Bouncing Back

The kids are going a little stir crazy inside our house, and the last major threat of snow has apparently passed, so . . . 

. . . it's time to set the trampoline up again!

Daddy and Joy attached the mat and side netting, I tied the knots to hold the blue spring cover in place . . .

. . . and then Daniel came out to make sure everything was in working order.

Yep!  Everything checks out!

Todd headed out this afternoon to offer a second opinion . . . 

. . . and soon Anna went out to join him.  I'm glad they have an easy way to get some fresh air and burn off energy.

And maybe even practice some sweet dance moves.

The Bucket Brigade

Today's "active time" was a little unconventional.  We have a couple water barrels in the basement that have been empty since we left Maryland, so . . . 

. . . I organized a bucket brigade of sorts to address that problem.  I handed Joy and Daniel two very clean milk jugs, and offered to pay them $5 each to take turns filling the jugs on the main floor and pouring them into the barrels in the basement.

A few minutes into the process, Joy started filling the KitchenAid mixing bowl in the bathroom sink too.  I suspect that just made the whole system more complicated, but as long as the job got done, I wasn't going to argue.

Anna thought the bucket brigade looked like fun, so she asked to join in.  I offered her $2 if she would use our blender pitcher to help out.

Then, of course, Todd wanted to get involved, so I paid him a quarter to be cheerful moral support.  Now I have four happy kids and two full water barrels.  I'd call that $12.25 well spent.

Daniel's Mini Concert

Our piano teacher encourages her students to perform a personal recital once they've learned all of the songs in a Suzuki book. She likes to celebrate their accomplishment, and give the kids experience performing in front of other people.  Daniel recently finished Book 1, but he didn't like the idea of being in the spotlight, so we reached a compromise.

I let him choose the dessert we would eat afterward (he opted for Daddy's famous Tollhouse Cookie Bars), and he agreed to play a few of his favorite Book 1 songs (but not the whole book).  He also nixed my proposal of inviting family and friends to watch the mini-concert remotely (sorry, everybody).

Even though he was just playing a few familiar songs for his immediate family last night, you could tell from his hunched shoulders that he was a little nervous at first.

By the second or third song, though, he relaxed and sat up tall.  I enjoyed hearing the songs he has learned, but I was most proud of him for stepping outside his comfort zone.  Well done, Daniel!

Familiar, Yet Weird

Grocery shopping this week was a mixture of familiar and weird.

  On Wednesday, I went to Trader Joe's for the first time since school closed.  I arrived shortly before they opened, and found a line of people waiting to get in.  They were all practicing proper social distancing, standing six feet apart.

Near the door, in Trader Joe's typical artistic fashion, there was a sign asking us to not buy more than two of anything, and not to fill more than one cart of groceries.  That wasn't hard, since they were out of half the things on my list, like quinoa and canned corn. I also can't find white whole wheat flour for love or money. :-/

Our main grocery store seems to have a new social distancing rule every time I go.  This week, they asked us to wait in a long line (six feet apart) once we were done shopping, so an employee could assign us to the next cash register that was free.  I worried my ice cream would melt while I waited, but the line moved along pretty quickly.  It was just, you know, weird.  Like everything else these days.

Actually, what's really weird is that a night owl like me got up in the pre-dawn hours to stand shivering outside the grocery store at 7am when it open its doors to people under the age of 60.  I've heard that if you go in when they first open, you have a better chance of finding popular items before they sell out.  It seemed to work, but it was rough getting up that early.  Yet another reason to only go shopping once every week or two.

The Whitetail Trail

This morning, I shepherded my family into our minivan . . .

. . . to explore a trail near our home.  The two older kids thought it was a lousy idea, and that I was a tyrannical parent for forcing them to come along.  Of course, once we got there, they had a great time.

For most of the hike, the view up ahead looked like this: the younger kids running ahead along the trail (marked with white diamonds on the trees) . . .

. . . or climbing on rocks . . . 

. . . or comforting a little brother after he tripped on a root.

The view behind us looked like this: Joy moseying along, stopping to inspect things, and collecting random treasures.  Everyone enjoyed the hike, in their own way.

Chatting Across the Street

The weather was lovely today . . .

. . . so we got out our bikes and scooters and went for a spin.

We spotted our neighbors on their driveway, and I stopped to chat for a while.  It was a little weird to stand on the other side of the street while I talked to our friends, but hey, weird is the new normal, right?  In any case, it was a nice change to talk with some humans that I don't share a house with.

It was also fun to see how another neighbor had turned some cracked asphalt into a creative work of art.

