Jackson's Covid Birthday

 

How do you make your son's fourteenth birthday special during a pandemic when it is illegal to be with friends?  You hang out with your pops!  Leading up to Christmas there was heavier restrictions put on Albertans where we were not allowed to go to people's houses or have people over, even family.  No events.  Life shut down.  Right in time for Jackson's birthday.  To make it special, we let Jackson skip the last day of school to go snowboarding with just his Dad.  Something that Jackson has really been craving is some sibling-free time to watch whatever show he wants or play whatever video game without interruption.  The best way to guarantee that was to set up a father-son party at Joe's office after hours.  They hauled in some beds and played video games after their day of snowboarding, ordered in some pizza and treats and had a late night.  They ended the evening off with a scary movie (which Noah and I hate watching) then had a sleepover at the office!  Jackson loved it.

The next day, I met up with them with the rest of the family for some more skiing time at the Hill.  Afterwards we ate cake back at the house and sang Jackson happy birthday.  I was so worried that Jackson would feel so sad about not being allowed to invite friends over to celebrate his birthday, but he sad he had such a fun time.  I'm sure he was disappointed about the restrictions, but I think we made up for it.  You also got to pick out a skateboard for your gift.  I'd say it was a good weekend.

Jackson, you are a good kid.  As you grow up, I am starting to see that some of your innocence is no longer there but you know what's appropriate and what's not.  It's this weird space for me as I know you are so ready to watch movies or shows that are a little more mature, but I just want you to stay in the Disney bubble and stay a kid forever.  You are not taller than me yet, but you are getting there!  Each time you give me a hug, I can feel you getting taller and to that I say, STOP IT!

You are very observant.  Something you have always been and continue to be.  If you see that there is a need, you are usually the first to fill it whether you feel like it or not.  Even today I asked Zoe to do treats with Tucker and when she gave some excuse as to why she couldn't, you stepped in and took over because you saw that I couldn't in that moment.  This tells me that you have a good heart.  You want to help people and you want to do the right thing.  This sort of behaviour will always serve you well and it most certainly blesses my life as you continue to look outside of yourself.  Your new joy in life is your birthday skateboard.  You've already injured yourself many times and I'm sure it won't be the last!  But you are dedicated!  You want to learn a trick, and you go after it until you've got it.  The same can be said for piano, school, art, and everywhere else that you excel.

With Covid restrictions, I've seen a little of your light go out but you haven't let that stop you from getting creative.  You can't meet with your friends, but you can zoom with them and have started to call each other in the mornings before school to work out together.  That takes dedication and commitment and I'm really impressed!  You only really have your family to cling to, so you do.  We play family games together, you build forts for your sisters, we have movie nights together, etc, and you have been such a trooper as the oldest brother.  I'm sure you would rather be spending your Saturdays out with friends, but with that choice being eliminated, you choose to smile anyway and enjoy the time we spend as a family.  It is a gift to look on the bright side and you are certainly doing that even though it's been very hard to.

Thank you for being my son.  I am a lucky Mom to call you mine.  You are so special to me and I can't allow myself to think to the very near future when you will be old enough to go on a mission and move out and away from home.  Nope.  I'm not interested in thinking about that yet.  For now, we will snuggle on the couch next to each other and watch things like Modern Family together and laugh and eat treats and veg.  That is all I will allow myself to think about.  STOP GROWING UP!  I love you.

Halloween 2020

Happy Halloween!  There was a moment or two when I wondered if Halloween was still going to be allowed, but alas we all sighed a breath of relief when the okay was given by our government and got our trick-or-treat on!  It started with Trunk-or-Treating though first.  I often have these moments of "I'm too tired for this" after getting all the other kids ready, but somehow this year I found my second wind and all of these poor Primary children got to say hello to this friendly clown handing out candy.  Tee hee?!  Sorry kids.  Jackson and Noah were no better!  Noah got this cool mask online and Jackson wanted to be clever and go as a Plague Doctor.  We both thought it was so original... until he went to school and found ten other kids with the same costume.  Haha!

As per usual, the kids all broke off into their group of friends this year.  L-R:  Jackson, William Moore, Devon Patrucha, Jack Doney and Noah.  I haven't seen these boys for a few years straight because they always meet at Doney's for pizza and then head out.  I'm glad they're good friends.

Eleanor has a new (maybe not so new) obsession with Harry Potter.  She's been reading the series of books all year, so it was only natural that she would want to dress as Hermoine.  She went trick or treating with her friend Shea Rolfson.

