Corona Season - May

What stared as a 2-week lock down continued to drag into several months of social distancing. Although there have been plenty of bored moments, we have really enjoyed a lot of peaceful, fun activities. We realize that isolating with 3 amazingly fun, creative, patient kiddos who laugh a lot has made this experience very sweet.

Luke and the kids built several new garden beds and demolished an old one. Fresh soil, fresh seeds. Never have we had a better spring/summer to tend to a garden!

We set up the badminton net several times during the beautiful spring weather. This was a heavenly moment - perfect weather, the smell of magnolia drifting on the cool breeze, shadows through the trees, and laughter. I took a few pics then went out to join them and tried so hard to imprint the moment on my mind. It really was perfectly heavenly - totally peaceful, joyful, and happy -

Having the Caldwells across the street has been a huge blessing during quarantine. These girls know how to social-distance, and have even created a song: "Corona virus... this is as close as we can get..."

Of course it didn't take long for Noelle to bust out the sewing machine and a youtube tutorial and make some masks. Without elastic, she learned that leggings can provide good stretchy fabric for straps. Lucy sacrificed one pair for the endeavor.

Yardwork is always on the chore rotation. Lucy enjoyed carrying this branch around and suggested I take it with me next time I go grocery shopping because it would keep people 6 feet away :)

Lots of fried rice, rice & beans, eggs, frozen pizza, mexican bowls...

We have also taken a million walks - alone, together, in every combination. We have appreciated our neighborhood, the many shades of green, and proximity to Silver Grizzly!

Quarantine seems like a good time to get out fancy tea cups -

Luke and the girls have been making "little girl stools"  -

On one breezy afternoon, Isaiah suggested we get out our kites, which we haven't used in a while. Great idea. We had so much fun flying them at LeTu in perfect weather!

Quarantine also proved to be the right time to finally install the slack line -

Thanks to Pa for sending us some new games!  We have played a LOT of games -

Mothers day was sweet! Coffee cake and fruit, homemade gifts, and a new kindle! 

It did not take long for us to weary of online church. We started hosting several families on the driveway, which was much better. Here we are on Mother's Day!

We did a Zoom Mother's Day tea with Mimi, Shannon, Aubryn, Annelise, and Brookie - very sweet :)

So... much... fishing! Isaiah has met friends several times to fish, he's bought some new gear, we have been as a family, and Luke has taken them on several "Wednesday adventures," which have included fishing -

We got a POOL!!!  Although we would have preferred a deeper option, by the time we started looking they were sold OUT! We checked every website and store that we could think of. Once the country realized that all camps, vacations, and activities were cancelled for summer 2020, pools, bikes, and sports equipment became very hard to come by. We found this little beauty on ebay and payed twice as much for it than we should have... But it has been so much fun. The "big kid baby pool" has provided hours and hours of fun. 

Quarantine has also provided opportunities for new recipes! Mimi sent me a new cookbook for Mother's Day and we have enjoyed trying new things. Isaiah made fried risotto!

Noelle made peanut butter brownies -

And I learned how to make croissants!!!!! I was so excited that I could do this!!

The biggest Wednesday Adventure was to Caddo, where Luke and the kids canoed and fished -

More weeks of outdoor church with friends -

I took the kids up to Efurds for strawberry picking and for buying fresh peaches. It was a beautiful morning and it redeemed our strawberry-picking disaster from earlier -

Also... Art! We found an online course called The Brave Artists' Club. What a sweet thing to create beauty during a time when the world is struggling so much.

We also decided it was time for a bit of an update in decor, at least in the den. Noelle is my best shopping buddy. She's got good insights/opinions and she's not afraid to share them! I also repainted the den and mudroom, but it ended up being too yellow. A second round of painting coming soon...

  Remmie was born!! We had been so excited for a little boy puppy, but the litter ended up being only 2 puppies and both were girls. It felt like one more disappointment on top of many disappointments, but we adjusted. We are now excited for our little girl and counting down the weeks.

There have been a million coronavirus memes online. I liked this one -