Happy Easter!

I'm reading through the Little House Books with the girls... we were in the middle of the Long Winter. They're stuck in the house. The school is closed. The trains aren't running and the stores are empty.

Maybe we should have taken a break from LHOTP.... but we pushed through and now we're in the happier days of Little Town on the Prairie.  
We are all adjusting.  Slowly.  I think I'm probably having the hardest time juggling everything since most of the extra roles have been thrust upon me- substitute teach 2 different grades while running an in-home daycare, teach Sunday school, sew medical PPE, TP requisition, piano lesson supervisor (we miss Tori!), etc, etc... 

Cecily was invited to Hanna's house for a party the day after Emmy's and it was cancelled too, but Hanna dropped off a fun craft and ingredients for a treat anyway. (Seriously, Meg is amazing.)  Happy, sunshiny crafts make everyone feel a little better.

 One evening Miriel was convinced that she wasn't tired.  She wanted to play.  She was not ready for bed... hehe.  

 An old college roomie requested surgical caps so I attempted to make one with this amazing fabric from my stash... ha.

 Thank goodness for the internet.  Our church has been posting pre-recorded Sunday school lessons so I can print off coloring pages to go with the lesson the night before.

 We've had some nice warm days here and there.  Littlest Miss was not real sure about this grass business.

 But she does approve of the swing! 

 We've been doing more school, some days are better than others.  Emmy is writing in her journal, Cecily is doing reading ("Get Fuzzy" Ha!), and Cadence is taking advantage of my needing her to be occupied and out of the way by requesting kinetic sand and play-do everyday. 

 Oh Emmy.  We found a worm in the yard and she neeeeeded to keep it.  So she got a jar and some dirt and was so thrilled to have a new "pet".  Bob made her release them a few days later and she was very sad.  

Bob's birthday was on the 1st... we made a cake, a large bowl of chocolate mousse, and fish for supper.  The girls were super excited to give him presents.

 Homemade cards...

 and decorated gift bags... I grabbed a variety of beef jerky at the grocery store for them to give him.  

 We opened up the sandbox, which seems smaller every year.  Miri was unimpressed though, so they may not have to share with her much. 

 I brought home a stack of fabric from church to sew into masks.  I had the girls help me knot the ties.  One was more enthusiastic than the other.  Ha. 

 This one was so excited to help that she was sad when we stopped working on them to go to bed.  "I'm going to get up early before you and come downstairs and finish all the strings!"  And she did.  

 I got a stack of 25 that was mostly this interesting Mickey Mouse fabric... I can't help but wonder how long it has been in storage, and what in the world it was originally going to be used for.  For some reason, psychedelic Mickey cracks me up.  Also, "Psychedelic Mickey" sounds faintly illicit.  Or is a good name for a rock band.  Or both. 

 I have found sister's potholders and I love them. 

 

They made a large fort that covered most of the family room and it stayed up for almost a week.  Until I couldn't take not being able to get to the window shades or light switch without climbing over it.

 Palm Sunday Sunday School.

 I even found a craft idea on pinterest and had exactly enough green construction paper!  Small miracles...

 The girls were disappointed that the Easter program was cancelled... and that they couldn't wear their Easter dresses.  So we dressed them up and did the program at home!  

They can be so sweet sometimes... 

I'm sure most of my readers have seen this lovely production already, but if not, here you go!  Miriel even makes a cameo.  Cadence didn't quite make it through all three songs, and this is fun to watch with no sound on just to see what she's doing...  

 I surprised Emmy with a worm farm, complete with 12 live worms.  I figure it counts for science or something.  She was very pleased and will probably drown them trying to add water every day.  

We also made butter one afternoon in the interest of Science and in a nod to Little House on the Prairie.  Look at me homeschooling.  ha!  Or not. 
Thebabygirl has been sleeping so much better the past few weeks!  Hallelujah!  She's so much more mobile and pulling up on things- she still doesn't quite understand physical barriers.  :)  

 Picnic lunch outside!

 After dinner stick? Don't mind if I do!

 Our front screen door screen had some small holes that curious fingers were making ever larger... so I rescreened it one afternoon with much helpful help.  

 Emmy had a fashion show with the extra screen.

 Grandma sent some pretty plates and napkins; they used some of them to set the table for a "feast."

 Silly goose.

 Somebody loves to play the piano.

 We celebrated Passover Thursday night with Brisket and china and all manner of good things to eat.  

 Dr. Cadence wanted a mask to put in her little Doctor kit so I made all three girls little masks.  I got lots of shots, so I'm not sick anymore.  

 Good Friday we listened to church, which probably felt weirder than regular services have.  
 Saturday was a fun day.  In the morning the Lions Club Easter Bunny drove around town since they weren't having their annual egg hunt- the girls were occupied for quite a while waiting for them to come down our street.  Then Bob's Aunt and Uncle hid some eggs in our front yard for the girls to find.

 So sweet of them!

 We dyed eggs while Miri napped.

 They spent a little bit of time outside- this is what they were doing when I came around the corner.  They said they were flying. Ayiyiyiyi.  If I had a nickel for every time I've said a variation of 'stop that we can NOT go to the ER right now!' I would be rich.     

 Shelly beat me to posting these... hehe... Zoom with my awesome cousins... note the three goofs with masks...

 who left to eat, but kindly left us their picture in the chair. :D

 Easter morning!

 Yay for Easter baskets.

 They each got a new shirt, Emmy's has ballerina's on it and she was very pleased.

 I'm in it for the large chocolate bunnies.

 We hid eggs in the yard for them to find.

