Well school is out… thank goodness. I so hope the kids can go back to school come the new school year. I didn’t do so well with helping my kids with online school. But the whole excitement of summer was very anticlimactic.
June 1-5:
June 6-12:
June 13-20
June 21: Father’s Day
June 22nd: On Monday… we finished packing up the car and cleaning the house. We then left on our trip.
Lot’s going on in the World, especially here in the States. It’s been hard to understand all the hate and why people don’t try to understand each other. People have gone crazy. Anyway… we will keep doing what we can to show people we love them.
May was just like April. Trying to fill our days with activities while keeping the social distancing. And trying to get the girls to stay motivated on doing school work. The 2 younger ones struggled a lot in the school work… but I am glad that this was the last few weeks of at home school.
My running for the month has been going well. It is hard for me mentally but I still get up every morning and put the work in! I did meet up with some of my running friends throughout this month and that has helped a ton. We did a few Poppy runs. So beautiful!
May 1-2: The girls worked these past couple of days at the Clarion, the girls put on a movie night and my oldest took her Falconer test (a 200 ? Test that took a couple of hours). A couple of weeks later we found out she passed!!
May 3-6: My youngest was really struggling with homework so corom and her decided to take a break for the day.
Long boarding, crafts, yard work, etc to stay busy.
Dumpster diving (a couple of times) within a couple of days of each other. Probably not aloud but I guess a bunch of soda was thrown away at 1 place and corom didn’t want it to go to waste. 🤷🏻♀️
My girls helped put signs around our city for the HS graduates of 2020. Then the captains for our track team came down to help put all the implements away.
May 7-9: Pretend weddings, pedicures for G-Goat, dentists with almost $2000 in cavities 😭, working on the shed and night games.
May 10th- Mother’s Day! Yeah the kids fought a lot this morning. I did get breakfast, so that was nice. And we attempted pictures out on our lawn. 😂 The girls also made cards for the neighbors around our neighborhood.
May 11-15: We visited neighbors, had outdoor movies, played volleyball, worked at the Clarion, crafts, and sleeping in the new “she-shed”. Corom went out to Crumble Canyon for a good hike with his friends.
May 16-17: My oldest’s 14th birthday and our 17 year anniversary (on the same day). We went mountain biking in Park City (on Saturday), did crepes for breakfast, played games, and then her friends stopped by throughout the day on Sunday.
May 18-21: Corom and our 2 middle girls went to Colorado (for Corom to get his teeth worked on… about $2000 worth- thank goodness his brother is a dentist). We try not to go to him; “take advantage” but after getting the girls teeth worked on, Corom decided to go out there. They hung out at the river for a while and with their cousins. The other 2 stayed with me and we just hung out. Our HS graduation was on the 21st. And my 3 younger girls started soccer for the city Rec. It’s crazy how things are opening up!
May 21-25: Corom and a few of his friends went out to Oregon for some trials bike riding.
Travis came over not too long after Corom left to help me get my 3rd daughter out of the bathroom… my 2 youngest got in a fight and somehow they jammed the bathroom door and she was stuck in there for about 40 min. The girls and I went for a bike ride, then snow cones, we went to the Dripping Rock with the Bayles’s, the girls went for a ride with G-Goat, and the girls came with me on my run (they were on their bikes). We ran up to the cemetery for Memorial Day.
May 26- 31: The 3 younger girls had soccer games and my oldest played grass volleyball for the 1st time. She loved it. We celebrated Aunt Georgia’s bday and my 2nd daughter finished up on her 7th grade shots. We finished up on our concrete for the backyard, the girls have been catching monster toads at the pond and we’ve been swimming at the reservoir.
