A busy month- Holiday travel and on duty

Where have I been? It's been a while. 
I was hoping to blog sooner than this, but I have been having major issues transferring pictures off of my phone. It took my 5 hours (no exaggeration) this week,  to get my pictures from my phone to my computer.  And, since a large part of my blogging is pictures, that is a big hold up.

Anyway. Here I am, hopefully I can catch up to date. :)

One quiet morning, in an attempt to keep the kids busy, I let them color on the floor. Don't worry. I put down paper first. 

They had fun scribbling. 

a sight I love to see :)

I wouldn't let her wear both coats.

#whymykidiscrying

The week before Christmas, we had Pine House Christmas. 

the yummy spread

semi-fancy table :)

It was fun. Keith and Emily and their kids were there with Matt and Rachael and us. So, with the residents too, it was quite the party. :)

Tara and Gideon

Gideon and Bodi

Keith and Emily transitioned out of their Alternate House Parent role, we are taking over, but they were/are such a great help in transitioning us in.  Matt and Rachael will be our Leads.

That weekend we drove back to Illinois for Schlipf Christmas and mini-Wyss Christmas. 

The kids table :)

Schlipfs

The weird thing about moving away is that now when we come back, we spend more time together.  We spent the night, so that morning, we just hung out. We took the kids outside and walked around. 

Aurelia still loves the cows

Present time!

 It was actually pretty nice out so the kids played outside fore a while. 

hehe this could be dangerous

Bedtime stories with Grandma

We went to church in Washington on Sunday and then drove back to Indiana. 

happy to be free

Babies...

Aurelia is such a little lover and Gideon follows her.

It's quite funny. 

Over Christmas week, we spent more time at Pine. We had a few days basically alone. Keith and Emily were available, but they took the time for their family.  Nathan, of course, is taking advantage of his captive audience and has brought many new games to the house. 

setting up a game

way up high

the resident (hands and knee on the left) built Aurelia a balloon pit :)

Merry (VERY Belated) Christmas :)

Christmas day was unusual in so many ways. Gideon was sick, yet again (seriously this poor kids has been sick off and on since we moved, and it's been awful), so he wasn't feeling himself. He managed to open his stocking and gifts, but with less gusto than normal. He stayed home from church with Nathan. So, I went with Aurelia.  Thankfully, the Klopfensteins are here, because it felt weird enough being alone on Christmas, but even weirder in a new church. 

Aurelia got a kitty!

quite pleased

and a book about kitties!

This girl loves her animals

After church, naps, and gift opening, we went back to Pine house for more games and Christmas dinner. 

It was wonderfully warm outside so we went to the playground 

And, then we drove back to Illinois. 

cozy and ready to ride

poor poor sick buddy

nebulizer and puke bucket

This trip back was for the Braker Christmas on Friday and the Wyss on Saturday. 

sitting by Grandpa

 We had a good time at the Brakers and then headed to my parents Friday night.  

Wyss Christmas - game time

snuggling with grandpa Wyss

Aurelia wanted to be in the center too

:)

We drove back Saturday night because Sunday night was our first official night on duty.   We did three days on duty over New Years. 

Settling in to their new room

Aurelia found a little hide-y hole. 

One of the things I am enjoying so far is seeing the effect our kids have on the residents. I love watching how it softens their hearts when they play with them. I love how our kids will grow up with these experiences. Yes, I know hard, heavy days are coming and I know that there will be things I wish our kids would never have to see. But, part of any ministry is putting yourself in those messy vulnerable places, to break your hearts with the hurting,  and to help them see that true healing can only come through Christ. 

One day Gideon was begging me to read a book, I had already read plenty, and needed to get to work, so this resident offered to read to him. 

one of the sweetest sights 

While the residents were on break from school, we took them on a field trip to a Dairy farm. 

\

milking

looking at all of the cows

And then we drove to Illinois...again.  This time for the Martin Christmas. Yes, I know we could have said no to a few this year. But, we felt that this year, of all years, we should make an effort. Hopefully we can schedule them a bit better in the future too. Three trips in three weeks is a lot. 

What?

Cheeeeese. Aurelia just loves being the center of attention

Isaiah got our big mystery box :)

It was a bunch of candy

Karen gave her a milk shake. 

That's what Aunts are for.

We stayed through Sunday and then headed home to Indiana. 

We've used Rita enough as a baby sitter, and stayed at their house enough in the past, that the kids already feel right at home at her house. 

looking for snacks... stinkers.

playing at home :)

Last week, we went back on duty for 5 days.   Nathan and two of the residents spent 6 hours playing LOTR Risk....

I'm glad they enjoy it. 

Looking out the widow :)

Where's Aurelia???

'helping' me with laundry

sigh. most of the clean clothes ended up on the floor.

When the residents are in school, the mornings are for family time.  

We like to get lots of book reading in

Sigh. And then there is busy miss Aurelia. She gets in to everything. A big new house with lots of cupboards is just too temping. She is forever emptying the Tupperware cupboard or the paper plates and cups. Or, shes sticking toys down vents, or standing on the slide, or climbing up into the loft... you name it. If you can't see her, you'd better find her fast. 

What kind of kid figures this out?!

One morning a resident couldn't find her shoes. Now, shoes are a big deal for a lot of the residents for some reason. And, these shoes in particular are a very big deal. She was rather distraught. After they all left for school, I was looking around.  And, I found them...

In Aurelia's favorite little cubby

I laughed. And, set them up on a stool for when she got home from school.... Later I found this...

Little Stinker!

 Everyone around campus had a pretty good laugh about this. Aurelia is making a name for herself.

playing under the counters

 One evening, Chelsea, our Assistant, and I took the girl residents to the library. I took the kids along... Kids in a library... 
Ok I have to admit. This was the first time I've taken them to the library. Ever.  Until recently, I didn't think Gideon would understand the concept of having to return books and since he LOVES books I just thought that might be a bad idea. 
Anyway, Aurelia spent her time running down the isles pulling books off the shelf. Gideon shouted non-stop begging for me to read to him, while I chased Aurelia, and desperately tried to shove books back into the right places (in the end I gave up and just made nice stacks- forgive me librarians). I didn't do any watching of residents. Sigh...

They did have this cool barn which kept them occupied for 2 seconds

So, am I doomed to always have crazy library experiences or will they calm down after a few visits? 

After five days on duty, we came back home. We had a late change over and didn't get home until 11pm. That didn't bother our little night-owls. Aurelia ran straight for the toys. 

:)

You know, maybe God gave us crazy kids who barely sleep and don't like schedules for a reason...

The rest of this week, we've been on Maintenance, running appointments, helping around the house, etc. Those days are almost more busy than on duty days. 

We've been asked a lot how we are doing. I don't know. Ha. Right now we are doing great. I'm positive it will get harder. There will be times when the job is hard or we are homesick for family and for Washington church. But, right now we are doing well.

In Christ

~Michelle