Day #193 and #194

Yesterday Frankie took Tessa her birthday gift and they went for a bike ride. Julia just moved back from California and was playing at the park, so Michelle grabbed this fun pic. 

This favorite guy of mine. He’s a hard working goofball

We inaugurated our new air fryer lid with some burritos last night. 👍🏼👍🏼

Addie and Frankie came around the corner this morning like this. 😂

We met up at the park with our crew and played for a few hours. 

We watched The Addams Family for movie night and cleaned up Tenkor stain on the carpet. Why are dogs so stinky? 😩

Day #192

We had a good day. We got all of our things done and the girls played outside twice. It’s the last week of the quarter so Ministering Interviews are happening. I love MI’s, and I’m bummed that we are so late this quarter, but it’s covid time, so here we are. I made yellow curry and potato’s for dinner and Matt took Addie and Abby to a cemetery for youth activities. Frankie and Delaney had activities too. My one picture of the day was Addie helloing Frankie. 💕

The girls each got a few minutes on Messenger kids. 

We’re treading 3rd Nephi and i really love it. Some of my favorite scriptures. 

Day #191

• It was a no picture day. 
• We did school. 
• We watched Sister Jones Conference talk for our morning devotional. 
• I made French toast and bacon for brunch. 
• I tutored x2. 
• I picked up bubbas new tire and took it to him at work. I knew it would be a quick errand and then accidentally left without my mask. I opened the door at Big Ed’s and, standing outside with my shirt over my nose and mouth explained my situation. It was all paid for and they just brought it out to my car. Oopsie. 
• The girls practiced piano. 
• Bryn came over to play in the yard while parents  had an appt. 
• When Matt got home, he took over math with Frankie. They worked on it till after 8. I suspect while i tutored Ruby and ran to help bubba, no work was actually done, which is frustrating. I did some reading and I’m going to set a time limit on school. I need to let go of my need for order and just let her learn at her pace. Reading is more important to me than math and also easier for me to work with her, so that’s my focus. We’ll do our best with math but working for that many hours isn’t good for anyone. 
• It was another rough day for me but we will figure this out. 
• Nola taught about scripture study for our RS activity and she always does a great job. 
• And it’s the first day of fall and I wanted to decorate but see about about math until 8pm. 
• Thank goodness. 👇🏻 

Day #188-190

The days go by surprisingly fast. I wanted Saturday to be a relaxing day, but then I blinked and it was 4. Matt has worked every Friday off and every Saturday for the past 2 months, so he was gone. Frankie and I caught up on some school stuff and tutoring. then  I went for a run. Then we all loaded up and went to Joann’s for more mask material. We made a few other quick stops and came home for some sewing machine mask making, as opposed to hand sewing like last time. Alli made 2. Mine and Frankie’s got done, but here  is weirdly small, and mine needs more pleats on the edges. Or something. Matt, Alli, and I each have differing opinions about how to make it better, so for now it sits. The girls love sewing with the machine, so it’s been really fun and also teaching is slow. Alli and Addie are talking about making skirts, which I love, love, love. 

Addie and Abby did some FaceTiming. Addie is full on tween mode. She’s never disrespectful to parents but she gets so frustrated and snippy with her sisters. It’s fun to see her being silly and having fun. 

One of Delaney’s new favorite outfits is actually an old Streeter favorite, so i shared this with Darlaina and then we texted novels back and forth all day. We miss them especially during the summer pool months and at Halloween. 

Goof. 

Why are filters so fun?! 

We watched On the Basis of Sex and celebrated RBG’s rockstar life.

On Sunday we went back to church for the first time in 6 months. We went to the first of 5 sessions. We are limited to 25 people, and our meeting had 24. We had the sacrament in the cultural hall. The chairs were spaced and already arranged for each family. Alecia played piano, Matt prepared and blessed the sacrament, Tony passed, and Sean went behind him with an empty tray to collect the cups - each piece of bread was in a different cup. Tony gave a nice talk and Addie said the closing prayer. Matt stayed to put away the sacrament and help wipe chairs. The outside doors were all propped open and i had told our girls no bathrooms. Everyone wore masks and we got hand sanitizer from the dispensers that have been placed on the walls. It was very quick and clean. After, the kids ran around and we all visited. We were still visiting when the next group arrived, which was probably a bad example, but we’re un-quarantining with Aina’s and Darrow’s already. We decided we should head out before the 3rd group arrived, but it was a lovely day and it was nice to visit. 

 I hadn’t slept well, i don’t know if i was anxious about church or getting everyone there on time, or what, but i came home not feeling well and took a long nap until it was time for afternoon meetings. One on zoom, one outside at the church. Both went well. Matt and I made chicken fried rice for National fried rice day, and then the Dorn’s came over and we went for a Mormon parade. We got to meet Scout and I was so nervous Tenkor was going to get out and eat him right up. T was so sad she couldn’t come on our walk, but she would have been so agitated the whole time, we had to leave her home. Matt and Steve get along really well, so the boys paired up and Chelsea and I paired up and it was a really nice evening. We are soaking up these cool days that are our reward for our scorching hot and humid summers, and our cold, grey winters. Fav time of year!

