One of the hard parts of quarantine was schooling.  Although I enjoyed being able to channel my teacher side, I was so sad for Millie Janalee and Smith.  They missed their teachers and their friends.  They weren't able to finish out the year.  For Smith, this meant no spring program...and he had been singing around the house for weeks.  For Millie Janalee, it meant she will never step foot back into her school as a student.  Next year, she will move to another school building.  And we had just enjoyed her teachers so much this year, I wasn't ready for it to end.  I shed some tears over the whole thing.

The schools have worked so hard to make these kids feel special, and all the parents are so grateful!  This has been an opportunity to see how the teachers connect with our kids.  I have seen Millie Janalee's teacher read Charlotte's Web through her Google Classroom.  Her class had a couple "math nights" on Zoom with their teachers playing fun games.  Her Challenge teacher called regularly to check in.  Smith's teachers sent videos of the Letter of the Week and science experiments.  Millie Janalee and Smith's faces lit up when they got to see their teachers' faces.  And I loved feeling like a part of that!

As May drew near, and we realized going back to school just was not going to happen...the schools started working on fun plans. 

Our sweet preschool hosted a precious drive thru end of the year parade!  All the teachers from all the classes stood out and handed out treats as we stopped at each station.  They greeted the kids with smiles and excitement, and these littles were just beside themselves to see everyone! 

 

Smith was hanging out of the window talking to his classmates in the cars through the line.  It was the funniest thing to hear their conversations. Big sister even got treats! 

By the time we reached the end of the line and saw those kindergarten teachers doing their "Good job!  Good job!" cheer, I had tears streaming down my face.  It was just such a precious time.  I was heartbroken for the kindergartners who didn't get to finish out such a special year with those fabulous teachers, but I was also touched by these precious memories made.  Just love all around!

Millie Janalee's teachers did something special too.  They planned a drive by!  They took an afternoon and drove by all 42+ houses around town.  Our house isn't even in the district, much less on the same side of town as the rest of the students.

So we tried to make them feel as special as we knew how when they finally made their way out to us!  Millie Janalee was so excited as we waited on them to round that corner.

They rounded the corner honking and hanging out their windows.  They had painted their cars and had huge smiles across their faces.  I knew they were tired, but they didn't show it.  If you want to earn a mama's heart...love her babies!

And that is what I have felt this school year...love.  I knew my wild man Smith was loved no matter what.  They looked for the good in him and saw the same sweet Smith I see.  Millie Janalee's teachers communicated with us all year.  They were grateful.  I was grateful.  And Millie Janalee loved school!  She formed new close friendships, and that was fun to watch as well. 

So the last days of school were sad.  But they were also filled with gratitude.  We took it all for granted.  Never again.  If this whole pandemic has taught us anything, it's that it can all be taken away quick.  Love on those who love your babies.  I know I plan to! 

I am thankful for the teachers all over who have shared their heart and kept loving their students.  What a difference that has made for us!

Mother's Day Weekend

 For Mother's Day this year I asked for a family day.  So the Saturday before, Russ and I decided to take the kids to Dismals Canyon for a little day hike experience.  Before we left, Russ and the kids went ahead and gave me some Mother's Day treats - some homemade cards and a priceless video Russ had worked so hard to put together!  It was the PERFECT gift!  Russ and I typically don't do big gifts for each other.  We may, on occasion, go overboard.  But overall, a homemade gift is as good as a diamond necklace.

Because of quarantine, the cafe and bathrooms were closed.  So I wasn't sure how this would end up. But we took our lunches and made sure everyone took a bathroom break before we left town.

Russ called to find out about registration (you are supposed to fill out the form at home, but we were out of ink in the printer), the lady told him that they have been over double capacity since quarantine started.  When their numbers are usually around 300...they had been at 1000 the previous count.  We parked down the road because the parking lot was full.  But once we got signed in, it didn't seem crowded at all!

There were plenty of side climbs and distractions for us all to get off the trail and find our own fun.  Of course, Smith wanted to explore every single dangerous looking nook and cranny.  So we let him.  Ha!

We took our shoes off and waded in the freezing water, climbed rocks, and squeezed between logs.  We saw families of all ages.  One grandfather even brought his own tailgate chair to set up when he needed to rest every once in a while.  While he rested, the grandkids played and climbed wherever they stopped.

