Week 42

Dear Scott,

On Monday and Tuesday we ventured into the world for eye doctor appointments.  Emma was happy to have her vision finally corrected to 20/20 after 3 years of not being quite there.  (Apparently an axis shifted in her eye enough to make the correction??)  Benson's eyes were much worse, and Caytie and Gracie had minor changes.  It was OMG Creamery's birthday, so we stopped for some soft serve one of the days.  Tessa is still my only non-vision-challenged child, and she finally said she was glad about that.

We only went swimming in the neighborhood on Thursday this week, and I was able to sign up for two consecutive slots--but at different pools.  Our close pool was first, and we had it to ourselves for most of the time.  The further pool was more crowded, but still fun, and everyone got their fill for the day.  They're removing the reservation system after the 4th of July, but they're still going to count people.

We had some rain this week, and a couple overcast days, so it was actually really nice to be outside.  We got a couple chalk drawings made.  Here's Gracie's:

I had been trying to sign up to go to the blueberry picking place, but every time I tried, the sign up was full.  We decided to go to Ham Orchards in Terrell to check out their peaches instead.  It's not a pick-your-own place (their blackberry season was over), but it was a fun outing, anyway.  We got peach fried pies and peach pulled pork sandwiches, which we had to eat in the car, due to COVID restrictions.  They were SO YUMMY!

We also got some peach ice cream and a box of peaches.  Again--SO YUMMY!  I'm deciding how to use all the peaches before they go bad.

On Friday evening Dad got his boat motor out and tested and ready so that we could go to the lake on Saturday.  We brought some lunch, two kayaks (oh, Dad bought another kayak on Friday!), the raft, and Dad's boat and went to have some fun! It was windy, so the raft was really hard to use, and the kayaks were ok, but the little-er ones had trouble staying near us, and Dad's boat had trouble starting at first, and the ground was super slick mud, which made it difficult to climb into and out of the water--HOWEVER, we had a wonderful time!  The girls kept saying that it was a great day and we all wondered why we haven't been doing this more often through the years.  We spent several hours there before they were all worn out. (I think Benson could have gone on for several more hours.)

On Sunday we were watching some old videos (yes, our 20 year old VCR still works!), including the one of our wedding reception.  I loved seeing my grandparents (Helen and Jesse Stay) in it.  The girls asked if I still have my dress, which of course I had to pull out, and they tried it on.

We also watched Dad's lasik surgery, and the videos he made for school projects in high school (killing the chicken and chemistry in the kitchen).  Good memories!

I'm glad the cookies arrived safely.  The music should be on its way.  We miss you and the positive energy you bring to our home!  That pipe organ looked so fun to play--I'm glad you got to do that!

Love,

Mom

Quarantine-- Art at Home

Online school art classes presented challenges, but our kids stepped up to them.  Here are a couple things they did...

Caytie had to make a color wheel with found objects:

She was given a picture to print of Mona Lisa's head and hands, and she had to create the rest of the picture:

Gracie had to make a surrealism collage:

This is not one she did at home, but the first time we got to see it was when we found it on the Texas State VASE website.  She had qualified to go to the competition with this piece, but the in-person event was cancelled due to coronavirus.  The judging took place as planned, however, and we found out that she medaled!  This means that she scored a 4.  She was sad on the day that the competition happened for not being there, but finding out she medaled helped to make up for it.

Scott was using up his multitudes of free time in creative ways, as well.  He decided to repaint this eagle scene he did for me when he was about 10.  The poem says: "The sun's rays Lie along my wings And stretch beyond their tips."  We keep it in the playroom with others the other kids did.  (He actually drew the picture, and I painted it.)

Here's the new version:

He also decided he wanted to try making a cake with fondant, so here's the results:

I'm glad they are finding ways to be creative!

Quarantine--Gracie's Fifteenth Birthday!

Sweet Gracie turned 15 on an online school day--but that didn't stop us from celebrating!  We started with a toaster strudel breakfast and gifts.  G and G R sent her a cute BYU sweatshirt she loves.  A couple things she wanted had to be delayed until we could browse at stores again, like a dress and a trip to Barnes and Noble, but she did get some watercolor pens and erasable pens, and a betta fish tank, because we all know our house needs more pets!  She and Ben went out that afternoon to find a fish she liked, and it seems there is a bit of a shortage, due to COVID 19.  (People buying fish for company in quarantine?  People not buying fish due to quarantine?)  After calling around, they found a store with a few and she chose a little pinkish one she named Squirt.

A couple friends from her young women's class drove by to wish her happy birthday.  They stayed in their cars and honked and waved.  I grabbed a picture as the last car was driving away.

She wanted chicken pot pie for dinner.  No problem!

She also wanted cheesecake for her cake, so I broke out the new cheesecake pans and made one from scratch for the first time.  We topped it with strawberries and it was delicious!

Happy 15th birthday to the greatest, most generous Gracie in the land!

Week 41

Dear Scott,

Happy first week of summer!  The weather decided to celebrate by cooling down and raining.  We are not complaining!

We were able to schedule a couple trips to the pool this past week.  The system is easy to use and fast, but still a bit of a pain.  What we don't like the most is that the HOA can only afford pool attendants for about half the day, so the other half of the day the pools sit empty.  They won't let people volunteer to help for legal reasons.  Oh, well.  Life in COVID.

As you know, Dad is starting a girls Scouts BSA troop for our girls and their friends to join to earn merit badges.  This meant several trips to the scout shop, and Benson went along and just HAD to get a scout hoodie and a leather moccasin kit.  He has been dressed very cozily for our Texas summer since then.

