I almost finished this blog post weeks ago but didn't get around to posting it. It's strange to look back on what our life was like just a few weeks ago since it currently looks so different. I feel like my kids are young enough that they truly don't notice too much different in their lives right now and I'm grateful for that. I am also grateful during this time of sorrow and uncertainty, that I have faith in a God who I know loves us and wants to help us. Every day when I have prayed about COVID, I've prayed that if anything good comes of this, that it will be people turning to God more than they used to. On Sunday March 29, we'll be participating in a worldwide day of fasting (going without food and drink) and prayer for relief from this pandemic. I invite all of my friends reading this to join us if you can to combine our faith together and also feel of God's love at this time of sadness and worry. I know miracles can happen as people everywhere, of all faiths and backgrounds, come together in faith.
Here's a video with an invititation to fast from the president of our church:
And now on to the regularly scheduled programming of pictures of my kids..
We're still in shock that most of our winter has looked like this:
We still had a little snow in January, but nothing like the deluge we got last winter. My kids soaked it up while they could.
Also in January: Thomas turned 4! We had a dinosaur themed birthday party and Ricardo made this awesome T rex for the party. I'm lucky to have him because I have lots of ideas but poor artistic execution.
Thomas and friends enjoyed chiseling away at some dinosaur eggs and it was a fun party!
Hard to believe this boy is 4. He gives us a run for our money sometimes with his stubborn personality but he offsets that by being so thoughtful and sweet. He loves baking with me and is recently into making up his own recipes for cookies. He doesn't usually like much intervention from me and surprisingly the cookies turn out all right most of the time.
It's been so fun to have a preschool co-op for him this year. I took pictures of the week I did O for ocean because I found this awesome idea online of making baking soda shells for a fun science experiment and I want to remember it! (Ricardo made the shells for me of course-they were harder than they look). Inside was a toy fish and the kids poured blue vinegar over top to make the shell explode and find the toy inside. They played with their little oceans forever. I love doing the co-op because I only have to come up with fun ideas every 5 weeks but Thomas gets a great experience with his friends every week!
More preschool fun at a friend's house another week making towers for the letter T.
On President's Day, we drove an hour up into the mountains to hike and seek out some snow for the kids. They had a blast with their friends, sledding and building a snow fort.
We saw some mountain sheep on our drive home!
Most quoted line in our house: "Mom, move Care." She is so busy and often getting into their toys, coloring on Russell's homework, etc. She makes piano practice difficult too.
But, they love her.
It's nice that chores and cleaning are still a novelty, especially for Caroline. One Saturday morning these 2 decided they would mop the kitchen by hand. It was very wet, but turned out clean!
A few more random pictures from the past few months:
Russell had an international day at school and learned about a few different countries. He loved it and was very excited to bring home this Canadian flag. I thought it was hysterical when he made this after school that day:
A big highlight of our February was our kids participating in a high school pageant. The local high school does a pageant for senior boys which is a fundraiser for the local NICU/special needs programs in the area. They had a big night of performances and part of it was a buddy skit with a younger child focused on what the child wanted to be when they grow up. Our great friend and neighbor invited my boys to be in his skit and they dressed up as paleontologists/dinosaur for the performance. My boys were thrilled to be a part of it and did a great job. I was surprised they didn't seem nervous in front of a big audience. They were so excited that their friend actually won the whole contest in the end, so they felt like they won too!
Ricardo's mom came to visit for 2 weeks at the end of February. She made it home to Florida just before all the COVID madness began. The kids had a blast having her here and it was so nice to have a babysitter for Caroline and do some fun things with the boys that would usually be tricky with baby sister there.
One afternoon Thomas and I met Ricardo for lunch. He loved going on a date with Mom and Dad and enjoyed picking his food off the Chinese menu, based on the most appealing picture.
We also went ice skating and to the high school production of the Charlie Brown musical. I haven't been ice skating in years and it was so hard! These training contraptions helped us out a lot though. And Charlie Brown was lots of fun. We knew some of the actors in the play and the boys loved it.
Some highlights since home quarantine:
Lots of Cosmic Kids yoga. So fun to watch them!
Also spending lots of time being paleontologists in the backyard. These boys have a shadow now.
One nice Saturday where it was warm enough to put on swimsuits and wash the cars. We can't wait for summer!
One other note for the memory books...Ricardo broke his pinky finger 3 weeks ago playing volleyball with residency friends. At first the orthopedist said he might need surgery but after a week of splinting and then reevaluating, they decided no surgery necessary. We are excited about that! And he has had lots of fun playing with "Pinky" with the boys.
They took "him" fishing..
Driving in the car..
And married him off in a very well attended Lego wedding ceremony.
Wishing all of my friends health and safety. Hope to be able to see many of you in person soon!
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