The Spirit of Kendall.

 I absolutely adore this young lady.  She has such a free spirit.  She is also a potato loving human.  Here she is eating the rest of the potatoes (I cannot recall whether this was the potato salad or the mashed potatoes that she requested) right out of the bowl.

 

One of the youth group leaders and his wife have a 1 year old daughter and are expecting another daughter in June.  Kendall decided to make a rag quilt for the upcoming arrival, but did not want to leave Nora out either.  She spent two separate weeks in Grandma Karen's shop putting together a couple beautiful little quilts.

We drove over to their house and left them on the front porch.  We received this picture and were told that Nora's favorite part was the tissue paper!

Kendall is a thoughtful and intentional young lady.  She is ready to take on the world.

On her thirteenth birthday, I helped her set up her first social media account.  I have been very impressed at the responsibility she has shown.  Here are a few snippits of her posts.  With the one below, I was certain at least one parent would chastise me for letting the girls drink coffee.  I am certain someone did in their head, but considering my love of coffee it is a good thing they refrained from telling me:).

Reading Kendall's posts gives me insight into what is on her mind.  I was worried that she had bounced through the first year after Kevin's passing without showing signs of grieving.  I do understand that everyone grieves differently.  This February, she pulled me aside to let me know that the reality of it all was starting to hit her.  Since then, we have maintained an open dialog.  I am thankful that she is starting to process it all!

The Great Outdoors.

I truly enjoy working in the yard and enjoying the fruits of that labor.  Be sure to remind me of this the next time I complain about mowing the lawn.  To be truthful, both the girls are now fully trained in operating the lawn mower and weed eater, so I am getting some extra help.  

I had planted a couple of periwinkle plants last summer in memory of Kevin.  I was super excited to see them bloom and flourish this spring. 

I am terrified of gas.  In my defense, I wone had a commercial gas oven explode on me (thankfully no flames), but it was fierce enough to blow the knobs off the oven and knock me on my bum.  Needless to say, I am incredibly cautious and nervous when gas 'things' do not light up instantly.  On that note, I finally mustered the courage to start up our outdoor gas fireplace and patio heater this spring.

The girls and I spent the evening reading and reminiscing around the fire.

We have made a habit of taking pictures of our many beautiful sunrises and sunsets and sending them to one another.  Sidney caught this beautiful sunset the other night.

My parents have been doing a lot of home projects to fix up their new yard.  Sidney and I helped my dad put this shed together.  It was by far the most frustrating 'kit' experience I have ever had.  No joke!

The girls have also been remodeling their 'she shed'.  Note that it is no longer called a playhouse.  I will post pictures later.  Here is Bailey voluntarily sitting in his kennel checking out the she shed action.  The girls shed is right outside my bedroom window.

Our Days in Quarantine.

As we continue to write history this spring, the girls and I have been making the best of it.  Strangely, I have been busier than ever at work.  Sidney has been doing online school all year, so the change has not been too challenging.  Initially, the distraction of having Kendall home threw her off course.  After a reset, she is back on track.  Kendall has been keeping herself busy with her online high school Spanish class.  She has been doing a lot of reading, writing in her journal and exercising. 

Sidney had asked about highlights.  In old school fashion, I purchased a frost and tip kit.  The girls thought this was hilarious.  I had forgotten how much it hurts to have your hair pulled through the cap.  Sidney handled it like a champ.

I pulled through all of the holes.  If we do this again, I think half the holes wold be ideal.

My dad and I went on our first golf outing of the year.  It is quite nice that they have been able to keep the course open, with lots of extra precautions.  It was a very chilly morning, but I loved every minute of it.  Okay, not every minute.  I am pretty sure that I decided to sit one entire hole out.  It totally helped my mental space:).

I did not think on my feet, so toilet paper hoarding was not on my radar.  At some point, it started to become a real issue.  Thankfully, my amazon order arrived just in time.  Bailey guarded it nicely for me.

