Saturday, May 16, 2020
Friday, May 1, 2020
APRIL 2020
SPRING BREAK
Spring break sure was different this year. Lacking in excitement, good weather, and outings. As it should be during a quarantine I guess. And it will definitely go down in the books as one of our most memorable, I'm sure. It snowed a few times, rained a few times, but we did get a few hours here and there of good sunshine. We went on lots of walks around the neighborhood. That's the only thing we do right now to leave the house. It's a good break from the house and fresh air, no complaints. Nate was working evenings all week which stunk, but we were looking forward to our 10 days off so it was okay. We didn't have to do schoolwork, that was nice. We did a few more vinyl shirts for Jack and Erika. Jack chose the words "Sadie is cute!" for his shirt :). Still makes me smile when I think about it. And Erika found a cute saying, "Beauty in the streets, Beast in my cleats" for her blue hoodie that we have been thinking of retiring because it was a little dirty. We put a soccer ball on the pocket too. They both turned out really good! Only took me one try on Jack's. Little bit trickier with Erika's, but that's okay. We're still learning. I need more practice so I need to get more vinyl. I tried to order a new four square ball because the one I got last week popped, but of course those are "out of stock" so they substituted it with a dodge ball. So there has been lots of dodge ball all week :). Kind of a cool mistake. We watched too many movies and ate a lot of junk food- that's all that isn't "out of stock" right now when I'm shopping, so that's what we have :). Lots of sleepovers. Nate took the kids on lots of long walks and fiddled around with how to collect fast offerings. 3-30-20--4-3-20
APRIL FOOLS
We had a fun April Fools this year. Noah, Luke and Brad set up their little traps for everyone the night before and morning of. It was funny as I was making my protein shake to keep running into all of them. I made sure to put them back :). Everyone loved the confetti falling on them when they opened their bedroom doors. There was a lot of fun for most of the morning. And of course, it got a little old and died out halfway through the day :). But it was fun. I tried to pull a trick and serve them dinner for breakfast, but nobody wanted Lasagna for breakfast for some reason. 4-1-20
FUN MAIL
The Idaho Mayneses sent us a cute little "heart attack" in the mail and Becky sent us some fun little crafts as well. Grandma Ruthie too, sent us some activities to help us get ready for Easter. Lots of fun! We have good family! 4-4-20
GENERAL CONFERENCE
Conference was amazing this time! SO MANY cool things!! We had the Hosanna shout, which sometimes starts out feeling a little silly, but then the Spirit comes flooding in when I look around the room at my cute kids all participating in this sacred thing. It was really neat! I loved it! Our Prophet is so cool! He is so inspired. He and the 12 made a new Proclamation to the World about The Restoration. Makes me wonder how meaningful this might become in the future, just like the Family one has. It was really neat. There were a lot of talks on the Priesthood which I loved and want to keep studying. I need to find out more about the responsibilities of the Priesthood women can do in the home. I would like to utilize that power more in my life. Especially if that is what Heavenly Father wants! We are getting 8 more temples, one in SHANGHAI!! Pretty sweet! What else? I mean, there was enough with the coronavirus to make this whole thing memorable, but also so much more! I loved it! The kids all did really well at listening. Nate made a special trip to the store for treats to help with that, but they really seemed to just be interested in listening. I love that about my kids. 4-5-20
FHE
I taught a lesson on removing distractions, Charity's activity was watching Emporer's New Groove, and Kelly's treat was no bake cookies. It was a rough night for me- I was feeling really dizzy for some reason. I think it's my antibiotics, but man, it was annoying! Good time though! 4-6-20
SERVICE
For study time I taught about service and thinking of others. So we planned a service to be done that day. We chose to go heart attack our grandma's and Aunt Becky and deliver the letters we'd written for Steve the day before. This ended up being a lot of fun and a nice little escape from our house! Brad drove us down to Ruth's house and we decorated her door then stood across the yard and talked with her and then Nancy and Evan as well. It was a much needed visit. We stopped at Becky's house and decorated her door. She was working so we didn't get to visit with her at all. And then stopped and did my mom's door as well. She was there, and came out and cried a little before saying goodbye. Then we stopped at Smith's for some toilet paper and then up to Steve's to surprise him. Unfortunately, he wasn't around, but he did love our letters! I'm so glad. This was a fun day and good time for all of us! We need to do more like this more often. 4-7-20
BIKE RIDE
I loved hearing Molly squeal with excitement through our whole bike ride as she rode in the bike trailer. Totally made my day!
QUARANTINE UPDATE
Charity has been doing better. She spends an obscene amount of time talking, face-timing, texting, marco poloing, and missing her friends, but she has ventured out of her room a little more this week. We got her to play a few games with us. Compatibility has been a favorite this week. Kelly is still going strong. I keep wondering when she will break. She's a rock! She misses her friends too and spends time talking to them once in a while, but overall, she is in really good spirits. She likes the walks, goes over to the park to do wall balls every once in a while. She's even let me pass with her once in a while. She's done lots of crafts with everyone and invited sibs to bake brownies, rice krispie treats, you name it. She has stayed very busy and very helpful. I hope she is doing okay. Bradley has been very up as well. Making the most of this crappy situation. The thing he misses most is Track. He's managing to keep himself going though. He's doing the 1,000 challenge Nate suggested- that's been fun to hear about :). He's been running and letting me ride my bike next to him while he runs. I'm pretty sure I'll always cherish those times. He's a blessing to have around especially when it comes to Sadie and Molly. He is a fun big brother and somehow always has the patience to include his little sisters. Luke has done so well with all of this. He is slowly getting more and more bored so we are always trying to think of new things for him to do to challenge himself, but not be too hard. He and Noah picked out some plastic dominoes that they can work on their chain reactions with. I'm glad he's staying positive, but I do worry about him. He needs to stay active and not sink into a rut. He's been doing really good with his schooling though- I'm really proud of him and his ability to keep going. I know it's been a struggle. I think Noah would be fine with this break if it wasn't for the schooling. It seems to drive him into the ground every day. He has been keeping up though, and puts so much into it. I'm glad he has Luke and that they are being buddies lately. They spend hours making their chain reactions and filming them. It's a lot of fun to see them have that talent in common. It's been fun to see what Noah comes up with to entertain himself. He's staying pretty busy. I'm going to be sad to not get to see his 6th grade graduation if it comes down to that. I hope they do something to make it special. I can't believe we're almost done with Elementary for him! Erika has been making the most of this rotten deal as well. She and Kate have made little mailboxes that they keep on their porches so that they can leave notes and gifts for each other. She's had a LOT of fun with that and the occasional shout across the Clark's yard and glimpses of Kate jumping on the tramp. Not hanging out with Kate has been the biggest challenge for Erika. She has the most amazing teacher though, and that has been a blessing I think. She even gives breaks on days when things are clearly getting overwhelming. We are so grateful for that. Erika has been busy with crafts and playing outside and has come on bike rides with us a lot too. I'm glad she's getting all the physical activity she needs. Jack has