March's 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month (Tuesday). {Document a snapshot 

of your life; find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

Back on March 10th, when life was still pretty normal. I start most days with a workout on youtube, listening to a sermon or music. And my "water breaks" are actually coffee breaks. :)

And then I sit and read the Bible and often journal. Hours of deliberately feeding my heart, mind and soul good things, surrendering my life to Jesus again, asking for help every hour of the day, seeking a deep peace and joy, learning what God's love looks like so I can know it and give it.

On a "normal" Tuesday, my life is too much for me to do on my own...I'm a mess! I have to, on purpose, point my heart back to my Creator, reminding myself how big he is and that this is not all about me.

After ALL that, I'm ready to face people. ;) If you see love or kindness or peace in me, it cannot be said of me,
 I woke up like this! :)

At 7AM the girls get on the bus.

The kids are self-sufficient but I mill around, doing various chores so I can be available to help find missing shoes, study quiz questions, break up the girls arguing, or help Aiden make his sandwich.

I wait at the bus stop with Aiden...sometimes he's chatty and sometimes he's in a book too good to be social, so I just play with the dog.

I leave a candy on any made beds, because I think its an important habit to build. I smiled at Amanda's faithful friends, who have been with her through thick and thin. :)

Work.

Work.

Work.

Aiden is enjoying the one-hour, once-a-week soccer clinic and I've seen his ball skills improve and I am enjoying the podcast time. :)

When we got back, Amanda, who'd been home alone had cleared out all the winter gear and organized the coat closet. Impressive!

30-minute, one-skillet dinners are a frequent part of the rotation during the week.

As an incentive for the kids to get things done in a timely manner during the afternoon while we are at work, we agreed to watch 30 minute portions of Sound of Music. A perennial favorite!

These two are night owls and homework associates.

Project 365, Week 13

Such a crazy week! The world is a strange place right now. For the kids, it was the first official week of Distance Learning. Previous to this, we had not given the kids wifi access in the house, there was just one community device available for them to use in the kitchen. Now, they all have their own ChromeBooks and are on the internet a large portion of their day. Ugh!! 

At work, the filing deadline was extended 90-days and we switched to a drop-off only policy, either in person or electronically. Many of the in-person ones are people I meet curbside. For the ones who have fear in their eyes, I take a few extra moments to speak into them what I know to be true...we will get through this.

March 23

I walked in from work and smiled. Someone had been out sledding in the half inch of slushy snow we'd gotten. My kids, although deeply saddened by our lack of overall snow this year, definitely took advantage of every single flake when it did fall.

March 24
Youth leaders and kids met up  via Zoom.

Avery's school area.

Games by the dozens.

I wore my happy socks...it IS a choice.

March 25
Even before I left for work Aiden was checking in with school and making things happen.

School zone #2.

For the second week Teen Bible Quiz met on Facetime. We are working through Hebrews and its been such an amazing experience working with this group. They are fun and insightful and engaged.

March 26
With 10 minutes notice we sent out an invite to the neighborhood to join us on one of our walking loops. So many of the parents are trying to do conference calls or string two thoughts together...its a tough transition.

Love, love our family time in the hot tub. I asked for a picture this night because it was all six of us together. J has been practicing social distancing from our family for many months, but on this rare occasion she came down from her room and joined our evening. It was nice and the kids especially were delighted to have her around.

March 27
The early-morning temperature read 45 but it felt warmer out on the porch. Coffee, Jesus and singing birds excited for spring, utterly unaware that things are not as they should be...life is good.

While the moms walked and talked, the kids came up with a no contact game that they happily played. Such a beautiful evening!

Youth group.

March 28

I only worked for a couple hours so I had much of the day. I was alone doing yardwork until I suggested a power tool. Then I had a helper who was all in :)

Church! At one point our pastor invited us to kneel together to pray for our world, our nation. Shaun huddled us together, right there in our living room...it was a holy moment as we prayed for the world.

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray 

and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from 

heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land 

2 Chronicles 7:14

It is finished!! 3000 pieces, March 1-28.

March 29
It was a delightfully quiet day at home with a soft rain falling.

As I was checking on the apple crisp, Shaun came up and hugged me and probably told me he is thankful that I am here, living and breathing, as he often does. (We are all of the mushy, corny things.) One of the kids grabbed a picture when we weren't even aware they were paying attention. But kids are always paying attention, which makes me wish I was already the person I'm working on becoming and not the one I currently am.

