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 And, now it's such a redicuous political tool that it's hard to sort out the politics from the outdated information, the fear tactics, conspiracy theories, the over cautious from the under cautious.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

spring is on its way! and other things too...

Life keeps rolling by.  

Our days seem to go quickly.  Whether we are on or off duty, there is always something to do. 

Gideon and Aurelia keep having more and more fun together.  

:)

Aurelia is talking more each day. And she's enjoying her ability to communicate. Her favorite word is still "No!" which she loves shouting at anyone and anything. 

we got a wonderful care package in the mail. :)

I love seeing our kids form attachments with the residents.  They love watching the residents walk to school in the morning and come home in the afternoon. They stand at the window and wave and shout to them. 

One morning, while the residents were away, we tested the alarm system.  The houses all have alarms on the windows, doors, and motion activated alarms for night.  Gideon had so much fun seeing if he could crawl away without the alarm going off.

"sneaking"

When we are on maintenance (not on duty but not off) we do a lot of running back and forth.  Running appointments, going to meetings, trainings,  helping the house out, etc.  We've had some pretty busy weeks.  Maintenance days can be harder than on duty days for the kids. There is so much coming and going and not much consistency.  When we are on duty, the days are structured, predictable, and they get to see both of us a whole lot more. Though, they get a whole lot less of our attention. It's kind of a toss up.

We got a weekend off in February and then happened to get a couple extra leading up. So, we took an extended weekend to Illinois.  

First stop: the Brakers. 
We spent the night at David and Jessica's and then went down the road to Nathan's parents for the day. 

reading books with Grandma

cocoa :)

Eva and Isaiah were there for the day too. :)

out in the barn

lambs!

Starting them young...

Second stop: The farm. 
We went to Washington church Wednesday night and then spent the rest of the time at the farm.  Well all of us but Nathan.  

The real reason for the trip was for The Kings Table Con.  A board game convention started by Nathan, Matt, Bob, and a few others.  Nathan spent all of Thursday planning and setting up with Bob.  Then spent all Friday and Saturday at the convention. 

Kirk came to visit

 Fourth stop: Kendra's
Of course I have no pictures to prove it, but Kendra had Wendi and I over for the afternoon.  I'm so thankful for technology because we've actually stayed pretty well connected and there wasn't much catching up to do. :)

Third stop: We went over to Tremont to visit the girls for a few hours and then stopped by the convention. 

:)

Quite the event...

But, back at the farm, on Wednesday night my mom went in to the doctor and found she has a blood clot in her leg. (oddly enough they did testing and the genetics show it didn't get passed to me from her) So, my poor mom spent the weekend with her leg up and I spent my time watching the kids and cooking for my dad. Ha. How times have changed. 

And then....
Since I have a history of blood clots. The potential for another is always on the back of my mind.  Saturday evening, I started getting chest pains.  I was having trouble breathing and getting pretty worried. Pulmonary Embolism is a serious concern. Every time I've been to a hematologist since my blood clot I've been told- if I have chest pain, go to the ER. So, we did.  They ran an EKG, had me on monitors, and did an MRI and thankfully found nothing.   

So we got back to the farm late and night and didn't get much sleep.  We left at noon from church Sunday, got the kids napping on the road, and had a relatively quick drive home. 

We had a good time. It was nice to be back in the area.  It was just a little more stressful and exhausting than expected. 


Monday morning we were back in to the work routine.  I ran a resident to the doctor and Nathan worked on his stuff. 

But, my chest pain hadn't gone away and it was getting worse. And, since we just moved and I'm still trying to get in to a doctor, after more stress, we ran in to the ER again. (these bills will be fun.)  There was a ridiculously long wait in the waiting room. Apparently a bunch of ambulances came in. There was also a lot of shouting coming through the doors and a few police officers walked through at one point...
Anyway. They checked me over. Did an ultrasound to rule out kidney, gallbladder, pancreas, appendix, and liver issues. And it all came back clean.  We were very thankful but frustrated. Pain with no explanation is annoying. 

my kind of bracelet I guess... sigh. 

