May 2020

Oh May, we thought you'd never come. April seemed to last years. But of course time slows down to a crawl when the pace changes dramatically and all you had been doing is cancelled. We got used to no soccer practice and daily swimming. My boys were so lucky to have each other for company. We were all so thankful for Hermione & all her snuggles. She seemed to always cheer us up, no matter how bad our cabin fever had become. 

I love this picture of Hayden- I don't remember why I took this in portrait mode, but maybe because his bangs had grown out so long. My mom sent me this picture of my dad when he was about the same age, and I can see the resemblance. Such a similar face shape, and even that sandy colored hair. Even though I didn't do a proper side by side image, I still had to put it in the book.

One of our covid lock down purchases: kayaks. We have lived by the lake for years now, but haven't found a good rhythm for getting out on the water. The John boat was a good try, but too difficult to get to the water from our house. So Kayaks were next! The boys were excited to each have their own turn, and we've used them infrequently but still enjoyed it.

David tucked Hermione in with his blanket & his lion we call lie lie. Honestly I don't know how I've never typed it out before, but phonetically I cannot think of another way to spell it! haha, its short for lion of course, but also funny.

Ok, saved for all time: James in his homemade diving suit. This goofball would fill up his swim shirt with air from his mouth while leaving his nose uncovered to get more air. He would float around in the pool with his homemade floatation. Hilarious.

Hermione loved running through the lake! We hadn't taken her out in the water before, because we don't generally go walking out in the lake. But it is so shallow on our shore, that she didn't even swim, she just ran. She looked like a bunny rabbit bouncing through the water- so fun to watch!

Our sweet friends the Wests came over for a swim party! It wasn't so hard to feel comfortable getting together outside. I think this was the second time we had seen friends since the beginning of April.

This awkward photo brought to you by me: mom wanted to get a picture of how tall they were getting! haha, silly me. 

The familiar sight of the work van in the back driveway. My littlest two at the kitchen table coloring and working on school in that beautiful morning sunlight.

These fellas were giving themselves Mohawks by sticking their heads in the water and then flipping their hair backwards. You need a little boredom to get creative.

Calvin  had been waiting for this pokemon to arrive!! A late birthday gift is a good surprise!

Wow, the day we had been waiting for!! Our master bathroom was finished! Even though these projects went relatively smoothly (ha) and weren't terribly drawn out (but took longer than we thought), we still couldn't wait for them to end. Having workmen in the house all the time and constantly having things torn apart and filthy was difficult. Especially when we never left home. It was our constant companion for those months. But it was over and turned out lovely. I was so happy to see that van drive out of our back driveway I took a photo. Thank you so much and goodbye!!!

Ahhh, back patio without workman coming in and out and leaving trash all over the place. Board games and books and movies. Thank the Lord for my sweet family. I don't know what I would have done if I had to be along all those days without my children.

 

My sweet young life girls. We were all over the zoom meetings by this point. But missing our end of the year dinner and missing the chance to celebrate the milestones was sad. We tried our best but fell short in my opinion of what we could have done. The Lord is sovereign over this too.

OH puzzles!! We all enjoyed the distraction of a good puzzle. myself especially! This 1000 piece dogs in the park we did several times.

Our covid hair cuts! Gosh we were grateful to have Anna Marie come help us our with our crazy hair. And she brought her new puppy which was even better. You are adorable Albus!!

We had hoped to see our family again, and despite being very nervous, we planned a family party to celebrate Jim's birthday, Mother's Day, and baby Evie's first trip to Florida. And the first swim in Mimi & Grandpa's new pool!! We drove down and took rapid covid tests in the driveway before we got out of the car. Luckily Matt's brother Mike had some at his clinic, and so all the adults made sure we weren't sick before we could enjoy each other's company. I was very thankful for the reassurance of those tests!

Mother's Day 2020 for Mimi with all her grandchildren.

I sent my mom&dad these t-shirts for Mother's & Father's Day. We had those canisters in our kitchen when I was a kid, and I saw reprints of the images online. I couldn't wait for them to open these silly and nostalgic gifts! They enjoyed the silliness and fun of it too. 

My boys all made me a card for Mother's Day. Hayden's was really fun and had an image on the outside that opened into a full image of heart flowers. It was so sweet to see what they made me!

The boys' favorite buddy: Anthony. 

Jeep trip to the beach when they reopened them! Thankful for the confidence to be able to enjoy the beach without worrying about catching covid. Now it seems so silly to think you could catch it at the beach, but it was possible.

I'm getting used to these boys wanting to swim without their swim shirts on- they look so grown up without them.

A little fight with daddy and Hermione joining on David's side.

Grammy & Papa came to visit! We were so glad to see them. It had been sooo long!

One of Calvin's assignments was to take a picture of mini-Mrs. Gullet with something around the house. He had a few choices, but I loved them all. 

David & I playing his Scooby Doo game outside while the boys finish school.

Looking back through David's school memory book & seeing Camryn & her mom in David's pictures. In hindsight it is so sad to me that I missed his only classroom activities for the whole year. But I am thankful for sweet Camryn being there with him.

Last pictures of our first dining room table we bought off the floor at the Pottery Barn in the Avenues Mall. I think it was 2007. It was a great table!

I love seeing David fall asleep on his brothers shoulder. It melts my heart like nothing else.

We couldn't resist going to Mimi & Grandpa's again. More pool time & exploring a piece of property the family still owned. You can see we found some treasures we couldn't leave behind, haha!

It's not everyday that you find a cow skull and whole collection of bones. The boys loved finding all the different kinds. 

  

Our new dining room table & rug! I love how long it can extend for when we have lots of people at the house. Looking forward to using it for many years.

End of the year party calls for vacation shirt and sunglasses!

Well, we had never seen a rocket launch, so I piled the boys in the car one day and we drove down to see if we could watch it live! We met up with my friend Lindy, I almost got eaten by an alligator, there was no where to park, but we had a blast. Not a literal blast because the rocket launch got scrubbed, but a figurative one. The boys didn't even mind because they got to hang out with their buddies they hardly ever get to see.

I love seeing how they grow! These boys are all almost the same age. 4 months separates them: James older by 4 months than Magnus, David 4 months older than Atlus, and Gus 4 months older than Calvin.

This was a floating contest- the boys wanted to see who could float on their back the longest. Funny enough Calvin won but none of them got a very good float going, haha! You can see James is only floating from his chest up.

Wow, that's it. Lord thank you for the fun you brought us in May 2020. Thank you for the boy's sweet teachers working so hard sorting out something for online school. Thank you for our pool, for covid tests so we could see our family and not be afraid. Thank you for our safe place to live, for all we needed. For puzzles and games, for movies and video games to enjoy together. Thank you for silly games the boys made up and all the sunshine we could soak in. Thank you for the beautiful place we live & the beach & the woods. For bike riding and the simplicity of cooking all our meals at home. Thank you for all you provided, and for all the books I got to read.Thank you for all the comfort you brought in the loss of what was supposed to be. Lord I pray we got to know you better in the uniqueness of the time. Thank you for holding my heart. Amen.