New Life- Week 11 (Hanging In and Hanging On)

Life is very slowly starting to show a few glimpses of something resembling some normalcy, but for the most part, we are still keeping to the status quo.  We stay home, we stay away, we stay safe.  I have noticed lately that anytime anyone asks anyone how they are doing, the typical answer is "hanging in" and that is mostly how I feel.  I am doing fine, but not thriving, hanging in.  This feeling is compounded by being in the final stretches of home school with the kids and just trying to hang on and make it through.  I feel like this week was more play than work and maybe that's ok.  We are all just doing the best we can, hanging in and hanging on.

Monday this week was Memorial Day which meant that Jeremy didn't have work and the kids didn't have school.  We were all in a play mindset and I think it set the tone for the rest of the week.  Monday morning it rained and that was a bummer because we had to be out of our house for a showing and wanted to go strawberry picking.  Thankfully the rain stopped just in time and the strawberry patch wasn't even too muddy.  We were a little early in the strawberry season so we had to hunt a little but ended up with some very delicious berries.

After the berries picking, we had a BBQ at my parents' with all the family.  This was the first time in months we were all together and it felt so good to be all together.  We were able to enjoy this special family time and then, just like that, the rain came back.

Due to budget cuts, Friday was also a furlough day for the kids.  That meant we only really had three school days this week and we struggled to stay focused on our work.  The weather was nice and we spent lots of time playing outside and playing inside.

Its ok though, we just have four more day and we are done for this school year.  We can do it!

New Life- Week 10 (Start of Something New)

This week brought our first glimpses of someday returning to normal life.  Early this week I started talking with my family about how I was ready to start having family interactions again.  I have started feeling like this for many reasons, but particularly because with my dad's health challenges, I am unwilling to miss any more of his strong and healthy years than absolutely necessary.  We didn't come up with an official plan, but I was grateful to begin the conversation.

Just a few days later the Brown cousins showed up on our doorstep after taking their dog for a walk.  The kids and I hung out in the front yard, but it was clear that social distancing wasn't really happening.  I decided I better go call Becca and make sure she felt alright about what was going down.   Ultimately she ended up coming over too and we were all able to hang out together for the first time in months.

The next day Emily called and asked if she and Kalani could come for a visit.  We all stayed outside, but Elsie asked if she could sit on "Auntie Minty's" lap.  I told Emily I was fine with it if she was comfortable.  Elsie and Emily had their first physical contact in months and Emily cried, she was so happy.

Yesterday, The Browns and our family went to my parents' house to help with some yard projects.  We all stayed outside but were less strict about social distancing and my mom held and hugged Elsie for the first time in months.

It was a big week.  Yesterday our county entered into "Phase 1" of ending the lockdown and for the most part I am not in a big hurry to go to stores, restaurants, or be around people.  I am ready to stop distancing myself from my family though.  I am ready to be a family again and this week we took some big steps towards that.

Unrelated, but also in the vein of starting something new, this week Carrigan had her annual eye doctor appointment.  We picked out some super cute new glasses for her only to come to find out she doesn't need glasses anymore!  Her right eye has always been good but her left eye needed correcting.  Over the last two years her left eye has corrected itself and now her eyes are more uniform, so no glasses needed.

One more thing,  Carrigan is also about to lose her front tooth.  She has been wiggling it a lot and so it has become displaced.  She is sporting a bit of a snaggle tooth and her brother has taken to lovingly calling her a hillbilly. 

New Life- Week 9 (The Great Outdoors)

I am not going to lie, things are getting a little rough around here.  Nine weeks is a long time to more or less be stuck inside your house.  That's not to say that things are all bad (I promise they are not) but truly it is the times of the day that we get to get outside that get us through.  Over the last couple of weeks we have continued our daily walks, but we also have gotten a little more creative with our time outside.  We have brought stuffed animals out to teach them how to ride bikes, we have played blind catch over the roof of the garage, and (my personal favorite) have had make believe camping trips.  The camping trips have become really elaborate with everyone getting their own tents and camping chairs.  We also usually have a fire that we roast marshmallows over.

