Brave New World

We have been thinking about you - how this pandemic has been affecting our loved ones. With so many losing jobs and seeing their business grind to a halt, we are so so thankful to be blessed with our life. Our daily "struggles" aren't really struggles - but opportunities to draw closer together. I think we did a better job of that this week! Matt has been phenomenal letting me work in peace in my home office (downstairs playroom - I really need to take a picture of that!). Brenner and Nola get down to business on their homework and have found creative ways to fill up their "free" time. (Don't be fooled - Matt and I still want to run and hide at times!). We cancelled our New England vacation this week before we were dinged with fees. The poor people I talk to on the phone - the angry people calling in when cancelling - let's be kind folks - none of us made this happen. But we can make or break someone's day! 

We may need to rename Brenner "Pasta Parker" - he has been experimenting on making his own ramen noodles (see what happens when I refuse to pay a quarter for the packaged stuff! And - it actually taste really good - in this image he fixed a spicy and regular - love how he finished by sprinkling parsley on the top!

The weather was gorgeous on Thursday. Nola wanted to make a structure so Dad and Brenner helped with the design.

#girlpower

Nola did a great job! She has also been asking some interesting questions like "why does God not give girls important jobs? It seems the bible is all about boys." I recalled recently that I read something about this and liked it. I told her that I would find it and we would discuss. My mind hadn't faltered me - it was a Proverbs 31 devotional (https://www.proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2020/01/14/what-god-really-thinks-about-you-as-a-woman). Check it out and let me know what YOU think!

The girls in the A-frame. I will take this time to also confess - I haven't worn anything but comfy clothes in the past two weeks......and don't even talk with me about make up (even though we have zoom meetings with our church family!).

They have a pretty awesome dad!

FACs assignment to make breakfast.....

Brenner made three breakfast burritos. Nola and I got the first two which were slightly burned, cheese not fully melted, and a bit off on egg-tortilla ratio. Brenner's on the other hand was perfect....hmmm....

Pasta Parker at it again...this time he created his own seasoning and learned some lessons on the seasoning by itself may be disgusting - um I mean too intense - but once cooked can be a masterpiece.

Another FACs assignment- do household chores. Brenner first attempted to "clean" his room. You have to take a picture to turn in...well his room was half clean (only the part that was in the picture!). So redo with a different room - bathroom cleaning was the winner!

We all took a drive Saturday (although I had been on walks daily - I hadn't left the neighborhood since last Sunday's Walmart pickup run). Don't worry - Mr. Tickles was in tow as well - he was just lounging in the back of Guzzy.

Nola got in on the cooking action making peanut butter oatmeal sandwich cookies (think Girl Scout kind) for Matt. She did a great job!

Nola riding the scooter (Brenner was her coach).

Matt cleaned out the shop and took the tractor for a spin. Our neighbor snapped this image.

Brenner driving the H - he looks so tall! We do think that Brenner is in a growth spurt - his jeans are highwaters with his boots. Bring on summer and shorts please!

A new (slower) pace while dealing with a pandemic

Things can change rapidly as we all experienced this week with the COVID-19 pandemic.We are all doing well and encourage everyone to listen to the CDC and local health departments. Please don't be gathering in groups - we need to stop the spread! While we should not be fearful, we should be smart about our actions. Matt and I are very thankful that we live on several acres which allows us to get outside.

First day of distance learning with the kids.....it didn't go smoothly but we didn't expect it to. Apparently their classes come with spoons that allow their teacher to feed them the information. To quote Brenner "I just want you to give me the answer, mom!" (followed by a "you suck" which is super nice from someone who is asking you for help!). We will get into a routine. Luckily we all have laptops and decent internet connections.

Brenner's FACS class assignment one day was to make your family dinner. He made a BBQ cheese quesadilla. It was messy but didn't taste too bad!

Nola wrapping up her school work and taking extra time on learning how to draw different items like this cell phone.

Preach it, Nola!

Our 4H foods group assignment was to make muffins and post pictures and a video onto our facebook page. Nola found a chocolate chip muffin recipe.

Nola taking pictures.

One of her images - they look delicious.

Her plating skills!

Hope this video plays! She did a great job!

Nola kept the camera for some shenanigans!

It looks like he is standing on the wall!

It's a bird! It's a plane!

Miss Baylee.

Saturday was gorgeous - time to get outside!

Siblings in proximity to one another - and both smiling!

Brenner is growing up!

Creation of our garden hot box - it must be decorated. Nola worked on the design!

They did a great job!

Sunday morning pancakes. If you want them, you have to help make them! Nola did a great job!

No church so we gathered around the table with our bibles to go over a scripture that Brenner selected (Isaiah 43:1-13). The verses are very appropriate for today!

Spring Break: Amarillo by morning, COVID-19 by the next morning

We went on spring break last week and now preparing for some home time with school and work places shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please take social distancing seriously - we all have a part to play! Also reach out via phone, facetime, social media to elderly friends and family that may feel isolated during this time. 

Some silliness waiting for Matt to arrive so that we could head out on spring break. We drove to Newton, KS to stay the night with Jerry and Itati our first night. Had a great visit but no pics!

We found these fun sand dunes in Beaver, Oklahoma. The kids had a ball but we had to be careful because there were ATVs zipping around.

The pool at the hotel got daily use. The kids had a ball!

Nothing says birthday dinner in Texas like pho! Hey it was my birthday and my choice!

It was so yummy too!

The kids were a little creeped out by the rattlesnake signs! We assured them it was too cold and rainy for them to appear.

We grabbed some spray paint and headed to Cadillac Ranch. It was 38, windy, and misty - ugh!

Nola's contribution!

Brenner working on his art.

The Parkers made their mark! We were guessing how long it lasted before it was covered by other visitors!

The one thing Brenner wanted to do is take on the 72 oz steak challenge at the Big Texan. One hour to eat all this food and you get the meal for free (if not, it was $72).

It was live streamed and Brenner had to set up at a table by himself. They announced him and he was a little nervous but really excited to try. Lots of people came up to encourage him! He ate for about 30 minutes. I begged him to stop before he puked (which he did!). Leftovers came home/hotel.

Brenner did get this t-shirt and asked for a new hat. He looks pretty grown up!

The weather was kinda crummy so we had some hotel room time. From this image I think that you can tell we were in close quarters and the kids got stir crazy!

I wanted to hike Palo Duro Canyon but heavy thunderstorms closed the trails. So we spent the morning at the RV Museum before out trail ride. Grammy Vo would have loved this!

The weather cleared and we had wonderful weather for our trail ride at Palo Duro Canyon.

This was Nola's activity of choice - and she had a ball but didn't want to get too close to the canyon ledges.

Brenner had a good time too although his horse was a little troublesome.

Brenner (on Whiskey), Nola (on Yahtzee), Matt (on Scout), and Jo (on Chance). It was a fun time and we worked up our appetites to go eat Mexican food at a local recommended dive!

Picked this up at the Texas Tourism Center. Kinda funny since I work on inland oil spills.

It was foggy as we headed home on Sunday. This cross was lit up in the haze - it looked amazing! The picture isn't great but we were all in awe! It was a long drive in a confined space so we were glad to get home! I went to the grocery store and got the main items that we needed to make it a few days but some shelves were picked clean. Hope everyone stays safe and don't panic. Let's have this pandemic bring out the best in us as humans!