Our Weekend Away

September 2020

When I got word that my best friend was turning 40 and they were having a surprise birthday party for her, I knew I had to go. And I told my husband that it was going to be a weekend away for us, no kiddos. Which in the long run, is tough for us. But we did it, we made the hotel reservation and we were ready to go. 

So leading up to this weekend was super tough. I mean I talk to my best friend every day, sometimes twice a day. I even talked to her the day of and I was good, never said a word. She even called me when we were almost to our exit on the high way and the GPS was talking, but she never heard it. 🤣

It was a beautiful, but chilly weekend. And we headed out on Friday afternoon. I thought we would drive my car, but we actually drove the Mustang. Love that car! We got into Port Huron around 9pm and checked into the hotel. We went and got dinner, our first time in a restaurant since everything started. It was definitely a different atmosphere, but good food. On Saturday, we got up and went to breakfast. Afterwards we decided to do a little sightseeing. Had to go and check out the lighthouse and the river. Super pretty and it was nice to just be the two of us. Saturday night was the party and it was a blast! So happy I was there for my best friend and the look on her face was great. 

She was surprised too!

On Sunday we got up, took a little drive and then headed over to her house for a little bit. I wanted to visit some more as we do live 3 hours from each other. It was a great weekend away. So happy went went and had the time together.

I cannot wait to plan our next weekend away.

This is Me...

This is Me...

I am doing the best that I can with everything that has been thrown at me. 

I am taking one day at a time and really taking in every moment that I can. 

Not everything is perfect, but everything is ok. 

I sometimes wonder what life would look like if things didn’t drastically change 11 months ago. 

What would we be doing? 

How busy would our lives be? 

Would we have time to do fun things?

I look at this picture and see someone that looks fun, loving and loves to smile. 

I don’t see that she may be trying to hold it together to make sure everything goes the way it should at home. 

She is doing ok. She is loving her life even more right now. 

And she is strong. 

She has a family that is supporting her and cheering her on. 

I also have God on my side. He loves me unconditionally and will never leave my side. He is my biggest fan and will always guide me in the right direction.

This is me...

 

Joy

How true is this? 

This popped up in my Facebook memories from one year ago. How were we to know what would happen just one month later? 

I had to find the joy in my life when I felt defeated. I couldn’t let it hold me down. Yes, I was upset..but the Lord knew what was going on and he placed me exactly where I needed to be. Finding Joy with my kiddos. Seeing the smiles on their faces every day. And making so many new memories that we can talk about for years to come. 

Image credit: Finding Joy/Facebook

 

Where has the time gone?

 Here we are, almost to the end of February. We made it thru 2020, just like we knew we would. 

Things may not be the same as they were a year ago, but we are all still here and together. Life if moving forward, but not as fast. We have all slowed down and we are all cherishing the moments that we have together. 

This past year has been a learning curve for all of us. For me, I was learning my new normal..my new role as a stay-at-home-mom. This was something that I always wanted, just never thought that I would get to experience it. 

When I got word that my job was not going to be opening back up once we were able too, I was sad. I cried....a lot...but I prayed. I prayed a prayer of "Lord, what am I supposed to do now? What is your plan for me?" And by that evening, the weight was lifted off of my shoulders and I knew that I was in the right place. That I was supposed to be at home with my kiddos and being the mom I always wanted to be. Having fun with the kids is something that we love doing, but we were always limited on what we could do with our work schedules. This past summer was awesome. We made so many memories with them and cannot wait to make more. 

Just to touch on a few things:

 ~ We played outside in the pool on every hot day there was, I saw Donny be a 'kid' again (you know those teens have a hard time having fun). I saw Makayla and Donny both grow over a short time and couldn't believe that I missed so much. 

 ~ We started going racing in July down in Indiana. This was awesome, as Donny and I both raced. Now we are ready to continue this journey this coming summer. And we are both wanting to learn more so that we are better at the sport. Plus, we had a blast staying in a hotel for the weekends that we went down there. And having everyone know us at the hotel...highly recommend the Holiday Inn in Kokomo, Indiana. Great place, clean and always friendly. 

 ~ I have seen my kids grow physically and mentally in these last 11 months. Donny is now taller than me and Makayla just keeps growing. And they are both learning a lot with virtual school. We have both had our moments with school and getting behind, but I think that has to be expected with being virtual. But we have been on it and the work is getting done. Donny is getting better with reaching out to teachers and asking for help, unlike at the beginning of the year. 