And speaking of creative, one of the kids came up with an interesting snack today: "banana split crackers."  Ritz cracker + banana slice + caramel (and maybe a little chocolate syrup) = banana split cracker.  They were a big hit at our house this afternoon. :)

In a Silent Foyer

This afternoon, our governor announced . . .

. . . that schools will stay closed through the end of April.  None of us were very surprised by that news.  I would have been a lot more surprised if they hadn't extended the closure.

It was cold and cloudy outside this afternoon, so we decided to spend our active time playing in the church gym.

On the way in, I saw the hand sanitizer station the Acton Ward's bishop built a few weeks ago, in a valiant attempt to keep church a safe place for everyone.  The scripture reference on it is "And let all things be done in cleanliness before me."  As I walked through the church's silent foyer today, I was touched that someone tried so hard to keep church meetings going as long as they could.  I miss seeing and hugging our friends every Sunday.

Define "Essential"

Yesterday, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, our governor ordered all non-essential businesses to close in our state.  When we heard the news, we decided to make one final trip to Subway for lunch.  We wanted to support our friends who work there, and have one last sandwich before they closed their doors.

To our surprise, we learned that Subway (and any other food establishment that offers take-out) is considered an "essential business," so they won't be closing.  While we could debate the logic of that conclusion, we'd rather just keep enjoying a visit with our friends each week.  

They even rolled out a freshly-stocked rack of chips for us today.  Such considerate service! :)

Subway, where they make it your way.

Even if your way is a little weird.

Structure and Snow

After a week off of school, with no hint that classes will resume in the near future, I decided it was time to add a little structure to my kids' lives (for their sake and mine).  I drafted a simple schedule and asked for their input yesterday, then we gave it a test drive today.

Our first order of business this morning was some active time, so we took a walk . . .

. . . (or a ride, in Joy's case) . . .

. . . and saw this heartening message taped to a neighbor's utility box.

After our walk/ride, we started academic time.  Joy worked on VHS (her online Geometry class) while the other kids wrote responses to writing prompts I'd created, and then logged onto math websites like Khan Academy and Prodigy.

After lunch, the three older kids practiced their instruments . . .

. . . then we had some free time.  Todd and I took turns reading chapters of a Magic Tree House book . . .

. . . while snow fell outside.  When I was at the grocery store earlier in the day, a manager reviewed the store's latest safety guidelines over the loudspeaker, then he joked, "We got the coronavirus, it's supposed to snow today, and now Tom Brady [the Patriots' quarterback] is leaving!  How can it get any worse?!?"  All the customers chuckled over that.  After days of feeling isolated and a little anxious, it felt good to share a laugh with my neighbors.

A Hamster Pancake and Symbolic Headphones

Another Sunday at home.  I miss seeing and hugging our friends at church, but we're trying to make the best of things in this age of social distance.

We started the day with a family Uno game . . .

. . . then had pancakes for lunch (for some reason, we almost never eat pancakes for breakfast).  I made a tiny pancake with the last smidgen of batter, and the little pancake reminded everyone of Joy's dwarf hamster Doc.  So we decorated it with candy ears, eyes, a nose, and a tail.  Awww . . . isn't it cute?

Later in the afternoon, I noticed that Joy had left her headphones on a picture of Enos praying.  It struck me as a symbolic reminder that God hears and is mindful of us in this uncertain and stressful time.  I'm so grateful for that.

Love and Happiness Aren't Cancelled

Saturday is chore day around here, but that doesn't mean it needs to be all work and no play.  After we finished our jobs, we relaxed and found some fun things to do.

Joy has decided to branch out from her minimalist endermen drawings.  She's working on drawing human cartoons, and she says they're a lot harder.  Her human sketches look pretty good to me, but they're not up to her standards yet.

Anna has been asking to bake something with me, so we decided to make cookies today.  A few Hendricksons were really in the mood for chocolate chip cookies, but Anna wanted to do something more adventurous, so we dipped some of the dough balls in sprinkles, and topped a few others with Heath bits.

The sprinkle cookies were easily the most popular ones.

Later in the day, we went for a walk along our street.  We smiled to see pretty little irises popping up in a neighbor's yard . . .

. . . and inspiring messages written on a few of the driveways.  School and church may be cancelled for a while, but love and happiness aren't.

It's Been a Week

It's been a week since the schools closed in our town.

Today it was Todd's turn for a virtual class meeting (with help from his big brother) . . .

. . . and Daniel's turn for some VR exercise.

Joy got her first virtual cello lesson.

And the toilet paper aisle at the grocery store . . . well, you know how that is these days.