Thanksgiving!

 Because Ben's family is part of our "pod" and we are all being super vigilant about Covid, we felt it was safe to meet for Thanksgiving. Covid is spiking in large part because of family gatherings, so we did not make this decision lightly. Like everything else, even something as simple as knowing whether or not to get together for family on this beloved holiday was a difficult decision. Certainly getting together with more extended family was absolutely out of the question, but we all felt safe with this decision.

Oh, how we all hope next year we can be together in large groups!

But, we had a lovely Thanksgiving. The girls and I spent the morning watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade (this is our second year watching it, so I guess it is a tradition now) and baking. We opted to only bake 1 pie this year because we wanted to support Village Inn so we bought a lemon meringue and pumpkin from them (I normally consider this complete blasphemy!) and then made an apple, and then we made crescent rolls and Jell-O.

Claire also got us to try a possible new tradition: Turkey cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. She got the idea from a friend of hers and was quite adamant we do it. They tasted delicious, but I'm sure they look prettier somewhere on Pinterest.

We played some Ping Pong

The kids put on a play.

Claire drew us our annual Thanksgiving tree this year. She does a much better job than I ever did.

Ben: Walks around the block

Camille: I'm thankful for family and I'm thankful for paper, books, and blankets

Audra: Teachers, Band

Claire: Trees, Sticks to build teepees (they have built quite the tee pee wonderland in the open space that they spend hours playing at. It's awesome)

Thanksgiving Tree

 We were a little late to get our Thanksgiving Tree done, but it's not because we aren't grateful!

Claire made the beautiful tree.

Lots of sweet things were expressed:

Trying To Spread Joy

We have been earnestly trying to find ways to do service. It's tough during a pandemic, but I believe now more than ever we need to find ways to make a positive impact.

We made pumpkin spice cupcakes for The Shiloh House (a home for the most high risk foster kids), we used sidewalk chalk

We went to the middle school where Audra does band and side walk chalked all kinds of thank yous to try and boost morale. The stress of teachers is impossible right now, so we hope it helped them feel loved and appreciated.

And, we went and collected food at a drop off site for Feeding the 5,000. In years past we would go outside a grocery store and collect food, but that isn't an option this year. Only 3 cars came to drop off food in the hour and a half we were there, so that was a little disappointing.

Quiet Peaceful Moments

I don't know what it is about the last few weeks- perhaps winter settling in, perhaps the earlier darkness, perhaps the realization that the only activity we are now involved with is 4H so we have a lot of time on our hands, I don't know- BUT...

One really sweet we are finding is quiet moments. I frequently find Claire and Camille sitting next to each other knitting. Claire just taught Camille how to knit and they are enjoying using their skill.

Or, finding all three girls sitting on the couch reading. They will sit nicely for hours reading- it makes every trip to the library worth it, even if now we are back to only picking up holds instead of being able to go inside and peruse for books (the library isn't closed, but they offer curbside pick up so we are switching to do that with Covid numbers rising so quickly).

 It is really sweet and brings a lot of peace to our home. These girls are so sweet.

Covid Updates

 It's been awhile since I have talked about Covid, but it's still what is running our lives.

Unfortunately, numbers are skyrocketing again- like really, really skyrocketing. In North Dakota, they said they had about 100 new cases a day at the beginning of October. Now, they have over 1,000. Does North Dakota even have 1,000 people??? I guess so. It's so bad in North Dakota that health care workers were told they could work even if they have a positive Covid test.

Every single day this week I have gotten this e-mail from Audra's school (the local middle school she attends for band):

Dear Ranch View Middle School Families and Staff,

 

We recently learned that a person at our school has tested positive for COVID-19. We are following guidance from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regarding isolation and quarantine of affected individuals. 

 

The person who tested positive is in isolation. Those who have been identified as close contacts with this person will go into quarantine and have received additional information from our school. 

 

While they are quarantined, students in the impacted classes will transition to virtual learning and staff will provide more information to those families soon. All other classrooms and all other grades can attend school as scheduled. In alignment with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment guidelines, siblings of the quarantined students can still go to school unless their sibling gets sick or tests positive for COVID-19. 

 

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and/or shortness of breath. Other symptoms can include sore throat, congestion/runny nose, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache/body aches and new loss of taste or smell. If you have a concern, please contact your medical provider for guidance. 

 

To learn more about DCSD’s health and safety mitigation measures, please visit this website. We will also continue to follow recommendations found on the Colorado Department of Education’s COVID-19 resources for schools page.

 

Thank you for doing your part in keeping our students and staff healthy and safe.