 ~We have been able to enjoy our breaks from school. No running and just being home. I have noticed that my kids like being homebodies, but they also like to travel. To the point that they want to travel more. But we are trying to be so careful. Trying to not go where there are a bunch of people. So summer vacation could be interesting. 

But back to the point of this post. We were always so busy, that we just rolled with the punches. We just kept going. We only stopped to sleep. Now we have slowed down...now we are able to enjoy life a little bit more. And sometimes, it is the craziest things that make you slow down. Things that just happen unexpectedly. But we have to know that everything is going to be alright. That we are ok. And we need to think positive about everything. I know that is tough for some, but we will get thru this together and someday we will all be back together again. 

March 19, 2020

Today is Friday! We have been home all week. We have been having a blast and getting to do a lot of things at home that we haven't done in awhile. Let's just say, things are getting cleaned and the garbage cans have been FULL!!!  I have been cooking sooo many meals, and let me tell you, I am so not used to that. With the hours that we both were working, neither of us ever felt like cooking. I will say though that Don was getting some meals around here at home the last few months before this started and I loved coming home to a cooked meal! The kids are even enjoying it when I cook lunch for them!! So today I made pancakes with sprinkles...and of course they were "Frozen" sprinkles. They were gone of course and I am thinking I will need to do that again soon. 

After lunch we made time to play a couple of card games together. First we played UNO and then we played WAR. My kids love this game and it just wouldn't end. I believe Donny won, but I really don't remember, lol.

After a few games of cards, I decided I needed to finish cleaning in the living room. It was so close to being done, that I just had to do it. And I pray that it stays clean..that the toys stay put and that I don't let things over take everywhere. And if I do, I better get on it and clean it up!! I think that tomorrow it will be completely done, yay!!

At bedtime, we read a classic book. One of my favorites and I think my son really likes this one too. We love reading and I hope that love continues on with them. 

And just so I have it as a reference and to keep track for history purpose, here are a couple of images from MLive's facebook page. 

And now we have stores closing so they can clean and restock. But it hasn't even gotten to our county. We are sure it is here, they just haven't been tested yet. I am sure once the tests start coming in, we will see them pop up everywhere.

We are all in this together.

March 18, 2020

Oh man, we are already into Thursday of our first week home. The Coronavirus is closing everything up, everywhere. These are a couple of pictures to show what I mean by everything is shutting down. I got these off of the MLive Facebook page. The Big Three shutdown operations, due to not being able to social distance in the factory and too many people were getting sick.

 So on days that this is happening, we are home and staying safe. We aren't going out. Don is an essential worker, so he goes to work and comes home. I am thankful that he is still working. But I know that they don't have a lot of people around and they can easily social distance at his job.

Today was just another not so busy day. Some school work, some cleaning and a lot of time together. Just being thankful that we are together. And we have started to read a lot of our books that we have. I have actually decided that it was time to start reading them on Facebook live. And Makayla agreed that she would do that with me. Lastly for today, Makayla tried chocolate milk for the first time and she loved it!! We signed up to get food from the school for the time that the kids are out and they sent home two bags worth of milk!!! I think all but 5 were drank..they loved it. And the kids love the food that is coming home in those bags too. I am so happy to be part of an amazing school district!

Yay!! Tomorrow is Friday!! Cannot wait to see what the rest of this week has in store for us!

March 17, 2020

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Today we just took it easy.. Did a little school work, cleaned in the living room, played with legos and then outside we went. We are waiting for days when we can be outside for longer than an hour or two, but for now we enjoy what we can. 

Donny's creation

       

And I am getting the livingroom cleaned...now if I could just get everyone to help me keep it clean, that would be great! This is a difficult task with kids, especially a small one that likes to have her horses everywhere!!

And this is my awesome pillow I got from Thirty-One!!! If you are ever in need of some amazing products, I may be able to hook you up with someone. I mean my best friend is a consultant and everything! 

March 16, 2020

Good Morning!!

I don't know the last time that I was able to take a picture of a beautiful sunrise at home. This was a chilly morning and we will be getting ready to start our new normal. We are all on a learning curve and will be trying to figure out what is best for us. Yes, I can have a schedule all written up, but I know it won't go as planned. That is why I just have to go with it. 

