Easter

We had one of the warmest Easter weekends I can remember.  During Lent, the kids and I had been completing a "kindness chain".  Each day, we tore off a link on a paper chain with a suggested act of kindness.  It was a download from our church, but I had switched up some of the acts of kindness to fit our family better.  The acts were things like donate to a food shelter, do something kind for a neighbor, make someone's bed, genuinely compliment someone, do someone else's chore, pray for someone, read a scripture passage, etc.  The kids really liked the pay for the order behind you in the drive thru line, because it meant getting ice cream at McDonalds. We also wrote a thank you note to our mail carrier and gave her a $5 gift card to Kwik Trip.  Ironically, she stopped us in Kwik Trip to thank us!  The worst one for the kids was giving up screens for a day. But overall, they liked doing the kindness chain, and it seemed easier to do something specific each day than to stick with giving up something for 40 days.

Brett and Lydia made crosses out of burnt matches.  They really enjoyed lighting all the matches and the crosses look nice on our mantle. On Good Friday, we dyed eggs and went to the zoo.  For dinner, we had halibut, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and rice.  I love halibut!  We also made hot cross buns to use for our virtual communion service.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day and we ate lunch on the deck.  We had ham, asparagus puff pastry bundles, Lydia's special fruit pizza, and deviled eggs.  Reggie and I made a lemon meringue pie.  Lemon meringue was my favorite when I was a kid.  I have never made one, and the kids had never eaten it. Brett made up a game where he put puzzle pieces in eggs and hid them.  We raced to find the eggs, then put the puzzle together.

The Twins played the Brewers on Easter, which was a great opportunity for a little nap.  Then we had an Epic Egg Hunt and Coronavirus Auction.  Many of the eggs contained Bunny Bucks, which were used to bid on various Easter treats and coupons.  The coupons included breakfast in bed, unlimited screens day, stay up late, and a nope pass (used to get out of a chore). I was afraid it might get too competitive and someone would get mad, but everyone had fun and was happy with the treats.

Throughout the weekend, I found myself reflecting on how things have changed and how things have remained the same since last Easter when we were in lockdown.  What was the same was we still spent most of the weekend at home and as a household.  What has changed is I'm no longer worried about my kid's response to the stress of the pandemic.  As it turns out, they are more resilient than I thought.  We have all found contentment and gratitude with the simple gifts life brings us.

I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me.  In this world you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have won the battle over the world.  

John 16:33

spring arrival?

I see that it has been a little over a month since I've uploaded pictures to my computer and wandered over to my online journal.  In March, Reggie wrapped up his wrestling season and started swinging his bat, we had spring break, and Bryan celebrated his birthday.  The meteorologist said this morning that March felt more like April and April is feeling more like May.  For that, I am thankful.  My seed starting has taken over the dining room and patio, but I haven't gotten out to prepare my garden beds yet.

Reggie participated in three qualifier wrestling tournaments, earning two second places and one first place.  He qualified for the state tournament.  To comply with the Covid restrictions, the state tournament was spread out over two weekends.  He was only allowed one spectator, and because he wasn't there with a sanctioned team, he didn't have a coach.  While in a typical year, a state tournament would merit a stay in a hotel with a pool, eating out, extended family, and team comradery, this event was straight to the point.  I arrived with Reggie around 1:30 on a Sunday.  He went inside for weigh-ins, then came back out and we played cards in the van until he could get on the mats to warm up.  The wrestling was competitive and intense, and matches were spaced very closely together.  At times, I don't think Reggie got even fifteen minutes between matches, while typically there would be at least an hour. But Reggie accepted the challenge full-heartedly and earned a spot on the podium.  He had to overcome a number of obstacles to get there. We left the tournament three hours after we arrived and stopped for ice cream on the way home.  Reggie will continue his wrestling school until the end of the school year, but he is done competing for the season.  He is already gearing up for baseball!

Even without Covid, our spring break probably would have been scaled down this year because Brett's spring break landed on a different week than Reggie and Lydia's. I gave Brett the week off from home school, so we had half-days to do fun stuff. Most of our fun stuff ideas came from a book my sister-in-law gave us, The Adventure Challenge Family Edition.  The challenge that turned out to be the most fun was creating a life-size board game with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.  It took us most of a day to create and play the game! Another challenge was human "Hungry Hungry Hippos" using round candies and ballcaps to collect them.  We roasted hotdogs over a fire for the first time this year. Lydia's Violet celebrated her birthday with her very own salad and apple.  We had cupcakes.  We completed our tour of county parks.  Lydia and Bonnie shopped for earrings. We also got to see Meemaw and Papa and collect sap and make maple syrup. 