been a new person with this whole thing. I feel like it's opened up a new side of him. He's so happy and talkative all day! He tells me stories and about his dreams and asks lots of questions! It's been so fun! I have loved not having to drag him out of bed every morning like we did before. He gets up all on his own sometimes before everyone else and is there for study time and everything! It's been so nice! I think he misses his friends and he doesn't love the schoolwork, but otherwise, this almost seems like it's been a good thing for Jack. Molly has loved having her big sibs home all day every day. She loves doing things with them, bossing them around and having sleepovers every night. She really has benefited from this for the most part. This week she finally stopped praying for us to be nice to our friends and it has switched to being nice to our family. That made me smile. I am so glad that she is able to have fun still and that she is getting some good quality time with her family. I do miss our workouts together and shakes afterwards as well as our music makers class and playgroup. But we're having a good time. Sweet Sadie has LOVED having everyone home. She gets PLENTY of attention from everyone. Unfortunately, all the noise and people in the house are not helping with nap time. We have thrown off her daytime schedule completely! Luckily, she is still sleeping just fine all night, but we've struggled with when and how to fit her naps in with everyone's noise. It's been a challenge. But she's learned how to crawl and can get around pretty well. And she's said, "mama", "buhbuh", "dada" and attempted a "ck" when we tried to get her to say Jack Jack. Pretty fun! She's a funny little girl and tries to imitate most things she encounters (even Nate's grumbling tummy). Makes us all laugh. Nate and I are trying to figure out a balance here with all that is happening. It's hard to know what to do next and where to spend our time. I'm always anticipating what it will be like to get back into life when this all ends, but trying to savor the moments we have each day. I am actually really still loving this gift of time that we've been give and hope that we can look back on it with fondness for the most part. I don't love the school part. I hope that ends sooner than they said, but I am willing to give it time for us to adjust. We will get through this!! 4-9-20
MASKS
The stake wanted volunteers to make masks this week. I finally got mine done, not a moment too soon today. 10 masks! They were actually pretty easy to make. The first one, not so much. Felt good to do something to contribute though. 4-9-20
FISHING
One of the few things that hasn't been canceled... yet... for Brad, is fishing! This is a very good thing and Brad has certainly taken advantage of the fact that he can still. The cool thing about Brad is that he wants everyone to enjoy what he enjoys. So he always invites his younger siblings to go with him over to the ponds. Today he took Molly and Jack :). I loved their hustle and bustle as they were getting ready to leave. Bradley packed them a little "lunch" along with some bread to feed the fish. Molly was hilarious getting ready to go. She seemed slightly distracted by everything else on the planet, but had all intention of getting out to the car and going. It was funny. I loved their chatter in the car as well. And then my favorite part- Brad says, "Molly should we bring your pole?" and then to Jack, "Should we bring one pole or two?" Put the two littles completely in the driver's seat! Made my heart happy to see him so focused on them. And they were there for a few hours! I couldn't believe how long he lasted! Such a good big brother! I love that he will devote that kind of time to them. This isn't just quarantine behavior either- he does this all the time. I love it. 4-9-20
WORLD WIDE FAST
One of the cool things at conference was when President Nelson announced the world wide fast that was going to take place this Friday. This has been a very well publicized event! It was all over facebook, even among people who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm really excited for it and even though I am nursing, I am going to try to fast. It was cool to kneel down and pray with all the kids to begin the fast. I'm excited to see what comes of this. With so many involved. 4-9-20
JACK’S CAT WITH WHISKERS
Funny story: Jack’s teacher asked them to draw a picture of anything except a bunny using this shape...
So guess what he drew-
A cat. 😂😂😂 “with whiskers cuz bunnies don’t have whiskers... oh... they do??... well these are cat ones not bunny ones”
I tried so hard to get him to see something else 😂😂😂
I even held the shape up sideways so he could see it from another angle and he tilted his head 😂😂😂
MOLLY
Molly said a lot of funny things today.
Molly: Mom, can I have a taste of your drink?
Me: sure
Molly: after taking a sip- That was just my taste to see if I like it, now I’m going to have a real taste!
Molly: can I get a fruit snack? I’ll share with Jackie
Me: no, no more fruit snacks.
Molly: but Jack is being a tiger and I think he’s getting hungry!
Me: 😂 okay, how could I deprive a hungry tiger, get one for his trainer too.
SADIE NINE MONTHS
It is time to announce that she is officially a crawler! She has taken a week or two to really get the hang of it and she still messes up, but I think it's safe to say she's a crawler! She is getting around. Her cute problem is that her legs want to go faster than her hands. She ends up face-planting a lot. Her cute legs just go and go!! That is where all her excitement gets bottled up and needs to come out. I've never a seen a baby who can move their legs as fast as she can. I hope that means we have some more running in our future :). She and Molly! She is growing up so fast! She says "Da-da" "Ma-ma" "Buh buh" and tries her hardest to mimic other sounds. It's so funny when she hears someone's tummy grumble or other noises and tries to recreate those. Sadie is one of the most loved 9 month olds I've ever seen. She has so much attention from so many people. It's fun to know that she will always have them too. That she will grow up knowing that she is loved. She's been trying a lot of new foods lately. Doesn't seem way in to the baby treats anymore which is unfortunate since we just bought a whole bunch. She likes sitting with Daddy and eating whatever he puts in her hands. Seaweed, cheese, beef jerky (mom doesn't love this one), keto ice cream.... the list goes on :). She does try to eat most things we put in front of her though. It's super cute. She loves her mommy and likes to be holding my hand whenever she's being independent and standing up "on her own". She does that a LOT. She would much rather walk on her two feet than crawl, but she's learning that it's a little harder than it looks. Thankfully. We don't need her to grow up THAT fast!! The sweet little girl is so anxious to though. It's hard to watch her struggle. She is loving all of our walks. She is loving being outside. The trampoline is a special treat. She didn't love roasting hot dogs with all the smoke. She will have to get used to that before the summer though! Assuming we get to go camping someday. She's just such a good little sleeper, still sleeping through the night. Usually two naps during the day too. We have some routines that we have to pull off just right, but they work! 4-16-20
SATURDAY
Nate just worked his butt off today!! Cleaning up the creek with the kids. They got it mostly done but will finish Monday! I’m excited to see it. 4-11-20
We found out that the Pearce’s didn’t have any Reese’s eggs that they like so we sacrificed our bag of them and gave them to them ツ. Made our night!! 4-11-20
CHURCH AT HOME
We had Kelly and Erika do a cool musical number on their ukuleles. They played Comd Thou Font. They did SO GOOD! I was so proud of them!! 4-12-20
FHE
Nate's did a cool lesson about Heavenly Father stretches us, using the dart board and darts. We had to try to drop the darts on the dart board just standing above it. Then with our eyes closed as he moved it around. Then again with our eyes open and him moving it. It was cool to see the wheels turning in the kids' heads about what this related to. It was the perfect lesson for the news they got the next day. We played Code Names for my game and ate Charity's homemade pretzel bites for the treat. She's been way into baking lately :). 4-13-20
BACK TO WORK