Here’s a little recap of things going on (for the end of May and into June)… 2020 has been crazy. With the death of Floyd, things have gone more down hill. I saw this message and can relate:
I can’t keep up. I just can’t. I’m exhausted trying to figure out what we’re all supposed to do, believe, and be outraged by next. Two months ago First Responders were all the rage. In fact, they were heroes. Today we hate them and want them shot and defunded because they can’t be trusted. Truckers were appreciated and now they are blocked and pulled from their rigs and beat. Nurses and Doctors are still cool for now. Unless of course they truly believe all lives matter. Then they’re filled with hate and are part of problem like so many others. Just 45 days ago protests weren’t “essential” and were considered criminal and a murderous activity. Today they’re gloriously critical and celebrated. All of the obvious criminal and murderous activities are simply ignored. If you protest about lockdowns for freedom you’re selfish and you’ll spread a virus. If you protest, loot, and riot for social justice you’re a warrior and the virus cedes. Trust the experts. No, not those experts. Don’t wear masks, wear masks, don’t wear masks. Not sure, but if you don’t you hate people. For 3 months NOTHING was more important than Social Distance, in fact, we gave up all of our liberties for it. We canceled schools, medical procedures, activities, closed businesses, and wrecked the economy for it. Then came Social Justice and Social Distance was no more. Now things are more cut and dry though. Black Lives Matter. OK, let’s do it. Then multiple black police officers and individuals were killed during the “peaceful protests” and I don’t see any outrage. Black individually owned businesses burned to the ground. Silence. Deadliest weekend in Chicago. NOTHING!! I’m really confused now. Look at the data, NO, not that data. Do the math. No, you can’t do the math like that. Just listen to the black community leaders. No not them. If you’re silent you’re part of the problem, if you speak you’re part of the problem. If you have to ask you don’t understand. If you don’t ask, you don’t care. It’s all so predictable, tedious, and exhausting. Nothing adds up. It’s one gigantic common core life problem with ever changing denominators that I’m sure the media and politicians are eagerly ready to solve for us….Can’t Wait!!
*Copied and Pasted
We made this video for the HS seniors and this message went with it:
I absolutely love coaching. I have been coaching HS (track and Cross Country) for 12 years now. Parents, you have raised wonderful young men and women. We (the other track coaches and I) made a video for the seniors this year. Corom Hughes was a huge help in putting this all together but keep in mind… it was made on a IPhone and we coach for a reason and are NOT singers. 😂 We had fun doing this but we will stick to coaching!
Seniors (us coaches said this earlier)… We have seen you grow into wonderful young men and women. You are great examples to us and those around you. You have moved others to strive for greatness. We have seen you work hard and push through barriers (on and off the track) and have made us coaches proud! Keep working and keep pushing through the “barriers”… you are stronger than what you think. Stay positive and never forget to SERVE and bring JOY to others especially during difficult times. It will help you get through hard times and will bring you joy. It has been an honor to be there with you during your times of great achievements and your times of sadness-But those are the times that help us grow the most. Remember to always get back up and to keep moving forward. You are all so amazing! We will always be cheering for you and we cannot wait to see what your futures holds.
And coaches… you guys are the best! Thanks for your friendship!
Running has been good this month.
April 1st-Wed: Corom made this for his Wednesday’s Corom’s Corner for all the HS kids.
Well… lots of time on our hands to play jokes. Corom and I were able to get into a few (4) of the administrator’s offices at school…
We played a joke on 14 different people with cat facts… You sign up on this phone app and this company will send cat facts to that persons cell phone every 15-30 min. You can see what the person texts back and some of the responses were hilarious! And some had some swears words that made us laugh so hard but I didn’t want to post it… it’s now 5 days after April Fools as I am typing this, and I am laughing so hard about it. It was hilarious.
We saran-wrapped the girl’s bedroom doors. They got us back by putting saran wrap on our toilet seat (good thing Corom and I were already on the lookout for this). We told the girls that they had to repeat school again (that meme that went around). 2 of my daughters started to cry. My 2nd made a video to send to our Governor (Herbert) to tell him why it was not a good idea.
The girls “yarned” our room and my 2nd daughter got a hold of my phone and put everything into a foreign language. Oh, and she somehow changed my name so now when I call someone it shows up as, “The weirdest mom in the World”. That was a good one… I just found that one out. I like it though so I want to keep it.
