I probably should've written this post a few weeks ago, but life has been a little turned upside down lately!
I'm not even sure where to start or how to talk about this, but basically, we are in the midst of a pandemic. A new virus originated in China and has quickly spread throughout the world. There's no vaccination, there's no cure. With time, most recover, but the number of people not recovering is scary. It's hard to find exact, accurate statistics, but as far as I can tell, the virus was discovered in December of 2019 and has spread across the globe, shutting down country after country as the world tries to slow the spread. Personal protection equipment for doctors, nurses and first responders are all but impossible to find. Toilet paper has been cleared off of every store shelf in the entire US. Grocery stores are so picked over that many aisles are all but empty.
Social distancing has been put into practice. It's the idea of staying 6 feet or more away from people you don't share a home with. The schools are closed for the rest of the year throughout most of the country, including here in Arizona. Most schools are attempting to do distance learning through various online avenues. Our school is actually doing a great job of implementing a system to continue learning, but it still requires a lot of time and effort on my part. It can't even be called home school since we are confined to our homes. I call it crisis or Covid schooling.
My kiddos aren't allowed to see their friends. We hold church in our homes, we are living off our food storage as much as possible. At the beginning of April, our governor signed a Stay at Home order, mandating that social distancing be in effect. Non-essential businesses are no longer functioning. Many stores are closed, small businesses are suffering and something like 10 million Americans lost their jobs over a two week window. My dad included.
And it feels like this came out of nowhere. At least for me. I don't watch the news. My social media feeds are full of photography related info. I tend to snooze or delete people who go on about politics and world happenings. Due to Bruce's job, I try to shield myself from those things. I stick my head in the sand and pretend life is butterflies and rainbows as a coping mechanism. It serves me well for the most part, but I feel pretty darn blindsided by this whole Coronavirus/Covid-19 thing.
The first few days, as I started to grasp what exactly was going on were very scary. I spent a LOT of time crying and I went through all the emotions. I was so mad at myself for being lax with our food storage throughout my pregnancy with Jellybean. I was mad at myself for being lazy with my gospel study. I was scared of what this would mean for my family. I grieved the loss of the life I had envisioned at this point in time. I threw myself a two week pity party where I experienced a constant headache brought on by crying, stress and anxiety. I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack at any given moment. My chest felt tight all the time and oh, the exhaustion. I was so tired I could hardly function because I was mentally and emotionally spent.
We are now on week 5 of living a quarantine life. I'm feeling much better about life and the current state of our existence, but things are strange... I went to Costco a few weeks ago for one last stock up trip before the Stay at Home order that I knew was coming. Everyone in the store was so lifeless. No one seemed to have a smile in them. We were all on a mission. I left with the most full cart I have ever had and didn't even manage to find toilet paper or flour. Good news- the produce section is basically the Garden of Eden. Apparently no one thinks to buy veggies during a pandemic. Which just means more for me!
Our routine has changed significantly. We get out and hike or go for walks when we can, steering clear of other people of course. Not necessarily because we are paranoid (I mean I am, but Bruce is not at all) but because people are literally scared to be close to one another right now. But other than that, we are at home. Our 1800 square feet seems awfully small these days with all 7 of us here most of the time. The kiddos haven't been to a store or seen a friend in 39 days. And it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon.
But it's not all bad. There have been silver linings. I've seen lots of my prayers answered. We've participated in not one, but two world wide fasts led by the prophet and we've felt peace and power through those fasts. Our home church has meant the chance to worship with my family via FaceTime. We've gotten a few house projects done and played more games and read more books.
It's been a roller coaster of emotions thus far, but we are surviving. And hopefully we'll even find chance to thrive through this. We've made it through 5 weeks of a really difficult time and I know we'll come out stronger on the other side. But until then, we stay home. We try to do something fun every day. And we cling to our faith and our family, because that's what's getting us through.
COVID and Quarantine
Apr 21, 2020
Mar 18, 2020
Well hello there. It's been a hot minute since I've posted over here, but given the circumstances of the world right now, I have some free time on my hands. And with that free time, I am feeling a great need to document our family history.
First, how about a quick update on each of us?
Bruce is still going strong with the police department. He's held many positions and been on countless committees and participated in all kinds of trainings and extra activities. He is currently a patrol lieutenant and runs the department field training program and is part of the department's partnership with Special Olympics. He plays basketball several times a week with some buddies from church and he takes Kevin on several runs a week. She loves it, Bruce tolerates it :) He's a good dog dad.
