Gloria in Excelsis Deo: {SQT} Phase 2 of Reopening! (Day #69 Phase 2)

Friday, Day #69 Phase 2 of Reopening

We request continued prayers for my husband's mother D. She is recovering, now in a long-term, acute care facility, from COVID-19 and hasn't been home in seven weeks. We value communicating with her via FaceTime as often as the facility will facilitate, which is almost every day.

While I was out on my exercise walk at 7:30 a.m., John was departing for his first of two lawn mowing jobs in one day: he has four jobs this weekend! He's a hard-working young man.

Two-year-old sous chef at breakfast

Eight-year-old practicing violin on the front stoop

Joseph's vegetables sprouted this week, much to his joy!

Today, four-year-old Thomas told me that he wants to grow up to be "a scientist who wears a white coat." First he found a praying mantis egg shell . . .

. . . then a leaf! Without even telling any of us, he brought the leaf inside, dug around on the science shelves until he found two books about leaves (no, he cannot read), and then set up the leaf specimen under a spot light to examine it. He finished by drawing the leaf, which I consider to be a lab report!

The weather was so beautiful this afternoon: brilliantly sunny and about 70 degrees. Several neighbor ladies and our children gathered outside to chat when the youngsters actually captured a chipmunk (which, I was relieved to learn, do not carry rabies).

We set the chipmunk free in the nick of time before my cell phone blared a Tornado Warning--again! I could hardly believe it. Everyone dashed home, pulled in some outdoor furniture within five minutes, and then the wall of water hit us. Later, it was reported that winds of up to 70 mph hit our city, and I saw news footage of huge trees down, cars crushed, and detritus everywhere. Apparently there was one fatality in our city from a tree crushing a vehicle with the driver inside.

The little boys were quite nervous as we sheltered in the powder room, so Margaret had the idea to grab a picture book and starting reading in her most cheerful Kindergarten teacher voice.

UPDATED: This tornado warning was the 10th for our country in 2020, making our county receiving the second most tornado warnings in the entire country for this year!