Homebody Report, Week 6

Whoosh.  And just like that another week has gone by.  We're still staying home, still getting our groceries delivered, Cor still works from home and the uncertainty of the next year or so is looming.  BUT, we are doing great, and hanging in there!

Dawson had a fun drive by preschool celebration/graduation at the preschool.  His cute teachers had giant bells, clappers, signs and balloons as the kiddos drove by and we picked up some fun memory books and art.  They've tried hard to let the kids know they care even though they didn't get to do a lot of the fun end of year things normally planned.  Dawson has especially enjoyed the books the teachers read and posted on youtube for them.  He is doing well despite things being shaken up suddenly, and I know he's excited for kindergarten next year!

Beckett was finally able to transplant his Venus flytrap plant that he received in his Easter basket.  He was very excited and nervous (didn't want to kill it).  We smashed it out of it's sterile glass terrarium, separated out the clump into several smaller ones, potted it and covered it with plastic.  We're crossing our fingers it'll flourish because they are so cool.  For dinner this week, he made some yummy spaghetti, and did great! Beckett also finished up with school this week, and on his last day, his sweet teacher made it possible for them all to have a pizza party.  She bought pizza online, and then parents picked it up and the kids all ate together while they were on the computer for school.  When I walked into the house with a large pizza box just for him, Beckett was elated!  To be honest, I was surprised myself when I pulled up to get it that it was a large pizza.  I had figured it would be a personal size or something, but nope!  What a fun and sweet gesture to celebrate all the hard work they put it this year.  It really was a fun surprise for Beckett.  He will start middle school next year and he's excited and anxious about it all.  I know he'll do great though.

Asher is finishing up with his school this week, and after this it's high school!  What?!  It seems unreal to me that he will start driving with a permit in a little over a year, and that he's old enough for high school.  Unbelievable.  He's working hard though. He insisted on breakfast burritos for his dinner night this week, and they didn't disappoint.  Yum.   Ash is really missing soccer and we let him go and train a bit with the Christison's on Monday.  They kicked a ball around, helped Asher with his form, and did some drills, all from a safe distance.  He loved it.  Later in the week, he was able to get together with a school friend and his brother (closer to Beckett's age and B went too) to kick the soccer ball around at the park, again, from a safe distance.  I think that was a bright spot for both of my boys this week!

Corey had a nice long weekend for Memorial Day which was awesome!!  While the boys were at the park, he took Dawson to LBJ middle school to try out riding a bike.  Day 1 went well, and we will keep trying.  No tears so far, so that's good!  Corey swam in the pool with the boys several nights this past week.  Warm days make for great pool temps and we have been in the pool nearly daily this past week.

My week was going well until around Wednesday when I started having some abdominal pain.  I chaulked it up to some digestive issues and didn't worry too much.  By Thursday though, I knew it wasn't that and called for an appointment.  Luckily, I was able to get one for the next day, and it was a virtual appointment so I didn't even have to leave the house.  By that night though I was feeling BAD, and started considering a trip to the ER (which I detest with all my being), but decided to stick it out at home after talking to the after hours nurse.  It was a long, rough night, but after lots of prayers and some Tylenol, morning came and my dr. ended up prescribing me some antibiotics for an infection (symptoms nearly identical to one I'd experienced a couple of years ago).  So far, things are MUCH better although I'm not at 100% yet, and I probably won't be able to exercise for a few days more, which is a bummer.  I hate it when my body betrays me.  Oh, and yay for me, I'll probably need a colonoscopy in the near future when things loosen up a bit.  Sigh.  I'm just happy I can sleep at night and walk without pain stabbing me in the side.  That's nice.  Oh!  I tried makin Ramen this week (so good), and my hollyhocks are starting to bloom!  I didn't even know what color they'd, so magenta blooms were a surprise.  On Saturday I also made a couple sourdough loaves with the new starter and they are great, so I'm excited to bake some more.  Glad to have a happy starter again...or at least one without possible glass fragments in it!

The boys have played UNO, had a sleepover in Asher's room and competed in their new weekly Hot Wheels Racing Cup on Sunday night.  The night they were playing UNO, I could hear them all laughing hard, which makes me smile.  They're such good brothers sometimes.  Piano lessons on facetime went off great, so we will continue that for now.  We are also hearing rumblings of my parents coming out for a visit in a week or so, and we're looking forward to that.  Family visiting from the far off land of Idaho is a big deal!  We're trying to come up with some ideas and things we can do/purchase for a super fun staycation in July.  Coronavirus is killing our ambitions a bit as it seems that everyone has the same ideas for what's fun outside in the summer.  Still brainstorming though.

Homebody Report, Week 5

This past week was busy with all the same things and a few different! 