Sunshine is almost 13. Let's pause for a moment and let that sink in. I am about to have a teenager. One week from today actually. I started our first family blog when I first found out I was pregnant with her, and it really does feel like it was just yesterday. Sunshine is in 7th grade and she is rocking it. She is so dedicated to her school work, she is a loyal friend and she adores her teacher. She is a competitive swimmer and just finished participating in her school's production of Seussical Jr. She was stage crew for two of the shows and played Horton the Elephant in one show. She did fantastic! She played flute for several years in school, only stopping at the beginning of this school year, and has been playing piano since she was six or seven. I love hearing her practice either instrument. She is taller than me, a fact that we noticed on Christmas day. Merry Christmas to me! And we can share shoes and she loves to borrow from my wardrobe. Most of my clothes are too big, but she's snagged a few things from my drawers that are too small on me and I just can't believe this is the point we are at in life!
Beebs is still our little fireball. She's short and petite and full of spunk and attitude. She's a natural comedian and loves to perform. She was also in Seussical Jr, playing Young Kangaroo and she just beamed from the stage. She was absolutely in her element. She has been taking ballet for several years and the novelty is wearing off. I'm grieving the fact that she is no longer wanting to dance as she is a beautiful ballerina. She wants to continue just long enough to dance in a performance of The Nutcracker, then give up dance to pursue something else. Who knows what at this point, the options are endless! Beebs is in 4th grade and has a great teacher. Sometimes the social part of school is tricky for her, but she loves going and she is learning and growing so much. She is an excellent writer and is always working on some fun story. She is also a very talented artist and takes lessons from a lady we know from church. I'll have to scan some of her paintings to share on here. They are amazing. Beebs also takes piano and loves it. She also sort of plays cello in the school orchestra... there has been quite a bit of turnover with music teachers at school, which is why I say sort of! She knows some of the basics but due to all the teacher movement, I don't think she has been able to embrace the cello as much as she and I both hoped she would.
Man Cub, oh Man Cub! He has grown up so much since I last blogged. He is in 1st grade, and I have to be honest. I worried about him going to school. But, he is THRIVING! He loves school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his friends, he loves to learn. He is an excellent reader and he is obsessed with the "Who Will Win" book series. He has even written and illustrated several of his own versions of "Who Will Win". He is very creative and artistic, always creating or drawing something. We go through a lot of paper at our house these days between him and Beebs. I try to limit them but then I also don't want to stifle their creativity! Man Cub is a super social boy. He love to make friends and will talk to anyone. ANYONE. We participated in a hike with a group from my gym last weekend and Man Cub decided one of the gym owners was his new best friend. He talked the owner's ear off throughout most of the hike- Star Wars, Legos, school. He chatted about anything and everything. He is also eating me out of house and home right now. He is definitely a growing boy and I'm not sure I can keep up with how much food it takes to keep him going! He is also really enjoying sports. After several seasons of soccer, he switched to flag football at school this past quarter and loved it. Right now the highlight of his day is playing football in the backyard with Bruce. Man Cub is quite the stylish little guy... every Sunday he insists on wearing Hawaiian print shirts and boat shoes to church. I'm going to be a little bit sad when he switches to white shirts and ties after his baptism this fall!
Shark Bait is my little lovey mamas boy. For the moment! He loves to snuggle and he is such a big helper. After six years of teaching preschool, and teaching three of my own children, I closed up shop, so Shark Bait attends preschool at the home of a friend of mine. She is a fantastic teacher and Shark Bait just adores her. His best friend Ben goes to the same school and they love being in the same class. Just like all my kiddos, Shark Bait is super social. He loves to spend time with friends. Between school, soccer, gymnastics and Primary, he gets plenty of time with friends and he loves it. Each morning he asks me "Do I have anything going on today?" Cracks me up each time he asks. He is very much into super heroes. Spiderman is his favorite. He also loves Star Wars and he will spend hours playing by himself while the others are at school. He loves to be outside and will often grab the shed key and head out back, all by himself even, to dig in the sand and play elaborate dinosaur games. He is absolutely fearless which is terrifying and exciting all at once. Man Cub has to be coaxed to try new things but Shark Bait jumps right in, sometimes without thinking things through all the way. He is also quite opinionated, especially about what he wears. No long sleeves or pants for this boy! Basketball shorts, t shirts and a pair of flip-flops are his full time uniform.
