Day #8

Our spring weather is gone. It’s rainy and cold again. Makes it easier to avoid playing outside, but definitely added to the dreariness of the pandemic. 

I slept better last night, so thankful. I got up early and got working, without any real focus. With all the crazy I haven’t looked at our checkbook in over a week, so stuff like that. Then I decided to meal plan, and that lead me to check the pantry for all those optimistic shopping trips where I bought stuff like olive tapenade and green curry paste because of course I’ll use it soon! It was all very If you give a mouse a muffin. I’ve got a good plan and already made 2 new recipes and got rid of 3 things. V satisfying. 

We did stuff all day, which made it feel like a long day, but didn’t actually accomplish much. I tutored Ruby and Frankie. We watched Gov. Hogan’s presser and talked about state and federal governments. We did our FaceTime piano lessons, which are tricky, so really I have to sit with them actively engaged the whole time. I cooked. We culled through our books and made a decent pile that we’d like to pass on for others to enjoy. And we finally doodled with Mo Willens. Johnna told delaney to go get the mail, so of course she was super excited! She is D’s primary teacher and had sent a sweet story and word game. D read the story and and said how much she liked it and then said “I love these!” about the word game. She got right to work! In her pj’s because quarantine, mmkay?

Frankie found her first birthday card in the mail. She was so excited! Quarantine birthdays are gonna be hard. A lot is hard. But we are loving every little thing that lifts our spirits! Honestly, the girls are happy and well adjusted. We’re cuddling a lot and doing lots of check ins. We’re talking about feelings and validating disappointments and fears. We’re all doing our best. 

This sweet almost 10-year-old!

Matt and I walked and delivered dinner to my dad. It was nice to get out for some fresh air and get to catch up without littles around. And it was good seeing my dad, if only for a few minutes. 

We are seeing tons of blessings in our lives. I’ve felt a deep sense of calm that I’m so grateful for. Not that I’m not sad or scared - I cried twice before 7:30 this morning - but that I know it’ll be ok. I have a very personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ, and I’m grateful to have that foundation already in place. I’m so grateful for my testimony of our prophet and am clinging to his promises right now. The power and peace I gain from my covenants has never been more important.  

Day #7

Good news! I managed to sleep in till 5! Still lots of tossing and turning, but 7 hours is awesome and I’m grateful! I got up and in the quiet of the morning re-read Pres. Nelson’s closing remarks from last general conference. I was asked to lead the combined relief society/elders quorum Zoom lesson today. As I was studying, I was thinking about how much I enjoy waking up early before a talk or a lesson and sitting with the spirit. It’s one of my favorite things. Even though it turned out to be pretty much an awkward fiasco, I’m still grateful for the insights i learned, and I felt the spirit as we shared. And I don’t have a lot of pride left, and corona has a way of showing what’s important, and feeling awkward while leading a clunky online class isn’t one of them. 

Addie had her Zoom young men/young women class, and then we went for a walk to wish Morgan happy birthday. They were going to have a combined party, but ‘rona. I keep a stash of small gifts, so Frankie picked her out a few little things, made a card, and we wrote birthday messages in sidewalk chalk. 

I hope she felt loved and celebrated. Birthdays are tough right now. Lots of things are. 

Papa came over for some safe social distancing outside and took some pictures. I didn’t get to see him because we had our 2nd Zoom ward council, and then Tim, Bishop, and I “met” to talk ministering. We’re all just trying to figure out the best way to help, encourage, minister to, and be prepared for whatever might be coming next. It was time well spent, even if each meeting got disconnected because we surpassed the free 40 minutes. 

D is nuts. 

But cute. Oh, and hairbrushing is optional during ‘rona. 

Addie made unicorn chip cookies and asked if she could take some to papa. She wrapped it up with a ribbon and it looked really cute. Then she went to write him a note, and came back and asked the girls if they’d write him notes too. And they agreed happily! It was a little bit of a March miracle. They are such sweet girls with big hearts. 

More fun with papa. 

And one more. 

Lots of people have been active on our ward Facebook (and regular fb for that matter) and i showed the girls everyone’s videos and pictures after dinner. Tony did a fun singing time video and had them get silly hats and sing Sunbeam. The girls loved it!

Their primary warm fuzzy jar is almost full, so we all shared pictures of scripture time. These girls always smile like this when we read scriptures! 😂

We also did some family history. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a great grandma that’s not right, and I’m going to figure it out! This was my dads baptism book as a baby. How fun! D got a kick out of it and had to send a pic to papa and let him know that she found his name in the back or the book. 

