Week 11 in Quarantine (Memorial Day at the scout camp, Rylee curls her hair and Ryker has friends)

No family picture this week, some people were in a mood and it caused other people to be in a mood and a family picture was just not going to happen. I did get a picture of the program for our church service. 

Monday was Memorial Day and the past couple of years we have gone to the Church Camp in Nyssa for a wienie roast and waterslide fun with the Peterson Fam. This year nobody had mentioned anything so I sent a group text asking if anyone wanted to go up there. We got back affirmatives from most everyone and it was on. We all agreed to bring something and it was a beautiful day and the kids were excited to utilize the waterslide and have fun going down with their cousins. Avynlea brought her friend Sadie and the rest had their Cousins to hang out with.

Brielle, Rylee, Madison and Asher

Sadie, McKayla, Kenedy, Avynlea and Allie

Kenedy went down on the garbage bag and she went down pretty quick but she hurt her knees in the process. Not a slide to do again.

On the way home Rylee took a picture of the backseat and got a cute one of Sadie and Avynlea

Rylee has taken an interest in learning to do her hair better and is focused on learning new hairstyles. This week she wanted to learn how to wand curl her hair and after I showed her how she took over and did a really good job. She got a little tired of doing it halfway through and so I did some for her and then let her finish it off.

She looked so cute after she was done and I am glad she is taking an interest in learning cute hairstyles.

Saturday our ward did a little Graduation celebration for our Ward Graduates. Ryker has a couple friends in his church friends group who are graduating and I caught the Young Womens leader taking a picture of their group. I could see Ryker was being a litttle stinker about being in the picture but when I went over there to get a picture I made him be more cooperative. I just tell him he better smile and I am going to keep taking pictures until he does. It usually works pretty good ;)

Echo, Grace, Ryann, Vincent and Ryker

Week 10 in Quarantine (Dance "Recital" pictures, Avy made Varsity, Rylee locker clean out, Bleach tie dye, Cheer Mom Besties, Ryker and Emily)

Rylee went out to the Farm with Ryker last Tuesday and Avynlea and Kenedy went out on Friday. Ryker came back Saturday afternoon and the girls came back Sunday afternoon. Our morning church service consisted of three people, Kefford, Me and Ryker. It was actually really nice because we could make the lesson more geared towards Ryker and what he needs and so we talked about preparing for a mission. Kefford played a talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard that he gave in the 1976 General Conference all about preparing for a mission. After that Kefford read a little bit from his mission journal and shared some stories and reminisced about his mission. Once he had his fun we talked with Ryker and had him set some goals for himself in regards to preparing for his mission. I thought it was a good meeting and it was nice to be able to have that time to focus on one of our kids and his needs. I forgot to take a picture of us after church in our Sunday clothes so I did it later that night. Better late then never.

Later in the evening we played Jackbox games as a family and then we read scriptures and had our evening prayer. Once we were done with that nobody seemed in a hurry to leave and we sat around and talked until about 11:00. It was so nice to have that time with my family and I loved bing able to sit and talk and laugh with my Husband and our kids. We had such a good time and enjoyed being with each other and bonding in a different way. 

I found a recipe on Pinterest that looked really good for a cookie dough cake. I made the cake part on Saturday but then Sunday morning I made the frosting and ganache for the top. It had cookie dough in the cake and on the cake with the frosting being a cookie dough buttercream. It was really good and really sweet so you couldn't eat a ton of it. My recipe made a pretty large cake so I cut some to share with Kelsey and Brit's family and I also cut another big chunk and sent it with Ryker to take to Mikell and Steve.

I wanted to do a little git for my dancers since this is their last week of Dance and I found an idea using Fun Dip. I didn't get out to the stores to look for Fun Dip on Saturday and I thought to look on Amazon. I was able to get a box and have it delivered the next day, Amazon is amazing! I played around with different ideas for a saying to put on my candy treat and finally came up with one I liked. It looks pretty cute and I didn't put too much time or money into it because I know as soon as it is handed out it will be ripped into, eaten and thrown away. I love that the thought is there and Mom's will appreciate that I love their kids and did this for them.

