Both of our kids love the Calm app, and they both fall asleep to it most nights. They each have their favorite stories, or sounds, and they can still fall asleep in silence too – so we let them drift off the way that works best for them.
Bob Ross has a story on Calm, and it’s positively mesmerizing! Listening to Bob Ross paint without a visual is enough to put anyone out. Our kids have been interested in Bob Ross thanks to Calm, and Haley got lots of art supplies for her birthday. She’s been excited to paint Bob Ross tutorials ever since.
We got permission from our HOA architectural committee to remove three trees on our property line last May. Then after a long, expensive, and arduous process through our HOA Board, we also got permission to remove eight additional trees that border our property but are on common property in the green belt adjoining us. After the big tree falling, Jim launched a “buck it up” party with Preston, my dad, our neighbor Heath, and all the kids.
Some of the trees were HUGE. It is a lot of wood, and it’s going to take a long time to clean it all up. But slowly, Jim is making his way through the stacks of limbs and logs. We are able to donate, sell, and store lots of wood for future use.
We let the kids’ hairstylist know about our COVID-19 exposure, and she has some health concerns that would make recovering from a respiratory illness more difficult. So we rescheduled their haircuts for after our quarantine, and it felt so good to get in and get some hairs cut! We take maybe 6 inches or more off Haley’s hair every fall, and JT’s corona-style has been growing in. It finally looks pretty good, six months later. We are happy to let him keep it long on top if we keep it trimmed above his ears and he promises to comb it!
There have been a lot of jokes around people talking about the plans they had, and then they had to cancel because of coronavirus, its spread globally, and the restrictions governments and industries have put in place. We are certainly in this group, with life changes like cancelled in person school experiences, trips, birthday parties, sporting events, and even clothing and jewelry pickups that were postponed.
And then, a few days after Haley’s birthday, we found out that my mom was pretty sick and was going to get tested for coronavirus. It just so happened that the same day (Wednesday) Jim had gone to his physical, and got a TDAP vaccine. He started feeling a little achy and tired, and we assumed it was a vaccine reaction, common in one of our four adults.
On Thursday night, we found out my mom tested positive, and we had all been together for Haley’s party over the weekend (outside) and a dinner inside our house on Saturday. We thought it was entirely possible Jim was sick from that instead of his shot… and Haley had been at gymnastics on Thursday. If she was asymptomatic at the gym, she could have spread it to a lot of people. And the gym is under the county guidelines that if they have a positive case at the gym, the entire gym has to close for 14 days. Ouch!
Friday Jim still wasn’t feeling well, mostly very tired, and we decided to go get tested and lay low for the weekend, just in case. We have had all sorts of viruses before in our family, and we don’t think it’s fair to spread them to others if we can help it. Jim slept a lot of the weekend, and we kind of gave him some distance!
Monday morning I was up starting the day and work and getting organized, and I decided to check MyChart just in case I had results. I did: negative. I logged in as Jim and saw his results: positive. Bummer. At least we knew it wasn’t a vaccine reaction!
A few hours later, we started getting phone calls and notifying people (like work and family) and I moved out of our bedroom. Again, this is not the first time this has happened in our family, and we take anything beyond the average cold or flu fairly seriously. (Three of the four quarantines for Jim have ended in the word virus!)
I settled into the downstairs with my air mattress and moved my bathroom things and some clean clothes into the downstairs bathroom. Maverick kept me company all week long!
We cancelled get togethers, another birthday party, medical appointments, spa appointments, hair cuts, family photos, and a surgery. We kept Jim in isolation at home for the recommended 10 days. He was uncomfortable, very fatigued, and a little fuzzy headed for a solid two weeks. We eventually found out the kids tested negative as well, which was a huge relief for Haley’s gym!
Two weeks after our “point of last exposure,” the kids and I came out of quarantine and Jim went back to work. (He actually tried to go back sooner, and was allowed to, but his body wasn’t ready. He was sooooo exhausted.) We were so excited to be out and about again!
My mom took a full four weeks to recover to the point she could resume any type of normal activity, and spent a lot of time in a lot of pain. She had practically every symptom on the list and even had to go to the ER one night for dehydration and pain. It was so sad to see her so sick! My dad was positive too, but not affected nearly as much.
Update: A week after our quarantine ended, I had another COVID-19 test for my pre-surgery, and it was negative as well. Yay!
The school year was set to start in hybrid mode, which is when students attend part of the time in person and part of the time online, and then three weeks before the start of the school year the school board voted to go fully remote/online for the first quarter (nine weeks).
Our kids had mixed emotions about this. On one hand, they get to stay home, sleep in later, play with the dog, and generally have more flexibility in their days. On the other, they miss regular schedules and playing with friends at recess and learning alongside their peers. We tend to look at the bright side of the situation and roll with whatever comes our way that doesn’t compromise the gospel 😉 so we were game to try it out.
School started during our COVD-quarantine, so we were happy to have remote learning happening and not miss anything! We did our annual front door photo shoot with headphones on, in sweats and no shoes, to commemorate the change.
I love our family humor!
It was a very quiet house as the kids got back to school… which has been helpful for me to get some work done and be a little more productive in my job. I got a promotion in September, and have been working some extra hours to wrap up my old role while starting my new one.
