The one where Covid got us

March 2022

Toward the end of the kiddos February break, Covid finally hit our house. We made it almost exactly two years from the time things first shut down, which feels significant somehow. Even more surprising was the it wasn't any of the kids who brought it home, but Andrew who got it from work. We were lucky in the sense that Andrew was the only one who had noticeable symptoms, and even his were not severe. Andrew stayed in bed for most of a day and then spent another day or two feeling not quite 100%, but generally fine. Michael and Matthew both tested positive but never complained of any symptoms. Adaline and I never tested positive, though I had a day where I felt congested. As for Alex, I don't know either way since he was not interested in being tested (ha!) and didn't have anywhere he needed to go. 

The kids turned their one week off of school into a two week break and, since they were feeling great the whole time, had a lot of fun building forts, jumping on the trampoline, reading, playing games, and building with magnet tiles. I enjoyed sleeping in since I didn't need to drive anyone to school, and we saw a whole lot more of Andrew than we were used to after the long days/weeks he'd been working right up until he got sick. 

These are the best toys

Smoothie bowls are my current breakfast obsession, and this one with beets and oats is my favorite

The kids declared a family movie theater night. Adaline made a movie poster, we all cleaned up, we made popcorn, and the boys and I printed/cut out characters to go around the poster. When Andrew got home, the kids surprised him with all their hard work.

Adaline loves to invent new hairstyles and to try them out on me.

Michael and Alex made us all earrings to wear

Michael gets deep into his pretend play and takes it pretty seriously. We spent a fairly significant amount of time one day cutting out cardboard and taping together his "web shooters". He was particular about needing circles on the tops and buttons on his hands (black sharpie circles) for shooting the webs. He was so committed that he wore them for about 48 hours straight-including sleeping in them.

Sunny California Winter Days

He loves his stuffed animals so much. They all have their own personalities and their own voices and Alex generally has at least one nearby at all times. He often gets creative with how he keeps them with him.

Apparently Matthew fell asleep like this? He plays hard and really struggles to turn his brain off at night, and then he suddenly crashes.

Recently, we went to lunch with some friends for a school fundraiser and they brought a couple of Rubik's cubes that the kids started playing with after eating. When we got home, Matthew and I spent the next little while learning how to solve it. Within a week-ish, Matthew was slightly obsessed and had the whole thing memorized.  

It's a little bit scary to look in the review mirror and see this.

Andrew's parents stopped by for a couple days! We love when people come to visit us. Of course it's fun to visit and chat, but it's also great because it gets us to go out and explore. For this excursion, we took them over to Black Diamond Mines to do some hiking. We lucked out when we got there because the EBRP had set up a scavenger hunt. The kids loved hiking to each new clue and, eventually, finding a box filled with "gold". It was also somehow the first time we had gone inside the mine visitor center. The weather was perfect, with a bit of rain on our way down. The kids led the way and are such quick and positive hikers when we do it that way. My favorite moment was when Alex fell behind the big kids and was discouraged about them leaving him behind. As he started to cry, I encouraged the kids to wait for him and shout "go Alex" while he caught up. Watching Alex's cute face trying to stay sad, but obviously feeling incredibly buoyed up by his siblings' cheers was adorable. I love when my kids stick up for each other/encourage each other/help each other out. Later in the hike, Alex got behind again and Adaline started the chant all on her own. I loved it. I think this was Alex's first time doing the whole hike on his own two feet-Andrew wore the backpack, just in case, but Alex never got in it. Andrew's parents were such good sports about the slightly treacherous path that the kids led us on, and I think we all felt more than ready for our lunch at BJs after we finished hiking. When the kids turned in their treasure at the end of the hike, they got to pick a prize. They were pretty thrilled with their mugs, hat, and pen. Alex chose the hat and I could not get over how cute he is in his giant hat. He wore it for a full 24 hours afterward including to bed and to church the next day. 

Thanks for coming, Glenns!

Andrew making fun of me

Gram brought more of Andrew's old k'nex out with them-the kids were thrilled and spent Sunday afternoon all inventing their own cars.

Michael has been doing great in homeschool this year! We really got into a groove and it's been so fun to learn with him (and Alex). He completed his alphabet wall, and it is cool to look back at his earlier pictures compared to his more recent ones and see how much more detailed he is able to get now. His fine motor skills have improved so much and he can now color for much longer and enjoys it more. In the fall, he'll be starting kindergarten at the same school that Matthew and Adaline attend. He is SO excited and constantly tells me reasons why he is "so ready". Some of his recent reasons include because he can make his own sandwich and because he can read small words. He is fun.

Now that Matthew knows how to solve a Rubik's cube, Alex and Adaline have a habit of scrambling Rubik's cubes that they find.

Just playing some broom hockey for activity days. This was one of my favorite activities that we've done (and I think one of the girls' favorites too).

And to finish out the month, I've got to say how grateful I am that my kids love to play pretend together. Having for kids in 5 years (and 4 days) is no joke when those kids were babies and toddlers it was so much work! Now that they are a bit older, a bit more independent, and enjoy playing together it all feels so worth it. I love finding "cities" built out of magnet tiles, or watching a gang of pirates march past me. I love to see the forts/houses they build and hear them running around calling each other "mom" or "dad" while they're playing house. I'm really glad for this foundation they have so far, and I hope they stay best friends forever.