Smith Family

When we first moved in the previous owners put fake flowers (FAKE FLOWERS from like the Dollar Store) all up the walkway and some mulch. It was a quick fix but wasn't sustainable and looked pretty bad. With the rainstorms we get the mulch would flood over and after a year and a half this is what our walkway looked like. It was embarrassing. Due to Elliott's work schedule, a tight budget and just not knowing what to do we didn't do anything.  Overtime has been cut due to cases at work coming to a drastic halt throughout this virus which is definitely scary. We are a bit concerned about the future but one bonus is we've been able to see Elliott a lot more and were able to tackle this walk way situation. We drove by many yards trying to figure out what to do. We needed easy maintenance but also looked nice.  We thought the bushes would be a good solution and found some on sale. We bought some rock to fill in the smaller planter and then went to work on these bus...

 School lunch pick up, we got a whole pint of strawberries per kid! One day Audrey decided not to go and that happened to be the day they each got a Chick Fil A sandwhich. The child has to be in the car in order to get a bag so she didn't get one. Melanie was nice enough to share with her though.  Primary ice cream parade. Our primary presidency was so cute and scheduled a drive by for each kid. They got prizes for decorating their ice cream hat and a choice of ice cream treat. Mother's day was perfect and I felt loved.   Doing homework with Melanie isn't always a joy.  We've made lots of treats during this quaratine. Scotcheroos are probably the most popular but these were a hit. Except for Audrey, she doesn't like them  We had just barely enough material from Audrey's stash to make enough masks for the family. I am not great at sewing but managed to get these babies put together. We lucked out having elastic from working on scrunc...

Another birthday while being quarantined. We had a good time celebrating this special kid. Dad made a delicious breakfast He got a gaming chair, wireless headphones, a game for his switch, a robot from Granny and Papa and some money from Grandma Carolyn.  We had a zoom birthday party with the Petersen cousins. It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed seeing each other. We played charades and then Kahoot! He then had a zoom meeting with his class. We finished the day with pizza, a movie and cake. I just love this kid and feel blessed that he's mine. He has definitely loved being in quarantine the most out of all the kids. He feels the most comfortable at home with his family. He loves to play Fortnite and build things. He has a tender heart and a calming energy about him. He's our newest double digit midget.

We had a beautiful Easter day this year. We died eggs, watched The Lamb of God, did our Easter egg hunt and made a feast to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. I love this little family of mine.  Also, Audrey feel prey to the Quarantine bangs! 

We are still alive and kicking here after a month of being stuck at home. Elliott is able to continue working and was asked to help out on a special project which is allowing overtime. I feel so fortunate that we aren't having to worry about our income right now. The government sent out checks to everyone to help boost the economy and we applied that immediately to one of our credit cards. We've been able to pay off 2 of our biggest credit cards since the beginning of the year which is so exciting. Law school really dug us into a deep financial hole but we are starting to see the light and it's so refreshing. We have about $4,000 more in credit cards and then will start paying off the cars. It feels really nice. We are getting the hang of home school. I felt like this meme accurately summed up how it feels. So many different programs and passwords! I wish there was just a packet to complete each week but instead it's different links for different assignments that l...

The kids and I went out for a nature walk to find a rainbow. It was a good time looking around really closely to spot the colors. We're about to complete our 2nd week of homeschooling and I would say for the most part we are doing pretty well. We've been keeping up with the suggested assignments and go pick up lunch at Audrey's school which has a very quick system. I just find that our motivation to be active seriously falters when there aren't any scheduled events to plan for or get to. Elliott jokingly asked if I would ever consider home school after this experience. I told him I don't think we are getting a fair representation since I hope we would go to museums, have extracurricular activities and classes to attend. Being stuck at home all day is rough no matter how creative or positive our attitudes may be.  I am so thankful that we are healthy, we have food and Pete has a job. I wouldn't change that, or risk anyone else's health to change our circ...

We celebrated Melanie's 8th birthday this last week. Unfortunately due to the Corona Virus we have had to postpone her baptism and her birthday party at the trampoline park. We were given instruction that stake baptisms have been canceled but we can perform a small baptism with less that 10. My parents really want to be here for her baptism and traveling isn't really possible so as of right now we are just waiting for things to calm down before decided on what to do.  We did our best to make her birthday special under the circumstances. We were able to find her favorite breakfast which is eggo waffles with strawberries and whip cream. I was shocked there were any Eggo's left at the store! We had planned an outdoor scavenger hunt, but it basically rained all day! She still went out with an umbrella to find a few things. We played hide and go seek, had pizza for dinner, watched Frozen 2 and had an ice cream cake from DQ.  On Saturday Pete had the day off of work so h...