And then there's Jellybean! She's new around here, and I hope to share the full story of how she came to be soon. But for the moment, just know that she is the missing piece to our family, a long awaited arrival and the answer to many many pleading prayers. She is such a joy to our family and we all adore her so much! She was born on October 14, 2019 after the hardest pregnancy of my five. I was sick from basically the day I found out I was pregnant until the day she was born. I had lots of issues throughout the pregnancy and her birth was such a relief on so many levels. She cried for the first hour of her life and I was so scared that she would be as much of a stinker on the outside as she had been on the inside, but it has actually been the opposite. Jellybean is the happiest, most easy going baby I have ever had. She loves to sleep (but not to nap), averaging 6 hour stretches most nights, but sleeping as much as 7-12 hours at a time. She is super smiley and chatty. She thinks her siblings are the greatest thing in the entire world and already wants to be just like them. She is growing up way too fast for my liking in an effort to catch up to all of them. I never really wanted this large of a gap (4+ years) between kiddos, but oh my goodness, I am loving it. Each of the kiddos has such a special relationship with her and they are all so helpful and loving. I was nervous about throwing a newborn into our crazy, chaotic lifestyle but she has been a champ about it and the older kiddos are so great with her. It has really been a breeze.
As for me, I keep busy with driving the bus (aka our 2001 9 passenger Yukon) to and from school and the kiddos various activities, trying to keep the house from imploding and occasionally cooking meals that we can all sit together at the table and eat. I've been running my photography business as an LLC since mid-2017, though I have a feeling that with the current state of the world, that might be changing. Bruce and I serve together at church, heading up Activity Days for the boys turning 10 and 11 this year. We love serving together so much and our group of boys are so much fun... high energy and exhausting, but fun!
So there you have it. An update on us. I make no promises as to what will come of my desire to blog again. I do plan to add Sunshine as a contributor so she can help me keep things up to date, but we shall see! I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, but the desire to write our story is strong so I hope that will keep me coming back.
First, how about a quick update on each of us?
Bruce is still going strong with the police department. He's held many positions and been on countless committees and participated in all kinds of trainings and extra activities. He is currently a patrol lieutenant and runs the department field training program and is part of the department's partnership with Special Olympics. He plays basketball several times a week with some buddies from church and he takes Kevin on several runs a week. She loves it, Bruce tolerates it :) He's a good dog dad.
Sunshine is almost 13. Let's pause for a moment and let that sink in. I am about to have a teenager. One week from today actually. I started our first family blog when I first found out I was pregnant with her, and it really does feel like it was just yesterday. Sunshine is in 7th grade and she is rocking it. She is so dedicated to her school work, she is a loyal friend and she adores her teacher. She is a competitive swimmer and just finished participating in her school's production of Seussical Jr. She was stage crew for two of the shows and played Horton the Elephant in one show. She did fantastic! She played flute for several years in school, only stopping at the beginning of this school year, and has been playing piano since she was six or seven. I love hearing her practice either instrument. She is taller than me, a fact that we noticed on Christmas day. Merry Christmas to me! And we can share shoes and she loves to borrow from my wardrobe. Most of my clothes are too big, but she's snagged a few things from my drawers that are too small on me and I just can't believe this is the point we are at in life!
Beebs is still our little fireball. She's short and petite and full of spunk and attitude. She's a natural comedian and loves to perform. She was also in Seussical Jr, playing Young Kangaroo and she just beamed from the stage. She was absolutely in her element. She has been taking ballet for several years and the novelty is wearing off. I'm grieving the fact that she is no longer wanting to dance as she is a beautiful ballerina. She wants to continue just long enough to dance in a performance of The Nutcracker, then give up dance to pursue something else. Who knows what at this point, the options are endless! Beebs is in 4th grade and has a great teacher. Sometimes the social part of school is tricky for her, but she loves going and she is learning and growing so much. She is an excellent writer and is always working on some fun story. She is also a very talented artist and takes lessons from a lady we know from church. I'll have to scan some of her paintings to share on here. They are amazing. Beebs also takes piano and loves it. She also sort of plays cello in the school orchestra... there has been quite a bit of turnover with music teachers at school, which is why I say sort of! She knows some of the basics but due to all the teacher movement, I don't think she has been able to embrace the cello as much as she and I both hoped she would.