 Easter selfie... Miriel was more interested in watching her sisters.  (My hair is insanely long right now and it's driving me crazy and I need a trim badly; I have split ends and it falls in Miriel's face when I lay her down in her crib.  But: I can rock milkmaid braids! Crossed in the back and on top! woot!)  

 Trying to decide if they had found them all.

 Inspired by the jumping with umbrellas incident I introduced them to Mary Poppins.  We've got a laptop set up in the living room, because, for some reason, Bob doesn't enjoy listening to Mr. W's virtual music lessons and other various school things while he's working.  They enjoyed Mary Poppins, though I'm not sure my poor couch appreciated the extra love while they jumped on it trying to dance along.  :P

 Miss Miriel has discovered the joy of taking books off of shelves.  woot woot.  

Other than going to the grocery store and two other stores looking for TP... we've been nowhere and done nothing.  And I've been regaled with various renditions of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" all day today.  Woot.  
Blessings.

So do all who live to see such times...

“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”  JRR Tolkien

Well.  Eeeeshh.... Yeah, I have no idea how to start this.  Apparently it's been a month-ish since I blogged, it feels like more than that. It's been on my list of things to do, but I haven't felt very motivated.  And then my cousin started a blog, Hi Kyle!, so I figured I should maybe get on that. I suppose I will start where I left off, B.V. (before the virus.)
Miri-miri is still somewhere between a scoot and a crawl, but she manages to find all kinds of fun things to play with. 

 We had a tree service come look at our poor tree- I circled the crack.  They said we could possibly put rods and cables in it and maybe get 2-3 more years out of it.  Or pay a little bit more and take it down (there goes any tax refund... yay adulting.).  Sad news.  Oh, and it's a hackberry tree, if you were wondering.  We didn't think it would be a good idea to try to take this one down on our own; too big and too unstable.

 Waiting to pick up Emmy- she just looked sweet for once... haha.  Usually getting loaded up is like pulling teeth.

 The last weekend in February was the King's Table Board Game convention, held at our very own local community center.  So our living room was the staging area.  woot. 

 I leave Miriel with them for two minutes...

 The girls and I stopped in at the Con on Friday evening for a bit.  They were mostly in it for the snacks, but we did "play" one game. 

 She was sooo happy to ride around in a box.

 Seriously, this kid is not going to know how to entertain herself. 

 Grandma, Shelly, and Gideon and Aurelia came to visit us on Saturday. 

 Then we all went to the Con for a little bit. 

 They played Kingdominos, but their favorite part was the snack... and the lanyards. 

FFA Strawberries came in so we made jam.  And homemade bread. 

 I've been looking for ways to teach the girls hand sewing that are easier than jumping right in to using a tiny sharp needle and thread... I found a site where they used big plastic craft needles and foam plates to trace shapes with thread!  Cecily and Emmy were tracing shapes like old pros... Cadence is still working on going up and down on the same side...

 We didn't have school on the Friday of my Mom's birthday.  I took the girls swimming at 5 points in the afternoon, then we took supper to the farm. 

They kept very busy "baking" playdough cookies after supper.

On Sunday afternoon we took the girls to Restmor to see Grandpa B.  It was a short visit, but I'm glad we went, considering we may not get to for a while.

 Annnd then the world turned upside down.  It's kind of crazy how fast we went from business as usual to 'the sky is falling, the virus is coming' and cleaning out grocery stores and closing everything.  We've come close, but we have not yet run out of toilet paper.
The girls seem fairly unphased- puppet shows... fighting...

 I just keep plugging away at their Easter dresses, just praying they'll get a chance to wear them before summer.  ha. 

 I wasn't feeling super ambitious on Pi Day, mostly because the world felt a little too chaotic and crazy, but we did have Pizza "pie" and Apple pie.  Half a recipe of apple pie in my half sized pie pan.  It was pretty much the perfect size for my cookie loving, pie scorning family. Weirdos.

We went to church one last time.  It was both a strange and normal day, not knowing when we'd be back, and not greeting... so weird. 
The first week that school was closed we were just encouraged to do activities with the kids.  Emmy loooooved the math games website her teacher suggested and begged to do math all day long.  :P 

 Cecily's teacher sent a reading challenge that included "Read at a picnic."  Um... it's 40 degrees outside, so we had an inside picnic. 

 I think this was St Patrick's day- I put long socks on her because her pants are getting short and she looked like she was wearing lime green breeches.  Hehe. 

 Snow hat, one snow glove, one mitten, a scarf, and her jacket was falling off... 

 Snug as a bug in a rug. 

 Poor kid- Cadence didn't completely dry her hands and gave Miriel a mowhawk. 

 Impromptu journal page by Emmy.  I believe this is a depiction of Cadence that morning. ha.
"Do you want Hug? I do not want HUGS!"

 Our second week of social distancing is supposed to be spring break- so no school work.  Emmy was invited to a friends house for a party, which was canceled.  Instead Eva dropped off the activities on our porch for her to do yesterday.

 I've spent a little bit of time sewing for the war effort. Ha. Or something.  Is this my generations rolling bandages?  I sewed until I ran out of elastic and spare hair bands. My models were enthusiastic, if not sterile.  (these aren't intended for direct patient care, but others in hospitals and doctors offices are asking for them and will use them.)

Honestly, other than Bob working from home and not getting to go to church, life hasn't been all that different for us.  We rarely eat out and we rarely go places soooo... haha... hooray for being an introvert!  Also, I still have the same amount of housework and extra people around to clean up after sooo... no one is bored here.
Times like these seem to call for heavy doses of Tolkien and Fiddler on the Roof... "God alone knows when we shall see each other again.... Then we will leave it in His hands."
Blessings.

I'm sorry.  Matt sent me this and I just can't stop laughing about it. Or sharing it.  It's like Tolkien knew...