The Chicken Chronicles 11.20.20
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| The kids helped me paint the coop and run - the final step! Ben also added thick plastic sheeting to the run to offer the flock some protection from the wind, since winter will set in soon. |
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| They still like to hang out under the raspberry bushes, even though there are no more raspberries to be found. |
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| We discovered that the chickens like avocados. |
Cat gets credit for the biggest discovery this week: Bandit doesn't like any shade of red. He tried to take a chunk out of my arm when I was wearing my maroon jacket; he attacked Eliza when she went outside in bright pink pajama pants; he pecked at Luke's red bike helmet; and more. Cat was the one who recognized what all of these things have in common, and after a quick Google search we realized that it's not unusual for roosters, and other animals, to be aggressive when they see the color red. Check out the video below to see what Bandit did to Cat's red and navy blue soccer ball.
COVID Lately
On the night of November 8th Governor Herbert announced that there is an emergency order in place for the next two weeks, due to the terrible number of COVID cases in Utah - thousands diagnosed every day, hospitals at capacity, schools closing left and right. The order put in place a statewide mask mandate, cancelled all extracurricular activities except for tournament/championship games, and placed a new emphasis on not gathering indoors with anyone outside of your household. The main ways this affected us were that we kept Eliza home from gym (even though for some reason the gym stayed open), and all in-person church youth activities were cancelled. It was nice to have a couple of weeks of no activities again, and we enjoyed the down time.
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| Eliza's Activity Day group was supposed to be making French bread, so the leader had a Zoom cooking class instead. Some of Eliza's bread mysteriously disappeared almost as soon as it was baked. |
The kids and I went out to a playground for a little while on lucky Friday the 13th and even though I've always felt comfortable being outside without a mask on, and even though there were only 2 or 3 other families there, I realized we were the only ones not wearing masks. Oops.
For a while I could only name very few people among my acquaintance who'd gotten the virus, but now I know several, and the kids all have friends who've had it. I'd been so thankful, and so pleasantly surprised, that COVID hadn't touched us directly yet. Ben and I don't mingle indoors in public much, and when we do we're masked unless we're eating. But the kids are at school every day. They wear masks whenever they're indoors, but still, we know that they have a higher chance of being exposed than Ben and I do.
So I wasn't completely surprised when I got an email on Monday, Nov. 16th that Jack was potentially exposed to COVID; it was probably inevitable. His school does a great job of making the school environment as safe as possible: only half the students are on campus at a time, so Cat and Jack have fewer than 12 students in any class; the desks are spaced apart in the classrooms and the teachers use seating charts. Therefore, when I got an email that Jack someone in Jack's class tested positive, it was an email that was only sent to the kids in the class(es) who sat near this other student (who were all wearing masks in class).
We all quarantined until we got test results back. On Tuesday morning (which might have been the 1-year anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 accoroding to this article, though most people list Dec. 31st), Cat and Jack both got tested using a saliva sample. I was so glad we found a facility that not only offered the saliva test - who wants someone to push a stick up their nose? - but we would also get results in 1-2 days instead of the 3-5 days it takes to get results from the nasal probe.
Our two days of quarantine were kind of nice: the kids did as much school work as they could from home, but also played together inside and in the back yard, and we watched a couple of movies (loved Enola Holmes!).
We got the results late Wednesday night - Cat and Jack were both negative. Woohoo! Everyone went back to school on Thursday.
We've been incredibly blessed to not be sick, and really to not even have general cold-weather sickness symptoms that would keep kids home from school (except for that day Cat had a little cough and didn't go to church). Even though this virus has had a direct impact on my everyday life for over 8 months now, I still find it surreal to walk around and see people wearing masks, to greet a friend with an elbow bump, and to wonder whether it's safe to attend Sacrament Meeting or not. With news of three effective vaccines in the final stages of testing, it's nice to think that all of this might just end one day. Is it possible that 2021 will have the opposite trajectory of 2020?
The Chicken Chronicles 11.13.20
This week, Buttercup started laying! Now 100% of the hens are laying eggs and we get 3-4 eggs every day. Woot!
