[hollybells]

Dinner as a family has been one of the things I've been so grateful for during all of this. Prior to all of this, our older two (dd17 and ds20) were often working (both), in class (20 y/o in college) or with friends (both) or ds's gf.

And I so agree with The Tickle Momster - I've looked at the extra time ds8 has had with his older siblings and see what a gift that has been.

We've created a peaceful space in our backyard and took money we won't be using for a trip / day trips this summer to buy *nice* furniture and a gas fire table. We have never purchased anything like this - our prior decor was fine but consisted of plastic adirondack chairs and a small metal fire pit. With a burn ban in effect, that wasn't likely to be usable. We've been enjoying evenings with various combinations of us (ds20 gets up between 2 - 3 AM! for work so he goes to bed early), also knowing under normal circumstances, it would likely just be dh, ds8 and me hanging out.

While we are all missing life outside of our home to varying degrees, I remind myself of the blessing we have of extra time together. I've been finishing the Life Giving Home (Sally Clarkson) and the companion book and that's fit really well with where I am at the moment.