Man Cub, oh Man Cub! He has grown up so much since I last blogged. He is in 1st grade, and I have to be honest. I worried about him going to school. But, he is THRIVING! He loves school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his friends, he loves to learn. He is an excellent reader and he is obsessed with the "Who Will Win" book series. He has even written and illustrated several of his own versions of "Who Will Win". He is very creative and artistic, always creating or drawing something. We go through a lot of paper at our house these days between him and Beebs. I try to limit them but then I also don't want to stifle their creativity! Man Cub is a super social boy. He love to make friends and will talk to anyone. ANYONE. We participated in a hike with a group from my gym last weekend and Man Cub decided one of the gym owners was his new best friend. He talked the owner's ear off throughout most of the hike- Star Wars, Legos, school. He chatted about anything and everything. He is also eating me out of house and home right now. He is definitely a growing boy and I'm not sure I can keep up with how much food it takes to keep him going! He is also really enjoying sports. After several seasons of soccer, he switched to flag football at school this past quarter and loved it. Right now the highlight of his day is playing football in the backyard with Bruce. Man Cub is quite the stylish little guy... every Sunday he insists on wearing Hawaiian print shirts and boat shoes to church. I'm going to be a little bit sad when he switches to white shirts and ties after his baptism this fall!
Shark Bait is my little lovey mamas boy. For the moment! He loves to snuggle and he is such a big helper. After six years of teaching preschool, and teaching three of my own children, I closed up shop, so Shark Bait attends preschool at the home of a friend of mine. She is a fantastic teacher and Shark Bait just adores her. His best friend Ben goes to the same school and they love being in the same class. Just like all my kiddos, Shark Bait is super social. He loves to spend time with friends. Between school, soccer, gymnastics and Primary, he gets plenty of time with friends and he loves it. Each morning he asks me "Do I have anything going on today?" Cracks me up each time he asks. He is very much into super heroes. Spiderman is his favorite. He also loves Star Wars and he will spend hours playing by himself while the others are at school. He loves to be outside and will often grab the shed key and head out back, all by himself even, to dig in the sand and play elaborate dinosaur games. He is absolutely fearless which is terrifying and exciting all at once. Man Cub has to be coaxed to try new things but Shark Bait jumps right in, sometimes without thinking things through all the way. He is also quite opinionated, especially about what he wears. No long sleeves or pants for this boy! Basketball shorts, t shirts and a pair of flip-flops are his full time uniform.
And then there's Jellybean! She's new around here, and I hope to share the full story of how she came to be soon. But for the moment, just know that she is the missing piece to our family, a long awaited arrival and the answer to many many pleading prayers. She is such a joy to our family and we all adore her so much! She was born on October 14, 2019 after the hardest pregnancy of my five. I was sick from basically the day I found out I was pregnant until the day she was born. I had lots of issues throughout the pregnancy and her birth was such a relief on so many levels. She cried for the first hour of her life and I was so scared that she would be as much of a stinker on the outside as she had been on the inside, but it has actually been the opposite. Jellybean is the happiest, most easy going baby I have ever had. She loves to sleep (but not to nap), averaging 6 hour stretches most nights, but sleeping as much as 7-12 hours at a time. She is super smiley and chatty. She thinks her siblings are the greatest thing in the entire world and already wants to be just like them. She is growing up way too fast for my liking in an effort to catch up to all of them. I never really wanted this large of a gap (4+ years) between kiddos, but oh my goodness, I am loving it. Each of the kiddos has such a special relationship with her and they are all so helpful and loving. I was nervous about throwing a newborn into our crazy, chaotic lifestyle but she has been a champ about it and the older kiddos are so great with her. It has really been a breeze.
As for me, I keep busy with driving the bus (aka our 2001 9 passenger Yukon) to and from school and the kiddos various activities, trying to keep the house from imploding and occasionally cooking meals that we can all sit together at the table and eat. I've been running my photography business as an LLC since mid-2017, though I have a feeling that with the current state of the world, that might be changing. Bruce and I serve together at church, heading up Activity Days for the boys turning 10 and 11 this year. We love serving together so much and our group of boys are so much fun... high energy and exhausting, but fun!
So there you have it. An update on us. I make no promises as to what will come of my desire to blog again. I do plan to add Sunshine as a contributor so she can help me keep things up to date, but we shall see! I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, but the desire to write our story is strong so I hope that will keep me coming back.
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