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| Ben collected eggs on that auspicious day. |
This week the chickens also had their first real experience with snow, and I don't think they liked it. They walked in it a bit, with Dixie venturing pretty far from the coop, and the others mostly huddling in the bushes by the house when they were not sheltered by the roof of the run.
Since their water has been freezing when temperatures dip down into the 20s overnight, Ben found a water heater for them so that the chickens don't have to try to figure out how to drink ice.
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| Cute chicken tracks in the snow, with the water heater in the background. |
Just a few days after the snow, the weather warmed up and the kids were back outside in short sleeves.
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| It's always fun to bring the chickens treats - today it was Craisins. |
Sunday, Nov. 8th
On November 8th, Jack gave his first Sacrament Meeting talk! He was assigned the broad topic of "something you learned from Come, Follow Me." He came up with the idea and first draft himself, and Ben and I helped him fine-tune and practice. He didn't seem nervous to speak at all, and even looked up, away from his paper, a few times, just as he practiced. He seemed to be speaking clearly and at a good pace, though it was still kind of hard to understand him because he was wearing his mask.
Side notes: Ben also spoke during Sacrament Meeting, and I was asked to substitute teaching for Relief Society on Zoom, so our family kind of took over church that day. Also, Cat had a cough and decided to stay home and watch Sacrament Meeting online just to be safe, and there was something wrong with the feed so it didn't actually start until after Jack had finished his talk, unfortunately.
I realized in our Come Follow Me lessons that there are a lot of stories in the Book of Mormon about men and women who obeyed even at hard times. I really like the story about Nephi and how he found the brass plates. He was forgiving even to his brothers after they tried to kill him. It would be very hard to do that.
He also brought his whole family across the ocean to the Promised Land. In First Nephi Chapter: 17 verse 8, Nephi was commanded to build a ship so he and the rest of his family could journey to the Promised Land.
8. And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.
I appreciate how Nephi is such a good example of being obedient. He had no idea how to build a ship, and yet he looked to Jesus for help and decided to do it anyway.
VERSES 9&10 say: 9. And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?
10. And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.
The Lord taught Nephi how to build a ship. Without the Lord, Nephi wouldn’t be able to build it, and Nephi did not build a ship like how other people would normally build it, but in a new way that the Lord showed him. 1 Nephi CHAPTER 18 verse 2:
2. Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner of which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.
One thing’s for sure, Nephi is amazing. I am trying my best every day to be like him and other Book of Mormon heroes.
Every Saturday, my family has to help clean the house. For me, it’s always a pain in the neck. Some days I take it very easily, but others… One example of when I cleaned the house when I didn’t want to was actually yesterday! I had to vacuum, pick up the playroom, and help with the bathroom. I got really upset about it like Laman and Lemuel, but maybe, not as violent. But I got it done after I calmed down a little because I knew that the quicker I got the things done, the more free-time I’d have. And the best part is, when I finished my chores and was doing my free-time thing, I had a happy feeling inside. If you’re obedient to your parents or to Heavenly Father then you’ll have that same happy feeling.
I know that Nephi and the other Book of Mormon heroes lived. And that God and His Son Jesus Christ live. Their church is true, and if you obey then you will feel good inside, and you’ll also receive blessings.
I say these things and the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
*****
That afternoon it snowed - big, beautiful, lacy snowflakes. Since it wasn't super cold outside the snow was a little more wet than it is in the middle of winter so we were able to have a little snowball fight with Luke, and Eliza and Luke rolled big snowballs and started a snowfort. I tried to get a good picture to show how pretty it was when it was snowing but the pictures didn't do it justice, so I made a short video.
The Major
"The Major," described in press articles as America's largest free-flying flag, covers 1/4 acre and weighs 400 pounds. Follow the Flag owns and displays it for Patriotic holidays. It was hanging in Coldwater Canyon in Ogden, UT for Election Day and Veteran's Day, so we took a Saturday morning and drove up to check it out.
