April

As April started and things were quickly shutting down, we joined the rest of the country in shifting normal interactions to a virtual medium.  Thankfully, homeschooling isn't new to us, so a bulk of our day-to-day life continued as normal.  But the kids did enjoy their zoom meetings with the kids from our co-op.  And we've done far less "adventuring" while still trying to make the most of the time we get to spend together.  Lots and LOTS of time together =)

As the month went on, Ryan was home more and willingly tested the waters of being a second grade writing teacher!

Having Ryan around more also meant extra time for playing games!

We even taught the kids how to play Risk! 

Guess who won?!

The shenanigans our kids come up with are pretty funny!  Rooke was enduring the girls' salon treatments

Catching up with friends social-distance style

Why are we letting her ride her bike in her pajamas in the middle of the day?  I blame Covid-19.

We've made good use of our awesome deck and the craigslist table/chairs setup 

While our Easter celebration felt a bit different this year, the Truth of what we are celebrating was as powerful as ever - Christ defeated death!  

We used our Resurrection eggs to talk through the Easter story, joined our church family on a Zoom call, did a quick egg hunt in the backyard, and enjoyed a delicious ham lunch

Happy Easter!

Meanwhile, my dad was in New York City, working to support the doctors and nurses with Samaritan's Purse at their field hospitals.  It was sobering to see glimpses and hear stories, and just as encouraging to know that many others like my dad were faithfully ministering in Jesus' name to the many in NYC who were suffering.

Grateful to our neighbor who sewed masks for our family 

I've jumped on the sourdough band wagon - it's been a fun and tasty experiment!

Several times, we've gone to DC for some family exercise: walking or biking around the monuments is much easier when there aren't many people to maneuver around.  This time of year, DC is usually packed.  It felt surreal to visit Lincoln in the middle of the day and be the only ones standing at the top of the steps.

March

Thank you for the many kind and encouraging notes and emails I have received from those of you who are still reading this blog (shock!) and wanted to respond to the news of my cancer.  I am continually grateful for the way I've been supported by friends and family, near and far.

We received confirmation on March 3rd that the removal surgery produced clear margins, thank you, God!  We gratefully went to bed that night with alarms set for an early arrival to the hospital on March 4th.  I underwent a reconstructive facial flap plastic surgery that took a little over two hours.  It was easy to be all-smiles before the surgery =)

While Ryan and I spent most of the day at the hospital, the kids were in great care with Uncle Steve and Aunt Vallerie, learning the art of mosaics.

Fun selfies that end up on my phone!

After watching the movie, Annie, with the girls, I thought it best to give them a real taste of the "hard knock life" - our floors have never been so clean! =)

Aunt Vallerie helped the girls make beautiful vases filled with colorful roses to cheer me up as I recovered.

A general picture of what I looked like for most of the month . . . this lovely contraption is literally called a Jaw Bra!  It was annoying to wear, but very helpful in the healing process.

Just as I was starting to turn a corner in healing after my surgery, COVID-19 kicked in, and . . . Bridgette turned EIGHT!  While she was very disappointed about how the increasingly serious quarantine suggestions ruined some of her long-awaited birthday plans, I'd like to think we made up for it with a few extra special elements, the best being a surprise visit from KayeK!!  Because of how fast the Coronavirus affected plans, KayeK had to make some last minute changes to her business travel and ended up getting to spend the week with us, working from our home!  What a great side-effect of the pandemic.
Two special memories from this visit are the drive-thru breakfast picnic-in-the-car dates KayeK did with each of the kids.  And, the tall stack of games we played through.

Bridgette's birthday breakfast: fruit, bacon, eggs, and cronoughts (a deep-fried and sugar-glazed croissant), which we aptly renamed as corona-nuts =)




Uncle Steve and Aunt Vallerie joined us for a birthday dinner

We snuck in a beautiful walk around the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms blooming just before they barricaded the streets 

We also joined friends for a take-out double-date before the more restrictive shelter-in-place order was in place, and before these dear friends moved to another state.


Planting flowers

My mom and sister thoughtfully gave me this fun puzzle as a get-well present.  I'm a bit obsessed when a fun puzzle is out, and this was a fun way for me to spend a low-key weekend.


One of the kids' favorite perks of the pandemic: Ryan isn't going to work every day and will sometimes play on the trampoline with them!

The new normal, for now, when it comes to connecting with classmates and friends

Making the most of good weather and healthy bodies in God's creation - the easiest way for us to enjoy social distancing

Baking with my twelve-year-old . . . I was cracking up when I turned and saw this because I immediately thought of this time when I baked with my two-year-old!  He was mostly laughing, by the way - just annoyed that I was taking a photo instead of helping him clean up - ha!