It's been tough for Nate to go back to work for his five days on after the ten off. I don't blame him. This would really mess with your head. Right when he got in the groove of being home, they take him back. Plus, things aren't the same at work either. They have him on a dumb crew of people he is not used to working with. No gym! Luckily, he got creative and made himself a new gym. He seemed like he felt much better after that. It will be nice for Nate when this is all over. I feel bad for all the sacrifices everyone else is having to make to deal with this challenge. I am sitting here enjoying life and having everyone here. But they're all suffering. I feel so grateful that Nate has a job that he is still able to go to and make money and that we are able to relax in that one area. 4-14-20
ERIKA'S ZOOM MEETING
I loved sitting in on Erika's class zoom meeting. I got a good laugh at the things the kids were chiming in with. Seemed like some of them didn't have their mics muted. Made me laugh. I loved the "I love snakes!" after Erika said she caught snakes at the ponds with her brother. And the "oh yes! then we can eat snacks and draw! And snuggle with my dog!" HA! The girl laying down was hilarious too. These kids are experiencing so many new things with this. Kinda cool. Kinda weird. 4-15-20
SERVICE- NATE/DAD
Yesterday's study time ended in us trying to think of someone we could serve. Jack suggested Nate. I loved it! Then the kids got their wheels turning and came up with the idea to "Clean the whole house". I thought it was cute that they would be willing to do that for him without him asking. We decided we would do it right before he got home. So at 2:00 I reminded them of their plan and we all began a quick clean up of the house before Nate would get home. I didn't get to hear his reaction because I was rocking Sadie, but when we told him after the fact (as he was piling the trailer high with wood to go to the dump) he got a little choked up knowing that they had wanted to serve him. Good kids. 4-15-20
REMOTE LEARNING
Things have been getting a little hard with the remote learning. It's not flowing like I want it to. Then, Wednesday the district website was down, so we weren't able to access everything! That was annoying. I let Jack take that day off. He was so happy that day. 4-16-20
SOFT SCHOOL CLOSURE EXTENDED
Yesterday we got the news from the Governor that our previously announced end date for the soft closure of May 1st was being extended to the end of the year. This put everyone in a funk for the rest of the day. I think most of them are dealing with these changes really well and even this one, they just kind of took it in, but there was a noticeable funk in the air. And poor Charity. We laid in her bed cuddling together as she talked about missing her graduation and not being able to walk or go to Prom. It was pretty sad. I know that Kelly was feeling sad as well. She mentioned feeling more bad for the Seniors. But her "why did we buy me a PROM dress" comment says it all. She was so excited to go with Carlton, now that they are such good friends. This really is just a big blow for the kids. All of their things they love so much have been canceled indefinitely. We got Emily's email about soccer being canceled for good and the boys' coaches' emails rolled in as well. Poor Brad (and Luke- although I don't think he was as excited about it as Brad) knowing they won't get their track season or Guys and Dolls Muscial together. Canceling and requesting a refund for Molly's swim lesson got me a little teary-eyed. Just a lot of things!! I think they funniest part was Jack's excited "YES!!! I hate school!!!" He really doesn't seem too broke up about not going to school. He may have thought this meant no remote learning as well, but nope. He does miss hanging out with his friends though. And I wish I could get him out on his bike more. He loves it so much when we're out, just getting him to want to leave the house is difficult. I know how that feels I guess. But anyway. I guess the target has been moved and we need to adjust our position so that we can drop the dart in the right place. New challenges, new solutions... we will get through this. 4-16-20
KELLY CUT MY HAIR
I got sick of my hair hanging in Sadie's face while she ate and the ends were getting so gnarly, that I caved and asked Kelly to cut my hair for me :). She had offered, so I took her up on it. She did such a great job! I am pleasantly surprised with how content I am with it. Nice to not have it all over the place and right at Sadie's grasp. Thanks Kelz! 4-20-20
FHE BY THE CREEK
We've had a few Family Night's down by the creek this month. We like to roast hot dogs and have dinner down there, with S'mores after and then finish it off with our family night. It's so peaceful and a fun change of scenery. Looks so much nicer down there too with Nate's and the kids' hard work showing. We had Molly's lesson where we told our favorite traditions for Lillian's podcast. That was a lot of fun. 4-20-20
NATE’S NEW BIKE
Nate got his new bike! This was long awaited! We "gave him" this bike like four years ago. That's how long awaited it was. He finally found one he liked online and got the approval of all his bike friends, and the quarantine was the perfect time to break it in. We've been on several bike rides. Usually we leave a few at home- namely Charity since she doesn't have a bike. It's been fun to ride around though. 4-24-20
BIKE RIDE
On one of our family bike rides (minus Charity- I think she was with her friends or something), we headed over the freeway on Burton. As we were going over it, which I did just fine, I was thinking about how we were going to have to come back over it! I don't love that hill or any hills for that matter. So I was dreading that a little. As we continued on the bike trail, I started thinking of ways to not have to go back over Burton. So when we got to Station Park, I suggested that we head east and go back home via Main Street. Nate consented :). Funny thing was- there were probably three or four times as many hills going back this new way! Kinda make me laugh when I think about it. But it was good. I'm surprised at how not sore I am after these. Not sure why. But it was a lot of fun. Molly loved it and kept us informed of every new thing she saw or experienced. Love that girl. Everyone was troopers! Even Kelly with some hip and knee pain did great! Good quarantine times. 4-25-20
FISHING IN OGDEN CANYON
Brad was dying to go fishing and we needed a change, so we all hopped in the car and drove up to the Ogden Canyon rest stop that has become kind of a family landmark. We got out of the car, parted ways with Brad and Nate, and sat down on our tiny little picnic blanket along with our twizzlers and Cadbury Mini Eggs. It was a nice little change of pace. We laughed and talked and fought too of course. Charity and I wowed everyone with our cartwheels. I can't believe how awkward that felt. I've got to lose this weight. It was fun to watch Nate fish for a bit and then it was time to get home for some things Nate needed to do at the church. Nice little quarantine outing. 4-26-20
SADIE’S FIRST BIKE RIDE
We finally caved and put Sadie in the bike trailer. I wasn't feeling real great about the idea before, but when I got in there and looked at the seat belts and straps, it looked safer for her. She looked so cute in there next to her big sister, Molly. She was pretty content too. We went on a little bike ride just a few of us and stayed pretty close to home. But she loved it! It was super cute. 4-24-20
MOVIE THEATER
When we got home from the bike ride, Nate and some of the kids wanted to keep going, so they went out for more. While I was feeding Sadie, I had the thought to have Jack and Molly put on a fun surprise for the older kids. Thankfully, Kelly was with us and jumped on board. Carrying out most of the plans. We made some movie tickets which Molly painstakingly cut out and signs for the kids to come home to. Then we got all the concessions ready to go. Popcorn, sticky popcorn and Kelly popped some regular popcorn as well. Then we pulled out all the leftover candy we've had laying around :). The kids came home and everyone played along. It was a lot of fun fun and something new. We watched Greatest Showman. It's been so nice to have the tv connected with a cord to the internet. Huge difference of course, and so much less frustrating. Too many cords though. Need to figure out something for that. 4-24-20
