July 2020 Happenings

To be honest the months have started to fade into each other a bit. It's a weird mix of being bored at home with nothing to do and at the same time being too busy with work and the remodel to catch a breath. In the long list of traditions that were lost to the pandemic is our 3rd/4th of July parties spent with friends. Instead this year C and Tio had us over and we still had a great time with a BBQ, fireworks, and sparklers.

Lots of time at home means lots of time in the pool, playing games, watching movies, and building a giant fort in Kieran's room that the boys camped out in for days. Thank goodness a few days a week the boys continued to go to daycare where they were able to interact with other kids and their beloved teachers.

Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kari and the girls came to visit. It was so great to see them and have the kids play together. As a gift we had family pictures done while they were here. It has been a long time since we've all been together so it was nice to be able to document it. The boys were sad to say goodbye and talked about the girls non-stop after the visit.

Reed and I spent a lot of time at the Allergy Doctor's office during the month. His blood work in the spring indicated he may have grown out of some of his allergies so after follow up skin tests we moved forward with oral challenges. The challenges are pretty much all day affairs. He has vitals taken, eats a small amount of the allergen, is observed for 30 minutes, has vitals taken, eats a bit larger quantity, repeat for about 5 hours. Reed did great and passed soy, walnut, hazelnut, and pecan. It's been wonderful trying new foods at home and helping him (and me) overcome the fear of eating something that for so long we have avoided.

The boys' piano teacher aired the vitural recital and it was great. We were able to see so many of our friends play their piano pieces and it definitely seemed like a little piece of normal even if we were watching from our living room. Kieran continues to have the hardest time with staying home. He seems to need to be wherever I am but I have found I can get some space when needed by getting him drawing or crafting. Maybe this will be referred to as his "pandemic period" when he's a famous artist!

June 2020 Happenings

I have no idea what the official last day of school was but we had final Zoom calls with teachers and turned in final work on June 1st so I called it. To say I was done with the distance learning situation by this point is an understatement. I know the teachers did the best they could with no time to prepare for the situation but working from home while teaching two different grades about drove me to insanity (and wasn't great for the boys either).

June was still filled with plenty of time at home. Making book suggestions for friends, walks around the block, lots of time with the primos, and most exciting for me - I was finally able to get my hair colored again!!!

G-Momma got to spend her Birthday with us and it was so great to get to see her in person.

The boys' music teacher arranged for a virtual piano recital - each student came and recorded their pieces separately and she is going to have them edited together and then have a video release night so if we are free we can all watch at the same time! I made the boys pose for their annual recital picture in the parking lot but for posterity, required them to do it first with the masks they were asked to wear when entering the church.

We celebrated Grandma's Birthday and Father's Day at our house and then the next day celebrated Father's Day at Nonna and Pepe's - with a water slide and lots of time in the pool.

The rest of the month was filled with taking care of the tortoise, working in the garden, the boys being so happy to be back at Sonshine (and Mom being happy to be back in the office), lots of time at the new house making decisions for the very slowly progressing remodel, and Jon's hair getting bigger by the day.