Hello!
This has been our first week of semi-normalcy in weeks, and it has felt so wonderful! On Monday the kids didn't have school because of President's Day, but Richard did have to work at home from 10:30-6:30, so most of us did enjoy a 3-day weekend. We were all able to have a bit of a slower morning; we slept in and had a hot breakfast all together before Richard went upstairs to work. Bridget's friend Cambria has missed school on and off for the better part of January and February. She has had some intense stomach pain that doctors cannot figure out. Bridget and two of her other friends have been trying to get their schedules to line up so they could make a care package for Cambria and deliver it to her. Monday was finally the day. I took all three girls to Target and dropped them off. I stayed in the car and worked on some things, but almost one hour later I had to drag them out of Target. They were definitely enjoying the new-found freedom of roaming the aisles of Target! Haha! I brought them all back here so they could make cards and then put their care package together. Once they were done, I drove them to Cambria's house where they delivered their goodies. It meant the world to Cambria, she got emotional, and there was lots of hugging and laughing and sweet friend moments. Later that afternoon, Marshall and Bridget did have a piano lesson and Marshall also had Johnny over for a huge chunk of the day. Bridget, Cambria, and I were at the farm that night. Three new baby goats had been born one hour before we arrived! When the chores were done, the Garlicks let us come in and see the new babies and Bridget and Cambria fed them and Bridget also got to feed Luv Bug's doe and give her some snuggles for the last time. A tender moment. When the girls were done feeding inside, the Garlicks asked for their help to feed all the babies outside. Good golly. All of this bottle feeding added one hour to our time at the farm, which I do not love, but those girls are in heaven. I will say, baby goats are darling. If only they could stay small and darling and relatively clean! The Garlicks have now had 18 baby goats born the last two weeks and 14 of those are does, which is exactly what they like. Four more mama goats will give birth in two weeks. It really is so fun to see all the babies, but milking is back to taking longer and longer!
On Tuesday all the kids went back to school and Richard was at work and in all honesty, it felt great. Haha! I volunteered in kindergarten, per the usual that day, and then I finally acquiesced to Gretchen's request to have Charlie and Jackson come over for lunch and playtime. She has been begging to do this for weeks, but these boys require me to be a little more hands on then when Gretchen just has one girl over to play! But, it really was a great time and those three kids played and laughed and then we all played Life together (my girls' latest game obsession). It was actually so much fun and both boys wanted to marry Gretchen, so I had to calm down some sad feelings. :) That afternoon Bridget had play practice. The play is just around the corner, so now all the practices are two hours and she got home after 5:30. Long day for her! Rachel also had a dress rehearsal for dance that night. Competition season is almost here, and I think it is going to be both very fun and crazy. At 8:00 that night Richard realized he had a bishopric meeting at 8:30...ha! So, he left and was gone until after 10:30. I put the kids to bed and enjoyed an episode of The Crown. :)
Wednesday morning we woke up to inches of snow (expected) and a late start school day for the kids. Of course they were all elated and I was just relieved that Richard had a late work shift at home that day so he could snowblow! Marshall left for school just after 9:00 and Richard took Bridget and Rachel to school at 10:30, and Gretchen actually did get a snow day. As soon as all the kids were gone, she slipped right back into her best life of pajamas and TV. :) Ideal, right?! She did have to do online learning though, and was a good sport about it. This age of school is fun because you can clearly see how much they are learning one week or one month to the next. In December kindergarten was cancelled twice because of school, so it was fun to do school work with her in February and see how much she has learned in just two months. Words that were hard for her or math concepts that were tricky are easy for her now! Once all the kids but Gretchen were gone I did enjoy a slower school day, which is good, because our afternoon/evening was nuts. Bridget had horseback riding right after school. She rode bareback for a while and loved the warmth of the horse's body-helped to keep her warm on such a cold and snowy day! Bridget and I were home for 30 minutes before leaving again for the junior high for 7th grade registration. What?! I cannot believe we will have two kids at the junior high come August. The roads were terrible that night so it was very, very slow going to the junior high, but I am glad we made it without an accident, which I know was not the case for everyone! Bridget is so excited for junior high and after we all met in the gym, she and her friends just walked around the school with the parents just following behind. They seemed so grown up. That night Rachel had dance, and Marshall went to the combined YM/YW activity, but Bridget stayed home. She has been fighting a cold all week and I think her busy Tuesday and Wednesday completely wore her out. When we got home from the junior high she took a shower and went to bed. Sweet girl. Marshall had fun at the activity though and then stayed to help shovel. So much snow!