Another day down. We’re all doing pretty well. I’ve noticed emotions come in waves. I’m fine one minute, and then something really silly makes me weepy. A very good thing is that I’m super patient with the girls. We don’t have anywhere to go, so we’re never running late. I’ve not been the most strict housekeeper, so that’s not been an issue. And the Ray home school hasn’t quite kicked into gear yet either. So maybe I’ve not been patient, just lazy? Either way. 🤷‍♀️

Day #6

Last night

Sleep: 9:30-2:30

Awake: 2:30-6:00

Sleep: 6:00-9:00

It’s so annoying. Thankfully my days are pretty free, so I did get a nap. 

Frankie, Matt, and I went for a run. We stopped by my dads and dropped off a camp chair for his deck and visited him for awhile. Frankie wanted to run to the wharf, and she stayed strong. She only complained and had to walk once. We did 1:30 minute run and 1:30 minute walk and we went 5.35 miles. Phew!

Addie asked if she could please hang out with Abby. Abby had an extra bike, so they went for a bike ride and time at the stream. Addie assured me they stayed 5 feet apart. 

We FaceTimed with Emmy and Lu. He has learned to clap when Lex claps and he wants to crawl so bad! He just needs to get his legs working right and he’s got it. 

In other news. 

St Mary’s county has its first positive COVID-19 patient and also a DC resident that works at the hospital tested positive. I’ve got several friends in the county waiting for results, and I know as the testing increases we’ll have more cases. In good news, the fda approved a new rapid COVID test that will only take 45 minutes, so that will help for sure. 

Christian was off today and was bored, bored, bored. This whole situation is really difficult for teens and young adults. I can’t imagine how I would have felt at their ages. Littles already don’t have a ton of freedoms, so in that way it’s easier. Chris made venison chili for dinner and I even tried it. It’s not bad, just hard to get past the whole eating deer part. 

Everyone else’s spirits are good. I am focusing on one day at a time and working hard not to worry about the future. It was chilly today, so there weren’t as many kids out, and I only had to send the neighbors away once.

Day #5

I forgot to share 2 pics from yesterday. They’re real yin and yang, so it’ll be good. 

Firstly, tulips! My favorite and every year when they bloom I am so happy!

And then, here’s Delaney’s back after Addie hit her with a stick. 🤦‍♀️ we’ve had a lot of together time, and it’s almost all good. 

In the interest of social distancing from neighbor kids, we had our first field trip. First stop - free lunch for the school girls! We didn’t know that they gave extra on Friday's! They each fit like 4 mills and tons of snacks and treats! And their principal was handing them out today, so that was fun too. 

We took Matt for his first trip to Purse State Park to hunt for shark teeth. Today was 80+ degrees and tomorrow is supposed to rain, so we thought it would be a good day. It was SO windy!

And not the warmest down by the water. 

And also the waves were super choppy!

Whomp, whomp. We still had fun and found tons of sea glass and shark teeth. But then out container blew over because it was so windy, and we lost our good shark teeth. Oops. 

Frankie, Addie, and I went for a hike on the bluff.

And then the grossest beach experience ever - a dead pig washed up on shore!!! Or maybe a very bloated raccoon, according to Matt, who buried it, but from my vantage point it looked like a chubby pig. Matt carefully moved it with a stick and buried it with our beach shovels. I am SO glad the girls weren’t swimming and that Matt was there. Sooo gross. 🤢

After Purse Park, we checked out the ghost ship graveyard at Mallows Bay. It’s been on my to do list for years and even though we’ve been out to Purse several times, I never realized it was right next to it! You can see a big steel ship to the right of our heads. 

Making up for the back hit. 

It was ridiculously windy! I almost lost my hat. 

My quarantine buddies. We still like each other! (Minus the stick incident)

We’re having an early to bed night tonight. I’ve been staying up way too late, tossing and turning, and waking up too early. So we came home, had spaghetti, watched Bolt, and ready for Come Follow Me. 

Day #5

I tutored virtually for the first time today. It went well and this will be good for my sweet student. 

After that I went to Food Lion to do some shopping for a sister at church, my dad, and to pick up a few treats for Frankie’s birthday. I was weirdly nervous to go by myself, but it was fine. Lots of people there, but they had almost everything I was looking for. 

Addie and I made crockpot lasagna and I made bread in the bread maker. We didn’t do a lick of schoolwork. I had to bring the girls in from playing outside twice because they were getting too cozy with the neighbors. I normally love to have all the kids play in our yard, but it’s getting to be too much. Maybe we’ll stick to our backyard for awhile. This is tough. 