Zoe dressed up as a deer.  Ironic that the pumpkin she carved got eaten by her very own brother!  A REAL DEER!  Whoops.  We should have known better.  The deer take over our yard every year.  Thankfully Zoe had a good sense of humour about it.  This was the first year Zoe decided to trick or treat with a friend rather than her siblings!  It was so weird to only have Jane to take out, but the kids all had fun.  Zoe went with Miriam Steed.

And here is Jane as Wonder Woman.  I never plan for these things with her because she usually changes her mind right up until we leave.  She was going to be a Princess and then a fairy and then a unicorn and the list goes on.  She settled on this just minutes before we left.

Like I said, it was so weird just having one child to take around.  It brought me back to when we just had Jackson.  And even then, he would have been two and we would have had Noah in a stroller.  So.  Maybe this was the first time having just ONE kid!  Weird.  But Jane felt very special.

This was Joe's set up in front of our house.  People got really creative with their set-ups trying to hand out candy in a covid-friendly way.  There were a few homes that were closed for business this year and no haunted houses were allowed, but all in all, it was still a fun evening.  Although Zoe admitted that she was a little shy about not having me around for trick-or-treating which warmed my heart.  I missed her too.  

And this is what counts most anyway!  The candy!!

  

Halloween is not complete without sugar cookies.  Whatever Jane demands, Jane gets.

Halloween is also not complete without pumpkins.  We had two very sad children by the time pumpkins were finished.  Can you tell which children they are?  Any big family activity usually ends up in tears one way or another, so I should just expect this by now!  Haha!  But I think we did pretty good this year.  Great job guys!

Listening to Halloween tunes always gets us pumped.  We had some Monster Mash, Thriller, Beetle Juice soundtrack, Nightmare Before Christmas.  Lots of smiles.   This was before children started crying.  Haha!  Happy Halloween!

Dec 2020 Covid Rant... I mean, Update.

 It has been a FALL!  I kept thinking to myself, "when's the last time I made a journal post?"  The answer is the first week of school.  Haha!  And all the things I worried about were warranted.  Things relaxed a bit---not necessarily in school, but I think generally people got complacent and then the numbers for Covid cases went up.  So, now we are all paying the price again.  Not as bad as back in the Spring, but the boys are home doing online schooling while the girls continue to go to school.  I think if I had all four kids back at home, I'd be crying, but this seems to be working out all right.  The boys are pretty self-sufficient, although I never really know if Noah is actually on top of his studies or if he just thinks he is.  This is where I fail a bit as a parent because I can't seem to make myself dive into Noah's studies when there are about a million other things on my mind.  So, I hope that he is on top of it because to figure out this or that google classroom and read through each and every assignment...?  No.  I already did Grade seven.  Maybe that's a terrible way to think, but that is how I feel and a better parent might actually check their children's work to make sure it's getting handed in.  I think last Spring broke me so I am feeling rather paralyzed at the moment.  Anxiety is real people!  Anywho, because of the numbers we have been asked to not gather with friends or family... just in time for the holidays.  Haha!  It is a big ask and I am really starting to feel it.  No Christmas Concerts, no Choir or church concerts, no piano recitals, no dance recitals, no dance class (it's zoom right now).  Any extra curricular places where people might gather is a no, and church has asked those who can stay at home and do home church to do just that.  They will still carry on, but only with restricted numbers.  It is weird.  Chamber choir for me was via zoom meets online and they sucked.  They are putting together a virtual video of the two songs we learned, but it was pretty much a waste of time.  Everyone essentially had to learn their parts on their own anyway, and to gather online just didn't make sense because everyone has to be muted, so you are singing against no one and not really knowing if you are blending with everyone or even singing the correct note unless you go so far as to listen to all the online helps... which I ended up having to do just to make sure I was singing every note correctly.  I will not be continuing with choir until we can meet in person again.  I really miss choir.  I had a day of mourning the day I emailed our director to say I wouldn't be returning.  For a moment, the Fall was okay.  There were definite restrictions, like no school sports, but the kids still had PE.  And after school I had the boys signed up for club basketball, which was essentially skill training---no actual playing against other teams.  Just each other.  Thankfully when the restrictions to stop all sports happened, they only had one more meet.  The girls, however, are in contemporary dance.  It has been awesome for the three of them.  When I watch them dance I have such a pride come over me.  But classes have gone to zoom classes and they are not ideal.  At.  All.  Jane basically doesn't even bother and will check in with me constantly.  Or the girls fight because they are in each other's space.  I keep waiting for the day when restrictions will ease up, but I don't think that will be for a while.  Online school is happening until the second week into January (the girls are even asked to stay home that first week back to school for online school), and dance only goes until January anyway.  It's just disappointing because I know they aren't getting the attention needed to progress.  Their teacher asked them to send in a video of them doing their dance, and they basically forgot the whole thing.  So.  Happy to be paying for that.

