Isolating

Our week was a little out of the ordinary with Daddy being sick with Covid, though very mildly.  With his own space set up in the basement to isolate, we didn't see him much the first part of the week as we remained healthy, or so we thought.  Though mild symptoms slowly hit each of the kids and I, we continued to have negative tests until Thursday morning, and then things started to fall apart.  So, we ended our week isolating as well, though we had largely been doing so anyway.  The only change was that we took even more caution around our pets for the remainder of the week.  A week-long sleep over in mom's room is still in the works as we decided best for all of us to be in one room away from the majority of the house where we could share the benefit of an air purifier while we slept.  Days were spent outside as much as possible so we didn't have to mask.  Thankfully, we were all only very mildly affected with things like a scratchy throat, occasional cough due to throat irritation and a couple with some sinus symptoms.  We ended the week on Sunday more frustrated than anything because we are now at the end of isolation but still needing to mask for another 5 days.

However, we made the best of another beautiful week we had been given.  We are on the home stretch for school now, with less than 2 weeks to go, so it's project time!  All of the girls are researching, doing experiments, writing papers and preparing to do their presentations for history and science.  Elam has completed the alphabet and is doing his review and fun work to finish his year of preschool.

The kids and I tackled the garden mid-week, pulling all the overwhelming weeds out of the beds, prepping them for planting by adding compost and then mulching them with newspaper and straw before finally planting our new seedingings that had been eagerily waiting their spots in the garden since their first sprouts back in March.

Friday morning, since we were stuck home and couldn't attend the last MOPS meeting in person, I attended virtually while the kids played outside.  We also spent another afternoon swimming in the lake at Sandy Pines on Friday (still too cold for me).

We got to watch a crane fly over the lake, land near us, catch a big fish and eat it!

We ended our evening with ice cream from the shop in Sandy Pines.  It felt like a perfect thing to do!

Saturday, we begin the overwelming task of taking down the upstairs ceiling, one sheet of drywall at a time to put in air gaps, better insulation and a ridge vent to help with heat loss in winter, ice formation and also ventilation year round.  It will definitely take some time, but we were able to get 2 panels down, old insulation removed, re-formed what will be a new ceiling shape to account for ventilation and then re-installed new insulation and OSB sheets on which we will put the final vinyl flooring surface once the whole stretch is completely re-worked.

While all of this went on, in bursts thanks to needed breaks from being sick, the kids played or helped as they could.  We finished off the night with cereal for dinner and a movie before another early bedtime.  

Feels Like Summer!

We are enjoying the more than spring weather that is upon us, with temperatures in the 80's a few days!  The kids have lived in their swimsuits, jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler and fully embraced the summer like weather, complete with picnic dinners. 

Tobi also loves the weather, where he can nap outside and get his fill of drinks from the fountain!

Thursday, we got a lovely surprise, an invitation to go out on Uncle Ryan's new pontoon boat on Miner Lake with Aunt Nancy and Bristol!  Ezri even got to drive!

After a few trips around the lake, the kids were hot and wanted to swim, so as the lake was very quiet in the pre-summer season yet, we headed back to the boat launch and the kids swam in the water (way too cold, in my opinion) for over an hour!

That night, the kids and I went to Holland for our first return to Tulip Time since the pandemic to watch some Dutch Dancing and eat all the not-so-good-for-you carnival foods.

Friday, the tractors returned to the field across the street, so we had to drop everything and run so Elam could watch!

Elam has been working hard on his writing and was very proud to showcase his work on the driveway.

Saturday, we learned that Daddy was positive for Covid, this threw a wrench in our plans to attend our employee Dan's wedding as well as the kids' plan to spend the afternoon with Grandpa and Grandma at Sandy Pines.  Since it was so hot out and Daddy was sleeping away the virus best he could, the kids and I went to the Sandy Pines lake that afternoon instead, and they swam (again far too cold for me) and played on the beach for a few hours.

Saturday evening was the Senior Parade for Hopkins graduates.  The kids and I walked to the next corner where we cheered on all of the grads and collected far more candy than we needed.  We love these small town tradtions so much!

Saturday night also brought some not so great excitement on the Wiley front.  After receiving a new antibiotic and steriod from our vet, we watched his breathing get faster to a point we were nervous, so a very tearful decision was made to bring him to the emergency vet.  From 9:30 until 5am, the kids and I sat and tried to sleep in the van in the parking lot as the kids did not want to leave without him.  Thankfully, he checked out well with no infection in his lungs and it was suggested we try an anti-inflammatory.  We finally crawled into bed about 6 on Sunday morning, exhausted but so very grateful for many answered prayers that night.  Now we continue to pray that this bacterial infection will be fully cleared from his system so he can be healthy and without need of constant vet intervention.

May Is Here!

We are into May now...

And we are all eager for more sunshine and less rain! 

Over the past couple of weeks, we have spent more time inside than we want, dodging rain drops and cooler temps.  The kids found ways to spend the time doing other things.  Elam colored and finally got to cook his Shrinky Dink bugs he got for a gift, and it was a pretty exciting thing to watch them shrink!

We have been watching my cousin Travis' little girl, Bristol, a few days a week, and that has also added a new level of fun to our days.  She adores our kids as much as they do her, having played together many times at Aunt Nancy's Pool and Great Grandma's house.  She fits right in around here and we have enjoyed the fun she brings to our usual chaos.

Suddenly, Tobi has decided that Wiley's water bowls are very interesting to him and has been climbing into the rabbit hut to have a drink.

Wiley is not too sure about this...

Wiley has been adding his own bit into our chaos, as we are still hearing him sneeze and seeing a runny nose occasionally, and this has resulted in many vet trips and now a third antibiotic as we finally received the results of a culture back and discovered he has a Pseudomonas infection.  While we wait for God and medicine to help, it has kept us on a nervous edge we are eager to get off so we keep on praying for him to get better!

Last week the kids were hired by our neighbors Danny and Pamaw to watch their house, gather the mail and tend to the trash can.  They took this job very seriously and were proud to do the job.  They even set to sweeping the driveway after the trees dropped little buds all over it.

The kids were so excited to see them when they returned home on a Monday evening that they immediately ran across the street with hugs, pajamas and all!

Last Friday was the annual tractor day for Hopkins High, a highly anticipated event for Elam.  He made me promise to wake him up when the tractors came.  So, just before 7, I woke him to watch as they slowly made their way into town and parked across the street to gather with other tractors before parading into school.

Soon, Elam was joined by Ezri...

And then the other girls slowly filed in as well as the number of tractors grew.

Just before it was time for the tractors to leave, the kids bundled up to go out into the rain to watch them.

What a fun tradition!  Just one of many reasons we love this small town...

Friday afternoon, after the rain had finally moved out for a while, the kids took to the trampoline to show me their tricks!

Saturday brought the village garage sales, where we found a bunch of deals!  That afternoon, we headed out for a roller derby game in Georgetown, followed by our first meal out in a restaurant since before Covid, celebrating with our tradition of a meal at Pizza Ranch.  We were joined by Amanda and Bryna and their children, who had also watched the derby bout, and we enjoyed the time together very much!

Sunday was Mother's Day.  The kids surprised me with hand picked flowers from our yard that morning and a gift bag full of hand made treasures from each of the kids.  It as a very sweet morning with my precious babies.  We followed that up with church, a lazy day around the house and then pizza for dinner with Grandpa and Grandma, who had come to visit.