Field Trip to Grandma Kim's

Grandma Kim got duckies!  We love duckies.  So we took a field trip to grandma's house.  We were mindful about our germs and their germs and tried to wash our hands often.  We all washed our hands after holding the cute duckies so that worked out perfect.
While we were there Grandma asked Megan if she wanted her birthday gift now or later.  Of course Megan picked now.  She loved grandma's gift of a church bag with coloring books, color pencils, reading books, and a dress.
The kids loved playing outside and jumping on the trampoline.  The kids needed some crazy exercise time so it was perfect.  The sun was out and it felt so nice.  It was a little cold, but sunny.
The kids also enjoyed some soda and then Megan and Allie planted a flower seed in some dirt and got to take it home.  We didn't stay too long but we all had a good time getting out of the house and doing fun things.

More Homeschooling Adventures

On the fourth day of homeschooling we had a home economics lesson and learned about making cookies.  I used a new recipe that I got from a friend on-line.  I had asked for peoples favorite chocolate chip recipe and I got a lot of responses.
The recipe we decided to use was...okay.  I will not be using it again.  The kids liked it.  It made a lot of cookies.  We passed most of them out to our neighbors and friends.  I made sure to tell them that it was a new recipe that I was trying out.
The kids have been doing a good job getting their school work done.  I was able to pick up all their school work and crome books from the school.  I was already having the kids do different programs on-line so we were a step ahead.
I try to have the kids do a verity of things throughout the day.  We have school time, play time, chore time, eat time, go outside time, etc.  So far it seems to work but I may need to get more organized for next week.  I guess we will see.

The House was a Shakin'

We woke up this morning to a 5.7 magnitude earthquake out of Magna.  Their have been over 80 aftershocks already.  We have felt at least 10 of them.  Two aftershocks were pretty big.  One was like 4.5 magnitude aftershock.
The boys were already awake this morning and in the front room when it started.  Tony and I and the girls were still in bed sleeping.  We jumped out of bed and told everyone to get dressed with shoes in case we needed to leave.  The kids listened and did what they were asked.
We then turned on the news and watched in awe at the craziness of a large earthquake.  Luckily their was no damage to our home.  Only a few things fell off the shelves and nothing was broken.  The news said no one was seriously hurt so that was really good.  There were old buildings that had some damage but nothing terrible.  The Salt Lake temple is currently under construction to make the temple earthquake proof for the future.  The only thing that seemed to happy to it is that the trumpet fell out of the hand of the angle Moroni.  What does that mean?

The main good thing about the earthquake is that it gave us a break from worrying about Covid-19.
More and more people are testing positive.  We have been staying home and limiting our involvement with other people.  We are trying to do our part to stay virus-free and stop the spread.  These are crazy times that we are living in and we are still shocked that this is happening.  We are in good spirits for the most part and staying positive.  We know our Heavenly Father is mindful of us and love us.  We will only get stronger from this crazy time in our lives.  Heaven help us.
The kids did pretty good after the earthquake until bedtime.  They are shaken up and wondering if it is finally over, but we have had some good discussions about trials and the blessings of Heavenly Father.
Allie really started stressing about an hour before bedtime.  She was shaking so bad and asking me to sleep with her.  She did not want to be alone.  I had her snuggle me and she feel asleep for about 15 minutes and then woke up not wanting to go back to sleep.  After family prayer I was able to tuck her in and she fell asleep.
That is when Tyler started freaking out.  He did not want to go downstairs to sleep.  He was so worried that we would have another earthquake and then he would be trapped downstairs.  Even after talking about all the different scenarios of what could happen and how he would handle it, he still didn't want to go to bed.  So we told the boys they could sleep on the girls floor.  Well about a half an hour after we thought they were asleep Tyler woke up screaming because he thought he felt an aftershock.  He did not.  He did wake up Allie.  So after that we had Tyler sleep on the couch and Allie ended up in bed with Tony and I.  It was heartbreaking to see both of them struggling with going to sleep. Heaven help us all.

Home Schoooling Fun

We were told that the teachers needed Monday and Tuesday to get things ready for the kids to learn online. 
Tyler already knows how to get on and do school work on Canvas and the other three have a few online programs that they know how to do from home.  So I have been having them do those things and reading for their school work.
On Tuesday we saw some neighbors and friends walking back from the school with to-go school lunches so we decided to get some too.  We walked over to the school and picked up the lunches and then came home.  It was nice and sunny so the kids wanted to eat outside.  They enjoyed their yummy lunch on the picnic table.  I was amazed at what a great meal they gave the kids.  Tyler loves salads so he'll have a salad for four days.  I hope they keep that up during this "dismissal". 
Megan also lost a tooth this day.  It was finally super wiggly. She did not want me to pull it out, she wanted to wiggle it out herself and that is what she did.  It didn't even bleed very much.  She is very brave and very happy to get another dollar from the tooth fairy.
These kids are doing a great job rolling with the punches that have been this week of craziness.  I am proud of them and us for doing what we can to help prevent the spread of this virus!