Since the puzzle was finished and we had our dinner table back, we had a lovely sit down dinner, with table cloth and candles.

Project 365, Week 12

What a strange week as all things Coronavirus unfolded. Surreal, really. Every morning I woke up thinking, wow...that was a weird dream, only to realize moments later that it was all very real. It was decided over the weekend that the kids would not be returning to school, at least through the end of March. The stock market continued its record-breaking volatility and it felt like a low-grade anxiousness settled over the atmosphere. Things that sounds impossible upon first hearing them are the new normal a couple days later. Shut down school? Nah. Close restaurants? No way. I keep telling my kids they are living history!

March 16

Our town was delayed in getting school online for the kids, so we were winging it this week. Aiden took it upon himself to begin learning Latin (??). They also spent hours learning Geography with Google Earth and virtually spent time at Busch Gardens, standing in (an empty) line at the Cheetah Run. :)

March 17
We woke up to a pretty surprise that lasted only a couple hours.

A few of us neighbors met outside on the street corner, standing six feet apart. It felt ridiculous, slightly illegal and somewhat therapeutic.

March 18
I snuck out of work for a couple hours to visit with some friends. The kids got lots of exercise playing basketball, kickball and riding bikes.

The neighborhood "happy hour" grew. We were very purposeful about moving here and its better than I could have imagined. There was stress, confusion, disbelief and uncertainty as we tried to make sense of what is happening in our world, but there was a measure of comfort and relief as we met together.

March 19
As the week wore on, things at work intensified. The kids were home for hours upon hours alone so for a couple hours this evening, we brought them to the office. What a gift to live two minutes from work!

March 20
Just a long, crazy day of work. I was gathering documents from many people on the sidewalk outside our building, or even while they stayed in their car. Nathan extended free tax prep to the senior citizens who would have gotten their taxes prepared for free by the now-closed AARP service. I spent several minutes talking with a woman who was crying, overwhelmed by the blessing of it. I guess from the strain of the week, I ended up in tears, too.

By Friday the kids had gotten better about picking up the house and doing some chores throughout the day so I didn't come home to a sink full of dishes. Amanda really did a nice job of even taking on extra projects. Very helpful!

March 21
I stopped by home to get Amanda set up on the computer for the "in-person" soccer referee training that was now on the computer. After several hours and a test, she passed! I was proud of the way she took initiative and followed through on the multi-step process.

Church on the couch with a snuggly blanket...not bad. :)

March 22
I went to the grocery store first thing and it really wasn't terrible. I tried to thank as many employees as I could...they were clearly doing their very best.

Several of our neighbors are nurses, and two of them work in places where supplies are in short supply. We purchased latex gloves and dropped them off in her garage. It felt like a small offering compared to the sacrifice she and so many are making, but I think its important to do something.

Project 365, Week 11

This was such an interesting, strange week. Coronovirus was a thing and then just like that it was a THING, with TP and groceries flying off the shelves, school and sports and work getting canceled. It very much felt like a whirlwind and maybe even like a sci-fi story.

March 9

That time of year when the neighborhood boys come looking for Aiden.

March 10
The other side of a beautiful sunrise.

March 11
A mid-season office lunch, courtesy of Nathan.

Teen Bible Quiz night. We started digging into the studying and I paused for a moment to listen as the pages of the Bible rustled while half a dozen teens searched for answers to our questions. So beautiful!

March 12
The Stock Market had its worst day in 33 years. I listened to my husband on the phone with client after client (in between tax returns). Calming fears, proposing trades, grappling with what it all meant, using the word "carnage". He was such a rock star on this historic day.

March 13
The kids had a regularly scheduled half day. Avery has been diligently plugging away at our 3000 piece puzzle.

March 14
Practices, meetings, events started to get canceled so we enjoyed a quiet Saturday.

Amanda is taking a soccer reffing course in hopes of making some money.

March 15
We did church online at the breakfast bar. A significant amount of work happened in a very short amount of time to pull it off. I'm so thankful for the staff at our church and the timely message.

Shaun and Avery spent a good part of the day with appointments at the office. While I did yard work, Aiden dusted off his golf clubs.

Shaun and the kids worked out together while watching a movie. (The kids did more watching than moving). Noteworthy...Shaun can bench press 200 lbs and Amanda can do reps with the bar. :)