Butter's Blog Takeover

Hello subjects, this is Princess Buttercup. You can call me Butter. My life has changed a lot with all of this Covid-19 stuff. I've gotten a job, and let me just say, I am so essential. Every day at 7:45 am Dad says, "C'mon Butter, let's go to work." Then we load up in the Jeep, and drive to our other house. I then provide a detailed briefing to senior bank staff. Eventually, Dad remembers to feed me breakfast during our morning work. My day is grueling, and takes a lot of poise and self control to have to sit and chew my squeaky hedgehog toy. All. Day. Long. Well, I nap some too. I also have to make sure to snore super loud, so that my staff knows I'm still on the video calls. The best meetings are on Webex. I am totally Webex famous. I have to smile at the camera while everybody tells me how pretty I am. Sometimes I decide to chew the toy on. Dad's. Leg. Which is the highlight of my day. Occasionally I get to take a break, and Momma and the girls come over and play ping pong with me. I still have to babysit Noodle when they come over for my breaks though. After a long, hard day at work making major Ducats, Dad and I go home with dinner waiting for us. Then we go to bed, and the next morning we do it all
again. It's a tough job for a bulldog princess, but I do enjoy being essential to Dad's work day.
Signed,
Your Leader
Butter

Passing the time

Lubbock on today.

It's actually a decent day here in Iowa. Mid sixties and sunny- down side is the 20 mph wind. The puppers are enjoying some time sunning on the porch, so I'll do the same as I post this.

It's a Monday- this I know because Dallas is working and did not yesterday. I may or may not be aware of when Wednesday and Thursday roll around. 

We'll be tweaking our routine a little this week. Our schools here have decided to close for the rest of the year and we are now under voluntary learning. We haven't heard yet if the grades will be simply pass/fail or if there will be actual letter grades. It's frustrating all around. The girls log onto zoom for a small period each class a few days a week. Some calls go better than others. They miss friends and teachers and you can hear how disappointed the teachers are as well.

For me, I have finally gotten my workouts up and running. I still miss my "gym therapy" with my friends, but at least I'm staying in shape. The pop tarts are  not helping but, whatever. Juneau has even started working out with me.

After our workout today we walked Noodle and Cupcake- shorter than normal, it was WINDY ! But we plan to go back out this evening and let Flapjack go too. Tired puppies are good puppies!

The girls have gone for a socially distant lunch with friends. They're bringing their own food and sitting far apart while still hanging out. They facetime their friends a lot, too. It makes me so happy to hear them laughing and being silly.

Aside from my workout and the general house maintenance that has not changed during our coronacation, I spend my time sewing masks for friends and family (let me know if you want some) and making cards. I send out several a week , and I think my next big batch will go to a local nursing home.

We've been playing a lot of games. Video games, board games, card games, random made up games. The kids are enjoying easter egg hunts, actually microbe hunts. Have you seen those? You can check out giantmicrobes.com. Anyway, we have a set of good (antibody, white cell, red cell, plasma and platelet) and a bad set (small pox, typhoid, black death, cholera and Spanish flu) that we hid around the house and then hunt for. Sometimes whoever wins gets to pick lunch that day, sometimes its just bragging rights. either way, it passes the time.

On that note- think I'll go hide them - the girls should be getting home soon. Then more walkies, dinner and games. Not a bad way to pass the time.

Iowa Weather is Broken... Again

Hello all! Another update from central Iowa: the weather is broken. Yes, again. This morning, we woke up to a lawn full of snow, frozen trees and bushes, and continuing flurries for a few hours. Last week however, it hit 81 degrees! Having past the date for the beginning of spring, Iowa has clearly not gotten the message to make it consistently warm, as opposed to teasing us with one nice day and then going back to it's wintery ways. Although frigid, the weather did yield some pretty pictures.

On a more "what we've done recently" note, I've been doing a lot of homework, with the help of my favorite hero Flapjack. He's particularly helpful during AP Physics, and has learned a lot in the past few days by napping in my lap while I do some exam prep. He's also been teaching Noodle how to play tug with him, and Noodle doesn't quite have the hang of it yet which leads to some adorable video moments.

Lubbock has been doing a lot of card-making and mask sewing. Leave a comment or email one of us if you would like some masks, we are happy to send them to you! The same goes for cards, we really love to send the people we care about things to remind them that we are thinking of them, without necessarily having to text all the time. It's about the love that goes into making people things!

