A Day for Mothers

The Lawrence children and our mom. 

Still Quarantining

Here we are, 9,256 days in quarantine. No, but for real, it feels like forever. We are well over a month of doing homeschool- I think we have done pretty well. Days are full of Zoom meetings, Math (when Mc decides to do it), snack trays every day at 10 AM, work meetings, science, Art for Kids Hub and trying to adjust to this new "normal". 

Enzo and his Zombie Taco that he proudly displayed to his class. 

Kingston and his "hat" that won 2nd place in his class Zoom. 

 I was sad (gasp) that Kingston didn't get to do his Wax Museum at school. He had decided WAY back in December that he wanted to do his project on Stan Lee. He did an awesome little interview. Such a cool kid.

Enzo had been really good getting up and brushing his teeth and combing his own hair in the morning. I guess one lovely quarantine morning he decided that he needed a little off the top. It was SO bad. I couldn't help but laugh. Mark did a good job to buzz it so it's bearable. Plus, we don't go anywhere so hats are perfectly acceptable. 

The quarantine fad is EVERYONE getting new pets. We have begged Mark but he wasn't having it. Luckily, Tyler and Jade filled my puppy bucket by buying this darling little nugget. His name is Wicket and we have ridden on our bikes multiple times to visit him.

We had our first fire of the season on a Tuesday night when there was supposed to be a meteor shower at 10 PM. We didn't see much ( it was too bright) but it was fun to sit outside with the kids.

 We had a Sunday adventure where we saw a building that said "The Mckinley", stopped at the Cents of Style wall for Enzo and hit Gilgal Gardens to show the kids where we used to live (right across the street). It was nice to get out. The world is such a different place. It kind of feels like this will be the new 9/11 where we talk about things we used to do before COVID-19.

Last Sunday we did a social distance Sunday lunch with the family. I hadn't seen Brayden and Alina since our birthdays so it was good to get everyone together. The Mayor had just changed social restrictions from groups of 10 to 20-we barely slid by with 18 (don't count the dogs). 

Quarantine Easter

 Easter was different this year. We had no egg hunts, no family parties, no rushing. We did baskets on Friday night. The kids played with their easter toys and we just relaxed on Saturday. Sunday morning, we got up and REALLY got ready for church (I hadn't worn make up in weeks) and we had a spirit filled home church that centered on the Savior and his sacrifice. Our ward made an amazing video of various members of the ward reading segments of the Living Christ. Me and Kingston made the cut. We all bore testimony of the Savior and I love that Mc said, "When I see him again, I am going to give him a HUGE hug and tell him, 'Thank You'".  We are truly blessed to be able to have church at home and to still feel the peace and love that the Gospel brings.

Easter Williamsons

Baskets- to be fair (as pointed out) Enzo does NOT have more than the other kids- his basket is just smaller. Ha

Quarantine Tisha also lets her kids play in the rain. 

While out for a walk, Kingston bent down and immediately found a four leaf clover. Let's hope that good things are on the way. 

Mimi and Papa stopped by to bring the kids their baskets- practicing good social distancing. 

Quarantine Life

Two weeks in and we are still on lockdown. They have decided to "soft close" schools, gyms, churchs, everything until May 1, 2020. Utah seems to be doing a lot better than most states of staying home and our curve has flattened. It still doesn't feel hopeful- like this could go on for a while.

It has been REALLY nice (not going to lie) having a break from my calling. It's kind of like I don't have one. With such a large primary, we are limited on how we can connect with ALL the kids. Some primaries are doing Zoom meetings- with over 175 kids, that would never work for us. We posted a little message as a presidency on FB and have a treasure box on my porch with a conference bingo game. Sundays have been SO much smoother and less focused on my job and more about the Savior. Home church has been so so good. I have really enjoyed Mark passing the sacrament and having the kids more actively participate in our home "sacrament" program. I love that Kingston even said, "Mom, I love home church".

Quarantine Primary Presidency- loves these ladies. 

 Quarantine Tisha strikes again- reading hut. I HATE messes (obviously) so this was hard but the kids played in there for most of the day so, it stayed. The kids are making adjustments almost daily of what works for them and where they need a little more help. Mc got busted, thanks to an email from her teacher, that says she hasn't done any Math since 3/17- guess who gets to do 2 Math lessons a day over spring break? She also was spending way too much time chatting with her friends- chat has been turned off until further notice. We are just surviving. We made it through ALL the Harry Potter movies- we would eat dinner, get showered/jammies and then watch a movie. It was so nice to have everyone in the same place not running all over creation.

