Playroom, Garden and Ruthie!

You would think I would find more time to blog now that we are staying home, but nope ha! The reality is I'm still working, two kids ages seven and five have steady needs throughout the day and I have used this time to work on projects that we never have time to complete. I'm also cooking and cleaning more since we are getting the house dirtier being here all the time. It's been a nice slow down but we haven't been bored by any means.

This is one of those projects that kept getting put off that we decided to tackle. Just look at that sight! This is how they both love to play by making humongous messes. I don't understand it.

But one rainy afternoon and we were back in playroom business! Plus they both had their first experience running a vacuum. 

Jack enjoyed it more than his sister. I hope I can start channeling this so he will help me around the house but not holding my breath :)

As good as new! I think they have a really sweet space for a playroom. Maybe they won't trash it this time and we can keep it functional.

They had to use it immediately to watch Beetlejuice with some popcorn and Gatorade.

And then decided they needed to sleep in there at bedtime <3 I love my babies!

The rain left and we were back outside enjoying it. We He tilled the garden up one final time on Tuesday so we could plant on Wednesday (4/22/20).  

One of my favorite days of the year-planting day!

This year we planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, green beans and spinach. A few things we tried last year weren't successful so we replaced them with new veggies. I'm sure in a few years we will have our favorite crops that we plant every year.

Jack's a perfect garden kid. He NEVER has shoes on.

Mom and baby even got in on the action

I like to take pictures of the seeds and plants we get each year for reference. I'll post garden updates over the course of the summer.

On another rainy day, Georgia was upstairs playing and Jack was downstairs with us. We noticed a paper flew into the living room from our hallway. It was this most precious note. My MIL gave Georgia a personalized big sister activity book when Jack was born and this was one of the activities. I couldn't love it anymore.

They haven't been anywhere to actually have to wear them but we are equipped if there is a need!

The best news-our niece Ruthie is here! She was born on Sunday April 28th, 2020 weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long. She is our tiny little dollbaby! We all can't believe how tiny she is. She is beautiful, she has her mama's eyes. I'm so thankful for a healthy baby and sister! God has been so good to us.

COVID-19 prevented us from being there for her birth. I can either be sad I've missed the birth of both of my nieces (Lottie-the Pacific Ocean when they were missionaries in Turkey and Ruthie-COVID pandemic) or just be thankful that's all I have to miss. I choose the latter. This was our virtual meeting on Sunday afternoon! It did our heart good to see her even though we can't touch her right now.

Ruthie and Paige-twins!

They are all doing well and Ruthie is already home due to 24-hour discharges during the pandemic. They are adjusting and already have some hilarious stories about sibling rivalries and attention, especially our girl Lottie Kate :)

Healthy At Home

We are starting week six of being healthy at home. It hasn't felt like six weeks to me. I think we stayed so busy that the slow down was much welcomed and embraced. Of course I wish the circumstances were different but I've enjoyed the ability to get my housework, regular work and Masters class work done while still fitting in time for family and myself. No complaints here!

I never want to forget that at seven, she loved reading through recipe books. She will take them outside if it's a pretty day to read them or read them inside if it's cool. I love this about her.

This boy is just anxious to get his school work done every morning so he can get outside ASAP. That face says it all! We have continued with the paper plate letters and numbers and he has made a lot of progress. I hope we have a normal Kindergarten year to prepare for! There's so much unknown right now.

After she reads her recipe books, of course we have to try them out.

She still loves making her cooking videos but now that her recipes have become more complicated, our videos end up being pretty long. A friend told me about iMovie on your iPad that I'm going to try to edit the clips down. She hopes to produce more cooking videos soon!

The day daddy and pa went to pick up our new toy. It's an odd time to make purchases like this with so many places closed but we found a good deal.

I found this in Georgia's room last week. Give her all the babies.

Owen went on an errand outing with us last week. He whimpered until we allowed him up front which ended up being him nearly in the driver's seat! He has no idea how big he is.

I found my garden notes from last year to help us prepare for this year. We are hoping to plant tomorrow. I can't wait!

Easter activities blended in with birthday fun this year but we did dye eggs one afternoon. 

The Easter bunny came and brought a few goodies, mostly fun things we can do this summer.

The kids have enjoyed our days at home and having neighbor friends to play with has definitely helped! I thought this was so sweet to see when I looked out my back door.

Owen has been pampered while we've been home. He looks annoyed but he really loves it.