This morning the house was cold, cold, cold, so everyone cuddled up in blankets for school time. This is our first Monday where everyone is fully caught up, except Frankie was behind one math activity. Delaney and I worked on subtraction and she hates it but got it done.  

Frankie loves science! She’s way ahead, which is great because she can just keep on going as far as I’m concerned. 

Addie made a pillow and blanket bed and arranged herself all Queen of Sheba style all day. She is totally independent and I’m so thankful for that. 

All theee took a break to go play at the school park where they all went happily and played cooperatively, and then picked up school lunches and brought them home. They are back to loving the hoverboard also. 

Then papa came over and invited all of us to an art walk downtown. It had warmed up and sounded fun, but a quiet house and chance to play catch up won out for me, so I sent papa with the girls, which I’m sure was not what he’d bargained for, but he rolled with the punches. 

They came home with milkshakes and even though the art walk was a dud (shops were closed) I heard everyone had a good time. 

These new swings look pretty sweet. We have a cute little downtown. 

And a cute little 8 year old. 

I spy am Addie-socks. 

Some covid wisdom. 

I also liked this. I think we’re all feeling a little fragile and we could all be a little more nice. 

We did piano and Johnna spent an extra 30 minutes working with them on a duet for the talent show Saturday. She’s such a great piano teacher, so patient and good with the girls. 

We’ve been meeting virtually with the missionaries every Monday for the last few months. We’ve got some great missionaries and we always enjoy our time together. We made bbq pork croissant cups with some school lunch food and everyone enjoyed them. Then for family night we talked about preparing for general conference which I can’t believe is in less than 2 weeks. It was a good and full day. 

Day #187

School days. Aunti Alli got the girls an early Christmas lresent - a pack of colorful headphones. Now we’ve got extras and no one ever has to search. We don’t have a set place for school, we go wherever is comfortable, and it’s usually close to each other, which I love.The only rhinf i don’t love about this philosophy is that I don’t like the girls carrying computers around, even though we’ve never had a problem, I don’t want to chance it. 

This was a stressful day. Some days the messes get to me more than others. This was one of those days. And then Christian had dropped off his car for Delaney to clean it while he went to Annapolis to pick up crabs. So I moved the car up to the driveway, put down some cardboard to catch the oil, and then couldn’t get the key out. So it was on, in the driveway, I had to leave for a date to have lunch with Kitty, and Christian was 2 hours away. It was stressful. I ended up leaving it running in our driveway with strict instructions for the girls to stay away from it. Alli even tried getting the key out when she had a break and nothing worked. Chris had to use pliers to get the key out when he got back. He swears that’s never happened before. 🤷‍♀️ 

Kitty and I ate on the patio at Mod Pizza. It started raining right when we got there, so we put up the umbrella and sat outside alone in the rain, which was perfect. She’s been a great Stake Relief Society president to me, even as she’s been though her own Gethsemane. She’s full of wisdom and the spirit and I just love her. I was surprised and sad to find that she’s moved to Virginia. She will be missed, but she is excited for a fresh start, and I’m excited for her. Lunch was a nice break to the stress and my grumpy mood. 

It was National Monte Christo Day, so we made some up, which was  a first for me. Everyone ate them, and almost everyone even put powdered sugar on theirs. #adventurous

We’ve started having weekly presidency meetings again. They are supposed to be short opportunities to check in and make sure everything is rolling smoothly. We managed a 30 minute meeting our first week, but this Thursday was a 60 minute one. Good thing I love Chelsea  and Carolee so much. 🤗

I also tutored and had another ward meeting. Zoom meetings are a blessing to be able to keep in contact, and also, I’m over them. 

Friday was another grumpy day. I think I’m generally a pretty happy person, but I’ve been in a funk. So no pictures all day. Until Dad brought some fun when he brought over cheeseburgers for National Cheeseburger Day! It was very sweet and fun and we all enjoyed our burgers, even Tenkor. 

We called this dinner and that made me sups happy!

After dinner, Matt took the girls and they went up to the school to fly his drone. I tidied up and decided to light a candle and find a show to watch. I found a cute one called The Home Edit about some cute home organizers, which i love, and I was happy to see that we basically have the same closet as Reese Witherspoon. Yay. And then I found out that the Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. Boo. Come on, 2020. 

I looked up some of my favorite quotes of hers. 

I need to remember this one. 👇🏻 Why am I so quick to forget? It reminds me of one of my fav Jen Hatmaker quotes about planning to be a dear lamb wife but accidentally having a fiery temper. Maybe I’ll be a dear lamb when I’m 50? 🤷‍♀️

Notorious RBG passing did nothing to help my bad mood. More political turmoil and hypocrisy. Thankfully we were almost done with school for the week and the house was fairly clean. 

