The Big "Q"

I honesty can't remember what day this is.  Nor do I really care.  I just know this feels like an eternity.  

So the Big "Q" has had its ups and downs.  I miss a lot of my normal life, but I know when this is over, I'm going to miss a lot of my new life too.  

As we prepare to enter May, I decided to go through my phone and see what we've actually been doing for the past umpteen days.  

In between agonizing over virtual schooling and missing friends dearly, we've actually made some pretty lovely memories.  

From the eyes of my iPhone, this is what our Quarantine has looked like {in no particular order}...

Stay safe, be well, and make some sweet memories friends!

13 In Quarantine

Another day in quarantine, another birthday.  

My big boy is officially a real live teenager!  I swear this seems utterly impossible considering I haven't gotten any older.  Where does the time go?  And am I ready for this next phase?  Eek!

Seeing as how Jack got a massive birthday celebration in Denmark last month, we kept his Quaran-teen birthday pretty low key.  I can't deny, I did struggle with that a little bit-you know how I love a birthday.  I would have liked to take him to a nice dinner or at least get out of the house for a few.  

But this guy couldn't have cared less.  When I quietly apologized for the day indoors, he respondsed with " I got to go to Denmark for my birthday, I'm fine!".  Okay, true.  Maybe I just needed to hear that out of his mouth.

So this is what 13 in quarantine looks like...

Doughnuts delivered for breakfast with a festive table.

Sibling gifts and lunch after a morning of virtual school.  

Giant yard signs announcing the milestone day and a big bracey smile {that melts my heart}.

And fried shrimp from Red Lobster and birthday cake with 13 candles for dinner.

Plus a ROOT beer, don't be fooled.  It was included in a gift for Jack that included all of his favorite things.  Thoughtful siblings.

We all love you Jack!  You are the first to take us into the teenage years.  Please make it a smooth ride. Happy Birthday to my #1 teen!

I have a feeling this is going to be a year you will always remember.

Somewhat Easter

Happy Easter friends!

This was an Easter unlike any other.  So much so that I almost forgot to decorate. {now you know that is serious}

Right now, I'm really missing everything about Sunday mornings.  But most especially on this Easter Sunday.  I miss going to Mass, I miss receiving communion, I miss teaching Lucy's Sunday school class, I even miss arguing with my children {the two older ones} about putting some decent clothes on for church.

This has been a huge sacrifice {as I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone}.  This is down right hard.  I miss so much about our normal life.  I guess if I'm going to pick a day to reflect on sacrifice, Easter Sunday is the day to do it.

We pushed through this drizzly Easter Sunday in quarantine.  The Easter Bunny still came.  We still hunted eggs in the yard.   And we even saved our egg dying for today to give us "something to do".   We are always looking for "something to do" these days.

After the fun stuff,  I forced my kids to sit on the couch as a family and watch the Son of God.  It was a powerful movie and another reminder that sacrifice is tough stuff. The kids will never admit it, but I'm pretty sure they were intrigued and it touched somewhere that I just couldn't today.  

We enjoyed a catered Easter feast, albeit in lounge clothes, and then called it another day.  I think that's day #158 or something close.   

So here is what I captured of our quarantined Easter Sunday.  Not much, but between the cold drizzly weather, a quarantine, and my apparent sour mood, this is what I got.

Okay, I have to admit, those sweet smiles just cheered me up.  Thank you God {you just seem to pop in right when I need you, huh?}

Bouncing Into His 50th

This spring is bringing more than one milestone birthday to the Cibula family.  Thankfully we were able to squeeze Jack's teenage celebration in before the dreaded Corona Virus Pandemic.  However, Clay wasn't so lucky.

I've been working on a fabulous 50th birthday celebration for my hubby for almost a year.  Sadly, it will be postponed, but I vow to have it.  He deserves to be celebrated and I've worked way too hard to let this one go.

So in lieu of the birthday bash, the kids and I decided to do the best we could and make Daddy's milestone day as special as possible.  Even if it was just the 5 of us.

We love the lake and Daddy loves basketball so with that in mind our plan began to take shape.  Welcome to Daddy's 50th {family} birthday celebration at the lake house.

I promise this is a basketball party not Halloween.  We did the best we could considering there are no stores open. Ugh!

What's a party without a Piñata?  Thanks Amazon.  The kids had a great time with this and made sure this was our first activity on the day's agenda.

Of course the next most important item on the agenda was birthday gifts.  The kids could hardly wait.  We gifted Daddy with some fun treats like this shirt and these socks.  And decided to throw in a real gift from LuLu Lemon too.  Daddy was a true trooper.

After a day of boating and lake life we headed back to the house to celebrate with dinner and basketball birthday cupcakes.  {Homemade with lots of love.}

And finally, we topped off our day with some much anticipated family competition.  Basketball Bingo anyone?

And my favorite, Hoop Heads!

I think we have a winning team from the tournament!

And someone is not happy. {wink wink}

Happy Birthday Daddy!  You are adored and we loved bouncing into your big milestone with you.  I vow to have a grown up celebration for you too...you deserve to be celebrated!