May Day Photo Day

Every year, the same month, I try to have our family photos taken by a professional photographer.  This year it was looking like it might not happen because covid-19 changed the world and well it has been chaos every since.  Either way, we made it happen and I love them all.  Pam at Etherdox Photography took our photos this year!  So beautiful!

A Hike with the Parents

My parents moved to a new house a few weeks ago.  They live right next to the volcano cliffs and we decided to run around their neighborhood then hike the volcano near their house.  It was awesome.  My parents made it to the top.  I told them they should hike it every day for exercise.  They laughed.

Quarantine Day 68

Today, things are starting to go a little bit back toward the normal side of life.  This is our last week of official home school, however; we will have to do some school through the summer.  Edward isn't quite finished with his math and language arts yet.

We woke up early and met some friends to run the hill behind Rio Rancho High School, then we went for bagels and laughed and played.

So, if this is what our new normal is, then we are happy.  I am ready to get out and live the beautiful life I have created.  I do not want to keep sitting at home doing virtually nothing while the best years of my life pass me by! 

There, I said it. 

I am done with Quarantine. 

Celebrating the Small Stuff (9.5)

Well, it's May 15th. 

The New Mexico Governor had said that this whole "lock down" thing would be over today.

It's not. 

Usually, we do something really fun to celebrate half birthdays.  I just couldn't let Covid-19 take away our traditions. 

My sweet Nolen is 9 and a half today.  He is so special.  He lights up our lives.  Nolen has a huge personality.  He loves to be silly and make people laugh.  Poop jokes are his go to for making us laugh.  Some things will never change and I really wouldn't want them to change. 

I, of course, had Nolen pose for a photo then we jumped on the trampoline with a million balloons.  Nolen wanted Bahamas Bucks for a treat, so we sat in the drive through line for 30 minutes before driving over to Panera Bread to pick up our dinner.  We finished the day by playing Jackbox as we have been doing every single night of this silly lock down.

Mother's Day under Lock down

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in my life. 

Last night, around 11 PM, my sweet Nolen crawled in to bed with me.  He sleeps with me at least once a week.  He reminds me I am a mother every single day.  I am truly blessed to have these two sweet boys!  They are my everything.  Stephen made breakfast this morning after he came home from working the mid night shift.  He is so thoughtful.

I love my sweet mother and I am so glad I have another year with her here in Albuquerque.  I love her.  She makes me a better person every day.

Mountain Biking and Swimming

We have been doing plenty of sitting around these last few weeks, and we have also been doing plenty of running, biking, and we just added swimming at the river. 

Stephen and I went up to the trails in the mountains for an extremely difficult mountain biking session.  I almost cried.  It was so tough.  We went the backward way on a trail and barely made it up the mountain.  Coming back down was just as difficult.  The rocks were every where.  Tiny, big, small, gravel, it didn't matter, the rocks made the trail so extremely difficult.  When we finally got to the end I was relieved.  I had ran that morning, then lifted weights, and then biked!

The boys and I have been doing some trail running on Saturday's.  It has been a great stress relief.  I am so glad Edward is going us, even though I get frustrated that he walks.  I don't want to see my boys health plummet because of COVID-19.  We are an active family.  We haven't found many creatures yet on our adventures but here's hoping this Saturday we will find something fun.

Lastly, we hiked down to the river to let the boys swim.  It was refreshing.  I hope they open the pools this summer.  I hope we can have a semi-normal summer in spite of all the troubles.  I would love for things to just jump back to normal once the lock down ends.  I know that won't happen but I am hopeful of some semblance of normalcy soon. 

I bought some funny masks for us to wear to costco when we finally do get to leave the house!  HA! We all had a good laugh.

Stephen and I have been playing Animal Crossing for our down time.  It has been relaxing and fun.