Monday morning was my first class recital. I originally had 5 kids in this class but because of Covid one of my littles had to drop, so sad. So we had a smaller class of 4 to perform but Desi didn't realize families were going to be there to watch and had a meltdown and wouldn't dance. My heart went out to her she just go so scared and sat in a ball and cried. We were able to get her in the picture but she wouldn't change for the second dance and wouldn't get in that picture. So I had three girls perform and they did amazing!I was so proud of them, I am sad that this is what we had to do for our end of year recital but am so happy that we were able to do something for closure. 

top picture: Kate Lewis, Raegan Young, Ashlyn Clark and Desi Peterson

Kenedy sent me these pictures of Kefford and I that she took on our walk a couple of weeks ago. I didn't know she took these pictures but I am glad she did because I like them.

When Avynlea submitted her cheer tryout video we were told we would find out the results by Monday. The last day to submit videos was Friday and so I was hoping that they would let the girls know sooner. I was a bundle of nerves all weekend and I really tried not to think about the tryout but whenever I did the pit in my stomach got bigger. I don't know why I was so nervous Avynlea seemed to be super chill about it all. We heard nothing Saturday and nothing Sunday, that's ok I really didn't think we would until Monday so I woke up Monday morning and then spent all day checking email and social media looking and hoping for an announcement that the results emails were sent. It was so nerve wracking and I couldn't deal that it was taking so long. Avynlea had her tumbling class that night at 6:30 and I thought for sure we would know by then or at least during the class, nope nothing. 

Finally at 9:00 the email came. Avynlea was on the phone with Dreya and Natalie, and was finally showing how nervous she was and was freaking out and was scared to open her email. I finally got her to do it and she found out that she made VARSITY!!! She was so excited and I was so excited for her!! She has worked so hard and truly earned a spot on the Varsity team. Everyone received their emails at different times because they all couldn't be sent at once and after a couple of minutes all of her friends had theirs and the results were in, Natalie, Avynlea, Dreya and Paige made Varsity and Hailey made JV. They all were super sad for Hailey and knew that she was upset so the girls all went over to her house to comfort her and offer reassurances that just because she was on a different team nothing about their friend group was going to change. I am glad that they went over there and I know it helped Hailey feel better. 

On Tuesday I took Rylee to the Middle School to clean out her locker. It was weird being in the school with nobody else around and I felt a little sad watching Rylee clean all of her stuff out. I am ad for how the year ended but I think I am more sad in that Rylee is now an 8th grader. I am not ready for all of my kid to leave the nest and Rylee is flying through her School years. All of the kids are and it is so crazy to me. Things are changing and change is hard for me but I hope the new changes will be better and exciting 

 After cleaning out her locker Rylee wanted to Tie Dye a couple of shirts with Bleach like Avy did. She picked out a purple and a blue shirt from Wal-Mart, they were cheap so I let her get two and when we got home she started the process. She did the purple one first and after she banded it and bleached it she set it in a bag to soak while we started the second one. We didn't leave it alone for long at all but we took our eyes off the purple for a second and all of a sudden the bleach had spread and most of the color was gone. Rylee quickly started rinsing it and it still had some purple in it so it wasn't bad, I am just amazed with how fast it took and how much color was gone. We decided to really watch the blue one and once we could see the color starting to fade Rylee rinsed that one and then we put them both in the washer. They turned out pretty cool, I love the colors and I love the patterns, it looks like underwater coral to me. Avynlea was wearing one of the shirts she bleached so I took a picture of both of them. Rylee did not like her sister being so close to her and moved away fast after the first picture was taken.

Diana got her degree and was supposed to have a graduation but because of Covid her graduation like everyone else's was cancelled. Us Cheer Mom Besties wanted to do something nice for her and recognize her accomplishments so we planned a surprise "Congratulations on Your Graduation" girls night. I brought balloons and decorations, Carrie brought flowers and Amy brought Diana all to Waffle Love where we surprised our Graduate and had fun talking, eating and hanging out. It was fun and her Graduation gave us another excuse to hang out and be together. 

Carrie, Amy, Elizabeth and Diana

On Thursday I had another in studio Dance Recital. This class started with 8 but I had 3 drop due to Covid related reasons. The girls who came back to finish the year have been so sweet and so much fun, I really love all of my classes and all of my girls, I have been so lucky with kids in my class.

