Easter and the following weeks

Like everything else this year, and like everyone else, Easter was an odd one.  We stayed home in the morning, listened online to a sermon, and relaxed. 

The kids' mini Easter baskets

Gideon was quiet happy with his.

No need to go overboard 

German puff pancake for breakfast

 After naps, we headed over to Pine. The kids got to do an egg hunt with the residents. 

he found some!

Aurelia loved finding the colorful eggs. 

Gideon, Aurelia, and Bodi making sure they got all the candy out

This is what I love...

 We let Matt smoke a brisket of ours. It turned out fantastic.  Rachael made a spiral ham and the residents helped with sides. I made a lemon blueberry cake for dessert. It turned out so good. :)

yum.

It was a good Easter. We had change over that night and went on duty. 

Aurelia helped me restock some of the 'special drinks'

HP kid life...

Bodi likes to pop over and play a lot. 

Which is great, because he helps keep Gideon occupied. 

It was kind of a bummer of a week. There wasn't much going on and all week long I kept remembering that we were supposed to be in Florida. We had booked a nice little beach vacation with the kiddos. Sadly, due to all of the craziness going on with the corona virus, we had to cancel. 

Glow stick bath!

:)

hehehe

cooking up a storm

she needs boots. 

farming til he drops

I couldn't hold out any longer. I made a trip out an bought plants one morning. 

:) happy happy day

They so desperately wanted to help

container gardening begins

One of the things I miss about our old house, was the flowers. I had a magnolia tree that bloomed early spring, followed by lilacs, peonies by mid may, butterfly bush, and hollyhocks. By summer my zinnias and dahlias were blooming in the garden.   Here, you never know how long you'll live in one place. It's hard to plant a garden or do anything permanent. 

We did however get the ok to improve the front of the house. 

say farewell to the ugly brown door...

After!

Not only does it look nicer, the new door has a sliding glass/screen so I can leave the door open, let light in, and let the kids look outside without letting in the temperature as well. 

watching the garbage truck...

sunny dandelion picking 

We all have those days...
One day I was an accident start to finish.

arg.

We were on duty this past Saturday and Sunday. We've done many weekends before, but this is our first full weekend since the lockdown.  7 residents all day for 2 whole day is exhausting.  They ask questions, need redirecting, supervising, etc.  non-stop. Our kids were not getting the attention they need so they were both horrible messes. Plus it was raining out and they couldn't go play. 

There were a few times Nathan was not available, our kids were screaming like they were dying back in our room, but the residents can't be left alone...so what do you do?  That part is really hard. 

Sunday, We listened to the sermon and watched a few Christian short videos on Youtube about the Gospel and the names of Jesus.  

 When the residents were back in quiet time Nathan told me to go relax... well, if it says anything about me, I chose to bake. 

cocoflan 

One of the most fabulous desserts. 

The wonderful thing is, the residents eat most of it so I don't have to worry about eating too much. 

Monday was so much better.  It was beautiful out and the residents went to school. 

:)

playing at the playground 

picnic with Bodi

So, for the past year (it feels like) we've been potty training Gideon. He's pretty much there, he just needs to prioritize it over making sure his toys don't get stolen by Aurelia.  Or, not wanting to stop what he's doing. 

We were outside and he was insisting he didn't have to pee, even though it had been all morning.  I told him he could learn to pee on a tree. So, he did. Right there in the middle of campus. hehehe

Then later that day when the residents were home from school. I heard shouts and laughter...

yup...

all the residents saw. 

the decor brought to you by Gideon and Aurelia :)

We got off duty and came home to this:

Eeeee!!! I'm very excited. 

I'm starting to get very stir crazy, homesick for Illinois, and so ready to be done with quarantine. Gideon has started begging me to just "drive somewhere" and "let's go to the farm". Facetime and MarcoPolo just don't cut it anymore. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Staying put

The past few weeks have been relatively uneventful and calm.   The kids don't seem to mind or notice that we aren't going anywhere or doing anything. 

As more things were canceled and days opened up, we spent more time home playing with the kids. 

Aurelia loves to play with babies

reading

making lunch

For a bit of a change, I rolled out some brown wrapping paper on the kitchen floor and let them color. 

and then we drew roads and train tracks on the other side

They both love to use the little vacuum.  I don't complain.

:)

One morning Gideon and Aurelia were playing Donuts. 

So, since we had nothing that day again, I decided we should make real donuts. 

happy yeast

glazed

sprinkles

Gideon got to help frost and put sprinkles on some

He had a blast

Every day I would see that Illinois was having a nice sunny day and kids were outside playing. In Indiana, it was cold and rainy.  I still tried to get the kids out as much as possible. 

getting very cold and wet

playing "the floor is lava"

Aurelia is short (if you were unaware), but that doesn't keep her from trying things. She has been working on getting out of her crib or in to it. And, it just seemed like it was getting to be more dangerous than it was worth. So, we took the side off. 

\

very pleased with her new bed

(she picked out her outfit that day...)

When we moved, I got rid of the kids' water table. It was a junky dirty thing I found for $3 on a garage sale. So, for this year, I got the kids a new one. 