Ok… for the activity: My 2nd daughter had all of us make cinnamon rolls. The girls did a great job making them. Too bad, corom, and I forgot to get them out of the oven and they were a little overcooked. 😂 Way to end April Fools.
Of course I started off the day with a speed workout! Nice April Fool’s run. It was called, Only Fools Fall In Love virtual 5k. 4 mile warmup, race a 5k, 2 mile cool down. I ran up hill 4 miles, ran the 5k on a fast, aided route (17:40) then a nice and easy cool down. It felt great. After school stuff, we played a game of kickball for PE. The girls and I went around and delivered candy bars to our entire track team letting them know we (the coaches) are thinking of them. We have 148 athletes on our team. We started this on Monday… 😬😂
April 2nd-Thurs: My 3rd daughter for her activity had us all make “friends” for dinner and a movie. Out of stuffed animals, pillows, etc… we had a friends movie night.
An easy 8 miles for me; School work, chores, delivered more candy bars, and PE: Basketball and 4-square:
Corom went on a hike up to Notch Peak.
We brought dinner to the missionaries today.
April 3rd-Fri: My youngest chose to have a dance off and to do a play for her activity.
I Ran 8 miles this morning and the girls finished up their school work pretty quick. We had a lot of time today. They ran around the track, delivered candy bars, and then found things to do at home.
April 4th-Sat: General Conference today!!! We just hung out today.
I had a 14 mile long tempo run today. I wasn’t in the mood when I first started but once I began I felt better than what I thought I would. It was a great run. In between conference sessions we took a drive up Provo canyon to take some video of my accident (when I was 23) for the video I was asked to do for church.
The girls played on the rocks for a little while as well.
Corom’s activity was to play fugitive around the Jr. High. The girls had to hide and make it back to the house without us finding them while we drove around in our car. It was fun to play with them.
A little “movie” Corom helped me make for church. Because we have not been going to church on Sundays, I was asked to do a 5 min YouTube “talk” about moving forward in Faith. I didn’t know what to do, so Corom helped me come up with this.
Here is the movie Corom helped me with for church:
April 5th- Sunday: General Conference all day. Absolutely loved it!!! So powerful, comforting, and left us with the feeling of hope and peace.
During the 2 hour break, I went out again to drop candy bars off on the HS track athlete’s porches. We have a 148 kids on our team and just want them to know we are thinking of them! (I started delivering on Monday and only have 40 athletes left. 😊) Then we brought dinner to the missionaries (we are missing 1 missionary in this pic).
SPRING BREAK WEEK
April 6th- 10th: This week is Spring Break. It was nice not having to worry about online schooling. My girls and I finished delivering the candy bars this week. We went on a hike to Paul Bunyan’s peak. Short 2 mile hike round trip but so fun. We did not see a single person on the trail. Not too many people know about this place. We then watched a movie.
We were able to find a place to go camping and then went on a good hike the next day. It was nice to break the week up. Our family likes to travel, so this quarantining has been really hard for us being able to pack up and go.
We had concrete poured (but did it ourselves so it was only about $2400 instead of $6-7000), the girls caught snakes, played out on the pond right across from us, painted, cleaned and organized. It was a nice spring break away from homeschooling.
April 11: My youngest’s 10th birthday. I got up early to go for my long run. Once I came home, it was birthday mode! We took her on an all-day scavenger hunt! She said this was the best birthday she has ever had. It really was a lot of fun.
Easter Sunday 12: Easter baskets, egg hunts, dinner, bday bunny song surprises for neighbors, visiting goats (that we may get), 2 nieces, and a boyfriend were with us. They have been extra careful keeping their social distancing so we were good to get together. Fun, packed day.
April 13th: Back to the school routine. Today was tough mentally!! Hard to come back to the school routine from home. Started off with an 8-mile run, then school work, and PE time.
For my activity, we made hearts and heart attacked doors and passed out store bought cookies. We got a nice treat of ice cream sandwiches back from some friends.
