Corona Virus Quarantine Day #19: April 5, 2020

Today my guest writer is none other than our outdoor loving, tree climbing, crazy boy Fletcher Matthew Dorsey.

Today I was outside a lot.  I love playing in the trees.  I was building a tree house with the kids.  Finley and Cooper were really good at breaking the branches to make the tree house.  Fiona and Ellen helped us too.  Logan was excited about climbing the tree, he said it was easy but it wasn’t easy for me.  It was really nice out today and Logan came over and we had fun.

I wish Hunter and Logan could stay everyday for movie and dinners.  But their dad, Uncle Luke said they can’t.

Today I had four ticks today and I can’t believe it.  I didn’t like when Daddy had to pull them off of me.  I hate the corona virus.  It means we can’t go anywhere and it makes people sick.  I miss school, the kids school and the Dollar store with Gaga.  Today I am thankful for my yard, trees to climb in, Cooper, Finley, Fiona, Ellen, Mommy and Daddy, Gaga.  I love my Gaga.  Tomorrow she is going to watch Onward with us because I invited her.

Love, Fletcher

Mommy’s thoughts:

You guys…I cannot believe we almost been on lock down for 20 days.  In some ways it doesn’t seem that long and it in other ways it feels like forever.  I have loved all the family time, movie nights, outdoor time and extra snuggles but I find that I am missing watching my kids play sports, coaching sports, and eating out in restaurants.  I miss my students and my kids friends so much as well.  It’s amazing what a fixture these people are in my life. It isn’t that I didn’t know that my job and my students were a huge part of me before but it seems all the more real and alive now.

Also, not gonna lie…I really miss eating food other people prepare and clean up for me!  That’s a high class problem I know!  I have always been the “cook” at our house but when life is normal we eat a few meals out and pack lunches on a Saturday because we are gone most of the day at sporting events.  Now I am cooking three meals a day, everyday.  Thankfully the kids help with the dishes.  Not that our kids didn’t have “chores” before but to be honest, part of me on a school night, after we finish eating at 5:45-6pm wanted them to just go be kids and play rather than do the dishes. Now that we have all day to play and be kids, they definitely shoulder that responsibility…some better than others!

We’ve been talking about “see a need…fill it,” philosophy that Bryan and I preach to our volleyball girls all the time.  I love the kind of people that do this.  For instance, in the gym if balls need to be shagged, these kind of people don’t have to be asked they just go do it…trash under the bench, they just pick it up.  Those people are my people.  Tonight Finley volunteered to do the dishes because there was some dissension about who was supposed to be doing it…so I’ll chalk that up as some of the stuff we are throwing at them…is sticking.  Praise be to GOD!

I did make the mistake of watching the Sunday morning news today.  Never again.  While I realize the severity of this situation and I am certainly treating it that way…the news is beyond depressing and it’s almost like they are trying to scare everyone.  Which I suppose…is necessary because so many people seem to be ignoring the stay at home order.  I just know that I can’t watch it anymore.  I have been doing so well and generally am not afraid to go out when we need a store run but after watching that I am dreading my weekly store run tomorrow.

Even amidst all the uncertainty and scary stuff we are faced with I try to find beauty in each day and today there was plenty of it.  After Palm Sunday mass…on a computer (still very weird and today Father Pat was in the church) we literally spent the entire day outside.  At mass I found myself crying at the stark emptiness and quiet of the church we attend. Instead of our usual experience of smiling at people we know across the pews, trying to keep Fletcher from talking loudly or from trying to hold the nearest baby (that kid loves babies) or one or both of us begging one of our children to move just a few feet away from us there was very few people there helping him conduct the mass and it just brought the reality of this horrible virus right back to the forefront.  I’m still grateful for online mass though, it really is nice to still be able to feel connected to something, especially our church.

The kids ran outside as soon as it was over to “build a treehouse”.  They came back up the house a few times for “tools”…mostly scissors and hammers.  I went out to check on them after awhile and they were so into it.  I warned them that they’d all be covered in ticks but that was apparently a risk worth taking.  They worked out there for about 3 hours.  When I told them it was time for lunch they said “no thanks”.  They worked from about 11-2:30.  They then of course came in the house “starving”.  They didn’t want my help, they said they didn’t need it and in a way that was really awesome.  It was fun to listen to them work together and hear how excited the whole project made them.  If anything comes from this crazy mess I am hopeful that these 5 will remember this time as a time they grew in love and respect for each other.  While I realize they won’t see that now or maybe even in a few years, but long term, I am hopeful this is bonding them in a special way for life.

After they feasted on a snack (I think Cooper ate 5 of those cutie oranges…which explains why we go through fruit so fast) they went out and played soccer for an hour then went back to their project.  It was after 5pm when we forced them to come inside and shower and have dinner.  Amazingly, only one child had ticks…Fletcher and he was right…there were four of them.  He wasn’t too happy about that when they were being pulled off but the rest of the night he wore it like a badge of honor…reminding us all how he had 5 ticks. Hilarious that child.  He lived his best life today being outside in trees, amongst his favorite people and with his animals.  Not sure it gets much better for him.

Fiona and Finley getting to work!

The view of the tick infested woods our kids spent their entire day in!

Fletcher doing all the “hard” work! 

We were very focused!

So as we all start another work week in this new world we are living in, I wish you all peace.  I know as Monday rolls around for me I can feel the stress just kind of climbing up my back into my neck where it likes to reside.  The balance of this all is hard but I am more certain than ever before that we 100% got this.  We will kick this virus in the ever living ass and we will go back to the normal we once knew before.  I am praying for all of you and I’d humbly ask you pray for us too!

Stay safe my friends.

#celebr8awesome

#dorseyshenanigans