Well, we didn't. And after much discussion with my aunt who lives in the area, we discovered that there are two Coldwater Caynons in that area, and we'd gone to the wrong one.
We didn't have a lot of time because we had to get home in time for Jack and Eliza to play for the duet festival but I was sure this flag was big enough that we'd be able to at least see it after 45-60 minutes of hiking.
The first few pictures here are at a restored historic kiln that was used to produce
lime for pioneer-era construction in Ogden. It is right at the trailhead parking lot.
Well, we didn't. And after much discussion with my aunt who lives in the area, we discovered that there are two Coldwater Caynons in that area, and we'd gone to the wrong one.
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| Back at the trailhead, after we couldn't find the flag. |
So we drove to the right one, risking J&E being late to the festival, but hoping that everything would work out if we could just get a glimpse of the flag and take a quick picture. It would have been fun to get closer to the flag and get a better appreciation for its size, but in the end, it was fine. The kids made it back just in time to get to their piano performance and it ended up being quite the adventure.
The Chicken Chronicles 11.6.20
This week we realized that Bandit's collar was too tight - when he struggled to swallow some berries we fed him. Ben loosened the collar and he hasn't seemed to have any trouble swallowing since, but he is crowing more loudly, more often. We just need to move to a farm.
Also this week the coop got two more upgrades: windows (they're so cute!) and a fancy shingled pitched roof over the run. We've had a temporary piece of plywood over the run until now, but we knew that once the winter snows start, the flat plywood wouldn't hold up. I'll share a picture of the finished product once the trim and painting are finished.
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| Jack and Hei Hei (you can see some of the work on the coop going on in the background) |
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| The eggs have been building up and I still buy store-bought eggs so I can have the correct sizes for baking (our hen's eggs are more medium than large) so we gave away our first dozen eggs to our sweet elderly next-door neighbor. |
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| It's hard to tell what this is.... it's one hen's back half and one hen's head while they're perched on a roosting bar in the coop while looking through a newly-installed window. |
Sunday, Nov. 1st
Our family had been slow to send in submissions to help with our ward's video Primary Program but we finally sent in two on Nov. 1st. The request for videos was completely open-ended: as many or as few videos of ... each child or group of children or the whole family ... singing a Primary program song and/or sharing a talk or scripture from this year.
After Church Luke recorded his video, which is so precious.
Eliza and Luke each wanted to do just one video. Eliza sang "I Will Walk with Jesus," and Luke shared a scripture. He wasn't sure what he wanted to share, so he and I sat down with the Gospel Art Kit and just talked about each picture briefly. He knew about each of the pictures and I was so proud of him for knowing the Book of Mormon stories - it was awesome! He decided to share a scripture about the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah.
Our ward was splitting in half to have two small Sacrament Meetings one Sunday a month over the summer. We attended once in August, and then in September I was asked to lead the music. After sitting on the stand and seeing how many people weren't wearing masks I decided we should stay home until everyone was required to wear a mask at church, especially since our ward has continued to sing hymns like normal. After General Conference in October our ward started meeting weekly, as one group, but the service was streamed online (except for the ordinance of the Sacrament). It was nice to at least see and hear the speakers as we watched on Zoom or YouTube live.
On Nov. 1st, Cat asked if we could go to church. I was hesitant but Ben felt like it was the right thing to do. So we left early and sat in the very back row. It was nice to be there in-person, but it was hard for me not to make a mental note of the 25% or so of the congregation not wearing masks.
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| Walking home from Church |
After Church Luke recorded his video, which is so precious.
Then we loaded up the three younger kids' bikes and drove to the Lindon bench (the foothills) to walk/bike along the Murdock Canal Trail. We found a little mountain bike area for the kids to try, which they loved.
Back at home it was Cat's turn to choose a Sunday movie (something we started after church stopped, since we found ourselves with so much more time at home together on Sundays) and she decided to continue my movie from the previous week: Anne of Green Gables. Jack was adamant that he didn't want to watch it, but he got sucked in just like the rest of us and mourned Matthew's passing.