Matt and I both had virtual presidency meetings. We’re all feeling pretty helpless right now. All we can do is stay in touch with texts and calls. It was nice to counsel together. 

I took exactly one picture, and it’s a gem. 

Day #4

I stayed up late talking to Chris last night. Love those lasts nighters. Then I read a very detailed, very scary article and woke Matt up and we talked and i worried and he reassured me till around 2am. Even when we went “back to bed” I tossed and turned. This is all so surreal, and everything is worse at night. This morning was a fresh start. A chance to talk about things and see the good. I listened to an old podcast yesterday and they talked about aggressively finding joy each day, and that great advice gave me fresh energy. I’m leading the virtual RS/EQ discussion on Sunday and were studying Pres. Nelson’s closing remarks from last general conference, and that is also breathing fresh life and hope into my days. It’s one day at a time, but they are mostly joyful. 

I got news of another friend who’s son and husband are waiting covid results. I know a handful of people all waiting all different times. In Seattle it’s 2 days, here on Sunday it was 5 days, and here today they were told results would take 10 days. I can’t imagine why they would have  to wait that long, but it’s not good. We are all praying prettt hard, pretty much all day. 

I talked to 3/5 of my siblings today, and that also brought joy. Apple closed their stores last week, but is paying all their employees, so for now Alli is good. I tried to convince her to come spend the quarantine with us, i’d even make room for her dumb dog, and that’s saying a lot. 

Amy’s been working 16 hour days at home for weeks now. Facebook is working hard to make sure all their employees will still be paid, and a lot of that is falling on Amy. They’ve got a cute “school” set up and the kids are doing well. Their county is under strict shelter in place orders, but they’ve been social distancing for awhile now, so they were prepared. 

Tom has his boys today, and it was fun to hear them playing and arguing like little boys that are cooped up do. They have plans to make giant bubbles, and this auntie can not wait. He is scheduled to leave for a delivery Sunday, but if NY locks down, he won’t be going. They’ve got work for them at the warehouse, and if all else fails, I’m sure he could get a job driving trucks somewhere else. 

I texted with joe and Frey, and both are doing well. Hopefully we can chat tomorrow. We also talked about a family Zoom, so that will be fun. 

Cade is working 2 weeks on now, instead of his usual 3-4. Then he should have 30 days off. Too bad they can’t travel. 😞 they are doing well, staying home, and cute as can be. Emmett took a few crawls today and we al laughed and laughed watching him zoom around in his walker. 

Last night Alli won hangman, and in the knock of time too. A “Happy Saint Patrick’s Day” message would have been lame today. 

Dad came over this morning and we social distanced in the yard. It almost felt normal. Thank goodness for Springy weather!

I ventured out for the first time since last Thursday. I had to drop off student pages to my student so I can virtually tutor. That starts tomorrow, so that should be fun. We decided to pick up McDonald’s as a special treat for everyone. These girls have been so good. Their whole worlds have been turned upside down and they are going with the flow. We chat several times a day about feelings and they are just such troopers. We’ve had very little fighting and bickering. We’re not getting a lot done, but I’m down for that right now. 

We talked about it and decided we could still go to horseback lessons. Matt was finally sent home for telework, so he came along. 2 outings in 1 day, what??? We loved on baby Indy and cheered on d and ads. 

Rochester

**July, 2019**

It was a beautiful day for a drive through the Pennsylvania and NY countryside!

We ❤️ NY and we ❤️ a road trip!

We stayed in Rochester with Alecia’s wonderful parents. They had a million beds all set up for us and a delicious dinner waiting for us, it was seriously so sweet. After dinner we followed the Darrow’s to Abbott’s for a delicious custard treat. Delaney and Emma. 😂



In true Michelle fashion, I didn’t do any research ahead of time. Alecia has talked about her fav ice cream place down by the lake, and in my mind I was picturing a quaint country lake. And then I was like, wait, you’re talking about a Great Lake?? There are lighthouses all around the Great Lakes! And wouldn’t you know it, there was a lighthouse within walking distance from our ice cream. So perfect!

These kids make me nervous on wet pavement over open choppy water. Thankfully we all survived. 

Rochester Harbor Lighthouse. 

It was a beautiful night with our good friends!

#sohappy



We played at a park and let the kids get out some of their craziness. Because vacationing with best friends is amazing and brings out lots of craziness. Before we headed back for the night, we hit up another lighthouse. 

The cute little Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse. 







After a very full day, we put kids to bed, chatted as adults for awhile, and then promptly fell asleep in anticipation for another very full day coming up.