There's not much happening here other than hunkering down at home with the virus wreaking havoc on the world. We are just doing school as usual (although Washington public schools are shut down until April 24th), and doing our best to stay in good spirits and healthy. Elsa's violin lessons will be done via Skype this next week. Cello and dance have not gone that way yet. What does one do when one is confined to the house? Well, you can see by this post it's pretty sparse this week.

I watched three British films. All were good and clean. 

I decided to do highlights in my hair using a different coloring kit, and I have to say I think I will switch to this one from now on. The gray is gone for now!

 

 It did snow a bit. The kids had fun going out and playing in it. Meet Pasnowcchio!

 Chris, Myles, and Aeva made it to the temple Saturday, which was really nice for them.

I tried to catch the Super Worm Moon this week. I was heading out on my early morning walk. My camera just could not do it justice, however.

 It's in the tree!!

We hope that all of you are safe and sound in your own corners of the world.

Back to the Land of the Blog

Wowzers! It's been a month for sure! And I don't mean since I last posted here. Life threw me for a loopty-loop, threw me a curve ball, and perhaps even sent, what felt like, a wrecking ball my way. But, I couldn't be kept down for long. I think I cried all my tears gone. Now I've hopped back up and I'm waiting for the good just around the corner!

So, with that out of the way, I'll bring on the pictures and news of our little corner of the world.

I'll start with the most recent and work backwards.

Yesterday was the first indoor Highland Dance competition of the season for Elsa. It was a long day. We got there at 9am to check in and get her number. Dancing started at 10am and didn't end until 3pm. Plus she did a dance workshop with the judge afterwards for an hour. Elsa's little toes were hurting by the end, and she was ready to go home and soak them. This was her last competition as a Beginner dancer. She earned what she needed yesterday to move on to Novice. Super exciting! She placed first in the Lilt and Fling, Second in the Seann Truibhas, and fourth in the Sword. She got a trophy for being the aggregate winner. Her teacher was a little confused on her placement in the sword, but during the workshop with the judge she figured out what Elsa had done wrong and why she had gotten marked down for that dance. It's always good to know how you can improve.

March 2nd we had cupcakes to celebrate our sweet little one. I can't believe it's been five years. At times it seems like just yesterday, and at other times it feels like a lifetime ago. We lit 5 candles and sang. I love that this is still an important day to remember for my little family whether near or far and for the love and hugs the kids still give me on such a hard day 💔

Aeva arrived home at the end of February. It became clear that Utah/BYU was not where she needed to be right now. She's home getting the help she needs and surrounded by lots of love so she can heal and move forward.
Myles, Elsa, Meg, and I put together some drawers from Ikea so Aeva would have a place to put her clothes when she arrived home.
The morning she left Utah was pretty rough. I got a call at 5am. I felt so helpless being so far away, but Rhaevyn and the dorm RA were so great to get up at that hour to help get her out the door and to her shuttle pick up spot. She flew home all by herself which was a major accomplishment since she is not a fan of flying. We were so happy to finally pick her up at the airport. She was greeted by Molly when she walked in the door and had a nice surprise from a family friend who took such good care of her and checked in on her in Utah.

This really was the best surprise. It was such a sweet and personalized gift................Aeva absolutely loves Gone With the Wind.

 This is just to show how long my hair is getting. I cannot even tell you the last time I had hair long enough to touch my shoulders. I can't even believe I haven't chopped it short yet. I'm hoping I can keep tolerating it and grow it past my shoulders. It's so fun to actually be able to pull it back.

 Elsa has been Miss McCrafty lately.
She made these cute little foods out of card-stock. I loved her little milk carton.

 She also made several pairs of earrings and gave them away to friends at church and in her dance class.

 Meg had her annual Valentine's gift exchange with her best buddy KK.  This was one of her favorite things she got from him.

Meg made him chocolate chip cookies, which is pretty much the only sweet thing he will eat. He was so thrilled to get a container full of them. She wanted to make him a pillowcase, and it had to be Star Wars themed. He loved it!

 The finished product.
She was such a good helper. Here she is helping to work on and sew the pillowcase.

 

 

 She decorated a blank drawing book for him as well. 

 He knocked on the door and said "Meg, will you be my Valentine?"

Rhaevyn mailed us each our own Valentine's cards. They were very thoughtful, unique to each of us, and very much treasured.

 The story behind this one:
This is Rhaevyn's Rat Brother. She has a similar picture inside her phone case.

Chris had surgery last month. I was given two days notice. He had two hernias and basically one day to choose from for the surgery unless we wanted to wait several months. Isn't purple his color? 

And what post would be complete if there weren't pictures of Molly?

I was rearranging the bedroom and Molly came to keep me company.

The little girls played dress up with Molly.

 Loves from Meg.

 I decided to try painting a mason jar........on the inside. I love the color. I don't like so much how it turned out on the inside, but it was my first try.

 
 Any guesses on what Meg is dressed up as? Leave me a comment with your guess 😀

I love her facial expressions.....A lot of concentration going on here.

 We made some flax bags with essential oils to warm up in the microwave and snuggle up with at night.

 We were sitting waiting for Myles during his cello lesson one day. After finishing our reading for the day we decided to sing some songs. This song came on. It's known as our "Rhaevyn song". Mainly because Rhaevyn and I like to sing it together, but it just, in general, reminds us of her and of just how much we miss her. Poor Meg started to get teary eyed, which then made me choke up, and then she completely started to cry because she misses her big sister. I just thought it was the sweetest thing and sent it to Rhaevyn. It melted her heart to know she is loved and missed so much.

Rhaevyn is doing well. She applied for and was accepted to a field study program for the summer in South Korea. Unfortunately, with the Coronavirus the field study has since been cancelled. She was so excited to have been chosen to go and was going to be working with a teacher over there teaching children. While she is disappointed that it was cancelled, she understands completely why, and she really doesn't want to get sick. She's had a rough two months with a situation that has been going on in her dorm. She and her roommates did such a great job of going through the proper channels to get the situation resolved, but to no avail. After letting them take care of it themselves, myself and two other parents stepped in. I think I was probably the squeakiest wheel of them all and even wrote a fantastic letter (if I do say so myself) to BYU housing with tons of documentation of violations that had been committed. Lots of prayers were offered by our family, extended family, and friends, and we even had a day of fasting. Hallelujah!!! The situation has been resolved as of Friday night. I think now healing can begin in that dorm for those girls. Thank you to all who offered prayers..........I'm a firm believer that God does hear and answer our prayers. 

Now that I've finally come up for air and life seems to be settling down, hopefully I'll be more on top of posting. I think I'm ready for the start of a new week!