After a couple hours or so, we decided to head back toward the entrance.  Except we weren't real sure where that was.  We had ventured a little too far from the path.  After climbing over and under and across logs, water, and rocks...we eventually found our way back to the trail.  

It was a gorgeous day for a day at Dismals Canyon!  My heart was full, and I think the whole family enjoyed the day.  Smith was certainly in his element.  Millie Janalee was a trooper and made it at least halfway before complaining.

Sunday morning, we enjoyed watching church online and taking the morning slow.  Kristin and Lee hosted the family for the afternoon, and Kristin prepared a delicious dinner for us all to enjoy.  I think this may have been the first time the whole family had eaten together since the pandemic began.  And it was delicious! Lots of laughs and lots of talking...which probably meant lots of interruptions and half conversations. 

It was a Happy Mother's Day filled with family!  Exactly what I asked for!

Quarantine Easter 2020

It was wonderful to have something to look forward to on our calendar!  Easter wasn't cancelled.  The Easter Bunny still found the kids, and there was a small bit of normalcy for a little while Easter morning. 

On a typical Easter morning, we would be rushing around getting fed, dressed, and loaded for a trip to Corinth for church at my home church.  However, since churches are still closed...we were able to spend a little time playing with toys from the Easter Bunny, enjoy cinnamon rolls as a family, and I was able to continue the preparations for Easter lunch.

There are a few things southern mamas take seriously.  One of those is Easter frocks and family photos.  So, we did get everyone cleaned up and dressed in the Easter clothes I ordered specifically for Easter.  Thankfully, there weren't too many complaints and the kids looks precious all dressed up!  It was a nice change from the pajamas and play clothes we wear every day these days.

Even Russ cooperated.  Easter Sunday was filled with the threat of tornadoes.  The weather was yucky, but there was a break in the rain!  And I saw a chance to snap that ever so important Easter family photo.  What you should know is that Russ is the only one with shoes on!  Ha!  I managed to keep my slippers on and the kids had on flip flops.  We call it business on the top and party on the bottom.

After our photo, we gathered together in the living room for our Easter service - a VERY different Easter service than we have ever had.  Snuggled together on the couch.

After church, we joined the rest of the family on a Zoom call!  Susu wanted a family Easter photo, so we got dressed up for it.  The second the picture was over, people started shedding clothes. Haha!  Happy Easter...quarantine style!

Then it was time for the big event - the big Easter lunch!  The moment I realized the big family Easter wasn't going to happen, I panicked.  All of a sudden, I was in charge of Easter!  I started gathering the recipes I needed and making the menu, trying to make this a special memory for Russ and me...and the kids. 

Our Easter menu included my mom's roast with potatoes and carrots, smothered green beans, cauliflower rice, cream corn, rolls, and strawberry pretzel salad.  I burned the roast.  But aside from that, it was a delicious meal!  Thankfully there were plenty of sides to make up for it.

We spent the rest of our Easter Sunday napping, laying around watching Matt Lauban and the weather expecting a tornado.  Thankfully, it was a false warning for us. 

Happy Easter, Covid-19!

Pre-Easter Fun

Easter proved to be a problem for this family.  If you've been around long enough, you know that Easter is our holiday. Here are some of the highlights from previous years.

So many of us mamas were disappointed to miss sweet Easter egg hunts and parties, the frilly Easter frocks, and church photos.

Smith's preschool teachers did a great job providing fun Easter activities that we all were able to enjoy together! Easter egg numbers match, alphabet carrots to feed the bunny, and more!  We also decorated eggs together.  Easter has always been such a busy time, and there were some perks of slowing down and really remembering the reason we celebrate.

We had some fun surprises pop up!  Buck and She She surprised the kids with a fun egg hunt.  They stopped by and hid 10 eggs filled with messages for the kids to find.  We had "been egged!"  The kids loved it and thought the notes were the best thing ever.  Not one question about candy!  We decided it was such a fun idea that we egged some of our favorite friends too!

Kay Kay called to let us know the Easter Bunny may be riding through her neighborhood.  So we ventured off to our very first social gathering since the quarantine began.  The kids weren't really sure what to do.  They just looked at each other for a little while.  I brought an egg hunt exercise activity and had them hunt one egg at a time so no one was touching.  Ha!  Then we sectioned off parts of the driveway for sidewalk chalk drawings.