CHARITY’S SENIOR PHOTO SHOOT
Saturday we wanted to get Charity out of the house for people to get things ready for the Senior Prom, so we took Charity up to Nichols park on the little trail and did her Senior Pictures photo shoot! This was a lot of fun. Especially because we had Kelly and Erika with us. I don't think we would have gotten half the smiles out of her otherwise :). These things remind me that this is it and we are getting so close to the end of this era with Charity, but I am also really excited for her. She is going to do great! Her pictures turned out amazing! I was so happy with some of the great lighting and all the cute poses and smiles we got out of Charity. She's so photogenic! So fun! 4-25-20
CHARITY’S SENIOR PROM- THANKS TO KELLY
Kelly had this great idea to surprise Charity with her own Senior Prom. She had the idea for a while and began with the preparations. She and Erika made some huge signs with the butcher paper I was inspired to order right before (love that!). One said, "Welcome to your senior prom" and the other said, "Memories" and was meant to go above the black table cloth as the photo drop back. Then she printed off a bunch of pictures of Charity and her friends and family. Erika made some stars to hang and Molly even got in on some of the paining of the sign. They worked long and hard! It was so fun! And nice that there was plenty of room to do all this in the crawl space without Charity even knowing. So that night we had the boys do some of the set up while we did her photo shoot. Nate made the dinner as well. And then we had Nate take Charity out while we finished up. I made some corsages from some bouquets I ordered from Walmart. We put out a plate of cookies. The girls put up the pictures all around the fence by the basketball court and we got out the speakers. Kelly made a really fancy photo back drop using the Memories album cover as her inspiration. We had chosen the song Memories as the theme. It was perfect! When Charity and Nate got home Kelly escorted her to the back yard. This was a very precious moment! As well as the rest of the evening. One I will cherish forever!! Charity came out and as she looked around the backyard, you could see her melting inside. Her eyes started leaking :) and she became really emotional. It was so neat!! What a special moment for those sisters. I loved it. Charity walked around and looked at all the decorations and pictures. That was a really nice touch. I was so proud of Kelly and her thoughtfulness. It was a really neat experience. Then the real magic was when all the younger siblings came running out in their sunday clothes, all ready to dance the night away!! Who would have guessed that the Maynes family getting all dressed up to dance around the basketball court in our backyard could have been so magical. I never would have imagined. We started off with the Cupid Shuffle which thanks to the 6th grade teachers most of my kids knew! They all joined Kelly and Charity on the dance floor in a big line- that was a mom paycheck for sure! So much fun! We had a lot of fun trying out different line dances and then even some slow songs! I was really looking forward to dancing with Nate and then when we got out there I realized I am not very good at it anymore! HA! I am too much of a control freak and need to let him lead. But we got better as the night went on. It was cute to slow dance with all my boys too. They are so cute and sweet to their mom. This was such a fun/special night! I sent videos and pictures to family to show it off and my mom wanted me to send them into the news, so they could do a story on it, but it just felt like that would be casting our pearls before swine. This had been such a neat experience, I didn't want to taint it with the media. I was so glad we went to all the trouble. Kelly was inspired with that idea. 4-25-20
CHOPPED NIGHT
For dinner Monday night we played Chopped ツ. Nate, Kelly, Erika, Molly on a team, they had the appetizer And had to use Ramen, chicken broth and tortillas. They made chips and dips. Luke, Jack and me, we had the entree and had to use marshmallows, lemon and syrup. We made lemon poppyseed pancakes with marshmallow syrup. And Charity, Brad and Noah on a team had the dessert and they had to use ground beef, pepperoni and something else 🤔. They made bunless burgers. We got off to a rough start, but came back. Everyone did a good job and all the food was edible! Pretty fun!
FHE
Jack had the lesson, he had us go around and tell our favorite story about Nephi. Thought of that himself. We played four square for Molly’s game. 4-27-20
PONDS PARK MARATHON
Jami put on a fun little "marathon" for the kids where she gave everyone a mile slot to run and they would all add up to a marathon. It was a lot of fun- nice break from the monotony. Brad, Luke, Noah, and Erika all ran in it. Getting really good times too! So that was fun. We had fun cheering them on and getting to visit with Jami a little. 4-28-20
LAST WEEK OF APRIL
This past week has been a bit of a doozie. I can't lie. Things are getting a little blah. We're trying to come up with new ideas, trying to spice things up here and there, but it's been a challenge. The heat really cranked up outside, enough that we were able to run through the sprinklers and play with water balloons. But without the air conditioner on, the heat was putting a damper on everyone's moods inside. Funny how hot 80 degrees can feel when we've been enjoying the 50s and 60s for a while. Lots of bike rides, working out, and talking about the crappy work schedule this week with Nate. Five mid shifts in a row! Kinda crazy. New board games and online shpping with mom (got all the younger kids new shoes with a killer deal from Dick's Sporting Goods, rubiks cubes, more shoes). Charity has been feeling the roller coaster of emotions this quarantine is famous for, getting frequent emails about how her "virtual graduation" is going to go. It's certainly not ideal and she's been feeling that. She does get out and hangs out with her friends as much as she can with social distancing. We've received news that they are going to start opening some things up on Friday. She's looking forward to that. Kelly has seen her friends on in the front yard a little more. She kind of broke down a little this week which I kind of felt she needed, but bounced right back. Started reading some Neal A. Maxwell talks with me. Keeps planning fun ways to cheer everybody up and make up for missed events. Bradley broke a little this week as well. In his own way. I hope he is getting enough for him through this all. He has gone fishing a little more and with Nate in the mornings, but maintains his cheerful attitude and helpfulness with Sadie. Luke has spent a lot of time learning the Rubik's cube with Noah and then trying to teach it to Clint over Zoom and Marco Polo. This has tried his patience a little :). He keeps finding new ones to buy on Amazon. Noah has been getting in a lot of Duck Game with Luke and Rubik's cube as well. He enjoys being outside a lot too though, playing basketball and riding his bike. Erika has rollerbladed, biked, ran, and missed Kate a lot this week. She hit a wall and broke down a little too. Much needed for all of us, I think. It's hard to maintain composure 24/7 and I think it's okay to break a little. Jack has done great on his schooling this week! Almost everything completed! He has loved learning to rollerblade as well! He got to show his class on Flipgrid some of his cool moves. He got out the clay again too, which I was happy about. I'm glad he found that so entertaining. Molly seems to get a shorter temper everyday. Lots of whining and crying. I think the heat has gotten to her a little. And sweet little Sadie has learned how to climb up a step going up the stairs. Claps her hands. Gets into and touches anything and everything she can. She loves being outside and on walks with Daddy especially, the trampoline, even puts up with the grass now! She is pulling herself up to furniture, standing, and walking around a little with that support. I'm happy she's able to do more for herself, she seems like the type that needs that, but also disappointed that my baby is growing up so fast!! It's been a different week. We're all not ready to get back into life, but also kind of aching to get back into life :). We'll see what May has to bring! 4-30-20