April 14th-16 Tues–Thurs: For the activity today, my oldest brought out the sewing machine and the scraps of materials. She knows how to sew, so she taught her sisters how to sew. I have no clue how to do it. The next 2 nights of activities… my 2nd and 3rd daughter wanted to continue sewing. They finished up blankets and little “stuffed animals”. They handed them out to their friends.
My 2nd daughter helping my youngest with her school work. My youngest had another break down.
April 17, Friday: The girls and Corom raced the mile today. It was pretty fun to watch.
For the activity tonight that my youngest chose was to do a candlelight dinner for Corom and I. We were supposed to leave for Greece and Croatia today… but instead we got to have a romantic dinner. 😂
The girls slept outside. They were going to sleep in hammocks but my 2nd daughter fell out of hers and landed on her back pretty hard. She was fine after an hour but her back was still a little sore.
April 18th Saturday:
3 out of the 4 girls ended up inside last night. 🙄 My oldest slept all the way through (well until 5ish in the morning). I went out for my run, then headed off to the Clarion. The girls joined me later to do some yard work for them.
For Corom’s activity tonight: The neighbors across the street put on a “quarantine” Pirates of the Caribbean tour around the pond. It was the cutest thing.
April 19 Sunday:
We (well not me-Corom and the girls) helped our friend Travis doctor up their cat. His kids were pretty sad about their cat. He had a huge cut on it’s leg and was infected. I didn’t think there would ever be a time where someone called Corom to help “fix” an animal.
The girls wrote thank you letters to our Bishop. The YW and YM played a Bingo/Blackout game and if you completed everything in a 3 week time period, he would bring you lunch from Chik Fa La. It was cute. And then We made Churros. They were so good.
April 20 Monday: My choice for the activity/PE time, we went out for a neighborhood bike ride that turned into a trail bike ride. We were gone for a while but so fun. The girls came home and painted and of course made more Churros.
April 21 Tuesday: PE time was learning how to play tennis. Yeah… we are not too great at it. A lot more running than hitting.
My oldest chose to do a picnic outside for dinner for her activity.
April 22 Wednesday: We went on a great hike up Payson canyon today for my 2nd daughter’s choice of the activity. (It was actually my choice and they didn’t want to go at 1st.) We went about 3 miles and the girls wanted to go longer, we just ran out of time. They had piano lessons this afternoon. Our piano teacher (she is a junior in HS), wanted to cut my 2nd daughter’s hair… so I told her she could. 😆
My youngest had a major meltdown before we left on the hike. She has really been struggling with the online school work. Her teacher even called to talk with her to help her out but she just ran and hid under the bed. She adores her teacher and when she didn’t talk to him, I knew she was really struggling. He is pretty amazing!
April 23 Thursday: Bike riding for their PE activity, then chalk art for my 3rd daughter’s choice of activity.
April 24 Friday: Tennis today for PE, helped water the plants in the greenhouse at the HS (Corom and my oldest daughter really enjoy working with plants), and a quick motorcycle ride with the girls (in the parking lot). For the activity, my 4th daughter wanted to sleep out in a tent. This time, they all made it through the night without coming in.
April 25 Saturday: After my run, I went to the Clarion for another long day of work. The girls went back to the dirt hill on their bikes, worked around the house with Corom (well they were supposed to but probably didn’t do a thing or very little of something-Corom was really frustrated with them but they tend to not help out so much), then the girls came to the Clarion to do yardwork. They did go on a little motorcycle ride as an activity.
April 26 & 27 Sunday & Monday:  Sunday after our sacrament, we went for a nice walk with the Bayles’s. Monday we went out for a bike ride after school work.
April 28 Tuesday:
My run, then school work, then a little hike up Rock Canyon for rock climbing.
April 29 Wednesday:
My oldest cut my youngest daughter’s hair today. They both came up and asked if she could do it, and I didn’t care. I figured with curly hair, you can hide a lot. My oldest did a pretty good job. I was impressed. After the girl’s piano lessons, we headed to the pond just to get out for a little while.