The boys did school work, piano (actual virtual lessons will begin again on Monday, woohoo!), chores, and fun.  They three of them played together a lot this week.  Things would get VERY quiet downstairs, and when I found them it was in Beckett or Asher’s rooms with the door closed.  They could be found having basketball games with a Little Tikes hoop on one end of the room, and a back of the door one at the other.  Other days, I found them having what they called, “Battlebot” events in Beckett’s room complete with blankets lining the ‘arena’ and drones flying around for a halftime show!  I love how creative they’re getting and they can all do something together despite the age differences.  

Asher made a clever little double helix DNA strand out of legos for school this week.  He also chose to make Orange Chicken this week and it was YUMMY.  He also took up reading to the fam a few nights this week as we began a new book...Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  I used to love the movie as a kid and the book has been great too!  Can’t wait to watch it with the kiddos when we finish.

Beckett has been working hard at school, and whipped up some awesome Broccoli Cheese Soup for dinner this past week.  He and Dawson were dying to get into the pool, and Beckett logged the most time by far!  Everyone except for me has now been in the pool, but B is the only one who says it’s not bad at all.  He’s crazy!  He’s also concocting a plan and proposal for us to buy some actual Battlebots for our proposed staycation in July.  Nowhere much to go right now, but we still want to have some fun this summer!  The boys are coming to us with ideas of what we can do, and so far Beckett is focusing on persuasion, haha.

Dawson informed me this past week that he didn’t ever get to be Star Student!  What?!  He was right though.  Every kiddo at preschool gets a day to tell everyone about themselves, etc and with Covid, he didn’t get his turn yet, so we made that happen right here at home with a poster, crown and breakfast of choice! It was so fun and I think our makeshift special day may have been even better than the real deal.  Also, Dawson told me he wants a turn making dinner, so this next week he’ll be in the rotation.  Cutie. 

We are really liking this working from home thing for Corey.  The commute rocks, we still see him for lunch and he’s off early enough to hang out a bit before we make dinner.  We’re feeling a little spoiled with our new found extra Corey time, and giving it up will be hard.  We are SO hoping for some more flexibility after things are up and rolling again.  Corey and Asher have decided we should run a 10k.  Ummmmm.  I did 4 again on Saturday, which is huge, but I don’t love it, so that’ll really be pushing it for me I think.  I always like a challenge though, so we’ll see.  Saturday we went thru some of our garage boxes with high school and childhood stuff, and Corey found loads of scout stuff that the boys were wowed by.  Also, an entire box of baseball cards has been hibernating for quite some time, so they’re excited about those too.  

I had a devastating sourdough malfunction early in the week.  I pulled it out to feed it and the jar must have been so cold that my clanking as I stirred caused the bottom of the jar to break right out!  My new baby starter is on the counter and should be ready in a couple more days.  So stupid though! I tried a brioche recipe but it was just ok and will definitely try again.  I also went thru a box of high school stuff and just had to try on a cheer uniform for fun.  I could lose a couple pounds but I did get myself squeezed into the skirt. I’m wondering if others are going thru all of their old crap in the garage too?   Oh, and I have covid hair, or that’s what I’m calling it.  It’s red, so that’s a first, but I’ve always thought it’d be fun to try so figured now was as good a time as any since fewer people see me than ever.  It’s fun, but since I’m a chicken to go permanent it will wash out in a month or so.  Semi-permanent is a little more my speed, plus I never minded my blonde hair, so it’ll be nice to have that back when this washes away.  

Our home church service was nice again, and it’s been so fun having the boys play the piano hymns (simplified).  While Corey was going through his mission pics and sharing his mission experiences on Sunday, he came across this gem, and hesitated to share it with me.  I about died when I saw him all suited up in protective bee gear.  What?!  I wanted to have a hive sooooo bad about a year and a half ago, but he’s not really a fan unless it’s really far from our house.  This showed me there may still be hope...someday?  Too funny. 

We finished up the puzzle this week and are ready to pull out another, thanks mostly in part to Corey and Dawson.  We are glad to have the pool and will be using it a ton this summer!  It’s not likely that the boys will get to do swim team or water polo and they’re so sad about that.  That’s been the epitome of summer for the past few years, so we will feel it’s absence for sure.  I finally made up some homemade masks for the family, although I still need kid sized ones for D.  I think I’ve got the hang of it so it shouldn’t be too bad.  Restrictions loosened up slightly too...retail is open but at 20% capacity, smaller groups can gather, and masks are needed when in public.  I’m looking forward to the next phase or two for sure.  