I remember back in the Summer talking with Joe and his Dad about how long this whole Covid thing would be sticking around and masks and all that and when Joe's Dad said for sure that we would still be in masks in December, I felt sick.  And.  Here we are.  I think we're all just getting used to disappointment right about now.

Back To School. During a Global Pandemic.

Am I living in a Footloose movie?  And where is Kevin Bacon?

It was back to school for the kids this week.  It has been a bag o' tears for me this year, but not for the usual reasons.  I am sending my kids back to school in the middle of a global pandemic.  There are so many rules and restrictions right now---I may have even considered home-schooling  ...for about two hot minutes.  The kids need to go back to school.  They need teachers that went to school to teach.  They need the social interaction with friends.  Heck, they need the fresh air to and from school.  And they need a break from me (and possibly vice-versa).  They are required to physically distance, which means stay 2 meters apart from the next person and since that is near impossible in school, all children grades 4-12 are required to wear a mask.  Zoe is the only one excited about this, and she isn't even required to (she's in grade 3).  Haha!  I thought this would mean that they would have to wear their masks as they enter the school and in the hallways until they were settled, but apparently after the first day I learned that they have to wear them all day (with the occasional mask break).  I did not like hearing this news.  Thankfully none of my kids have complained about it.  They have been so good about rolling with the punches.  Which is great because those punches seem to change every five minutes.  One day this or that is allowed, then the next it isn't, then just kidding it is.  Or the rules are inconsistent with other rules.  Don't even think about getting close to anyone at school, but go play at the playground.  It's a little bit of insanity these days.  At first there was going to be no PE or recess or options, but now these things have been reinstated with restrictions.  As long as they stick with their class as a cohort it's fine.   I was so happy to hear that the boys were going to have options back.  As far as we knew options were off the table until the DAY BEFORE the boys started their first week back to school.  On the first day back to school, they filled out a form as a class as to which options they preferred, so as a class they will get to ALL take the same options based on the most popular responses (so who knows which ones those will be or if the boys like any of the chosen options!).  This is Noah's first year of Junior High and I think I'm just mourning the loss of him not getting to have a regular Junior High experience.  I mean, Junior High is scary as it is with all of the unknowns, but starting grade 7 during a pandemic where rules are so different?  It's just tough.  And to top it off, Noah got his bike stolen on his first day back.  Thanks Junior High.  What a lovely welcome to an already scary experience!  And another cherry on top?  He brought the wrong bag to school, so he had ZERO school supplies!  Haha!  How awful is that?  At least he brought his lunch!  ...just no water bottle (there's no access to drinking fountains).  Anywho, up to this point there was going to be no lockers, but after the first day we found out that they will indeed have lockers, just not as much access to them.  Right now there are no school sports, but that could also change?  As of right now, I have no hope for that.  What it might look like is sports teams that only scrimmage with each other or play against one cohort team all season.  I can't see that working out really well, but it breaks my heart to know that as of now there are no sports.  There is also no band or singing allowed.  So for those kids that wanted choir or bad?  No go.  Like I said.  Footloose!  Also, if your child is the least bit sick or is showing ANY symptoms of Covid, they must stay home.  Cold season will be interesting.  There will be no children at school!  However, that being said, kids usually get their germs passed around at school, so if there are no germs to pass around, then maybe there will be no colds!  Haha!

This year they organized a staggered entry for kids, so each of my kids had their own special send off.  It was kind of nice in a way to give each kid their special moment.  Come Tuesday (Monday is a holiday), they will all be back at school at the same time, full time.  Four kids gone just like that!  And as happens every year, I am conflicted about that.  I will miss them so much, but it's time.  It will just be me and Jane and Tucker.  Tucker and Jane aren't going to know what hit them.  The kids have been home since March.  That's six whole months of constant children---constant playmates for Jane and constant someone to walk Tucker.  Some of these moments have been difficult, but most of them have been great.  I will say, Summer has felt like a pretty regular Summer (minus not being able to visit my parents or being free to cross the American border), but during Covid-school, they only had each other.  Rules were even more strict in terms of not seeing anyone.  No friends.  No church.  Don't bring your kids to the store.  Basically, if you don't have to leave the house, don't.  So.  There is a reason kids are excited to go back to school.  That being said though, Summer had its moments with seeing friends.  But it certainly wasn't your regular Summer.  Restrictions everywhere you go.  Sanitize, physically distance, less numbers allowed in a space (like the beach, playgrounds, restaurants, etc).  It's a weird time.  I do hope that rules ease up a bit at school as things progress and everyone gets into a routine, obviously not at the cost of numbers going up, but at the same time, how long can we keep this up without it affecting our health in different ways?  It can't be good for children to wear a mask all day.  Noah had a headache by the end of the day.  Ellie and Jackson said they were fine, but that was only the FIRST of many days.  I mean, I could go on.  I think my biggest worry about back to school is that things will shut down after a couple months.  It's this weird fine line where I will do what's necessary to follow guidelines so that the economy doesn't shut down again, but... I'm not going to do it with a smile.  And no one will know if I'm smiling or not anyway, because I'm wearing a mask everywhere I go.

