The Marston Family: May Happenings

We began the month in quarantine, and finished up on the other side- not fully, but making head way to be sure. Everyone feels a little unsure, everything feels unknown. Our world is hoping that we have a handle on Covid-19, but we are uncertain. We are all hopeful. Especially the Marstons. Blake started back to work a few weeks ago and he is so grateful. Of course, many procedures have been put into place. More walls in between patients, no more waiting room, appointments to be made by phone only and a new air filtration system in place. He is as busy as ever though and for this we feel incredibly blessed.

This month we enjoyed many celebrations! Blake's birthday for one! We loved eating our favorite celebratory breakfast-- strawberry waffles! And enjoyed the day talking about Dad's favorite things and learning fun stories about his youth and young adult life. We bought wet suits for the entire family in order to make it a goal to be at the beach more. I think quarantine has helped us realize how special family time is! We hope to be able to go and be together much more often, even when soccer and sports and church and school come back. We enjoyed a beautiful mother's day-- loved hiking up Silverset and making pizzas together. Blake and the kids bought me a new ice cream maker and we enjoyed trying salted caramel, banana cream pie and chocolate oreo ice cream. SO excited about all the treats we've been enjoying. Who cares about weight gain anyway?

After a long and wonderful 2 months of quarantine, we started to see friends more and more. In small doses. We've hosted a few home made pizza nights in which each of the kids have been allowed to invite one friend over. It's been a lot of fun. It's felt like old times! We've enjoyed in particular having the Judd children over quite a bit because little Sophie arrived safe and sound and they kids needed a place to go for the day so Elizabeth could enjoy a little peace and quiet with her newborn. We've loved having the Douds over-- lots of tiktoks, swimming, s'mores, tie dying, beading, painting, pretzel treat making, bracelet tying, movies, and even a DOUBLE sleepover. All three girls slept over two nights in a row- to the joy of Anna and Grant. They had such fun! Evelyn's enjoyed sleepovers with her buddies and surfing dates (and photoshoots) at the beach. We've missed our friends and it's been a joy to re-connect.

The kids are getting older and food is becoming a more important part of their life. Especially the teens. Dane has taken on the task of grilling in the evenings. I'm so proud of him! He truly knows what he's doing and has memorized the internal temp of all the meats he grills! It's fabulous for Blake and I to have this kid take over in the grilling department! Grant is our snow-cone maker. He's in charge or preparing snow cones on the daily for himself and all others in the vicinity. The $20 he spent on his snow cone maker has not disappointed! We've been making lots of ice cream, experimenting with star bucks double chocolate chip frappuccino (no coffee, just cream) and even pina coladas for a school project. Anna was not a fan- but this is one of my favorite drinks and I loved having the time to make it and experiment with the kids! We look forward to our big breakfasts and dinner menus at night-- much different from the old days when we were too busy to cook and just grabbed chicken nuggets on the go! It's been fun.

We enjoyed a wonderful visit with the Grandma and Grandpa last month and a delicious chicken dinner with baked beans, potatoes and coleslaw! We loved swimming in the warm pool and playing with Troy's dogs. Catching up with Stacy and Troy too. Grandma and Grandpa surprised the kids with a belated easter egg hunt for a golden egg filled with cash! The kids were so thrilled and surprised! At the end of the dinner, Anna came up with a marvelous idea to ask Grandma if she could stay a couple days seeing as she had missed the opportunity around her birthday due to Covid-19. Grandma happily agreed and Anna had about the best time a little girl could ever possibly have. Ha! She loved walking around the lake, eating at yummy places, playing games with Grandma and Grandpa, swimming and shopping on line. She felt so incredibly blessed to have that time with them. I'm so happy it worked out! So happy Anna had that time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa!

This month we took a quick little trip up to St. George, UT for some hiking, paddle boarding, boating and jet skiing! Without a steady stream of league games or tournaments to occupy our weekends, it's been amazing to consider the possibility of camping or road tripping to nearby areas. No where too far out, as we are still in pandemic times. We loved renting a boat for the day and inter tubing. We loved jet skiing and hiking and exploring a new area. St. George is always fun for a quick get away!

Let's see.... what else? Lots of American history projects happening around here. Grant has been studying about Colonial America and this being a favorite topic of mine, I've enjoyed helping him work on presentations, American flag art work, ice cream made by hand, colonial games, and biographies. I've loved helping the kids with music- ukulele and piano practice. I've loved helping Anna create mathematical problems with her little people. She was even asked to present in front of her entire class on flipgrid because she did such a cute job. I love seeing Anna play with my old favorite toys! Love helping the kids with artwork, love coming up with arts and crafts activities. Evelyn comes up with plenty of her own- she's quite the creative mind and at any moment in time you might find her tie dying, beading her hair or drawing up a storm! I LOVE reading out loud with them. This month Grant and I finished a couple of Judy Blume books- Super Fudge and Double Fudge. Anna and I read Little Women and nothing is more wonderful than that! I love working with the kids on mindfulness activities and journaling.

That being said..... there are many things I dislike terribly about homeschool. I hate helping the kids with math. I despise helping Dane with his ancient civilization social studies graphic organizers. HATE trying to figure out his coding homework !!! I do not like conducting science projects with the kids and then filming and submitting. I cannot stand sitting with them to create google slides. I don't have the patience! I dislike when everyone needs me at the same time and the house is a disaster and I want to pull my hair out because no one is listening to me after I've asked 100 times to brush teeth and clean their rooms before starting their home school work. I am incredibly triggered when I see the kids on their devices outside of school work! I cannot stand when my "students" give up before they even start or need my help more than I suppose they should. I hate how I feel after I know I could've done better but didn't.

It's been a roller coaster. Thankfully much more good than bad- and I'm so grateful I don't have a job at the moment! I do miss having space or time to do my own thing. These days I'm thrilled if I have a minute to clean out the pantry ( I actually did this month) or go out with a friend to "heart attack" another friend for her birthday! I love swimming with the kids in the afternoon and then reading for a minute before starting dinner. I love being able to stay up late because we don't really wake up until 8 or 8:30 and homeschool starts at 9am sharp! Love home church! I love so many things about our time at home without school, sports, engagement, activities or church. It's been amazing. I hope to always remember it-- and to keep it alive in as many ways as I possible. It's been a gift and one that I feel incredibly blessed by.