February

In just one week, we went from blue skies and sunshine to polar vortex and then back to shorts and t-shirt weather. The whole month of February passed much the same way. We went from one thing to another and before we knew it, another month has come and gone. The kids and I went to the dentist, we had virtual stake conference, the graphics card in the main computer died but we couldn't replace it because of current supply and demand issues so we took the card out of the tv computer and are crossing our fingers that we can get a new one some time soon, Dad finished up Call of Cthulu and the D&D campaign they've been playing for the last two years, we got together with the Brown's three times (fish fry, Mardi Gras, and Battle of the Basses), and we ate a lot of school lunch. Nothing too eventful or exciting, but it was a steady, happy month full of all the little things that make life good.

Mercy spent some time at the sewing machine this month and over the course of a couple sessions, made a whole outfit for her doll. She also started speech therapy this month.

Hyrum finally got to start his first D&D campaign. Harry is the dungeon master for Hyrum and Spencer and they are playing virtually on Roll 20. He and his siblings have also done a lot of building forts, dressing up, and battling.

A sweet older couple in the ward thoughtfully dropped off a package of Valentine's treats and activities for the kids. Those, along with the goodie bags from Grandma Naomi, made our Valentine's day much more exciting than had it been left entirely up to me. Between my increased efforts at homeschooling and a couple other projects I've been working on, plus my regular homemaking responsibilities, I just didn't have it in me this year to get cute and creative with this particular holiday. Plus, all the kids really care about is the candy.

Covid stats:

Cases and hospitalizations have dropped dramatically all over the world in the past month. Vaccine roll out hasn't been as efficient and quick as ideally it could be, but people are getting vaccinated and that seems to be helping with herd immunity. Bernalillo county has gone from a level red down to yellow, so several restrictions are easing up a little. New Mexico is still far more locked down than just about any other place in the country. APS has decided to stay fully remote for the rest of the school year, which makes teachers happy and students and families not so much (though, of course it doesn't affect us at all). I'm always a little surprised and jealous when I hear how acquaintances in other states are living life pretty close to business as usual and most of our friends here still won't meet for 30 minutes at the park. I think everyone is really trying to follow state rules and guidelines, and that's good and right, but all this isolation is definitely wearing on us.

World: 114M cases, 2.53M deaths

US: 28.6M cases, 512K deaths

New Mexico: 185K cases, 3,702 deaths

Goals:

Matthew accomplished his goal to run a 5K in less than half an hour, as well as running a 10K in less than an hour. Abraham and Hyrum also each ran a 5K on Zwift this month. All the boys have also improved their fastest mile. Matthew's is at 7:00 (he is pictured below about half an hour after that run), Abraham is at 8:50, and Hyrum is at 9:55. My hip has been hurting a lot recently, so I tried to take it easy this month and focus on yoga. I did do an intense 3,400 ft climb (also pictured below) to finish up the Tour de Zwift. Mercy is about 6 inches from the ground in her splits. Scriptures and music are going well, though Matthew is finding it harder to get his practicing done since he hasn't been quarantined or working from home as much this month. The kids, on the other hand, have been playing music like crazy. My scripture for this month was D&C 6:36.

Meals: We've continued to get school lunch three time a week. We get a ridiculous amount of milk, as well as a lot of frozen corn, tater tots, and fruit cups. I've made a game of trying to make sure every meal includes some element from school lunch.

Swedish meatballs and corn

Pizza

Pork chops with carrot soup and biscuits

School lunch

Fish & Chips

Breakfast burritos

Clam chowder and rolls

Tater Tot breakfast casserole and scones

Hamburgers and shakes

Rabbit stew with sage dumplings

Mardi Gras gumbo with buttermilk biscuits (at the Brown's)

Burritos and corn

Pancakes and bacon

Chicken patty sandwiches and corn

Leftovers

Macaroni and cheese

Gyros

Chicken tikka masala

School lunch sloppy joe's and corn

Frozen yogurt sundaes

Broccoli cheese soup