Front Porch Photos

We jumped on the bandwagon and joined the front porch photo movement.  Cheers to supporting local! As a family, we have only had our photos taken twice, and with a new member of the family, I thought we'd better make it thrice. Front porch photos are our family's style: a photos session for 10 minutes, 15 photos, 35 dollars. Yes! Some of my friends mentioned that this would be the last way they'd want to do family photos. I get that, but for us, it worked. Or maybe it didn't. You be the judge.

Sure, it would have been great to have the lawn mowed, the peonies blooming, and the water key and sprinkler box assembled (the sprinkler guy had been there 5 minutes previous). But c'est la vie!

Salt Flats

I have a brother who absolutely loves the Salt Flats in the western part of Utah. He has driven his car on the flats at 100+ mph. He has taken his family there numerous times. In fact, one of his family’s Christmas cards featured them there. As a result, I’ve always wanted to visit. So we ventured out. 

It was bright, flat, salty, other worldly, fantastic, expansive, wow! We took some pics. 

Ansel runs to the mountain. 

Ollie tried some optical illusion shots.

Jess takes a shot of the group. It was so so bright, Elsie wasn’t loving it. Lots of baby blinks during this trip. 


We ran around and then had some snacks. 

It takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to get there from our place and we spent about an hour and a half there. The kids were troopers, but the long drive took its toll.

 “On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate this experience?” we asked. 

6 for Ollie

4.5 for Ansel

Let’s go home from Ian

6.5/7 from Jess and Ash

Quite the place, really. I commented to Jess that I was imagining we’d do more there, to which he replied, “We’ll, it’s salt and it’s flat. But it’s like no other place I’ve ever seen.” And with that I felt better about visiting. 

Aging

Yesterday, while on a walk, my cute little first grader told me something every mother wants to hear. 

“Mom, when your hair is down and you aren’t wearing glasses you look like you’re 50.”

My oldest child, feeling bad for me, hurriedly chimed in. 

“I think you look 37.”

Thank goodness for kind-hearted children...and glasses. And it seems that, from now on, if I ever wear my hair down, it will always be while wearing glasses. 

Need ice cream during Covid-nineteen

We’ve come up with a lot of good rhymes over here having to do with the latest with the corona virus pandemic. One particularly long day, my kids and I got in the car, went to the park, rode bikes, and then got slap happy and started laughing at all kinds of silly rhymes and funny Covid-19 related nonsense. Of course, we’re doing all of this staying-at-home for the best reason of all, to keep the curve flat and people healthy. Just recently, we heard of a friend’s father who passed away from the disease. Our heart felt for our friend and his family. This is real folks and I think we’re all trying to hope we can find a way to beat it. And sooner rather than later would be nice, thankyouverymuch!

Our latest in a series of days has required we get thoughtful about where we spend our time. 

5 dollars for anyone who can tell me where this is. 

Carrying a younger brother around the house is totally fun, especially these days!

“We love each other; we’ve been together 24/7; and mom makes us take photos like these!”


5 more bucks for anyone who can tell me where this is.

Hikes and bike riding and walking over small empty streams. 

Shooting hoops day in and day out. Thanks Jess for working 4+ hours to put the hoop together (especially when I thought it would only take 90 minutes). 

Making vehicles out of the box the hoop came in. I couldn’t stop laughing at this contraption!

Exploring. Notice Ian’s backwards helmet. Haha!

And watching Elsie smile and grow! She’s doing a great job!

And yes, we have had ice cream over here. Probably more than the usual. 

What do you do on Spring Break when you can’t go anywhere?

That’s a blog post title I didn’t think I’d be authoring. But here we are: corona virus, social distancing, staying at home. Spring Break is here and before this unfortunate, dangerous virus made its appearance, we had planned a trip to California for a wedding. A wedding that has changed from plan A to plan B to plan C and so forth. Turns out, no one will be at the wedding except for the bride and groom and the person marrying them. Argh! I look forward to the reception celebrating them when the quarantine ends. That’s all I can do. 

Spring Break plans were changed from plan A to plan B to plan C and the kids eventually realized plan D was to go nowhere. Still, they’ve rolled with the punches pretty well. Sure, fighting with one another has hit an all-time high, but so has playing with each other and getting creative. Sometimes their spirits are up. Sometimes they’re down. Sometimes they sit on the shed outside and watch their friends play four square with their family. 

As a result, it wasn’t hard to give a resounding “yes!” when Ansel suggested a backyard camp out for Spring Break. We needed a little shaking up and this was just the thing. Plus, the weather was awesome and it was great to be outside. 

We built our makeshift fire pit (please excuse our side yard disarray, we are working on making decisions regarding what it will become), and enjoyed roasting hot dogs and s’mores using sticks from our oak trees. Afterward, the kids threw paper in the fire. Oliver wrote things like “wickedness” and “anger” on his paper. Ansel drew a corona virus and threw it in. They came up with this entirely on their own, but I think it was cathartic for all of us. 

Eventually, we all got tired, especially Ian, who started crying and exclaiming, “I want to get in the tent!” By the time they were in their pjs and mummy bags all were comfy and ready for a story. 

Elsie and I stayed inside, but I think they had a better rest than us (4 week old baby sleeping schedules, amiright?). 

My father reminded us in a text recently a point my mom used as her mantra. It goes something like this, “The difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude.” This week we chose adventure, in our backyard. 

