Coronavirus and school in the spring time is a blur to me. I'm thankful Stella, Sophia, and I survived e-learning and the swift upending of school and life as we knew it. Messy Mommy/my sister-in-law, Holly and I have talked about how e-learning, school, and juggling work and life while everyone is having to stay home endlessly. Stella and Sophia's teacher, Mrs. Burt and her paraprofessional, Mrs. Morrissette did an outstanding job of moving quickly to e-learning, constant Zooming to keep the kids connected, and communicating with the parents. 

It was still all really hard, as Stella demonstrated in the above picture from this spring. After talking with my friends and seeing so many conversations on social media, and it didn't matter the age of your kids or the school, it was really hard for a lot of people. Some days it felt like a tidal wave. Stella definitely did not want her mom teaching her and plenty of screaming matches ensued. We didn't know how school work would be graded and I was trying to make sure she completed her assignments. While an open concept sounded beautiful when we built our home two years ago, it is a bit of a nightmare for e-learning and parents working from home. I luged school supplies to and from the kitchen table constantly and completed work piled up. Snacks and lunches were also hit or miss and often not healthy as we were trying to plow through school work. I could go on and on about the challenges but you probably have plenty of angst from your own spring e-learning. 

Holly is a former grade school principal and I'm a former high school teacher and our hearts are with teachers and administrators as they try to figure out safe options for students. We recognize how hard they worked this spring during an unimaginable time. We know they are trying to find ways to provide a meaningful, safe education for our kids this fall and are grateful for all that they are doing. We want the teachers and administrators to be safe as well.

Holly and I have had endless conversations on what could happen this fall. While our schools have announced that we are going back five days, we know it could change in a moment as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. School districts across the nation are changing plans constantly as the pandemic impacts different states.

While we survived this spring, we are determined to up our game for back to school this fall in whatever format school occurs. We want to provide a healthier - mentally and physically - and happier experience for our kids and families. So, get ready! We will be looking for tips, tricks, and hacks to help us all thrive this fall, even during a global pandemic.

First up, we created this check list to talk with our kids about what worked and what did not work in the spring with school and e-learning. Like I said, our schools have said we are going back but we know it could change in a blink. Now is the time to talk with your kids and get their input for the fall. We're looking to Stella, Sophia, and my niece, Eleanora for their thoughts and feelings as we start planning for a better back to school. We hope you will join us and will share your tips and ideas too. Together, we can make back to school better. 

I'm thrilled that Stella and Sophia will make their First Communion on Saturday at Holy Family! The girls were supposed to make their First Communion in May and then we were told it would probably be in the fall. Last week we found out it will be this Saturday. Thank goodness the girls' dresses still fit! 

The girls had a Zoom class today with their amazing 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Burt and Mrs. Morrissette to go over again what to do for First Communion. Each family will have our own pew and the First Communion students will be seated on the end of the pew. The priest will come to each pew and give communion to each student. As Mrs. Burt talked with the class about removing their masks for communion and then putting their masks back on, I was struck by how surreal the coronavirus era continues to be, especially with milestone events. Graduations, weddings, birthdays, the arrival of babies and so many other events are happening in different ways and the changes can tug at your heartstrings. Due to social distancing, the twins can each bring one other person so the grandmothers are coming with us. Sadly, the grandpas didn't make the cut. I can't help but feel a little forlorn over how I envisioned their First Communion. Over Christmas we had talked about First Communion with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. Like so many other families, we had looked forward to a special celebration with family and friends. I know so many people have had to change so many celebrations and find a different way to connect and celebrate. So, I'm trying to embrace different ways to celebrate too.

