Daddy's Girls

It’s Wednesday?? I mean where did this week go? I was looking to see the last time I posted feeling like it’s only been a day or two and it was almost a week ago. I don’t think my car has moved since we got back from the deer camp last Friday. Just part of quarantine life. 😂 Now for historical purposes, when my kids are reading this as adults, a lot of people aren’t as homebound as we are. Officially Louisiana is almost 2 weeks into Phase 1 which has opened up restaurants at 25% capacity and I believe all retail stores. But I have not been inside a store since before my birthday and the last time I was in a public building at all was when we closed on our Brown Street house and that was 10 minutes in the title company. I think that’s the one and only time I’ve been inside anywhere since March 8th. I’d say about half of the people I know are still doing the same and staying in (although we are probably at the extreme as most have been in a store or two- and some have extended their cir...

I said in my post that Monday was a good day and the rest of the week so far has been a good week. On Tuesday the girls finished those fairy gardens Wednesday, Pops and Honey sent homemade king cakes. The girls had called him last week to tell him that would make quarantine life better and he literally delivered. 😊 I also had to go to Apollo to turn in a library book and pick up Daddy Daughter dance pics. I was surprised at how much it got to me but I teared up as I pulled out of that parking lot for the last time. I’m sure the kids will love their new schools but it’s been a big part of all of our lives and we’ve all made good friends there. It’s nice when you know the teachers and staff and know they love your babies. But change is a part of life and we’ll all adjust.  Thursday we came up to the camp. We wanted to see Matt’s garden and have a chance to see Rachel and bring her gift before her birthday on Saturday.  Yaya ended up coming up for a bit too and we had a picnic l...

🦠 Covid-19 through a child’s eyes. 🦠 👉🏼Ask your child the questions and have a giggle, not only now but in a memory a year from now: 1. What is the Coronavirus? Katie: is a virus that people can catch that’s not like the stomach bug- more like the flu  Lilli: a virus spread by people sneezing and coughing that travels in the air 2. Who is the President? Katie:Donald Trump Lilli: Donald Trump 3. How many days have we been in lockdown? Katie: 34 Lilli: I don’t know- I’ve lost track  4. Do you want to go back to school? Katie: yes Lilli: yes! Please!!  5. Who is the first person you are going to hug when lockdown is over? Katie: Austin Lilli: Austin, Josey, Case and Lane 6. Where is the first place you want to go? Katie: my cousins house  Lilli: The beach 7. What do you think we can do to make the coronavirus go away? Katie: everybody stay in lockdown  Lilli: Wear mask, stay home and don’t go out to help the people that work at hospitals not have to take care o...

Today was a good day. It’s still sad that the kids have to distance but I am starting to accept this is going to be our “new normal” for quite a while more so we have to find ways to work within the guidelines and today that’s what we did.  Rachel and I both had Amazon packages that needed to ship for returns so I met her at the packages place so that I could run in for both of us. We decided to take advantage of being in Bossier at lunchtime and ran by Chimi V‘s for curbside takeout and drove over to the mall parking lot for a tailgate picnic. We had plans to meet Hailey in Vivian at 2:00 to surprise Yaya with all the kids and bring her Mother’s Day gift. We caravaned down the driveway honking our horns and everybody piled out of the cars. We gave her a blanket with her favorite picture of the kids that they had each hugged so when she’s missing them she can feel the hugs. Capn had set our chairs socially distanced apart and we sat and talked for hours. Yaya said it was nice to he...

Matt went to Canfield last night (the girls and I had our first girls night in the new house) to check on his garden. He hoed his sunflowers and green beans, put down weed barriers, laid irrigation lines, and composted the melons. Also pruned his tomato’s, and worked on trellis training his cucumbers.  And it sure is looking pretty! Pretty soon there will be plenty of work to do picking all of his produce and canning. It’s SO much work but I’m excited for it. Our new pantry has plenty of room and I can’t wait to fill it up! I can’t think of a better way to spend time where we are “social distancing” anyway.

I know they haven’t been in the classroom in 10 weeks but there was still some remote learning going on. In all honesty it was probably only an hour and a half each day but we did get everything their teachers sent done and turned in. But today we turned in the last graded assignments of the school year and they both kept up their straight As. I told them we still have to read everyday and do math at least a few days a week this summer because they’ve missed too much but we can quit with the schedule. Who knows what next year holds. I’m hopeful they will get to start their new schools like normal but I have friends at the school board saying ideas for part time class/part time remote to keep class size smaller is being tossed around too.  Now we get to enjoy all the things about this new house. They love freeing the frogs from the pool skimmer every morning into the ditch in the front. Their are a few places we can walk to and fish too but haven’t tried that yet. The number of kill...

I am pretty blessed to be loved by so many wonderful mothers and to have the joy of being a Mom to my girls.  I always have such mixed emotions on this day because of course I can’t help but wish I could call my own Mom. But there are many more good things about the day that outweigh that.  We did nothing and that’s just what I wanted. We spent all week unpacking so that today could be a lazy one. We watched movies, napped, checked on the garden, played outside... (Garden pics actually from a few day ago- no work allowed today 😉)  And Matt cooked a delicious meal from Texas Roadhouse of steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad and rolls. Plus the girls and I made from scratch brownies earlier in the day.  The day is ending with a family movie night after they all cleaned the kitchen. A very good Mother’s Day for me!

We may still have quite a bit of unpacking to do but we are getting settled in. There’s enough done to where I don’t feel like I have to work all day and everything I need on a daily basis is in its spot. And I know we’ll get the rest done  eventually.  We’ve been here 3 nights and everyone is settled. The first night Katie slept on the floor of our room and Lilli was downstairs on the couch. No one even attempted their rooms. It’s definitely very different to all be so spread out and they were nervous. The 2nd night Lilli was in her room and Katie started out in hers but ended up in our bed. But by last night everyone made it all night on their own! I even got to drink coffee by myself for an hour this morning.  Our routine the last 4 days has been unpack a few hours after coffee and breakfast, a break for lunch and chill time, then about an hour and a half of school work. And the rest of the afternoon/evening spent in the pool. Lillian said it’s crazy that this is her l...

Wow, after 13 years we are officially no longer the owners of our home on Brown St. I thought I would cry but I didn’t even tear up. I’m surprised because this is the home our babies came home to. The one where we became a family and they learned to walk and talk and started school. The last one my Mom ever visited and the longest I have ever lived anywhere. It will always be special to me but I think the fact that I’ve only visited it the last 5 weeks and we’ve already been moving for a week made it easier.  We did take the time to take a selfie the last time we were in it together. The new owners are moving from Blanchard with a 5 and 6 year old boy and girl and plan to make this their forever home. We were also very happy to hear they will appreciate those fig and plum trees that we were sad to leave. 😊 So life goes on. And the baby birds we had to leave in our fern were the perfect symbol for that... The movers came Wednesday and the last 3 days have been 10 hour days of movin...