We ended 2020 in the most appropriate way possible: sick with the infamous virus. As if recovering from a mental breakdown in November wasn't enough, Covid dumped itself into the mix so we could quarantine ourselves from the people who had kept my head above water for the previous month.
Of course, God was faithful and it came in the form of my parents and brothers getting it as well. They were lifesavers by helping with the children and giving us some companionship for those three weeks. Six of us in the Massner family tested positive the Tuesday after Christmas (in case anyone noticed the spike in the DMC positivity rate that day). Several of us were sick for a few days with fevers and aches, followed by days of exhaustion, missing voices, loss of taste and smell, etc. but thankfully everyone recovered well. Matt only had minor symptoms so at least one of us could take care of the kids those first few days. Keenan then got a miserable fever that lasted a couple days and kept him awake and fussy for a day or two. Then he lost his voice for several days, which was quite a peaceful change. ;) The other three kids and Jesse stayed healthy which meant they got a three week quarantine.
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Keenan's fever resulted in our doctor encouraging us to bring him in to the ER. He was perfectly cheerful and fever-free by the time we arrived at the hospital, and the ER doctor sent us home. I think Keenan was just sick of being stuck at home.
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So anyway...that was our final hurrah of excitement for 2020. Moving back in time to where I left off on the blog, halfway through December...
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We had sick kids the week before Christmas (they may have been the covid carriers, but I guess we'll never know...). Micah ended up with strep throat. We felt pretty special wearing plastic face shields at the doctor.
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| One evening when we couldn't go anywhere since the kids weren't feeling well, we visited the Yotter's Christmas light display! They thought it was amazing! |
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| We also enjoyed the band and choir concerts live on YouTube. It is always entertaining to see all of the germ-friendly modifications. Who knew they made masks for musical instruments...?! |
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| Then Keenan started working on his walking...(he had only rolled over twice, but taking his first steps seemed to be higher on his priority list). |
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| Micah's antibiotics must have connected some neurons in his brain because he started making his bed in the morning (and mine, too)! |
Everyone felt well at Christmas. We celebrated with our little family on Christmas Eve. I tend to forget about the gift thing at holidays so I guess I am just doing my best to give my kids the gift of low expectations. This year I had all the kids go pick out toys around the house to wrap up for each other. They thought it was great. We were blessed with someone bringing us a meal for supper, and we stuck with our one tradition and made our own ice cream for dessert!
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| Christmas Eve also happened to be Keenan's 1/3 birthday, so he celebrated with strawberry-covered mint chocolate chip ice cream. By looking at it, anyway. |
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| 2020 Schulz family Christmas |
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| It was a Charlie Brown Christmas! Micah Charles Schulz gets to be Snoopy since he shares a name with the Peanuts author! |
Besides our immediate family Christmases, most of our 2020 Christmas traditions were cancelled this year, or at least very modified. At Thanksgiving we had a video call with the Schmidgall family, and over Christmas the Knobloch family "gathered" via Zoom. Burlington Church had their Christmas caroling outdoors, but we were thankful that the Sunday School Christmas programs could go on as normal. It was Levi's first Christmas program. He was very nervous, so I was impressed that he at least made it to the front of church, even if he didn't ever sing!
After the new year, we got to endure a few more weeks of quarantine. Technically Matt, Keenan, and I got out the second weekend, but the other kids had another ten days after that, so it got long. It was a real struggle for my mental health. We are thankful for several family and friends who brought meals to help us out, and for my family who could help with children and keep us company.
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| One morning, Micah ran into my room and said, "Mommy, there's a rainbow on the ceiling!" He took a picture of it for me. A reminder that God's promises still hold true when we are stuck inside at home! |
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| The kids' first day out of quarantine. Levi got to go to preschool and Isaiah came to play with the others! |
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| Playing with some jewels from Levi's preschool project....Joanna was a princess... |
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| And Micah was Prince Charming. |
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| Watching the Presidential Inauguration! We enjoy opportunities to get in on live educational moments. And observing the virus mitigation measures for different events never ceases to amuse me. The Presidential Fist Bump is real! |
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| If anyone wonders what keeps me busy most days, it mostly revolves around food experiments. |
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| I figured out how to get everyone to eat salad at suppertime...blend 'er up! The kids are quite pleased with their salad smoothies. It is comprised of water, spinach, frozen strawberries, and some sweetener. |
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| Meeting their newest cousin, Bethany (Andrew and Hannah)! Big sister Rebecca is in the background. |
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| And a 5 month old Keenan! Still rolling one way, starting to sit up on his own, waking up every couple hours at night, and could bounce in his Johnny jumper all day long! |
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| Birthday season arrived in the Schulz household! The kids helped me make cake for Levi's birthday... |
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| I had so much fun making this cake that I took lots of pictures. He asked for a giant chocolate chip, but upon further consideration, I asked if we could do a giant Hershey kiss instead. That way if it started looking like a certain unmentionable emoji, it would at least be wrapped in foil. SO. We started with three cake mixes made into two nine inch cakes, an 11x17, and six large cupcakes. |
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| After lots of carving, some simple syrup, stacking up cakes and frosting between layers, we got a general chocolate kiss-looking figure. |
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| Then it was time to crumb coat and chill! |
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| Our outer "frosting" was melted chocolate chips. I had to do something that would be firm so it wouldn't stick to the foil. I am a chocolate chip lover so it was actually quite delicious to have chunks of chocolate on my cake. |
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| Then it was time to wrap my kiss. |
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| Levi wanted the S's to be 5's. |
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| And then I turned the five leftover cupcakes into more kisses. |
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| He also wanted to incorporate high fives into the party, so that's how we ended up with this random five year old birthday theme. |
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| Can't believe it's been five years since I became his Mommy! Levi's getting all grown up. Always full of big ideas and loves to read and learn! |
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| Sorry. I had way too much fun with this cake to not take one last picture. :) |
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| Keenan spent the evening working on his ab routine. He only rolls over one way, and then instead of rolling back over, he thinks he needs to sit up. But he can't ever quite get there. He just stays in this uncomfortable-looking crunch position until he gets frustrated or someone helps him sit up. |
LET THE SOCIAL LIFE BEGIN...