My amazing bestie and sister-in-law, Holly texted me a picture of cross cookies that she is wonderfully making for Stella and Sophia for their First Communion. Holly is making the girls her specialty naked cake too! As I looked at the cross cookies I thought about how faith is going to get us through these crazy times. Our plans may have changed and our events may look different but we will still be surrounded by God and love. On Saturday we'll take lots of pictures and I'm sure they will be tons of FaceTime with our family and friends. I'm so proud of Stella and Sophia and am so happy that they will make their First Communion on Saturday. While we may be wearing masks and social distancing, I know the church will be filled with faith and love. 

May God bless Stella and Sophia and their classmates at Holy Family on Saturday.

xoxo, Meg

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, you may be like us - trying to find ways to stay connected with your family and friends during the stay at home orders. From work sessions to e-learning with the kids to happy hours with friends to family chats, Zoom is where millions of us are heading to stay connected. Thanks to Uncle John and Aunt Missy who live in Iowa, we are having Sunday late afternoon weekly family sessions. Most of our family lives in Illinois while our niece, Molly is logging in from Dallas and our nephew Alex is joining from San Diego. We've had several happy hours and played trivia games on Zoom together and it has been a great way to help us stay connected. After the fun trivia game session we tossed around ideas for our next Zoom and my sister-in-law, Liz suggested a cake contest. We all thought this sounded like a delicious idea!

Since my other sister-in-law, Holly is the author of the amazing Together cookbook, we all quickly decided Holly would be the judge. We all had to make a cake for this past Sunday's Zoom call. ​We all joined the call with out cakes out of the camera. Judge Holly called on various family members to show off their cake. Each baker had to share the "name" of the cake, the kind of cake and why they chose to make that specific cake. It was such a fun Zoom call!

Holly started with my sister-in-law, Liz. She made my grandmother's carrot cake which we all love and is my brother Sergie's favorite cake. Liz shared that they called it the "Lottie" cake because my grandmother had written her sister, Lottie's name on the top of the recipe with V.G. for very good. We love this cake and Liz was so sweet as she talked about how special it was to bake while reading my grandmother's handing writing. It was very neat for my children and my nephew and nieces to also see their great grandmother's writing on the recipe. Liz's tip is to double the delicious cream cheese frosting!

Judge Holly moved around the Zoom boxes calling on family members. My mom made her classic and family favorite Crazy Cake. We love this chocolate cake and it is so heavy!




​Missy made a beautiful daisy cake which my brother-in-law John had never had! Missy even decorated the cake with fresh flowers and they coordinated their outfits with the cake. 

My niece, Molly made a scrumptious lemon blueberry cake and you can find this incredible recipe in Together too! Molly clearly won for presentation when her boyfriend, Matt made a surprise guest appearance on our Zoom call and showed off the impressive lemon blueberry cake!

My niece, Eleanora had a show stopper three-layer rainbow cake with delightful sprinkles covering the cake! We all loved seeing the swirling rainbow colors in her cake! So creative! 

We can always count on my nephew, Alex to crack us up and he sure did not disappoint. Alex showed off two pancakes for his cake submission! His girlfriend, Erin is a good sport! 

On our Zoom calls we have often talked about things we are looking forward to doing when it is safe and things open back up. My sweet twins, Stella and Sophia always talk about how they cannot wait to go my mom and dad's lake house with all of our family. What they are the most excited about is having everyone bring their dogs to the lake. We've gone from two dogs in the family to suddenly having six dogs in the family which is big fun. The girls and I decided to make a cake that would have Nana and Papa's lake and beach on it. We ready their Barbie toys and found dogs to represent all the dogs in the family and put them on the cake. It was so funny and awesome! Stella loved explaining our cake!

This coming Sunday we will found out the cake winners! If you are looking for your next theme for your Zoom gathering with family and friends you should do a cake theme! It will be a piece of cake! And, you'll create some special memories with your family and friends!

We loved all our cakes and spending time together as a family. We're sharing all the cake recipes in the Recipes blog tab. Check them out and get baking! Order Holly's awesome Together cookbook too!

