Coronacation Week 2

We have now successfully completed week 2 of quarantine!  I know this sounds crazy but I do feel the time has gone by pretty fast.   This past week had its ups and downs which I think all weeks do.  Monday and Tuesday were rainy and by the end of Tuesday I was in a funk.  Its so hard to teach kids, referee, and try to entertain when its raining.  I was so thankful for the sunshine on Wednesday and rest of the week.  We passed our week much like the one prior...lots of outside play, we took a hike, and took advantage of the sun by doing some yard work (Daddy's idea). 
We try to start each day with the girls doing their school work for the day, that way we can spend the afternoons having fun or being outside.  With the rain there was a lot of T.V., movies, Playstation and puzzles.  I think Cohen and I have completed about 7 puzzles.  Kate and Bryce do a pretty good job of entertaining each other, and Ellington is living her best life.  I look at her and I think how awesome it is to be a baby.  She has no worries in the world and doesn't begin to know the chaos going on around her.  She's happiest to be held and loves all the attention she is getting from all of us.  This week had us all a little more on edge because Franklin County reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus.  I try not to watch too much of the news or else it really gets me down.  I want to be informed but I sure don't want to watch 24/7.  I do think God has gotten the attention of the world and now its our turn to listen. 
One verse I love  is Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God".  I know we are all having to be still, or at least more so than what we're used to.  Now its just KNOWING that God is in control of this.  I hate hearing that our quarantine keeps being extended later and later.  And the more I hear this the harder it is for me to understand.  I try not to think about some things or I will get upset.  Instead of thinking of what my kids are missing I'm going to enjoy the fun they are having together that they probably would never have got.  Even in the summer we can somehow find something to fill our days.  Now they are playing together, laughing, and hopefully they will come out of this seeing it as a scary but fun time in their lives.  They won't remember the doom and gloom, they will just remember all the family time we got and how we were together and relaxed. 
My dishwasher is still hot and running and my kids are enjoying all the desserts I'm making but don't need!  Why not, right?  We are still showing our support for restaurants though because all this cooking is starting to get to me! 
Now on to week 3!  If anyone has any fun ideas to keep kids entertained please pass them on to me!  We all may come out of this the best sidewalk chalk artists you've ever met! 

Such a sweet big brother feeding her some yogurt

Our theme for the week

Cute yard workers...they are starting to get smart and know that Daddy pays his helpers!  Quarantine may work out for them after all!

 She loves just watching everyone!

On Thursday we got the newspaper and saw some fun news for a change!  I won 2nd place in the photo contest and it was with a picture of Kate.  It was so random that I saw in last week's paper they were having a "change of seasons" themed contest.  We had just taken some family pictures last week in the peach orchard and I snapped this picture of Kate.  I thought it was so cute of her and those peach trees are the prettiest trees!  I love them!  So I sent it in and we were excited to see it chosen!

 Thursday afternoon we decided to go for a hike.  Neighbors are like family aren't they :)

These 2 absolutely loved playing in the water.  We may need to go back in the summer!

That night was Uncle Davis's 30th birthday.  We haven't seen anyone very much but we had to make an exception for his birthday.

 

More play time outside!

Not seeing our family is one of the hardest parts of social distancing.  Sometimes you just have break the rules a little.  Like checking in on them and making some deliveries.  Ellington and I had to take a walk to see Suzy and Denny.  When you're used to seeing someone almost every day you just have to do it, but we tried to stay 6 ft apart!

About to sneak up on Denny

 Saturday we spent most of our day outside enjoying the 80 degree weather!  I was walking by this conversation and it cracked me up!  Bryce was telling Kate to smell his armpit!  You can see by her expression she wasn't having it.  Bryce has started taking his shirt off outside because he sees Keyes and Elliott with theirs off!

 

More sidewalk chalk fun...or for some of us it was.  Ellington wasn't a fan of laying down!

Cohen was glad to!  She sure has grown from the first time I did this with her!

Bee killers!

Cohen started this project and she is still working on it 2 days later!  We will see what happens after the rain

On Sunday morning we got to live stream our church service.   This is our new Sunday normal for now.  I will be excited to see everyone when we can go back to church!  I do love my church!  At home I'm actually hearing the message and keeping the nursery!

 

I walked by the front door windows to see this yesterday, didn't know if I should be worried or just laugh...you can see I just laughed (and took a pic!)  This boy cracks me up!  Its seeing his face that reminds me this will all be alright!  Sit back and enjoy all these fun moments we are getting at home.

Coronacation week 1

I saw this on my walk one day & thought it was so sweet. 

I think its safe to say we are all witnessing one of the craziest things we have ever seen in our life!  If you didn't already know that life could change in the blink of an eye the last 10 days are for sure proof.  Our every day lives have been stopped, and the entire world has been shut down because of the corona virus pandemic.  Its hard to know how to feel these days but no matter what we have been forced to slow down, stay home, and enjoy each other.  Not so bad is it??!   I love having my kids home, I do however miss our activities and I am completely saddened that there are events and activities at school and other places that have been canceled, postponed, and who knows if they will be able to reschedule.  I firmly believe all things happen for a reason though and I know God is all over this situation.  He is telling us to slow down, maybe our activities were starting to become idols to us, but I also know that He will get us through this and we will come out stronger because of it.  We are taught to have faith over fear, so if we pray for this virus to end I believe He will answer.  We maybe are being taught to depend on God not ourselves which we should be doing all the time.  Our busy schedules and daily lives sometimes keep us from doing this.  Now we are getting more family time than we have had in a long time.  My dish washer is also getting more run time than its gotten in a long time!  And I know we will look back in years to come and cherish the time we got to spend during our "coronacation".  I am praying that our schools re-open in a few weeks because I do like for my kids to get closure!  I want my baby boy to graduate preschool.  I want Kate to get her Young Author celebration that she has looked forward to.  I want Cohen to get to compete in her competitions and I want our vacation to go on as planned.  I feel selfish saying those things but I'm only human.  I know its small problems and we will get over whatever doesn't happen but I still pray for that.   In the meantime here are some pictures from our first week of quarantine.  We did have some contact with people other than the 6 of us but believe me we spent most of our time right here!

squeezing in some practice time

Since mama made some yummy desserts this girl got to taste Cool Whip and loved it!

light saber fights were a daily must

more baking

thankful for the warm sunshine we got!  Ellington got to swing for the first time

Warm days called for a little creek time

the sweetest view from my walks

game nights

As you can see walks were a must each day, some warm and some chilly but we were thankful to go out either way

Why do these children keep following us??

 

 We did get some family pictures made as well.  The peach orchard was BEAUTIFUL in bloom last week and I have always loved the pink trees in full bloom.  We were able to throw it together super quick and now have an updated picture of all of us.  We may not "match" that great but we are all in a picture together and the backdrop sure was pretty!  And...we were 6 feet away from Caron as she took this! "social distancing"

I love my wild, crazy crew and even when we struggle (and believe me we have had our moments), I'm thankful for every minute we get to make these memories.  This is actually how life looked before they got old enough for activities.  Be careful asking to freeze time...we may have just got it.  I know I remind myself of this each day.  I've realized I'm a little more of a control freak than I thought and since this didn't happen on my terms I struggle at times.  Now on to week 2!  My official title as head master/principal starts!  Watch out kids!  And to all my kids teachers, I promise they will probably appreciate you even more after this!  LOL!