When March began, we were bracing ourselves. It had been a rough few months, as it was for everyone. From pulling our kids out of school in October, to my herniated disc in Nov, to everything closing down again in Dec, to Jeremy having Covid in Jan, and then Dallin’s surgery and Jeremy’s broken bones in Feb, my heart really couldn’t handle much more.
Fortunately, the arrival of spring brought us some great times to rest and begin healing.
The days got warmer out in the park for my music lessons.
New plants showed up in the canyons!
Tanner took pictures with the Flat Stanley that he recieved from Brandly in Minnesota! Tanner loved how his friend thought of him and sent this project to him. We managed to send it back before the school year ended.
We began crafts and decorating for Easter.
Dallin made this for Tanner.
Desha came to LA, so we drove up to visit her for the weekend. We all stayed at her friend’s home and enjoyed the sites at Hermosa Beach. Neither Jeremy or I had ever been there, so that was a fun bonus. The boys played baseball on the beach. We ate pastries, delicious burgers, ice cream and yummy salads.
The next day we went to Redondo Beach and walked the peer, which was another new experience for all of us. We ordered yummy Thai food from a top-rated restaurant and ate in the car (because eating inside restaurants was still not allowed in this area).
At the house, we played a game, watched movies, and had Desha do her doctor work on us. After the boys went to sleep, we learned all kinds of things about the royal family. Desha and I talked late into the night.
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On the way home Sunday evening, we stopped off for dinner in HB with Matt and Johanna.
Grandpa Papa and Grandma Nana came to visit us. They were there to help out with all the doctor appointments that we had. I was doing PT and acupuncture and massage for my back and Dallin and Jeremy had follow-up appointments with their broken bones and Tanner had therapy. It was a lot ot juggle, so it was so awesome to have their help.
The boys had a great time with their grandparents. They did a lot of homeschool while I worked teaching music classes.
Their trip had to be cut short, though, because a huge storm was hitting Colorado. They decided to catch a flight a few days early to avoid getting stuck.
Making stop-motion videos.
Off to practice!! Tanner was so excited to start organized sports again. Everything was modified due to the pandemic, but we didn’t care!
I got mom and I these matching ponchos.
Dentist appointment for Dallin while I was at PT.
Teaching the toddler music class.
Then, on March 13 we had the One Year Anniversary since COVID shutdowns began. I decided this was an important day- not worth celebrating, but worth recognizing because we had all been through some tough s&*#. I decided to host a commemoration party with our neighbors. We kept it all outdoors and did two main activities: Chalk Walk and Covid Pinata! We also had food to eat and music playing.
So in case you’ve forgotten, chalk walks became a thing during the first month of Covid shutdowns. People were quickly feeling the negative effects of being isolated and tried doing various things to feel connected with others. From hearts in the windows, to chalk messages on sidewalks, to music grams online, people were desperate for any kind of way to feel connected with other people. So it seemed fitting to chalk about the past year at the party. Also, I had a ton of chalk for our upcoming Easter activity at church, so that made it easy!
It was really fun to talk with the neighbors and reflect on the challenges and triumphs that we had all helped each other through. How we all did birthday parties in the grass together, trick or treating, movie nights on the driveway, etc. Our neighbors were there with us through thick and thin and we all developed special friendships in the process.
By far the biggest lesson I’ve learned during that 365 days was that we need to physically interact with other people everyday. We just can’t live a healthy life without other people.
This says: Congratulations making it through 365 days of Covid Shutdowns. One Whole Year.
The pinata was awesome. Laura Kimes found one that looked like a Coronavirus! The kids took their stabs at it, but when I got my turn to beat it up, I really went at it. I obliterated it! SO therapeutic.
This little guy’s joke was to write Komputr Skewl Bad, to show that kids didn’t learn a whole lot online, including spelling.
I drew emojis to represent all the thousands of emotions we experienced. And some music because that was a lifeline for me and many others.
We covered a big area with our reflections!
Wash Yer Hands!
Stay home. Go outside.
A few days later, Dallin was able to get his cast off! His arm was free!!
Meanwhile, Jeremy jammed his fingers trying to fix something under the car. It got super swollen with blood, so we watched some Youtube videos and then I used a burning hot needle to stab through Jeremy’s finger nail and all the blood drained out. It was pretty cool.
