Post-Covid Sweet 16 Celebration

We FINALLY had Wesley’s 16th birthday party! It was rescheduled more times than I kept track of as other guys in the group befell Covid. But now they're all recovered and out of quarantine and happy to be together! Jonas, Everett, Malachi, Matthew, Wes, Jadin, Hyatt, Caden, and Jacob up front:

Taco Bell. It had to be Taco Bell.

Wesley waving out his handles in proper pandemic-era fashion. 

They went to see Free Guy. 

How boys bond... Wes wasn't even in the same room, but he was on his computer and they were all playing together. Sean, Hyatt & Caden spent the night. 

 

Great shot of SpaceX Falcon 9 taking off over our house at 3:15 in the morning. I was not awake. Photo courtesy of Michael Maguire, our friendly neighborhood space enthusiast.

Happy Little Boy

Carigan & Tate got cleared to return to school on August 17 - just in time for picture day!

 

This chic is happy to be back in the land of the non-plagued! Audrey's mom sent me this pic of Carigan with Kennedy, Alondra, Liz, Riley, Kenley, Alena & Audrey.

We've had Wesley's final driving lesson and his road test to get his drivers license scheduled for August 20th since last summer. He got his permit on August 20th last summer, so this is the earliest date he could test to get his license. We got Marco's permission to go ahead, since Wes is very close to being in the all clear, and Marco has already had Covid. I took a picture as they drove off. I met them at the Atlantic Driving School office in Winter Haven 2.5 hours later. When I walked in, Wes was sitting there looking pale and defeated. He totally thought he had failed the test. But Marco was in the back tallying up the score, and he walked out right as I came in to tell me he passed. Wesley didn't seem to process this information until we got outside and started driving. Apparently he hit a cone or something, and if it had fallen down it would have been an automatic fail. But it just wiggled a bit. But he passed!! And after the anxiety that had left him completely frozen wore off, we drove straight to Bartow to turn in his paperwork and get his license!  

He walked out of the Bartow DMV a licensed driver!! Look how much he's grown in a year:

He texted the good news to his friends.

 

And now my phone's telling me there's a hurricane coming. Not funny. A hurricane knows better than to mess with me right now.

16 on the 16th!

 

Sixteen!!! Not quite how we envisioned this momentous day, but I’m thankful to be holding down the fort here at Camp Quarantine so I can be with Wesley. Carigan gets out of quarantine tomorrow and graduates to the well house, and I get to spend the whole week with this guy. There's no one I’d rather do a second consecutive quarantine shift with than you, Wes! You made me a momma and are all I’ve ever hoped and prayed for… and even beyond what I could have grasped. There’s no happier day for me than August 16! Even when we have da plague. 

 

Even from across town, Anna Kate is keeping me on my toes. I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning decorating for Wesley's birthday, and I have Covid, mind you. And AK is waking me up early in the morning to fuss at me about socks. When I report this to Michael she calls me a tattletale. She's going to get one just like her someday! 

 

It wasn't all bad for Wesley, when you factor in the Covid-overcompensation. We had already agreed to give him money for his birthday, but I felt the need to have something big and unexpected to make him smile. So I ordered the arcade game he's wanted for years, and managed to get it off the porch all by myself. And somehow with Carigan's help, I even managed to wrap it late last night. That box is insanely heavy! He was definitely surprised, and super excited. 

 

I also channeled my inner-Beverly Goldberg to cheer up Wesley on his tragic 16th birthday. Wesley and I have a Goldbergs bond. He's watched The Goldbergs with me for a couple years, gazing deeply into the psyche of my childhood. The only Goldergs actor I could find on Cameo was Matt Bush, who plays "Ladies Man" Andy, one of the 4 guys in the Jenkinstown Posse. Nothing like a random chant of "JTP!" from Wesley to make me feel loved. Matt recorded Wesley a two minute video. 

 

He said he was so sorry Wesley had Covid, but said he now has a story to tell for a long long time. The "silver lining" of being quarantined on your 16th birthday during a global pandemic. My favorite part was when he told Wes,  "I'm a little older than you. Trust me, you gotta take care of your mom. You gotta do your best. The older you get, the more you're going to appreciate her, I promise, I promise." That part was my favorite. He got a few "JTP!"s in there, and wished him a happy birthday from his smother (that's me) and all the JTP. Carigan was so excited to show it to him. She helped me scour Cameo last night. She also helped me decorate and wrap his presents. I texted Matt's birthday greeting to Anna Kate to show her, and she replied, "What app did you use to make that video?" These technology kids... they assume everything is fake. So funny.