Spring break sure was different this year. Lacking in excitement, good weather, and outings. As it should be during a quarantine I guess. And it will definitely go down in the books as one of our most memorable, I'm sure. It snowed a few times, rained a few times, but we did get a few hours here and there of good sunshine. We went on lots of walks around the neighborhood. That's the only thing we do right now to leave the house. It's a good break from the house and fresh air, no complaints. Nate was working evenings all week which stunk, but we were looking forward to our 10 days off so it was okay. We didn't have to do schoolwork, that was nice. We did a few more vinyl shirts for Jack and Erika. Jack chose the words "Sadie is cute!" for his shirt :). Still makes me smile when I think about it. And Erika found a cute saying, "Beauty in the streets, Beast in my cleats" for her blue hoodie that we have been thinking of retiring because it was a little dirty. We put a soccer ball on the pocket too. They both turned out really good! Only took me one try on Jack's. Little bit trickier with Erika's, but that's okay. We're still learning. I need more practice so I need to get more vinyl. I tried to order a new four square ball because the one I got last week popped, but of course those are "out of stock" so they substituted it with a dodge ball. So there has been lots of dodge ball all week :). Kind of a cool mistake. We watched too many movies and ate a lot of junk food- that's all that isn't "out of stock" right now when I'm shopping, so that's what we have :). Lots of sleepovers. Nate took the kids on lots of long walks and fiddled around with how to collect fast offerings. 3-30-20--4-3-20
APRIL FOOLS
We had a fun April Fools this year. Noah, Luke and Brad set up their little traps for everyone the night before and morning of. It was funny as I was making my protein shake to keep running into all of them. I made sure to put them back :). Everyone loved the confetti falling on them when they opened their bedroom doors. There was a lot of fun for most of the morning. And of course, it got a little old and died out halfway through the day :). But it was fun. I tried to pull a trick and serve them dinner for breakfast, but nobody wanted Lasagna for breakfast for some reason. 4-1-20
FUN MAIL
The Idaho Mayneses sent us a cute little "heart attack" in the mail and Becky sent us some fun little crafts as well. Grandma Ruthie too, sent us some activities to help us get ready for Easter. Lots of fun! We have good family! 4-4-20
GENERAL CONFERENCE
Conference was amazing this time! SO MANY cool things!! We had the Hosanna shout, which sometimes starts out feeling a little silly, but then the Spirit comes flooding in when I look around the room at my cute kids all participating in this sacred thing. It was really neat! I loved it! Our Prophet is so cool! He is so inspired. He and the 12 made a new Proclamation to the World about The Restoration. Makes me wonder how meaningful this might become in the future, just like the Family one has. It was really neat. There were a lot of talks on the Priesthood which I loved and want to keep studying. I need to find out more about the responsibilities of the Priesthood women can do in the home. I would like to utilize that power more in my life. Especially if that is what Heavenly Father wants! We are getting 8 more temples, one in SHANGHAI!! Pretty sweet! What else? I mean, there was enough with the coronavirus to make this whole thing memorable, but also so much more! I loved it! The kids all did really well at listening. Nate made a special trip to the store for treats to help with that, but they really seemed to just be interested in listening. I love that about my kids. 4-5-20
FHE
I taught a lesson on removing distractions, Charity's activity was watching Emporer's New Groove, and Kelly's treat was no bake cookies. It was a rough night for me- I was feeling really dizzy for some reason. I think it's my antibiotics, but man, it was annoying! Good time though! 4-6-20
SERVICE
For study time I taught about service and thinking of others. So we planned a service to be done that day. We chose to go heart attack our grandma's and Aunt Becky and deliver the letters we'd written for Steve the day before. This ended up being a lot of fun and a nice little escape from our house! Brad drove us down to Ruth's house and we decorated her door then stood across the yard and talked with her and then Nancy and Evan as well. It was a much needed visit. We stopped at Becky's house and decorated her door. She was working so we didn't get to visit with her at all. And then stopped and did my mom's door as well. She was there, and came out and cried a little before saying goodbye. Then we stopped at Smith's for some toilet paper and then up to Steve's to surprise him. Unfortunately, he wasn't around, but he did love our letters! I'm so glad. This was a fun day and good time for all of us! We need to do more like this more often. 4-7-20
BIKE RIDE
I loved hearing Molly squeal with excitement through our whole bike ride as she rode in the bike trailer. Totally made my day!
QUARANTINE UPDATE
Charity has been doing better. She spends an obscene amount of time talking, face-timing, texting, marco poloing, and missing her friends, but she has ventured out of her room a little more this week. We got her to play a few games with us. Compatibility has been a favorite this week. Kelly is still going strong. I keep wondering when she will break. She's a rock! She misses her friends too and spends time talking to them once in a while, but overall, she is in really good spirits. She likes the walks, goes over to the park to do wall balls every once in a while. She's even let me pass with her once in a while. She's done lots of crafts with everyone and invited sibs to bake brownies, rice krispie treats, you name it. She has stayed very busy and very helpful. I hope she is doing okay. Bradley has been very up as well. Making the most of this crappy situation. The thing he misses most is Track. He's managing to keep himself going though. He's doing the 1,000 challenge Nate suggested- that's been fun to hear about :). He's been running and letting me ride my bike next to him while he runs. I'm pretty sure I'll always cherish those times. He's a blessing to have around especially when it comes to Sadie and Molly. He is a fun big brother and somehow always has the patience to include his little sisters. Luke has done so well with all of this. He is slowly getting more and more bored so we are always trying to think of new things for him to do to challenge himself, but not be too hard. He and Noah picked out some plastic dominoes that they can work on their chain reactions with. I'm glad he's staying positive, but I do worry about him. He needs to stay active and not sink into a rut. He's been doing really good with his schooling though- I'm really proud of him and his ability to keep going. I know it's been a struggle. I think Noah would be fine with this break if it wasn't for the schooling. It seems to drive him into the ground every day. He has been keeping up though, and puts so much into it. I'm glad he has Luke and that they are being buddies lately. They spend hours making their chain reactions and filming them. It's a lot of fun to see them have that talent in common. It's been fun to see what Noah comes up with to entertain himself. He's staying pretty busy. I'm going to be sad to not get to see his 6th grade graduation if it comes down to that. I hope they do something to make it special. I can't believe we're almost done with Elementary for him! Erika has been making the most of this rotten deal as well. She and Kate have made little mailboxes that they keep on their porches so that they can leave notes and gifts for each other. She's had a LOT of fun with that and the occasional shout across the Clark's yard and glimpses of Kate jumping on the tramp. Not hanging out with Kate has been the biggest challenge for Erika. She has the most amazing teacher though, and that has been a blessing I think. She even gives breaks on days when things are clearly getting overwhelming. We are so grateful for that. Erika has been busy with crafts and playing outside and has come on bike rides with us a lot too. I'm glad she's getting all the physical activity she needs. Jack has been a new person with this whole thing. I feel like it's