Covid

You can't live through a pandemic and not document it.  After 2 years of living in shut down, socially distanced, masked and sanitize all-the-time, we had our first experience with Covid.  It caught me off gaurd...Eli came downstairs one morning and said his head really hurt.  When I hugged him, I immediately knew that he had a fever.  His complaints weren't like any other virus, so I gave him a covid test.  This is the first time any of the kids have had a test and my first time ever giving one.  It honestly feels like a pregnancy test!

Eli had a fever for 3 days and said his head really hurt and was achy.  He also had a hard time sleeping for 2 nights.

 

Ben had to stay home from work for 5 days and Eli stayed in his room for that time, even after his fever left. 

It felt very odd to be back in shut down mode.  Colin used his time to make a million perler bead creations. 

When our time was up, Ben treated Eli to some Facebook marketplace Lego finds!  We have been wanting a train for a long time!
 *We've since added to the train and city..update coming soon.

I wish that was the end of the this post, but 2 weeks later, Alison got Covid as well. She only had a fever for a day, but also said her head hurt really bad and was achy. She said her head felt like she had a migraine and then had a dry cough for several days.  I hope this is the end of Covid for our family, but I'm thankful that symptoms were mild and everyone is healthy.

Prom!

I'm sure I'll say it a thousand times, but I am already SO thankful for our homeschool group.  We joined the group at the end of the year, but they have swept us up and included us like we've been here all year.  LEAH hosts prom for all high school students once a year, but they only sell so many tickets.  When we first joined the group, tickets were already sold out.  Just a few weeks before prom, someone needed to sell their ticket and asked if Alison would like to go.  We jumped on the opportunity, bought the ticket, did some shopping (most dresses wouldn't get to us in time for the dance) and it turned out to be a great evening!

*Ignore the recliner hanging out on the porch...

Alison looked incredible! 

I wasn't there, but I heard that there was a 4 course dinner, candy bar and lots of dancing.

P.s. in 2022 all the girls were sneakers to prom

Old Bethpage Village Fieldtrip

We went to Old Bethpage Village on a field trip with our homeschool group.  We had a great time meeting new friends and exploring.  Thankfully, this wasn't a novel experience for the kids...it gave a Williamsburg meets the ghost town in Idaho vibe.  However, now that we live in a 100 year old house, I appreciate learning more about the history of these buildings.

We got homemade root beer and candy sticks.

 

It's hard to find homeschool high schoolers and I am so thankful to say that we have found a great group of them!

After the field trip, we met our other homeschool group at the park nearby.

My 40th

I didn't want to turn 40.  I wasn't ready.  Most of the time, I can pull off looking younger than I am...that is until Alison and Eli walk up next to me.  Leading up to the day the kids would ask me if I was excited for my birthday and I would say "no".  My biggest encouragement came from Alison...one day we were in the car and this conversation came up and she said, "Mom, you've had 40 wonderful years of life and you will keep having wonderful years.  If you don't turn 40, I can't turn 15 and if you don't keep growing, I don't keep growing and I need you, by my side, to grow with me."  She was right.  Many wonderful things lie ahead in life and I can't wait to experience them.

I woke up to this:

Laughter was the perfect way to start the day!

Ben had stayed up late to surprise me with the dining room decorated.

I loved every gift and they were all so thoughtful.  My favorite one was a note from my family.  Ben and the kids each wrote down 10 things they love about me to make 40 things...they hadn't read each others cards and let's just say, it all made me cry happy tears.  I am blessed and loved by many and that's worth celebrating.

There were several things I thought I might do on my 40th: go to Hawaii or a vineyard or the Hamptons or run a race.  COVID and moving prevented those from happening, but Ben offered to run our own little race together.  We ran a fast 5k and the whole time I thought, "Take that 40!"

We picked up Sid's burgers for lunch and had a picnic in our backyard.  Then I took myself to the GIANT mall here and did a little shopping.  I realized that afternoon how incredibly long it's been since I've shopped...like try on clothes and go back and get different sizes and colors kind of shopping.  

When I got home, we went for a bike ride and Ben made butter chicken for dinner.  We picked up this chocolate mousse cake at the French Bakery and it was worth every single New York dollar.

That evening, Ben and I went to a wine tasting at the local wine shop.  They only sell 10 tickets, so it's very hard to get into.  Ben quickly snagged us some tickets when he saw they were doing white German wines on my birthday.  We couldn't make it to a winery, but this was a great compromise.  It was fun evening and we got to meet some fellow Sea Cliff-eans.

Catching up a little

There's a lot of life that needs to be caught up on, but here's a little to get the ball rolling.

It's been 6 years since we've experienced seasons and I've thoroughly enjoyed watching spring come to life in our new little town.  Although we could all be done with the rain, we're thankful for the flowers that it's brought.

Prettiest yard on my run:

 

 

Taken just outside the library:

 

 

 

My favorite in our yard:

 

 

Boba is still life.  Alison's theory is: if life gets you down, go get boba!

@Boba opened up just down the street right after we moved in, which is a really fun treat.  Alison has walked there several times with new friends but she's also started making her own at home!

 

 

 

Aunt Beth shared a little secret with us...Trader Joe's has boba ice cream! 

 

 

Eli got braces!  They're correcting his bite first, so he doesn't have him on his front teeth yet, which turned out to be a blessing.  It was much "easier" adjusting to half a mouth full of metal instead of a full mouth.  He rocked it like a champ and was pretty content to live off pudding and yogurt for a couple of days.

Before:

 

 

 After:  

You can't tell yet, but they're there.

 

What better way to ease the pain than build Legos?

 

 

 

 Colin has been my little baker lately.  He made chocolate chip cookies and snicker doodles one week and they were delicious! 

  

 

We joined the *only* homeschool group on Long Island, but from that group found that a group of moms who started another unofficial group (the pandemic has had it's perks...like this).  They have been so welcoming of our family.  We went on our first field trip with them, to the Marine Nature Study in Freeport.  Honestly, it was a boring tour of marshlands, but we got to meet a large number of homeschoolers!

We've been to the park with the group a couple of times and they invited Alison to join them for prom!  

 

I feel bad for all the other homeschoolers who don't have a trustee homeschool dog like we do.  I mean, how do you even do math without this face starring at you?

  

 

Maya is always good for a snuggle and a laugh.

Mother's Day

It may not seem like much, but it meant the world to me...Eli made brunch on Mother's Day

 

 and Colin made the salad for dinner.

 

I love being mom to these kids!