Also last weekend we got out to the river beach for the first time this year.  It was so nice to be out there and it felt almost like normal life.  I told Jeremy that this is the first time I feel like summer might not be canceled.  Fingers crossed.

I am so thankful for the chance to get outside.  It feels lifesaving these days.

New Life- Week 8 (Carrigan's Birthday)

Last week you heard about Carrigan's virtual birthday party, this week is all about the main event.  On Monday Carrigan turned 7!  Like most birthdays that fall on a weekday, the day held regular routines and school work.  Luckily for Carrigan (given the current circumstances) we were able to be a bit more flexible with the school work this year.

One of my kid's favorite birthday traditions is that I let them choose the meals all day long.  We all know that in our new world food is extra important, so this tradition was especially important this year.  Carrigan chose cinnamon rolls for breakfast, corn dogs for lunch, and potstickers for dinner.  The real star of the day though was her birthday dessert, unicorn sparkle ice cream cake!  Carrigan has been asking for me to make her an ice cream cake for her birthday for almost a year.  She knew she wanted vanilla cake (which I dyed pink) but was more flexible on the ice cream flavor.  When I stumbled on a cake batter flavored ice cream called Unicorn Sparkle, I knew I hit the jackpot.  We decorated the top of the cake with "CC 7" per her request, but it was a little hard to see.  The cake ended up being a little lopsided, but what it lacked in presentation it made up for in taste.

As we were cleaning up dinner Emily, Tala, and the boys stopped by to sing Happy Birthday to Carrigan.  We ended up bringing the cake outside so we could all celebrate C.C. together from a safe social distance of course.

 

After cake, the birthday girl got to open her birthday presents.  She hit the jackpot again this year with unicorn activity books, an LCD drawing tablet, a fashion design book, a Kitten Catfe Purrista Doll (don't ask...she really wanted it), and Magnatiles.

Just like that another great birthday was in the books.  We loved getting to celebrate our C.C. girl, even if this birthday looked a little different.

 

New Life- Week 7 (Carrigan's Birthday Party)

The excitement of this week is that we were able to celebrate Carrigan's birthday.  Her actual birthday isn't until tomorrow but we were able to have a "party" with her friends yesterday.  Under the circumstances I am sure you can imagine that this year's party looked different than normal.  It took a lot of preplanning but I think it turned out as well as could be expected.

I few weeks ago I sent out the invite and let people know that we would be having the party via Zoom call and that I would be shipping them Blumes prior to the party.  The Blumes are a cute little "unboxing" toy.  They come in a little flower pot with a small watering can.  You use the watering can to sprinkle water on the flower pot and a doll with squishy hair grows out.  Also inside the flower pot you find clothes, shoes, a little friend, and accessories for the doll.  It's all pretty ingenious.

For the party itself, we planned to start with a dance party but I think that the girls all felt a little silly dancing by themselves on a conference call so we quickly ditched that I idea and turned our attention to the blooms.  We went one at a time and each girl took a turn growing her bloom and finding her other treasures.

After all the girls showed off their Blumes we sang Happy Birthday to Carrigan and she got to eat her cupcake.  I couldn't find a good way to get cupcakes to everyone under the circumstances (and one of her friends on the call lives in Utah now so that added a whole other level of complication) so I asked each parent to provide their child with some sort of treat.  At our house Merrick and Elsie got cupcakes too.  Elsie was super funny though and wouldn't eat her cupcake until Jeremy put a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday to her too.

That was it.  It was short and sweet but it got the job done.  When I came up with the idea I gave her the choice of having her party this way or waiting until this is all over to have a traditional party.  She was excited about this and I think overall it as a success.  It was certainly a birthday party that I won't soon forget.