march

March 1st! The crying stopped and the fun began. I have really enjoyed meeting the sisters in the ward and having an excuse to just stop by people's houses for no reason. Marilynn gave me the most thoughtful gift basket of everything she thinks a Relief Society President needs. That's sure a big container of chocolate- hahaha. Ironically I have not been to a Relief Society class yet! Church stopped right afterward.

Dad got the ball rolling on the piano paint job I've been wanting to do for a while. I was NOT going to be this thorough though! I thought you could just tape off the keys and paint away!!!

Cleaned, sanded and painted!

Dad also made a bench for the piano- the old bench was about to collapse into a pile of sticks. The new bench is beautiful and the seat top has a hinge and storage inside.

Happy no-braces day for Campbell!!!

We had a homeschool field trip and passed right by the temple so we stopped for a little spiritual pick-me-up. This was our last time at the temple before the temple and the grounds closed.

Griffin and Campbell got to do the coolest simulation at Chabot space and science museum. They prepped for a couple months beforehand to learn the different roles of astronauts and NASA ground crew and then ran a simulation for a pretend trip to Mars. They were both so wound up afterwards and talked the whole trip home about how much fun it was.

This picture must have been taken before we all gave up on makeup and primping

Miss Emery driving me anywhere and everywhere. She is very cautious which I think I prefer to being chauffeured by a reckless daredevil.

Mid March we were joined by another classmate!!! Emery took the last corner of our homeschool table and everything was right in the home again. Our table is a mess at the beginning of the day but then as the kids finish their assignments they stack them in the "teacher pile" for me to check/grade. Then, by the end of the school day the table is clean again.

Every week we would laugh as her school sent out another email saying "distance learning" was being extended another week. Then finally they just gave up and said the kids were not coming back at all that school year. Emery didn't even get real grades for her transcript... it just says she got "credit or no credit" which made me SO mad because she was taking really hard classes and doing very well in them and I wanted her to get the As for her GPA. Ugh!!!

So many walks. Sometimes morning and evening just to get out of the house. Our county had shelter-in-place going for a really long time. The only place we were allowed to go was outside.

Our friend dropped off a new game at the start of corona-time which was super nice of her and the kids instantly opened and played it.

The Contra Costa Food Bank was still up and running during COVID and there was increased demand for food so that was a place we could all go to get out of the house and meet up with friends. This was before masks were a thing.

Didn't see toilet paper on the shelves for many months.

When the mailman comes it's the highlight of the day! Even better if we got a bonus UPS delivery mixed in there.

Quinn takes a simple morning chore to the next level

Our Sunday "church at home" evolved a little over the months but we usually start at 10 am, do song/prayer (emery and campbell take turns playing the hymns on the piano), do the Sacrament, and then each of us share a thought/special scripture/activity from that week's Come Follow Me, then song/prayer and done! Sometimes it's one hour and sometimes we have lots to share and it's 2 hours. It's always fun and they have been my favorite churches ever.

Quinny with her Sunday Come Follow Me thought all ready to go.

Costco receipt checker shield

Quinny waiting for something exciting to happen outside or for someone to walk by.

Griffin and Dino watching General Conference intently. Dino somehow finds his way to GC most years.

 Emery and Campbell made these adorable cards to mail to people in the ward. Campbell did the watercoloring and emery did the lettering.