Every Day a Memory: Spring 2020

It was not an easy spring. Work became a beast I had to face each day. We were in quarantine and missing our families and friends. I was doing my absolute best to keep the boys on track with home schooling while also balancing my own heavy load at work and trying not to let my new role as their teacher interfere with my more important role as their mama. We made big house decisions and faced financial uncertainty. And we lost March Madness and our chance to see our UNI basketball compete on the nation's biggest sports stage. There was a lot of hard.

But that's why I like pictures so much - and why I continue to try and write about our adventures and day to day happenings. This blog doesn't get my attention in the way it once did - it can't - I just don't have enough hours in the day. But looking back on the different chapters - the things we've survived and the years in which we've thrived - the memories we've built whether it be trekking to Disney World or demolishing our kitchen or just hunkering down together amidst a once-in-a-century pandemic - it all matters. It's all part of our story.

Phone images from spring.

|| Wanting to work like mommy. Not shown here - she found my pens and wrote all over the white window trim. Luckily, that trim needs new paint anyway...

|| Images from daycare. A new baby started, and Kaitlyn was no longer the youngest one there. After only about a day or two of jealousy over the new little one, Kaitlyn evolved into a mothering role. Her hand on baby Kinley's back in this picture melts me.

|| Brandon's room became a new hangout spot after his birthday thanks to his new (to him) TV and furniture and TV setup.

|| We made some big decisions.

|| Tractor rides. The wheels still spin and the motor still runs on this thing. Now if only we could find the charger...

|| Fresh hair and growing pony tails.

|| Those mornings she sleeps long, and I get to peek in and watch.

|| When the pandemic was at its earliest and scariest, she learned how to pray. Putting her to bed every night was a highlight of my hard days, and she kept me grounded.

|| When we just couldn't stay inside any longer, the boys would wrap up their two-three hours of school in the mornings and then head outside with their cousins and Uncle James.

|| St. Patty's Day was the first celebration stolen from us, but I still made my Guinness cake. It's just so good.

|| Finding time to play games has gotten harder, but we returned to this old favorite several nights in a row once the shut-down happened.

|| There was A LOT of this...

|| Our sunset views through our sunroom windows...

|| Class Zoom sessions every Tuesday and Thursday.

|| And spending every evening we could out in the driveway waving at our neighbors from a distance.

|| Kaitlyn became obsessed with her Disney princess book. Her favorite pictures were the Snow White ones with Grumpy. :)

|| A very, very rare occurrence.

|| For a very brief chapter in our history, Kaitlyn actually would smile when we'd tell her to say "cheese." ;)

|| This is a little bit of what Easter looked like this year... this eventually evolved into wild ping pong games in the living room. Desperate times...

|| The first yard mowing of the season. And a sweet Easter gift from Papa Bob and Nana Nancy.

|| A new favorite destination within walking distance of home.

|| And a new exercise bike to help keep my spirits up and the pounds off!

|| Visiting new places.

|| And backyard football practices.

|| Her first time holding a fish.

|| And walks with baby through the neighborhood.

|| When sissy interrupts the class Zoom meeting...

|| And a sign of how far we've actually come. Directly across the street from us our neighbors had up graduation yard signs, and I know that our time is coming all too soon.