June

June seemed to go by rather quickly.  We had some fun highlights:

Lincoln loves to help with yard work.  We did less yard work this month than usual.  We had a very dry ending to Spring.  The lack of rain means the grass hasn't been growing like it usually does.  Kimball usually mows the lawn every 5 days, but he has been able to go 7-10 days between mowing.  It has also been abnormally hot.  The first half of Spring was unseasonably cold and the last half was warmer than normal.  I have a feeling we are in for a hot Summer.  I'm already bracing myself. 

Joseph took the four older kids canoeing one day and Eden was left home with me.  She felt very left out so I took her out for ice cream.  She had a great time eating her pink ice cream.  (My phone needs a new protective glass put on it so my selfie pictures are less than ideal these days.)

We took a day trip to Taughannock State Park which is near Ithaca.  We enjoyed the easy hike to a beautiful waterfall.  The kids also played in the water on some of the flat rock surfaces.

Lincoln refused to be in the family picture I took because their was a dog behind him, but then felt left out so he had an individual picture taken once the dog was no longer behind him.  The dog wasn't near us, but it was close enough and big enough to make Lincoln nervous. 

I found out that one of my dearest friends is moving at the end of the Summer.  We have decided to get together as much as we can before her family moves.  We have to make the most of the time we have left.  Thank goodness things have opened up enough in NY that we both feel comfortable getting together with our kids.

Jonah and Lincoln had a Lego mini-figure war while Sage and Annika accessorized a Snow White Lego set.

The three little ones had dental exams.  The dental office opened for business the week before our appointments.  Unfortunately, only one child was allowed in the office at a time.  Thankfully, Joseph was home that morning so he could sit with the kids in the car while I took them in one at a time.  Eden was scared for her dental exam so I ended up sitting with her.  I'm thinking it was all of the extra gear the hygienist was wearing.

We celebrated the last day of School.  School let out 7 days early since the students and teachers worked through Spring Break.  Rebecah finished 4th grade and Kimball finished 7th.  They will both start new schools in the Fall...Middle School and Junior High respectively.  Lincoln and Annika will start in Kindergarten.  Everyone will be in a new school!

We have desperately needed to put new epoxy on our basement floor.  The kids ride bikes down there and that results in a lot of concrete dust.  It can't be healthy to breathe in concrete dust so we decide to make this project a priority this Summer.  We did one half of the basement at a time and now it looks so clean and fresh.  We are going to try to make it more of a play area and less of a workshop. 

Like most schools throughout the country we had to pick up and drop off personal items and school items in a safe/distant way.  The only personal items Kimball had at school were his awards.  He earned an award for being on the Honor Roll all three years of middle school.  The second award was for being on the Honor Roll all three years plus scoring an 85% or higher on the standardized state tests.  Kimball didn't think either achievement was that exciting, but I still took pictures.  The kids were given a Class of 2025 t-shirt to honor their efforts.  

 

Kimball had a few last hurrahs at school.  The day school let out his group of teachers bought ice cream for their group of students.  The kids did a fairly good job wearing their masks when they weren't eating their ice cream.  It was a nice way to say good-bye to friends and teachers.  The second event was another ice cream "social."  The teachers stood in the parking lot waving as the kids drove by with their parents and at the end of the line there was an ice cream truck and the kids could get an ice cream before leaving.  Kimball was just there for the ice cream!

Annika got a new bike this month.  Her old bike was a hand-me-down from Rebecah which was given to us well-loved.  The chain kept coming off, the bike seat had already fallen apart and it was just time for a new bike.  She loves it, but she is so sweet to share with Lincoln when he wants to ride it....and he does enjoy riding it.  I love that they have no qualms about her riding an orange and black bike and him riding a purple and pink bike.

The State of NY has been slowly opening up with good results.  I'm glad more businesses are opening up, but I'm happy it has been slow since we haven't seen a spike in new cases like in the Southern and Western states.  It's crazy to see the numbers escalating in other states and sad to realize that people care more for their "normal" life than to be safe and healthy.  I understand that it's hard on people not to socialize and masks aren't fun to wear in the hot weather, but I hope we don't start seeing a huge increase in deaths.  

May

We had a good month with a lot of various activities.  

I love going on walks with my kids.  They usually ride their bikes and I push Eden in the stroller.  Lincoln and Annika decided to walk one day and I just had to capture the sweet moment when they decided to hold hands.  They really are great friends and these pictures show the love they share.

Lincoln lost his first tooth on May 8th and a week later on May 15th he lost his second tooth.  He is excited to have finally lost some teeth since Annika lost her first two teeth 7 months ago.  Lincoln was also happy the Tooth Fairy remembered to come!