COVID-19

Covid-19, also known as the corona virus is in full swing here in Utah and the USA.  We have been asked to stay home as much as possible.  School has been dismissed for two weeks to help kids stay home to avoid the spread.
We were suppose to leave for California on Friday but they announced on Thursday that they would close Disneyland on Saturday. So we canceled our hotels and stayed home.  Which is good because I was feeling really uneasy about going with the virus spreading like it was.
You can no longer eat in restaurants (take out, drive thru, or curb side pickup only).  No movie, gyms, sports, dance, recreation places...they are all closed.  We've been asked to work from home if possible.  The economy is struggling and many people are loosing their jobs.
But grocery stores and open.  Hospitals and clinics are open.  Their is plenty of food at the stores.  Many people have been hoarding toilet paper and bottles of water.  But the water is good and clean.  Since I like to be super organized we were already pretty well stocked on supplies.
Even though for now things are temporarily closed we don't really know how long it is going to last.  My guess is much longer then two weeks.  The government is trying to slow the spread of the virus so that hospitals are not overwhelmed with sick people.
But out of all this crazy is good.  Max brought the kids some Mickey ice creams and popcycles for Tyler's birthday.  Our friend and neighbor (and fellow Disney lover) Kim brought the kids Mickey suckers, markers, and an art activity.  And my sweet 2nd councilor came and chalked our sidewalk with a sweet message.  Their is always good with the bad.  We are thankful for our blessings and will try to stay positive.

Happy 13th Birthday Tyler!

Our Tyler turned 13!  Officially a teenager.  We can't believe we have a teenager in the house.  Luckily he doesn't act like a moody teenager (at least not yet).
We were suppose to be driving towards California on his birthday but since they closed Disneyland because of Covid-19, we stayed home. 
I took Tyler to Arctic Circle for his birthday lunch and got him a shake.  While Tony and I were at Sam's Club we picked up some yummy cupcakes for Tyler's birthday dessert.  I felt so bad that we didn't have anything for him since he said he wanted stuff from Disneyland for his birthday.  But Aunt Wendy sent him a gift card to Amazon so he went on the website and picked out what he wanted.  We told him he could pick extra stuff that could be from us and when we did make it to Disneyland we would get him something there too.  Luckily Tyler totally understood the situation and was super understanding.  He really is a great kid.
We asked Tyler where he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner and he chose Texas Roadhouse (we have taught him well).  We weren't sure if we should be eating out with the Covid-19 stuff but we figured we would be careful and felt good about it.  Texas Roadhouse had changed many things inside the restaurant to be super careful about germs.  Freshly cleaned menus for each new party.  No peanuts out for people to share and more things like that.  I am glad that we were able to go and enjoy yummy food with Grandma and Grandpa and celebrate our new favorite teenager!

Poor Josh

Josh woke up one morning and everything was fine...until it wasn't.  Right before we were suppose to leave for school Josh started crying that the back of his neck hurt.  I then felt it by pushing on the neck and when I got to a sensitive spot he really cried out in pain. 
I told him he can't go to school like that so after I took the girls to school I came back and took Josh to the Urgent Care.
The doctor said he had a strained muscle.  She prescribed a muscle relaxer and Motrin.  I took him home to rest and went to pick up his prescription. 
The meds and rest helped him a lot and he was able to go to school the next day.  I was glad it was an easy and quick fix.

Puppy Love

Koda loves Tony so much.  He loves to snuggle his daddy.

The kids love Koda and he loves them too.

Allie pretending to be Koda.  She is so silly!

20% Increase Awards

Snow Day!!!

All our cute kids playing so nicely in the snow.  That didn't last too long.

Tyler really wanted to make an igloo.  Allie loves to "help".

Josh and Megan helping make an igloo.

Megan loves making snow angles.

Allie loves playing in the snow.

We got a good amount of snow.  It's so pretty.

I was so shocked to see Megan's cheeks after coming in from playing in the snow.  I think the wind really did a number on her face.  A few hours later she got better.

Josh and his red cheeks