A Day in Our Quarantined Life - Alpharetta Family Photographer

April 30, 2020

When I planned on doing a Day in our Quarantined Life project, it dawned on me that we have been home for seven weeks. Seven weeks. That's really hard to believe. But we are doing good, we almost enjoy it...most of the time. It didn't start out that way. The home school stuff was hard. The system the school uses can be confusing, it would crash, there were a lots of emails flying around as well as fustration and tears from the kids. God bless our teachers though. They have been patient and creative in a situation no one could have planned for.

I've cried alone in my car over my business. Over the past few years, I have grown my business slowly and all of a sudden it came to a screeching hault. My daughter has cried over missing gymnastics meets. My son has wondered what his friends are doing. We've worried that my husband would lose his job. You know when I write it all out, it seems daunting and petty all at the same time. We are blessed for our good health but still mourn the things we have lost or can't do. We are allowed to do that right?

Even though this time has been hard and scary, I want to remember it. There was nothing special about this day. Just us at home, like every other day for the past seven weeks. Still its worth remembering because when I sort out all I am feeling, I wanna remember how we filled these unprecedented days at home together.

So here goes...a day in our quarantined life.

My youngest is generally the first one up after me. We usually share a cuddle on the couch with our pooch before the rest of the family wakes. mom snuggled on the couch with her daughter early in the morning

dog and a girl laying on a couch, looking at her ipad dog and girl laying on a couch tween boy yawning after just getting up boy looking out the window of his room after just getting up

My big kids have really been enjoying the opportunity to sleep in. I feel like with all this extra sleep we are bound to see some major growth spurts. (Below) My girl was none too happy when I woke her to join a 8:30am class call.
little girl just waking up from her bed at 8:11 am girl sitting on a large bed looking at her ipad

School work happens all around our house...in bed, over breakfast, at a desk or in a corner on the floor. Its probably one of their favorite parts of quarantine school work. teen boy doing his school work on a computer at home during quarantine little girl listening to her teach talk during a lesson on a Ipad boy and his sister sitting at a table having breakfast and looking at the ipad by monica carlson boy petting his dog while sitting at the table for breakfast dog licking its chops while a boy eat breakfast brown dog sits patiently while boy gets ready to feed girl does her quarantine school work on a ipad while in her pajamas girl looking at computer doing her quarantined school work mother and daughter reading in a child's bedroom

While the kids do their school work, I usually dig into whatever cleaning needs to be done around the house. With five people home, ALL THE TIME, there is a lot of cleaning to do. Luckily I have been able to get the kids to pitch in. messy sink full of dishes from above

My husbands office:-) I really wanted to get a photo of him sitting in our closet, on a conference call while balancing his laptop on the clothes hamper but then I thought I better not! man doing his work during quarantine from home in his slippers and sitting in small love seat

My oldest might get sucked into the TV screen like in Jumanji. He and his friend talk to each other on Face Time while playing Fortnight online. boy wearing a headset and sitting on a exercise ball while looking at his friend on his ipad boy playing video game while his friend is on his ipad via facetime

My husband has started doing yoga with me. I could not be prouder. We have a great time and he really enjoys it and has improved his flexibility. husband and wife doing a down dog together while quarantined by monica carlson

Lots of crafting going on with my girls. We ordered this little sewing kit that makes felt donuts. The girls donut (ha) how to sew at all. It's been frustrating at times but on this day my girl managed to finish her first one. pair of childs hand working on a craft by monica carlson little girl proudly showing off her felt donuts craft

Chores are a must! Each kid must do at least one a day. We've also tackled big projects like purging toys.

boy vacuuming his room during quarantine chores little girl cleaning windows as a chore The kids all have sports activities that they are involved in & that have been giving them exercises to do at home. My big girl joins her gymnastics team on Zoom call multiple times a week. She has turned our living room into a makeshift gym. girl doing a gymnastics zoom workout during the quarantine little girl on her tippy toes on a gymnastics mat girl laying on her stomach on a gymnastics mat while kicking her leg above her head behind her girl leaping over a couch during a quarantined gymnastics practice girl doing a straddle jump during her home quarantined gymnastics practice

You know who really likes being quarantined? My dog! She get nice, long daily walks and LOVES IT! BTW my 8 year old took this photo with my DSLR! Photographer in training! husband and wife taking their dog for a walk during quaratine

Her favorite pass time? Playing Barbies girl making a funny face while playing barbie

Finishing off our patio is a big project my husband completed in quarantine. He installed screens, a door, pressure cleaned, painted and installed a fan! We love the finish project so much. Almost every night around 530 pm we sit out there and enjoy the evening. boy and father sharing a funny moment on a home patio husband and wife sharing a kiss on a patio over a glass of wine and beer

Not going to lie, my kids spend a lot of time on their devices and video games. Honestly I don't have it in me to fight them much at this point in the quarantine journey. I do get them out most evenings to play outside and do something fun together. boy and girl having a sack race by monica carlson photography teen boy and his little sister having a back yard sack race little girl laughing hysterically while having a sack race in her back yard during a quarantined girl and brother laughing together after a sack race profile of a girl after a back yard sack race by monica carlson

This girl has developed a serious desire to play soccer during this time at home. I really love it and wanted to document it. Who knows where soccer might take her and we can say it all started while we were stuck at home. little girl looking tough in front of soccer net

Dinners pre-quarantine felt rushed and like such a chore. I always felt like the meal needed to be cooked fast and be easy to prepare. We would have never barbecued mid week because we were always running around with the kids. Something we have really enjoyed about our new normal, is creating new meals and introducing the kids to new foods. man cooking dinner on a grill

And there is lots of stuff like this happening. The kids are handling our new normal so well. They really miss their friends and activities but they have made the best of it. older sister sitting on her younger sister, both girls are laughing by monica carlson