaching day but we did our duties to wrap up the week and then spent time with our family. 

We went way out to Humble (beyond our district from our house) and made our way to Krispy Kreme Donuts. This is the BEST DONUTS ever. My parents and I originally found this place on a Baseball trip adventure in the late 90s and then when I moved to Norman to go to college at OU there was a Krispy Kreme and it became a Saturday ritual for my roommates and I. Over the course of my time at OU, Krispy Kreme went up all over the place and even on the East side of Norman where I spent my later college years. Since leaving Norman in 2006, I have not seen a Krispy Kreme and it has broken my heart. Once I realized a KK was built in Humble, I knew I had to get there, but I never had time to drive the 30 minutes there and 30 minutes home. Well, we have been given the gift of time so off we went. They were worth EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY! I still agree, they are best donuts EVER! 

Seriously, the BEST DONUTS EVER! Wow... SO good and worth every calorie! 

We spent the afternoon getting more work done before our Spring Break and playing Phase 10 as a family. The kids had never played before but did very well adapting to the rules and we all had a blast. 

The Shake You Up Milkshake truck was in the neighborhood and since I had already blew my diet on donuts I decided to make it a FULL CHEAT day. We each got a crazy sweet, rich and expensive milkshake for our afternoon snack (or what became dinner to me). It was a once in a lifetime (or quarantine) type of thing! 


This is smart! VERY smart!

Of course, they charge $9 PER SHAKE... Again, it is smart!
They were very good... BUT SO RICH! 

We could have (And definitely SHOULD HAVE) all 4 shared one! 

Our $42 mid-day snack!

We ended the night by taking the Lord's Supper in our living room via the Mims Online service. This was VERY unique and it felt weird but kinda neat at the same time! Overall it was a GREAT day to get our Easter Weekend started. 


I never dreamed I would be taking the Lord's Supper in my living room!

It was a unique experience for sure! 

April 11 
We started our Saturday morning off at the Field again. We walked to Irons JH at the front of our neighborhood and Luke and Chris played baseball while Natalie and I jogged (Natalie walked) on the track. I completed my virtual race of #CrushCorona and then walked with the family. I ended up completing 5.25 miles in run/ walk intervals. And I learned... I need new Running Shoes! How will I order those... with social distancing! 

5 miles (intervals of running and walking)! I feel good... Well, actually my legs hurt but my mind and spirit feel GREAT! 

In the afternoon, the kids did Part 2 of Baking with Auntie Allie and made a BUNNY CAKE virtually with Allison. It turned out pretty cute and tasted pretty good! This may be a new Easter Tradition! 



This was a VERY FUN Saturday afternoon! And not a "too bad" looking bunny! 

We ended the evening by reading the Crucifixion and Resurrection stories in the Bible and then watching JESUS on Trinity Broadcast Network. It was a special Sight and Sound Theater production about Jesus's life and death. It was AWESOME and the kids loved it! 


Locally 
Governor Greg Abbot makes an announcement on media that he "has a plan" for restarting our economy and social distancing guidelines to be announced next week. We need the economy to get restarted real soon or I am afraid it will be a HARD restart! Montgomery County now has well over 200 cases and it raises by 20-30 PER DAY! 


Nationally 
The United States now has 560,300 cases and it is growing rapidly. The death count for the US is still a whopping 22K. And we have yet to reach our "peak" in this vicious curve of Corona-virus. 

This was not a traditional HOLY Week by any means but we made do and still had a great time preparing for Resurrection Sunday. The kids did MUCH better in school with the lightened work load and Chris and I are now officially adjusted to teaching online and virtual school. It was still an emotional week for me as I began to think of Easter Sunday not spent at Church and I began to really miss my kids at school and more importantly my family! I am hoping next week, our Spring Break, will be a much better week! 

But through it all, we know that GOD is still in CONTROL and HE IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! We will continue to look to HIM for answers and continue to pray for this situation and those it is effecting! 



Even in the midst of all of this... 



GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! 

Check out our COVID Adventures: 







Our COVID-19 Adventures- Week 3

Week 3 of Quarantine
March 29-April 4. 2020

Even as we had adjusted to this new normal, there were still moments of frustration, anxiousness and I hate to say it but even more tears. Emotions were running high BUT through it all, we are growing closer to each other, and closer to GOD as a family! 

March 29 - #HappySundayYall
It's Sunday and we are so excited to worship and give our Praises back to Jesus! We have realized through the whole ordeal that we are truly blessed! Thank you Jesus for Your continued blessings... Like JOBS. Our house. Our family. OUR HEALTH! Thank you Jesus! 

Mims Baptist Church streaming LIVE via Facecbook! Thank you Bro. Jerry! 

The BEST PART of Sunday... Poppy's devotional from AEBC! I LOVED this one about getting REST! Thank you Daddy (Poppy) for sharing! 


March 30
It's Monday and a new week. The elementary started to send REAL assignments in CANVAS on this day and let me tell you...THEY DROPPED A LOT! It was very overwhelming for the kids! Monday and Tuesday are our busiest days for teaching and meetings. The day was full of meetings and classes but both Chris and I had a great day. I ran my usual 1.5 miles on the treadmill and then helped Natalie on the trumpet. She is getting really good (especially for only having played 10 days or so).


I got my 1.5 miles in and THEN joined a teacher friend online for a FB Live workout!
Thanks Plunkett for working me out today! 


Zooming and Teaching ALL DAY! It feels GREAT! 


