Today's Facebook post:
Kicked off “Spring Break” with a picnic at the park in our pajamas! It was noon. 😂 Most days, I encourage myself and the kids to get dressed, even if we are just hanging at home. The day feels better to me... like I have a reason to get out of bed despite our quarantine circumstances. Not today!
It’s been a humorous realization how exciting it is for the kids to get in the car and drive to the high school to pick up the generous free meals. Feels like such an outing! 😆 With the parks closed, we settled for a grassy hilltop and entertained ourselves with sparse hide ‘n seek, dandelion wishes, and running up and down the hill. (Whatever tires them out)
If it weren't spring break, our day typically looks like this:
8 AM: I get out of bed (kinda nice to sleep in, since Aiya usually gets Eliana up for me between 7:45/8 AM) and get the kids a light breakfast. At 9 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Logan goes to preschool. (Since there are only 6 students, it's currently allowed and encouraged. It's making us a bit nervous to continue though, with the numbers insanely growing.) A few times a week, Aiya and Aaron have joined me in Hiit workouts on Youtube. I never wanted to work out at home because it seemed too chaotic, but I've been pleasantly surprised! It's not as tough of a workout as I'm used to because I have to stop and encourage Aiya, who gets frustrated easily when she can't do the move. But it's worth it to see how excited they are to get stronger! Around 10 AM (I do like the slight flexibility in this schedule), we start two hours of school. Some days more frustrating or successful than others... Then we have lunch, they play... and then 1-3:30 PM it's nap-time/Mommy time! Kids can watch TV or do art work or just play together and that's working out nicely. That's the one sane part of my day that I insisted on maintaining, even though some days that's more TV than I feel good about. After that, we might squeeze in a chore or two, then Dan's home for dinner at 5:30/6 PM. We hang out and then push through the tiresome bedtime routine between 7 and 8 PM. Sometimes it's nice, reading books and talking... other times, it's all we can do to muscle through the chaos!
8PM until midnight is... pretty free for Dan and me. I feel like we have become a little complacent with each other. We're both often so checked out, busy on our separates phones or watching our separate shows... Some nights we're watch favorite shows together and spend more significant time with each other. But there are a lot of nights where it's just a little ... empty. Now, to clarify, our relationship isn't empty. We're doing great. But by the end of the day, with are both so tired... bored... just... missing our social life TOGETHER. We loved our soccer date nights because it forced us out of the house, even on busy days, and we played together in an environment that was so fun and challenging and happy! It's just a little dull and some nights depressing when we check in on the covid battle. I'm not sure why it's so tiring doing "less". Physically, I get a lot more rest without soccer three nights a week, plus extra workouts in the mornings on some days like I used to. But I read some articles online that explain it well--that there's this heaviness in the air from the changes, the worry, the adjustments... it's all tiring in a different way. And I just want it to stop. To go away.
This weekend was general conference, a weekend prophesied in October 2019 by President Russell M. Nelson that it would be the most unforgettable conference as we honor the 200th celebration of the Restoration. Certainly, it was unforgettable in these circumstances! The prophet and apostles held conference in a smaller auditorium. It was so quiet and empty without the choir and audience (I even missed the laughter during the occasional joke or announcement of a Utah temple). But definitely amazing that everyone who wanted to could still listen and participate in conference. There were not as many attention-grabbing talks for me personally. For some reason, both Dan and I felt that most of the sessions were kinda slow, but certainly a great honor of Joseph Smith. There were still some wonderful quotes that I need to go back and read, and I liked Sunday session best. It was also a new experience to do the Hosanna Shout from my home, something I had to read up on. From my understanding, it seems to be a cry to Heaven to honor and request help. The prophet also asked for a second worldwide fast on Good Friday this week. I don't love fasting, but I believe in its power, and I've felt the strength behind it when so many pray and fast with like-minded faith and need.
The kids do have one family they interact with, the Robbins family in the cal-di-sac above us. They are the very best neighbors, so fun and thoughtful. All of our neighbors have been wonderful, actually, in asking each other who needs what from the grocery store or to borrow from our homes. Everyone is so willing to help one another, and that's awesome to see. But the Robbins family is definitely in our "quarentine corner", the one family we break the rules with. The kids (and I) would go insane without any playdates at all. It's been life-saving to swap Aiya back and forth with Debby, Margaret, and sometime Caroline. This cute cluster of sisters from ages 4-9 are busy enough to keep Aiya entertained and moving. Logan and Aaron have the made the best of the situation and play all day long with only a couple short-lived fights. It's been a miracle between the two of them, honestly. Thankfully!!
Easter is coming up and we're trying to incorporate more of Christ into our celebration. It feels good to have the extra time for those kinds of conversations as we honor Christ's final week before his death and resurrection.
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