The days have been beautiful, so the girls and I have been taking a lot of bike rides and walks.  Sidney has been pretty bummed to not have horse lessons during this time.  Alyssa has been doing online lessons with the kids a few afternoons a week, so they can at least stay in touch and see the horses.  Sidney has been walking over to our neighbors each night to feed their horses carrots.  They have a new pony that, after much dedication, finally ate out of Sidney's hand.

Kevin had a bit of a 'Dennis the Menace' streak and was always playing practical jokes.  I believe Sidney inherited this trait.  Case in point, she yelled from the powder room the other night, "Mom, the toilet is smoking."  Of course, I came scurrying in only to find this...

In lieu of campfire smores, we have been treating ourselves to oven baked smores.  Pure deliciousness!

Yes, it certainly will be a spring to forever remember.  I know that there are many people who have lost their jobs, are struggling to find food and have lost their lives to this insane virus.  Each and every day, I try to remember to be grateful that we are healthy.  Yes, it may have caused us some angst, but we have been incredibly fortunate thus far.

A Quiet Easter Sunday.

With the quarantine in place, Easter was much quieter this year, but it still held a special meaning in our lives.  We have spent most of our Easter Sunday's with the Nelson family.  The girls have no recollection of anything other than that.  This year we kept it small, in order to keep everyone safe and healthy.  The Easter bunny even switched things up a bit.  Instead of an afternoon egg hunt, the girls woke to a letter and an unprecedented amount of chocolate filled eggs hidden around the house.

Kendall then proceeded to sort and count her candy.  I just love the way her mind thinks.  However, I think she really just tormented Bailey.  He kept slithering closer and closer to the candy. 

My mom walked over in the morning and watched Easter service with us.  Our church has done a great job of keeping everyone engaged.  Kendall's youth group has done a phenomenal job of pivoting to online events.  She has spent numerous nights doing scavenger hunts and playing games online with the youth group.

The girls', with the aid of Grandma Terrell, made some delicious Easter cookies.  Frankly, I could have eaten this homemade cream cheese frosting by the tub.

Terrell got me these beautiful flowers and my parents got me some chocolate cashews and outdoor flowers for Easter.  I would say that I definitely scored!   

Here it is 2-1/2 weeks later and the flowers are still going strong.  The yellow ones decided to give out, and I switched vases to accommodate for the trimming, but they continue to bring a smile to my face each day.

Grandma Terrell made us a delicious Easter dinner.  Yes, it was a bit different this year, but the meaning of the day was not lost on us!

A Welcome Note of Encouragement.

Several years ago, Kevin helped the girls build a Little Free Library  We have had a lot of fun scouring yard sales and passing along books of our own to the neighborhood.  I have noticed that our neighborhood has a 'book personality'.  I can tell, before I add a book, whether it will go very fast.  Sadly, I am the only person that seems to like suspense and spy novels.  Tonight Sidney went to our front porch to find this sweet little note on our door.  The fact that this sweet little girl took a moment to let us know that she has been receiving joy from our project is icing on the cake!

April Fools Joke? It Is Not!

Before I forget to mark this additional crazy moment in my children's lives, I will write this post.  Not only are we experiencing an unprecedented worldwide pandemic, Idaho had a large earthquake last night.  The earthquake registered as a Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake.  Thankfully, there were many things about this earthquake that made it different than the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.  I experienced both of these earthquakes first hand, and though similar in magnitude, the similarities ended there.

I was in my office when the earthquake struck last night.  The girls were messing around in their rooms.  The large window in my office started to rattle.  At first, I thought it was jack hammering from nearby construction.  Yet, the noise got louder and the shaking got more fierce.  About the moment I jumped up, the girls came out from their rooms.  Yes, we were experiencing an earthquake.  Sidney was quite sure she was having a seizure.  Kendall just laughed.

From what I understand, there has been very little property damage, and I have not heard of any injuries.  I find myself shaking my head (SMH) and rolling my eyes (RME), pretty sure I made that last one up....What on earth is happening lately?