As a contingency plan, I had also scheduled a Chiropractor appointment. Now I'm definitely not in the  "chiropractors-are-quacks" camp but I fully believe that medicine, drugs, and doctors are great. (except I hate going to the doctor. ha.)  I digress. Basically... I go to the chiropractor with a grain of skepticism especially if they claim a cure-all.   

But, the chiropractor looked at my back, told me everything that was wrong- which I already knew, brought up things that I've been dealing with for years so I didn't even bother mentioning, and with one adjustment, my chest pain was gone. 

Baking is a little more stressful these days

Miss Aurelia LOVES to help

  

how she eats her cereal 

We went on duty for a few days following my hospital visit, and then things got busy. Gateway hosts all of the board members and representatives from all of the churches for a weekend.   We spent a lot of our time on duty cleaning to prepare. 

Gideon and Aurelia decided to help decorate with 

hundreds of stickers while we were otherwise occupied.

sigh. these kids. 

Warmer weather is slowing sneaking in

On Friday, Pine House hosted a lunch at noon for some board members. We had song practice, I did some baking for the weekend, got groceries, and then went to supper at Rita and Loren's for the evening. 

Chelsea making her amazing cinnamon rolls. 

Saturday morning, we PH hosted 30ish people for breakfast.  We stopped by  the Klops again because some cousins were in town. :)  Then back to Gateway for singing and lunch with the Reps.  Supper was at Pine again with a couple Reps who were staying in town.

Tiffany!!!!!

Gideon was so happy to see his long lost love again.

hahaha

Quiet at last. 

snuggles with my buddy and my girl

:)

Sunday morning...

"Tractor Tractor" is a perfect song...hehe

Sunday was a wonderful Spring day.  We went to the park after church and let the kids play. 

:)

chalk.

Its a fire truck spraying a fire. 

 I just love the teases of Spring. I can't wait for warmer weather and more time for playing outside. 

when the neighbor girl escapes her nap and house ...

hahahah...

Tara loves Aurelia. Aurelia tolerates Tara. :)

After supper one evening, we went to the Library and stopped for some ice cream.  

I love little ice cream places. 

We have one scarily close.

 And then all of the murmurings turned in to reality. The Corona Virus is in the States and things started shutting down. Schools canceled, libraries shut down, and church canceled. We had to confirm families were healthy before we sent residents on passes and confirm they were healthy before they came back. Our residents got worried.  I dealt with a toilet paper crisis on campus. (Yay me. haha) I took on the job of buying bulk paper goods for campus the year we get a toilet paper shortage.  

We had another busy week and then went on duty. We were on duty for the best holiday ever. Pi day. :)

I made two wonderful pies. 

Because church was canceled, we got to improvise. We did a coffee and donut breakfast - we let the residents sit quietly for an hour and read or color. 

Gideon enjoyed the donuts

little sneaky Aurelia enjoyed the quiet...

Salt all over. 

We did an impromptu church service in the gym with the rest of campus.  After church, some of the residents asked Nathan to read the Bible with them. 

They read and discussed for a half hour

Some of us rode bikes around campus and visited the barn. 

They have chicks!

:)

and goats

:)

 It was a wonderful relaxed day.  The kids loved being able to go outside in this warmer weather.  The residents were in good moods. And, they were drinking in any bit of scripture we could give them. At bedtime, I read them a devotion and they asked questions and talked way longer than I expected.  It's been such a blessing to be a part of their spiritual questioning and growth. 

Monday, we had to tell our residents that campus was closing to all visitors due to the virus and they wouldn't be able to see family. It was hard. They were rightfully angry.  And as more things have closed down, we all feel pretty much on lock down. They are frustrated and scared. We will all need prayers in the coming weeks. 

I'm trying to not let fear overtake me. I'm mostly calm, until I think of Gideon. His poor lungs take a beating from the common cold. It terrifies me to think what could happen. And, I can't begin to think about the chaos it would cause if campus was exposed.  But, daily, hourly I leave it to God. I pray for protection and I pray for toilet paper and paper towels. seriously though. Some people actually need to buy in bulk.

In Christ
~Michelle