We started off with our Ballet dance which was "The First Day of School" from our Finding Nemo Ballet. They alluded great except for Lyla who got scared and ran to her Mom. Once we did the dance I asked Lyla if she wanted to try it again with me dancing with her, she said Yes and so I held her hand and danced with her. I couldn't do some of it because I was holding her hand but I tried my best and she did a good job of overcoming being scared and did her dance.
The second dance was with the pink pinwheel flowers and it was to s song called "Icing", I danced close to Lyla to help her but did not hold her hand this time and she did a great job, they all did! I was super thankful and happy to see a lot of our hard work pay off.

top picture: Lyla, Clementine, Melina, Ellie and Guin

bottom picture: Guin, Lyla, Ellie, Melina and Clementine

After they danced I gave them their sticker charts and the Fun Dip candies I had put together. Kim thought it was so cute watching me hand out their stuff that she took some pictures of it happening.

My Friday classes were supposed to have their recitals at 4 and 4:30 but one of my Moms asked if their was any way to make it earlier since they were going out of town and wouldn't be able to participate if we did it at that time. I was more then ok with that I would love having an earlier time and every Mom I talked to agreed to it so we rescheduled their time slots for 11 and 11:30. 

First up were my Kinderstars, I had 7 in this class with 4 dropping due to Covid so we had a small 3 dancers dancing in this recital. First up was "Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride" from the Finding Nemo Ballet and they did amazing. I started the dance and immediately everything went out of my head and I forgot the choreography. I was freaked out but my dancers knew what they were doing and continued on without me and I was able to then remember everything. I was so proud of them, they smiled and danced and had so much fun. It was awesome!

The second dance was "I Spent $10,000 on My Cat's Birthday". They looked so cute in their party outfits and they just make me smile, I love these girls so much! Midway through the dance Roe's party hat started to fall off and she was not dancing anymore because of it so we stopped the music and started over. Something we are able to do when it is a one class recital. Her hat was fixed and we were able to start it agin and the girls did amazing again! After we were done all of the girls wanted to give me hugs and after checking with their Mamas for permission I was able to hug them all, I love them so much and hope to see everyone of them back again in the Fall!

Roen, Blake and Eleanor

Next up was my final dance recital for the year, my Combo Kids. For this class I started with 11 and had 3 drop from the Covid Virus. These girls did an awesome job and it was so fun to watch them dancing. The first dance they did was in the white dresses dancing as "Seagulls" in the Finding Nemo ballet. They love this one because at the end they get to chase a fish they want to eat. Unfortunately we didn't have a fish to chase as it was one of the older students and she couldn't be there but they had fun running and chasing an imaginary fish. I am always impressed with my Combo Kids and how fast they pick up on things and learn their dances. If it were a regular year there is no way they would have needed me in front helping, they could have donut on their own. As it was with this crazy year I stayed in front to help but they still didn't need much help. 

The second dance was our Jazz dance called "The Coolest Kid" and I loved everything about this dance. I added a grinder to their Jazz dance and I could hear one of the Dad's being super impressed with that, it was fun. The costumes I picked were not my first choice but they are the best choice. The first ones were a short and jacket combo outfit and it looked horrible on every single girls, super ill fitting and too tight around the arms, those were sent back and I ordered these and they were so much better and loved so much more by every single girl. I think they have a Rainbow Bright vibe to them and that makes me happy. One of my Moms said she loves it so much she is trying to find reasons for her daughters to wear them again! I love these girls and being around them and I am going to miss them and all of my girls so much.

Roen's Mom brought flowers for me and Roen and she sent me the picture she took of us after the recital. She is such a sweet Mom and has been super loving and supportive of me and all that I do. I really have the best kids and families!

The potted flowers were from Eleanor, the dutch Bros card from Kyah and the sweetest little note came from Lyla. 

Melissa is one of the studio owners and isn't around when I am teaching every week. She has been there all week this week videoing the dances and after my Friday classes were done she told me how impressed she was with my teaching, she said I pick age appropriate costumes and music and I do such a good job with my kids. It was really nice to get such positive feedback from her and makes me feel super good about myself and my teaching abilities. 

top picture: Juliette, Sophia, Savannah, Harbor, Tatum, Kyah and Rachel

bottom picture: Juliette, Harbor, Sophia, Savannah, Kyah, Tatum and Rachel

On Saturday Ryker left the farm and met his friend Emily in Emmett to go dirt bike riding. Ryker says this was not a date but it kinda was. There wasn't dinner and a movie but there was dirt bike riding and getting to know each other more. Emily is one of the Patients at Peterson Orthodontics and after getting permission from her Mom and Emily he gave Ryker Emilys number. They have been texting back and forth for a while and now have finally been able to get together. Ryker wanted to take her on a double date with Matthew and his girlfriend a couple of weekends ago but Emily got food poisoning and wasn't able to make it, o it was good they could finally do something. 

