This is just a chaotic post I added to throughout the week with zero order, proofreading, or organization. Kind of like the week. It felt incredibly lazy yet very full at the same time. Slow and chaotic.
Ok it was technically not the 200th snow day of the year, but the kids did feel like they haven’t been out in years. School was canceled every day this week. Temps are frigid cold, making it not as fun to play in the (not fluffy snowman) snow because they can only last so long outside. They’re making the best of it even though it’s freezing! Primrose Lane seriously knows how to do lockdown. We win at snow days!
We bought the new DogMan movie and watched it with movie theater popcorn. A neighbor called and Soren made some cash shoveling snow with two other lost boys.
Sloane is not made for this weather. She gets pretty cranky when she’s cold. She has been wrapped in her electric blanket or isolated in her room playing with toys in front of a space heater. We’ve done shrinky dinks and board games. The record player has been spinning extra long hours lately. I have burned through a large fortune of firewood to keep our fireplace roaring, and a small fortune of bath and body candles to keep the house feeling cozy with a citrus glow.
I made cinnamon rolls
Quincy is flying through duo lingo lessons in competition with a brainy friend and I think she is finally realizing that she is pretty brainy, too.
I had the best seat in the house!
Yesterday I parked myself right by the fire and became very emotional listening to Quincy practice cello.
Q is an anxious soloist and doesn’t perform alone very often. She is surrounded by many ultra talented cellist friends and she is more than content to let them shine in the well deserved spotlight. She supports happily and contributes from the back row in Chamber orchestra and puts in hard work to earn her spot there.
But yesterday it was just her and her instrument alone in a room, grinding away in hyper concentrated effort to master Bach Cello Suite. She was meticulously going over the intervals again and again and again and again until each was ringing perfectly in tune before moving onto the next.
I listened from my perch on the sofa outside the door and was in tears. All peer comparisons set aside, Quincy is quite an accomplished musician. I sat back in synesthetic awe and enjoyed every beautiful note she created. Her public or recorded performances may never convey the precision that she manifested yesterday alone in the music room. It was ethereal. I just had to document my gratitude for getting to experience it.
The lost boys shoveled driveways and the Grows towed kids up and down the lane on sleds with a truck. I love my street.
Corbin has bounced around between friend groups and has been to Grover’s twice, White’s, Collet’s, the and Saumwebers this week, as well as two church buildings for basketball, and the fitness center and metfield gyms to lift. He’s had a few buddies come by, and even lucked out with a sleepover (I usually don’t allow) with a bunch of the Metfield Ward priests. Between outings with friends, he is quick to play cello and make sure the kitchen trash has been taken out. He is also working on earning the seal of biliteracy next year, so he has been doing Spanish lessons on Duolingo.
I don’t even know what they watched. But they were GLUED to it.
This photo has some good going on in it. Kids doing chores, fresh flowers, citrus candle, cinnamon rolls, Lumineers on the record player, movie popcorn, and sunshine!
Quincy hit the books hard early on this week, and was ready to play by mid week. She spent all day Wednesday bouncing between the Bayles’s and Douglas’s and memorial park for sledding, snacks, music, and movies with the Lukes, ZShef, Henson, ZVan, Gavin, Josh, and Ethan.
On Thursday, she was back to EMT modules. No school doesn’t mean no daily quizzes or weekend exam. And this weekend she works another 24 hours in Emergency Dept and ambulance ride outs, with a bday celebration in between. On her lunch break, she made a “Who Knows Henson?” kahoot for his party. Teenagers are the best. A trivia game? What a funny and clever birthday gift.
When Friday was announced to be canceled, Soren went to a friend’s for the evening, and I declared adult swim for dinner, which is code for “Meg needs to get out”. Corbin returned from a day with friends and fed the triple threat frozen pizza, and Aaron and I took Quincy and Ethan V out for tacos and we laughed and shared our “bucket lists”. We also ran into Dave F, Dan F, and Spencer and Ezra C visiting from Folsom, Ca. We caught up with them a little bit. No pics from the night other than the icicle we admired at Torchy’s.
