Quarantine Week 6

Posted by My Heart Song

4/24/2020

Another week of lockdown is over. 
Six weeks. Sounds long. Feels long.
But there is hope that restrictions will be lifted soon and more of life can return to a new normal. 


My mother-in-law had a birthday this week. We were able to take her a daffodil bouquet and sing Happy Birthday from her front yard. 


We made homemade applesauce this week, as well as some cinnamon applesauce muffins. Yum. 

We had some friends deliver us some cheesy hashbrowns. Seems like every week are blessed by someone loving on us. We passed on the blessing to some other friends this week too. 


My 6 year old loves to help in the kitchen. She's been making her own breakfast sometimes. Here she's whipping up a breakfast star omelet. 


My oldest daughter did some touch up painting on our foyer walls. Our house continues to benefit from quarantine! 


My little people did some reading together. Always makes my heart sing to see them like this!



We had some more beautiful spring weather, which allowed us to be outside. The kids enjoyed popsicles. We went on a few family walks. My oldest son played with his drone quite a bit this week. 


And we had a campfire in the backyard.


Some places are now requiring face masks in order to enter. We don't have any masks and they are hard to find due to high demand. So we found a no-sew face mask tutorial online and finally have a few face masks (made out of an old t-shirt).  


I gave the littlest kids a new Lego set. Hours of fun. 


Speaking of hours of fun, we finally resorted to adult coloring pages to occupy some time! :-)  My 6 year old is loving these and doing an amazing job. We'll be mailing some of our artwork to grandparents this week. 



We played Line Up and Sorry this week. 

In the past week, our schedule filled up a little more. Church is getting more accustomed to Zoom conference calls. My daughter's youth group meets this way now on Wednesday nights. And my oldest son has now started meeting this way with a small group. And my husband and I lead a mixed small group virtually now too. So, my 6 year old girl was feeling left out and specifically asked if she could Zoom with her co-op friend Addie. They did this week and it did her emotions good to actually socialize!

My oldest daughter has her driver's permit but has not been very anxious to get her practice hours in... until now. This is a good time to practice, with fewer cars on the road and with both mom and dad available to accompany her. So she did some driving this week, after taking a 7 month hiatus.

We've taken this quarantine as a eat-from-the-pantry challenge, meaning that we are trying to use up what we have and not spend as much money on groceries. This has been going well for us, as a way to keep expenses low in uncertain economic times and to be good stewards of what we already have (and to just be aware of it all too). 

Hoping that there won't be many more weeks to this quarantine saga!  

0 comments

Quarantine Week 5

Posted by My Heart Song

4/17/2020 

We are now through our fifth week of quarantine / lockdown / social distancing due to COVID-19. 
Here's what our week held.


My husband's dad turned 78 this week! Since we couldn't give hugs or even venture into their home, we did the next best thing - we sang Happy Birthday in their front yard while Grandpa and Grandma watched from an open window. Grandpa says that was a birthday unlike any other in his 78 years of life! Yes, sir!



The weather this week was much cooler, winter-like. We had snow a few times and even inches of accumulation. So, we appreciated the snow day and the kids built a snowman.


Before the weather turned cold, we did spend some time outside. We bought this plastic baseball and t-ball set for our youngest son, which keeps him happily busy outside now. He seems to be rather sportsy - loves kicking and throwing balls. 


We also planted a tree in our side yard. I had our 2 year old stand next to it - they're about the same height. We'll look back at this picture in 20 years and be amazed at how much they both grew, I suspect.


Easter was last weekend. I finished reading this book - Amon's Adventure - with my oldest son. This book is meant to be read one chapter per day throughout Lent, to culminate on Easter Sunday. We enjoyed this one!


This week we were blessed by some friends who purchased some bulk bacon and chicken breast and shared 70 pounds of it with us! That's a lot of meat!! Every week of this quarantine, we've had somebody (neighbor, friend, etc) bring us something just to bless our family. We're thankful!


We played a few different games this week. Here's Tumble, which is fun for all the little ones. It's like Jenga, but includes marbles.


Rainbow Woods - an old game, similar to Memory. 


Mousetrap - more fun to set up than to actually play


Uno with the littlest ones - and the 2-year-old won!
We also played Q-bitz and Memory this week. 



It was a week of kids playing with the boxes. 
Box boats. Box houses. Box beds. 


We also used one huge box for the kids to contain their water beads / water balls. These are so fun!


I spent time teaching my 4 year old some kitchen skills this week - he helped rinse and then cut up black olives. He felt quite accomplished when he finished this task!


A sweet moment with the my 6 year old reading a book to my 4 year old. 


When I can find good sale prices on toys, I usually buy them and save them for birthdays/Christmas. This week, just for fun, I gave the kids a little something I'd stockpiled. 
A Lego Friends dog park made this girl's day.


And my oldest son loves Legos so this construction set was a hit with him.

My husband's employer has been expecting full 40 hour weeks now, as they've discovered some online training that can be done by all of the employees working from home during this time. We are thankful that he has a job and a steady income, during this time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty. 

Our government recently passed an economic stimulus package that paid American adults $1200 each and families received $500 per child. Our portion of that stimulus arrived this week, so we thank God for that extra provision and are seeking Him on how He'd have us use that for His glory at this time. 

Within our county, we have seen an increase in coronavirus cases and deaths this week (though still quite low, at less than 8 total deaths). While the "experts" were expecting to peak this week, that doesn't seem to have happened. The stay-at-home orders for our state continue until May 1st, but many people are encouraging re-opening business as soon as possible. Everyone is feeling the effects of isolation, but everyone is also concerned about the spread of the virus once things open back up. What will be our new normal? Nobody knows! 