Reading Hut

Mc has taken up sewing little felt animals. 

Quarantine haircuts. Thankful Mark has clippers or these boys would look homeless.  

Baby Yoda

Mark has a pretty good "honey do" list- these shelves were free (we already had the wood from the basement) and took him no time at all. Finishes the basement nicely. "Top Notch"

COVID19- week one

We had been hearing rumblings for a few weeks of this Coronavirus in China. It was a virus. People were dying yes, but it didn't seem too threatening. Afterall, we had lived through SARs, swine flu and H1N1 without any disruption. It felt like it was really far away and something we would never have to deal with directly. That all came crashing down when NYC basically exploded with the virus. Hospitals were overloaded, so many were dying and it was spreading like wildfire. The kids went to school on Friday and by Monday, schools were shut down for at least two weeks, libraries, sports, movie theaters, gyms, and dine eat restaurants were eliminated. We were now on quarantine. It was issued as a P A N D E M I C.

People started hoarding toilet paper of all things. Luckily, I had just bought a large case from Target and found a random Amazon deal so we were good. Grocery stores were cleaned out of everything. I ended up going at 5 AM just to get bread and milk for the week and it was still full of people. Everyone seemed on edge. We were all worried about what that meant for jobs, leaving our homes and how it would affect the kids. Lots of states are on a "stay at home" order meaning that only "essential" employees are out. We weren't allowed to gather with more than 10 people and now, they are encouraging "social distancing"- 6 feet away from ANYONE that you don't live with.

I have never wanted to homeschool my kids- but here we are. We had two ramp up days before the teachers had to issue assignments and we could pick up laptops from the elementary.  By Wednesday, we were up and running and the kids adjusted pretty well.

Homeschool day one

Quarantine Tisha has been the best- she lets her kids do LOTS of things regular Tisha won't. First time EVER making salt dough. Don't they look happy!?!?

 Just when we thought the curve ball had come and gone, we woke up at 7 AM the day after St Patrick's day with a 5.7 magnitude earthquake rocking the Wasatch Front. I had a restless night anyway and was kind of in/out of wakefulness. I was surprised how quickly I was up/dressed/rushing the kids downstairs. It was scary and loud and we have all been on edge ever since. There have been TONS of aftershocks too which isn't fun for anyone.

Earthquake day Namaste

 We survived a whole week of our new "normal". The kids chatted with friends, we watched live Zoo animal videos, did Kids Art Hub and fell into a routine that seems to work for now.

Orlando day Four & 5

We knew we wanted to do a water park day. Volcano Bay was a two foot walk from our hotel door to the entrance. Thursday, it was going to be cloudy but 87 degrees so we decided it would be great. We got in an hour early and rode almost every waterslide before the park officially opened. It was a little chilly but not crowded and the water was heated. Mc could have stayed in the wave pool the whole day. We headed back to the hotel to have lunch and shower and decided to stay in the park late to watch the lights on Hogwart's at night. Mark had bought a drink cup that was refillable at the hotel- Mc got a hot chocolate and snuggled into bed one more night before we went home. 

Friday morning I woke up feeling horrible! I think it was because on Thursday, it was 87 degrees and overnight, it dropped to 65. It was super windy and chilly. We decided to head back into the park to gather our souvenirs  and spend the last few hours before we flew home. My sweet friend Alli from work had a $100 gift card she couldn't use- with a few creative customer service people we were able to use that. I was grateful to just sit in the sun as Mark and Mc rode the Mummy a few times. We had warm pretzels, one more frozen butter beer and got ready to head back to the snow. 

Mc and She-Ra

Orlando Day 3

Day three was our day of brave- Mc (albeit crying) rode the Hulk coaster and was so thrilled with herself (not enough to ride again).  We saw Transformers, had more butter beer and stayed later in the park. We rode almost every ride with the exception of the Rockin Coaster, all of Simpsons land, Seussland, and the wet rides. The Jurassic Park ride looked awesome but with an 80 foot drop AND 15 people dryers all full of soaking wet people, we opted out. I think that was a good choice. 

We spent more time just looking around Diagon Alley- they spared no expense on making this such a magical part of the park. Every store had "magic" happening- creatures, moving photos- all of it was so much like being in the book/movie. 

We came back to dinner at the hotel- the ala carte options were great and went to bed watching Live PD. Mc's choice. 

us and Bumble Bee

Mc and the Pygmy Puffs- her chosen souvenir. 

Jaws