One GREAT thing about this snow week has been our come follow me study. Scripture study as an entire family is a real challenge for the Willardsons. We are in a season where we are grateful for the tender moments applying gospel principles in family texts or late night meaningful conversations, and some deep dives into doctrine with the older kids. A significantly lower tier in parenting is the “car study” where we read through CFM and discuss on the ride to middle school with Soren. Many many tiers below that, we have a what can only be described as an episode of Survivor style scripture study with the littles. One of the three on any given night is absolutely not having it and they are loud and ragey about it.
We try.
A blessing this week, as we had time, emotional capacity, and freedom to gather mid morning for daily come follow me over breakfast. They loved it. So did I. I wish it was this easy all the time.
It’s not.
But weeks like this give me hope and motivation to keep trying, even though tonight’s attempt at scripture study ended with an over-tired small person screaming “I hate you!” as bedroom doors were slammed.
Also a shoe was thrown and landed inside the piano.
I’m doing my best. I believe my efforts are blessed.
It’s crazy to me that there are so many candid moments of stillness and noses in books at home. What is it about opposition and scriptures?
On Friday, Tracie texted that she was available to do hair, so Q and I went over for fresh color while the little girls were off having a playdate.
I love Tracie. She recently completed 8 rounds of chemo, a double mastectomy, and weeks of radiation at Mayo Clinic. Her two younger kids have special needs and they LOVE Quincy. They ran out to our car with heart hands when we pulled up shouting I love you Quincy!!!!! Hunter was right up in her face most of our time there, including sitting right on Q’s lap patting her cheeks during her color. She’s so good with them and loves them right back. It was the sweetest. Tracie is a rockstar and answers all of Q’s questions about breast cancer treatment, surgery, drains, recovery, you name it. She showed us her scars and expanders and her hair regrowth. I just love how real and genuine she is about all of it. And our hair color turned out amazing as usual. Thanks Tracie!!
We finished up just in time for Q to meet Baylee G for dinner and Aaron and I to make it to Ward temple night. My last two appointments have been canceled for inclement weather temple closure/snow days. It was extra nice to be in the House of the Lord with Aaron and some Ward family members late Friday night.
This post is all over the place, but so was this week. I ignored race training most of the week and even skipped the long run today in favor of rest. It feels like I cooked a lot, but it wasn’t much more than any other week. There was just so much snow clean up. More firewood cleanup in front of the hearth. I played some some guitar with my boys, we made shrinks dinks and, watched a few movies and hockey games with Q’s night owl friends that stopped by,
Kasey is the best!! She called me from Sam’s club before the snow hit and picked up a few essentials for me while we were out working concessions and bball games on Monday night. I found this note on my bathroom counter and two aromatherapy shower steamer packets inside. I ordered a box of them for myself after one “spa day” shower 😂. I love kasey and her care for my sanity.
I need to order a new puzzle! This week we finished the donut puzzle that Q’s friends started on calzone day, and we did famous women in history again because it was Q’s puzzle and she was out with friends the first time I did it.
Mary and Riley Saumweber dropped by to hang out a bit on Wednesday and we visited and puzzled by the fire together. Sometimes I wish I lived right in Bentonville so my kids could walk or ride bikes places and so friends would drop in. Mary’s surprise visit warmed my heart and filled my need for conversation with adults. I love her!
My mama turned 78 this week! I took her shopping for new jeans today and we were successful in finding cute new styles at old navy and we found some spring treasures we didn’t know we needed at TJ Maxx too. Plus cookies, but those are absolutely a need.
Here’s a 4:30am pic I snapped of Q when she came in for prayers before her ambulance shift. They were super busy and had made 4 full transports by 10am! She texted me around 2 that she was able to leave a couple hours early today since she got all her transports done and met her hours requirement last week. We got a sweet text from Cam Porter an hour later that he spotted Quincy in Beaver Lake award sacrament meeting. Bless this good girl who drove herself straight to church after 10 hours on ride outs.
I found this selfie on my camera roll after church.
Corbin blessed the sacrament today. He got up early and was the first one ready to go. I’m grateful for the extra effort he made to be early to church today and help prepare the ordinance. Soren is so reverent when he passes the sacrament. Aaron just ducked out to give a ward member a blessing. He is such a good example. I’m thankful for the Priesthood and the many ways it was honored by my family today.
