How The Olson Four Quarantine

It's funny how time loses meaning when a global pandemic hits. My apologies, dear readers, for the painfully long gap since my last post. I intend to be more mindful of our day-to-day lives and up my documentation game!

Never in all of our days did we expect to wear masks when we leave the house, have the kids do remote school for over 3 months, swap out social interactions for video calls/events, and find the grocery stores so low on everyday supplies (hello, flour and toilet paper!). Life has definitely changed, but we really can't complain. We are all healthy and in good spirits. The kids miss seeing their friends in non-virtual ways, but at least they have the technology available to see each other and catch up.

Speaking of catching up... here's a quick summary of how we've spent much of the 2020 pandemic.

Shortly after the quarantine/stay-at-home orders went into effect, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. We sported our newly-made Irish themed t-shirts to show our Irish pride!

Irish girl

Got green??

Speaking of all things Irish, one shift that was made during the pandemic is Annika's Irish dance class switched from in-person lessons to live video lessons. Her teachers, once again, proved how amazing they are and quickly adapted how they approach dance lessons so the students didn't miss a beat... no pun intended! (OK, maybe a little pun intended!) It has been a real treat to watch (and listen to) Annika's lessons. She is always so happy when she is wearing ghillies and is jigging this way and that!

Annika during a remote dance class

Mask-making has been another major focus around our home. We don't go out often, but when we do, we need masks. We need multiple masks per person to account for washing them after each use and me not wind up doing mask laundry every day. I've also made masks for people we know who don't sew or just because I wanted to! :)

Conor sporting one of his masks

She has her big eyes!

Mask up!

Arg, me matey!

Needless to say, I've continued to make my little heart out, but without having co-workers to feed each Thursday (I've been working from home 100% since the 1st week in March), I haven't had as many people to feed baked goods to.  That said, I remain dedicated to my baking efforts, just a bit more scaled back from pre-pandemic. I have been asked to make a few specialty items along the way, too, including wedding-themed cookies for an virtual bridal shower, a toilet paper cake for the kids' school auction (also virtual), and I taught a (virtual ... noticing a theme??) cookie decorating class for work.

Challah... future French toast

Decorated cookies for the remote class I taught "at" work

TP cake for the CKS auction

Made this for 3/14 ... PIE DAY

For my co-worker's daughter's virtual bridal shower

Strawberry/rhubarb pie (my quest to make a non-liquidy pie)

Can't beat warm bread!

Sorry, Huck. No cookies for you!

For a family friend's b-day

Sourdough bagels because ... well, why not???

Speaking of food, a local culinary school has shifted from in-person classes to virtual classes. Right before the quarantine, my sister and I took a roasted chicken class (in person!) which was a lot of fun and we learned so much! During the quarantine, Conor and I took a virtual class that taught us how to make gyozas and a very yummy dipping sauce. I also took a Baja fish taco class that has changed our culinary lives.

Conor following along with our online instructor

Beyond good gyozas!

I mentioned before that the kids spent the last 3+ months of the school year learning from home. Eric and I cannot give their school enough props and praise for how they handled this whole situation. They simply did not miss a beat! The school had a planned teacher in-service day in early March. They shifted it to a two-day in-service day so the teachers could learn how to teach remotely. The following Monday, boom!, the kids were online and learning from home.

Annika's 3-D cell model
(made of reusable/recyclable/compostable materials only)

Example of Conor's music homework

PE time!

Annika's Missionary Discipleship class
continued to think of others and spread positivity

Conor's robot Art homework

Example of Conor's art homework

Annika's botanical self portrait for Art class

Each Friday had its own theme for school. This was the magic-themed day.

Last day of school - they did it!!!

No one could have guessed how this
school year would evolve, that's for sure!

We have also found random things to keep us busy/occupied/not climbing the walls, including lots of puzzles/games, knitting, random art projects, playing virtual reality games, musical interludes, and taking a few moments now and then to sit in the sun and enjoy a moment of quiet.

Eric playing VR

Our window art gallery

Annika's Eiffel Tower puzzle

 

Our little knitters

Annika and Huck enjoying the hammock

We hope you are doing well, staying healthy, washing your hands, and wearing a mask! We miss seeing our loved ones in person and hope we can reconnect with you soon!

Baby Shower and Bridal Cookies

There is something really special for me when I get to make cookies for a major life event. Cookies are great, but when they are for something like a milestone birthday, bridal shower, wedding, graduation, baby shower, etc., there's just an added "oompf" to them for me.