Not warm enough for water yet, but they didn't care

We went on duty again at the end of March. They have managed to keep the school at Gateway up and running. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about that.  

The Corona Virus. In the beginning it was majorly down played. I don't think  anyone believes China any more. And, now it's such a redicuous political tool that it's hard to sort out the politics from the outdated information, the fear tactics, conspiracy theories, the over cautious from the under cautious. Whatever the causes, conspiracies,  malicious intents, or lack thereof, it's here and it's worse than we initially were led to believe. 

From the beginning, I think Nathan and I played a bit more on the cautious side. Gideon's lungs have always been beaten up by what to Aurelia was just a normal cold. That's not something I take lightly when this is a virus that targets the lungs. So, we really have been barely leaving our home or Gateway circle.  It's been frustrating to cancel plans and not be able to see family. But, hopefully our lack of contact will help out hospitals and medical professionals, and give more time to medical researchers. 

The main fear for me is that it would 1. do a number on Gideon and 2. once on campus, everyone would be exposed and everyone would be miserably sick. (Honestly, even having MOST everyone being just mildly sick, would be an incredibly stressful thing)

Anyway, back on duty... 
One morning the kids and I took a walk to the barn and chased some chickens in the woods. 

:)

snacks with Bodi

Brock, from the school, wanted residents to collect worms for him (for fishing??). Gideon and Aurelia thought that was a fun idea so they went worm hunting for Brock too. 

found one!

She found one too!

cups full of worms, ready to deliver to Brock

Chalk with Bodi

One chilly Sunday while listening to a sermon online, I saw a kite go by the window. The Zimmerman/Steidinger clan was out flying kites and got one stuck in a tree and one stuck on our roof. 

Gideon and Aurelia stood in our sink and talked to them through the window...

It felt like we were really quarantined. haha

The Schlipf's sent us a care package in the mail. :)

Being out at Gateway has it's benefits. :) While we are farther from some family, we are closer to others. I get to hang out with Kacie more now. :) And, since she's a part of the Gateway quarantine, we can get together whenever.

Kacie is forever doing DIY projects... t

his was her finished product after removing her popcorn ceiling. 

she came over to play games one afternoon.

The kids helped me make brownies... I tell you. They LOVE helping bake. But, it is so stressful.

And then April Fools day came... and I couldn't resist. 

Hehehehe. 

Our poor residents.

They were ugly, but you would never guess what was hidden beneath 

I made some good ones too. They were actually fantastic. :)

two sillies...

Aurelia's post nap look is the best. She comes bumbling out of the bedroom, hair a complete mess, with the biggest scowl you've ever seen. Normally, before I can catch a picture, she cracks and starts grinning. But, I did get one:

hehehe

Why I never get anything done. Or, if I do get anything done, it's hard to tell if it is worth it....

They emptied all of their drawers, 

all of the sheets and blankets off of their beds, unfolded all of the laundry, 

and dumped it into a big pile...

Early April, we had some fabulously beautiful days.  Gideon wanted to spend all day outside playing with Bodi.

The residents were on Spring Break when we were on.  Days can get really long for all involved when the residents are home all day with no where to go or nothing to do. So, Nathan and I concocted a plan to surprise them with a beach day. 

This TV played an 8 hour long video of the beach, complete with the sound of waves

coconut scented candles 

Yard games with the other houses

water table 

rock painting

kinetic sand

Chelsea stopped at our house and brought our kiddi pool

during quiet time, Chelsea and I sat in the sun and watched the kids :)

and, as is her tradition, Aurelia fell asleep on the beach

We had pina coladas and ocean jellos with supper

coconut cream pie for dessert

:p 

It was a wonderful day.  The weather was perfect. The residents all did really well and I think they all enjoyed it. 

Chess is now the game of choice at Pine. Don't ask me why. 

Even Gideon is getting in to it

hehe

This child...

Last week we finally got our trampoline set up again. 

The kids are having so much fun with it. 

I started my container gardening attempt. 

We will see if anything comes up.

I hope that there is a local greenhouse that is still open.

static!

snack on the driveway

little grump

"church" and Aurelia destroying it. 

Then one day, Jenny sent us a video of her girls doing their Easter program. And Gideon wanted to do one too. So...

they got all dressed up.

Gideon chose the songs and sang them really well. Aurelia mostly danced around beside him. It was fun. :)

Then they found a puddle outside to jump in. 

and we got out the water table and pool again

I've been doing a lot more video chatting these days. 

chatting with Emily, Joy, Katy, and Haley

catching up with Ellie, Wendi, and Kendra

The cousins even Zoom-ed last night. We had a pretty good turn out!  Though not pictured, we got to meet the youngest Wyss! Baby Krew made his debut. :)

Those Wyss boys...

And then they left us with just a picture...

So that's about it. We've caught two moles in our back yard. We are enjoying the early bits of spring and I can't wait for even warmer weather. Sadly, we had to cancel our vacation to Florida. I was looking forward to the beach. 

In Christ

~Michelle