Also in March, we celebrated Pi Day with a homemade chicken pot pie and St Patrick's Day with corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and homemade Irish soda bread. I made turkey breasts for Bryan's birthday and Brett and Lydia made carrot cake bars with cream cheese frosting.  Bryan set up the basketball hoop and the kids have had their own March Madness.  The kids have been training for a 5K Special Olympics fundraiser, which is coming up in about a week. They've been playing a lot of chess, too.  I love the new patio and furniture we bought.  The table can be used for chess or checkers!  

Well, I think that brings us up to Easter, which I will save for another post soon.

lasts and seconds

Since my last post, we celebrated Valentine's Day.  It was the last formal holiday to be celebrated coronavirus style, so now we've had a full year of coronavirus holidays.

There was no date. We did what has become customary and had a household party. I wanted to have homemade cinnamon rolls and Lydia wanted to have fondue. This time, I did a great job of delegating.  Reggie and I took care of the food planning and prep and Brett and Lydia planned games and put up decorations. We had brunch after church (egg bake and cinnamon rolls), then played games.  When Reggie and Bryan got home from wrestling practice, we had cheese and chocolate fondue.  I think the football crockpot and Packer platter added a nice romantic touch to our Valentine's dinner. 😉

Reggie is so happy to be attending school again.  He ended up in a class that is mostly girls.  Most of his sports-playing buddies are in the other class and the "cohorts" are not allowed to mix on the playground. Still, he says, he is happy to be back.   

The days at home are quieter.  School takes up our mornings.  In the afternoons, we do different projects.  Lydia does piano.  They do virtual classes through Outschool or Special Olympics. We bake, do a craft project, play a game, or go to the library.  Wednesday is still errand and eat lunch out day. We had two weeks of very cold weather and now we are having a couple weeks of above average temperatures. Last week, we met Bonnie at Sonic.  I think it's the first patio-eating we've ever done in February!  

Last Friday, we were going to get fish fry from a local restaurant.  When I totaled it out, it was going to cost $73 before tip. Ouch! Now that we can't rely on the kid's menu, restaurants are expensive.  When I texted Bryan the total at work, he said he'd get fish at Costco and fry it himself.

I gave up coffee for lent.

I didn't grow up in one of your more liturgical faiths where you don't eat meat on Fridays during lent.  The tradition of a lent season is pretty novel to me.  However, for the last several years, I've taken hold of the spiritual discipline of practicing self-denial during lent.  I decided to take a break from coffee this year because I'm in the habit of drinking it all day long.

But I'm allowing myself to continue drinking caffeinated beverages.  I don't drink a lot of soda anymore, but I like tea. The tea I drink has a lot less caffeine than coffee though.  It's a decent substitute for a hot beverage in the morning, but I miss coffee!  

I also like V8+Energy, which is basically juice with a kick of caffeine.  I figure it's better than soda and the kids like them, too.

Lydia was drinking a pomegranate one the other day when she said, "Mom, we could drink these for Easter Communion this year." Last year, everything was really shut down at Easter and I barely even went shopping.  Our church suggested having some bread and juice for a virtual communion service.  So I made hot cross buns and we used a Gatorade for our beverage.

To have Lydia casually assume we'd be having another virtual Easter was accurate but nonetheless crushing. Two of her twelve Easters will have been spent in this pandemic era.  Sure, we could attend a service at a church that is open for in-person gatherings. But it would merely gloss over the reality that we're still here in this strange place which is starting to feel a little too normal to my kids.

I told her it was a good idea.

On March 1st, I started my pepper and tomato seeds.  The next day, Brett, Lydia, and I dumped some potting soil in a cracked clear plastic bin, planted a few cold-hardy veggies in it, and set it on the front patio.  I'll let you know what happens.  Spring is when the seeds go in the ground and we start tuning in to baseball games.  It is a time of fresh starts and anticipation. Our governor always uses sports analogies with his Covid-19 updates.  Last week, he said we're "rounding 3rd". 

Now that's something for which to be hopeful.