Quarantine Week 1 - March 16 - 22

This is the end of week one, the beginning of week two. How well did we do in the first week? I don't know. Do we need to continue to change our habits - yes. I blogged on Monday and on Tuesday. We were out and about doing a few things - shopping and going to the food bank. Wednesday we met someone from church and her baby at the park. The girls played at the park. Thursday friends came to us and we went for a walk and played at a park.

All of the above, is now off limits. I will no longer be taking the girls to any stores. I will no longer be taking the girls to any parks. I will no longer be going on walks with friends. All of that is done for now, and shouldn't have be done this week. Slowly but surely things are tightening down so that the humans win and the virus loses. The information and warnings from government officials has gotten more and more extreme and serious, and we need to be serious, and follow their direction!

Monday - Alice, Fiona and I went out and bought crafts and frames at Michael's, work books from Scholar's Choice, maple syrup, honey and frozen yogurt from MacMillan's. The girls coloured and played. Fiona barfed.

Tuesday - Fiona was feeling better, Alice and I went to the food bank, Ken and I went to the tile store, the girls played, made stuff, we went to walk around the beach at twilight.

Wednesday - The girls played, made stuff, I sorted through a box of school stuff. We went for a bike ride in the afternoon to meet up with a friend from church and her baby. The girls played at the park. There was an earthquake in Utah. (5.7 magnitude - just outside SLC in Magna - caused some damage to the temple which is already closed for upgrades, and some damage to some buildings in Magna - but nothing terribly serious.) Social media became all about memes.

 

Thursday - Ken and the girls started the 1000 piece puzzle that we bought on Monday. Some friends came over and we went for a walk - they didn't come inside but the kids weren't great at social distancing, and then we all went to the park. We got really close with the puzzle, and Suzanne sent me a cute Leprechaun pic of Ben. (Kate lost a tooth, and Agatha came and we learned that tooth fairies don't get sick, but they can get injured.)

Friday - We finished the puzzle in the morning. The forecast was calling for rain so the girls and I went out in the morning. Kate and I walked, Fiona and Alice rode bikes. Ken had started working with Fiona on her bike riding a week ago, on the girls' P.A. Day. This was our third time on bikes with Fiona. Fiona rode across the tarmac at the school over and over and over again. She rode home in stretches. I needed to restart her when she stopped, but she's doing amazing. I took a little bit of video of her, but sadly no photos. When we came home we wrote letters and cards to friends and family.

Saturday - we hung about for most of the day, but finally all got ready, piled the bikes into the van and drove over to the church parking lot so the girls could ride bikes. Fiona rode all the way around the chapel over and over again. By the end of it, she could start and stop herself. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of Fiona because my phone/camera was being a total pain and it shut down when I tried to take pictures. The missionaries were inside the church and we had a long chat in the parking lot, when they were leaving. We dropped by the grocery store on the way home to pick up a couple of things - only Ken went in, he had done a bigger shop yesterday, but we had missed somethings. We got home and Ken bbq'd.

Which brings us to today, Sunday. I'm feeling a little sad today. Sad that I went to parks, sad that we saw friends, but also sad that I feel sad. The next little while is going to be interesting. How will we fair emotionally? Will it get harder and harder, or will it just be? I suppose it depends how long this stretches on for and what we do with our time.

It's time for lunch. We had church this morning. Alice had planned it on Friday I think? Alice spoke about the Holy Ghost, Ken blessed and passed the sacrament. Alice and Kate did a musical number - Gethsemane. Ken taught primary with a fun object lesson. I felt the spirit. It was lovely. (Before church Fiona lost a tooth and the girls played on phones!)

 The girls even all put dresses on! (So I did too!)

We have so many blessings. SO MANY! I am off work with pay so I can look after the girls. Ken is working from home and still has work and pay. We have access to food. We live in a beautiful place - there are many, many places to walk  and ride bikes and standing by the lake is so healing and calming. I just hope that the relative calm that I feel now will continue over the coming weeks. I hope that we can keep drawing near unto God and feeling of his spirit and love in our home! AND we will do better to do our part to stay home and keep others safe!

Alice's Generous Heart

A few days after Alice's birthday she told me she had made a decision, that she wanted to donate her money to the food bank. I asked her if she was sure many times, and she explained to me that she didn't need to buy anything. Her friends were very generous with their gifts, she had everything she needed, and she didn't need more toys, because she didn't play with them anyway. Her Grandmother gave her $50 for her birthday, and her Grandma's friend Sarah gave her $10. So Alice was sure, she wanted to donate her $60 to the food bank.

When I looked at the food bank website information it talked about online donations, but Alice had cash, and I wanted her to give in the cash. So I filled out the 'contact us' form and Marg got back to me right away. We made an appointment for today. Marg said Alice could come and see the operations.

Alice felt nervous going in and meeting Marg, but Marg was so friendly and fun, she helped Alice to feel comfortable. (And her son is in Sum41!) She explained that everything in the food bank was donated by the community. They didn't have any corporate sponsors. They spend $1000 on milk every other week. They get so much food donated between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then donations drop off. The shelves did look bare but there were lots of volunteers bringing things in and putting them out.

I'm grateful for people like Marg doing such good things in the world. I'm grateful for Alice's generous heart. I'm grateful that we can do a little bit to help out.