The Homebody Report, Week 2

Here we go again!  Another week of stay-at-home orders/quarantine/lockdown in the books.  We're all doing well, staying healthy, trying new things and staying busy.  I truly believe the key ingredient to staying sane is keeping busy.  One funny thing...through all of this, I think only one of my boys has said "I'm bored."  And even then, it's only been the one time, at least so far.  Maybe it's because so many of their options they would choose or want are gone, so they have to do the ones that are offered and available instead.  I don't know, but either way, it's an interesting thing to think on. I personally don't feel bored either, I just don't always like the limited options I have.  That's different from being bored, right?  Maybe boredom really equates to having too many choices, and not wanting the ones in front of you.  If we take away all the choices, does boredom go away?  Ack!  My head is spinning.

So this week the boys were still doing school in the mornings, mostly online.  Dawson and I did some reading time, letters, worksheets and activities too.  He was supposed to be learning about the human body at preschool, so he wanted to do some of that here at home. It's been fun for us.  Asher and Beck have been going running many mornings (ok, B is on a scooter or a bike), as Asher is wanting to stay in shape for soccer...he misses it SO much. Other activities we've tried this week are chalkboard art, and painting rocks.  Both were fun, and Dawson and Beckett made some fun rocks for us to put in our garden and out on the walking trail behind the house.  I'd never seen that done before!  My sister, Kayla told me about it.  I bought some paints and then a few days later we started seeing them out on the trail here.  They're really fun!  And the boys have surprised me with how artistic they are.  We also played some games (even in a fort Dawson built!) but I’m thinking this week we need to really up things and play some more this week.   Most of the families on my side have Switch online accounts, so we’ve gotten everyone together to play, which has been pretty awesome for the cousins, and even us adults.  We are missing Laurie’s family and crossing fingers they might consider getting in on it too, and Corey would like Kayla to stop winning all the races on Mario Kart, lol.

We did a big pick up day for groceries and supplies at both Walmart and Home Depot.  Then we grabbed some propane at Walgreens.  Since we were feeling wild and crazy being out and about, we swung by Texas Roadhouse for some steaks to cook up for our anniversary coming up.  I can't get over how weird it is being out.  It's almost normal, until you see the line of people, each standing 6 feet apart outside of the stores (they're only at 20 percent capacity, and a 6 foot distance is required).  Or, when you see at least half of the people walking around wearing masks and gloves, or when you see the price of a gallon of gas at 1.69.  The way people see one another is strange too, giving weary and suspicious glances. It is NOT fun to be out.  Weirdness.  The kids had a couple of friends who wanted to chat (their mom texted me that they'd stay 6 feet apart, of course!) so they came to the back gate.  It was mostly ok, until one of them tossed a laser tag game into the mix.  It seemed like a good idea...6 feet apart, shooting laser guns at each other in the arroyo seems harmless.  Except that 'play dates' have been deemed wrong also, and I was irritated that I even had the slightest bit of worry that we were in the wrong, and that onlookers or neighbors might see it and call us in.  Ridiculous!  The kids should be running around having a great time with their friends, and I shouldn't think twice about it, except that now we do think twice about everything.  Ugh!  Stupid Covid-19.

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Corey is doing great, holding the fort down, working from home, wearing his Hawaiian shirt on Mondays to mix things up, joining us for lunch, and keeping me getting up at 5:30 for workouts on weekdays.  We've got a pretty good thing going actually!  We have sporadic chats about how this is all so unreal.  One second we feel like we are all in, doing what we can to just stay home, go nowhere and do nothing.  Then the next, we are questioning the whole thing and thinking...what if we didn't stay put, and does it really matter that much.  Then we flip back to the reality...that we actually know someone who has been on a ventilator for a month and is fighting for his life, everything we would really want to do is closed anyway, and that all the news stories about people dying by the thousands are real.  How did this happen?!

I'm doing fine, helping the kids with schooling where I can (although except for Dawson, they're fairly self sufficient), and getting some projects done.  This week, I made a few batches of bagels and worked on my Sourdough skills a bit more, which has been SO cool, and I'm really enjoying the process.  And it's like we have a new pet in the family, ha! I also built a plant stand (and I plan to do a few more), we made honeydew Boba smoothies with the whole family (first time for a couple of them and A and D officially do NOT like the actual boba pearls), made giant snickerdoodles (thank you OBB), and as a family we started reading The One and Only Ivan most nights.  Also, walks.  Love our walks, and especially the Great Horned Owl’s nest we’ve been watching.  On our walk last night, there were THREE of them looking down at us!  Amazing!  I’m going to try hard to get some pics with my good camera soon.  Asher and Corey have even gotten me out on a few runs.

  

 

 

Our church meetings at home continue to be great.  Each week we rotate who does what...talk, testimony, Come Follow Me lessons, and even some  amateur accompaniment on the piano by the boys and me.  I’m thankful we are able to feel the spirit during the sacrament and worship here at home.  Truly a blessing in these times we are currently living in.  We tried out an online Sharing Time with Brandon Osmond this week, and it was surprisingly great.  Also, the boys made some Christ centered art....Dawson’s is a picture of ‘Jesus with light shining’ outside of a city and Beckett’s is an origami Jesus with tiny sandals:)

 

Oh! And I almost forgot.  We somehow were able to get some toilet paper and napkins and pasta delivered from Costco!   All have been items we’ve tried to get for over a month.  We’ve been out of napkins in particular and were feeling like we’d won the lottery.  Yay for a little luck:)

On to a new week!  New projects and adventures are sure to be awaiting us as we continue to pray that this virus gets BORED and leaves us all alone!

