No power, walking, and thoughts

I don't even know what to write. The world is going to hell and a handbasket. My hometown, Columbus, where I grew up, is under curfew like many cities across our country. My heart aches for the world that we live in. My heart is heavy with the reality that this is happening. I don't know what to do except pray. 

All of this is also in addition to the Coronavirus issues. Our health director also signed a new stay at home order (or something to that affect) that stays in effect until July 1. I don't even know. Back to the numbers, last week Ohio was at 25,349 cases, 1,431 deaths, and 21 confirmed cases in my county. Today, Ohio is at 32,639 cases, 1,938 deaths, and 25 confirmed cases in my county. I expect the numbers in my county to go higher next week as my city is offering 300 COVID-19 tests to the general public. 

So Friday, shortly after I wrote, we had several rounds of severe weather go through. We lost power around 2:30PM and it didn't come back until close to 2AM. After the kids went to bed, Bill and I played cards by candlelight. Thankfully, the storms brought in cooler weather so we didn't have to worry about heat. 

Today I just had to get away from the news. We decided to go take a walk on the Heart of Ohio Trail. We ended up walking almost 3 and a half miles. The trail offered beauty when my mind is full of other stuff. 

Tonight Bill and I had a mini date out on the porch with homemade pizza and salad. It has become a nice little tradition to have dinner out on the porch on Saturday nights. I might rethink this come the hot summer days. We are also watching "Avengers: Infinity War" with the kids. 

I am just trying to keep my mind occupied. Tomorrow I will watch Mass online; our church is opened for mass this weekend but they are severely limiting the number of people and I don't feel comfortable going. I will be saying extra prayers though our country and for peace. 

Stomach bug, movies and rain!

Happy Friday! 

*Oh and by the way this was typed up with the new blogger format. I don't like it. I hope this turns out okay. Why do they have to keep reformatting things? I will get used to it I am sure but still why change what works?*

Back to regular formatting... Thank you everyone for your kind words on my haircut. I will admit that I like it but not 100%. I don't feel like the highlights are strong enough in it. I had a new person cut it at a local salon and just wasn't wowed, if that makes any sense. I know I shouldn't complain about it given all the other things going on in the world...In good news though it is still long enough to pull back into a little ponytail when it is hot out! 

Moving on, while I was getting my hair cut, Rebecca texted me and told me that she didn't feel good and that her stomach hurt. She ended up with diarrhea and just didn't feel good. Bill also started not feeling good with similar symptoms. The kids were supposed to spend the day with my sister on Wednesday but I cancelled that since she didn't feel good. When I texted my sister that, she told me that my dad, my brother and her girlfriend all had had similar symptoms the day before. Definitely something going around. Rebecca was also bummed that her sleepover that was planned at her friend Zoey's house was moved to today due to her not feeling well. (In actuality, that has been moved to next week as Rebecca woke up not feeling good again this morning (after feeling okay yesterday).) 

We haven't really done much of anything this week since people haven't felt well. The kids and I have been watching lots of movies-- one advantage of having Disney+ and Netflix. LOL Some of the movies that we have watched include:

Yesterday, Bill was feeling well enough to mow the grass. That is a good thing because today it is supposed to rain off and on with storms. 

In fact they just issued a flood warning for our area as we have already had over an inch of rain. Now the sun is out which means storms will be popping up even heavier. Oh well it is what it is. 

Today, I also finally got some long in the tooth apples cut up and put in the crockpot to make crockpot applesauce. Trying very hard not to have things wasted. Today will be another day at home. Maybe getting some things done, maybe not. Not sure what this weekend holds. The weather isn't supposed to be terrible so we may try to get out and hike a bit. 

What's the weather like where you are? Any movie suggestions for our family to watch? Hope everyone has a good Friday! 

Wordless Wednesday: Haircut!

Got my haircut last night. She took a ton off (probably 8+ inches or more!). This was long overdue and MUCH needed! 

Bill's birthday cake and last day of school!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope everyone had a good, long weekend! 

Yesterday we celebrated Bill's birthday! 

Rebecca spent most of the day baking and decorating a cake for her dad.

I made a yummy dinner of BLTs, strawberries and blueberries, and chips.  

After dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Bill and had some cake. 

He also opened a couple of presents, which included homemade cards from the boys (Rebecca said the cake was her card! LOL), a Batman shirt, a Batman book, a wrestling themed book and a pack of playing cards. He said he had a good birthday! 

This morning, I took the boys over to their school for the "Drive-Thru end of the year celebration." They had all the teachers there to hand out report cards and to send the kids off into Summer. It was a sweet gesture so that the kids could say bye to their teachers in person. (It was so sad though that the boys couldn't hug their teachers-- especially for Ben as he is a hugger!). Both boys got their report cards and certificates. (Rebecca's grades are online.) I am so proud of all 3 of the kids as they all earned straight As! 

It is hard to believe that I now have an 8th grader, a 5th grader and a 3rd grader! 

This summer will be different, but I am ready to make some memories for the kids! 