Week 9 in Quarantine (Mother's Day, Cheer Virtual tryouts, Avy is Braces free!)

Happy Mothers Day! My first Mothers Day in quarantine and the first Mothers Day I didn't have to go to church! I am not a fan of Mothers Day at church although last years was pretty great so I was quite happy that I could have church at home with just my family. It was even more special in that my kids all gave talks and each had different things to talk about. I think Kefford gave the assignment to talk about a quality they see in me that they want to emulate. Rylee didn't quite understand the topic and just talked about why she loves me which was really sweet. Avynlea talked about how I am a selfless Mom and gave some examples of selfless things she has seen me do. Ryker talked about how I am as a teacher both at home and as his Sunday School class and gave me mucho compliments on how much he has learned from me and felt the spirit while being in class with me. Kenedy talked about charity and how I emulate that quality. It was nice and it made me feel really good. I don't always have the best thoughts about how I am doing in my role as a mother and it is always nice to get positive feedback from the ones who would know the best.

After church my family made me steak with seasoned fries and onion rings and Avynlea made me a frog eye salad. I thought of that during our little church service and it sounded so good and she was so sweet to volunteer to make it for me. Rylee got me a sonic gift card, a little painting she had made, a little chocolate cake and a crumbl cookies gift card. She also made a chocolate cake for everyone to eat and I loved how she decorated it. Avynlea gave me a cool iridescent platter and cake plate with cover that  she caught me admiring one day at Wal-Mart. It looks like something a mermaid would serve her food on, perfect for me! Ryker got me a Hobby Lobby gift card and Kenedy bought me a Main street candle that was supposed to smell like main street at Disneyland. When it came she was disappointed with the smell because it just smelled like generic vanilla, definitely did not smell like we were at Disneyland. She decided to return it and get me something else. I had a great Mother's Day, I felt spoiled and loved and appreciate all that my family did to make me feel that way. Later in the day I got to have a chat on Zoom with my Mom and siblings and it was lots of fun to talk to them. What a great Day!

Avynlea had the idea to do something special for her cheer besties Mom's and had her friends send short little videos wishing us all Happy Mother's Day and a picture of each of them with their Mom. She put it together in iMovie and made a really cute Mother's Day Video for my Cheer Mom Besties and I.

Top Left clockwise: Hailey and Carrie, Amy and Paige, Dreya and Gricelda, Avynlea and Elizabeth, Diana and Natalie

On Monday Avynlea had her cheer besties come over for a little bit so they could get some more practicing done. They came at about 4 and then at 6 I took them to the gym for their first tumbling class back at the gym! It was so nice for them to get back there and to tumble on the gym floor with Kaeleigh. Avynlea did her round off back hand spring with her spotting and it looked so good! I really wish she could just break that mental block and do it on her own. I could see how much stronger she was because of all the daily conditioning she has been doing. I am so proud of her for working so hard and really pray that she will break that mental block soon.

On Tuesday the girls came back over to film their tryout video stuff. They had to do a double toe touch jump, a pike jump, a right hurdler jump, the tryout chant, tryout cheer, the Fight song and the tryout cheer dance, they also could add any tumbling they could do and stunt videos from the previous cheer season. It was a lot to do and a lot to film. It took all day because the girls weren't rushed at all and everything had to be filmed one at a time except the dance because that was to music and the girls didn't make noise. Everything was filmed and done multiple times by each girl, it was crazy and I was exhausted by the end of it and I was just filming! They also practiced more before filming and Avynlea wasn't too happy with her jumps so she filmed them again on Wednesday.

At noon Diana stopped by with Pizza, salad and fruit for everyone which was nice. Those girls eat a lot and have no fear about helping themselves to my pantry and fridge. It didn't bother me I just thought it was funny especially when Paige and Hailey immediately got a bowl of cereal for themselves as soon as they got here on Tuesday morning. I was grateful that Diana provided lunch for them and I made chocolate chip cookies as a treat. 

