We
had the best weekend.It was my
(un)official kickoff to the spring/summer season, where we power wash all the
outside surfaces of our home, pull up dead weeds from last year’s growth, and bring up all the outdoor cushions out of storage. And then I hang two ferns on the porch, step back barefoot on the grass in our front yard, feel the fresh callouses on my hands and breathe in spring's return with tired legs and a smile on my face. We celebrated a day's work with our first backyard fire of the season, our little family huddled
around a roaring fire taking turns picking song requests.The sky felt so big and the stars shined so
bright and I couldn’t help but think everything was just breathing out one
great big exhale.The Great Pause is
what I’ve seen this period of our lives called – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see what would
happen if the world just stopped. If humans were forced to slow down enough to see the people they share a home with in a new
way and to see the world heal without our pace. We've been given the opportunity to pull the curtain back to see a world in its plainest view. And this year, on earth day, while home from school and work, we stopped to see this beautiful earth in a whole new way. We saw not one, but two double rainbows in the sky to begin and end our day. We hiked through Hartman Reserve and took note of the first signs of spring all around us. We made friends with a mother duck and her TWELVE baby ducklings who spent the afternoon at our house. We noticed how pretty God paints the sky over a pond right before sunset, and watched with a beaver swimming across to home he was working on building. We filled a bagful of trash at a roadside park in about twenty minutes' time and felt even more committed to do our part to preserve the beauty of this place we live.
Celebrating Earth Week at Jorgensen Academy of Excellence...
Nature walks at Hartman, exploring and writing about the ecosystem we live in. We noted mushrooms growing on trees, worms living underground, woodpeckers causing havoc on the trees, and a group of wild geese causing havoc on Cruz's peaceful trip to Lake Honeybee. He takes after his Uncle Jordan!
A basement campout. Our newest research project is on the great National Parks of the USA. We watched a wonderful documentary on Netflix, learned about President Teddy Roosevelt camping in the woods with John Muir and first deciding to protect these beautiful places, and then discussed our favorite parks over inside s'mores. The kids slept in the tent for three nights in a row and decided it was a pretty great place for home-school, too.
We ate lots of yummy snacks. Monkey bread and hot cocoa, rice krispie treats in the shape of Earth, and dirt cups and grilled burgers on the deck.
We learned about the four Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Renew, and brainstormed ways we could incorporate all four of these principles here at home. We started seeds in recycled egg shells, did an experiment to see how much water gets wasted in our house just by brushing our teeth, compared a homemade lunch to a Happy Meal lunch from McDonalds, and made plans to create some art with recycled boxes and tin cans.
And when we weren't creating our own Earth day fun, Mother Nature was doing it for us! We saw rainbows and sunsets, a family of baby ducks and a sky filled with stars. God sure created a beautiful place for us to call home.
Well, Black Hawk County has officially taken the top of the leader board for COVID cases, in large part due to a Tyson factory outbreak that led to quite a roller coaster week here locally. We made national news often, first because the plant wasn't shutting down and then again once when the plant did shut its doors. So while some states are starting to open back up this weekend despite the controversy involved, it seems like our local area is just getting in the thick of it. So how are we doing a month into our stay-at-home order? We're doing just fine! We have our days when Cruz doesn't want to focus on any of my home-school activities, Mila's messy ways drive us bonkers, my patience is super thin, or Beau wants to claw his eyeballs out for lack of social interaction, but all in all this time at home has been appreciated and soaked up. Monday morning, the kids and I spent a good portion of the day at Hartman Reserve. It was a super quiet morning out there, spring was showing its colors all around us, and the air was crisp and fresh. And it dawned on me that any other Monday, we would be apart. Every time that thought crosses my mind, I sink into this rare present and appreciate it so much. And when that thought doesn't cross my mind, I drink coffee. Fancy coffee lately, because why not take the extra five minutes to experiment with the coffee maker and try something new. There have been a lot of little things like this - opportunities to do things a little different than before because well, nothing really feels like it did before. And who knows, maybe fancy coffee will stick long after COVID-19 has passed. Ten Things Getting Us Through COVID-19 Here At Home... 1. Coffee || But not just any coffee. Coffee with vanilla syrup, a shot of half and half, and lavender, coffee with whippy foam and caramel drizzle, and lately, iced coffee with a fun straw for good measure. Every morning, I shower, get dressed, make a fancy coffee and already feel like I've accomplished so much. What other "everyday" occurrences are you making a little extra special these days? 2. New Recipes || Since we've cooked at home more this past month than recent months stacked together, might as well sprinkle in some new recipes in the mix. We've been cooking a lot of great food lately. New routines involve something extra special for Sunday brunch (like these bacon and gruyere biscuits from Magnolia), weekly dishes and desserts the kids can help prepare, and a strong leftover game in the fridge always. Every time I do a grocery order, I always stock up on frozen pizzas and Kraft mac and cheese, but we rarely need them because our fridge is stocked full of leftovers! Magnolia Sausage and Hashbrown Casserole...
