COVID-19/Quarantine

The deadly COVID-19 virus has become VERY active here in the US and because of that our state (and most of the country) has been shut down for the past few weeks. Only essential businesses are open, and we are only going out if we have to. "Quarantine" is the new buzz word. Masks and not getting close to people is encouraged and in some places required. It's been concerning and surreal. Toilet paper and clorox wipes are IMPOSSIBLE to fine (good thing I went to Costco and picked up those things right before this all went down..sheesh!). 

The biggest thing for us is that we are ALL home! Doug's company has all employees working from home and schools are closed. The school district first added another week to spring break to see if things would blow over (they did not.) Now we await the Governer's decision on schools, which should come this coming week. Teachers have provided some things and have had a few video meetings (man, I wish I would have bought zoom (the video meeting platform) stock..haha!) but I have been basically home schooling the kids. 

This means LOTS of togetherness. Which somedays is great, other days, not so much. We've all had our moments and are learning to be more patient and gracious with one another. We have been trying to keep things light and fun around here as much as we can. Here are a few photos of our time in quarantine!

Snow. In March. Spring break snow brought lots of excitement.. especially for Matthew. Per usual, it did not last long. 

P.E. - Home school style! Both kids had "PE" assignments from school. Mostly to just be active. So we made PE a daily thing here, and were out walking or out doing something every day before we started school. 

The kids played basketball... and Matthew has been shooting hoops A LOT during the day as we can't play with friends right now. :(

We have been to a few new walking trails..

.. and have seen some pretty wildlife. 

Love these two!

Puzzles. We have done TONS of puzzles and it has really been fun. My mom and a neighbor gave us a bunch to do and we average at least one a day. Good for the brain and a good activity to do together!

Matthew has had fun with his RC cars

Last weekend the kids and I did some encouraging chalk on our sidewalks. Gyms are closed, so a lot of people are out walking (thankfully we have had pretty good weather!). We thought we would leave them some messages of hope as they walked by our house!

Bible Study via zoom! SO good to have this way to connect with our friends!

Monopoly, of course!

Evelyn has been doing some GF baking and made her first cheesecake. It turned out SO good!

Doug went to his staff zoom meeting like this one morning... hilarious! He is trying to keep things light for his team.

The kids miss their friends so much. Once again zoom and creativity to the rescue. Evelyn and Matthew are playing Uno with their friends Ellie and Sam over video. They had the BEST time, and it made my heart happy too!

This was the first class zoom for Matthew after school shut down. I got a bit teary as I saw so many faces I miss so much. It was good for Matthew to be "in" school even if he wasn't in the building!

New to us bikes for BOTH kids! 

Lots of movies have been watched and lots of wine has been had. 

These two apparently took up wresting...haha! They have been getting along so well and I so very proud of them!

We took a walk in our jammies to find a good view of the Super Moon

We have tasked the kids to make dinner together once a week. It's been good for them and they are doing a great job!

Matthew REALLY wanted to get a new game. We decided on Life and it has been a fun addition to have and to play. 

Bodie. Well.. let's just say he is a little annoyed that he we are around ALL the time, but he also has been extra snuggly, which is rare for him. I'm sure he'll be happy when this is over. 

So will we. Until then we will wash our hands, stick together, and stick to Jesus. 

Music Man

Last year, when auditions were happening at Highland for the spring musical, Evelyn was hesitant and nervous, even tho she really was excited about it. She ended up not auditioning but she said she was definitely trying out next year. 

Fast forward to this fall. Auditions for "Music Man, Jr." were announced and although nervous, she was brave and went and tried out. They had more people auditioning than they needed for the show, so Evelyn wasn't sure if she would even get a part. 

The following Monday they posted the cast list. Evelyn texted me when she got to school, "Mom, I GOT  A PART!" She was so excited! 

Rehearsals began before holiday break and the kids all worked SO hard to get ready for the show, which opened on Thursday. 