Last week, I made cookies for my co-worker's daughter's baby shower. I'm sure you can tell from the photos below, they are expecting a little girl. The really neat thing about this for me (because it is ALL about ME! Ha!!) is I also made her bridal shower cookies before she got married 2 years ago. 

The platter included cookies shaped like bibs, onesies, bottles, and baby carriages. This was the first time I used the carriage cookie cutter and I think it added a nice variety to the overall appeal of the final platter. 

From what I hear, the shower was a hit and everyone had a good time. 

As if cookies for one life event wasn't enough, Eric has four (yes FOUR) co-workers who are all going to be brides this summer. Holy wedding season, Batman!!! To celebrate the upcoming weddings, Eric's office had an after-hours happy hour to raise a glass to the brides-to-be. Because I was already making cookies, why not throw in a few bridal gowns in with the onesies and carriages??

The beauty of bridal gown cookies is there is typically no need to mix color into my royal icing! I did add some pink embellishments on a few of the dresses, simply because I already had the pink from the baby cookies. Talk about the stars lining up!! Eric divvied up the cookies (two per bride), put them in corsage bags, and tied each bag with ribbon. Edible and pretty. Win-win! :)  

 

Annika and The Scottish Play

Yesterday, Annika's class performed a student version of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The work they put into their performances was incredibly evident, as was the pure joy they experienced while performing. (Ahhh.... the next generation of theater lovers!)

Not only did the kids perform, they also had backstage jobs, including directing, sound/lighting, props, etc. Way to multi-task, 5th grade!!

Annika portrayed the roles of Lady Macbeth's assistant, a soldier, Lennox, and the person who held the pillow during Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's crowning ceremony. The kids got their parts and scripts over a month ago, and Annika was diligent about learning her lines and building her performance skills. We also learned that she can die onstage with the best of them! As Lennox, she participated in Macbeth's last stand battle and was offed by a rival sword.

Leading up to the play, Annika would shudder every time we made a Macbeth reference. Per theater lore/superstition, you aren't supposed to say "Macbeth" inside a theater unless you are in the play and referring to the character. Annika took it one step miles further by deciding no one should EVER say it and would curse us all if we said Macbeth in her presence. Of course, that just encouraged Eric and me to say it whenever possible. (Hey, if you can't torment your kids now and then, what's the fun of having kids???)

Auntie Suzanne and I had front row seats for the performance, so were close-ish to all of the action and (gratefully), close enough to hear most of the kids' lines. (That voice projection skill needed for live theater sometimes takes awhile to master!) The production took great advantage of the school's new lighting system... the purple lights used for the witches' scenes was really neat ... and was even more impressive with the use of a fog machine. (Yup, WAAAAY higher production quality than our old St. Charles school plays .... 'nuf said! Although, there was a great lack of over-done blue eye shadow that would have been funnily nostalgic ... if only!)

After the performance (mind you, this was performed for almost the entire school.... the little kids didn't attend due to the performance's length, but there was still a sizable crowd), the 5th graders sat on the stage, introduced themselves, and explained their roles and jobs. They took a few questions from the audience (including Conor's classmate Sophia whose "question" was, "When I'm in 5th grade and in the play, I want to a part that gets to have a sword."), and conducted themselves with great maturity and thoughtfulness. 

Court soldier

Sword-wielding soldier 

Crowning Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth's assistant

Video of Annika's death scene

After the kids' performance, they had a small reception in their classroom for the performers and their guests. Annika's teacher asked if I'd make Macbeth-themed cookies for the reception... ummmm.... YES!!!! It was a lot of fun to break out of my more "usual" cookie designs. I can now add "blood splatters" to my cookie decorating resume.  

Kudos to the students and their amazing teacher, Ms. Adler, for an enjoyable, impressive, and overall well-done production of "the Scottish play". 

(Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth!!!!!)

Annika's Amazing Croissants

For quite a few weeks, Annika has talked about wanting to make croissants. I cannot lie ... I basically LOVE the fact she wanted to take on croissants. 

The issue ... ok, not issue, exactly .... the important thing to keep in mind is croissants are not a quick baking project. It isn't like the "Hey, Mom? Can we make cookies?" type of request that we can basically do at the drop of a hat. Laminated dough takes time. The ingredients have to be assembled, the dough has to rise, and then it has to be rolled, folded, rolled, folded, rolled, folded, chilled for 30 minutes (and repeat two more times). Typically, I like to make croissants over the course of a weekend; the dough is made, rises, and has its three rounds of rolling/folding on day 1. It spends the night in its plastic wrap sleeping bag in the fridge, and then day 2 is when we cut/shape the croissants, let them rise in their sauna, and then we bake them. 