April 30 Thursday:
Today’s activity (by my 3rd daughter) was spa day. It was cute and the girls had fun with it. I was bugged because the mess didn’t get cleaned up for a few days after. 🤷🏻♀️
Just so I NEVER forget…
April 4,2020. This is a personal update with local and religious info.
*School cancelled March 14, 2020 – it’s continuing online and regular school is scheduled to open again May 1st.
*Church shifted from meeting at the church building to in-home worship starting March 14, 2020.
*No public will be allowed to attend General Conference, which will now be broadcast from a small auditorium on Temple Square (Apr 4 & 5, 2020).
*Temples have all closed.
*U.S. missionaries serving in other countries are returning home. (Most are home by now.)
*Self-distancing measures on the rise.
*Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
*Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.
*Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.
*Playgrounds are off limits, City buildings have locked their doors.
*Entire sports seasons cancelled.
*Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events – cancelled.
*Weddings, baptisms, family celebrations, holiday gatherings – cancelled.
*No gatherings of 100 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more.
*Don’t physically socialize with anyone outside of your home. We are to distance from each other.
*Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. Keeping an N95 mask in a paper bag at work to re-use.
*Anticipating a Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
*Only 1 visitor allowed at the hospital for an hour when their loved one is admitted or having surgery and then they don’t get to see them again until they are discharged or dying. *No visitors at all for COVID or Persons Under Investigation.
*No toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer. Store shelves are bare.
*Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines so they can help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
*Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.
*Fines are established for breaking the rules in nearby cities.
*In large cities, stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
*Press conferences daily from the President and Governor. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
*Constantly checking the curve to see when the surge will hit Utah.
*People wearing masks and gloves outside and to the grocery stores.
*Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
*Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.
*5.4 Earthquake hit Utah (Magna) March 18, 2020.
*6.5 Earthquake hit 78 miles from Boise, Idaho, March 31, 2020.
Things are getting more serious with the spread of the coronavirus around the World. We have been praying for everyone to be able to get through this. We are doing what we can to keep our social- well, let’s say physical distancing. It has been hard but it has also been so good for us to spend quality time with each other as a family.
The rest of March went a little slower than the 1st couple of weeks in March. But we are still doing our school work, lunch, PE, finish schoolwork and an activity every day. The girls really look forward to the afternoon activities. We each have a day throughout the week where we get to choose the activity of our choice.
Monday 23rd: My day to choose the activity: Obstacle Course (we actually added words on to the video we made of our obstacle course to use it for a young women church video).
We did our PE time at 10 this morning. It was a nice morning so I had the girls ride their bikes alongside my 8-mile run. They made me push a little harder during this supposedly easy run! My youngest made a little fort for her school work time. 
Tuesday 24th: My oldest chose the activity: Ride in the back of the truck and then Corom let the 3 older ones “drive” a little straight away in a parking lot. They thought that was the coolest thing.
I started off with an 8-mile run… then helped the girls with homework. My youngest broke down today. She was frustrated with the math and then her reading. It was hard for me to help her as well. Sometimes I feel like I am failing as a mom and “teacher”. I felt bad because she is missing school and her friends.
For PE we went to the track and the girls ran laps, bleachers and jump roped.
Wednesday 25th: My 2nd was in charge: A bathroom challenge-Who could stay in the longest and completing the different challenges while in the bathroom. It started off with 4 eggs hidden around the bathroom. The person who was not able to find one was out. That was me. The 2nd challenge was to use the egg you found and smash it on the top of your head. The next challenge, to smear the egg all into your hair. Finally, letting our dogs into the bathroom to hang out. Yep… pretty much everyone was out. Our dogs are outside dogs, so having 2 160lb & 210lb dogs in a small space didn’t go over too well. Pretty funny to watch.
I had a speed workout today. I went out early so I could make it back in time to help the girls get school started. After school work, we went to the indoor facility to play a game of football and run for a little while. It was too cold to do PE outside.