Book Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief  by Marcus Zusak is an excellent historical fiction book set in Nazi Germany. It tells the story of a young girl and how her relationships with her foster mother & father, the boy next door, the Mayor’s wife, and a Jew (to name a few) shape her life and those around her. It was interesting to read this book at a time when we’re not supposed to go out and do anything. As restrictive as the experience with Covid-19 has been, I can’t imagine living under a dictator regime with the hatred and fear of an angry humanity, rather than a virus, seeping into everyday life. Written in the point of view of death, an ironically caring character, the story is told with foreshadowing and special insights. I would recommend this read. I sped through it and I’m a tired mom with a new baby. ‘Nuf said. 

At this time, it’s the little things

At a time when all the talk is Covid-19, I’m thinking of some other things too. 

- My dad just got a smart phone and I love his texts. He is so clever! Plus, he uses emojis. Who would have thought!?!

- Last week Jess came home with groceries and Ansel was so excited about everything. “You got blackberries! And raspberries! And what is that cereal? It has strawberries in it? Yesssss!” He is our hype guy and I love it. 

- Oliver passed the test to go to the state GeoBee but they’ve had to cancel it (for the first time ever!). But he’s so cool about it. He’s bummed but he’s not making it a big deal. 

- I swore I would not be the mom of a kid who didn’t wear socks or a jacket in 50 degree weather, but Ian has made it clear that I am now that mom. He rushes out the door without me knowing and without socks. These are bad mom moments. 

- I went with Elsie to her two week appointment today. I was apprehensive, but I knew she had to get the PKU test and the front desk assured me all precautions were being made. Let me tell you, I’ve never had such a nice talk with the doc before. He said things had slowed down at the office quite a bit, plus he had three cancellations just that morning, so he had more time then ever. If only all of our doctor appointments could be so pleasant. 

- Residents are walking our neighborhood like never before. I am a frequent walker/jogger and never have I seen so many people out until now. I hope this continues as we make it out of this quarantine phase. A breath of fresh air does great things!

- Yesterday, we had a church meeting via video conference. There’s a first for everything, right? We talked about the 5.7 earthquake we experienced this week and how we’d respond to a natural disaster in our neighborhood. It’s neat to see how organized it all is. 

- My birthday is coming up and my in-laws told me that they got me a cruise as a gift. I laughed and laughed. 

- Easter is coming up and I think we are going to have thee best private Easter egg hunt this family has ever seen!

- Below are some pics as of late, some pre-March 10th, around the time the distancing measure began. 

 

Art night at the school. 

Baking! This pull apart recipe, plus biscuits, cookies, and bread have all been thanks to my need to make! Ian’s licking his lips here. Haha! Speaking of recipes, did you know that America’s Test Kitchen is allowing free access to some of its recipes during the self-quarantine. Kind of cool. 

A common scene. Ian loves to be in pics with Elsie. Note the lack of socks on both children. Haha! And yes, Ian designed that shirt himself. 

A growing Elsie! Cute as a big in a rug, as my mom used to say, and so sweet. 


Here’s to a good Monday and a good week!

Life now, the social distancing edition

Boy, am I glad Elsie was born when she was. We are thankful she is here and healthy and happy and sleeping relatively well (knock on wood). Our days are filled with this:

And this:

And this:

And some of this:

Thanks for testing out the new stroller Ian. Looks comfy!

And with school out but still in session at home we’ve done some of this:

Right now I feel like I’m in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Everyone around me is healthy. Neighbors walk the streets and friends bring over dinner and yet I’m told to stay away from them, groups larger than 10, and any business (except grocery stores!). I’m grateful my home is comfortable and I really love the people I live with. The only thing I’m really missing is social interaction with others, which just goes to show me, once again, how important our relationships are. 

Stay healthy all!

She’s here!

Weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 in, we are over the moon she is here! 

Elsie is the sweetest and such a joy. Introducing her to her brothers was such a treat. They were so excited!

Before I had her, I was sharing my thoughts with a friend, mentioning that I was nervous about the birth. “But Ashley,” she said, “that’s my favorite part. Those days in the hospital are the best. Those moments where your kids meet the baby are so magical.” When we were together as a family (of 6!) for the first time her words rang true. Magic. 

Having babies is a miracle. A happy, beautiful miracle where heaven touches down on earth and the moments are so surreal and intense but the euphoria is real. 

I am grateful for this time in my life. My zombie-like state is sure to stick around for a while, but the smile on my face will be there to accompany it.

My days with Ian

Recently, Ian and I have been filling our days with the usual. We run errands, we clean the house, we play downstairs and read books, we nap. 

Because I haven’t scheduled anything around these days (due to a babe’s arrival, see previous post), we have some extra time we need to fill. Today we headed out to get some Ramen at a place I like that has a new location. As we got in the car, Ian exclaimed that he needed some pickles for the drive, so we packed some up in Tupperware and off we went.

Turns out the Ramen place wasn’t open, so we went on a bit of a drive. We talked about dogs and cats. Ian shared that he wants a dog. And if so, could it be red? Then he decided dogs don’t like to be painted, so red isn’t an option. 

We finally reached a destination and decided to eat at a family favorite up the canyon. Ian sure is a delight to have lunch with. This time around he explored the butter, jam, and sugar contents at the table. We smelled the spicy sauce and observed that the ketchup container looked like a glue bottle.  He said, “let’s chat,” and I started to talk about when he was a baby. He interrupted and said, “let’s pause a second” and took a drink of water. Where does he come up with this stuff? I don’t know, but after the sip, we continued. 

Certainly, it was an afternoon enjoyed.