Vaccination Day, Part 2!

I received my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine today. I went to the same location where I got the first dose, at the same time of day. For the first shot there was no wait and there were only a few people there. This time there was a massive crowd of people and a thirty-minute wait. There was a traffic jam just to get into the parking lot and then a very long line once we were inside the building.

But I got through the line and got the shot, and that's the most important thing.

A wise friend counseled that I should drink lots of water and keep moving my arm to help prevent soreness. I've been doing both of those things and I feel okay so far. My arm is a little sore, but it's barely noticeable. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Trackers

The kids have rediscovered their love of train tracks recently, thanks in part to Topher's love of them. The last few days they've come to borrow my phone to document the latest track creations.

Mother's Day Epiphany

Most of my adult life people have told me that I look younger than I am. It was mostly amusing and occasionally irritating, like when I tried to get a quote on a wedding cake as an almost twenty-one year old and was questioned in a shocked voice if I was even sixteen yet. But I never really believed that I looked as young as they said. I knew my own face, I knew that I was aging.

A few days ago I got a Google picture notification letting me know that I had memories to view from fourteen years ago. I opened the app to see chubby cheeked Peter when he was still the only child. I was twenty-six, nearly twenty-seven, when the picture was taken.

And I look like I'm about fifteen.

Seriously, I was shocked at how young I looked. I guess all those people were right, I did look crazy young.

Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure having an additional four children, raising those children, zig-zagging across the country, and living through the last year have brought my visible age equal to my actual age. Heck, I may have even swung the other direction.

The takeaway? Motherhood makes you look old. Totally worth it and important? Yes. Ages you like crazy? Also, yes.

Viewers Like You

Peter has been slowly growing his YouTube channel over the last year. He hasn't posted as often or as regularly as he had originally planned, but he has enjoyed the process of planning and editing videos.

Yesterday he had the idea to start a shorts channel. It's connected to his original channel, but the videos are much shorter and are presented in portrait rather than landscape format. He posted his first video yesterday and the second one this morning. Both videos are of Peter playing Fortnight.

At the moment I'm writing this, the first video has 27 views. That's pretty good for a small channel and only having been up for one day. Peter's attention is slightly more focused on the second video. It currently has 843 views. That's more views than all his other videos, combined.

Peter's kind of in shock over it. He says it doesn't feel real to have so many views on one video. But he also thinks it's pretty cool.

Interruptions

Let's Make Music!

Being Brave

The girls and I braved the outside world and attended their first in-person Primary activity in over a year. On Saturday morning we wore our masks and took our box of chalk to the church parking lot. There were only two other girls, plus two leaders, there. The plan was to draw beautiful chalk pictures on the back sidewalk and parking lot of the church building for the members to enjoy the following day.

I decided to take the girls for two reasons: I was going to be there and could help them keep a reasonable distance from others that were attending (this was important since one little girl kept running over near where we were and the others at the activity weren't social distancing from each other at all) and because there is an unfortunate belief among some of the members of our ward that we are inactive and don't want contact. This is so completely untrue, we have attended nearly every virtual meeting that has been held. I wanted to show up to something in person to try and squash that rumor.

Phoebe and Sophie were both really anxious and uncomfortable about going. I had to give them pep talks on the drive there. Every time one of the leaders or other girls came over to see what Phoebe and Sophie were drawing, Sophie would back way up. I was glad she was being careful, but I also took a few minutes to show her how far away six feet was, rather than the twelve to fifteen she was moving.

There were stressful moments for our girls, like watching the others sit right next to each other in camp chairs at the beginning of the activity. But there were good moments too, like getting to see a good friend in person and at a good distance. And they did have fun being outside and drawing. Also, it was unseasonably cold for May 1st, so we were bundled up.

Sophie said this was a picture of Jesus, teaching in heaven.

Phoebe drew this moon and star-catching fishing pole for kids to lie on for a photo-op.

Sophie drew this picture of Jesus holding a Book of Mormon.

Just above Sophie's drawing, Phoebe drew a pathway with footprints on it and with an iron rod to one side. She wrote Stay on the Covenant Path on one side and Hold to the Rod on the other. The path ended at the Temple.

Sophie drew herself wearing the armor of God.

In the end, the girls were glad to have gone. 

After it was discovered we would be attending, one of the leaders texted me and said she was so glad we would be there and asked if it was okay if they didn't wear masks. I was so taken aback at the request that I didn't respond until the next day. After a year of not seeing us in person, and knowing how careful we've been and what a struggle it was to agree to come, I was kind of shocked that that would be their response. 

I greatly dislike feeling like I'm imposing on anyone, and I knew that by saying yes to wearing masks, that's exactly what I would be doing. But I finally worked up the courage to do it anyway. I said that I was under the impression that masks were required on church property and that that was in part why we said yes, but if that had changed we could sit out this activity as well. The individual replied that they would wear masks, and so we went. I had the impression that they were not pleased with my answer. I don't know what the mask situation will be like the next time they meet in person.

In My Own Little Corner

When we moved to Pennsylvania our plan was to rent for two years, then buy a house. The summer that our two year lease was up for renewal, we had a baby instead of buying a house. The next summer we still didn't feel quite ready. Then the next summer we were in the middle of a pandemic, but we actively looked for a house. Now the housing market is so nuts that we probably won't be able to buy for some time.

We continue to make do with this house that we have outgrown. We squeeze into the kitchen to eat. We've set up school and work stations in various locations in the basement and main floor. We've bought sound cancelling headphones to mitigate the loud voices. But one issue has remained unsolved: Topher is still in our room. Topher, who is nearly three, has not only stayed in our room, but he has still been sleeping in a pack n' play instead of a toddler bed as a way to contain him in our room. There simply isn't space in Peter and Cooper's room for another bed. Plus, Topher is shockingly busy and curious, so all the tiny Legos and trinkets that occupy our big boys' room would be a fascinating danger to our littlest boy.

Bryan has been brainstorming for months about how to solve this dilemma. We talked about clearing out our closet and making that into a room for him, but Bryan was uneasy with that arrangement. He repeatedly tried to work out how to build a sturdy yet temporary little room for Topher within our room. Nothing really fit. Then, last week, Bryan had an epiphany. Why build a little room when we could buy one on Amazon?

Topher's new room arrived on Saturday. He thinks it's pretty cool. And he's stayed inside it for naps and nights. He's now on a toddler mattress and has space to move around. He did figure out how to unzip the door, but he didn't leave the tent. We see this as a temporary solution, but we're thankful for it while it lasts.

Hop Along

Phoebe's PE assignment for the week was to create a hopscotch board. Today ended up being chilly and very windy and a little bit rainy, so she had to work quickly. Topher and I went outside to assist Phoebe. Topher mostly spent his time swiping her chalk and running down the sidewalk at top speed. That means I did some running too.

Pre-Training

Topher thinks this is a really fun chair to sit on while fully clothed...and that's about it. He'll run into the bathroom, put the seat on without any assistance, and climb on. Then he just chills for a bit until I retrieve him. And yes, those are underwear on the outside of his clothes, just because.