Stay safe and stay connected with your family and friends. Thanks for reading! 
​

The NFL Draft was a few days after I posted about making my 200th mask. The NFL had an awesome opening about hope and I decided that I should sew Chicago Bears masks will watching the NFL Draft. It was a fun way for me to cheer on our beloved Chicago Bears and I decided to tweet a picture of me sewing and the draft.

I kept sewing and a few minutes later my fabulous friend Jayme texted me that the Chicago Bears had retweeted my tweet! I was so excited, it was so cool! 

Today I made my 200th mask. I'm part of a group of sewers in our neighborhood and together we've made more than 2,700 masks for doctors, nurses, policemen, firefighters, nursing homes, hospice, EMS, and so many others. It is still surreal that I am making masks for people on the front lines of the coronavirus. When Tony and I moved a year and half ago we discussed if I should move my sewing machine. I've had it for years but hadn't touched it in a very long time. I remember telling Tony that I wanted to keep it because I might want to sew again in our new house. Little did I know how much that sewing machine and those grade school sewing lessons would help.

My mom, Bev Murer and my mother-in-law, Lois Tortorello set me up with my initial fabric and sewing materials and away I went. Sophia and Stella have helped me trace the mask patterns and I've set up my sewing shop at our kitchen table. My twins love Build-A-Bears and one of my favorite parts about the BAB process is when the girls kiss the hearts and put them inside the bear with their love. As I sew I keep thinking about that moment and how I am putting love and wishes for bravery and safety into each mask

While making masks I've been inspired by all the helpers in my small group as well as around the globe. An incredible woman in our neighborhood, Lois Nelson is leading our sewing tribe and you can read more about our masks and awesome team in this recent Patch article. This amazing couple, Heather and Tom Krusinski will pick up masks from my front porch and drop them off at Lois's house. Tom and Lois even brought puppy treats to Rocky and they have a fantastic dog care business. We have others who are donating fabric and elastic like the awesome Cheryl and Katrina. Shout out to my fantastic high school Dairy Queen friend Jean Pilon Chudy and the fabulous Tanya Rand for helping me with elastic! And, others are delivering the finished masks all around our community. It is such a great team effort and I'm in awe of the my fellow sewers, they are so talented! We've been able to see some pictures of people wearing our masks and it makes me catch my breath. It is surreal to be sewing at my kitchen table and see a nurse wearing a mask I made hours later. I wish I could do more.

I also need to give a huge shout out to JOANN! JOANN has a fantastic web page dedicated to helping people make masks for people on the front lines of coronavirus. They share patterns, tips, and how-to information. JOANN has so many great fabrics and it was so easy to order on line and ship the fabric and thread to my house. Huge thanks to my mom and messy mommy Holly for sending me fabric too from JOANN!

As I scroll through social media and watch the news, I'm in awe of the incredible ways so many people are being helpers during the coronavirus pandemic. From ordering meals from local restaurants for people working at the hospitals and on the front lines, to supporting food banks, to helping with e-learning, to chalk drawings in the neighborhoods, to making videos to make people laugh, we are seeing the best in people. No matter how you are helping, every act is making a difference. Thank you for helping. Stay home. Stay safe. 
​xoxo, Meg

During this time of "shelter-in-place," we are trying to make the best of our days! Matt has set up his office in our dining room and Eleanora does her school work at the kitchen counter and I have all of a sudden become the lunch lady (minus the hairnet)! We are keeping up on the latest news of the coronavirus but have also tried to find other news stories to inspire and humor us. I ran across this story sharing some of the funny things people are encountering while working from home! https://www.fastcompany.com/90478967/farts-cats-naked-bodies-people-are-failing-hilariously-at-working-from-home.  So it seems no one wants to get caught naked on a video conference, however, we think you may want to eat a Naked Cake!