Annika did a fantastic job! She was careful with her measurements and paying attention to the details. She listened well as I explained why certain things are done. As she beat the butter in the mixer, she proved (once again) that she's my girl by exclaiming how much she loves the smell of butter.

Annika adding the dry ingredients to the mixer

I'd like to throw out a huge bit of praise for Annika. She has been out of her cast for a smidge over a week, and was already battling dough with a rolling pin. That's not an easy task with two fully-functioning arms, and there she was persevering (Eric!!!) with one arm that wasn't quite up for that sort of task yet. Yes, I did help roll out the dough when she needed some assistance, but even that impressed me... she was willing to recognize when a helping hand was in order. (That's something I still struggle with. "I do it b'self!")

Rollin', rollin', just keep rollin'

After our third round of rolling and folding, we wrapped up the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the night. Side note: I am SOOO glad I checked on the dough before I went to bed because it had enough carry-over heat that it continued to grow and it was HUUUUUGE! I knocked down the dough (TAKE THAT, dough) and put it back in the fridge ... with an extra layer of plastic around it just in case.

Sunday morning was rolling, cutting, shaping rising, baking, and (most importantly) EATING day!!!

We pulled out my marble slab (thank you to Eric's brother and sister-in-law for the heaviest-ever Christmas present!!), rolling pin, and croissant cutter (a special thanks to my brother and his co-worker for getting that amazing toy for me... still love it after all of these years!) and we got to work. After we rolled out the dough, I showed Annika how to use the croissant cutter, how to shape the rolls, and how we use a Hefty bag and bowl of hot water to create a croissant sauna.

Shaping the croissants

Annika and her croissant cutter super hero mask

Before long, the first batch of rolls was out of the oven (and that's when I realized we neglected to  put the egg wash on them ... whoops!) so I quickly brushed them with egg wash, popped 'em back in the oven and browned 'em up a bit more. Adapting is part of the baking game, people! :)

First batch out of the oven waiting for its forgotten egg wash

Annika with one of her finished croissants. SOOO yummy!!! 

Look at those flaky culinary masterpieces. Way to go, Annika!

Making something like croissants take a lot of patience and precision. Annika really showed how she's maturing by taking on a project like this. Sure, I had to encourage her to stick with it during the less exciting times here and there, but she really did a great job with this project. Very proud of our girl .... now I need to go ride our stationary bike 350,000 hours to work off the insane amount of croissant-shaped calories I've ingested since yesterday. 

RITUS 2019 Cookies

Each year at our kids' school, the 8th grade participates in a ritual called RITUS. (It used to be called Potlatch, but apparently a Catholic school using a Native American word ruffled some feathers outside of the school community ... hence the renaming.)

The 8th graders work for months to prepare for this ceremony, which in many ways provides them with the avenues to explore who they want to become as they evolve into adults. They learn how to drum, memorize poetry and prose, learn songs, make masks that represent their inner selves, and more. They talk about shared memories from each year at the school ... often evoking tears and laughter from all involved. It is a moving experience to watch; I promise you that I'll be a puddle on the ground when our kids are 8th graders and participate in their own RITUS ceremonies.

For the past 5 (I think) years, I've made personalized cookies for the 8th graders. They are supposed to be a surprise for the kids, but Annika informed me (in no uncertain terms) that "Mom... EVERYONE knows about the cookies. It is NOT a surprise. At. All." Well, then.... OK.

In years past, I was asked to make cookies that showed the animal totem each student chose. Let me tell you, that was no small task. Last year, with the renaming of the ceremony, the approach to the cookies changed and I was asked to make crosses for the kids instead. WAY easier. This year, I did a blue/green filigree pattern with their names (21 in all) decorated with gold luster dust. In all honesty, I didn't put much thought into the specifics of the actual design until right before I needed to do it, and would have chosen to do the filigree in silver, but didn't have any silver luster dust. Hence, green/blue filigree.

They sort of ended up with an old-world feel to me, and I like that. Happy? Yeah, I'm happy. I was THRILLED when I delivered them to the school and didn't break any en route. (It's the small things sometimes!)