A New Normal?

There are a lot of people that hate the term "new normal" but really isn't that just what life is?  It's always changing and evolving and becoming something a little different than it was before.  And as it turns out, life can be as busy during a pandemic as it was before, go figure.  Or maybe it's just that I got used to having no obligations at all and now that I have some, I feel stretched...I really loved months of an empty calendar and now things are hopping and moving, albeit a little different than before.  It's been so long now that I really don't remember how things were different before, except that when you go in public everyone is wearing a mask and that feels uncomfortable and certainly strange.  Clark and I also went out to eat last week, like in an actual restaurant to sit and order and eat our food and everything.  It started with having our temperatures taken and then wearing a mask for 30 seconds between the door and our table.  I find myself saying "this is just weird" at least three or four times a day but whatever, I'm over it.  I need to find new things to distract me.  Definitely not social media, it's still a hot mess of opinions and passions that are all over the place.  I generally avoid most of it still. *see previous post ;)  In other news, my Hay Day Farm is thriving...

The birds came home and are doing well.  Luna and Percy have continued to plump up, have started making pleasant bird noises and have not been eaten by the dog.  Seems like a win win for everyone.

We continue to do little projects here and there although things have slowed considerable as we run out of the funds to do things and the weather has reached that oppressively hot state that makes me want to cry, which I can do openly because chances are I am sweating too and you wouldn't even be able to tell.

Clark and the girls built a firepit, a real one where the bottom won't rust out after a few months.  They wrote notes on the bricks and then we sealed it all up good and tight.  And when I say "we" I mean "they" because I sat and watched them do the whole thing.  We have already enjoyed many a s'more over its open flame.

Then we literally had a truckload of mulch and soil dropped on the driveway, an event that both excited me and had me in dread.  You see, last fall I scored us a truckload of mulch that was completely and totally free, annnnnnd took us approximately four months to get rid of.  I was bound and determined that this mulch would not sit on the driveway through the weekend.  By golly we spread that stuff like champs hither and yon.  Our flower beds look beautiful, or at least they did last month before the heat really descended and put us all into a permanent state of wilt and thirst.  Our lawn is downright crispy right now and the neighbors pool feel like bathwater.  The only respite is under a fan, inside and away from the light of day.  Which is unfortunate because we are getting rather bored of being inside.

And then Jonah had a birthday and we did something scandalous and had friends over to help celebrate.  It was nice to hang out with people again, we rather enjoyed it.

And just look at how cute this boy is.  He turned 8, which is a big one for reasons I will get to in a minute.

The vegetable plants in the garden started to produce and now won't stop.  Mainly the tomatoes.  Here is the cycle I go through with tomatoes.  I feel eh about them because they are just kinda eh.  Then I taste a homegrown tomato from the garden and remember how much I love and absolutely adore them.  Then I eat so many that they become eh again...as evidence in the bowl on the counter that eternally displays tomatoes of all colors and sizes.  The yellow pear has been especially fruitful this summer.  Someone needs to tell it to chill out and pace itself just a little.  Our cilantro, parsley, green onions and romaine petered out but the basil and tomatoes are going strong.  We have had a few zucchini and some lovely butternut squash growing.  The cucumbers are struggling to look acceptable to consume and the dill got so crazy I had to show it who's boss.

One of the projects that finally got done was the bridge.  There are ditches between all the houses on the street and since we frequent the neighbors on either side we had to create a more convenient path, so we don't have to walk all the way around the ditch (you know, a whole 50 extra feet.) The ditch on this side is a bit more conducive to a fun bridge so several years ago the girls found a huge pallet that conveniently fit the gap.  But it had become significantly treacherous to cross so it was time to bring in the ocean engineer.  I just happen to have connections.  He drew up the plans and Abby and Hazel executed.

At the beginning of July we had the loveliest visitors.  The Davis' came and brought their adorable baby.  We miss Sadie and Jesse and are sad that we live so far away.  Dawson is just about the cutest thing ever and reminded us about all the things we love about tiny people.  Rocket especially loved helping Dawson eat his meals.  He was very diligent.  I only felt bad that it was so hot and theres this whole pandemic thing going on because we really didn't do much but hang out.  We still had a blast having them here and we did get to the farm and the beach, so thats a plus.

I feel like there are decisions to be made as a parent all day, every day.  Every moment a teaching moment right? My teenagers kind of hate when you make that obvious.  It's really hard sometimes to let them help when you know it can be done faster and better without them.  But I try really hard to recognize those opportunities, especially when the kids are the ones to offer.  Hazel loves to be in the kitchen and cook and I need to let her more often.  On this particular day Jonah was asking to play the computer and I had told him "not until I was finished folding their clothes" so he left the room.  But then he came back just a minute later, recognizing that if I finished faster, he would get to play sooner so he asked if he could help.  It was so sweet and I am glad that I saw the opportunity for him to help and acted on it.  I'm not always on my parenting A game so it's validating to get it right every once in a while.

Now is the part where we do something amazing and meaningful...a little out of order.  But all this happened from mid June to mid July so it's fine, it's fine, it's all fine.

Jonah turned 8 and got to get baptized.  It looked different from the girls but was special and sweet all its own.  I took Jonah out for approximately 23 minutes to take pictures because we were sweating so bad I as drenched.  Also he is cute and handsome and it was easy to get some good ones.

Grandma and Grandpa came into town the day after Sadie and Jesse left.  It would've been fun to have them here at the same time but someone had to watch the dog in Texas ;)

The baptism was small, only our family, Grandma and Grandpa, a member of the bishopric and a friend that helped fill the font and set up.  The most special things were that more were able to join by Zoom than would've otherwise been able to be there for it, two of his sisters gave the talks and the other two sisters got to be witnesses for the ordinance.  It was small and sweet and beautiful.

Grandma made the cake and Hazel helped with the topper....Jonah requested a cake with a Dad baptizing a son on top.  We aim to please.

Kids are weird.  We eat a lot of Chick Fil A.  And that's that.

This also may be the sign that we SHOULD be trying to get back to church sooner.  I have loved church at home, grateful to have the sacrament and make our home a sacred place buuuuut we have perhaps gotten a little casual in our family room/sacrament meeting attendance.  On this particular day we had to do "church" a little later and everyone was groaning about changing into Sunday clothes so they all went to my closet and outfitted themselves as lazily as possible.  I can't even imagine the struggle of getting dressed for church for real, let alone having to sit with the boys in an actual chapel with other people in attendance.  It's going to be rough.