Eleanora is home for eLearning for the next several weeks and is doing a great job with this new school experience.  On a couple of occasions, she has found herself finishing school work early and looking for other things to do to keep busy. Her most recent distraction is scouring Pinterest for ideas to celebrate her upcoming 13th birthday! She started pinning beautiful cakes called Naked Cakes and asked if I would try making one. Well, I take my job as lunch lady seriously so got right to work. While I didn't have items on hand to decorate the cake as some shown on Pinterest, I did have the ingredients to mix up this delicious three layer cake. If you make it and decorate it, please share your pictures - we would love to see them!

​

and sprinkle it with dew???  Hey readers, we think it's Terese McDonald of Candyality! Join us in helping Candyality get recognized by the Byline Banks small business marketing contest. Candyality has the opportunity to win one of 3 prizes up to $10,000. I know we are all working on social distancing and can not make our way out to local businesses during this unprecedented time during the Covid-19 pandemic, but so many local businesses (along with all of us!) are being impacted by this pandemic. Your vote for Candyality could make a world of difference in making sure everyone's sweet tooth is satisfied. 

Place your vote daily starting today until the end of contest, April 3rd. Visit Paystobanklocal.com. Scroll down to @candyality, vote, then hit "submit" at the bottom of page. You can do this everyday until the end of the contest! Be sweet and be well!

Checkout our post from December to learn about Candyality's Candy Charcuterie!
https://www.weebly.com/editor/main.php#/

We are early into the #StoptheSpread #FlattentheCurve #coronavirus staying at home phase. This weekend we discovered the amazing Jordan Matter YouTube videos and binged many videos of incredible dancers, contortionists, and gymnasts. Jordan often asks his performers to "do something interesting" and they do such cool poses. After watching another Jordan Matter video, I said to Stella and Sophia "do something interesting" and this picture is what they came up with all on their own! I was so impressed. The creativity and talent of kids is amazing!

Late night this weekend I was also scrolling through Instagram and saw an awesome post by the highly talented and inspiring Jennifer Garner. See below!

I love this! Like Jennifer, we know so many kids, parents, and friends that have been working on huge goals. From Eleanora's dance competition to Lilia's swim meets to Stella and Sophia's soccer games, kids across the country are having to be resilient and find different ways to show off their talents. After Stella and Sophia did their "do something interesting" picture we called their cousin, Eleanora and asked her to do a dance picture which is below. While Eleanora's dance competition was cancelled, her love of dance cannot be cancelled! We love this picture of Eleanora and her sweet dog, Ginger.

Thanks, Jennifer for encouraging everyone and for wanting to see the amazing talent of all ages. The show must go on! You sure helped the show go on! Search the hashtag #heyjenlookatme and you will immediately smile at the beautiful art work, amazing solos, Irish dancing, family talent gatherings, songs and dances from Footloose, Chicago, Matilda, Hairspray and so many more musicals, sporting shots, and other incredible feats. With so much anxiety in the world, this simple hashtag is showcasing that the sun will come out tomorrow.

We hope you will share your talents and do something interesting. Help spread some joy and share the incredible talents of your family and friends with the heartwarming, incredibly talented Jennifer Garner by using the hashtag #heyjenlookatme ​We'll be looking for your posts! Stay home and wash your hands.

​Day 4 of Christmas fun is brought to you by a great group of moms (and dads) working to organize the 2019 Advent Market at Saint Clement School on Sunday, December 8th from 9am to 12:30pm! The Saint Clement School and Parish are a wonderful community hosting this event to bring family and friends together to celebrate the Christmas season. Come and join the fun - all are welcome! Not only is this an opportunity to meet Saint Clement parishioners and families, several local artists and retailers will be at the market on Sunday selling great items that may be the perfect gift for someone on your Christmas list! You can even take care of your holiday decorating needs and buy Christmas greenery and flowers (even your tree!). Kids will have a great time jumping in the bouncy houses, making crafts, and visiting Santa for a photo. And so you don’t get hangry while having all this fun, there will be light breakfast items for sale and a bake sale.  Hope to see you on Sunday!