Well.  This turned into me.  I'll be interested to see how the kids' real first week back to school goes.  I might be playing the song "Freedom 90" by George Michael all day to celebrate.  Haha!  Just kidding.  I will miss them.  Maybe.      

Zoe: Grade Three

Noah: Grade Seven

Goodbye bike.  You will be missed.

Jackson: Grade Eight

Ellie: Grade Five

Ellie was so excited about wearing her mask that she biked to school with it!  I have a strange feeling that that excitement will wear off.

 Happy back to school kids... during a Global Pandemic.  I hope you can hear your teachers behind their masks.  And that you don't faint because of all the hot air you are breathing in.  And that your hands don't fall off from all the hand sanitizer.  And that your grades don't drop too much because you've been home for three weeks due to a sore throat.  And that you don't forget how to sing because it's not allowed in public.  And---okay, I'll stop.

Zoe's Baptism

Zoe was baptized on August 20th, a Thursday evening in Sheep River.  Does this sound like your regular baptism?  With the Covid restrictions we were only allowed 10 people at Zoe's baptism so we requested a baptism in a river.  I thought that this would solve our restriction issues but apparently after digging deeper, it's ten people no matter an indoor or outdoor location.  So after crying some tears over not having family or primary friends allowed, Joe reminded me of something important: a baptism is about the ordinance.  Not a big party.  This is hard to explain to an 8 year old... unless your name is Zoe.  She was all kinds of understanding.  At first she was a little disappointed that her friends couldn't come but she didn't let that get her down.  She was SO excited for this day to come.

As sweet as Zoe is, she can't help but get her sillies out at some point.  She calls this her "Farmer Fitness" face.  Man this girl makes me laugh!

 

We have some friends (The Slocombes) who have property along Sheep River and they so graciously let us use their land.  We parked at the top of the hill and walked about ten minutes down to the river.  Here is Zoe with Joe before we walked down.  She was beaming like this ALL evening.

At the river bottom before the ordinance.

There is a small chance I may have taken pictures right up until the ordinance began.  Tee hee!  Zoe had a lot of excitement and fears leading up to this day.  She was mostly worried that she would have to get dunked twice and that her whole body wouldn't go under.  But Joe made sure to find a deep enough space (we came out here last week just to make sure that this area would work).  She also wasn't so sure about the chilly water, but I mean, this girl is a FISH!  Nothing stops her from swimming in a river or lake of any temp.  In fact she was swimming at a different location along Sheep River with a friend earlier that day, so she was ready for this.  Also, it was a HOT day of 28 degrees or so, so I'm guessing the water felt pretty lovely!  Zoe squealed a little as she entered---be it the chilly water or the excitement, I don't know!---but afterwards she claimed that water was actually warm.  Let's be real though, no river is truly warm no matter the outside temps!  My guess is that her big ol' heart warmed up that river!

With the new policy, Jackson and Noah were the witnesses.  Jackson is holding the phone with all the family that Zoomed in to watch.  Namely my parents.  I cried some tears over that one too because I know they wanted to be here, but the borders are still closed.  I'm just grateful the reception was good enough so that they could join us, even if virtually.  Best seat in the house right there.

And this is directly after.  How precious.  

So proud to be this girl's Mama.  One of the things that I mentally noted while she received her blessing after receiving the Holy Ghost was that she would be a source of help and service to those around her.  She would bare up people's burdens and she would care for those around her.  So, pretty much who she already is.  Big heart in this little girl of mine.

Joe's parents were able to come which was so special.   Our family plus the bishopric member (Chris Purinton) plus Joe's parents makes ten!

This was the lovely path we took to the river.  The walk bath up the hill took a liiiiiittle bit longer than the walk down!  Haha!  But I was loving every minute of it (probably because I was also wearing bug spray).  It was magical.

