Dancing with Daffodils

 This week went by fast. Monday I was busy with laundry, making a bushel of appleasauce (19 jars) and teaching piano (and as always helping with school work). Tuesday was more school and piano and then I took the boys to baseball while Josh took the girls to dance. I like sitting at the park while Brandon plays and Curtis is practicing and I can read. At one point some kid came and started crawling onto me and that was awkward but we all survivied. I loved the book that I just finished and am still thinking about the characters and how good it was. It is called We Were the Lucky Ones and it is based on the author's family history. It was a very moving story of love and family ties and survival and miracles. When we got back I dropped the boys off and headed to our first in-person book club since February. We met not in our usual place but outside at Sarah's house where we sat around the fire pit and chatted. Only six of us came but it was nice.  The discussion of the book was ...

What a week. It actually has been one of the better weeks but not without its lows. It started out nicely on Monday. Normally Columbus day is a day off and we spend the day doing parent teacher conferences, going to the book fair and then spending the afternoon at the pumpkin farm with friends. None of that happened this year and Josh tells me I need to stop thinking about what we should be doing, but it is hard. The kids had school and Josh is so busy at work, for the first time ever he actually worked a holiday. So it was a pretty normal day, although the kids did get done earlier than normal and Josh did come home by 3:30 so that was good. I taught the Wiest girls their piano lessons and then they stayed for dinner, which was fun, even though it was pouring rain and that wasn't what we had originally planned. It was wonderful to just sit and talk with Leisa, and Sam and Josh enjoyed the time as well. We had soups, a salad and rolls for dinner and had meant to play games but we d...

 Oh my goodness. 30 weeks of this Covid-19 mess. This week was fine. Monday was the normal cutting the grass, laundry, teach piano, help with school kind of day. For family night we met with our missionaries and I am super impressed with them and wish I had 50 friends for them to teach.  Tuesday was more school work, house cleaning, piano lessons, then dance and baseball practice. I am reading an interesting book about food and the flavors most used in our country and that has been fun. Wednesday I worked out and then it was more of the same. Nothing special happened Thursday either, just more piano lessons, dance and baseball practice. Friday I actually left the house to go do a grocery pick up, kindergarten materials pick up from school, and then we took Lily to dance and went to BJs. Curtis had a late baseball game and originally I was just going to let Josh take him so the others could go to bed but Josh has been so busy and stressed this week that we hadn't had a real con...

 Happy October!  This week was challenging and good and exhausting with fun moments here and there. Monday I did all the typical stuff and I made a fantastic dinner that night which made me happy. Tuesday started out rough. I was supposed to take the kids to the dentist and so we're all in the car at 7:40 am and the car wouldn't start. It kept flashing the engine light at me and I tried everything but could not get it to go. I had to call the dentist and reschedule all four appointments and spent most of the day very stressed about what was wrong with my practically brand new car. I had considered the battery but the battery light never came on and there wasn't a light on or a door open, but I hadn't driven in two days so it was definitely an option. That afternoon I called our insurance to have it towed to the local dealership and the guy came (of course while I was trying to teach piano) and I was trying to figure out how to get my kids to all their activities and it ...

So I'm a few days behind but last week was pretty good. Monday I did laundry, cut the grass, helped with school and taught two piano lessons. I had hoped to run some errands but have learned that there is just no time. Either my kids have school stuff or I have piano lessons or they have other activities. It is so hard to get out of this house and run simple errands, but I am trying hard not to feel trapped or frustrated, succeeding sometimes more than others. It doesn't help that Josh is super stressed at work and working overtime so there is just no flexibility or give in my schedule.  Anyway, Tuesday was busy. We got Emma a new-to-her bike from a neighbor and had to pick up math manipulatives from school and then I did squeeze in a quick trip to Lowes for a gallon of paint before we had to get back for school work. I spent all week taping and getting ready to paint my hallway. We finally got the cracks in the foundation filled that day. The builder isn't doing anything s...

I wonder when I will stop labeling each blog post by week. When will life not be marked by the start of the pandemic? Anyway, it has been a pretty good week. Monday I did laundry, ironing, cut the grass, tried to can peaches and got six jars done before I decided to wait on the others because it was such a pain to peel them, helped the kids with school and then I taught the Wiests their piano lessons. I just started both girls and it is fun to teach kids I already like and it is fun to have a reason to see Leisa each week. We used to work out together and talk then, and hopefully we'll get back to that, but I like that we have scheduled time each week to at least see each other and catch up. We have even talked about doing dinner together some weeks so that will be fun. It was a really busy day and it felt good at the end of it to have accomplished a lot. Tuesday I read all day. I was off by a week and thought I still had another week to finish my book club book (Lucky Boy) but I d...

 Another week has gone by and it was a full of ups and downs. Monday was Labor Day and since we had had fun all day Saturday, we used Monday to rest at home and get some work done and then we had the Wiests over for dinner. Josh is still playing around with his new pizza oven and I am not loving the pizza he is making in it yet. I don't know why he had to change things but he insists I am going to love it so I am trying to be patient. Sam and Leisa were kind guinea pigs though and the kids had a lot of fun playing and it was a beautiful evening for eating outside.  Tuesday was a busy but good day with school work and I painted a wall that I am going to turn into a beach wall. I am going to print a picture or more from each year we've gone on a beach vacation and mark where we went and with whom. We have gone every year since 2009, except 2010, so that's 11 years so far. I have been looking for picture frames and going through all our beach pictures and it has been a good st...