Tuesday Happenings

In an effort to cheer everyone up ... ok, wait, that's a lie. It was totally a bribe for Madeline last night so I could have a little quiet time to myself. I told her if she went to sleep in her own bed all by herself, we would make cookies today. I don't mind resting with her at night IF I'm prepared to put myself to bed because I WILL get sleepy. But. I needed some quiet time inside my own head and --this is the important caveat-- with no one touching me. So bribery. And it worked. So double win because cookie dough and cookies today. 😁 This face!

 Rose made the comment today that this little girl is pure joy, and that's for sure and certain the truth.

She has also been, hands down, the best at entertaining herself in quarantine. It makes my heart so happy to see her pretending because I'm a firm believer that that's the way our brains like to grow. Also, can you believe those legs? She's like a frisky colt these days, all legs and movement! I had to ask her to lie still just so I could get this picture without blurs. On a side note, now we know why the couch cushions are sagging.

Meanwhile, Mel's older sister was happy because she got to play with power tools today. Who knew that in Texas you'd need the blower in the spring and not the fall?! Not me. But apparently ALL the trees in our yard don't shed their leaves until the new ones start growing in. Good news? Spring is here. And we can use some spring.

And because I know you all are dying to know: Caleb's blue hair is in progress. First he bleached it. Blue coming soon.

And one final note: if you are going to race home with one of the kids, don't do it with the bike she pawned off on you so that she could win and because she's afraid of falling. The road rash on my elbow is pretty exciting. But both the bike and I survived, so awesome. And just for laughs? It was the four-year-old's bike so I was jogging and tripped over it. Nothing so glorious as falling off the bike. As always, my ideas are bright and I am grace personified. Haha.

Incoherent Minutiae

I've tried all day to organize my thoughts into something coherent.

I had grand plans for this blog post. Fun picture of the kids, or maybe something about the family history I've been working on.

But nothing has really gelled into place.

I walked 5 miles this morning. The weather was a bit cooler, and I'm just so grateful that my ankle has healed and doesn't give me any pain any more so I can go on an adventure ... the only one I'm allowed outside of my house right now.

We are trying to get into the swing of schooling at home. I've been homeschooling Sam and Madeline, of course, but now Rex and Sariah are home as well. The school district is gearing up to return to grading next week. Should be loads of fun.

Yes, that was a bit sarcastic. I've already been overwhelmed just by adding Madeline's schoolwork (learning numbers and ABCs) to Sam's school work this year. Adding two more kids to the mix is a lot. It'll even out eventually. But right now I feel like all I do is school work in one form or another.

I guess I did have an additional adventure today. I ventured out to the store. I had an order to pick up at HEB and then a prescription to pick up at Target (plus the things that didn't make it into my HEB order because the store shelves still have issues and the HEB curbside order limit can be challenging for a family of 8). It's exhausting to shop these days. There are fewer people, but the emotional toll is greater ... I get anxious about the things I touch and the air I breathe and the things I might be taking home to my family. And as much of an introvert as I am, it's just plain awkward and depressing  to keep so much distance between myself and others.

But, bright side: the store shelves are showing signs of catching up and being fully stocked again. AND this way I'm forced to plan ahead and not fly by the seat of my pants and be at the store eleventy times in one week.

I sat down tonight with my scriptures to prepare for Easter. This was probably the smartest thing I did for myself all day long. Right up there with pumpkin bread from Kneader's that I didn't share with anyone tonight.

I brought Madeline home a new baby doll. She's been loving on one who is at imminent risk of becoming decapitated. She wanted to fix it with tape today. Sadly that's probably a no-go. Seeing her face light up at the new doll was priceless.

Also, Caleb is turning his hair blue even as I type.

Tomorrow should be fun!

A Little Sunday Fun

It's not very often Rex poses for -- and I actually capture -- pictures likes this. Apparently the children thought our "lemonies" were a tad on the sour side tonight. Still, there was enough sugar for us all to be happy. However, Rex's face prompted a series of similarly entertaining poses. Sadly, some family members ... ahem ... declined to leave me with photographic evidence (or forbade me to share it).

