When Daddy's Away...

I've fallen behind on blogging again. Nathan was away for a month in February and March and then Coronavirus cases began hitting Jordan and we have been under lockdown for the past 3 weeks. A lot has happened and I want to share what we've been up to, and my hope it to keep better updated after a few catchup posts. Nathan left a few days before Valentine's Day, but he got me flowers:)

On Valentine's Day morning, the boys enjoyed a donut treat, conversation hearts, and heart napkins for breakfast.

This girl is pure love! She turned 18 months old this month too, that will be my next post :).

We are so thankful for Tes and how she loves our family, and how she is even extra helpful when one of us is out of town. Eliza and Tes have a sweet bond.

She loves to help!

The boys and I took lots of walks around the neighborhood. I love the springtime when things are starting to get green and bloom. This is their favorite 'rock throwing hill' close by our house, that we've been visiting since we got here almost 5 years ago.

Another weekend, the boys had a birthday party at an indoor soccer area. It was such a neat idea! There was a large field and lots of obstacles around the place and the kids had a blast.

The boys had their weekly rock climbing lessons. The last couple before lockdown began, they began lead climbing and hooking their ropes into pre-set caribeaners in the rocks.

Our neighbors went out of town for a long weekend and asked us to help take care of their bird, Hugo, a couple of times a day. The boys were very responsible changing his food and water and playing with him. They also really enjoyed the football table they have in their basement!

Lots of sibling love. This girl is going to be tough...Eliza sandwich.

We had quite a few rainy days, but we also had some nice days and went to the parks when we could, and out of ice cream.

Park nearby our house.

Eliza loves the slide at the Embassy park, and went up and down many times. She is very good climber and an active little girl.

Caleb, Benjamin, and I also went to the dentist one day for check-ups and cleanings.

Caleb had "Market Day" at school and came home with a bunch of products he bought that other students made. In their recent social studies unit, they were learning about communities and goods and services. They had some guest speakers come in to talk about how they serve the community and what goods and services they provide. At the end of the unit, the students all made a product and sold them to other students in their grade. Caleb made Pokemon cards to sell!

Goofball...can you tell we've had a lot of injuries in our house over the years?! 

The boys and I went out to our favorite Lebanese restaurant one day, called Faroujna. Caleb was daring Benjamin to eat a jalapeño. Caleb, like Nathan, loves spicy food and ate the entire thing. Benjamin is more like me and after a lick downed a glass of water.

One evening the kept me out of the room for about an hour while they worked on something...you can't tell but in the background they have makeshift camping and emergency supplies, food, water, nerf guns, bullets...they were warding off a bear attack. Well, who would have known the preparedness would have been needed in the weeks to come!

We had a full and fun time that month.  I am thankful for everyone's health and protection during that time, and we were very happy for Nathan to get home. He arrived on on March 8th, right in the nick of time by a few days, to avoid a mandatory two-week quarantine because he returned from the U.S. We did not know that the weeks to come would look like they do now, and we are even more thankful that he was able to make it back. Stay tuned for 18 months of Eliza, then lockdown updates from Jordan.