Yep, this one. The one with masks.
Now, before we get too carried away, this isn't a debate about whether we should wear masks or not. It is a simple explanation of why I won't be commemorating this season with multiple photos of my children with masks on their faces.
Part of this is easy. I want to capture their beautiful smiles and hilarious expressions. I want to see the way our eldest child's dimples shine, our son's habit of slightly sticking out his tongue when he is concentrating (just like his grandfather), and how you can almost predict with 100% accuracy what kind of request will come out of our youngest's mouth depending on the set of her lips.
The sadness, frustration, and difficulty of this season is already etched on our hearts. We don't need to look back at photos of ourselves in masks to be reminded, especially when said photos will cover up much of the emotions those pictures could tell.
I can hear people coming out of the woodwork now to say if we don't document it, we'll forget. First of all, I was trained as an historian before I chose to come home with my kids. There is plenty of documentation of masks in the current culture; you don't need to subject your children to front porch photo shoots in which they wear cloth face coverings of their favorite animated character to have evidence of your existence during Coronavirus. Secondly (and once again, as an historian), I can give you multiple examples of how we choose to forget the past even WITH photographic evidence right in front of our eyes.
I’m choosing to photograph the ways we are celebrating this season. Swimming, cornhole, water balloon fights in the front yard. More family game nights than I can count. Our eldest planning college visits. Our middle starting in-person Scout meetings again. Our youngest expanding her culinary skills. All wonderful memories, and all without masks.
Now, all that being said, if you are filling your SD card or cloud with masked photos of your family, you do you. We are all coping in different ways. For me, I’m going to go capture a few more gorgeous smiles.
I had a reason to have a good laugh at myself yesterday, and it really felt wonderful.
For years, I was that person who needed to be in control. In fact, I would often let that keep me from even trying things if I believed I couldn’t get it perfect. Not a fun way to live, right?
That started to change when we added Child #3 to the mix. Her sparkly personality meant I needed to find a way to be more “Fun Mama” than a perfect one. And, no, that doesn’t mean throwing all rules and expectations out the window. I didn’t want to raise tyrants, but I did want to make sure I was soaking up joy with them whenever I could; after all, how many mothers of older kids have told you not to blink, they aren’t little forever?!
Another factor that helped me loosen up was our decision to homeschool. The irony was it was my extensive research that showed me I was going to have to prioritize what I wanted our learning experience to look like. I made a conscious decision (and verified my hubby was on board) that with the focus being on the kids’ education, the house wasn’t going to perfectly clean. This gave us so much freedom to focus on what we loved rather than feeling constantly guilty about the kitchen floor not being mopped regularly. (Not all family members agreed with our decision, but that’s a subject for another day.)
Enter the disaster I made in my kitchen and the laughter that ensued. You see, I had promised my friends that I would make a video of our family’s favorite lemonade recipe. Well, I only had enough ingredients for one take, so when something went wrong, I had to roll with the show. Take and look and see the hilarity that followed.
I didn’t realize how much I needed to laugh at myself under all the current craziness we are experiencing. I hope it at least brought a small to your face. And I have a new favorite saying: What big mess did you make today?
Luscious Lemonade
- Juice from 6 lemons and 1 lime (feel free to add more if you want a stronger citrus taste!)
- ½ cup local raw honey (make sure you use local if you want help with your sneezes)
- 1-2 drops Lavender Vitality
- 8-10 cups ice water, or different amount to taste
Combine lemon and lime juice, honey, and Lavender Vitality in large glass pitcher. Stir well. (If your honey is particularly thick, you may want to heat in a gentle warm water bath before adding to juice.) Add water, stirring again. Taste and enjoy!
I don’t know about everyone else, but my family has hit the point where days are starting to run together. Losing church, in particular, has really seem to thrown a wrench in our sense of time.
Some like to say that since we were already homeschooling before the recommendation of social distancing, this shouldn’t be as hard for us. The reality is, all of our normal activities have been cancelled, too. Our youngest in particular seems to constantly want something to do … which is actually ironic, considering two weeks ago she would have welcomed extra Disney+ and video game time. Now she wants someone to play board games, go on walks, and shoot baskets almost constantly. The perception has changed even for those who are used to a less than “normal” (whatever the heck that is) schedule.
Enter making homemade playdough. She has loved being in the kitchen and working with recipes since she was an itty bitty thing, so while this one was inedible, it was still tons of fun!
You can find lots of different homemade playdough recipes out there. We used the one that calls for the fewest ingredients because life needs to be kept simple at this point. Also, good flour is getting extremely difficult to find in our area, but there seems to plenty of the enriched bleached stuff you could use for playdough.
HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH
- 1-1 ½ cups flour (we actually needed more, but start slowly and add as needed)
- ¼ cup salt
- ½ cup warm water
- 3-5 drops of food coloring (optional – can also add more to reach desired color)
- 6-8 drops essential oil
Mix flour and salt together. Add food coloring (if using) to warm water, then slowly add to flour mixture. Stir together, then add essential oils. Knead all ingredients together. If dough is sticky, continue to add flour in small increments.
Wondering which oils to use? Our daughter chose Christmas Spirit because it is her favorite happy oil. Other great options would be Thieves or Stress Away.
Looking for another fun DIY project you can do with your kids? Check out our elderberry gummy recipe!
Day One of surviving whatever madness this is that has descended upon America.
When we woke up, it felt like some sort of weird snow day without all the fluffy stuff. Not a single junior member of the crew had an activity scheduled off-ship. That is an extremely rare occurrence. We all felt the day was full of endless possibilities.
At 1100 hours, the youngest junior crew member had talked the other two minors into playing Cheaters Monopoly with her. By 1130, said crew member was in tears because she was bankrupt. The captain and commander quickly devised a new plan.
Some cleaning of the galley commenced in preparation for lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, that same poor junior crew member had planned red beans and rice for dinner, at a time when beans are almost as scarce as toilet paper. The captain came up with some substitutions, but at this time the meal has yet to be consumed. We will have to update later as to whether the concoction was edible.
The commander ventured out to the grocery store to buy beer and somehow managed to procure toilet paper. The situation report says no one was harmed in the process, but the captain remains unsure as to the validity of his statement.
Around 1700 hours, the two youngest junior crew decided to explore the outdoors for an hour while flying Styrofoam airplanes. Both returned happy, without complaint (although one airplane did require tape maintenance halfway through the expedition.)
As of 2023, the entire crew is safely onboard, supposedly watching Disney+, but really all staring at personal devices. The Captain is about to put an end to that situation.
Stay tuned for more humorous updates as more places close around us. You never know what this crew might be up to! And if humor isn’t enough to relieve some of your stress, check out the recipe at the bottom here.
I felt like I had taken a huge step in a positive health direction when I learned how to make elderberry syrup for my family. I should have known, with three kids, that syrup would only be the beginning.
Don’t get me wrong, they liked the syrup fine. My eldest, who is engaged in several different aspects of musical theatre, especially like it for her throat and voice. However, they started seeing elderberry gummies in certain stores, and being kids, they were intrigued.
I started looking for recipes. The molds were easy to find, and I ordered a three-pack of star, heart, and seashell shapes off of Amazon right away … and they sat in the cabinet for several months because I couldn’t find a recipe that kept all the wellness benefits of elderberry syrup. If I was using some of my precious time to make this recipe, why would I add artificial sugar or synthetic gelatin? It simply made no sense to me.
My plan to make elderberry gummies was pretty much on a backburner, until one day, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a fabulous recipe! Not only did it have elderberry syrup, but it was packed full of antioxidants, probiotics, and had an option for flavoring with additional wellness benefits. I made the first batch that very same week, thinking those gummies would last for at least a 4-6 weeks. Nope! The whole family loved them so much, they were eating several a day, and who was I to complain? A healthy snack that boosts the immune system is a win-win around here.
Just when I thought I was on my A-game, my youngest child said, “It would be really cool if you could make gummy worms.” Okay, challenge accepted (thanks, once again, to Amazon.) 
I now make these on a regular basis, partly due to my eldest loving to share them with her theatre friends. It’s great to hear all the feedback on how much the other youths love them and how great everyone is feeling.
Elderberry Gummies
- ½ cup elderberry syrup
- 1 cup Ningxia Red
- 2 T raw, local honey
- 3 ½ T unflavored grass fed gelatin
- 2-4 drops Vitality oil (optional, but our favorites are Orange or Tangerine)
- 2 capsules of Life 9, opened and contents added (optional, but I highly recommend)
- silicone molds
Heat elderberry syrup just until boiling. Remove from heat, add Ningxia. Quickly whisk in gelatin. (You will see recipes calling for more or less gelatin. After several batches, this amount is what I found to work best, but feel free to experiment.) Whisk in remaining ingredients. Add to molds (syringe works best), then put in refrigerator to set. Once firm, store in fridge (we use mason jars.) Enjoy!
Did you miss the story of my elderberry syrup recipe? You can find it here.
I would love to have you join me on my journey of rediscovering my passion for research and learning new things. I absolutely love being a mother, and finding a way to incorporate my other passions into our family keeps life lively and fun! Here is a way to read more about it.