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| We made it to our first young couples event in almost a year! Layla and Keenan are the newest babies! |
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| The men got tired of the pond not being skate-able this winter, so they came out and flooded the pond a few times so they could start playing hockey again! |
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| Out on the pond one hockey night! |
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| We enjoyed a play date at Brooke's one Friday morning! |
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| We were honored to have Olivia come for an overnight visit! It was so good to catch up! |
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| We finally got to visit Grandpa Schulz one evening! |
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| This is what a daddy's baby carrier looks like. |
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| Then, my cousin Abby showed up!! This is the only picture I have to show for a whole week and a half of having her here. It was so fun to catch up with her, too. She has been "working from home" since March, so she just worked from our home for a week and we got to be together in the evenings! |
The first weekend of February (when Abby arrived), my brother Jonathan was baptized. We are so thankful for the work God has done in his life and appreciated his testimony, where he shared about God rescuing him from his slavery to sin. It was a wonderful weekend of fellowship with family and friends. My cousin Alyssa also stayed with us Saturday night and we got to meet her fiance, Luke. Sunday afternoon we got to be with the Steffen family and hear Cherelle and Abram's engagement story, and in the evening we joined the single group for a singing at the fellowship center. Visitors, special occasions, and singing are all things we have missed for the past year, so it was all very special!
Abby also got to join us for Micah's birthday party. I had much less fun making his cake. I thought it would be pretty simple and straightforward, but...alas. It all turned out, though. :)
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| He is our easy-going boy with lots of energy to go around! Four years ago, my life felt like a blur with a newborn and twelve month old! Thankfully he has always been happy to just come along for the ride. |
Friday, the boys went to the Iowa City Children's Museum for their birthdays with my mom, Aunt Timna, Kalvin, and Warren. They had a blast!
Meanwhile at home, Matt had lunch with his three valentine dates...
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Pro Tip: Do your hubby a favor and buy your own flowers and chocolate for Valentine's Day. Poor guy does enough to take care of you already.
Joanna was in her glory with her own flower and chocolate bar:) Oh, and McDonald's for lunch!
Pro Tip #2: Host a cousin whose favorite restaurant is McDonald's. She will be easy to please. |
Sunday, we had to bid farewell to Abby! The kids were still asking where she was the next day... hopefully she comes back again soon!
On President's Day, Matt always has the day off work so I often spend the day honoring our presidents by filing our tax returns and unpaying our taxes. I am thankful to have that task checked off our list for another year. Matt actually spent the day working on projects at church and his family watched the children for us.
As far as my mental health since the episode in November, there have been ups and downs getting settled back into our routine again. Three weeks of quarantine was a major blow to my mental health and I wasn't sure we would ever survive. In case I didn't already mention it twice, my family having Covid at the same time is what saved us. Since then, being back in a social life really helps. I still have my hard days (generally consisting of moodiness/depression/irritability), but time is healing and we are also learning about what helps when those times hit...more sleep is usually the answer...either that, or being with other people. We are thankful for those who have been helping with the children a couple days each week, which allows me get some rest (and sometimes accomplish a thing or two)! Matt is also still working in the basement to bail me out as needed.
We appreciate all the prayers and encouragement as we plod forward. It is hard to know what to call progress. I often feel like I'm having a good week, then one day the depression hits and I cannot find any happiness or hope in the future. It is frustrating to not be able to handle the commotion of my children without getting mentally overwhelmed. It is frustrating that I keep taking out all my irritabilities on my husband who is doing so much to take care of me. People say things will get better and I'll feel "normal" again, which is a hard thing to grasp when my brain won't function normally. But we are learning to be so thankful for the good days. God is going to get us through!
When things seem at their worst, I will
Still joy in His protection,
Who loves to bring out good from ill,
And grieves in my affliction.
His trials sent
Are all well meant;
His rod, a Father's chastisement,
Are tokens of affection.
His pledge in faith will ever stand;
It is His blessed pleasure
That naught me from His mighty hand
Shall separate or sever.
He will not break
The Word He spake;
So confidence in Him I take,
And praise Him then forever.
("Confidence" ZH #177)