 Paige, Hailey, Avynlea, Natalie and Dreya

I screenshot a picture from Avynlea's intro video and then she screenshot her Right Hurdler jump. I think her jump looks pretty awesome. She edited everything and put it all together and then sent her tryout video in. She feels really good about it and I really hope it is enough to get her on Varsity. She did a video of her doing a round off and a front handspring as well as two videos from the cheer season of her being an amazing flyer. I would want her on my Varsity team, she is cute and bubbly, and she is a hard worker willing to do anything in the air, they would be lucky to have her, fingers crossed!

On Wednesday Avynlea got her braces off! She was so excited and has looked forward to this day for a long time. I took her in to the office where Kelsey removed her braces, Kefford made her a retainer and then they took pictures and x-rays to document the changes. She has to wear her retainer night and day for three months and then after that nighttime only. She is so cute!

Week 8 in Quarantine (Kefford shaves, Sunday Family walk, Cinco De Mayo, Avynlea gets her permit, MHS Academic Celebration, Dance and Rylee with friends)

Everyone came back from the farm Saturday night and they brought Ally back with them! 

For church Kefford gave the lesson and Avynlea bore her testimony. Ally and Kenedy said the prayers and Kenedy and Ryker were our piano players. Rylee was conducting and did a great job as did everyone in their respective jobs. After our church it was time for our Sunday picture and since Ally was there at church with us she had to be in the picture, she wasn't thrilled with that but she was a good sport. 

Kefford wanted to get a picture with his newly shaved face and me, I love when he wants to take pictures with me! I have been doing more makeup free days and I liked being able to go makeup free on Sundays. Sometimes putting on makeup is a pain, well more like taking off makeup is a pain. I like when I go bare faced because then I don't have to wash makeup off my face and if I have makeup on I always wash it off before I go to bed.

After we ate our Sunday Dinner we went over to Merrill Park in Eagle to walk along the green belt. Merrill Park used to be a chicken farm and we liked the big rooster on display.

The green belt is a beautiful walking trail and a lot of it runs along the river with lots of trees along the path. We found a cool climbing tree that had wood nailed to it like a ladder It must have had a rope swing attached to it at some point because their was some rope hanging off the tree. Rylee wanted to climb up it but once she got to the top of the wooden steps she got a little nervous and came back down.

 Ryker and Kefford both then took turns making the climb and got a lot farther up the branches with Kefford going the furthest as he was brave enough to go out on the limb. The rest of us were content to sit and watch although I did video with the hopes that someone might fall off into the river. hahaha

 Ally took a family picture for us and then I wanted her in a shot so we took a selfie which Ryker did not participate in and Kefford barely participated. Sometimes these boys are difficult.

The walk started out a bit rough with some of our family members being in bad moods but by the end of it we were all enjoying ourselves and the girls even collected some rocks from the river to take home for some painting. It was a successful Sunday family activity!

Dance classes have resumed at the studio and even though we are doing everything we can to sanitize and keep the kids six feet apart it is super hard with 3 and 4  year olds and their parents. On Monday my parents came in the font door and sat down in the waiting area like it was a normal week at dance. EDP sent an email about our new protocol and parents were to drop kids off at the back doors and wait in the cars. We were the only class so it wasn't a big deal I just made sure to sanitize everything after they left. During our shoe change break all of the girls wanted to go to the bathrooms so their moms took them and one of the Moms had me hold her baby while she took her daughter. Crazy. I sanitized but I was super worried about holding him since we are supposed to still be social distancing. The kids had fun in class but after almost two months of being without friends they wanted to play and touch and be all over the place. It felt like the first day of class all over again. I am glad to only have two more weeks of this and then to put a cap on this dance year and call it good.
One of my dancers, Dagny, is not coming back to class and so on Monday before class I dropped her costume off at her house. She was excited to see me while still being a little shy. Dagny's mom sent me a picture of Dags in one of her costumes and she looks so cute.

 Tuesday was Cinco De Mayo and I made my favorite Mexican rice and fried tacos to celebrate. It was a perfect meal and tasted so good, Kefford said it was restaurant quality and that is high praise!