 

Michael had planned on coming over tomorrow to assemble Wesley's arcade game, but Wes wasn't having it. He made me help him drag the box to his room and was trying to do it himself. Michael had to run over after a meeting when he had a little break and help Wesley put it together. Happy Birthday Boy:

 

 

Jen and Caden did a Covid-safe porch birthday delivery.  A whole crate of white Monster energy drinks. Gee, thanks Caden. 

 

 

Michael brought the other kids over this evening so they could give him their gifts. Anna Kate had Michael running all over town trying to get the ingredients for a special drink she wanted to make for Wes. Tate got Wesley a Milky Way bar. The 16-year-old opened the rest of his gifts (a Princess Bride board game and some other small things), and we put his epic pandemic birthday to rest. May we never have another. 

 

Back to School Dumpster Fire

Well that was a disaster. Dr. Sligh released a video a couple weeks ago announcing they were pretty much abandoning all Covid protocols we adhered to all year last year. The plan seemed to be to just go back to how everything was before and pandemic and hope for the best. By the time the photo of Carigan (on Kennedy's back) in gym class was taken, all these girls were probably already infected. 

 

We made it 18 months through the pandemic, but only 3 days of school without precautions. I’d been takings the kids’ temperature and Carigan registered a low grade fever Saturday night. When it was still registering Sunday morning, we had her tested. I expected it to be negative, thought we were being paranoid… It was positive. Since March 2020, we have prayed every night thanking God for keeping us healthy one more day. Tate’s eyes welled up with tears Sunday night when I was putting him to bed and it was time to pray and we hadn't made it one more day. But we still thanked God for His protection and faithfulness. Carigan will be fine. I’m so thankful we managed to dodge it long enough for all our vulnerable loved ones to get vaccinated. Only Tate is left here in the house susceptible to it. Michael took Wesley and Anna Kate to his parents’ house while we ride out quarantine here. His parents are still in Tennessee.

As you can see, Carigan is taking it well. She has a lot of time for creativity whilst imprisoned in her room.

I miss my big kids, but they're keeping me updated. Thanks to Kathie Pagliaro for having Chick-fil-A delivered to them! I love getting pics from school (AK above with Henry and Ellie). Carigan hasn't had a fever since Sunday, and her only symptom seems to be a mild cough. Tate lives downstairs and is doing school at home, but also has entirely too much screen time. I take him on walks at night so we can say we left the house. Every day I order something on Amazon for Carigan and I to do together the next day. Magnetic sand, bracelet making, felt veggie sewing  …whatever it takes! I'm missing Michael and the teens, but I'm thankful they are able to go to school (yay vaccination and negative Covid test!). I ordered all 8 seasons of The Cosby Show on DVD, and Carigan and I started with Season 1 Episode 1. We've got time! Sadly due to Bill Cosby's fall from grace, they never air reruns anymore. So my kids really have never gotten to experience THE show that defined my childhood. So sad. The others don't deserve to have their legacy erased. This is still the best show.

Our neighbors Scott & Amie dropped off some sorry-you-have-da-plague love for Carigan. Initially I would stay across the room from her, but she's been soooo lonely. So she convinced me to spend time with her in her bed if we both wore masks. We made each other bracelets.

Watching Cosby Show, playing with kinetic sand, FaceTiming the well ones in the well house, homeschooling Tate... Covid is swell. The Delta strain of the virus is raging across the country. Karen is on the front lines in Chattanooga.

And guess who has Covid now??? That's right! Mama's got da plague. Back to school has been awesome. Honestly, I don't feel that bad. I'm SO thankful I was able to get vaccinated, and can 100% tell it made a huge difference. Really I just knew I needed to take a test because I kept testing my sense of smell. I would pick up the strong scented candle I keep on the foyer table every time I passed by it on my way upstairs. You can put your nose to it and smell the scent even when it's not lit. For days I kept making sure I could smell it. And then the smell became more faint. And then I couldn't smell it. And then I took a test:

 

So the new school year is going great. Tate got booted to the well house. At least Carigan can leave her room now. 

Now instead of running back and forth to Tate downstairs, I'm FaceTiming him along with Anna Kate at Mimi's. Anna Kate showed me the school picture order form and asked if I wanted to upgrade to premium to remove blemishes, whiten teeth, and even skin tone. I thought she was kidding. Lifetouch needs to tread carefully with so many cranky mamas in quarantine!

And the fun doesn't stop there! Wes now has Covid, and joined me in the sick house. Just in time for his 16th birthday. I took the Life 360 screenshot above on August 19 - I hadn't left the house in 10 days by the time I finally ventured out for Wesley's driving test on the 20th. A record I hope I never repeat!!