The Tenth Birthday that Wasn't...

E has been planning her 10th bday since about 364 days since her 9th birthday. I told her she could chose a party with all her friends (we don't do huge friend parties) or going out to a nice dinner with just me and Papa or whatever. She had decided on Harry Potter themed and either an escape room or Rip and Drip in the front yard. It finally got to the point in January and February I told her she wasn't allowed to discuss birthday plans until a month before her birthday. Well then COVID changed everything and we went back to our traditional family birthday and we are hoping to let her have her big friend party for the big ONE-ONE...

She was very particular about where she wanted people sitting and wearing her yellow sunglasses 

The big girls were suuuuuper excited about the gift they gave her because they knew she'd love it. Though I will say the watch that she was given has definitely been on her wrist ever since and if she wasn't our timekeeper before, she certainly is now and will set alarms to let us know when we should be leaving (I wonder who she gets from!)

Grammy's cake did not disappoint as usual

A decade has flown by with our first born, guinea pig!

Queen C turns Three

C turned the big THREE a few days ago: 

                            

E suggested the Teddy Grahams for decorations

She BLEW through her presents

She has been able to slow down and appreciate them since

YAY CAKE!

C somersaulted on her third birthday!

C got a new helmet to go with her new bike but she probably needs to wear it more often than not

The kids loved picking out and wrapping her gift

She lost her Baby Shark phone so I knew she'd love a new one

Happy Birthday C! You are a wild child with a big heart. We can't want to see what this year holds. 

Drive Thru Kindergarten Graduation

Last week M had her final day of kindergarten... 

There's always a celebration/graduation and of course this year looked waaaaaaay different than in years past.

Everyone drove up and stood by their cars and the kids were called up one-by-one to say a few line about kindergarten 

I know M so desperately wanted to give her BFF a hug... She talks about her all the time and I know they miss eating lunch together and swinging on the monkey bars. That makes me sad to think about

They each got a cupcake - because no party and not food at school - much to the siblings chagrin. She had that after dinner and then we headed across town to a classmate's house for an outside movie. Which was blast! 

So even with all the weirdness going on... not a bad way to end kindergarten. 

Corona-Tine Weeks Ocho y Nueve

Linking up with Kelly ... wrapping day 63

---1---

Passing on my LOVE for hammocks to my children...  

Speaking of hanging out.. 

Lee and I have been sitting out on the front porch most evenings and contemplating life and Corona and the weather and work and kids and everything and this showed up

It was truly majestic and the pics don't do the colors justice.  A reminder of God's covenant for sure. 

---2---

I still drag everyone on our normal morning and sometimes afternoon walks... 

I thought C was wearing one of the girls hoodies but it turned out to be mine.

No personality at all...nope 

R knows I love flowers

---3---

In my spare time (hahahahaha) I've been inspired to fill up the walls with puzzle and other assorted frames... 

I'll have to post my weekend progress on the girls room. E's begging for a wall color... maybe in the fall? 

---4---

The boy needs a haircut and I told him he could not buzz his hair like Papa just yet.

Great excitement around the house one day last week was... 

So entertained. 

My guy

He's getting so big, if I sat and thought about it long enough I could cry. 

---5---

Double Digits: 

She's got a book problem. 

I started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (aloud) to the group this week (so we can watch the movie) and it is AWESOME. We are loving it!

Enjoying her new bday skates : ) 

E BEGGED to turn on the sprinkler Friday night and I made her call Lee to confirm which was oh so wise on my part because once she fiddled with the front sprinkler for 15 minutes she drug the back sprinkler all the way to the front - much to Lee's chagrin the next afternoon (but I told him he couldn't be mad at them because 1. he approved it and 2. she was being resourceful). C may have been better suited in a bathing suit because she didn't realize clothes are REQUIRED 

---6---

The Puzzle Report:

We are onto another puzzle... Six maybe? E has claimed this for the nursery and I tend to agree with her. The brighter evenings has afforded the big girls a little extra neighborhood freedom so puzzling into not what it used to be but its okay. 