On Wednesday Avynlea finally completed her Drivers course and got her permit!! Because of phase 1 the instructor felt comfortable enough to start the drives again and she scheduled Avynlea's last drive for last Friday but then had to reschedule to Monday because she had to get her oil changed and then she changed it again to Wednesday because she had to go to a funeral in California. It was a mess and I was worried she was going to keep rescheduling. Luckily the Wednesday drive happened, Avynlea had to wear a mask while she drove which she was not happy about but I thought she looked cute.

After she got her permit I drove us back to Meridian to pick up Avynlea's friend Sadie for a hangout and Avy drove us to our house. It will be nice having another driver in the family especially one who has such a busy schedule.

Cheer tryouts is coming up and on Thursday Avynlea had her cheer besties over so they could practice together. It was a lot of fun to have these girls back together again and they worked hard practicing and performing for each other to be critiqued. They really made good use of their time. They all really want to make Varsity and I think they are all talented enough but the girls are worried about the incoming Freshman. Just listening to them talk about how worried they are made me start to stress and get anxiety about it. It would be so sad if all but one made the same team. Hopefully the judges will recognize the hard work and the girls will be able to be all together.

Bottom Right Picture: Paige, Avynlea, Natalie, Hailey and Andreya

Midway between practicing I took the girls over to the school for the MHS Academic celebration. In the past the celebration has been during 1st and 2nd period at school and the kids get their t-shirts and breakfast is served. Parents are invited to come and eat with their kids and I always tried to make it to be with my academic scholars. This year the typical celebration was not happening because of school now being home school and quarantine so MHS had to come up with something different. They did a celebration drive through! The teachers were all lined up as we drove through their lines in the parking lot and they were cheering and waving streamers and blowing noise makers. We got to the first station where each kid received a cup cake, at the next station they announced each person's name over the loudspeaker while everyone cheered for them. At the third station they got their shirts and then at the the 4th and 5th station they got candy and pizza coupons. 

It was so much fun and the girls loved it! Avynlea drove and was super embarrassed about it all so she kept her window rolled up. She is funny sometimes. After the celebration we took Hailey home so that she could take care of her baby lamb and the girls got out to take pictures really quick.

Not everyone had the grades for an academic t-shirt and so after that picture we took one with all five of the cheer besties!

top pic: Avynlea, Natalie, Andreya and Hailey

bottom pic: Avynlea, Natalie, Andreya, Hailey and Paige

On Friday I had a Dance Connection Team meeting and during the meeting someone mentioned a post Brigitte put on Facebook. I have been avoiding Facebook and didn't know what they were talking about so I loafed on and looked at her page. She wrote the sweetest message about all of us in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week and it gave me all the good feels. I screenshot what she wrote and took a picture of us on our zoom meeting so I could have it here in my blog. Some things are definitely worth documenting. 

Top Row: Riley, Elizabeth and Brigitte

Middle Row: McKayla, Holly and Hailie

Bottom Row: Cyndi

Friday morning Kefford took Kenedy, Ryker and Avynlea and went to Washington for the night to see Mark and Debbie. Rylee wanted to go but when she found out it would be 4 hours in the car just to get there for one night she quickly changed her mind. She opted to stay with me and after a relaxing day of doing nothing around the house Rylee went with me to dance to watch and help. After wards we got some food from the Dairy Queen and some fruit and cupcakes from Fred Myer and we went home and watched The Adams Family animated movie. It was fun having time with just Rylee and that night she slept in my bed with me. She was a restless sleeper and at one point all of Kefford's pillows got thrown to the floor, she didn't like how stiff they were. 

While at dance class Roen gave me the cup with jolly ranchers and a balloon in it and also this cute quarantine shirt. The previous times I have gotten gifts from her it was bottles of wine so I was super excited about this upgrade!

Saturday night Rylee went to Taci'shouse to have a movie night with her and Ella. She had fun being with her friends and hanging out eating popcorn and watching a show outdoors. It is nice to be getting back into warmer weather so that outdoor activities are possible again.

