April Part 3 (2020)--making jam and applesauce

Russ and his Woof Woof that he sleeps with every night. Its a deep and abiding love.

Piggy back ride.

Everyone loves snuggling with daddy.

For awhile there we were really good at journal writing every afternoon after lunch.

In the background you can see the kids doing a little tv workout haha.

Will and his boxes--he is the most creative. This is his rocket.

After learning about King Benjamin and his people turning their tents towards him, we built a tent and had a camping night.

S'mores.

Campfire songs.

Without a pool and the beach closed, we spent a LOT of time (daily, sometimes 2x) in our little kiddie pool on the tiny sidewalk in front of our house during the month of April.

So many owies. Someone found the bandaids.

Sweetest little baby there ever was with a baby.

Dad taught the kids to run around like a hunch backed monster. The videos are hysterical, but this is the only photo I took.

Making homemade strawberry jam!

We were almost out of my mom's applesauce that we smuggle home with us every summer. So we seized the moment of being in quarantine, and made some applesauce. It was a lot of work but the kids did a lot and we had a ton of fun!

Mixing in the cinnamon and sugar! Mmmm

McD's treat at the end of a long day of canning!

When Sterling had early days, I'd go running as soon as he got home to try and keep my sanity of never being able to get out/stuck inside with kids all day long every day. I'm not a runner and I would much rather do a weight workout, but it was such a relief and I'd usually listen to a podcast and feel like I had adult interaction. ALSO THE TREE CANOPY in our neighborhood gives me all the heart eyes!

Paddling along while being pushed by dad.

The week of April 29 parks opened again! Not playgrounds, but you could go play on parks---which was so much fun for us because we have no backyard, so we let the kids run and run!

Potty training. It did not go well for quite some time.

One of the MOST fun things during Stay at Home orders was that Sterling (for eight weeks) had a two week on, two week off schedule to minimize how many residents were exposed to COVID at a time. He introduced the kids to what we call the Haws Family Adventure Game--they built their own characters, and Sterling builds their adventures and they roll dice to overcome things--like fighting something. They LOVE it and I adore watching them have such a fabulous time.