Magnolia bacon and gruyere biscuits, fried eggs, and berries...
Magnolia's squash casserole... it was SO good!
3. Lots of music || The TV is rarely on, but we're listening to music around the clock. With frequent dance parties. 4. My Joywheel Bike || My spin studio rented out every one of their bikes to members a month ago and have since started an online "Home JOY" pass with live and recorded rides from my favorite instructors. I'm still keeping up my miles for my 2020 mileage challenge, and that bike is still my favorite way to start my day. Right before my fancy coffee and a little Quarantine podcast with Annie and Eddie. ;) 5. Community || It's been pretty neat to see the creative ways we've been able to stay connected even though we're all apart. We had such a fun virtual IF:Table last week and laughed more than we have in a long time. I had book club last week, and we've participated in several virtual game nights thanks to the super fun Jackbox Games Party Pack. I've got Tuesday morning Bible study and Tuesday afternoon happy hour, and Marco Polo, Voxer, and Houseparty have been fun ways to stay connected. Now if only we could get my parents an at home wifi connection. ;) 6. Walks in the woods || One of my favorite parts of Beau working from home is that he's available more throughout the day. Sometimes this leads to a game of Guess Who with Mila when he's in between appointments, other times, he can offer a hand with something I'm working on. But sometimes, we can sneak away for a walk in the woods which feeds all our souls. We've been closer witnesses to spring more than any year in my memory and it's been a gift to see evidence of God's work in the details. 7. A little structure || Our days flow better when we stick to a rhythm. 8. A little spontaneous || But I have a feeling the things we all remember about this time won't be the rhythm! It will be the times we embraced the spontaneity and did special things as a family. Like last Friday night when we were just about to play another board game and noticed the sunset looked too good to miss. So we hopped in the truck, drove to the edge of town, sat on a little grass hill and watched the sun go down with a big family of deer. And then we cruised Uni like all the high school kids are doing these days. :)
9. Small treats and surprises || Things to look forward to and spice up our normal routine. I look forward to every Saturday night as our "takeout" night. The kids slept in a tent in our basement three of the five nights this past week. Sometimes, I'll surprise them with a big ice cream sundae after a productive day of learning. The last time I went to Hy-Vee for some essentials, I walked out with a bouquet of tulips, too. 10. Still creating experiences, still setting goals || The kids and I made an April "Quarantine Bucket List" which has kept us inventive and creative this month. Beau and I have a Cribbage board tournament ongoing with a scorecard on the fridge to give us something to do when we run out of words. I'm still checking off house project lists and reading goal lists, although my 365 day wardrobe challenge has really hit the skids. Let's just say I have a lot of Sunday dresses collecting dust in the corner of my closet. Last weekend, we spiced up another Friday night at home with a Jorgensen Top Chef. We're staying creative, staying together, staying HOME.
