So here are some updates from the past month (let's see if I can remember that far back!):
Valentine's Day came and went. I had to admit, making boxes with boys is so much different than making boxes with a girl. Tyler's teacher didn't do Valentine boxes. Will's did and he had a specific idea in his brain about it being a Trojan Warrior. (He's been into Greek history lately.) This was the box he designed and I helped him implement.
While Tyler didn't make a "box" (I sent him to school with a paper bag.) He loves Valentines cards. He is so excited about them. Each year he comes home and shows me every card. He reads me every one and tells me who it's from. "Look Mom! This card says "Be my Valentine. It's from Railey!" And again and again for every member of his class. It's precious and one of the things I love about him.
I did the Hot Chocolate Race again. This was year 6 for me. It was cold again, but that's to be expected.
Amy and Zakiah stole my phone and took silly pictures.
One sunny day I tried to take the boys for a bike ride. Tyler's training-wheeled bike is having problems and it was a pain for him to ride, so we didn't go far. We've got to get that kid riding a two-wheeler.
One morning I went upstairs to check the thermostat. It's temperature was 'lo.' I don't know how cold 'lo' is but later it warmed up to 44. So it must have been pretty cold up there! I thought it was funny.
Amy competed in the County Science Olympiad again this year. Last year the team didn't medal in anything and this year they medaled in several events. They were pretty excited. This year was rough going with her and Science Olympiad. She didn't want to do it, but her teachers convinced her to. (Her 6th grade teacher: Ms Thomas and her 7th grade teacher: Ms. Fish are her favorites. So it was easy for them to convince her.) In the end, she was glad she did it.
Amy and Tyler taught us a great lesson about Satan wrapping us with small lies. And how they eventually get bigger and bigger until we are trapped by him. But how we can cut the strings (repent) and become free again. It was a good object lesson.
The youth did a dance service project. They taught line dances to kids at the TN Rehabilitation center and those kids taught us some as well. It was a fun night.
Garden season has started. Which means I'm back talking to little sprouts and my family making fun of me. That's ok, I can take it. :)
The kids played with the Family Tree app. There is a place where you can put your face onto people in past time periods or from other cultures. They did this for hours and hours.
Mom and Dad showed up just as it was being delivered. So dad and I got to work and I learned how to hang it. They were only here for 2 nights. But in that few days we got the hobby room and the bathroom done. Those were the hardest with the ceilings and crazy slants. Lee and I will work on the rest of it little by little.
I think we sent this to Lee for some reason....
Lee taught the kids paper table football. They have a blast playing it. So much that they keep the table cleared just so they can play, which I love. I don't even mind the tiny pieces of duct tape attached to it which serves as their goal lines.
I planted a few trees in the way backyard and when I dug, I found these perfectly formed mole tunnels, complete with hair. It was a little weird but cool at the same time.
Tyler lost another tooth. The tooth fairy is going broke around here. In fact, she's actually a little behind. We think it's because of the Coronavirus. She doesn't want to get sick. :)
Lee was off helping with tornado clean up, we dropped Amy off at a party, so I took the boys to Nachos. One last hurrah before we self contained ourselves for who knows how long.
The original thank you note that Will wrote when he was in 2nd (?) grade is now framed in the lobby with their picture. We always smile at it.
The rest of the day was spent in the garden. I'm trying an experiment this year on 2 of my raised beds. Copper tape around them to help repel slugs and snails. The copper is supposed to make a small charge and the monsters don't like to cross it. We'll see if it works! I also planted a few cool season things, added soils to beds, and did a million other little things that needed to be done.
Lee finally got home from a day of helping with tree removal. He was exhausted, as you can imagine. I went back the next day with him to help that crew finish the work order.
I add these pictures but of course this doesn't even do it justice. Seeing these homes in person was just indescribable. I should note that we didn't do any work here. Last week other volunteers helped these home owners gather personal items. Most of these have already been paid by the insurance company and they just need to be bulldozed. There is no saving them. It's also noteworthy to say these people lived. HOW they lived through this, I have no idea. Especially since it hit at 1am. Only one of the homes on the street had deaths. An older husband and wife whose home was obliterated. Lee said, "Oh, did they already bulldoze that?" To which the guy said, "No, that's how it looked after the storm." I didn't get a picture of that home.
The crazy thing was you felt like you were looking at a doll house. The outside walls were stripped down and everything inside was still there. In one you could see the shampoo still sitting in the shower holder and the robe on the hook. In the bedroom you could see board games still stacked neatly in the closet or the tv still mounted to the wall. It was wild.
The church had a hotline and through that number people could call and ask for help. One of them asked if we could come and help cleanup his 9 acres of fallen trees. Armed with chainsaws and hardhats, Mormon Helping Hands got to work. They worked all day Saturday and Sunday. I don't have a before and after but Lee said the before was just what you'd imagine a fallen forest to look like. Afterwards it was nearly cleared and all the trees put into piles for the owner to burn. It's amazing what "many hands" can do. It's also cool to note that over 60 work orders came through. While a few crews were doing this, the other 200 volunteers completed all 59 of those work orders in just one day. It's amazing!
These were the idiot group. I had to take a photo in case any of them got hurt. As one guy described, "You give a guy a chainsaw and he thinks he's a logger." Luckily, no one got hurt but it was hairy there for awhile.
I even got to use a chainsaw for the first time! I didn't cut more than this piece of wood because I didn't watch the safety video, but it was fun. I may have to become more skilled so I can do more next time.
Tornadoes are scary but they don't happen all the time. This one was actually three smaller ones that formed and destroyed different parts of Nashville. In fact, there are houses at the start of this neighborhood, like 5 houses down from the ones above, who didn't even lose a shingle. And then these were obliterated. Lee and I said that 2 things were reiterated to us this weekend. 1: We are not in control and 2: It's all just stuff.
So now we are onto Coronovirus isolation. The kids school has been cancelled for this week. Lee's school has gone to online only. The weather is supposed to be cool and rainy, which is not fun for anyone. So I'll have to break out my creativity and come up with things to do. I haven'y had to use much of it since the kids went to school. But like I said in the beginning, it's good to have nothing to do. We'll see how long that thought process lasts! It will be really interesting to see how this virus plays out.
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