Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Quarantine Birthday

Still a little bummed that I didn't get to spend my birthday on the beach as planned, but my family made the best of it and made my birthday special. They served me breakfast in bed and handed me the schedule for my birthday!
Goodness, this girl makes my heart swell! 💗
I feel so lucky to be surrounded by all of these beautiful faces!
Braylee made this awesome cake!
Beilyn crushed geodes and glued them to this box for me. 😍
Beilyn had to translate her card for us. 😉
BellaMei drew balloons for me.
Xiaoyun drew me a picture.
Brielle's card made me cry. 💖
It says, "Dear Mom, You are the BEST mom I could ever hope for. You make me laugh, you cheer me up when I am feeling sad or upset. Thank you for being a mom that is best for me. I LOVE YOU with all my heart! Happy Birthday."
Brielle also made a paper doll mom.
Brynna made a bracelet for me that says "Blessed" in morse code. 💜
Krista got me a new puzzle that's a camping scene!

We finished the puzzle after dinner, minus the one piece that was probably carried off by a small child...
Then we watched the movie "The Boy who Harnessed the Wind." I definitely recommend it! It was also a good reminder that while we are under "Stay at Home" orders, we have so much to be thankful for- plenty of food, clean water, and a safe & warm place to sleep at night.
So my birthday wasn't on a sandy beach, but it was still very special! I loved getting to spend it with my favorite people!

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

When the World Shutdown...

Like everybody else, we were busy with a full calendar until a few weeks ago.  I had been watching the Coronavirus news pretty closely over the last two months, especially since January 28th when Selina flew back home to China on an almost empty airplane with boxes of masks and gloves in her luggage. At the end of February, I started fearing that our Spring Break plans would be thwarted. There were talks about "major life disruptions" and preparing food & supplies for long stays at home, but I don't think any of us really anticipated things to happen so abruptly.

The girls started a regular school week on Monday, March 9th. On Wednesday, the little girls brought home packets for possible e-learning days. By the time they jumped off the bus on Friday, school had been cancelled until at least April 6th. It had been a crazy couple of days... Social Distancing to stop the spread of Covid-19 was changing everybody's plans. Boys Basketball Regional was cancelled. NCAA tourney was cancelled.  Church was going to online services. I was wishing I had grabbed more than our regular 12-15 books at the library on Thursday. I was preparing the girls that our Spring Break would likely be spent at home instead of on the beach.  At that point, the recommendation was not to meet in groups larger than 250. Alex started working from home on Monday, March 16th (Thankful for that!).  Later that day, the recommendation switched to no groups larger than 10 and our girls haven't left the house since then. Thankfully, I was already scheduled off for the week of Spring Break and was able to take off the following week as well. The girls have done really well with being at home for an extended period of time. I'm sure it helps that they get to sleep in, eat lots of treats, play outside, and have spent way too many hours watching TV.

But before this all started, we were having a normal March...
Bria made cinnamon & sugar toast all by herself for the first time.
We have been missing our Grammy. She spent a few months away at my Uncle Tom's house in Virginia. Then my girls were sick in February, but we were finally able to take our Valentine-baby Grammy out for her birthday on March 6th.
Packed house for the Barr-Reeve/Loogootee game on March 7th.
The pep block theme was "Red, White, & Blue."
Sectional Champs!
These girls all happened to wear their China girl dresses to church. 💗
My sweet little Sunday School class. 10 of the 14 are Knepps. 😁 And we were missing two little Knepp boys that day. 
My girls may not have brothers, but they have some pretty cool cousins!
Alex and I had a date night with my best friend from nursing school! It had been too long since I had seen Joanah, but we always pick right up where we left off. 💗
When the lot across from us sold, I was worried the house would block my sunrise views. But I lucked out!  Our new neighbors not only built their new house on the north side of their property so that I still get these awesome views but also (big bonus), they are a really sweet family too!
She's such a fancy little momma. 💕
With Alex working from home, he doesn't shave everyday. The girls are still adjusting...Brielle says it's disgusting. 😂
We were a bit more ambitious the first week of Social Distancing. 😉 I was cleaning out closets and getting all kinds of little projects done.  I found some fun stuff while re-organizing things.
Playing Hide & Seek. She's too cute! (And of course the ever-ready bottle of Lysol sitting on the bar during this pandemic.)
How we do church now. Live streaming in the basement.
Trying to keep these girls busy.
Scientist Beilyn breaking open some geodes.
The girls really like having Alex home all the time. They have been pretty good about leaving him alone while he's working. One day, Bria grabbed a piece of paper from the printer in the office. Brielle saw it and asked, "Where did you get that?! Did you intrude on dad?" 😆 Then one evening at dinner, Brielle asked, "So... Dad, how's whatever it is you do in there going?" 😂
We have been making lots of sweet treats and stuffing our faces!  I'm guessing we've gained about 10 lbs collectively so far! 🧁🍪
When she isn't binge-watching shows on Netflix, Brynna has been pretty creative. She did some self-portraits in her ballet costume. She's praying the recital is just postponed and not cancelled completely. 
One of many game nights.

We are out of routine and stay in our jammies most of the time. It feels like we eat, clean up, eat, clean up, then eat and clean up again.  All.day.long.  We are doing our best to stay healthy and help keep others healthy too. We wish we were spending Spring Break on the beach, but all of this will pass soon.  I hope our girls look back on it fondly as a time of sleepovers on mom & dad's floor, playing tons of games, eating all the treats, and just a lot of quality time spent together. ❤️

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Rest of February

At the end of February, Braylee & Xiaoyun went to a retreat for high school girls at a local church. The same day, Brynna & Brielle both went to Bible Memory Winter camp.  Beilyn & Bria did a little painting while they were all gone.
When you eat dinner at an Amish relative's house, the kids might eat in the garage beside the buggy. 😄
Beilyn was not happy when I told her I was going to take SuzyQ S'mores to the vet so that she can't have babies. She said she was sure SuzyQ wanted to have babies. I told her there are already lots of cats who need homes.  She went straight to action-- she made a sign that said, "If you a cat and not have a home, you can come live with us." 💜
Really filling up the pew with girls this morning! Hadlee & Mattinglee came for a sleepover.
It was also BellaMei's 1st time in her own Sunday School class! She's not technically 3 yet, but I signed up to teach the preschool class this quarter so she could start.
Alex has been dreaming about getting Masters tickets again since he watched Mickelson win there in 2004. He ordered a new chair to take with him in April and of course had to try it out. 😄