Thursday 26th: My 3rd was in charge of the activity tonight: A cooking contest with cake mixes. We had to get into 2 teams. She had a few different bowls for each step we had to take in cooking. The 1st bowl had different size mixing bowls to work with. The next bowl had a few different mixing utensils (a knife was one of the options… neither of the groups chose that one). Then we had to pick what flavor of cake mix we were able to use. Then, of course, the next bowl was items to put into the cake batter. One group picked peaches and chocolate chips. The other group picked Oreos and pears. Corom and I were the judges. My oldest and youngest made the best-looking cake and our 2 middle daughters, made the better tasting cake (strawberry flavor with peaches and chocolate chips).
I went out early for my 8-mile run, came home and got ready. While the girls were working on their school work, I ran to the Clarion to help make lunches for the teachers and hospital workers… we then went to the indoor facility again to play a game of soccer when I got back. It was cold and rainy today. This weather makes it so hard!
Friday 27th: My youngest chose the activity: We all had to walk the plank, then we went hot tubing and had s’mores. Our friend, Jeff, has a hot tub so we were able to take the girls there for a little while.
I went out for an easy 8 miles then we had a dentist appointment for my 3rd daughter. They are only taking emergency cases and of course, we fell into that category. Shortly after we came home, a big fight broke out between my girls. So I yelled at them, had them put their shoes on and take 3 laps around the Jr. High. 😂 That did the trick. My 2nd daughter and I went to the Clarion to help with meals they were making for the community. She stayed on top of dishes while I helped package the meals.
Saturday 28th: Corom’s choice of an activity tonight: We went to the school for a mini workout and then he took us through a meditation round. I was actually pretty impressed that our girls were able to sit through the 15 min meditation. It was so peaceful.
I went out for 15 mile run with a 6 mile tempo in that 15. I felt good today. The girls helped with organizing the cupboards and then worked on crafts today.
Sunday 29: Today was an amazing Fast Sunday. We began our fast last night and continued into today until the mid-afternoon. My girls have only fasted for breakfast but decided they wanted to break their fast when Corom and I did. Our Prophet, President Nelson, asked that members of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints around the World and all others of different faiths to hold a special fast for everything that is going on with the Coronavirus- Covid-19. To fast for emotional, physical, mental and financial needs for all those around the World. It was an amazing experience and neat to know that so many others all over would be doing the same thing. I felt at peace and I know that things will be OK. The girls worked on art projects today and we just lounged around the rest of the day.
Monday 30: My turn for the activity: I decided to do tin-foil dinners. We had fun making them, cooking it, then eating outside. A little too cold outside for my liking but I just stayed near the fire.
I ran an easy 8 miles with my friend Kim. It was nice to meet up with her. The girls and I went to the track today for PE time and the girls did do a little hurdle drill. It only lasted about 10 min. They were done… or in other words, bored. So they just goofed off the next 45 min before we went home.
I staged this running photo… all my distance runners are on a GroupMe chat. Every day, they post a picture of their workout, etc so I decided to send in a picture as well.
Tuesday 31: My oldest chose to go to Soda Retreat and then do some star gazing for her activity. Well, we did go to Soda Retreat but it was too cloudy to see the stars. Another night.
I ran an easy 8 with Beth and Amber then went home to start our new norm. My kids were tired of the routine today… a few more breakdowns during school work and not as much cooperation. I found my oldest hiding in the tire because she did not want to run. Pretty clever. The 2 middle girls were fighting but today, I didn’t care as much either. We didn’t stay as long. I let them walk home to finish up being outside (just to be away from home for a little longer). I saw a couple of my distance runners… oh I miss them.
Now that this day is over… on to April and getting ready for April Fools!! 😂
My running for the past 2 weeks:
I just have to start off by saying… my kids have fought so much this month!! Especially when we all went to “Home Schooling” (social distancing). Oh my gosh!! And then this picture says it all as well:
This little running segment was before everything started to change:
Running: Speed workouts and long runs are getting more intense. It was nice to have a month of easy runs. On Saturday March 7th, I was able to meet up with a few of my running friends. It was so great.