The Saturday before Easter, Buck and She She told us the Easter Bunny was coming down their street too!  As it turned out, this was the real deal!  The kids spread out and waved as the bunny drove past.  He even stopped for a photo opp.

We decided to hang around a while, so we moved to the back yard.  Then, Susu and Pawpaw surprised us!  The Annual Smith Egg Hunt is serious.  It was a near devastating blow to forego the hunt altogether.  I won't lie...I was pouting internally.  Haha!  Susu and Pawpaw had arranged for the egg hunt to continue...one couple at a time.  So that's what we did.  We hunted our eggs...3 different egg hunts in a row.  Russ FINALLY won after 15 years of trying.  We decided it was because I was his only competition.  But a win is a win!

We didn't completely neglect the children.  Kay Kay brought their own giant Easter egg hunt for each family of children to do.  And they also assisted Russ during our egg hunt.  So I have determined his win wasn't really fair.

Although it wasn't our typical Smith Easter Egg Hunt...it was a fun variation.  No hugging.  No touching.  Six feet apart social distancing.  But the face time was MUCH NEEDED!!  Big thanks to Susu and Pawpaw for making it happen!

 An Easter to remember for sure!

Coronaschool

Our everyday life has been interrupted.

It's like someone made an announcement..."We interrupt normal programming to bring you family time at HOME where you actually have to be everything to all people in your home."

This includes our new role as teacher.

Millie Janalee attends our local public school, and Smith is still at our precious church preschool.  You would think one is obviously more important than the other.  However, Smith does start kindergarten next year.  And he is still learning letter sounds.  Both our school district and our preschool have worked tirelessly to help parents with "distance learning."  Our preschool teachers put together fabulous packets we pick up weekly and send videos with instruction, music, and even chapel.  Our public school district has set up a distance learning curriculum on Google Classroom where the children complete assignments each day, and they are able to submit assignments online as well.

There are some days we get an A++ on school.  Then there are days we do nothing at all.

One of my favorite days was St. Patrick's Day.  I started the day out with a fun St. Patty's Day breakfast, morning work laid out, and a schedule prepared for the day full of fun activities.

We had scavenger hunts, yoga for kids, crafts, recess, and a science experiment.  This is NOT our normal.  But it certainly was fun and made our day more enjoyable.  This was also before the school district started sending out specific assignments.  The official "distance learning" thing kinda stifled my fun teacher mode a little.

Our normal school routine starts with sleeping in.  The kids work on morning work during breakfast, giving me time to gather myself. I can shower if I want (but I usually don't - Ha!), read my Bible, and get myself some caffeine to start the day.  Once I check morning work, the kids can start their own school day.  Millie Janalee does her schoolwork online through Google Classroom. She has lessons and assignments to work through.  One of her teachers is reading through Charlotte's Web with them online and she has a math program called Prodigy to work through.  While Millie Janalee does this, Smith will get the iPad and freely go through any of the ABC Mouse programs...or he and I will sit down to work on one of the preschool activities his teachers have sent home.  I need to do this more than I do, because I do enjoy that one on one time with him.

One of the things I have loved including in our day is Bible time.  I'm ashamed to say that this has not been a normal part of our day.  We pray with our children and talk about things as they come up, but I have not set aside a scheduled Bible time to teach a lesson or teaching them to look up verses in their bibles....outside of reading Bible stories before bed.  We have enjoyed this time, and it usually happens during lunch on a regular school day.  We especially enjoyed Easter week, and reading each day about the days leading up to the Resurrection. 

In Deuteronomy, Moses is talking to the Isrealites after God has written the ten commandments.  He says in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  With all that is going on around us during this time, teaching your children about God and leading them to Jesus is the most important thing we can be doing.  It is our job as parents to minister to and disciple those right in front of us - in our homes.  Our ministry starts here.  So many children's ministers have been helping us by posting videos for us to share with our children.  We watch them together, look up verses, do the activities together if there is one, and talk about them.  I am so thankful for our local churches working overtime to feed their sheep during this unprecedented time.

After lunch, our day pretty much ends with art, piano practice, recess, Challenge assignments, and screen time [GASP!].  That's right.  I said it.