opened up a new side of him. He's so happy and talkative all day! He tells me stories and about his dreams and asks lots of questions! It's been so fun! I have loved not having to drag him out of bed every morning like we did before. He gets up all on his own sometimes before everyone else and is there for study time and everything! It's been so nice! I think he misses his friends and he doesn't love the schoolwork, but otherwise, this almost seems like it's been a good thing for Jack. Molly has loved having her big sibs home all day every day. She loves doing things with them, bossing them around and having sleepovers every night. She really has benefited from this for the most part. This week she finally stopped praying for us to be nice to our friends and it has switched to being nice to our family. That made me smile. I am so glad that she is able to have fun still and that she is getting some good quality time with her family. I do miss our workouts together and shakes afterwards as well as our music makers class and playgroup. But we're having a good time. Sweet Sadie has LOVED having everyone home. She gets PLENTY of attention from everyone. Unfortunately, all the noise and people in the house are not helping with nap time. We have thrown off her daytime schedule completely! Luckily, she is still sleeping just fine all night, but we've struggled with when and how to fit her naps in with everyone's noise. It's been a challenge. But she's learned how to crawl and can get around pretty well. And she's said, "mama", "buhbuh", "dada" and attempted a "ck" when we tried to get her to say Jack Jack. Pretty fun! She's a funny little girl and tries to imitate most things she encounters (even Nate's grumbling tummy). Makes us all laugh. Nate and I are trying to figure out a balance here with all that is happening. It's hard to know what to do next and where to spend our time. I'm always anticipating what it will be like to get back into life when this all ends, but trying to savor the moments we have each day. I am actually really still loving this gift of time that we've been give and hope that we can look back on it with fondness for the most part. I don't love the school part. I hope that ends sooner than they said, but I am willing to give it time for us to adjust. We will get through this!! 4-9-20
MASKS
The stake wanted volunteers to make masks this week. I finally got mine done, not a moment too soon today. 10 masks! They were actually pretty easy to make. The first one, not so much. Felt good to do something to contribute though. 4-9-20
FISHING
One of the few things that hasn't been canceled... yet... for Brad, is fishing! This is a very good thing and Brad has certainly taken advantage of the fact that he can still. The cool thing about Brad is that he wants everyone to enjoy what he enjoys. So he always invites his younger siblings to go with him over to the ponds. Today he took Molly and Jack :). I loved their hustle and bustle as they were getting ready to leave. Bradley packed them a little "lunch" along with some bread to feed the fish. Molly was hilarious getting ready to go. She seemed slightly distracted by everything else on the planet, but had all intention of getting out to the car and going. It was funny. I loved their chatter in the car as well. And then my favorite part- Brad says, "Molly should we bring your pole?" and then to Jack, "Should we bring one pole or two?" Put the two littles completely in the driver's seat! Made my heart happy to see him so focused on them. And they were there for a few hours! I couldn't believe how long he lasted! Such a good big brother! I love that he will devote that kind of time to them. This isn't just quarantine behavior either- he does this all the time. I love it. 4-9-20
WORLD WIDE FAST
One of the cool things at conference was when President Nelson announced the world wide fast that was going to take place this Friday. This has been a very well publicized event! It was all over facebook, even among people who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm really excited for it and even though I am nursing, I am going to try to fast. It was cool to kneel down and pray with all the kids to begin the fast. I'm excited to see what comes of this. With so many involved. 4-9-20
JACK’S CAT WITH WHISKERS
Funny story: Jack’s teacher asked them to draw a picture of anything except a bunny using this shape...
So guess what he drew-
A cat. 😂😂😂 “with whiskers cuz bunnies don’t have whiskers... oh... they do??... well these are cat ones not bunny ones”
I tried so hard to get him to see something else 😂😂😂
I even held the shape up sideways so he could see it from another angle and he tilted his head 😂😂😂
MOLLY
Molly said a lot of funny things today.
Molly: Mom, can I have a taste of your drink?
Me: sure
Molly: after taking a sip- That was just my taste to see if I like it, now I’m going to have a real taste!
Molly: can I get a fruit snack? I’ll share with Jackie
Me: no, no more fruit snacks.
Molly: but Jack is being a tiger and I think he’s getting hungry!
Me: 😂 okay, how could I deprive a hungry tiger, get one for his trainer too.
SADIE NINE MONTHS
It is time to announce that she is officially a crawler! She has taken a week or two to really get the hang of it and she still messes up, but I think it's safe to say she's a crawler! She is getting around. Her cute problem is that her legs want to go faster than her hands. She ends up face-planting a lot. Her cute legs just go and go!! That is where all her excitement gets bottled up and needs to come out. I've never a seen a baby who can move their legs as fast as she can. I hope that means we have some more running in our future :). She and Molly! She is growing up so fast! She says "Da-da" "Ma-ma" "Buh buh" and tries her hardest to mimic other sounds. It's so funny when she hears someone's tummy grumble or other noises and tries to recreate those. Sadie is one of the most loved 9 month olds I've ever seen. She has so much attention from so many people. It's fun to know that she will always have them too. That she will grow up knowing that she is loved. She's been trying a lot of new foods lately. Doesn't seem way in to the baby treats anymore which is unfortunate since we just bought a whole bunch. She likes sitting with Daddy and eating whatever he puts in her hands. Seaweed, cheese, beef jerky (mom doesn't love this one), keto ice cream.... the list goes on :). She does try to eat most things we put in front of her though. It's super cute. She loves her mommy and likes to be holding my hand whenever she's being independent and standing up "on her own". She does that a LOT. She would much rather walk on her two feet than crawl, but she's learning that it's a little harder than it looks. Thankfully. We don't need her to grow up THAT fast!! The sweet little girl is so anxious to though. It's hard to watch her struggle. She is loving all of our walks. She is loving being outside. The trampoline is a special treat. She didn't love roasting hot dogs with all the smoke. She will have to get used to that before the summer though! Assuming we get to go camping someday. She's just such a good little sleeper, still sleeping through the night. Usually two naps during the day too. We have some routines that we have to pull off just right, but they work! 4-16-20
SATURDAY
Nate just worked his butt off today!! Cleaning up the creek with the kids. They got it mostly done but will finish Monday! I’m excited to see it. 4-11-20
We found out that the Pearce’s didn’t have any Reese’s eggs that they like so we sacrificed our bag of them and gave them to them ツ. Made our night!! 4-11-20
CHURCH AT HOME
We had Kelly and Erika do a cool musical number on their ukuleles. They played Comd Thou Font. They did SO GOOD! I was so proud of them!! 4-12-20
FHE
Nate's did a cool lesson about Heavenly Father stretches us, using the dart board and darts. We had to try to drop the darts on the dart board just standing above it. Then with our eyes closed as he moved it around. Then again with our eyes open and him moving it. It was cool to see the wheels turning in the kids' heads about what this related to. It was the perfect lesson for the news they got the next day. We played Code Names for my game and ate Charity's homemade pretzel bites for the treat. She's been way into baking lately :). 4-13-20
BACK TO WORK