I was not supposed to do a 20-mile run but the peer pressure was real. 😂 I totally ditched out on my workout to hang with these ladies. Lots of laughs, running hard, obstacles (fences- climbing them and going through them), and run in with animals (donkey, coyote, pheasants, and scary dogs.)
And then the Coronavirus stopped all the training (for my race in Greece) and for many others. Races around the World have been canceled… reality has set in and we realized this is a lot more serious than when it first came out.
My coach has backed us all off on our running and told us just to run easy and put miles in. This started on March 16th. Running has kept me sane through all of this. (Top left, bottom left, then right- workout in order of weeks. March 1st-22nd.)
Track:
The season has started off great! We had about 150 kids sign up this season. I am over the 400, 800, mile and 2 milers (boys and girls). It has been a little tricky giving each group their individual workouts and times, but we have great captains that have helped lead their individual groups. We have been going for about 3 weeks and then got the notice that school was canceled for 2 weeks (maybe more) to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Along with no school, there are no sports or other activities. Everything is shutting down. I had many phone calls/texts from the kids on the team wondering about workouts and what they needed to do on their own. As coaches (there’s 8 of us), we posted 2 weeks’ worth of workouts on our Instagram site so the kids can keep going.
I’ve been down to the HS a few times (with my own kids to get them out) and have seen a number of kids practicing on their own. It’s pretty impressive to see. Man I miss it!!
March Friday the 13th: We were told that schools were going to be shut down for 2 weeks. I think it’s going to be longer. I also realized that I, too, will be out of work. We are fortunate/blessed that Corom will still be working at the school (as the social worker). He is still going to meet with kids he sees and probably others with all the changes.
The 15th: All of church was canceled… well going to church was. We have a wonderful Prophet here on earth… President Neilson. He has guided us and taught us months earlier how to have a better “home based” church. To make sure we are teaching it in our homes and not just learning about the gospel on Sundays only. It has been great. What better timing then now to put what we have been taught into action. This 1st Sunday was wonderful! I missed church and it was weird not going, but we had a wonderful experience at home. We were able to take the sacrament in our home with a few others that needed/wanted it. I’m grateful to have the Priesthood in my home.
We went to the Clarion and ate dinner there, then Corom & I and the girls went for a nice walk. Beautiful day outside.
16th: 1st day of “Home School” 😬😭. I am not the homeschooling type, so here we go. I did have to go to work (at the Clarion) for a little while today. All of the people are postponing their weddings/events but there were some things we had to finish/clean up. I gave the girls a list/schedule of what they had to do while I was gone.
I was impressed that they did their chores, school work, and piano/chelo practicing. When I got home, I took the girls to the track to have them run around… get energy out. That is my youngest running past a few of the HS athletes.
There I saw a good amount of HS track kids doing their workouts. We then had Family Night. It was nice.
17th: St. Patrick’s Day
Well… my kids got up early and put their green on. Well… so did Corom and I. 😂
I went out for my run as the girls started their rotation with reading, practicing and school computer stuff. I came back and helped them finish up. We went outside and I had the girls help me shovel the big pile of rocks into our backyard. Yeah… they fought a lot out there!! Especially over who got to dump the barrel. I, seriously don’t know what to do. But they worked hard for a little over an hour.
We went for a bike ride, then came back and played four-square. I schooled them all! Ok… I got out every time.
We had our St. Patrick’s dinner!
Corom sent out a message to everyone in the school that he will be available if anyone needs to talk or see him for any reason. He sure loves working for the youth and kids. Hard and confusing times for many of them. He did get a good amount of response.
My youngest did find this in our backyard today of all days!