I didn't get a lot of photos of her performing.. this seriously is one of about 4. Sigh...

Evelyn had a lot of fans who came to see her in the show on opening night...

Lucy

Both sets of grandparents...

Great Aunt Mary

Ellie. She came to all the shows to support Evelyn!

Our beautiful girl...

My sister couldn't make it to the show, but she sent her flowers from Idaho to show her love and support.

The next 3 shows she had more fans come see her perform. 

Tori

Juliet

Heidi

Lola

One last pre-show warm up and pep talk before the final show...Mrs. Kuechle the director did such an amazing job with these kiddos to produce an amazing show.

We are so proud of her!

Fun with friends at the cast party after the final show!

So thankful for this opportunity Evelyn had to perform. She is looking forward to next year's show!

OBOB 2020

Another year of Oregon Battle of the Books is a wrap!! Matthew was SO excited about OBOB this year and he started reading books last summer to get a good start on the 16 books on the list.

He and some friends had planned to be on a team together, and in all honesty they would have CRUSHED the competition. Sadly it didn't work out that way (the lead of our school's program wanted to have more equitable teams so she separated the boys). Matthew was devastated, as was I (I was looking forward to mentoring such a great group of boys).

BUT... after some tears and lamenting, he picked himself up and decided he was going to do his best, be a leader on his team, and have fun. And he did all of those things... we couldn't be more proud of Matthew for how he dealt with this disappointment. 

I was his team's mentor and like with other teams I had the kids over before holiday break for some team building and some gingerbread house making. It's always a fun way for the kids to connect. 

The house turned out fantastic!

The kids worked so hard to prepare and they were ready for battle day! I didn't take many photos as I was helping with scoring, but I am SO proud of these four!! Matthew, Catherine, Elizabeth and Ella did such a great job. They all were upset to not get passed the first round, but I reminded them how far they came and how hard they worked and that they should be proud. 

Matthew was still upset the rest of the day, but he still got the Red Plate at dinner. 

It was hard for him, but also a good lesson about disappointment and moving on from disappointment. He is already planning for next year and he and his buddy Xavier already know they will be on the same team! :) 

Another OBOB season in the books. Next year will be our last. Bittersweet, but I have lots of fun memories to take with me after Matthew's final OBOB competition next year! :) 

Shell's Visit/My Birthday

Michelle, Eric, Abby and her friend Ani came over from Idaho this weekend. Abby and Ani wanted to go prom dress shopping and They had tickets to see Dear Evan Hansen and the Keller downtown. It also happened to be my birthday yesterday.. so it was fun to have them here for that! :) 

We had fun dress shopping. This lovely lady found the perfect dress!!

Cousin time!

My sister surprised me and let ME have her Dear Evan Hansen ticket for Saturday night!! I was so excited to go see this show... I LOVE the music!

Eric... Abby and Ani's personal shlepper...haha! He was a good sport and it was fun to hang out with him for the evening!

Love her!

Amazing seats for an amazing show!

While I was gone at the show Michelle and the kids made signs and decorated the kitchen for my birthday (which was the next morning)

Super thoughtful and sweet!

We went to our fav mexican place for dinner..Pepita's

Their margs are the best in town!

...and I got to wear the fun birthday sombrero! :)

It was a super fun birthday weekend with my favorite people!

New Year's Day 2020

We spent New Year's Day at mom's house and watched the Ducks WIN the Rose Bowl...woohoo!!!

Happy Happy!!

There were plenty of these kind of moments throughout the game... but both Matthew and I LOVED watching it!!

Doug's sister Louise was in town and her and Evelyn made her famous crab cakes. She worked with Evelyn to make gluten free ones, too. 

They were delicious!! 

Louise also brought Evelyn these beautiful earings. We love her and so thankful for how she loves us!

It was a fun day for sure. Go Ducks! Happy New Year!! Be good to us, 2020!!