The New Normal

Things are slowly opening and raising their capacity, so life is picking up the pace a tiny bit.  However, my co-op has completely cancelled for all of next year which means we are far from getting back to normal.  Many are wondering if this is the new normal.  I love the slower pace of life.  I love being with our family altogether so much.  It will be sad though if we can't have any big gatherings for a year or more.  All I can say is Jesus, I trust in you.

Our Marigolds (grown from seeds, for my Botany class)

Our green bean plants are struggling.  We've only harvested five beans.  :(  I should've stuck with tomatoes and peppers.  

The kids are trying to help me more in the kitchen.  A couple weeks ago we had a super fun menu for the week and Isaac helped me with these Cowboy Calzones (by Pioneer Woman).  He made the dough and I made the filling.  We filled them together in an assembly line.  They were a big hit as was the Marlboro Man sandwiches that Genna helped me with earlier in the week.  The next week Isaac made the same pizza dough so and we used them for homemade pizzas. 

Then we picked up rocks from the neighborhood rock garden and painted them before returning them, a little neighborhood beautification project.  Everyone loved it and can't wait to do it again for Aunt Kristen's house since they soon discovered that she has the same rocks in her yard.  I have to admit most of the kids were so happy with their results that they wanted to keep the rocks for themselves, but we told them that would be stealing and we should share their talents with others.  They were a little taken aback that we'd consider that stealing...a few rocks?  But, alas, the rocks were returned in the end.

I mostly verbally helped with these rocks, but I did help with the star a bit on Drew's Captain America rock.

Bob called his a "stained glass" rock and Judah's was Groot.  I helped Judah with the lines on Groot.  I was so proud of Bob!  All I did was paint the border lines.  He is so precise with his coloring and painting for a four year old, in my biased opinion.

Hannah did the Northern Lights.

I did the M&M one because I thought the idea was super clever that I found online.  Genna's is the long, skinny sunset.  Isaac's is the other night sky.  I didn't help my big kids at all other than explaining how to layer and blend the colors.