All of us were quarantined all week! So, Kevin stayed home and Savannah didn't work and none of the kids went to school. It was a four-day school week because of end-of-term, so that was a little easier. It was sunny, so everyone escaped for a walk now and then--or a run--or some tennis. But, there was a lot of school work, too!

I had Chey, Cali, and Bethany tested for COVID on Monday. Bethany tested positive, but the twins tested negative. We didn't find out results until Wednesday which was also when I got calls from school nurses. They told me that Beth and Ben could go back to school on the 19th, but since Cali and Chey hadn't been isolated from their younger siblings who tested positive, we'd have to keep waiting for symptoms and they'd have to quarantine until the 23rd. Erg! That was possibly the hardest information for the week. 

The twins find this whole thing incredibly unfair since its Beth and Ben who got the virus and they don't even wish they were at school and they get to go back before them! It's hard for the twins to miss school since their classes are harder, they miss their friends, they can't work their after-school jobs, or participate in tennis. Sigh. We did talk about some fun projects they could perhaps take on and they are working on printing photos for their rooms and painting some of the walls in their bedrooms! They perk up when they talk about those things. They are also sounding much-improved on the piano!

Benjamin's fever didn't come back after Friday night. He reported being a little dizzy and headachy through Monday but he seems to be back to full health. Ben enjoys school, but he enjoyed being home, too! His room is thoroughly cleaned and organized (this is something he enjoys doing--I didn't tell him to do it!). He's been playing Minecraft and Roblox, but also listening to Harry Potter, and also playing with Max. Max already had COVID so didn't have to quarantine from us!

Bethany never had a fever. She did have some symptoms the week before last, but seems to be well now. I did ask her to clean her room and it is looking better! Tryouts for the junior high play were last week, so I emailed the play director and asked if Bethany could tryout from home. I recorded Beth and sent it in. We found out Saturday that she gets to be in the play! The school is doing Seussical and she will be a jungle citizen. Practice starts Tuesday. She is excited!

Savannah has been the sickest of all of us and for the longest time. Poor kid! She has tested negative for COVID three times now and is planning on going back to work next week. Hopefully she will feel strong enough for it. She has been working on cleaning her room and has found things from years and years ago! We're working on her "just throw it away" skills. Ha ha! She also finished the metal model kit she got for Christmas!

Kevin had to cancel some big intensives in order to quarantine, but he has been working instead on creating content for his company's websites. He also continues to work on investments for us personally and gets really excited about those things. So that's been fun for him and good for us!

I'm home all the time whether I'm quarantined or not! But, it is different for me since I get less time to write when I'm helping people with things. I still got three chapters done this week, so I'm calling it a win. Plus, I got to spend more time with people I love!

Megan planned a "Virtual Skinner Camping Trip" for us on Saturday night! It was so fun! We all joined a Zoom meeting and Megan had us change our backgrounds to places where we wished we were camping. She made a Kahoot quiz about everyone in the family -- including questions about Mariah (Do you know what she named her favorite pen in highschool?) We laughed and got to know each other better! (How is that even possible?! We already know each other really well!) Then we watched Monsters, Inc together and Megan made a Spotify playlist of our favorite songs so we could listen to them "on our drive home." She's awesome! We had a really great time together in spite of frustrating quarantine times! Yay family! Love will always prevail. I'm glad our family loves each other.