Anyway, hope all of you are still doing well! Stay safe!
Until next time,
Maui

Noodle's First Post

Hello! I am Noodle.














My nose is long and thin.
My nose is needly.
It's a needle Noodle nose.














My nose gets me in trouble.
I'm a naughty needle-nosed Noodle.

















The older dogs get annoyed when I'm naughty.
I'm a nuisance Noodle.














But sometimes, I like to be good.
I nap, and nest, and nuzzle.
I'm a napping, nestling, nuzzling Noodle.












I like to chew on my bully stick on car rides.
It gets pretty gross.
I'm a nasty Noodle.














Basically, I'm a nesting, nuzzling, napping, nasty nuisance, needle-nosed naughty Noodle.

Fun Times

Hello again! It has been a few days again, and our little family has kept busy. Lubbock's birthday went well, we've been on lots of dog walkings, and many more crafts have been made. Instead of telling all of these stories, I've decided to just post some pictures.


First up: sidewalk chalk time

 Maui's sunset heart

 Lubbock's chalk bear, for the teddy bear hunts going on

Lubbock is calling this "Coronacation 2020"

Juneau's rainbow











Next up: some cute puppy pics

 Fat Boy and Long Dog hanging out after figuring out how to defeat corona, and how dogs benefit from not. (story about our canine heroes in the previous post)

Everyone but Cupcake out for a walk! They were so hyper. Cupcake had already had a big walk with Noodle, but Noodle never gets too tired to walk.

Flapjack and Long Dog Battle the Corona Aliens

Once upon a time, there was a Fat Boy (that's me, Flapjack) and a Long Dog (that's Noodle). The Fat Boy and the Long Dog lived with their family happily all the time. BUT one day, the aliens came. The aliens are from planet COVID, and they were called the Coronas. And all the families were super scared of the Coronas, and they thought that toilet paper would protect them. But the Fat Boy and the Long Dog knew they had to help their humans. So they went scientifically in search of something to battle them with. After lots of thonking (mostly done by Fat Boy), they found that to get rid of the Coronas, you cover them in blalala (peanut butter) and then lick it off. So, Fat Boy and Long Dog readied themselves with lots of blalala (and even ate some themselves) to go fight the Coronas. But then, they met a Corona. And instead of killing it with blalala, they talked to it, and learned a mysterious secret. If the Coronas were allowed to stay on Earth, the dogs would get to keep their humans at home! This made Fat Boy and Long Dog very happy, because they wanted to snuggle their humans instead of fighting the war. So that Fat Boy and Long Dog gathered their weapon, and went home to give their family extra snuggles so they wouldn't be so sad about being home. And if the rest of the humans stay home to snuggle dogs, and pet cats, and keep gold fish, then the Corona will go away. 
THE END

(Written by a human, but from the bulldog's point of view. He thinks he's a super hero, and that the basset hound is his sidekick. Hope you enjoyed his story!)

April Already!

Hello all! Man, it has been a while since anyone has written on here! Can't believe time moves so quick in social isolation, and that it's already April! School closure for us has been extended, with a preliminary date of going back on May 1. Our family continues to keep busy. I've been working on some optional school work and required AP classes, our whole family goes on dog walks everyday, and today we broke out the sidewalk chalk. Lubbock wrote "Coronacation 2020" at the end of our driveway. Oh, and we finished our lego castle a few days ago! We've also taken to eating a lot of takeout food (while of course practicing appropriate social distancing!) as all restaurants are now on delivery or carry out options. Dallas has been calling this "the corona 15," obviously after the famous "freshman 15."
In other news, Lubbock's birthday is coming up on Wednesday. Juneau ordered The Rock's favorite tequila so that she and Dallas could make her one of The Rock's famous Hawaiian margarita. Lubbock ordered all of her own presents so that she knew she'd get what she wants, but the rest of the family pitched in to give her a gift from the heart. I don't want to spoil it though in case she reads this, but stay tuned and I'll try to post it on here on Wednesday.
Hope everyone is having a good time off! And a special thank you to all essential and front line workers, we are grateful for you every day.
That's all for now, until next time!
-Maui