It's been tough for Nate to go back to work for his five days on after the ten off. I don't blame him. This would really mess with your head. Right when he got in the groove of being home, they take him back. Plus, things aren't the same at work either. They have him on a dumb crew of people he is not used to working with. No gym! Luckily, he got creative and made himself a new gym. He seemed like he felt much better after that. It will be nice for Nate when this is all over. I feel bad for all the sacrifices everyone else is having to make to deal with this challenge. I am sitting here enjoying life and having everyone here. But they're all suffering. I feel so grateful that Nate has a job that he is still able to go to and make money and that we are able to relax in that one area. 4-14-20
ERIKA'S ZOOM MEETING
I loved sitting in on Erika's class zoom meeting. I got a good laugh at the things the kids were chiming in with. Seemed like some of them didn't have their mics muted. Made me laugh. I loved the "I love snakes!" after Erika said she caught snakes at the ponds with her brother. And the "oh yes! then we can eat snacks and draw! And snuggle with my dog!" HA! The girl laying down was hilarious too. These kids are experiencing so many new things with this. Kinda cool. Kinda weird. 4-15-20
SERVICE- NATE/DAD
Yesterday's study time ended in us trying to think of someone we could serve. Jack suggested Nate. I loved it! Then the kids got their wheels turning and came up with the idea to "Clean the whole house". I thought it was cute that they would be willing to do that for him without him asking. We decided we would do it right before he got home. So at 2:00 I reminded them of their plan and we all began a quick clean up of the house before Nate would get home. I didn't get to hear his reaction because I was rocking Sadie, but when we told him after the fact (as he was piling the trailer high with wood to go to the dump) he got a little choked up knowing that they had wanted to serve him. Good kids. 4-15-20
REMOTE LEARNING
Things have been getting a little hard with the remote learning. It's not flowing like I want it to. Then, Wednesday the district website was down, so we weren't able to access everything! That was annoying. I let Jack take that day off. He was so happy that day. 4-16-20
SOFT SCHOOL CLOSURE EXTENDED
Yesterday we got the news from the Governor that our previously announced end date for the soft closure of May 1st was being extended to the end of the year. This put everyone in a funk for the rest of the day. I think most of them are dealing with these changes really well and even this one, they just kind of took it in, but there was a noticeable funk in the air. And poor Charity. We laid in her bed cuddling together as she talked about missing her graduation and not being able to walk or go to Prom. It was pretty sad. I know that Kelly was feeling sad as well. She mentioned feeling more bad for the Seniors. But her "why did we buy me a PROM dress" comment says it all. She was so excited to go with Carlton, now that they are such good friends. This really is just a big blow for the kids. All of their things they love so much have been canceled indefinitely. We got Emily's email about soccer being canceled for good and the boys' coaches' emails rolled in as well. Poor Brad (and Luke- although I don't think he was as excited about it as Brad) knowing they won't get their track season or Guys and Dolls Muscial together. Canceling and requesting a refund for Molly's swim lesson got me a little teary-eyed. Just a lot of things!! I think they funniest part was Jack's excited "YES!!! I hate school!!!" He really doesn't seem too broke up about not going to school. He may have thought this meant no remote learning as well, but nope. He does miss hanging out with his friends though. And I wish I could get him out on his bike more. He loves it so much when we're out, just getting him to want to leave the house is difficult. I know how that feels I guess. But anyway. I guess the target has been moved and we need to adjust our position so that we can drop the dart in the right place. New challenges, new solutions... we will get through this. 4-16-20
KELLY CUT MY HAIR
I got sick of my hair hanging in Sadie's face while she ate and the ends were getting so gnarly, that I caved and asked Kelly to cut my hair for me :). She had offered, so I took her up on it. She did such a great job! I am pleasantly surprised with how content I am with it. Nice to not have it all over the place and right at Sadie's grasp. Thanks Kelz! 4-20-20
FHE BY THE CREEK
We've had a few Family Night's down by the creek this month. We like to roast hot dogs and have dinner down there, with S'mores after and then finish it off with our family night. It's so peaceful and a fun change of scenery. Looks so much nicer down there too with Nate's and the kids' hard work showing. We had Molly's lesson where we told our favorite traditions for Lillian's podcast. That was a lot of fun. 4-20-20
NATE’S NEW BIKE
Nate got his new bike! This was long awaited! We "gave him" this bike like four years ago. That's how long awaited it was. He finally found one he liked online and got the approval of all his bike friends, and the quarantine was the perfect time to break it in. We've been on several bike rides. Usually we leave a few at home- namely Charity since she doesn't have a bike. It's been fun to ride around though. 4-24-20
BIKE RIDE
On one of our family bike rides (minus Charity- I think she was with her friends or something), we headed over the freeway on Burton. As we were going over it, which I did just fine, I was thinking about how we were going to have to come back over it! I don't love that hill or any hills for that matter. So I was dreading that a little. As we continued on the bike trail, I started thinking of ways to not have to go back over Burton. So when we got to Station Park, I suggested that we head east and go back home via Main Street. Nate consented :). Funny thing was- there were probably three or four times as many hills going back this new way! Kinda make me laugh when I think about it. But it was good. I'm surprised at how not sore I am after these. Not sure why. But it was a lot of fun. Molly loved it and kept us informed of every new thing she saw or experienced. Love that girl. Everyone was troopers! Even Kelly with some hip and knee pain did great! Good quarantine times. 4-25-20
FISHING IN OGDEN CANYON
Brad was dying to go fishing and we needed a change, so we all hopped in the car and drove up to the Ogden Canyon rest stop that has become kind of a family landmark. We got out of the car, parted ways with Brad and Nate, and sat down on our tiny little picnic blanket along with our twizzlers and Cadbury Mini Eggs. It was a nice little change of pace. We laughed and talked and fought too of course. Charity and I wowed everyone with our cartwheels. I can't believe how awkward that felt. I've got to lose this weight. It was fun to watch Nate fish for a bit and then it was time to get home for some things Nate needed to do at the church. Nice little quarantine outing. 4-26-20
SADIE’S FIRST BIKE RIDE
We finally caved and put Sadie in the bike trailer. I wasn't feeling real great about the idea before, but when I got in there and looked at the seat belts and straps, it looked safer for her. She looked so cute in there next to her big sister, Molly. She was pretty content too. We went on a little bike ride just a few of us and stayed pretty close to home. But she loved it! It was super cute. 4-24-20
MOVIE THEATER
When we got home from the bike ride, Nate and some of the kids wanted to keep going, so they went out for more. While I was feeding Sadie, I had the thought to have Jack and Molly put on a fun surprise for the older kids. Thankfully, Kelly was with us and jumped on board. Carrying out most of the plans. We made some movie tickets which Molly painstakingly cut out and signs for the kids to come home to. Then we got all the concessions ready to go. Popcorn, sticky popcorn and Kelly popped some regular popcorn as well. Then we pulled out all the leftover candy we've had laying around :). The kids came home and everyone played along. It was a lot of fun fun and something new. We watched Greatest Showman. It's been so nice to have the tv connected with a cord to the internet. Huge difference of course, and so much less frustrating. Too many cords though. Need to figure out something for that. 4-24-20