We are all doing great!  The stay at home mamas, the working mamas, the mamas barely keeping it together, the crafty moms, the stay at home dads, the grandparents...we are all doing GREAT!  At first, social media was in a frenzy with judgements.  Judgements about a lot of things.  But the mom shaming was certainly a part of that.  Here's how I see it.  I'll do me.  You'll do you.  And we are all on the same team!  Just mamas trying to survive using what we got.

While I am not winning at Coronaschool, I am thankful for the opportunity.  I do TRY to pep myself up each morning.  I fail a lot.  But we also have made some unforgettable memories...at least in my mind.

And this is one of the reasons I wanted to get back on here....writing about our time.  One day my kids will look back, and I want them to know I tried.  I may have failed miserably, but I did try and my intentions were good.

Just a mama trying to raise her family during a scary, uncertain, and chaotic time in our history.

Our Quarantine

"...When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we were called to be, we hoped to be and may we stay that way - better for each other because of the worst." - Laura Kelly Fanucci

(It has been nearly 3 years since I have written anything here.  How did that happen!?  I loved this space.  I loved having these memories written out in words and in pictures.  I just recently went through and prepared EIGHT blog books for printing.  That's how far behind I was!)

On March 14, 2020...our family began our official quarantine.  The country - well, the whole world - is in the middle of a pandemic.  COVID-19.  Coronavirus.  Corona.  "The Rona." It goes by many nicknames these days.  It has been a scary time for many.  At best, a strange time for everyone.  Schools have closed (the kids never went back after Spring Break), businesses have shut down or gone to curbside and delivery only, churches have closed their doors (it is all online), and social gatherings have stopped.  We do dance and piano classes on Zoom, and we do distance learning on Google Classroom.  I still keep up with my Bible study girls on Zoom each week.  My Marco Polo app stays hot.  Thank goodness for technology!

Everything has changed.

And I decided it was time to pick this back up and start getting my thoughts and our new normal down "on paper" - or on the blog.  So I am going to attempt to cover some of our new normal here. 

I am an introvert at heart.  I can fake it til I make it in a crowd.  I do love to host parties and fun events at my home.  But my very happy place is with a small group of close friends and/or family.  Quality time is my love language.  Not in the busy-ness of life.  Real quality time.  Some may even say I was born to quarantine.  I admit that I panicked at first.  Then I had fun with it.  Then I had some rough days.  Then I found a groove that works for us.  Not every day is great, but every day has some moments.  And I don't hate it.

Don't get me wrong, I hate what this pandemic is doing to people's health and finances.  I hate the fear it has put into the hearts of so many.  I hate watching the news if I'm completely honest.

But there are some things I don't hate.  I don't hate the precious time we spend as a family on Sunday mornings worshiping at home.  I don't hate having a clear schedule with no obligations and no decisions to be made.  I don't hate spending this extra time at home as a family.  There will never be another time in history where we will get so much extra time with those we love most.  I am not attentive all the time.  I spend too much time on my phone and I don't always jump up to play soccer or push someone on the saucer swing when I'm asked.  But I do find myself looking into their eyes more.  Staring longer.  Even tearing up from time to time watching them just be kids.  My heart is full right now.

My kids miss their friends.  I miss my friends.  And I'll go ahead and put it out there - I have had a cocktail hour with my best girl friends 6 feet apart on my back porch.  Russ insisted during one of my hard nights, and I started texting them immediately!  As I type this, Russ is having a guy night on the back patio as well.  We had one little social distance family gathering right before Easter.  It was much needed.  It gave me enough fuel for a little while.  We have seen some of the kids' little friends from a distance during our little birthday parades that have become a normal thing these days. Just enough face time with everyone to get us through.

We had Easter as a family of four.  It was a simple and sweet time.  Nothing spectacular.  I cooked my first Easter lunch for my family and tried to make it taste like my mom's.  I burned the roast.  But other than that, it was a delicious home cooked Sunday meal.  The weather was bad all day.  We had our tornado safe place prepped and ready.  Thankfully, we didn't have to use it.  The Easter Bunny did find the kids.  And I bet he wore his face mask and gloves as he hopped from house to house. 

It's a strange time for sure.

But what am I doing with this gift of time I have been given?

How will my kids remember this time 10 years from now?

That is what goes through my mind every day.  It doesn't mean I have mastered this quarantine.  Not by a long shot.  But I do acknowledge it as a gift in many ways.

And on the many days I fail...I am so glad His mercies are new every morning!