Trick or Treat!

 

Sandi and I (like all parents) were wondering how to give our kids a good Halloween during a pandemic.  Fortunately our church hosted a harvest party in the early evening.  Both got a large bag of candy and it was fun to see all the costumes.  Then we headed over to Sandi's parents for an all-family sleepover. 

A cute little bumblebee and a charming little princess

Sandi's mom got into the spirit by dressing up as a witch and sending candy down her front porch in a cardboard tube.  We were all impressed.  

After a dinner of chili (a Reimer Halloween tradition) with all the fixin's, we took the girls for a walk around the neighborhood to see all the spooky houses. As a bonus, about a dozen houses were handing out candy.  One house went ALL in by creating a front-yard haunted-house.  The experience, capped off by a blue moon, was quite impressive.
 

We also marked the occasion by having the girls sleep in the same room together.  Taryn's only concern was that we leave the door opened a little so she could get out (even though Amber promised to let her out if she needed).  Bummer for Amber that we promised her a roommate all night long and she wouldn't have to be alone.  Taryn, however, had no allegiance to her new roomie and wandered downstairs before Sandi and I went to bed.  Oh was Amber distressed.  I think we will have them share a room occasionally at home so it is a better experience for everyone when we travel.

Final note unrelated to Halloween: the weekend happened to fall on Standard Time weekend were we gain an hour of sleep.  What a miserable idea!  Kids don't know or care about the extra hour of sleep.  It just produces the LONGEST day of the year because kids are tired, parents could give a rip about extra daylight and bedtime on Sunday can't come soon enough.

Pumpkin Patch

We picked a beautiful Sunday morning in early October to visit the pumpkin patch.  

Taryn was really into it and wanted to pull the wagon.  

There was lots to choose from

The girls helped carry out booty back to the car.

We love decorating our porch in autumn (and think we have the best non-Halloween display on our block)

Both Amber and Taryn picked out their pumpkins

 

Happy Birthday Amber!

Our little girl is five years old!

Amber showing off her new twirly dress (she's a good twirler)

 

Sandi made an amazing 3-layer chocolate fudge cake that Amber helped decorate.

 Mad-props to friends who drove to our house to give Amber a covid-style birthday parade Friday morning. She felt really special.

We had a 'big chicken' for dinner that night followed by cake.

All Amber wants to be when she grows up is a princes.

Amber, you are such a delightful little girl.  You paint, dance, color and run with such incredible enthusiasm!  I love how you bless us with your cards and gifts.  You have a very tender heart and a giving spirit.  It is a joy taking you out for ice cream and taking walks with you.  I love how you decorate our house with cut flowers from our backyard and your latest drawings.  I am looking forward to how you will continue to learn, grow and express yourself.

Backyard Wildlife

Our old house had a fairly limited selection of wildlife to look at: cats, squirrels crows and dragonflies.  I enjoyed the dragonflies.

Out new house is quite different.  Since we live so close to a wetland and a lake, the flora and fauna are much more diverse.  Birds I never new existed inhabit our backyard.  On any given morning I am likely to hear Sandi, Amber or Taryn call out 'Towhee,' 'Bush-tit,' 'Sparrow,' 'Junco' and others.  Sandi even keeps a journal of the birds she spots up on our hill.

A few weekends ago while Sandi was weeding the hill, she spotted a real birds nest on the ground (apparently, some birds build their nests on the ground and not a tree).  Sandi initially thought it was a towhee nest.  Today we learned that it is a sparrow's nest because Sandi saw a sparrow laying on the (now 4) eggs.  We will give them peace and stay out of their way.  We may soon hear the chirping of baby sparrows calling for food.

 

The girls LOVED seeing a mallard waddle through our backyard after breakfast one Saturday morning.

 

I still haven't seen any dragon flies.  Maybe someday.

My Healthcare Hero!

Brighton is a very impressive company.  They take good care of their staff and Sandi loves working for them.  Last week, the marketing staff surprised each employee with a yard-sign to celebrate and thank them for their work during this Covid-19 crises.  (Their jobs got a lot more difficult in this environment as they try to keep their patients safe and provide them excellent care.)

Sandi, though touched by this gesture, did not really want a yard-sign out front proclaiming her a hero.  Before she took it to the garage I captured her with her sign.  Babe, you are my healthcare hero!  Thank you for all you do to care for the dying and their families.  God made you for this.

P.S. - If you want to see the sign in living color, come check out our garage.  We will hang it as a reminder/memento of this really difficult season.

Easter 2020 (Shelter-in-Place-Style)

This post will be heavy on photos and light on words (the girls are cute enough on their own).

This is Manny's egg

Mommy and Amber did a great job dying eggs Saturday afternoon

Easter morning: cuddly Taryn, her blanket, my coffee: I could do this all day

breakfast!

Amber enjoying her cinnamon roll

Taryn stealing Daddy's frosting (I mean Taryn just wants to hang out with Daddy)

Taryn's grapefruit

Easter baskets!

My Little Princess with her My Little Pony

My other Little Princess

Both little princesses

Amber sporting her tat's

Beautiful girls!

Happy Easter (from a distance)

Sheltering in Place

While sheltering in place and social-distancing during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we try to maintain a somewhat normal lifestyle.  Taryn is obviously the least affected; Amber kind of misses pre-school (but not really); I work upstairs in the guest bedroom and Sandi tries to keep her patients from catching the virus. 

On the weekends, we try to get out of the house for at least one adventure.  Pictured above is our bike ride along a Beaverton trail.  The amount of time we actually spent on the bike was minuscule compared to the effort to actually do it, but the girls had fun and they ran around a soccer field for quite a while (plus it got us out of the house).

Another weekend, we drove to the Portland waterfront to walk around.  

Taryn probably pointing to a 'daddy duck'

Amber playing

beautiful (empty) downtown Portland

this only works because Taryn hasn't discovered we are here

Since our guestroom can't possibly be used for guests right now, it has become our home office.  Sandi recently joined me in the morning to take care of charting before visits.  We keep is simple with card table, chairs, laptops, coffee, tea, and every computer cable that we could possibly ever need.

Also on our 'To do' / 'This is how we cope' list during this season:

• make a drive to Joe's Doughnuts in Sandy, OR
• watch our online church service Sunday afternoons
• make fun meals for dinner and weekend breakfasts 
• give more screen time to Amber and Taryn than we ever thought we would
• limit the intake of daily news