What are you guys up to today? Are you ready for Summer? Anyone have any plans for Summer? 

Happy birthday Bill and a cookout yesterday!

Before I talk about what we did yesterday, I want to start this post off by wishing my husband a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Bill turns 48 today. So I want to first off wish a happy birthday to my intelligent, funny, caring, loving, opinionated, Marvel and Star Wars loving, father and husband! Happy birthday Bill! The kids and I love you! 

Back to yesterday; when I wrote I wasn't sure what we were going to do as it was really warm out and we didn't have any plans. Well, shortly after I wrote my dad called and we decided to have a cookout and family get together yesterday instead of today. So, I looked in our freezer and volunteered to bring over hot dogs, buns and make a macaroni salad to bring. (I ended up making Amish macaroni salad-- it is SO GOOD!) 

Our cookout was a lot of fun. There was good food. Lots of laughs. Games of corn hole were played. 

Games of badminton were played. 

Toss and catch games were played.

Good food was eaten including the first freeze pops of the Summer. 

The kids had a ton of fun. 

My parents also gifted Bill a case of his favorite beer for his birthday. It even had a little bit of craziness when Jacob slipped going down the hill in their backyard and ended up in a huge mud puddle covered from head to toe in mud. (Unfortunately I didn't get any photos as he was crying and scared!) But it was enough that he needed a shower and then thankfully he was able to borrow a pair of shorts from his cousin and a shirt from my dad. Overall, it was a very good day! 

We got home late and it was HOT in our house. Even though it was late, Bill installed the window air conditioners upstairs in our bedrooms while the kids got showers. 

Today, Rebecca has baked the cakes for Bill's cake. They are currently in the freezer cooling so that she can decorate them. Ben is watching "Mulan" and Jacob is playing in the dining room. I need to fold some laundry and wrap a couple presents for Bill. I think we are just doing a low-key day today as it supposed to be HOT and humid today. 

What are you doing today? Are you doing anything to commemorate Memorial Day? Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great Monday! 

Looking for fairies 🧚🧚 and date night!

Happy Sunday! Yesterday the weather turned out to be beautiful. It was close to 80 degrees. The sun was out and we were looking to get out of the house in the afternoon. This is also Bill's birthday weekend (well technically his birthday is Monday!). Usually we go to the Utica Ice Cream Festival, however that was cancelled this year. 😞 So his request was to get Rooster's Wings 🐔🐔 for dinner. Well, the closet Rooster's is a 40 minute drive. I wanted to find something to do so it wasn't just drive and pick up food to bring home. (Rooster's is still closed for dine-in service, and I am still not comfortable eating IN a restaurant.) 

I found that there was a nice park with hiking trails not to far from there. Infirmary Mound Park is actually in Granville, Ohio (which is also home to Denison University from where I graduated from way back in 2001!). They have a fairy trail that I thought the kids would get a kick out of. 🧚 So we headed out there first. 

The park was really nice. There was a huge lake where several people were fishing. We walked the 🧚 trail, but didn't do any of the other trails as the trails were VERY muddy (which given the amount of rain we have had lately was understandable). The kids got a kick out of finding the fairy houses and Ben and Jacob both said they saw something moving in a couple of the houses 😉 

Infirmary Mound Park was really nice. We will have to go back to explore more of it when it dries up a bit. I told the kids that this was going to be known as "The Summer of Hikes." 🥾🥾 Since most of our usual plans can't happen due to COVID-19, I am looking to take advantage of all the different hiking places within an hour of our house. Should be fun!

As we got back to the van, I ordered Bill and I food from Rooster's to pick up. As I was getting ready to close the van doors, Rebecca exclaimed "There's a turtle by your door!" Sure enough there was a tiny turtle 🐢 on the ground next to our van. I picked it up to show the kids and then placed it in the grass in the direction it was heading (toward the pond) so that no one would run it over. It was really cute. 

We picked our food up and headed home. Before we got home, we got the kids McDonald's for dinner as it was after 6pm. Bill and I ate outside on the porch for what has kind of become our weekly date night, while the kids ate in the living room and watched T.V. Unfortunately, I developed a huge headache and went to bed early last night. 

He is super happy he got his wings! 

This morning, I have gone to the grocery store and got gas for my van. One benefit of only shopping at Kroger is that I had amassed $0.70 off a gallon to use. This meant that I only paid $1.07 a gallon! I was pleased with that price. Especially since the BP across the street was charging $1.99 a gallon.

I have watched Mass online. Next week, they are supposed to start having Mass in person again but with limited people allowed in the church. I probably won't go to church for a while. (The bishop has granted a dispensation until the middle of September saying it is not a sin if we don't go to Mass.) They are supposed to stream it as well so that is what I will be doing.  

The kids are watching "Tarzan" on TV. I am not sure what fun we will get into today. The weather is supposed to be really warm and humid for this week so that will affect some of what we do I am sure. For now, I need to go think about lunch for the kiddos; I will have leftover wings :) 

Do you have any fun plans for today or tomorrow for Memorial Day? Whatever you decide to do, I hope that you have a great day! 😃