Homebody Report, Week 4

Okidoke. This week was busy but fun.  Being home all the time doesn't mean we're sitting around, no sir! We started the week with 'May the 4th', you know...Star Wars Day.  We have boys, so this is a fun one.  I made up some BB8 pancakes in the morning, the kids (and Corey later on) all wore Star Wars shirts, Dawson worked on the letters Bb and the number 8, and made a BB8 out of paper plates, and then chocolate cut out Star Wars cookies to round off the day.  We probably should've watched some movies, but, it was a school night, haha. Beckett and Dawson have been painting rocks like crazy, and Beckett had me register one on GoRock.com.  B's Mario rock is SO awesome, and Dawson's sweet "Feel Goy (joy)" was really cute too.  Their approaches are totally different.  Beck wants others to find and take his rocks, while Dawson wants his to stay in our own garden for us to enjoy. Funny. Dawson continued on with a bit of the making forts theme this week, but instead had his tent up in his room.  Bedroom camping is the way to go!  He is loving it.  I'm thinking it may be time to take it down, but I might be easily persuaded not too...we'll see.

  

 

  

 

Asher has been doing/planning online activities for his quorum the past month and I'm so proud of him for trying to keep things rolling.  He's loved being able to see people and hang out that way.  This past week, Brother Passey made a Jeopardy game for it and they had a great time.  For dinner, Asher whipped up some homemade Mac n cheese.  Beckett made sloppy joes, something I have actually never made, for shame!  I remember eating it as a kid but had just never made it so it was a first for us both!

The boys have all needed haircuts so I finally broke out the clippers and scissors.  All three are now sporting shorter, more summery haircuts and looking better for it! We started up our puzzle this week too....Dawson is killing it, which was a big surprise. It's and Eric Dowdle one we did a few years back but decided to start with it since it's an AZ Diamondbacks Stadium one....in honor of our canceled trip to AZ for Spring Training.  Ah, well.  Maybe next year....maybe?  Oh!  And on a more exciting note, the pool is now open!  It's still too cold, and we had to order a new vacuum but everyone is excited to be able to swim soon. Summer is coming!

This week on the bread front, I did make a couple more sourdough cinnamon swirl loaves, and there will be no crying this time because I left out the raisins.  Corey used it for Mother's Day French toast, and it was delish.  I also tried making one batch but shaped and baked one loaf into a boule and one into a loaf, just to see.  It worked well.  Yay! Corey, Asher and I ran on Saturday morning, but we ran UP Booty Hill, much to my dismay.  I did it.  But it wasn't pretty.  Actually, I think there were about 20 feet left because I stopped at the last marker, thinking I was there.  It's okay though, I'm sure I'll get another chance to die trying.  Ugh.  I inherited a grouping of house plants this week from Sister Nims.  She generously offered a bunch up and I was thrilled to pick some up.  I've been perusing the internet for house plant ideas, and she saved me a bundle!  I've now repotted all but 2 tiny aloe plants.  There's a pothos, a wandering jew, a string of bananas and some aloe vera plants happily living with us.  I'm so excited!

  

This week was also our anniversary!  I told ya, busy!  I busted out the ol’ dress for fun.  As a gift I gave Corey a Lego SLC temple, which Dawson couldn’t wait to help with.  Corey and I had decided to made a fancy dinner at home and celebrate with the boys.  We put out the white tablecloth, cloth napkins, goblets, flowers, made them dress up and served them up some fried mushroom bites, grilled romaine lettuce, ribeye steaks with baked potatoes, and some fabulous crème brulee.  The food was divine.  Seriously.  And it was the best crème brulee I've ever made....thanks again New York Times!  It was fun celebrating with the boys too. They were not thrilled with the part where they had to dress up, except for Asher who didn’t care as long as he was getting a steak out of the deal. Cor and I went on a nice walk after dinner and then watched a movie together (Ford vs Ferrari...great!) to top it off though.

 

 

Mother's was on Sunday, and was the cap off for a week full of food and fun.  Corey and the boys made me a beautiful breakfast.  It was so good and they even made me my favorite Kneader's syrup.  I could drink that stuff, but that would not be good.  We had a nice church service, with Asher giving a talk on family, and Beckett playing a hymn.  Right before church, Beck came to me with about 6 ties around his neck (he learned how to tie a tie a few weeks back and caught on quick, ha), showing me he was just like the guy who does the online sharing time (Brandon Osmond).  The bishopric had the men come get a sweet sugar cookie to deliver to the women, which was a yummy little token, and then we talked to Corey's family on Zoom.  The evening ended with a yummy roast dinner and chocolate poke cake.  I don't need to eat for a week after the way we plodded thru last week.  Food does make things more fun though, so I am officially thankful for good and fun foods that make life a little better while we stay home.