After this there was an epic game of Risk (all hail Sam the Conqueror), which lasted just long enough for me to finally complete our federal and state taxes for 2019. A+ for me! I usually get them done much sooner, but 2019 was complicated, and 2020 has been even more so (shocking, I know!).

And then we opened the unexpected Amazon package on our doorstep. We left it quarantining there in the sunshine for several hours. Surprise! Sam's teachers sent him a fun treat, and he was thrilled!--so thrilled, in fact, that he goofed off for the camera and laughed afterwards. I love that kid, and I love the people who care about him!

We miss seeing our church friends on Sundays, but have had some sweet spiritual experiences at home while we are all apart. We enjoyed getting to participate in the worldwide fast today for COVID-19. We are keeping prayers close to our hearts for the world and our loved ones and those who are suffering.

Stay safe, friends!

Yum!

We've been blessed the last few days with a few drop offs from friends at church. This has delighted the kids. And of course it's always nice to be remembered.

FYI

Monopoly is not the family destroyer of choice in our household. I haven't forgiven my mother in law yet. But Alaska kept me safe for longer than I thought it would.

Deep Breaths

I'm gonna be honest. Today was a little rough around the edges.

It could really be so much worse in so very many ways.

Sometimes the emotional and mental load of what's going on around us takes some personal adjustment. And sometimes adjustment is uncomfortable.

I was kind of done peopling. Except there are 8 of us here, and there's nowhere to go. I ended up taking a bath and eating some chocolate, and then found myself anxious to get back to the kids. But we are all a little on edge, and so things fall apart quickly. We are a work in progress.

This quarantine is especially difficult for our social butterfly, Sariah. She misses her friends. She misses library books. She misses meeting new people. And the time frame is becoming more of a reality for her. She's cried. And when she's cried, I've cried.

I can't decide what to do about the little device in my hands so much of the time. Social media can be a blessing and a curse. I've appreciated my friends' posts of goodness and humor.

The news articles are unbearable, and once I get started reading them, I have trouble stopping.

I'm not sleeping at night, and that's bad for the body's immune system, which we kinda need at top notch right now.

So.

Deep breaths. Lots of deep breaths.

Unplug for at least a few hours.

Gratitude. For my girls and getting to talk to them through the marvels of modern technology. For Unstable Unicorns. For Epic! and for Prodigy. For sunshine and cool breezes. For long walks. For chats with two of my BFFs. For all of the people working so hard to save lives. For hugs at home. For the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. For Sam's grateful heart. For Madeline's joyful giggles. For Sariah's sensitive heart. For Rex's sneaky humor. For Caleb's full laugh. For daddies who take their little girls for walks, and for husbands who compliment their wife's begrudging meal-making. For my Savior and for my Heavenly Father and Mother.

So.

Get up in the morning, and hug my babies, and be with them, because time is a gift.

And meanwhile....

I taught Sariah to cross-stitch. Two days ago. She's been a freakin' quick learner. She finished her first project today. I assisted her exactly twice: when I taught her to make the crosses, and when I taught her to backstitch. She added the hearts to the design all on her own. I'm impressed. In that amount of time, I did about six lines of 10 stitches in the project I've been working on for 20+ years, lol. She has already started a new beginner project (wait'll you see it; you'll know exactly which decade it was purchased in). Sariah's pretty amazing. I'm grateful she's got a jam for being at home right now. And I'm grateful I thought to pick up some bigger projects for her the last time I was at Walmart.

When her 7 full-time entertainers are hiding from temporarily away from her or otherwise occupied, Madeline entertains herself with the TV. She is really into listening with her headphones, which may not have actually been plugged in since I could hear every word the ponies were saying, but I don't think I could have argued this with her, so I didn't even try (because with the 4-year-old, the mom doesn't win). I love these kids!

Happy 19th, Caleb!

This bouncing baby boy celebrated his birthday today.