He and Dad were able to go to a Cub Day Camp on Saturday at Camp Wisdom.  This was in place of the week long Twilight Camp which was cancelled.  They had a lot of fun shooting arrows and guns, building a birdhouse, swimming, and other Cubby things.

We took a trip to the zoo on Tuesday.   We (of course) had to reserve a time to be there, and there were one-way paths we had to follow throughout the zoo, and if we went inside anywhere we had to wear masks.  (Only the reptile house and the bathrooms were open, so it wasn't very much, but it was the longest time the kids have had to wear masks so far, and they were not impressed with them.  Oh, well.  Life in COVID.)  We happened to be walking by the chimpanzees when a big fight broke out with them.  All of the chimps were ganging up on one, beating on him and grabbing a wound on his bum and making a huge racket with their loud bellowing, chasing him down whenever he escaped.  At first it was interesting, but then we realized it was pretty serious, and the girls didn't want to see any more, so we walked away, and we saw a zoo man with two long sticks, one with a hook and one that looked like a tranquilizer gun, headed toward them.  We didn't go back to see what the results were.  BUT the rest of the day was lovely--we got to see the new baby giraffe, we ate our lunch by the elephants as we like to do (but all the chairs were removed, so we sat on the ground) and it was only 92 degrees, so we didn't die of heat.

I finally got my haircut.  I got about six inches taken off, and my head is much cooler now.  Hooray!  Plus, I found a new place to get it done that I really liked, so maybe I'll get it done more regularly now.

Yesterday was not only Father's Day, but also the first time we attended church since before Spring Break!  Dad woke up first and made pancakes for breakfast, which were so yummy.  (I think we were supposed to do the cooking...but we aren't complaining.)  We gave him his gifts before heading to church.  They did a great job keeping things sanitized.  We weren't allowed to sing any songs, the two talks were about 7 minutes long, and there were only less than 50 of us there, because we're on a rotating schedule of attendance to keep the numbers down, but it was so good to be with other ward members on Sunday.  We love home church, but it is sometimes easy to get casual with it.  They didn't want us to linger in the hallways or in the parking lot.   Oh, well.  Life in COVID.  We made Dad chicken broccoli casserole for dinner, and loved talking with you while we ate.  We watched "The Cokeville Miracle" that evening, which is a really good, uplifting movie!

It is fun to see the different ways you are finding to share your testimony on social media.  I pray you are able to find some truth seekers with your efforts.  Like the sons of Mosiah we're reading about this week, you are an instrument in the hands of the Lord doing His work.  We love and miss you!

Love,

Mom

Quarantine--April Sundries

When your school is closed, but they need to have an induction ceremony for National Junior Honors Society, they get creative and broadcast it online from the office!  Congrats, Caytie!

Benson and Ben were scheduled to go on a campout, but it was recreated as an "at-home and join in online" event.  Since General Conference was beginning as well, the tent got set up inside!

These two are the only ones who slept inside, but they were ready for a King Benjamin experience with Conference on Saturday.

Conference, by the way, was amazing.  President Nelson had told us in the last conference to prepare for this one, as it was the 200th anniversary of the First Vision, the beginning of the restoration of the gospel in this dispensation.  He said it would be very memorable!  I did some readings in my personal studies, and we were reading the first Saints book as a family to prepare.  We did not expect that part of the memorable-ness of this conference was that no one was invited!  It was broadcast with no audience, and all the speakers were six feet away from each other.  But the Spirit remained strong.  The speakers focused their talks on the restoration, and how it continues to apply to us today.  There were two youth speakers, which was very unusual.  There was a combined adult meeting, rather than the Women or Priesthood only meeting.  President Nelson invited us to join a worldwide fast on Good Friday to help stop the coronavirus, as well as reading a new Proclamation about the restoration, and ending with a Hosanna Shout, which my kids had never participated in.  (My sweet neighbor Martha gave us some white handkerchiefs for the occasion.)  My favorite quote from conference was from President Nelson: "The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can't come without it."

Scott was a good sport to entertain his sisters.  The toes didn't escape, either.

It's fun when you can get Dad to join in a game of four corners!

Benson agreed to be Scott's guinea pig while learning how to give haircuts.

Bonding with his new buddy

Ben kept busy restoring some minibikes.  Here's the Roper bike he finished:

Easter egg dying was in serious jeopardy, as I couldn't find eggs at Walmart, due to quarantine grocery shortages that hadn't sorted themselves out yet.  I was able to find some at another store, though-- an 18 count!  A Roper Easter miracle.

Egg dying inspired other artworks during the day.

On Good Friday, we joined in the worldwide fast to help slow the coronavirus.  We also did a challenge from "Come, Follow Me" that week, to take a phrase from "The Living Christ" document and illustrate it, and then share it on social media.  This was mine:

Scott's:

Benson's:

Gracie's:

Easter Sunday was a nice day, with home church and time to make a nice meal.  (I am not complaining about how unscheduled my Sundays are during the quarantine.)  Gracie made little bunnies for our plates.  She would have used bigger napkins, but paper goods were also still in short supply at the stores, so she had to use what we had left.

Before the meal!  (Of note--the kids really enjoyed the layered Jell-O I made.  I had to buy rolls instead of make them, since I had run out of yeast, and that was strangely one of the things not found at stores.  Flour was also hard to find, but I had some still.  The ham also took a couple trips to different stores before I found what I wanted.)

After--with full tummies!  We are blessed in so many ways.

Kona Ice came through our neighborhood and stopped at our driveway--so of course, we had to get some!  (The kids are enjoying their new school uniforms. ☺)

Other families social distancing as we enjoy our treats

Scott finished his two week strict quarantine, so he came out to enjoy some, too.

If we must be in quarantine, at least the weather has been beautiful this Spring to help us enjoy our time outdoors.