This week’s homebody report

Last Sunday was Easter, and I almost feel like I blinked an eye and POOF!, it’s Sunday again.  Then again, it feels like ages ago.  Time is so strange right now.  Everyday is so much the same, sprinkled with a few unique or different things. I still can’t wrap my mind around the strangeness of this whole experience.  COVID-19, you’re a real trip.

Our Easter was actually very nice.  We had dyed eggs the previous evening...and not white eggs this time!  I couldn’t get them, so we had a lot of brown, blue and green eggs from both Costco and our awesome and generous neighbors, the Clarks, whose daughter has sold us some of their chicken’s beautiful eggs. So fun.  The boys came downstairs the following morning and gobbled up candy while enjoying the odds and ends in their baskets, er, sandals.  Sandals filled with Easter grass, and why not? I guess Dawson had a pail with sandals inside instead.  Anyway, the morning was wonderful with orange rolls, cinnamon rolls, hot cocoa and just a nice relaxing vibe.  We had a very nice worship service at home with Corey blessing and Asher passing the sacrament.  It’s just the coolest thing having them work in tandem as worthy priesthood holders.  Love it, and the spirit is wonderful.  Corey taught a nice Come Follow Me lesson for Easter and Beckett gave a great talk on repentance and Beckett and I plugged through a couple of hymns.  A very nice day to remember the resurrection of our beloved Savior.  Easter dinner was a yummy ham, potato salad, rolls, vegetables, and a pavlova for dessert.  We were then able to do a Zoom call with my family.  Everyone is doing well, and Lisa had gone to the hospital to have her sweet baby girl!

Monday was wild.  It snowed.  No joke, and it was freezing!  We watched in awe, and even turned on some Christmas music for a bit at Beckett’s request.  Pretty funny, but we were very glad the snow only lasted that one day, although the cold hung around for a couple of days, likely killing most of the pears on my little tree.  Sad. That night was unique in that we celebrated my Grandma Pettit’s 90th birthday via Zoom.  She and my grandpa looked and sounded great, despite all that’s going on.  She even closed up the call reciting her favorite scripture by request.  It was great to see so many cousins, aunts and uncles too, from all over the country.  Happy Birthday Grandma! What a blessing to have ways to celebrate and be together despite the distance and stay at home orders.

School went well for the boys this week.  Asher has been working hard getting some extra credit in before their 4th quarter begins in a couple of weeks.  Beckett’s teacher started doing Google Meet for classes for several days this week, and he’s doing math, grammar and typing also.  Dawson is continuing to learn reading, and is doing great!  We keep doing preschool lessons with crafts too, which has been super fun.  The boys are continuing to learn and grow amidst this crazy, and I’m so proud of them for it.  I know staying motivated in our current situation can be a challenge. 

 

On my list this week was Sourdough.  My starter, aka, “the creature on the counter”, was so much fun.  I baked my first loaf on Monday, and it was not good.  Didn’t rise, but the smell and taste were right, so I pressed forward.  The third batch was it.  Yes!  It was very gratifying to try something so different and get it to work.  Oh, and it’s yummy too.  I’ve also made sourdough pancakes, and have a recipe for sourdough English muffins that I’ll try tomorrow I think.  Two days ago I also whipped up another starter, but one with wheat as it’s base.  I’m addicted, and I think it’s safe to say I’ll have these guys growing in the fridge for a long time to come (Corey has decided their names should be Bert and Ernie).

Hmmm....what else?  The boys have still been cooking dinner with me once a week.  They get to choose what we’re making and they really love that part.  They both have several ideas for what they are wanting to make the next week.  This week, Asher made a chicken pot pie from scratch and Beckett made Alfredo pasta.  We watched the Sound of Music (Corey’s first time...what?!), and The Princess Bride.  Also, we played video games online with the Switch with the Pettit side cousins. That was so much fun for the boys, and even the adults got in on it one night.  There will be more to come for sure!  I tried making bagels.  My sister Jen has become an expert and I just had to give it a go. They were great but not shaped well, so I’ll definitely be making some more. We made some clay creations this week too...Beckett made pottery, Dawson created some neat designs, and I made some garden markers.  We’ve planted a bunch of seeds indoors since we’re trying to not go out unless essential, and they’re coming up nicely so far.  Spring is in the air (along with loads of pollen in our backyard pines), and we’re loving the blooms and green coming up everywhere.  

And, last but not least, Date Night!!  Corey and I are trying to get creative.  This week we did ballroom dancing and boba smoothies. Awesomeness.  I’ve been wanting to do ballroom classes with Corey since we were first married.  If being stuck at home is the only way I’m going to get him to try this, I WILL TAKE IT!  We cha-cha-ed for about 45 minutes, and bless his heart, he tried hard and did great!  We’ve got a good start for sure.  Afterwards we made honeydew boba smoothies and chilled.  They were awesome.  I’m not sure we will need our little Boba place down the street after this because ours were so tasty.  Now we just need more flavors!  Date night at home was a success.  

So grateful to be on lockdown with these people of mine:)