Playing chess as part of homeschool was one of my favorite things. I am so proud of my kids for knowing how to play chess. I never knew how to play chess until several years ago when I bought No Stress Chess for Tanner. The boys are getting better and better at it.
St Patrick’s Day came, and I decided to make the leprechauns be extra silly this year since the boys needed more excitement in the house. I painted their faces while they were asleep and they hardly moved! It was hilarious. But they weren’t very happy about it when they saw themselves in the mirror.
Here’s the rest of the mischief that was done.
.Lots of leprechaun pee here!
And leprechaun magic!
I thought maybe the boys wouldn’t notice the cereal box hidden on the shelf. But they saw it immediately.
It was a fun and simple day. Dallin had lots of hugs for me.
Sensory time during homeschool. Almost every time we did sensory work, the boys would act like they didn’t want to do it. They’d come over dragging their feet, and within 2 minutes of doing our sensory activities, they were all into it and begging not to stop.
I made a lot of music maps for the Music Mappers class that I was teaching in the park. It was such a fun class, and I’ve used these a bunch since then.
The boys and Jeremy made up a game with their baseball cards. You basically place the cards on the “field” and make a virtual game based on the stats of each player. I found it extremely boring, but they were loving it.
Uncle Matt came to take the kids on another field trip. This was very appreciated!
Our friends Bri and James from church were moving. They helped us several times when I was unable to walk during both of my scaitic flares. We had them over to dinner as a goodbye and well wishes to them.
Jeremy got to do something different for work one day! They drove him up to a plant in LA where he got to start figuring out how to improve the canned tuna.
The boys had their first in-person primary activity in over a year. It was a bonfire at brother Evanko’s house, right in our neighborhood. Such a great time.
Getting more Easter things set up!
A trip to the beach as part of our homeschool routine!
Acupuncture. Tanner came with me to see what it was like. He liked how there were identical cars in the parking lot, lol.
Pool time, as part of our homeschool routine. I guess I did a pretty good job making our homeschool time as fun as possible, even though the boys gave us so much trouble when they had to do actual written work.
I hosted an outdoor church activity for Easter! It was for all the primary children in our stake and their families. We did a Chalk Walk in the church parking lot and it was honestly the easiest activity I’ve ever hosted, with a great turnout and a lot of fun. We upbeat music about Jesus playing. Kids and parents got little bags, chalk, and a snack. It was open house style, so people could come and go as they pleased.
It was actually more fun than I anticipated. My own kids stayed for 2+ hours drawing and running around. Over 90 people showed up (scattered over the course of 3 hours to keep the size of the gathering smaller). People were so grateful to see each other again! Remember, even at this time, most congregations in our stake were still not meeting for any church in person yet. The best part of the activity was seeing all the great artwork! It really brightened everyone’s spirits.
The weather was perfect and the spot I chose for us to chalk had a good balance of shade and sunny spots, so beautiful. People had plenty of space to keep physically distanced so that risk of spreading germs was very low. It was also an area that very few cars use, so the art lasted for about 3 or 4 weeks for everyone to view.
We used signs to prompt the children with their drawings. I got this idea was from the Holy Ghost when I prayed to know how to make things more engaging at the activity. The prompts worked to keep the kid’s interest and to think about their Savior and Easter time. It created different themed areas around the parking lot, which all looked really beautiful!
Tanner, Jeremy and Dallin decided to make huge drawings at each station. See if you can spot their big contributions. They had a lot of fun with it!
Tanner chose baseball because it is a spring sport and Easter is spring!
These sisters (below) were from a ward east of us in the stake. Their bishop allowed them to meet in-person starting in January. I went to visit and see how they were doing things, and gained a lot of ideas to encourage the other congregations to reopen already (my job at church was Stake Primary President). I was able to visit several times with my kids to help teach singing time and to speak in their ward. It was a really special (and short!) time that I will always treasure. I was very grateful to these ladies for their example and paving the way for the rest of the stake to reopen.
Our family was able to attend church on Palm Sunday! I got to wear a new dress!!
The month of March proved to be a really great one. I was so thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing our spirits to rest from the cares of the world during this time.