Maverick had to take a few days to adjust to the lack of kids to play with downstairs, since we set both JT and Haley up in their rooms with work stations and a stronger internet filter!
What’s that again?! Yes, we have a middle schooler. We are excited to have JT attend a school we’ve heard great things about, with a principal we’ve heard great things about. When we moved into our neighborhood five years ago, our neighborhood was the only one assigned to our elementary school to not be assigned to this middle school. The track was broken, and I was not happy. I took advantage of the re-boundary committee’s timeline and made sure my voice was heard… by as many people as I could talk to. When the new boundary lines came out, our neighborhood moved to the “right” middle school, just as the superintendent had promised me it would. Hooray!
We attended orientation in person – so fun to be there for real. We picked up textbooks, got JT’s picture taken, met the principal (who was wearing Alabama and we liked immediately), and ordered school spirit wear.
The best part was when we got in the car to drive home and JT immediately opened his math textbook to see what he was going to cover this year!
What a sad title. We love summer. But all good things come to an end! We played with our new badminton set, took the kids to the YMCA Outdoor Camp at Lake Helena all week long, picked the last of our carrots, enjoyed fresh tomatoes, made cupcakes, trimmed lilacs, and loved on the dog.
One bright Sunday morning, the kids and I decided to take advantage of the end of the beautiful weather and go for a hike with Maverick. We also decided to invite our friends the Drews, and it ended up being so much fun. We all drove to the trailhead in my car, and hiked the 5 miles round trip together. There are views and waterfalls, and it was hot and a wonderful time.
We can’t believe it’s been a whole decade since this strong, intelligent young lady entered our lives.
We started the day with Haley’s birthday breakfast request: monkey bread and some other sides. Then we had some time for gifts since Jim was leaving for work. He had already given Haley her main gift earlier in the summer (the air track) but she did have something to open on her birthday too.
Later that day, we hosted three sweet girlfriends for a get together with cupcakes and gymnastics and all sorts of running around. Haley definitely prefers friends who want to get active and play outside!
Over the weekend, we had our family over for Haley’s birthday dinner and for our long awaited cookie dough cake made by Grandma Cole. It’s soooo rich!
We had a different type of trip this year. Without my brother and his family joining us, it was just the four Keenes and my parents. The kids said they were actually looking forward to the “quieter week” and we sure made the most of it.
We also decided to take Maverick again after much discussion. He absolutely loves the water and being outdoors with us, and we love having him – but it is “one more thing” while we are on vacation. It sure is cute to watch him in the water though!
We arrived on Saturday and set up camp. Because the kids are awesome and so helpful getting set up, we had time for an evening boat ride. That hasn’t happened in years!
Jim also brought his hammock, something he keeps forgetting to do! We had a perfect set up for that.
Both kids jumped off the rock this year – from higher up than ever! Turtle Rock has been a tradition since I can remember, and it’s been great to watch our kids gain bravery and make the leap. We also got a new three-person towable, because ours started leaking at Spirit Lake. Costco returned our old one (the leak was a defect, not from misuse, so we took it in) and our new one arrived just in time.
We took a break from the sun and sand midweek to hike Steamboat Rock, another tradition that we love. Maverick loved the hike. The kids were worried about him, and Jim kept saying, “He’s a DOG. He’s probably the most sure-footed of all of us!” And he was right. Maverick practically pulled Jim up the hills. We returned from the hike to enjoy our pancake feast (tradition) and Jim brought me a coffee from the camper with love.
The next day was supposed to be a little cloudy in the morning as well, and my parents were headed into Spokane to visit some family, so we decided to do another hike we haven’t done in years: Northrup Canyon. We ended up having to divert from our plan of making it to the homestead site because of a washed-out spot in the trail swarming in bees. But we doubled back to another trail and ended up with gorgeous views of Steamboat Rock and Banks Lake!
We sure love our Banks Lake traditions! Breakfast in the boat happened, complete with Lucky Charms (the ONLY day of the year my kids get to eat that junk in my presence!). BOTH kids tried slalom skiing too! Haley officially got up for about one full second and JT was so close. We can’t wait to see them try again.
Another tradition has been movie in the boat: where we go out after dinner and watch a movie while floating. Traditionally it has been Jim and I plus our older nieces and nephew. Since they weren’t there this year, we took both kids. Haley was beyond excited to be so grown up. We watched the movie about Bethany Hamilton and it was awesome to be rocking in the water while watching a shark attack!
We also enjoyed trips to the marina for ice cream, badminton tournaments, sand castles, and general relaxing together.
On the last day, while Jim was finishing packing up, the kids and I took a five mile bike ride. It was really fun way to end the trip!
On the way home, we got a flat tire (blow out!) on the boat trailer. We were eight miles from home, which was a blessing because it was the one time we didn’t have all the right things to swap the spare. So we dropped the trailer on the highway, drove home, left the kids and dog, and returned to get it. The blow out also damaged the trailer – a bummer end to the trip – but we were glad no one has hurt and Jim was able to get the tired changed and the boat and trailer home that night with no further problems. When Jim and I got home around 8, the kids had made us dinner! What a great surprise.
The Keene Family 