Bridget stayed home from school on Thursday. She woke up with her alarm, but kept falling asleep on the couch that morning, which is very unlike her! Finally at 8:00 I told her to just go back to bed, which she readily did! She spent the school day at home relaxing, but I did take her to the school for play practice from 3:30-5:30. Gretchen had dance class that afternoon and they have started the dances for the spring recital. She is loving it and now she has new songs to run to! Rachel had piano that afternoon and Marshall had soccer, but by 5:45 we were all home together for the rest of the evening and that was wonderful!
Bridget went back to school on Friday and still had her cold, but felt quite a bit better. I worked in the Charger Store that afternoon and had the best time as always! The girls had a great Friday afternoon, all went home from school with friends. Gretchen went to Naomi's house right after kindergarten and didn't come home until almost 4:30. Rachel walked home with Lily who has new baby chicks and Rachel has not stopped begging for chickens. Even Bridget has said we will never own chickens, Richard and I are so glad she is on our side with this hard no! Bridget walked home with Cambria after school, and Cambria is Naomi's older sister so Gretchen was especially excited to have Bridget show up! I completely lucked out with such a laid back Friday afternoon when I got home from the Charger Store at 1:45. I was in heaven, not going to lie! At 4:30, Melanie brought Bridget and Gretchen home and dropped Cambria off too. Shortly after they got home, I took Bridget and Cambria to the farm. I am SO glad we are almost through the cold and dark winter months of the farm. It is so nice to be working in daylight for at least some of the time we are there. The only drawback is that the farm is a literal mud pit right now, and my van is proof of it. Once we are in the clear with snow this spring I am paying to get my van detailed. Between the farm, Ziggy, and horseback riding there is all sorts of stuff in there and the vacuums at the car wash are not cutting it! Anyway, I survived the farm, the girls thrived, and now there are eight goats to milk and that took the girls a solid 90 minutes. Bless. On the homefront, Richard picked Rachel up from Lily's at 6:15 and then came home to tackle dinner. Gretchen proclaimed she would only eat food from Panda Express, the Disney Cruise, or anything Joe (our server) provided her. Tough to please! Needless to say, it was quite a night for all. When Bridget and I finally got home from the farm at almost 8:00 pm, she took a quick shower and then went to Cambria's for a late night, which also meant a late night for Richard and I! Oh, one funny thing with Gretchen from Friday. In kindergarten they were working on the letter Q that day so the kids could bring their favorite quilt or blanket. Gretchen insisted on taking "old white blankie". This blanket is now in three pieces. We tried to talk Gretchen out of it, her response was, "I am taking old white blankie! I will tell Mrs. Conners that it is half-rag, half-blanket!" And that is exactly what she did.
Saturday morning Rachel had a one hour dance rehearsal, but the rest of us were home. That afternoon we said good-bye to the kids, told them to eat lunch and do their jobs and Richard and I went to my parents' house for a very fun adult Toney gathering. We have been planning this for weeks and it did not disappoint. We were only missing Jordan and Meredith, and we definitely missed them. We had lunch and then played games. I told each couple to come with a planned game, but it couldn't be a board game or a card game and it had to make us laugh. All games delivered and there was near constant laughter. Complete success! Now I just need to talk everyone into an adult only weekend getaway! Baby steps. :) Richard left a tad early because he ended up having to work yesterday from 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm. I came home just a bit later and I was over the moon to discover that ALL children had done their jobs. This is beyond shocking and I have decided I just need to leave every Saturday. :) That afternoon Marshall had Johnny over and Rachel had Eily over. Lots of fun. The kids and I had dinner together while Richard worked and then Marshall went to Johnny's for a late night and the girls and I watched "Matilda", the new one on Netflix. My girls have watched this many a time and the music plays nearly on repeat, but I had never watched it with them. It was fun to finally sit down and watch it!
We have had a good Sunday. I realized this morning that today was our first Sunday in five weeks that we were all at church together-it was wonderful! Our new bishopric has shaken up their meeting schedule and we are liking it with regard to where Richard spends his time on Sundays. Tonight we went to Toney FHE at my parents' house and had a great time with cousins, though we definitely missed Ben and family.
Alright, that's it! Here's to a new week, March...and most likely, more snow. :) Spring...where are you???
Love each of you.
Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)
P.S. What does it say about me that 90% of my pictures and videos from this week are of goats??? Send help.
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