Month: March 2020

It all started when I was getting a colonoscopy in January. Someone mentioned that ASU was stressed about someone spreading this scary virus that came from China. I pretty much disregarded it and chocked it up to another media hyperbolic reaction as usual.

Then, Doug and I were planning a trip to Disney. My brother, Dolly and Tommy were to join us. It was to be the first part of May. As time has approached, the trip would have to be “reconsidered” due to Disneyland closing which has been unprecedented. What is going on?

It continues to spread across the world, but the media does a fine job of scaring us and not giving the full story. There is also politics involved, so we have to be “prudent” as Proverbs 22:3 says. “The prudent see danger and take refuge,  but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” This was what Pastor Jamie shared with us on Sunday as the church will also take a pause.

Tot’s school will be closed after Spring Break. They have closed all of the schools for two weeks, so now we are homebound.

Movie theaters: Closed

Restaurants: Closed (takeout only)

Church: Closed

Schools: Closed

Gyms: Closed

Malls: Closed

Soccer season: Canceled

Swimming lessons: Canceled

Workplaces: Work from home, please

Any gathering ABOVE 10: Closed

Stores: Lines out the door to buy food. Toilet paper is wiped out. No pun intended.

Daddy has chosen to go into work, but most of Honeywell is telecommuning.

So, Tot and I have a choice: Complain and feel sad, or MAKE THE BEST OF IT! We choose the latter. We are choosing to do a bit of school everyday and a bit of fun.

Picnic at the park!

Time with mama on St. Patrick’s Day.

Must have a green dinner to continue the celebration.

Some watercolor painting:

• 

• 

Yes, under your nose is two lips! Hahahahaha!

• 

• 

And, we decided to start gratitude journaling again after our devotion each morning. REMAIN GRATEFUL amidst the CHAOTIC OUTSIDE> we will not be panicking.

• 

• 

Even Daddy is pausing and helping Tot make jewelry. How cute is he at her little table!

I see this PAUSE as a huge blessing.

Cooper even takes a PAUSE

Maybe God saw the world needed to come together and work as a team. ALSO, that we should all focus on our families and not be soooooo busy constantly. We now have no choice, so I pray we can use this time for GOOD. Growing closer. Making joy. Looking UP!

We love you, Father. Thank you for all you do for us and protecting us. We know you are in control, and your precious will be done.

She always gets a “last bite” after lunch. (really after all meals, HA!) She wanted a little bag of Skittles, and I said she could have 1/2.

She counted out all of them, and then figured it out.

Hopefully it’s the “bigger half!”

I wanted to hire DK Brittain, for another round of pictures since we don’t have any with Austin… and my hubby is looking so dapper. 

We picked a beautiful Wednesday February evening at the Starfire Golf course where we had our reception.

Boy, did they turn out beautiful. My family might look good on the outside, but the inside is even more precious. I’m so grateful. I’m also so glad Austin joined us.

AMEN!

At the Toby Mac concert, we didn’t just have a BLAST, but we also agreed to sponsor a child from Food for the Hungry. (Thank you, Honey!)

We are so excited to go on this journey with who we get. We hope to visit her someday!

After receiving information about our girl, we decided every Monday at dinner, we’d pray for her and learn more about her.

Her name is Sandrine, and she is 13.

Sandrine wrote us her own letter in her language and it was translated for us.

• 

Tatum worked on a reply for a couple of days.

Here is her “sloppy copy.”

I love what she has done here. Sandrine mentioned she wanted to be a nurse, so Tatum made a “dream” drawing. This is when Sandrine will be 23; she’ll have clean water, a textbook on the digestive system from her nursing school, and she’ll have some bread too.

Now that is so thoughtful.

We are going to send it off with some of our pics.

We look forward to our correspondence with Sandrine, and hopefully getting to meet her one day.

Thank you FH for this opportunity. We’ll be praying for our girl and all the other children.

We made a follow up appointment to Dr. Cowan today. He is our life-saver when it comes to her cough and allergies.

He has gotten a bit more aggressive with her because she is not only coughing, (which is not coming from her chest but the back of her throat) but she is also constantly clearing her throat and fighting a runny nose.

Now we have a whole arsenal of tools. He had to write it all down on the bag he gave me full of samples. I am so grateful for him!

When we got home, I told her that we should be full of complete gratitude. She has a choice: Be miserable or be grateful for the wonders of medicine. That translates into NO COMPLAINING about the bevy of medicines she must take.

So, we make if F.U.N. right?
I made a little chart for her bathroom, and each day she accomplishes the protocol with a smile and a heart of GRATITUDE, she gets to fill in a smiley face. After 14 smiley faces, we’ll have a prize of some sort. This ALWAYS works.

Tonight, she filled in her first smiley face.

And there is much rejoicing.

Praying for more peaceful nights and more and more smiles.

.

What else would you call yourselves when you have pink jerseys, hmm? I mean how perfect. Let me back up, however.

I remember her first soccer game two years ago when she was 5. We have come a long way since then. This time, we are more prepared, I think. First, Doug is out of town for our first game, so I am hoping I have a bit of a backup coach to give me pointers. The day did not disappoint.

We picked up our team’s jerseys at the Phoenix Rising tent, and they handed me a bag of PINK jerseys. All mediums, but still. They were perfect! They also instructed us to get black shorts and socks for each player.

Tatum immediately put her’s on, and luckily they had a small to get in trade. She looks so stinkin’ cute.

OK, then Coach Matt showed up at our field and got all the girls together to dribble and practice to warm up.

Finally we met our opposing team. They were in their blue jerseys and each girl had matching hair ties with their outfits. I mean, they looked put together. The coach was a master and had been doing it for years.

Let’s rally girls!

GO PINK!

Game started and Coach Matt instructed the girls to follow that ball and get around it constantly. I picked up a ton of pointers that first quarter while he was with me. First, the diamond shape is important to have the girls know their position. The girl closest to the opposing team’s goal needs to make sure she is close to that as their ball gets close. ALSO, they must all go TOWARDS the ball and get in DOWN the field.

After the first quarter, Matt left, and I took over. The second quarter was our worst. The other team scored about 6 goals and the girls got a bit flustered. BUT THEN at the half, I had a nice long chat with the girls in a circle.

We talked about staying strong and focusing as a team! We can’t let this get us down.

Third quarter, GOAL! We got one. They looked so much stronger the whole game. Our defense is strong. We have some aggressive players, TOT being one of them. They all have so much fire, and although we only had six players today, they all made up for what was missing.

At the end, although we lost, we all shook hands with the other team and did a cheer with the parents. I then found out that team has been playing since Pre-K!!! THREE YEARS. Ok, three years vs. us with one practice and just meeting each other. I feel pretty darn good about it.

We are only going to get better and stronger. I can’t wait to get to know these spunky Pink Flamingos. Stay tuned!