Science experiment for Luke about WASHING YOUR HANDS!
(I personally think this should be TAUGHT all the time not just in a PANDEMIC) 

March 31
It's the end of this crazy month! THANK GOD! It feels as if this has lasted SO long! It was another long day of teaching and Zoom meetings with various departments and students but it was a good day. This is the one day a week that Chris and I have Zoom meetings where we teach our classes at the same time. Thank Goodness we have a 2 story house and plenty of room to roam about. I went upstairs to Natalie's room but the Wifi kept cutting in and out so I ended up in Luke's bedroom and it worked out fine! But it is HARD to have all 4 of us working and Zooming at the same time! Our poor internet is working WAY overtime! 

I was also able to make a short video for the Keefer social media outlets telling our kids how much I love and miss them! I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing campus and district! Just another way.. . #GodisGOOD #AlltheTime 

I love and miss you Keefer Kiddos! Stay Safe! Stay Healthy! 

Natalie was able to see her friends and her teacher, Mrs. McKenney, on a class Zoom. This lifted her spirits A LOT as she is at that stage of the Pre-Teen emotional roller coaster and this whole quarantine in NOT helping with that! She misses her friends SO MUCH! 

Natalie was SO excited to FINALLY be able to see her teacher and friends! She put on make, wore a nice shirt and fixed her hair! Pre-Teen FOR SURE! 

A recap of our CRAZY month of March! 

Nationally 
President Trump declared that the nation would follow the "Social Distancing" guideline until at least April 30th, despite his previous high hopes of being done with this by Easter. Once again, we feel the writing is on the wall! 

April 2020
"This too shall pass."

April 1- Happy April Fool's Day
I'm never really into April Fool's Day but especially not this year. I started the morning by going to the Ark Church in Conroe for the Montgomery County Food pantry for groceries. After sitting in the lines of cars for 20 minutes, a policeman told me that the food was gone as people had been lined up since 7AM. Wow... I pray they all got the food they needed. 

An opportunity for those less fortunate than us to get FREE food during this time of crisis

The kids had an especially trying day both academically and emotionally. Poor Natalie just cried and cried wanting to see her friends and trying to grasp this whole ordeal. Luke felt the tension and within an hour he had an emotional break down as well. After we all recovered from that we spent MANY hours outside flying kites given to the kids by our neighbors. The great outdoors healed us and we ended on a good note. 


Thank you Mr. Phil and Mrs. Phyllis for the kites! They are just what we needed! 

Locally
We learned that Governor Greg Abbot declared that Texas would not go back to school until AT LEAST May 4th. This was a hard hit for all of us as we all just want this to be over. In fact, this triggered a HUGE meltdown from my kids! 

Pray y'all! Just pray! 

April 2 
It was another busy day of school work for us all and even Luke had a Zoom meeting with his class and teacher. Since we were dealing with our own kiddos on the previous day, Chris and I had a lot of work to catch up on so we stayed busy most of the day. Natalie and Luke did MUCH BETTER on their work they needed to turn in and got all of their own school work done in the morning. I ran my daily 1.5 miles on the treadmill and even helped Natalie with her trumpet. 

Natalie practicing her trumpet with her Woodwind Specialist teacher... We are surviving and sounding pretty good! 

Chris and I lesson planned, imported and worked while watching 24. We are now on Season 4. It is our FAVORITE show and is really meant to be binge-watched as it is hard to just watch one episode at a time. I LOVE me some Jack Bauer! 

I REALLY like this season! Better than I remember it being! 

Nationally
The total number of COVID19 cases WORLD WIDE now reaches 1 MILLION people. The death rate is now at 18% and the media is still pushing hysteria and false information. CNN even published a picture of an ITALIAN hospital and says it is a hospital in New York. 
LORD... If You're ready, come back NOW! 

April 3 
It's FRIDAY! I had many Zoom meetings with departments and a faculty meeting. We learned that overall as a district, we are giving the kids too much work and to back off a bit. This was nice to hear since AS A MOM, I feel as if my kids are asked to do a lot for school. But I am REALLY missing my job and my students. Chris and I were able to finish Season 4 of 24 by 1AM. We are liking being able to binge watch our favorite TV shows. (4 seasons in 3 weeks if pretty good... Or sad, depending on how you look at it). 

Yeah... This is me today! SO MANY emails and meetings! 

April 4 
HAPPY SATURDAY! We started the day off at the Junior High track near our subdivision. Chris and Luke had been going to this track daily to work on his baseball skills and Natalie and I joined him. I was determined to run a 5K on the track. Chris and Luke played baseball while Natalie and I did 12 laps around the track for a total of 3 miles. I was feeling so good at the end that I did another 3 laps. By the time we got back to our house I had ran/ walked 4.3 miles. It felt GREAT to be able to do this again! It wasn't even my WORST time! The rest of the day, we all recovered and had a great relaxing day! 

Time for WORKOUT Saturday! 

4 miles... I feel GREAT!
(I don't look great... no make-up! Sorry, y'all! This quarantine has me being LAZY)

This was the hardest week YET. The kids were completely overwhelmed with the AMOUNT of work and many tears were shed. I held it together for a few weeks but my emotions were running high and I was feeling anxious! But as the week closed, we brought our eyes back to HIM and found our hope and relief. We will SURVIVE! 

But through it all, we know that GOD is still in CONTROL and HE IS STILL ON HIS THRONE! We will continue to look to HIM for answers and continue to pray for this situation and those it is effecting! 

Even in the midst of all of this... 

GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! 

Check out our COVID Adventures: 

The Prequel- December to Mid-March 2020

Week 1: March 15-21


Week 2: March 22-28