 

On the Covid front...we hear there may be meat shortages, although it hasn't been too apparent yet, I still can't get my hands on any 10 pound hand weights, the doctors are finding that it affects most body systems in some way, when there are symptoms, or when there aren't, and later this week we will find out in what ways the state will start reopening things.  There’s also a new syndrome affecting children, but they can’t figure out exactly how it’s related to Covid, which is strange and unnerving.  It's going to be a long road I think, with some hiccups along the way.  I hope not though.

Homebody Report, Week 3

Welp.  Here we go again.  I'm enjoying blogging our family more regularly again, I'm just not loving the reason why I'm better at doing it.  Boo Coronavirus, boo.  Anyway, our family life is actually going well, and everyone is busy and improving in different ways, so I'm loving that.

 This week, Dawson was able to do a drive by type visit to the preschool to see his teachers and pick up some seeds to plant.  Getting out to do something for any reason at all is so novel right now, so that was fun!  Dawson also wanted to make banana muffins...with jam in the middle, which is something we've never tried, and it was surprisingly yummy!

 

Beckett was really into trying some crazy scooter antics this week.  He had us video some of them, and has aspirations of getting sponsored.  Apparently that's a thing, so he's going to keep on practicing.  Beckett has also mastered his front flip on the trampoline and can now land on his feet! He's settling into doing remote learning with Google classroom, and although he's frustrated with the time it takes to get everyone going, he is doing well.  Beckett also taught us about native American culture, particularly ones regarding the nearby Laguna pueblo.  He made and painted some clay pots, which turned out really cool!  We've each started picking topics of interest to share throughout the week, and have called them 'mini-Ted talks' for fun.  We figured it was something we could do at dinner sometimes to mix things up!

Asher made Stromboli for dinner this week and did a great job.  I need to start taking pictures of their food more (Beckett's meal this week was Thai Yellow Curry, also delish)!  They're learning techniques and tips I didn't know as an adult (my own fault of course...no interest or time).  Asher had a great 3rd quarter at school with excellent grades and is now starting 4th quarter but with only pass/fail options to accommodate the pandemic situation.  He's doing great with his remote class options now though too.

Corey has officially fixed ALL of our bikes.  Mine was a complete disaster and hadn't been ridden since I was a few months pregnant with Dawson, which was about 6 years ago.  It was bad, really bad.  Like, so bad that Cor had to order parts and tools to make things happen, and it was over a couple of Saturdays, so the moment when I sat on my trusty blue steed and drove away without anything falling off behind me was truly a triumphant moment for him.  Way to go Corey!! We went on a little ride up 'Booty Hill' and it was actually really great.  I can't wait to go with the whole family sometime soon.  Also, teaching Dawson is on the docket, so that's exciting.  Another huge task Corey took on was starting up the swamp coolers.  Every year takes a day or two, or a couple of weekends to get it all going right.  He did it all in an afternoon, and enlisted the help of the boys too so they could learn a few things.  Things are nice and cool, and just in time since the highs have been hitting the 90's! We went on a mini date this weekend...went on a drive up the hill as the sun was going down, and on the radio they were playing ONLY Christmas music, which was bizarre and funny.

This week I was busy too.  I finally planted my garden, at least what I've grown from seed so far although I'd love to get my hands on a few more things since some of my seeds are old and didn't sprout.  I restained our hanging chair.  I hated it too much so I had to redo it.  It was so ugly and looked like a piece of shiny shellacked furniture from the 70's, but not at all in that cool retro way.  Anyway, I'm glad that's behind me and I don't want to see a sander for at least a couple of weeks.  My sourdough obsession continues.  This week I made sourdough English muffins, and some amazing cinnamon raisin swirl bread which everyone loved except for Dawson who cried when he saw the raisins.  They were not happy tears.  I ran 4 miles with Corey on Saturday, and as a non-runner, that was a feat of bravery! While doing dishes on Saturday I may have screamed a little when some slight movement caught my eye.  I looked up and saw a good sized bull snake slithering across the lawn in front of me.  Ack!  The boys and I watched a bit and then finally corralled him out of the gate and back to the arroyo where he belongs! Corey, watched safely from inside and was rooting for us to get him out asap.  That was one of the more exciting events of the week!

  

Our walks have been awesome.  We love seeing the quail, the rabbits, hawks, and especially the great horned owls.  I still haven't gotten a great photo...I forgot to grab my zoom lens and so this is the best we have.  I'm going to try again though!

On a sadder note, our friend Harold Rushton passed away unexpectedly this week.  He had improved and everyone though he was on the mend, but then I signed on to Facebook one morning to find he had died.  We were shocked and so saddened by this loss.  It's the only person we've known personally who has had Covid-19, and it was so bad from the start.  He was the kindest man and I know his family and wife will miss him greatly.  Thankfully, the gospel can help bridge the gap between sorrow and hope. We will continue to pray for their family to have peace.