Rylee, Ella and Tayci 

Week 7 in Quarantine (Rylee sneaks a friend visit, at the park with Kenedy, Bath bomb making, Kefford's beard, Kenedy fishes)

For Church Kenedy, Rylee and Kefford each gave a talk/message and Avynlea and Ryker played the piano for us to sing to. For our picture Kefford took video and then screenshot some pictures for me. Later in the day I was pretty bored and I talked Avynlea into making an iMovie with me. We were superheroes, she was Mega Cheerinator and I was Lady Braidy, and we realized we needed a super villain. I managed to talk Kefford into doing it with us and he only agreed after I promised him I would never show it to anyone or post it on social media. We had a lot of fun and I think we made a pretty great trailer that no one will ever see ;)

Rylee's friend Tayci sent a text in the early evening to tell Rylee to come outside if she was home. Rylee went outside to find Tayci waiting for her and it was so fun for these friends to see each other and chat for a bit. We all have missed having any kind of social interaction and Rylee has been realizing how much she does like having friends and being around people. Tayci's family came by on their bikes and we all ended up outside and chatting with our friends for a bit. I am so glad the weather has been nice and we can be outside.

 On Monday I took Avynlea and Rylee to Settler's park so we could meet up with Kenedy and the kids she Nanny's. While we were waiting for Kenedy to get there we sat around the pond and watched the ducks. Avynlea was filming herself and the ducks when she suddenly got freaked out. What she had witnessed and then what Rylee and I witnessed were two ducks making whoopee. It was nature but it was awkward and uncomfortable to witness especially for my two girls. They couldn't even look at those two ducks after that. When Kenedy arrived we drew on the pavement with chalk and then after making sure nothing indecent was going on we went back to the pond so Kenedy's two charges could see the ducks. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice to be outside and have something different to do.

I have found during this stay at home order that on the days that I am not teaching dance that it is super easy to stay in my pajamas with no make-up and watching tv all day. When I do this I also find that it is very easy for me to sink into a depression. So I am trying harder to get dressed, put make-up on and do something with my hair. I really have found that doing this as well as reading my scriptures every day and saying my prayers have helped my mental head space. I do feel better about myself and don't tend to get as sad. On Wednesday, even though I had no where to go, I did all this and found myself having a much better day. Life lessons!

On Sunday when my kids were face timing my Mom she was telling them a story about when she was a youth at girls camp and in the big camp group picture everyone is smiling at the camera except my Mom, her nose was stuck in a book. It was a funny story and she is an avid reader and has many stories similar to this one. She is where I got my love of reading from and I have been able to pass it on to my kids. On Wednesday Avynlea was doing her daily conditioning zoom call and I founder reading as she was working out. It made me smile and I had to take a picture so I could send it to my Mom. 

With so much time spent at home with nothing to do and no friends to hang out with my kids have struggled with finding fun things to occupy their time. Avynlea and Rylee went with me to Wal-Mart this week and I let them each pick out a craft to do at home. Rylee picked a bath bomb making kit and Avynlea picked a kit to make soap. They had so much fun creating with them and it has given them several hours of entertainment over the course of a couple days this week which has been a blessing. 

Kefford has been growing his beard out for 7 weeks and he is now done with it. I am pretty sure when he decided to not shave his beard until we go back to church that he didn't think we would be out this long. He is ready to not have facial hair and although I think he looks good with a beard it does make kissing a little uncomfortable. I am not a fan of kissing the beard, I honestly can't see how women stand it. We took some pictures of us together to document the beard and he did have me kiss his beard for one of the pictures, lol. 

Rylee and Avynlea went to Brit and Kelsey's house on Thursday to stay a couple of days with them. We have entered Phase 1 of lets get life back to normal in our Quarantine journey and I felt ok with them going to their cousins. On Friday they went to the Farm to stay the night and Kefford and Kenedy went out on Saturday to spend time with his family. I had dance videos to record and I made collection calls so I stayed at home. I love Kefford's family and being at the Farm is enjoyable but I desperately needed some time to myself and some time alone to get things done. I have not had any issues with my kids being home but having two days to myself was a breath of fresh air.
While at the farm the kids got to play with kittens and their cousins and they had a lot of fun. Bob took Kefford, Kenedy and Rylee fishing for Crappie and they had a lot of fun doing that. They all caught at least one fish but Rylee's jumped off and escaped before a picture could get taken of hers. I am glad that they were able to go and have fun.

Later that evening Joshua and Mallory face timed me and I had fun chatting with them. We should have been planning a trip to Seattle in the next two moths and it makes me sad that that probably will not be happening. I am glad they thought to call and it was nice to talk and laugh with them. While we were on the call Kefford decided to start the shaving process and they had a front row seat to all of his different shave designs.