Our build started & some farm updates

We broke ground on our forever home on October 1st 2020. In the midst of a pandemic and so much political/social unrest this is certainly a bright spot for us. The old farmhouse we are in is such a blessing because we don’t have to pay rent on top of a construction loan & we are right next door and can monitor the progress (& get excited) by taking a short walk. Here are a few photos of the progress so far...which only include a road and some footers but we will take anything. 

This next photo is a comparison of when we had footers poured on our last house to these footers. What a difference 9 years makes...we went from a newborn and toddler to 3 kids running ❤️.

We got 2 farm cats (which has turned into 3). Neal is allergic to cats and isn’t a big fan. I like cats but don’t ever want an indoor one again. We all thought having one to kill mice and things would be fun but also love animals so much that we wondered if we’d be good at making them stay outside in cold or bad weather. I found a 5 month old kitten on Facebook that had only been outside and she was so cute. So we decided to get her. Her name is Lollipop and she is perfectly happy outside but is also the sweetest, most cuddly and prettiest cat. My mom decided she is lonely and needed a friend so we went back to the people we go Lolli from ans for her cousin, Speckles. He’s a little less cuddly and a little more playful and so pretty himself. Well a ferrel cat has decided he likes their food and keeps coming around. We would shoo him of at first but now they run around as a trio and all seem to get along and love each other. He/she comes near us now but is still unsure of us. We’ve had a lot of fun having outside cats! 

Our chickens started laying eggs this week, finally!! We’ve had them since the end of May and have been so excited for this day to come. I think about half of them are laying and we have gotten 16 eggs in 7 days. It has been such a fun week because of this new excitement. 

Ella’s 9th camping birthday party

Ella’s birthday party request was a bit non-conventional this year. She wanted to have a chicken themed camping trip on our property that includes her girlfriends and their whole families (these poor parents) 🤣. Most all of the families jumped at the opportunity and excitedly came out and camped with us. 

Gigi & Pop graciously slept inside with William. The wind was terrible and made setting up the tents more difficult and squashed our plans for a big bonfire. But we roasted marshmallows on the grill and made the most of it and ended up having a blast. Her 9 year old party goes down as her favorite one so far 🥳!

Out of quarantine, mostly

I’ve been so terrible about keeping this blog up since having a 3rd baby. The pandemic is far from over but we have eased back into regular life, for the most part. Quarantine was hard for us all but we survived and there were some bright spots. 

During quarantine I had my supper club girlfriends over to socially distance but the pond and talk and drink. This kept me somewhat connected. Neal working from home in the afternoon some days so that I could mow, sit in my car or run an errand truly did keep me sane. The time we got to spend as a family and the girls helpfulness was truly a gift because we normally are running from one activity to another. We all enjoyed being able to sleep in. Now there was also some fighting/arguing, feelings of hopelessness that it would never end, lots of missing friends and wondering when we would get back to any sort of schedule. 

School started back up in late August. The kids don’t get any of their regular events and they have to wear masks but they are oh so thrilled to be back in school. They have the best teachers and I think this will be a year to remember for teachers and friends...& because they are just so happy to be back in school. 

Reese and Ella are playing sports again. This has felt mostly normal aside from the fact that parents cannot go in and watch practices. Ella joined a club soccer team and we recently went on her 1st travel tournament. Reese played volleyball again this season and they won the championship. Hey both made the Mini Mounties basketball team and games just started this week. 

We are feeling thankful for this sense of normalcy. We still can not wait for church to open up at more capacity and for children’s programs to start back up. Cases seem to be on the rise, especially for kids in schools, last week. I am interested to see if any changes are made over the holidays but I’m hopeful that we don’t go back into full quarantine. I’m praying that we determine a way to end the pandemic and return to regular life. 

A quarantine update

We have been in quarantine since March 14. Its gotten old at this point and we are all ready to be with friends and do things. We have found a lot of fun things to do and I have enjoyed the extra time with my kids. 

Neal’s work has been crazy. The Walmart business is strong so his team is working harder than they ever have. However, the other accounts within his company are not doing well at all. Most others have closed their doors for the time being. So the Keeco employees that support those other accounts gave mostly been furloughed. The owners of the company and Neal’s team have all taken significant pay cuts to carry the company overall. It stinks that he’s working longer and harder than ever but being paid less...but we are thankful for his job. 