Speaking of the Tooth Fairy...Annika came to me one day dressed in this scarf and wings and told me she was the tooth fairy. 

Even though we have done online schooling for the last 6 weeks and will continue online learning for the rest of the school year, Rebecah still had to do a Science Fair project.  She decided to see if adding vinegar to the water when hard boiling eggs makes it easier to peel the shell away from the eggs.  After doing her test she discovered that the vinegar didn't really make a difference.

We celebrated Mother's Day.  It was a good day with yummy food that I made.  I missed having the kids sing at church and make fun Mother's Day crafts at school, but the girls still made some fun cards for me.

We went on a family hike to Oxbow Falls.  It was a new hike for us.  The little ones did really well!  The weather was perfect.  

  

We had our masks with us in case we needed them, but Annika was the only one to wear hers.  

I think she liked matching with the flowers she picked.

Joseph and the kids decided to expand our play set a little and add an extra platform and a rock climbing wall.  After the construction was completed they repainted the entire set. It was a fun project and the kids all loved having a chance to paint.

Kimball has a lawn mowing job for 6 weeks.  A medical resident family is moving to our area at the end of June, but they needed someone to mow their lawn in the mean time.  Kimball is happy to earn some money and mow their lawn.  The first lawn mowing experience was an adventure.  The grass was 12-18 inches long depending the the area Kimball was mowing.  At times Kimball would use the edger/weed whacker to shorten the grass and then mow.  It was hard work, but Kimball didn't complain...that's the power of money!

Lincoln was happy to help Kimball and try his hand at the edger.

One of the hardest things about COVID-19 has been not being at school for the end of year celebrations.  Lincoln and Annika had a special visit from their Preschool teachers, Mrs. Klei and Mrs. Cosgrove.  The teachers brought each of the kids a gift bag filled with crafts and special graduation supplies.  Their visit was the highlight of the week!

Graduation hats!

It wouldn't be Spring/Summer without freeze pops!!!  My kids love freeze pops and eat them as often as I buy them.  I loved this sweet picture of Lincoln and Eden snuggling in the chair and eating their pops!

Joseph celebrated his 39th birthday on the 24th.  I made him a white chocolate raspberry mousse cake.  It was delicious; it was also a lot of work.  I had my doubts about making this cake in the future because I had to strain the raspberry seeds out of the raspberry puree and it took forever, but after tasting the cake it was well worth the time it took to strain the seeds.  I thought the flavors were so perfect together and I love the light mousse texture.  I was actually so excited to try this cake that I convinced Joseph it would be best to cut his cake on the 23rd, the day I assembled the cake.  He agreed.  

Lincoln helping to make Joseph's birthday breakfast...breakfast burritos. 

Sunday game of Risk on the front porch.

Annika and Lincoln learned to ride bikes without training wheels this month.  It was very exciting for both of them.  Now we just need to get Eden up and riding and everyone will be able to ride a bike.

At Cicero Elementary practicing her bike riding skills with Joseph.

Relaxing in the shade.

Lincoln riding. 

Michael, Annika, Eden and Lincoln

Our favorite neighbors moved at the end of May.  Rebecah has been friends with Maria ever since we moved to this house.  The social distancing was hard on the girls, but they would stand in the back yard and talk to each other across the common area joining our yards.  The last few days of May the social distancing eased so we let the kids play together.  They had so much fun!!  Maria's younger brother Michael is the same age as Lincoln and Annika, so it was a party. 

Maria and Rebecah.

Indoor tents! Joseph set up a tent for Eden and Lincoln set up his play tent so the kids had fun reading books in their tents.

We had a fun rain storm and Lincoln and Annika decided to play 

in the rain.  Lincoln had a great time.

Annika is an early riser.  She rarely sleeps past 6:45 and is sometimes up before 6.  I blame the birds and the sunlight.  The birds start chirping about 4:30 and it's fully light by 5:00.  The summertime is rough if you enjoy sleeping late.  Since Annika gets up so early she usually joins Joseph or me for our morning scripture study.  She pretends to read her scriptures and writes notes in her notebook.

Grandma and Grandpa Coffey sent us some souvenirs from Taiwan.  The kids enjoyed helping put together Lincoln's cool dragon.

Eden's Taiwan lantern.

The spread of the Covid cases in NY has slowed.  We are now in Phase II of reopening.  It will still be a while before life is really normal.  Normal for me is having the kids in school and being able to attend church.  We'll get there someday.  Most days the restrictions don't bother me, but I feel like I stopped measuring time on March 16 when life changed for us in New York.  It's hard for me to believe that 2020 is almost half over.