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| (looking at the TV over his book) |
J&E Piano Duets Post Script
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| Sometimes Jack and Eliza's duet practice sessions descended into silliness - but most of the time they pushed each other's buttons and couldn't practice because one or both was upset. |
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| It was very cool that the day after Jack and Eliza's festival win, Andy Unsworth played "Washington Post March" as an organ solo on MSW for the Veteran's Day broadcast. |
2020 Piano Duets
The kids had their piano recital a couple of days before Halloween, and then they participated in the duet festival the weekend after Halloween. The recital was a little touch-and-go because of COVID but at the last minute, we found out that the recital was ON, sort of - the studio was divided in half so that one group performed during the first 25 minutes of the time slot, and the second group came after the first group left. Both performances allowed only parents to watch in the audience and both were streamed online. It was fun to be able to invite Mema and Papa in Florida to watch the recital live, and since siblings were not included in the audience numbers Ben stayed home with Luke and they watched the recital online too.
Pics from the Recital:
Cat's duet partner from last year switched to a different teacher recently so she had yet another new partner - her 7th in 9 years of playing piano for Sarah. She and her partner worked really well together and felt great about their performance - they both said that the best they played was at the festival.
Their first piece was a fun medley of Disney waltzes that my friend Dr. Robin Hancock (on the piano faculty at BYU, and formerly in my TabChoir carpool) arranged and shared with us. It was quite long - 23 pages of music that they played in just over 9 minutes - but they managed it very well. And fun that we invited Mr. Rob, as we call him, to watch the recital online, and he did!
They also did a Brahms duet called "Hungarian Dance" that was really fun! (I accidentally messed up the recording of the festival performance, so this is a video I made while they were practicing just before we left our house to go to the recital hall.)
Jack and Eliza were partners again this year, as much as they really want to have new partners. (I'll have to give in to that eventually, but the convenience of living together when they need to practice and perform and attend each other's lessons makes our lives in the weeks leading up to the recital and festival so much easier.)
This year, Jack chose Mozart's "Turkish Rondo" and Eliza chose "Washington Post March" by John Philip Sousa. They both enjoyed both of the pieces, and they sounded great when they finally came together. It really didn't click until just before the recital. They even did some practice performances the day before the festival and those didn't go so well.
Their assigned time to perform for the judge at the festival was 1:20 Saturday afternoon, right in the middle of the day. We wanted to go on a little adventure that day so we decided to leave early-ish for a Saturday so we could get back in time for Jack and Eliza to get changed and practice before we needed to go to the recital hall. Well, we got back late and they literally only had time to run through each of the pieces once before we hurried over to the festival. They were both in a good mood, and they ended up playing really well! They were ecstatic over their performance when we left, saying it was the best they'd played! And I had to wonder if it wasn't good that I didn't drill them the day of the performance - first of all so that they wouldn't be tired/frustrated/annoyed, but secondly because they didn't go into autopilot mode but really thought about what they were doing during the recital.
Whatever the case, they did well enough that they were chosen as winners! We got a call Saturday night that they were in the top 15% of the group of 80-90ish performers and would receive a cash prize soon. There's no winners' recital because of COVID but the cash is the most exciting part anyway, haha.
Cat - Soccer Wrap-Up
I promised videos, so here you go -
The week after the tournament, Cat went online and let the SVU soccer program know that she was interested in the school. The next day, she got a call from the head coach letting her know that he was in town and would like to see her play. So she joined about 18 other student athletes for a training session run by Coach Dahl. She loved it, and she really liked the coach. And then we did some scrambling to get Cat up to an ID camp in Salt Lake that Coach Dahl would be attending that weekend. She's not sure that she wants to play soccer in college, but it makes sense to keep that option open.
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| One of my stalker photos from the training session. |
At the post-season banquet, Cat's coach took a couple of minutes to talk about each player and, her personality and contribution to the team. He had some very kind things to say about Cat, and then brought her up again to award her the Offensive Player MVP award.
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