Stores are now limiting the number of customers inside the store at one time. They've also put up plexiglass sneeze guards to protect cashiers from customers. Many stores are making aisles one-way only to keep customers from getting too close to other customers. More than half of customers in stores are wearing face masks. It is a very strange thing to see grocery shelves bare (of toilet paper, Lysol wipes, milk, eggs). 

We have occasionally been picking up school lunches that our local district is providing. This gets us out of the house and yet is "safe" (no contact with the lunch lady who delivers it right to our trunk). And it also saves us some money on groceries and gives the kids some variety in the foods they eat. Milk cartons are a novelty!

I continue to have hives (for the last two weeks). I assume they are a stress reaction to these strange times in which we live. But I'm also trying to discern if anything in my environment has changed that would cause hives.

Everything from church to small group to BSF group is meeting virtually. I truly can't imagine what this quarantine would be like without the technology that allows us to at least talk/see one another since we cannot have any physical contact with anyone but our immediate family. 

Week 6. Like it or not, here we come!

0 comments

Quarantine Week 5 Scripture

Posted by My Heart Song

4/16/2020 



We're into week 5 of this lockdown for COVID-19.
This week I have been meditating on Philippians 4:11-13. 

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Thinking about contentment during a time when life is chaotic and seems to be in constant flux has been good for me. O, to be content whether life is going well (the abounding, having plenty, being well fed that Paul mentions) or whether life is not going the way I'd like (the living in want, being hungry, being in need that Paul refers to). 

I am realizing that I am regularly discontent, even with my normal, pre-quarantine life. And now, I feel I have even more reasons to be discontent with life in such upheaval and the future so uncertain. 

Yet, Paul says he's learned a secret to being content. He's learned how to do this contentment-thing. In times much, much worse than I have ever experienced (in prison, shipwrecked, beaten, hungry, left for dead, etc). 

He says in Philippians 3:8 "I consider everything loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord." 

Paul knows that anything in this world - good, bad, virus, cure, life, death, hunger, abundance - pales in comparison to Jesus Christ and knowing Him. 

That is, these temporary, earthly things do not ultimately matter. They come and go. They go up and down. There is good and bad, constantly. But once this life is done, there will be no more of that flux and change. Only one thing remains. Jesus Christ and knowing Him. 

That is Paul's secret to contentment. 
He can take, he can handle, whatever this life throws at him because He knows One who is greater than all of it. 
He can set his heart on things above, not on earthly things. 
He can take it or leave it and not let his focus be moved from Jesus. 

This is contentent that I long for. 
Peace of heart and soul that goes beyond present circumstances. 

How I thank God that such peace and contentment exists and beyond that, it can be yours and it can be mine!

0 comments

Quarantine Week 4

Posted by My Heart Song

4/10/2020


We're at the end of our 4th week of quarantine / stay-at-home orders. 

This week was a little different because it was Holy Week. We celebrated Palm Sunday at home, watching church from home. We also participated the same way in the Good Friday service and took communion at home together. My oldest daughter has been participating in youth group via Zoom meetings on Wednesday nights the last few weeks. 

We have free access to many video streaming sites due to COVID-19. One of these services is VidAngel. They have a series called THE CHOSEN, which is based on the life of Jesus from the gospel accounts in the Bible. We used Holy Week as a good time to watch some of this series most nights this week, as we prepared our hearts for Easter. We all enjoyed this and highly recommend it!

   
We again had some beautiful spring weather, which is a great blessing that allows us all to get out of the house more.


Me with two of the littles on the porch swing


Time outside means finding things like toads


And beautiful daffodils in bloom now


The saucer swing gets lots of use


My 6 year old climbing trees and loving life



Sidewalk chalk fun


My 12 year old is missing playing with his neighborhood friends. Here they are staying at least 6 feet apart, hitting a ball from one yard to another.


We enjoyed another campfire one night this week, complete with roasting hot dogs for supper.


Our little frog bubble-blower has been put to use a few times, giving the little ones thousands of bubbles to chase around the yard. 


Most of the family going on a walk together.


And a few working together to take down our old, rusty swingset.


Inside, we did some more cleaning. Quarantine has been good for our house and yard :-) We rearranged a little in the kitchen, then cleaned an exposed wall and my daughter even touched up the paint. Looking great now and clutter-free!


Downstairs, we cleaned and set up a small work/study area in one corner. 


The little ones watching from the stairs.

My husband and oldest daughter (and oldest son, somewhat) have been working on creating two wooden bedframes in our basement. These will be for our two girls. They spent quite a bit of time this week cutting and sanding wood for the under-the-bed drawers. 


I spent some time teaching my 6 year old some kitchen skills - using a peeler and a knife to cut up a cucumber. She's always a happy kitchen helper!

My husband and oldest daughter also made pumpkin pie and apple bars this week. More time at home = more time in the kitchen = we're eating very well. :-)


Speaking of this girl, she lost her second tooth this week.


We enjoy pizza on a weekly basis. This week, I caught this guy hoarding all the crusts. :-)


We continue to play more card/board games than usual. A Mancala game is underway here. We also played Memory and Bananagrams.


The final highlight of our week was catching this mouse in the house! My husband caught him with a Shopvac, as he was chewing a hole in the paneling of our family room right under an electrical outlet. Of course the children all wanted to keep him. We let them see him inside this jar and then he was let go in a field many miles away. 

Making the best of our time together at home!

0 comments

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)