18th: I slept in until 6:45 this morning. I rolled out of bed and slowly got ready for my run. Just before I was going to head out… we had an EARTHQUAKE (at 7:09 a.m.). It was in the Salt lake area at a 5.7 but we felt it pretty good here. It was strong enough that it woke my kids and Corom up. Lot’s of strange things this past month. I did get a 10 mile run in, though. It felt good today and it was a huge bonus with the rain. We headed to the schools at our designated time to pick up packets and chrome books for the girls to share. This is going to be hard for me to figure out all of the girls class assignments and to make sure they are getting it done. They spent the rest of the afternoon doing their school work and chores. Not as much fighting today but they did stay pretty busy.
I took them down to the track to get them out. We ran into other families we knew and quite a few high school kids doing their workouts (individually).
We also saw 5 cute missionaries from The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. They were “racing” the mile, so being the coach that I am, I timed them. It was pretty fun. They, too, are quarantined so they are only able to exercise for a certain amount of time and then go home.
19th: I went out for my 8 mile run this morning. Then the girls had their 6-month dental checkup. I wanted to keep the appointment before that all shut down as well.
It’s a good thing I did… my oldest has a couple of cavities, my 2nd has 4 cavities, my 3rd has 1 but it will turn into a root canal if we don’t get it taken care of right away and my 4th, needs 2 crowns or a cap or whatever and has 3 cavities. I swear… we go every 6 months and always leave with so many cavities. I hate it!!!
It was back to our new norm. Schoolwork, lunch, 4-square, school work, the track (my youngest is always in her PJ’s), then activities and chores. Fun times.
20th: Today was a little tough for me. After my morning run, it was the same. Schoolwork, walking around the house bored, etc. I did take the girls back to the track for about an hour. They ended up with the hurdles again (and Coach Weight and I cleaned out our track shed).
Practice makes perfect!
We stopped by the Thompson’s to sing happy birthday to my oldest’s good friend. We kept our distance but felt bad that she couldn’t do anything. They have been good friends since the age of 5. Then we had pizza… we were all hungry!Corom was so annoying because he purposely delayed coming to the car eating the pizza.
21st: I went out on a solo run and ended up running into 2 friends of mine (Mac & Aubrey). It was nice to do 4 miles with them. I turned back and ran into another friend (Keri). The last 3 of my 12 were solo but I felt good and picked up the pace.
The girls and I worked at the Clarion for a few hours. We did some deep cleaning for her. It was nice to get out and have the girls make some money.
(Corom was home working on our backyard while we were at the Clarion.) Once we got home, Corom and I went over to a new family moving into the neighborhood and helped them unload their Uhaul… we are trying to keep ourselves at a social distance but in situations like this, we felt the need to help. The girls did a deep cleaning of their rooms. Totally needed!! My oldest and youngest are so messy… we put those 2 together in a room to share. 😂
We took the girls to the Spanish Fork river trail… many others had the same idea. It was nice to get out. I actually had to finish up on a 2-3 mile run, so the girls had their roller skates and bikes. Others (Barny’s and Mcdaniel’s) joined us as well but we stayed somewhat separated while recreating…
We Came home and watched a movie.
Sunday-22nd: Once again we had the Sacrament at home. We had a neighbor and her kids come over as well. We went for a nice walk outside today and just hung out on the lawn for a little while.
It was nice to go through the Come Follow me manual/lesson and make today more of a learning day of Christ. The girls were connected to their young women’s class through the Zoom app and had a mini lesson/discussion. It was great.
We then brought dinner to the missionaries since they are quarantined as well.
It took us forever to get the girls to bed. They would fight, then get out of control, play, fight, cry, laugh, play, etc. It’s been great being home and doing more as a family but gosh it has also been draining. 😂
Before the Social Distancing:
My 2nd daughter had some 80’s party to go to:
My 3rd daughter had her 5th grade science fair project:
My 4th daughter had her parent/4th grade dance:
My oldest straightened her hair. And just for the record… she did just take her hair out of a ponytail when I took the pic with it being curly.
Corom running around chasing the girls, neighbor kids and friends looking like this:
Mother Racer 