So after breakfast, the kids got online to check and see if they got any work for school. Makayla had and she was super excited to get started on it. And here I am thinking, will this last? She is excited to do her school work.. I cannot believe it! And we were off!

 Here is Makayla doing her morning journal work. Today she was supposed to draw 12 dinosaurs and label them. Well, she used her imagination and drew 12 Brachiosaurus. 

She remembered the dinosaur from the zoo with the really long neck and that is what she wanted to draw. And for a girl that has an imagination for drawing, you let her draw what she wants to draw.

Makayla also had some books on her tablet that she could read to me. I love listening to her read and I cannot wait to help her on this journey. We love books and have plenty of them.

Donny didn't have anything on this first day on distant learning. So he was setting up things on his Minecraft game. Something that he has always enjoyed doing.  But I also need to get him away from the computer or he would be there all day and half the night. But he has an awesome world in Minecraft. 

After school work, we went back outside. It was cloudy, but we had to get out there. We also had already filled one garbage can and Donny likes to take them to the end of the driveway. So we played outside for awhile before coming in to continue having some fun before the day was done. 

And when we came in, we of course had to draw some more pictures. I have plenty of masterpieces from this little girl. I could make a book.

And our first day of staying home is complete. Cannot wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us. 

I love being with my kiddos and this is going to be great!

March 14-15, 2020

It is the weekend, first weekend of quarantine. We aren't going anywhere now and we wait to see what happens for the future of many things.

Today I decided it was time to get this house clean...and I mean clean. I am done with the way it looks and want it to be organized. Now I know, we have kids involved and that might not be the easiest thing to do. But I think I can try and get it pretty close. So this weekend was the kitchen. And I say this weekend, as it is never a quick job for me to clean. I am so happy with the way it turned out, now I just pray that it stays this way.

 It was also time to start teaching Donny how to do some things around the house. So while I was cleaning, in between I was teaching him how to do the dishes and use the dishwasher. He may not have been enjoying this lesson in every day life, but it was time. This is now part of his list to do every couple of days. 

I then told the kids that once things were done, we could go outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine that we were getting. Of course I want my kids to get out and play. They could use all of the fresh air they can get...especially now that they are going to be home for a few weeks. They don't need to be cooped up inside on electronics alllll day long. 

So that is what we did. We went outside. I found all of the outside toys that I could find and discovered that we needed more things to play with outside. I guess when you aren't home much you don't realize things like this. So, hopefully we will be able to get some outdoor toys soon. 

 And yes, my kids love being outside, once you get them there...and sometimes it is tough to get them back inside. But I am thankful that we are all together and we will get thru this.

Now let's get ready for the week..our first week home and distant learning.

March 13, 2020

Something we thought we would never hear. Schools are closed due to COVID-19. We didn't know what was really going to happen with this situation. 

We were told the kids would be doing online school work, but it was all review. I figured that would be ok, they needed to keep up on what they were doing. 

I was thankful that I was going to be home with my kids. And couldn't wait to make some memories along the way.

Catching up

I think that I will just stick to right now...I have way too many things to try and catch up on...I just need to do better with posting.

Makayla turns 6 this year and Donny turns 14. Don and I will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary (and if you want to get technical we will celebrate 19 years together in May).

We are on a new learning curve right now and that is what brought me back to this. I have a little extra time and would love to get things written down. Yes, I have facebook...but I would love for this to be a journal and I would love to write more down. Not just have it in pictures. I grew up with a mom that wrote in a journal every day and she still has those...it is great to be able to look back and say, this is what happened on this day 10 years ago...not just look at pictures.

So my next posts will start back with things from March. I will start back when this whole COVID-19 shutdown started. When the world stopped doing a lot of things...and I will post our pictures and thoughts from each day....so I have a lot of writing ahead of me. And I think this will be for the best.

We are loving our family time right now and we are loving the memories that we are making. Soon there will be more memories made when summer hits!

Makayla Lynn 5/6/14

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

I never officially made a post for Makayla. So I guess this is it! It will have pictures thru the years just to catch up, as she has been in some of the previous posts already. 

Makayla Lynn Kinney was born May 6, 2014 at 3:08pm. She was 7lbs 14oz. And her big brother is pretty proud to have her here.

And here are a few pictures thru the years:

First trip to the zoo:

To Be Continued...need to save more pictures and I will update this as I save them