---7---

Wildlife Report...  

The girls were collecting ladybugs for the "Ladybug Hotel" - they were having a hard time keeping them in so we opted for the hotel theory. M has to do a bug project for school and she chose a ladybug. I was hoping she'd find a round rock and paint it red (they have gotten into the painted rock selling business in the afternoons) but that didn't happen. The project is due Monday and all we have so far is a styrofoam sphere. 

Thanksgiving Dinner and St. Francis

E nearly stepped on this during one of our morning walks. We hoped that by not touching it, its mom would come back and teach it how to fly. 

Last night I pulled a tick off of Lee. It hadn't fully burrowed??? but it did bite him because a small part remains stuck under the surface of the skin. Praying that it is not a lyme carrying tick.  Oh and M saw a black snake slithering across the back yard today which was a topic of much conversation. 

7QTs - Completely Clear Calendars (in May)

Linking up with Kelly ... it has been 7 weeks... 

---1---

Week seven. 49 days of Corona-tine. 

I think the dashboard in the van pretty much summed up my feelings generally for the week. All the warning lights flashing and not much to be done except buckle up and power through. The kids whininess and their need (and understandably) for help with school work was a rough one. I really just need all the school stuff to be done. 

Fortunately Lee comes home to a house that looks like a bomb went off and starts in the kitchen and works his way back in the clean up department. By the time 4-4:30 rolls around I have just about no ounces of anything left for cleaning up. Yes the kids do help but usually there's always dishes to be washed or crumbs to be wiped or dirt particles to be vacuumed. 

ALWAYS. 

---2---

C continues to live out her days to the fullest: 

They involving exchanging video messages with her dog-cousin Wayne who she shares striking commonalities with. This week's video exchange provided some much needed humor. Wayne said told he got in trouble for chewing things. Well this week C 

1. While on our morning walk picked up rocks from our neighbors' driveway and put them in her mouth?!!?!? and only took them out when scolded 

2. Stuffed the last 3-5 strawberries in her mouth - so A couldn't eat them. Leafy tops and all

I promise I don't make this stuff up.

---3---

I know what you are thinking... 

No they didn't jump in the puddle in the ditch but I bet they would have. The weather this week has been oddly cool. I don't think we have turned on the air or heat in weeks. Our power bill was nearly identical the past 2 months so hopefully we will go for another month of low-ish bills. 

Lee always takes/picks/chooses the worst weather day as his stay-at-home day with the kids which means very little outside time - I don't envy his position for sure. 

---4---

I don't think I need to say more!

Love him. Love him. Love him. 

J and I went on a blind date this week. A blind date with his/our family's (new) pediatrician. It was weird. It was highly anticipated because I/we adored our (old) pediatrician. It caused a huge quandary because 9 days out of 10 you probably don't think about your kid's doctor - until you do or until you need something or you go to the pediatrician 55 million times in a month. Then you care... a whole lot. Anyways we survived and we are going back. 

---5---

Injury Report: 

Nothing major in the injury reportage this week. Just your basic run of the mill falls and cuts and scrapes. A got a fresh one on his elbow. The girls and I trekked up to play soccer tonight and I freaking pulled my quad on the first kick of the game. Playing thru it now vs in high school is basically impossible or will cause further insult to injury. Getting old is the pits. 

---6---

The Puzzle Report:

Another puzzle in the books. Another bare wall filled. I love this puzzle. E said that I could hang it up in our room which I where I was planning on putting it whether she liked it or not. I do need to find a puzzle that she wants in her and R's room. 

I need to print some wedding pics and a few others and just play the waiting game so I can get Lee to get his hammer and level out and decorate! It is his FAVORITE! 

---7---

Thoughts on the week...  

M and A had social Zoom meetings this week. It was sweet. M was super happy to socialize. A, well, he clammed up - but we have high hopes for next week's meeting. 