*written by Maui*

Hello again! It has been a few days, so I'm excited to write on here again! Today was an active day in our household, filled with long walks with the dogs and lots of volleyball in the driveway. Noodle got his staples out today, and full clearance from the vet, so obviously his badness level has been extra high between his naps. Juneau and I played volleyball for at least a couple hours total, and then did some wood burning! The wood burning was a new experience, and I'll admit I was a little scared at first. We got the hang of it eventually, and I ended up getting something out of it that I really like.
Our lego project, the giant Cinderella's castle, is coming along well. We only have 2 levels left! To put that into perspective, we're currently on step 700 something and through 13 other levels. I think I speak for the whole family when I say we can't wait to see the finished product of all our hard work. Lubbock and Dallas bought 2 individual Nintendo Switches, and Juneau and I may be spending a lot of time on them. Juneau and I's school is doing a virtual spirit week, and today was "try something new Tuesday," hence the wood burning! Tomorrow is "work outside Wednesday," which will be perfect since we are supposed to have very nice weather. I love this, because it's a great way to stay entertained and connected through the school.
Until next time!
-Maui

*written by Maui*

Hello again! Today was a good day in our little household. Dallas came home from his quarantine after it was confirmed that he did not have covid-19, it was in fact just a man cold.
The weather in Iowa finally cleared up and it ended up being a beautiful day, which of course brought on a nice family walk in the sun with 2 out of our 4 dogs. On the walk, Juneau and I led with Noodle and Cupcake, while Lubbock and Dallas fell behind. As we were walking back toward the house, Noodle was alarmed at a group of walkers standing around chatting, and waited for Cupcake to safely pass before sprinting to catch up after he knew it was safe. Noodle has been a bit of a scaredy cat on walks lately, but he is much more comfortable when his big sister is there to reassure him. Juneau and I got to play some volleyball out in the driveway and get a little bit of physical activity in, which honestly hasn't been happening a lot during this lazy quarantine! I curled Juneau's hair, and it turned out very nicely. She keeps bouncing around the house to see them boing! Lubbock made some more cards for our friends, so if you get one, we hope you liked it!
That's all from me for today, until next time!
-Maui

Fun Friday

*by Maui*

Hello all! Another lazy day of quarantine in our household, complete with some takeout from Panchero's and Chick-Fil-A. Our orders from Chick-Fil-A were a little hectic, with some forgotten drinks and then Lubbock spilling my fries all over the driveway, but the food was good all the same. I retrieved my birthday reward from Chick-Fil-A, a lovely chocolate shake. This may not have been the best choice given that this is the laziest and most inactive I've been in a long time, but I consider it to have been worth the extra calories.
Noodle and I went on his first long walk since his neuter surgery, and he's trying to play in the floor with Flapjack as I write this. Cupcake went on a later and longer walk with Lubbock and Juneau, and of course the bulldogs don't enjoy physical activity so they got to lounge during all of this walking time.
Lubbock has been nonstop crafting and making cards to send to our friends and family, so if we know you send us a message and ask for a card! This has been a nice way for us to show people that we are thinking of them without necessarily having to be on our phones to do it. It also gives us something to relieve some boredom, and use our creative energy to feel productive.
I think that's all for today, nothing eventful this time!
-Maui

From the dogs

Hello everyone! My name is Flapjack, and I'm the white bulldog. That basset hound is my pet Noodle. I'm the hero, Fat Boy, and he's Long Dog, my sidekick.
My favorite things are: Momma, blalal (peanut butter), and sitting in people's laps. Now there's corona, and it's not the beer and lime. It's this virus that keeps my Momma and family at home, and I get snuggles all the time. I really like the corona. We snuggle on the couch, and then the chair, and then we go to bed. It's perfect! Sometimes Maui takes that Noodle for walks because he has extra energy, but I don't go on walks because I'm lazy.
The other bulldog is Butter, and she's the big sister of the dogs. She tells everybody what to do, and acts like the queen in charge of the whole house. And Cupcake is the big mastiff, she's freaking huge! I used to play with her but now we fight sometimes.
I hope you all like the first dog written post!

Lubbock weighing in

Good evening all. I'm Lubbock- Mom to this crew. I'm a stay at home mom - which usually means i'm running all over the metro area taking care of my families wants and needs. Now I bravely forage as infrequently as possible.

Today was a Maui's birthday.  She's and adult. Well, chronologically anyway. As she said, we had many plans to celebrate, but while things were different, they were still good. I am so thankful that the girls get along. Juneau even made her an adorable cake complete with a volleyball cake pop- very creative. And delicious!

My morning started fixing yesterdays calamity. Off to Home Depot for a washing machine pan and a hose clamp. Good news- once properly installed I was able to do a load of laundry without setting off the fire alarm.  So, progress.