With him working longer I’ve felt a bit more isolated in this house with 3 kids all day everyday. We’ve tried to get out and have visited a lot of creeks and gone on many walks. I had an especially bad day last Friday and my frustrations showed pretty clearly when Neal got home. Thankfully he’s and amazing husband and he responded with a solution that has given me life this week. Monday he is working all day in the office. Tuesday through Friday he’s trying to leave the office around 1 and work the rest of the day at home. We’ve put William down for a nap around 2. This way he can work because the girls understand not bothering him while he’s working and I can get out of the house. I’ve run to Walmart, done lots of mowing, gone running, listened to podcasts in my car and watched tv shows. It has been so helpful for my sanity!

Another thing I’ve really been enjoying is having the girls from supper club over to sit 6 feet apart at the pond on our land. They drive straight down to the pond, being their own chair and drinks and we are able to hang out with no contact at all. We’ve done it 3 times now and it has been a great outlet for engagement. 

The quarantine hasn’t been all bad. I’ve loved that we’ve been able to slow down. We never have time to eat at home this time of year and I always miss cooking. I’ve cooked more than ever and we’ve eaten together as a family almost every night. Being able to be outside so often has also been a blessing during the beautiful time of year that we are in. Neal and my dad also put together a new play set that we are all excited about! I do miss adult interaction and any time alone with Neal to have any sort of adult conversation...but we will get back to that soon I hope.

President Trump has left it up to each Governor to decide how and when we reopen businesses. Governor Hitchinson is scheduled to announce his plans for restaurants, gyms, salons and churches in the next week. I am eager to hear the plan and sure to hope it all goes well so we don’t have to think about having to go back into quarantine.

Reese’s 10 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color? lavender

Who is your favorite friend? Ella George

What is your favorite snack? Cheese its or pop corn

What do you like to do with Ella? Jump on the trampoline

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Sandwiches with a lot of mayo

What is your favorite drink? Lemonade

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike

What is your favorite sport? Basketball 

What do you want to be when you grow up? Be a vet or be a special needs teacher

What is your favorite animal? Pig or puppy

What is your favorite book? Almost Home

What do you like to to do with Daddy? Drove in the car with him

What do you like to do with Mommy? Sleep with her

What is your favorite song? Rescue by LD

What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Shrimp tacos

What do you take with you when you go to bed? Lyla, brown blanky & purple blanky 

What is your favorite holiday? Easter & 4th of July

What makes you happy? When my sister plays with me

What makes you sad? When my sister is mean to me

What do you think about before bed? That God is with me

What is your favorite thing to do with William? Rupidos & Superman 

What is your favorite thing to do as a family? A sport

Reese’s 10th birthday- quarantine style

Quarantine is hard! It’s hard not to know when we can have our normal lives back again. It’s hard that soccer season ends this weekend and Ella only got to play 2 games. It’s hard that softball practice was supposed to start last week but it didn’t. It’s really hard that we had to cancel Reeses hotel sleepover last Friday. 

I worried that she would be so sad but she handled it really well. She is sad but she knows we will do something fun when we can to celebrate her birthday with her friends. Since we had to cancel the party (& since Neal was going to use hotel points for the hotel and was able to get a deal with proms being cancelled) Neal decided to arrange to have a limo pick us up Saturday evening to drive us around to say hi to some of her special friends. We also grabbed dinner to eat in the limo. It was so much fun! She says that it is her favorite birthday so far 💜. It is pretty awesome that she will end up getting more celebration this way ☺️. 

Our sweet friend Rachel asked if she could come get pictures of the reveal and I’m so glad that she did!

These are some of the photos we got of the stops we made to see friends. 

We even got to make a stop of Mrs. Bodenstein’s house and that was pretty special to see her teacher after a month of them being apart! ❤️

The Davidsons were our 1st stop and I didn’t have the idea to get pictures with everyone yet so I failed to get a pic with them. Luckily, we’d seen them earlier in the day because they’d egged our house and dropped by a gift for Reese & I got a picture then. 

Saturday evening was a fun celebration!!

Sunday was her actual birthday and Easter. She requested blue pancakes for breakfast and her daddy always delivers.

Easter service looked a little different this year from the couch.

Gigi & Pop got her real diamond earrings for her birthday!

 

We celebrated Easter and Tyler & Reese’s birthday with my dad & the Scantlan’s at the house for Easter lunch. 

It was a weird birthday but I think it is one she will look back on fondly and always remember. We love you so much Reese and we are so proud of you!