As we begin the month of May it is definitely cause for a pause. May is always suuuuuper busy. I used to dread it but I came to embrace the crazy. Everything is ending and everything happens all at once. Lee is super crazy busy. 

But then Corona happened sooo.... 

Nothing is happening. No end of year activities, programs, soccer games, swim practices, AHG. We should be heading up to Virginia this weekend for a choir competition for E. That was bound to be wild because R, M, A&C should have had soccer games and I would have been coaching two of them and I would have needed to get a sitter for them. Plus I was going to try and figure out a way to ride roller coasters with E at Busch Gardens so that mean J would have needed tending to as well. But all that's not happening. 

Next weekend we should have been having a massive 10th bday party for E. I told her could have a party with all the friends (which we don't do). She was going to have a Rip and Dip inflatable water slide and Chik Fil A. It was going to be a big deal. Then on Mothers Day we would have gone to Duck Donuts to get her bday breakfast after church. 

Then there should have been a smattering of everything happening at school. Teacher Appreciation Week, Field Day, end of year parties and programs. I remember our last few Mays (2019, 2017) and I while I have come to appreciate a slower pace I think I'd like to be hustling around rather than having an absolutely empty May. 

Seven QTs - Corona-tine 4/5/6

Linking up with Kelly ... a hodge podge of weeks four, five and six...

---1---

Phew! Has it really been six week?!?!? Pascha was two weeks ago today and that seems like it was at least 2.5 million years ago. Everyone has definitely settled into our daily routine and we still have come to appreciate our lack of scheduled weekends even more. Saturdays basically consist of cartoon watching until 10, chores, lunch and playing outside. 

But there's a reason I have this posted on the microwave. 

The daily grind has been challenging (as it always has been) but it ways that are becoming normal (but weren't until 6 weeks ago). This is tough. The kids miss their friends, their schools, their teachers, their coaches, their activities, their churches, their grandparents, their aunts/uncles/cousins - and Lee and I miss all of the above too. It's just a little easier for he and I to process the change and this distance. 

---2---

The school report: 

A saw R practicing her cursive handwriting during a Zoom meeting so after he wanted to get in on the whiteboard action. 

See the difference? I texted his preschool teacher (who I don't know who adores her more A or me) and she reminded him to pinch his marker (hello handwriting grip!) and he grinned so big and changed it up : ) 

During outside time there's a good chance 'the girl who drinks books' can be found reading. Fortunately Grammy is feeding E's book addiction and it is like Christmas when new books arrive. The problem is she is so excited about some she'll read them in a day or two and then mope around the next week because she 'has NOTHING to read'. Though she has gotten better about rereading books - something she stuck her nose up at a few weeks ago. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, she got to play librarian for our neighbors and I finally had to put the brakes on at about 12. I think she just wants other people to love books at much as she does!

It's been all pencils on deck for decimals and fractions this week. Showing your work in order to explain it has been harped on again and again. R was learning about money so we got change out and talked about buying things and do we have enough money to buy items. 

All the school is sprinkled in between feeding times (because everyone is starving all the time) and me working. It's funny because I think there's increased home background noise on some of the calls I'm on. Especially if that person is working from home and we've talked about having to juggle remote working and parenting/schooling/life currently. Funny the things you can bond over... 

---3---

Miss C..

She is basically living her best life every single day. She is so cute and so naughty. 

Most days after the morning walk and snack, she and A are banished to the outside (which they are mostly fine with) so the big girls can get school work done. They always shoot straight for the back yard and to the ditch that is full of muck and leaves and dirt. They were 'building a bridge' across it. Several days she had to get showered BEFORE rest because she was so dirty. I have legit concerns about snakes so we are making a very concerted effort to steer clear of the ditch. She and A have also got into a few ant hills this week. A knows better than to stick his foot in them but C is just starting to test the waters and has come up to the house more than twice screaming about her newly acquired ant bites. 

