Day #40 and #41

On Friday morning we noticed an Amazon package on our porch addressed to the Rays, a sure sign that it was not ordered by me. A cute dried fruit tray! We were so excited and taste tested every piece. The apples are like gummy candies and the kiwi and mango are to die for. This fun surprise made our day. 

An awesome thing about quarantine is that most days we all eat lunch together. We sat down on Friday and realized we still hadn’t watched this weeks Some Good News with John Krasinsky. His weekly shows are giving us life. This week he did Prom for all the seniors, and I just can’t. Love it so much. 

To be honest, we’ve been struggling with having clearly defined hone evenings. I mean, we’re all together all the time, so it’s not like we’re not doing anything. Anyhizzle, Friday afternoon Matt and D made a special pudding treat and that evening we got legit. We watched Elder Bednar’s short How I Hear Him and then shared our experiences with hearing Him. We had a great discussion and everyone participated. And then treat time! Don’t mind the mess behind her. 

That night we watched a movie with the fam and then had a House Parry with the Seagrove’s. We played and visited for almost 3 hours, it was so fun. I couldn’t stop laughing as I was taking the picture. I also tried to screenshot, but you know. 🤷‍♀️

After the Houseparty we still had work to do! Sarah’s birthday was Saturday and we had plans to make her quarantine day special. We forked her yard, but I’m nothing if not practical, so instead I used the over abundance of plastic knives we had and wrote fun messages on them. After 11 years we’ve experienced a lot of life together - several more children, girls trips, play dates, kid swaps, hard times, and blessings. I love my crew and doing silly things to make special days special. #stealthmode

Saturday morning we broke out the over abundance of candy melts we’ve acquired through the years, and made lollipops, candies, and pretzels. It was bananas and fun. 

For as messy and crazy as it was; they came out really cutely. 

I mean...

Solid first try. We’ve got a lot more candy melts, so we’re gonna watch some YouTube tutorials and kill it next time. 

We had an afternoon house party for Sarah’s birthday. It was so fun and I’m so grateful for every opportunity at connection. 

24 hours of progress on our fruit tray. I think we liked it. And we found out that the mystery sender was none other than papa!

Dad invited the girls to make biscuits “with” him. At first they were lukewarm on the idea, but by the end they were arguing over who got to stir and portion out the biscuits. So I’d say it was successful. 

And in the best kind of peer pressure ever Matt honed his pizza making skills again. We threw the dough in the bread maker again and then he tried a few new tricks. I fully support this new interest. 

Sarah sent a pic of her “bouquet.” 😂 

Also:

The girls spent some time getting dirty, literally, at the stream. The extra laundry was worth the happy girls and quiet house. 

Addie made pudding chocolate chip cookies that were super good. And yes, we are working our way through many, many packs of pudding. 

Frankie and i tutored. We haven’t missed a day all week and we will fully enjoy our day off on Sunday. 

Everyone journaled. We talked about some important things to include. This is such a historic time and I want them to have a record of their thoughts and experiences. 

I bought a pack of Picasso Tiles last week and have been using them as encouragement for the girls to keep things tidy. Their rooms have looked good all week and tonight they asked to finish their chores so they could earn their prize by Sunday. They tidied and vacuumed their rooms; stairs, and landing, helped with a few loads of laundry, and then we blitzed our bathroom. They were so happy. 

Christian came home exhausted, so I visited with him for awhile. It’s officially crab season and they have been very busy. There are several employees that aren’t comfortable working right now (understandably) so they are understaffed and that can be so frustrating. He’s been working a ton and is such a loyal employee and manager. 

It was a fairly nice day today and then rained hard all night. Glass half full - we haven’t flooded in over 48 hours. Looking for all the silver linings, and there are so very many.