Although I was a little upset at first (a lot) about the Covid restrictions, it was actually quite lovely having a small baptism with the immediate people that I love in my life.  The focus was on Zoe and not on hosting or feeding people and it was just nice to have all of my attention go to her and what this day was about.  Zoe asked Joe to give a talk on Baptism and then we had a musical number after the baptism with the girls singing, "When I Am Baptized."  I felt so bad because Ellie had been practicing this song on the ukulele but it got left in the car ...at the top of the hill.  So the three of them sang it a cappella.  Then Zoe had asked Grandpa B to speak on the Holy Ghost.  And that was that.  It was lovely and simple and the weather was on our side as well.  Afterwards we got Wendy's frosties and gave Zoe her own set of scriptures with her name on them.  I think she was hoping for a gift that was a little more exciting (she was trying to hide her disappointment---Ha!) but one day she will learn that the gifts she got this day are better than any other gifts she could receive.  The gift of baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and the scriptures have been the most wonderful blessings in my life and I hope that one day she will learn that for herself as she uses them in her life!  I love you Zoe.  You are a ray of light everywhere you go.  Don't stop shining.

16 Years

I love this picture of Joe.  This was our wedding day and he couldn't look more handsome.  

Joe and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on June 4th.  Don't ask me how we got to be that old, but somehow, here we are.  We still act like kids... as you can see from the picture below.  And Joe's nasty-face has only improved over time, just like our love.  Haha!  I am glad I married my best friend.  That was the best choice I ever made.  I would date guys and never truly feel comfortable around them or be completely myself, but with Joe it was easy.  It was easy to be true to myself around him and I've never laughed more.  It was easy to fall in love and it has been easy to stay there.  Let's not pretend that we don't have our ups and downs, but the hard stuff in life has only brought us closer.  

For our Anniversary, I didn't think we would go out or do anything too crazy because Covid has basically shut down life as we know it.  But Colette offered to come to our house and watch the kids so Joe and I could have 24 hours away together (THANK YOU!).  So we booked a hotel in downtown Calgary and it was so refreshing.  Here's the reality: if you don't spend time on your marriage, you will forget that you guys are best friends.  The repercussions of Covid have really slammed Joe and as such he has been very stressed with work (and continues to be).  Up to this point from March on Joe had been working late nights (sometimes until midnight or so) and up before anyone was awake.  I have never seen him work harder to make sure his clinic could still stand after all of this was over.  Honestly, I hope we never have to go through a dark period like that again.  And honestly, I'm shocked he had 24 hours to spare.  But we took it and reminded ourselves why we chose each other 16 years ago.  We laughed.  We had no responsibilities (best part).  And we ate.  Don't let me forget that "fancy" restaurants are not my favourite.  Give me a place that has free refills and something that Joe can't already make better.  Oh well.  We got to feel fancy for brunch.  Because we had "brunch." Ha!

Afterwards we rented these electric scooters.  This is something that I wouldn't have thought to do on my own; it was Joe's idea and it was so fun!  We were cruising on these things!  It reminded me of when we rented scooters (but actual scooters) for our honeymoon and I totally wiped out trying to go up a gravelly hill.  And Joe laughed.  And then when I didn't get up he stopped laughing!  Haha!  Thankfully no accidents on these things, but boy there were a few times I did NOT feel in control of my scooter!  We survived and it was fun.  Thank you Joe.  I love you.  Thank you for thinking of me and planning this day, and for all you do for our family.  Thanks for being my best friend.

 

Tucker's First Birthday!

 Fun fact: Tucker's birthday is on Noah's due date.  May 22nd!  Another fun fact, I had my first workshop for "The Gardener - A Musical" on the evening of Tucker's first birthday.  And with Noah and Grandpa's birthdays, this was a bit of a busy week!  But I think we still made it a special day!  We got some special toys and treats for Tucker, one of them being an ice cream from DQ!

I think he liked it.  Haha!  Honestly, if you would have told me this time last year that I would have a dog---and like it---I would have said you were crazy!  But I am so glad that Tucker came into our lives.  I love him more than my kids!  He is my snuggle-buddy every night (and also any chance I might be sitting down during the day).  He also forces me to get my vit D and walk every day!  And now that he is catching on to manners and recall and not leash pulling, having a dog is pretty much the best!  We just need to get him to stop chewing on things he's not supposed to!  Other than that, I feel like we have arrived at this dog-thing!  Tucker has made me go from a dog-tolerating person, to a Mom who loves her dog so much she can't help but post weekly (sometimes daily) pictures of him like an annoying crazy dog-Mom person!  I love you Tucker and I'm glad you are a part of our family!  You have brought us together like no one else could have!  Happy Birthday!