CHARITY’S SENIOR PHOTO SHOOT
Saturday we wanted to get Charity out of the house for people to get things ready for the Senior Prom, so we took Charity up to Nichols park on the little trail and did her Senior Pictures photo shoot! This was a lot of fun. Especially because we had Kelly and Erika with us. I don't think we would have gotten half the smiles out of her otherwise :). These things remind me that this is it and we are getting so close to the end of this era with Charity, but I am also really excited for her. She is going to do great! Her pictures turned out amazing! I was so happy with some of the great lighting and all the cute poses and smiles we got out of Charity. She's so photogenic! So fun! 4-25-20
CHARITY’S SENIOR PROM- THANKS TO KELLY
Kelly had this great idea to surprise Charity with her own Senior Prom. She had the idea for a while and began with the preparations. She and Erika made some huge signs with the butcher paper I was inspired to order right before (love that!). One said, "Welcome to your senior prom" and the other said, "Memories" and was meant to go above the black table cloth as the photo drop back. Then she printed off a bunch of pictures of Charity and her friends and family. Erika made some stars to hang and Molly even got in on some of the paining of the sign. They worked long and hard! It was so fun! And nice that there was plenty of room to do all this in the crawl space without Charity even knowing. So that night we had the boys do some of the set up while we did her photo shoot. Nate made the dinner as well. And then we had Nate take Charity out while we finished up. I made some corsages from some bouquets I ordered from Walmart. We put out a plate of cookies. The girls put up the pictures all around the fence by the basketball court and we got out the speakers. Kelly made a really fancy photo back drop using the Memories album cover as her inspiration. We had chosen the song Memories as the theme. It was perfect! When Charity and Nate got home Kelly escorted her to the back yard. This was a very precious moment! As well as the rest of the evening. One I will cherish forever!! Charity came out and as she looked around the backyard, you could see her melting inside. Her eyes started leaking :) and she became really emotional. It was so neat!! What a special moment for those sisters. I loved it. Charity walked around and looked at all the decorations and pictures. That was a really nice touch. I was so proud of Kelly and her thoughtfulness. It was a really neat experience. Then the real magic was when all the younger siblings came running out in their sunday clothes, all ready to dance the night away!! Who would have guessed that the Maynes family getting all dressed up to dance around the basketball court in our backyard could have been so magical. I never would have imagined. We started off with the Cupid Shuffle which thanks to the 6th grade teachers most of my kids knew! They all joined Kelly and Charity on the dance floor in a big line- that was a mom paycheck for sure! So much fun! We had a lot of fun trying out different line dances and then even some slow songs! I was really looking forward to dancing with Nate and then when we got out there I realized I am not very good at it anymore! HA! I am too much of a control freak and need to let him lead. But we got better as the night went on. It was cute to slow dance with all my boys too. They are so cute and sweet to their mom. This was such a fun/special night! I sent videos and pictures to family to show it off and my mom wanted me to send them into the news, so they could do a story on it, but it just felt like that would be casting our pearls before swine. This had been such a neat experience, I didn't want to taint it with the media. I was so glad we went to all the trouble. Kelly was inspired with that idea. 4-25-20
CHOPPED NIGHT
For dinner Monday night we played Chopped ツ. Nate, Kelly, Erika, Molly on a team, they had the appetizer And had to use Ramen, chicken broth and tortillas. They made chips and dips. Luke, Jack and me, we had the entree and had to use marshmallows, lemon and syrup. We made lemon poppyseed pancakes with marshmallow syrup. And Charity, Brad and Noah on a team had the dessert and they had to use ground beef, pepperoni and something else 🤔. They made bunless burgers. We got off to a rough start, but came back. Everyone did a good job and all the food was edible! Pretty fun!
FHE
Jack had the lesson, he had us go around and tell our favorite story about Nephi. Thought of that himself. We played four square for Molly’s game. 4-27-20
PONDS PARK MARATHON
Jami put on a fun little "marathon" for the kids where she gave everyone a mile slot to run and they would all add up to a marathon. It was a lot of fun- nice break from the monotony. Brad, Luke, Noah, and Erika all ran in it. Getting really good times too! So that was fun. We had fun cheering them on and getting to visit with Jami a little. 4-28-20
LAST WEEK OF APRIL
This past week has been a bit of a doozie. I can't lie. Things are getting a little blah. We're trying to come up with new ideas, trying to spice things up here and there, but it's been a challenge. The heat really cranked up outside, enough that we were able to run through the sprinklers and play with water balloons. But without the air conditioner on, the heat was putting a damper on everyone's moods inside. Funny how hot 80 degrees can feel when we've been enjoying the 50s and 60s for a while. Lots of bike rides, working out, and talking about the crappy work schedule this week with Nate. Five mid shifts in a row! Kinda crazy. New board games and online shpping with mom (got all the younger kids new shoes with a killer deal from Dick's Sporting Goods, rubiks cubes, more shoes). Charity has been feeling the roller coaster of emotions this quarantine is famous for, getting frequent emails about how her "virtual graduation" is going to go. It's certainly not ideal and she's been feeling that. She does get out and hangs out with her friends as much as she can with social distancing. We've received news that they are going to start opening some things up on Friday. She's looking forward to that. Kelly has seen her friends on in the front yard a little more. She kind of broke down a little this week which I kind of felt she needed, but bounced right back. Started reading some Neal A. Maxwell talks with me. Keeps planning fun ways to cheer everybody up and make up for missed events. Bradley broke a little this week as well. In his own way. I hope he is getting enough for him through this all. He has gone fishing a little more and with Nate in the mornings, but maintains his cheerful attitude and helpfulness with Sadie. Luke has spent a lot of time learning the Rubik's cube with Noah and then trying to teach it to Clint over Zoom and Marco Polo. This has tried his patience a little :). He keeps finding new ones to buy on Amazon. Noah has been getting in a lot of Duck Game with Luke and Rubik's cube as well. He enjoys being outside a lot too though, playing basketball and riding his bike. Erika has rollerbladed, biked, ran, and missed Kate a lot this week. She hit a wall and broke down a little too. Much needed for all of us, I think. It's hard to maintain composure 24/7 and I think it's okay to break a little. Jack has done great on his schooling this week! Almost everything completed! He has loved learning to rollerblade as well! He got to show his class on Flipgrid some of his cool moves. He got out the clay again too, which I was happy about. I'm glad he found that so entertaining. Molly seems to get a shorter temper everyday. Lots of whining and crying. I think the heat has gotten to her a little. And sweet little Sadie has learned how to climb up a step going up the stairs. Claps her hands. Gets into and touches anything and everything she can. She loves being outside and on walks with Daddy especially, the trampoline, even puts up with the grass now! She is pulling herself up to furniture, standing, and walking around a little with that support. I'm happy she's able to do more for herself, she seems like the type that needs that, but also disappointed that my baby is growing up so fast!! It's been a different week. We're all not ready to get back into life, but also kind of aching to get back into life :). We'll see what May has to bring! 4-30-20
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