And also Lu sent me this little cutey lover of all lights, and how could that not make me happy? 

Day #186

We got up before light and Emmett was a tired but sweet little traveler. 

Alli and I took turns loving on him in the airport. We misssss him!

Traveling is hard when you think you are big and just want to get down and play. But they made it. 

Alli and I had a few hours to kill before IKEA opened, so we went for a walk in dc. It was a beautiful crisp morning and fun to be in the city again. 

We walked to Lincoln and Washington and then to the White House. Things looked a lot different then even last time we were here a few months ago. The high fence around the WH was being painted and this whole area up to Lafayette Park was fenced off. These small fences  move around regularly, but the tall fence is a bummer. 

Then the entry to Lafayette Park  is all fenced off too. People have put Black Lives Matter posters and signs all over the fence. 

Then we checked out Black Lives Matter Plaza. It’s huge! Several blocks long. Idk why we hadn’t realized it would be. 



Looking towards the White House. 

From there we walked back to our car and headed to College Park for some IKEA therapy. I always send Tom a picture, and somehow he always knows where we are. 😂 it wasn’t my fav IKEA trip, but I did get some ideas. 

The sweetest. With his new haircut, Emmett looks exactly like Cade! Love them!

Wednesday night reading time. 

And a funny. Delaney likes to make awards for people and leave them on their bed or give them out directly. Then she left this card for several of us so we could make her an award as well. Only Matt read this as “Make me and ‘A’ word” So he wrote “atomic,” and gave it back to her. 😂 ok, maybe that was just covid funny, but we laughed. 

And some Holland wisdom. 💕

We miss Em and Lu, but so grateful they got to spend a month with us! It was so nice to have so much time with them, especially during this time in the upside down. 

Day #183-185

Sunday morning I made us up some smoothie for this cutie and i. 

Chelsea gave us these shirts that say “Vote.” and asked us to send her some pics. This was my second modeling gig for my small biz friends, my first shoot wasn’t used at all. 😂 I told addie I really needed to show off the shirt. So she cut off my head. 😂

Modeling looks easy, but as it turns out I have just one pose, and all pictures shouldn’t be hands on hips. I had to look up different poses. And then they all felt so ridiculous to me that i made everyone go through and pick the least ridiculous. Lexi likes this one. 

Addie is the greatest, but her modeling photo shoot abilities are not fully developed, so after a few minutes and trying to coach her, Alli took pity on me. As an avid America’s Next Too Model watcher, she already had ideas for me. 

We took a few together. 

And then the funniest thing. I was taking some pictures of Matt and trying to get the lighting right. Chelsea said to use portrait mode and then I adjusted the lighting to stage light. I didn’t know what that was until I looked through my pictures, and this is how they turned out! 😂 I die! 😂

Emmi tried on Aunt D’s Jean jacket. 

And he rocked it. 

Matt and I took Tenkor and Em for a walk. This is how some Sundays go. Dressed on top, yogas on the bottom. 

We met some new neighbors and their cute pup. We had to take T back inside because she doesn’t play well with others. Em. Climbed back into his stroller and Matt let him stand and face him. So safe. 

Delaney brought out the hoverboard and the wheels light up and Em was all “squirrel!”

Monday morning. We’ve been borrowing Alli’s laptop so they can all work at once. 

Accurate. 

More hurricanes. Because why not. 

Math time with sissy. And now, a week into the future and with 3 math days under my belt, I really miss her. 

Addie and Abby went to the library. Addie loves hanging out outside at the tables. It’s so amazing to have the library so close by. 

Creepy Tuesday morning sun. Or moon? Who knows with 2020. 

I. Love. This. Boy. 

He helps with school. 

He’s very helpful. 

More quality time while Lexi helped frankie. So bright. 

Frankie bought a mini Tenkor. We took her for a walk and she she was so funny. She stopped so she could pee and sniff the grass. Cute mini T. 

We met up with the Aina’s at the park so they could say bye to Emmi. The girls pushed him a little too high on the swings. 😂

And i sat with him for a long time while he played on this play structure. 

Matt started taking his birthday drone out. He’s gone out almost every night. He and the girls love creeping it around. 

Papa came over and we all worked on our Texas puzzle and got all the Emmi cuddles. 

He’s such a good and friendly boy. 

Christian and his new friend Jeannie came over. She is a hair dresser, so lu had her cut Emmett’s hair. I was upstairs and heard him absolutely screaming, he hated his haircut! I held his sweet head and soothed him by talking to him and also mini m&m’s. Then I gave him a bath to clean him up and make up for his troubles. 

Delaney made a magnetiz Tenkor and let Emmi destroy it. 

Bedtime was sad. 

We hate saying goodbye. Why do they have to love so far away? 😩

After we put Emmett down, we played games until it was bedtime. We had to leave for the airport  at 5:30, so you t was not a late night.