I have a thing for 4-leaf clovers. To me, every one I find is a declaration of love from my Heavenly Father. Today as I was weeding my front yard I found these four wee lovelies. The one with the gimpy 4th leaf may be my absolute favorite one I have ever found. And they might have been exactly what I needed today. Because life is hard and I needed a tangible reminder that Heavenly Father is aware of me. Distance learning is fine. My life is fine. There is nothing in particular to complain about and yet . . . life is just . . . hard. So thanks Heavenly Father for four 4-leaf clovers, each one tenderly saying, "I'm aware of you. I'm aware of you. I'm aware of you. I'm aware of you."

Our Inaugural Fire

 

 

We worked so hard to finish our new patio by Labor Day so we could have initiate our fire pit with my sister's family, but since we were on high alert for fire danger, and the smoke was already rolling in, we waited as patiently as we could for the first opportunity to light it up. 

We had a crazy thunder and lightening rain storm Thursday night and into Friday so we now have clean air once again! Hallelujah! To celebrate being able to go outside again, the kids and I walked the long way to my parents house jumping in EVERY puddle, especially the muddy ones. They kept losing their shoes claimed by the persistent, deep mud, but after two weeks of being stuck inside I couldn't deny them that childhood joy, even if it meant wiping them down before they went inside. Everyone seems happier.

Today we continued our celebration with our first backyard fire and smore roasting. It was such a beautiful autumn day in Oregon and I am so happy to have our air and our backyard back again!

Halloween Crafting

 

We are safe from the fires but the smoke makes it virtually impossible to leave the house. Did I mention that we had lots of fun things planned for this week? It was supposed to be the last week of summer awesomeness. We were going to basically spend the week in swimsuits at Aumsville Pond, Buell Creek Park, and the beach. 

But since we are stuck inside we've had to get really creative. It's the beginning of September but we decided to do our Halloween craft early. I let the kids pick out a Halloween image that I cut out on my silhouette to use as a stencil. It was A LOT of prep work for about 15 minutes of painting but the kids were happy with their final product so everyone was happy.

The Apocalyptic Day

 

This morning I woke up at my normal time but I was sure my clock was wrong and it was still the middle of the night. When I finally got a chance to look outside it was eerily orange, almost like we had somehow been teleported to what I think Mars must look like. 

The air quality is apocalyptic right now due to nearby forest fires and high winds pushing the smoke towards us. as a result we did not go to the beach today or any other outdoor activities. I'm trying to make this a fun week for the kids so this morning we brainstormed some ideas. We ended up deciding on driving up to Portland to get Chick-Fil-A for lunch and Krispy Kreme donuts for dessert. The air quality was great in Portland but on our way home it looked like we were driving into an orange wall. 

By 5pm it felt like 8pm and by 6 it felt like 10. If it weren't so dangerous for so many people and so awful for everyone's health it would be really cool.

Coronavirus Pluses

Last summer I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought: "Be prepared; things are going to start happening. It's going to be ok. Your family will be better for it and you will know that I am aware and actively engaged in your lives. I have had other experiences (a few months before I met Matthew and again a few months before I started finding out about all the things keeping me from getting pregnant) with waking up in the middle of the night with very distinct promptings so while I wasn't quite sure what to make of this thought, I had a history of seeing them happen in pretty amazing ways.

But then nothing happened. At least not that I could discern. I took my concern to the Lord in December but the answer was the same: just wait and be prepared for change. And now over a year after that initial middle-of-the-night thought I have these musings I wanted to share.

Between Coronavirus and distance learning and distance seminary, I think I have enough change Heavenly Father promised me last summer and had me prepare for at the beginning of the year. I am done looking for additional change in the form of breast cancer (I needed several scans and a biopsy to finally tell me I was fine - it was nerve wracking) or a new job. And so far Heavenly Father has blessed my family because of it. 

Matthew is more tuned in and concerned about what is happening in the lives of his children. I have found worthwhile projects to keep me moving forward in positive ways. The kids feel less entitled to going on adventures every day. We finally got around to doing something with the backyard that has plagued Matthew's psyche for a while now (that was partially financed due to refinancing our house and the subsequent two-month hold on mortgage payments). 

We've managed to stay kind and happy despite the stress around us. Our family is surviving and managing to (while I wouldn't use the word "thrive") grow closer together. I am truly grateful for how well life has gone over the last six month. We have been immensely blessed.

Backyard Project Part 3

More work on the patio this week. Between Matthew, my dad, and I we got the rest of the pavers in. (Shoutout goes to the Jones boys who so manfully moved the pavers from the driveway to our backyard. Side note - we can now park on our driveway again!!) So much work. So many steps taken. So many muscles built. At the end of each day we just stood marveling at what we accomplished. So satisfying.

Here is our mostly finished patio. We still have more plants to put into the ground, caps to put onto our columns and some work cleaning up our edges but we are done. It feels so good to be done and not have to spend every waking moment being productive outside. We have been so neglectful of our children that this next week we want to celebrate with a "Last week of summer awesomeness!"

Aumsville Pond

 

Today the kids and I woke up and got our stuff together so we could go with friends to Aumsville Pond to swim. it was so perfect I could hardly stand it. My friend Emily brought an inflatable rowboat the kids were excited to take out by themselves. 

At some point Doodah started floundering and Emily and I told him to row with both oars at the same time and figure it out. Eventually his straits were a bit more dire and I needed to save the day. I walked/jogged to the other side of the lake/pond and jumped into the algae-encrusted water so I could take over the rowing of the little boat. After not much time at all the boat humbled me an I realized poor Doodah never stood a chance.

Chewkie had swam over to him in a life vest with the intent to rescue her brother but I got to him first. I think she felt I stole her rescuing thunder a bit. After only a few minutes of all of us in the boat together, Doodah took the life vest from his sister and swam off on his own back to our part of the shore. 

Chewkie and I did our level best to steer and oar and drunkingly make our way back. Holy Smokes. It was only after seeing Emily also struggle with rowing by herself that I didn't feel quite so bad about myself.

After three hours we decided to leave. The kids were not happy about it. I'm pretty sure they would have stayed to swim all day if I had let them. As we were heading back to the car, Chewkie decided to sit in some very wet, thick mud (see pictures above) which necessitated another trip back to the water to get cleaned off yet again.

It was a wonderful day and none of us can wait to go back again.