A Different Kind of Busy - Staying Grateful!

Dear Friends and Family,

Sorry for the delayed post this week. We are in the thick of online schooling, I'm still running the PTO and planning for officer elections and Teacher Appreciation week, I have a puppy that requires lots of attention, I sewed 25 masks for a civic group, and Claire and I are training for a virtual 5k! Despite all of this busyness, I look at my calendar of events from before COVID and see this time as a break gifted to me by God.

It is stressful to be constantly surrounded by my wonderful family without a break (I'm sure they feel the same), and I do miss interacting with my friends, but we had a really busy spring schedule of sports practices and games, birthday parties, substitute teaching, leading Religious Ed classes on Sundays, Girl Scouts on Mondays (including planning a camp out), planning and executing PTO events, participating in the actual 5k in Baltimore, you get the picture...There was a lot of running around. Winnie would be a totally different puppy with lots more crate time. Instead we are bonding (and fighting but then making up again).

Things could definitely be worse. We are all healthy (Thank you, God). Our biggest nemesis is allergies and thanks to starting our medicines in February, those aren't nearly as awful as in years past. We have a wonderful home to shelter in, and we have enough money for food and to cover bills.

Claire has taken advantage of this time to learn to cook! She has made us comfort treats like a lemon pound cake, peanut butter cookies, crepes, and loves to help make dinner each night. There is no way we would have had time for that in our normal schedule.

Now for some exciting (to me) news! We are getting an Invisible Fence for Winnie on Tuesday! I'm so excited. This will let her roam the yard more freely and keep us from worrying that she'll leave her alert pose when she sees a runner or car and race after them. They also have these indoor discs that act as bubbles. We can put them at the door ways into our dining room and play room to keep her out. Now we won't have to scale obstacles to get into those rooms! My friend who sells the invisible fence also said that later when she's not trying to use those rooms as a bathroom, we can use the discs for specific things like around the Christmas Tree or the counters or garbage can. The bubble can be as small as 1 foot and go as big as 12 feet! Fingers crossed that it works.

The disaster that is my living room and play room :(
See the dining room table blocking the way into the kitchen?!

I'll close by adding some cute puppy pics, videos and annotated pictures.
I love you all, and I'm praying everyone stays healthy and sane!
Love,
Bethie

If any family members need masks! Just let me know and I'll send you one! 

I love the lap naps! From tugging on a toy to passed out.

Winnie loves to find sticks or pine cones to carry on walks. She walks in a strut when she has one, like she's carrying a prize! 

Evening couch cuddles with Dad! Big Yawn!

Morning couch cuddles with Mom.

 

Beach walks (and digs) are all of our favorite form of exercise and relaxation.

 

Will gave her a shovel to help him dig! Like she needs a shovel, Ha! But she did LOVE to carry it!

 Video of Winnie playing in the surf: https://youtu.be/6xhOAw6u6d8
Video of Winnie digging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zjUy2e3DxY&feature=youtu.be

Skinny wet legs!

In the kitchen with Claire!

Lemon pound cake! She's big enough to get out the ingredients, measure things into the bowl, and mix. I only need to help with the oven or pouring the heavy bowl of batter. 

Baking peanut butter cookies! Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the end product. She even made a chocolate sauce to dip them in and added sprinkles to a few. They were SO good!

Talking with Dad about dinner plans!

 

Claire found a chicken teriyaki recipe and was excited to give grilling a try!

Ending the day with a sunset walk to the beach!