She is basically a daredevil too. I am constantly reminding/pleading with her to wear a helmet. She thinks she's about 13 and tries to keep up with all her older siblings so she races around on her bike. There's one spot in the front side yard with a small hole in it - perfect for riding bikes in and getting a little bump on the way in and out - that spot is frequently part of the path they ride in daily. 

Case closed. She's a lunatic but we LOVE her

---4---

Everyone else living their best lives:

A always said he wanted a little brother and I think this is why. J doesn't even realize how great of a big brother he has yet!

I love our little street that has about one car per hour going down it. The trash truck came the other day and I got a bit nervous from my work perch so I ran out to check on everyone and of course everything was fine. One morning A and C wandered and C found a puddle and came back with wet brown shoes but that's not bad for three weeks of this. They were scolded and haven't left the yard again. 

We've given the girls a bit more freedom to play outside at the neighbors house and come home as they please. If we didn't love our neighbors before (which we did) then we really love them (even more) now. This week there's been several later evening soccer games. Friday night Lee got home from work and J was in bed, A and C and Papa watched a cooking show and me and the big girls got out for a neighbor pick up game - it was a blast!

This could have been categorized in the next section but wasn't because A is a cat. He was shoveling out dirt for the garden and took a really big step (out of the truck) and Lee and I watched in horror (like the slow-mo kind) and he landed on his feet (thank the Lord!). Lee put the gate up to the bed after that. He and the kids have been busy on a garden. I am encouraging it but keeping my distance just like I will if Lee builds the chicken coop he's been talking about. 

J isn't forgotten in all this but he's so chill and quiet and undemanding of my attention (when other people are) I like to give him extra attention getting ready for bed. For some reason he can be super chatty and giggly that time of day and it is really cute. 

He's basically an eating machine now and that is about the only time he does pipe up and let his presence be known. He is super impatient around dinner time so I've learn to have my ducks in a row or our ears will all pay the price. 

---5---

Injury Report: 

Pretty sure some of the marks on C's face near her mouth are some food remnants and not injury. She basically moves a zillion miles a minute and should where a helmet at all times and continues to be fearless through all her bumps and bruises. The older girls would have been reluctant to play as hard as C does because of her battle scars but C shakes things off much easier. 

A fell off the couch a few weeks ago and I was almost at the point of taking him to the dentist because it looked so terrible but she said to give it a day or two and it was completely fine. 

---6---

The Turtle Report:

Lee texted me the afternoon I was at work a few weeks ago and said he found another turtle about the same size as Yertle. I told him to keep it because I wanted to see it and come to find out this turtle was MUCH bigger. 

The shell was gorgeous and I don't know if it was the size compared to Yertle or the coloring or what it was but the turtle 'looked' mean. #turtlejudging

I don't know what kind of turtle it was but we put it out by the ditch and R was distraught. I told her the turtle might come back one day and I don't think she believe me but we couldn't have two turtles. 

I broke down and got turtle food - yes its a thing and it is about $3 on Amazon. So now I feel good about Yertle getting food because I was really worried he wasn't eating the fruit we were putting in his container. It is super fun to watch him eat. He definitely prefers the shrimp to the pellets and he is very much a focused hunter when there's food around. 

---7---

Puzzle Report: 

We finally finished the Star Wars puzzle and it was a challenge. The black parts of Vadar were basically a try every piece everywhere it can possibly go. 

I think we thought this puzzle would get put together much faster than it did. These piece were cut in neat ways but were were cardboard-ish so didn't snap together like a Ravensburger puzzle. 

Anyhow it is a really neat NC puzzle that I've already got a spot for

E and I just finished this (whimsical) Noah's Ark puzzle before bed last night. There are dinosaurs and polar bears drinking soda and owls reading - which I didn't realize until we got a close look at the box. It was a fun one because of the colors and textures and patterns. 

I've stocked up on puzzle glue. Between the puzzles and the extra time I've had to think about wall projects - we won't have a bare wall. Now I just need to channel some of my energy/effort to A's stocking and knock it out!