We started the day with cinnamon rolls. In our household it is a crime for the icing to actually be white. Since Madeline got up as early as Daddy did, she got to pick the food coloring.

The Birthday Boy was, naturally, super excited about having his picture taken. Since we failed to provide him with tangible birthday gifts (thank you, Plague 2020), we procured one of his favorite meals, Raising Cane's (drive-through, of course). Don't judge. I had very mixed feelings about doing this. Because Plague 2020. But. I've got rationalizations. It's not against the stay-at-home order to get food from restaurants. It helps people keep their jobs, and it helps the economy. We might all die for Caleb's birthday because the college-age RC employees don't even know they have the virus, so there's that. But like everyone else, we're just trying to juggle all the needs right now.

Caleb made his own birthday cake today because he's really bored. And I wanted a nap. One of his favorites is tres leches cake. I haven't made it very often (exactly once before), and like many of you, I have to kind of make up my grocery list on the fly depending on what's actually on the shelves, so I bought a cake mix this year. We have some kinks to work out next time, but man, it still tasted good. 

Also, we had no candles. Well actually we do, but we can't locate them.... And since we can't just dash out to the store to get more, we improvised. While I was setting the matches into the cake, Caleb talked about how he burned his hand making a "match bomb" like this (I didn't even ask). Bob and I both shrugged. But Sam freaked out. There was weeping and wailing and near hyperventilation. And that was before the matches actually finally lit up. But then? Then it was super cool! We all survived unburned AND the smoke detectors didn't go off, so win? 

He hates this picture apparently, and forbade me to post it on Facebook. I complied with that request. But my blog is not FB. And I love this picture because it is his natural smile, possibly with relieved overtones that he didn't get fried.

After this we gave intangible presents to Caleb: we each shared a memory of him we like. 

This was pretty entertaining. 

Rex talked about that year we put the matches on Caleb's birthday cake in the middle of a pandemic. Bob told about how when Caleb was little he would carry his scripture case around like Daddy's briefcase, and then about how Caleb liked to walk with Daddy when he mowed, so Mom bought him a little lawn mower, and then Caleb quit. 

Mom remembered fondly the first two years of Caleb's life, when he was a-mom-clinging monster. And then he turned two, and I had to have the policeman at the library keep him from escaping every time we went.

Disney singalongs and quote-alongs with his siblings were remembered by Rose. 

Madeline talked for about 5 minutes straight; the gist of it was that she likes it when Caleb plays on the trampoline with her. Sam also said this, but in about 5 seconds. This was especially well received by Caleb, as he hasn't been able to actually do this with them since he messed up his knee playing YSA dodgeball this winter.

We even Facetimed Lizzi. Her tale was of the time Caleb ruined her birthday party by getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. I think she was 6. This seems like a long time to hold a (happily remembered?) grudge, but who am I to judge?

Happy birthday, Caleb! You are the best. We owe you a big birthday bash.

Tomorrow we have to walk off all these calories. While social distancing. Good times.

Quarantine Day Number ... wait, what day is it??

It's time to dust off the blog ... partially because I have time to do it now.

We are entering our third week of quarantine for the coronavirus pandemic. It's not the third week of mandatory quarantine, but our kids have basically been home since the 7th of March. Bob began staying home from work last week. I've only gone out a couple of times to shop (why are they always so hungry?).  School is out until at least April 24, though my guess is the whole school year is gone. Our city issued a stay-at-home order yesterday.

So we've been hanging out at home. We play a lot of games. We just finished our Spring Break Harry Potter Marathon. Because when you have time you can spread that baby out. We are all already a little stir crazy.

But I'm an introvert and a homebody by nature. It's not making me consistently crazy to do this. I love just having time, instead of having to race off to the next thing. There are a few silver linings.

Sam has decided he wants to learn to cook. Today he made us macaroni & cheese for lunch, and tonight he helped make pizza. See the product of his efforts below. Madeline helped, too. She helps with everything. :)

We hope and pray folks are staying healthy and safe. We miss you and we love you! <3 p="">