Pandemic Chronicles: Week Nine

Week Nine was May 10th-16th

This week started out with Mother's Day! The boys did a fun planting seeds activity with Ms Kim for our children's class that morning.

We finally saw KneKne and Peeps for a little while on our deck. It had been almost two whole months!

The boys decorated some cookies. Then Grady had his class' end of the year celebration. He got the Lion Award for his leadership and beign a helper with the other kids in class. It was such a sweet ending to a sweet year. We are going to miss Ms Miller so much!!

After that, we took a walk, did reading time and then played a game. All my favorite things to do as a family!

For Mother's Day, Griffin made me my own debit card for things for him to do. He didn't really think through the cost versus how much money he gave me... so I have enough for a years worth of laundry at least! haha! But he did some laundry the next day :-)

Grady has been real into "fixing" his mohawk on his own. He does a great job actually! This is the boys first week of summer break... so each morning we started with our summer workbooks, ha! We want something to keep some structure and help them not lose all their skills. If I have to work, we all do... hahahahaha!

Then Mr.Pate put the boys to work in the yard. They did an amazing job and didn't even complain! They spread mulch under all the trees and in the front bed. I was really impressed with them.

They picked out some matching outfits one of the days also. Ha! Too cute.

We have been getting out Mr.Pate's disc golf hole and practicing in the yard. Super fun.

Grady decided to play under the truck because the sun was too hot?? Ha!

Pandemic Chronicles: Week Seven

Week Seven was April 26th - May 2nd. 

It has been 7 weeks. 7 weeks?! Crazy. 

We kicked off this week with our new normal Sunday morning: Mr.Pate at church and us at home doing PreK/K zoom class, online church and children’s church online. During our prayer I looked over and saw Griffin praying like this, which melted my heart. 

Sunday night we had a game night with our connect group on zoom. It was a blast. Our group has some pretty hilarious people, haha! 





Monday we hit the ground running with school at home once again. I have been really impressed with Grady’s math skills and it’s been super neat to have the opportunity to see him learning and growing so much. 


And Griffin continues to grow like a weed. I know he is still shorter than many kids his age, but everytime he puts on clothes they are too short once again, haha! 

The boys and I are reading The Chronicles of Narnia at bedtime (something Griffin and I did several years ago), and it’s so sweet to me. We finished The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and Griffin took his AR test on it. These are my favorite books of all time. I pray they see the amazing symbolism and it makes them fall more in love with Jesus! 

We played some bocce ball several days this week. Longtime favorite of ours. If you don’t have this game, get it! It’s fun just for couples, but can also include all ages of kids just about! 


Gradys teacher showed up to their zoom with pink hair, so he had to be Joe Dirt. Haha! 



Griffin got into an organizing mood this week. He rearranged his desks, his bookshelves and purged toys without me asking. It was slightly annoying and pretty helpful! 

He decided to organize the legos by color, which was a big project but gave him something to do while he listened to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, haha! It looks great now. They have been very into creating with legos right now! 

My friend Brooke brought me some beautiful flowers as an early Mother’s Day present! How sweet?! 

We got a really fun new game! 

And we have been doing some reading. Grady is not real into slowing down and reading, so having reading time with him is super sweet! 

Saturday, we did a Scavenger Hunt with church. It was soooo fun! I will do a whole post on it soon. 

And did a walk/bike ride afterwards. What beautiful nights! 

Then Mr.Pate and I ended the night watching the Opry. We have loved these Opry shows on Saturday nights. This week took me down memory lane majorly! Misty and I used to sing To “Walkaway Joe” and “That Summer” with such passion. Oh sweet sweet memories. 

Happy May everyone! I hope you are all doing well and making the most of these unprecedented times. 

Back to back kinda love

This morning, around 6am, Grady crawled in bed with us. They had gone to sleep pretty late the last two nights and he doesn’t do well when that happens. Instead of waking up later, he wakes up earlier. Lucky us! Haha. 

He curled in next to me, and then ended up back to back with me, making sure to press against me as he drifted back to sleep. I also drifted in and out of sleep, but determined not to move so he could get as much rest as possible. 

I loved those moments. Parenting happens so fast. They grow so incredibly fast. You almost do not have time to notice that they wake up scared less, they need the presence of your back touching theirs less and less in order to sleep. 

He is my baby. And yet he is quickly becoming less and less of a baby. And if I am honest, I adore seeing him turn into this young boy and all the new adventures he is conquering. 

But this morning, I got a few sweet hours of back to back love. And it was medicine to my soul. 

Pandemic Chronicles: Week Four

Week Four: April 5th - 11th

I started this week sneaking some birthday signs into a yard for Redeemer! We colored Joseph's technicolor coats for our PreK/K class. Then church online, where the boys beat me in the call back once again!

Grandma and Uncle Ed came down to deliver Easter goodies and have a little socially distanced hangout on the deck for a few minutes. It was really good to see them and a beautiful day for it!

Griffin and Grady immediately built their new legos while we had bible study with our Connect Group that night.

We started the next morning with another Wave Parade, which perfect weather for it!

This week was technically Spring Break for the boys, so no school work all week! It was also Holy Week, so we did different challenges as a church.

We provided food at Redeemer on Tuesday & Thursday this week, and had a great turn out from the community.

And the best news of all... Grady became a Christian on Tuesday, April 7th! Here is the story, as told by Mr.Pate:

 

Conversation in van coming home from serving free meals to the community at church.

(Propane tanks in back fall over make loud sound)

Griffin: what would happen if they exploded?

Me: (trying to be honest but not dramatic) We would try to get out.

Griffin: but what if we can’t what if it explode

Me: I guess we would go to the hospital with severe burns

Griffin: What if we die, I don’t want to die.

Me: I don’t want to die either but I’m not afraid of dying bc I will go to heaven and be with Jesus.

Griffin: oh yeah me too

GRADY: I would go to HELL bc I’m not a Christian

(Parents trying not to laugh, laughing not sure if we should cry over our kids lack of salvation.)

Me: Well why aren’t you a Christian.

(We have been having some really good conversations lately w him)

Grady: I don’t know what to say

Me: like you don’t know what words to pray

Grady: yes. I would but I don’t know what to say.

Me: Do you want me to say a prayer and you repeat me

Grady: yes. Prays.

(Both of our boys have prayed asking God to forgive them for their sins by placing their faith in Christ alone while in the back seat of the mini van while we drive home from a church event.)

So so So excited!!! 

The rest of the week had lots of playing outside, Grady attempting to ride a bike without training wheels, a Good Friday FB Live concert with the Broadys, getting Easter mail from KneKne and Peeps, disc golf, and KneKne's birthday from afar!