Of course the four-wheeler found all the mud. This was sis after she helped pull her brother out of the garden spot. He was worse but a picture didn't happen.

Our yard officially has ruts, that didn't take long ;)

Family game night of Dominoes has been fun. Some nights we do a game and some nights we do a movie. The kids switch teams based on who is winning ha!

Georgia had a zoom meeting with her class this week. She loved seeing her teacher and classmates!

A few of her classmates and Mrs. Willoughby. We were officially told today that school will not resume this year. My heart goes out to Kindergarten parents that won't get to experience their child's full K year and of course high school seniors. I'm sure we will learn more in the days to come about how we will finish the year from home. 

I have been putting the family recipe book I received for Christmas to good use over the break. I'll share more about this book sometime but it's probably my new favorite possession.

Kids approved of my version of Gram's fried potatoes!

I FINALLY perfected mamaw's cornbread. It has taken two years of practice but I finally achieved appearance, taste and texture all in one. I don't think it's a coincidence it happened during a time that we can't see my mamaw and taste her cornbread on Wednesday nights. 

He smelled sausage and G is a pushover for feeding him table scraps!

He also found his way to my cornbread sitting on the kitchen island and helped himself

Jack's letter progression. The top are the ones he still needs to work on and the bottom he has learned! I am so proud and feel much better about his start to Kindergarten in the fall.

Jack saw this cow on the side of his CFA bag and asked me to cut it out because it reminded him of himself with a mimi. The kids decided to name him and I thought it was clever.

I'm sitting on our porch on a beautiful spring day as I type this. We are all healthy and safe. I know how quickly those circumstances can change. I have a very thankful heart today <3

Jack Turns Five!

We celebrated another quarantine birthday in our family. We had already decided to have a pool party in May like we did last year so he wasn't bothered by the COVID crisis and we didn't bring attention to it. He was unphased and I'm so thankful for that! 

I always take a picture of the kids the night before their birthday. His last night as a four year old.

As soon as he was in bed, Georgia and I started on his homemade cake. He wants a pirate pool party and told me the day before his actual birthday to use the pirate decorations we already had. We improvised and did the best we could with limited cake decorating skills.

Jack's birthday was on Easter this year which he was so excited about! When the pandemic started and we realized we would not be attending normal church on his Easter birthday, we still wanted to make sure he knew how special this day was and how blessed he was to share the day with the resurrection of our Savior. Our sweet, new neighbors surprised the kids with an egg hunt Sunday morning. They made us personalized eggs with their names on it and "He's Alive". Thank you Inmans for the act of kindness and giving him a gift that celebrated both things! 

His family party of four decorations. He was excited!

Lots of accessories to hide lots of imperfections :)

My favorite picture I've taken in a long while. How lucky are we to have a happy and healthy five year old boy to celebrate!

My birthday gift has become his new love and mom and dad's new form of anxiety. Goodness he loves it so much already. We almost got him one for Christmas but it didn't work out so we decided we would look again for his birthday. We found a good deal and pulled the trigger. We were told they are no longer making 50 size four-wheelers and that 2019 would be the last model. I was set on nothing bigger than a 50 so I'm glad we finally found one!

Just look at those eyes! I also love that underneath his camo coat and boots are his Easter bunny pajamas :)

Since we were home all day, he shot some hoops with Dad on his new ball goal from Ma and Pa. 

A few screenshots of him riding from videos that I have taken. He seems to be a very good driver. He took off and hasn't looked back. We already have ruts in the yard and rules for where he can and can't go. 

I have to include this for documentation sake. This happened within the first five minutes. Talk about giving us a heart attack. We promptly dialed down the throttle to the lowest setting. Raising a boy isn't for the weary.

He fell asleep at 5:30pm. That never happens. Such a tired boy after a day of celebrating!

Our local online newspaper started featuring "Good News" during the COVID crisis and I was excited to see this pop up on my news feed! Thank you BtN for remembering the good things too!

Even though we remained #healthyathome for his birthday, that didn't stop our friends and family from helping make the day special for him. He received several texts/messages, facetimes, birthday videos and even some porch gifts and "drive-by" visits. He was so excited when someone new would show up for him! I'll never forget these acts of kindness during a difficult cirumstance.

Happy 5th Birthday, Jack Porter Harrison. I hope I never forget as he was making the final lap in the yard on his birthday night the words "Remember mom, you're sleeping with me tonight". He's tough and tender, and this mom thinks he's the perfect mix. We love you so much! Thank you God for the blessing you gave us in him.