Winding down

Today I'm thankful to report that things are finally winding down from an incident command standpoint.  It has been 8 exhausting weeks and I can't recall the last day I did no work. Today I only logged in for about 15 minutes to review the bedboards and once I was quickly reassured that the census was stable, I was thankfully able to unplug entirely for the rest of the day.    

We made the most of that and the gorgeous weather, hiking at Mill Creek Falls at Lock 12 in Southeastern York County.  We had never been there before and it was quite a ways out of the way, but was worth it!  We hiked about 2.5 miles forest trail along the Susquehanna River, it was 70 degrees and sunny with views of the Hollwood Dam and river most of the way.  The kids loved the hiking and did a great job!  Lukas said multiple times in a few different ways that hiking "is one of the top 5 most fun things to do with all five of us and he could do it practically all day without getting tired because he likes it so much!"  Aside from just a couple small brother battles everyone was all smiles, we got a bolstering of our vitamin D, as well as a good dose of hope and promise for the spring and summer ahead.  

MY HEART

This week at work started off rough but seemed to settle down as the days passed.  I wiggled my way through some new boss stresses and seemed to feel a bit more back to normal by the end of the week.  That being said, I think we are all pretty hungry for a little more human connection.  Nick's famous quote of the week was "you know, seeing the same three people everyday is starting to get a little annoying!"  The kids are definitely are hopeful that the "stay at home" orders will be lifted soon and we are hopeful we can get back to "normal" with at least some outdoor playdates within the next week or two.  That being said, I've never been so thankful that my boys have brothers as I am right now - what a blessing.  

On social media, a number of people have been documenting facts about themselves, their family and society.  When I'm looking back at this year 2, 5, 10 or 20 years from now, I'm not sure I'll care to know that gas was under $2/gallon or that we had to get toilet paper from grandma because were down to our last two rolls and hadn't been able to find any at BJs or Giant over the last 4 weeks in our town.  I pray I cannot recall any of the hundreds of idiotic and dangerous things said by our White House.  But, I do think we'll all enjoy looking back at these pictures and stories.  One night over dinner, mulling these sentiments over, I gave the kids a quiz and here are our results: 

Favorite	Lukas	Nicholas	Jacob
Thing to do	Play football	Play wii	Do perler beads
Jokes	"Cows read moospaper"	“Dwane the bathtub I’m drowning”	"KnockKnock...   pooped on your head"
Song	Nobody by Casting Crowns	Twinkle Twinkle "BangBang choo choo train" (I think this may be a real song)	“excavators they love the dirt” (guessing this is an Jacob-Original?)
Animal	Peregrine falcon	Cheetah or snake	T-Rex, cheetah
Color	Green	Red	Yellow
Friends	Brett & Nevin Gavin	Charles	Sage Jo
Book	Every time I name something there’s something else that’s that good	Dogman	Dogman
If you could have any pet what would it be?	Peregrine falcon	Kitty-cat and Bunny	Kitty Cat Monkey
Sport	Football	Soccer	Soccer
Breakfast food	Waffles or cinnamon sugar toast	Cinnamon sugar toast	Cinnamon sugar toast (recent addition, and throwback that obviously stands the test of time with all pfeiffer and estevez children alike)
Dinner food	Pizza or spaghetti	Pizza	Cantaloupe
Dessert	Cookies-n-cream ice cream with m&ms & sprinkles	Brownies	Lollipop, chocolate milk
Style of answer	Endless debates and indecision	Blurts out without thinking twice	“I know!” with hand raised

In summary, I strongly recommend not asking our children to tell you a joke next time you see them.  However, just about anything else they have to say is either ridiculously hilarious or amazingly sweet.  I'm cherishing these chances to watch them grown into curious and mostly kind human beings.  I'm proud of them for bravely sharing their feelings, fears, anxieties and joys, and I'm proud of us too, for authentically parenting during these most uncertain times.