We also spent some time on our new hobby- LEGOs! So far we've completed Mickey's Steamboat Willie Boat. And we're currently working on Cinderellas Castle. It's a huge set, so it should take up lots of time.

I've been spending my free (seriously still don't have a lot of that it seems) in my crafty space. I'm making lots of cards to send to our friends we can't see right now. So if I randomly ask for your address- well, pretend to be surprised by your paper hugs.

We're winding down for the evening, not sure what tomorrow will bring, but we'll handle it.

~~Lubbock

A Wonderful Wednesday

*written by Maui*

Hello again! Today is my 18th birthday, and I have to say this is not the way I thought I would be spending it. We had a great little painting party planned for this weekend, I was going to get my tattoo... but alas, coronavirus struck and my birthday fell in the time of self-isolation. However, despite what may seem like sad circumstances, I had a great day all the same. Juneau, my little sister, made me a lovely and delicious cake. My best friend dropped a present off on the porch that was so adorable and heartfelt I definitely shed a tear or two. My mom, Lubbock, is making me my favorite homemade meal: meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I've had a relaxing snuggle time with my dogs, and even got to video chat a little girl and teach her some fun science. So even though I had to spend the big 18th birthday inside and distanced, I think everything turned out just fine. I also realized that I am in no way prepared to be a real adult, but I feel like I don't need to worry about that until the real world starts turning again!
Thanks for reading!
-Maui

A Load of Laundry Gone Horribly Wrong...

*As we said in our introductions, we will not be posting our real names. However, we have come up with a clever alternative, and our "code names" will be our favorite city or a city we would very much like to visit. Dallas= dad, Lubbock= mom, Maui= oldest daughter, and Juneau= youngest daughter.*

*post written by Maui*

Today began nicely, with the sun slowly coming out and the weather warming. This is always a nice surprise for early spring in Iowa, where many days it is still cold and gray. Lubbock and I began our day by building a vanity for my bedroom as a part of the decorating process. Our family just moved in to this house, and today was another day of decorating my new room. After we had successfully built the cute vanity, I decided to wash my bed sheets. I took them off, threw them in our washer; no biggie!

Wrong.

During the wash cycle, Lubbock and I were downstairs working on some crafts in our down time, all the while hearing our washer's "unbalanced" alarm go off. However, each time after a few seconds the alarm would stop. So we would wait, and then go back to work when the alarm stopped. We took to joking, "Angry laundry!" After we were finished crafting, I decided to take our Basset Hound puppy, Noodle, for a walk. We went upstairs, I prepped Noodle for his walk, and Lubbock gasped. "The laundry machine walked itself away from the wall and leaked all over this floor!" Oh, no. I took Noodle on his walk since he was so excited, and came back to an upset Lubbock tinkering with the back of the washer. The hose had loosened from the machine, and every time water was pumped in or out, a huge puddle formed in the floor. For now, we've taken to blaming the person who installed it, since they neglected to put on a clamp that would have potentially been able to hold the hose in place. Despite the initial shock and inconvenience, we cleaned up the mess and managed to get the sheets in the dryer.

About an hour later, every smoke detector in our house sounded the alarms. After much confusion and searching for a fire that wasn't there, we had to evacuate us and all four of our dogs into the street until someone from MidAmerican could come see what was going on. As I sat in the back of our truck with the two bulldogs and Noodle, I of course put a video on Snapchat, cursing this hell-of-a-year that 2020 has been. Once the very nice and helpful MidAmerican man had completed his investigation, we were told that the water from the washer incident had run through the wall/floor barrier of the pantry, down into the socket of a smoke detector, and shorted out the detector, causing a house-wide smoke detector panic.

All because I wanted to wash my sheets.

I think it's safe to say I'm going to be a lot more precise and thoughtful about how I do my laundry with this fickle machine from now on.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

-Maui :)

Introductions :)

Hello everyone! This post begins our blog about our adventures during this time of self-isolation and social distancing thanks to COVID-19, hence the name of this blog being "Our Corona Lifestyle." Buckle up for some fun stories about our suburban family with four dogs, two teenage girls, and a lot of newfound free time on our hands. Stay tuned for today's descriptive post, which will be about a load of laundry going terribly wrong!
Give us a shout if you have suggestions for us, this is supposed to entertainment both ourselves and any readers we may have! Trivia, funny stories, movie recommendations; you name it, and we'll try to find a way to bring it to our page!


*for privacy reasons, we will not be using our real names, however all of our stories will be 100% true!*