 

Health, Wellness and Prevention Team

Douglas County School District

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Starting the week after Thanksgiving, all of DCSD is going to remote learning. This is not at all a surprise. Almost all school districts have either already switched to remote learning or will be soon. Douglas County is now at a level "Orange." I'm not sure what it means, but it does mean tougher restrictions- no large gatherings, etc. Our church has been meeting every Sunday, with half of the ward attending each week, but now that number needs to be lowered. Now, if you want to attend sacrament, you need to text our Bishop to make sure there are enough spots for you to go. Whereas the YW were meeting outside for lessons and activities, that has all been changed back to 100% on-line. We are grateful for this, as we don't want Audra going to them anyway.

Over 50% of Americans plan to travel to visit family for Thanksgiving. So, the numbers will only increase.

We are pretty much hunkering back down. One of my dearest friends is a long hauler- she has been severely ill since March. She can barely get out of bed after all this time, and there is nothing the doctors can do. Every time I think, "Oh, it isn't that bad," I think about her and remember just how serious this is. Even though fewer people are dying, the long term consequences of this illness are scary. A new study found that 20% of people who recover from Covid are subsequently diagnosed with a mental illness- it is now even being linked to cause Alzheimer's.

We have been so, so careful- but we are now being even more so. We made a bunch more masks today so we can do a better job of washing them after we use them (we have not done a good job of that, sadly). I'm going to start limiting my grocery store runs again, like I did back in March.

Panic shopping has begun again. For awhile, we could buy TP pretty easily. You better believe I stocked up when I saw it on the shelves! And, it's a good thing I did- things are running out at the stores again. Here are the things I stocked up on as I saw them very low back in March: Toilet paper, paper towels, yeast, flour, and cleaning supplies.

There are a couple of drive through Covid testing sites in Highlands Ranch. Every time I drive by there is a line of people wanting to get tested.

There is hope that a vaccine will be coming soon, possibly as soon as January. Of course, it will go to the most vulnerable and the front line health care workers first- as it should. I am curious how many people will be willing to take a vaccine that hasn't been tested and researched as well as it should. We will certainly not be the first in line for it.

It's just all really, really scary.

Rome Party

 We finished our Greek/Rome unit so tonight we had a little party. Togas, Pin the sword on the Gladiator, Greek food (including Baklava!), and a fun ancient Rome movie. It was a lot of fun, and likely the only part about Greece and Rome that the kids remember.

Election 2020

There's a million emotions, and few words. Today Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were officially elected as our next President and Vice President after the most contentious and vitriolic election I have ever witnessed.

Despite a million thoughts, here's the one that made me cry: My daughters will grow up thinking that a female Vice President is normal.

If that isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.

10 Days of Loving Thy Neighbor

With so much anger and anxiety everywhere, I decided to start a group called 10 Days of Loving Thy Neighbor-  where we would commit to one day of service for 10 days starting November 4th, the day after the election- when 50% of the country would wake up disappointed.

Today, Audra and I went and used sidewalk chalk to write inspirational messages along our jogging route.

We have over 130 people from all across the country in our group. It is pretty cool to see!

You can't see it, but it says, "Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile."

Ben and I went on a walk later in the day and we saw lots of people stopping to read the quotes. Hopefully it made some people smile on a really, really hard day.

Greek Temples

This was a lot of fun! We have been studying Greece/Rome, so today they made temples- out of paper, tape, and paper clips. They needed to be beautiful and strong- after they were built, they had to hold an encyclopedia. Well, at least they were supposed to. Back when I taught high school, their temples would hold over 30 textbooks. None of theirs could hold a single book, but they had a lot of fun and we laughed a lot.

Election Day

 The entire country has been in a frenzy of this election. Lots of anxiety, rallies, busses being run off the road...it's been a lot.

Last night I had the family vote for dinner tonight. I didn't tell them the results until tonight's dinner time.

Then, we went with some friends and held up some signs with positive messages like, "Spread Kindness." We got 200 honks and lots of thumbs up. I think, and am hopeful, that a lot of people are ready to not be so angry and bitter anymore and to move forward, whatever the outcome of the election.

At least, I hope so.

Ben and I actually voted weeks ago- early voting is the best thing! If nothing else, it has been inspiring to see all the millions more people voting. Americans showed up this election.

Church 7 Months In

After 7 months of Covid and doing 100% home centered church, here is what church now looks like:

Actually, our ward has been going to church once a  month, 1/2 the ward at a time since July. We haven't gone, despite precautions being taken.

Right now, Covid numbers across the country are skyrocketing, but church is opening up even more. Now, our ward is meeting every week, 1/2 ward assigned each week (they alternate), and those who are home can watch it on YouTube. So, now we are watching weekly speakers on Zoom. They don't air sacrament, so we still do our own sacrament after the broadcast is over.

It's different, but it's also pretty cool.