October

October began with more adventures of the escapee steer.  He continued to entertain us. 

Nothing like looking out your window to see this.

He wanted to see in.

Early in the month, I helped babysit a resident's baby, supervised a resident in quarantine, went to a consignment sale, took a resident to the dentist, ran a few grocery shopping trips, and other general randomness around campus. 

We had moments of quietness to just play and have fun.  

wild child

:) 

making some yummy pumpkin muffins

Then, one day we attempted to take Gideon and Aurelia's pictures.  It took quite a while, but we did get some pretty good ones. 

such a pretty little girl :)

my handsome boy

goofs

ornery 

this is what most of the pictures look like

these two :)

just reading books. :)

Then, we got called to go in to Pine again for a few days. 

playing the hilarious game of Charty Party (censored edition)

back with their residents :)

Gideon and Aurelia had their yearly checkups. It was quiet the chaotic situation.  

Gideon became shy and didn't want to show the doctor anything he knew how to do. Aurelia however, wanted to. She was jumping and counting, and singing. So then, Gideon joined it.  They were also mopping the floor with their bellies... 

This is how you use a skateboard

helping me in the food room

playing in the rain :)

Gideon celebrated his fourth birthday!  He got to have his birthday at Pine house this year. 

He wanted a tractor cake. :)

opening presents

One afternoon, I took the girl and Gideon and Aurelia to the park. 

They all had fun

:)

I spent an afternoon making a birthday cake for a resident.  She requested a turtle cake. After teasing that I would make a cake that looked like a turtle, we agreed on this:

Chocolate cake, caramel, pecans, chocolate ganache drizzle,  and caramel frosting...

Back off duty and at Maple house, we got to break out some of Gideon's birthday presents. 

The train track, duplos, and marble run can all connect now.

what a mess...haha

stickers and cocoa :)

look at that face. 

she put a tutu on her head...

We pulled out my ice cream maker one night...:)

Then, we took a long weekend to Illinois. 

First we visited the Brakers.

game playing

Tanners Apple Orchard

Then we made it to the farm. 

Grandpa is well loved

and so is grandma :)

poor grandpa

We of course had to see the cows again

it was cold

computer games with the Kochs

and Legos :)

Emmy read them a book

We made a stop at Grandpa and Grandma's

:)

And, then we went back home. 

more Legos :)

We weren't back long before we got called to go on at Pine again. Covid hit again, and we were needed to fill in. 

It was a pretty rough time on. Seven residents (who don't generally have the best emotional health) stuck in the house, together, for an unknown amount of time (as each one got sick, the quarantine potentially extended) was basically a real life Lord of the Flies situation.  They were bored, on edge, sick, and down right cranky. 

I spent the majority of the days we were on dealing with crisis after crisis. An attempted Halloween party became nothing when no time remained to plan and  the kid's costumes didn't get done until the next week. 

When things got really crazy, we called in for back up. Thankfully due to Seth and Hannah's symptoms being very mild, no positive tests on their end, and a resident having a positive test (now we knew the residents had been exposed anyway) they came in to help us over the weekend.  Still, with the four of us, one night required Jeff and a couple of the counselors to come in/call in to get the residents calm and safe. 

I prayed a lot that night. And sent out a few texts for prayers.  It was a hard experience but it was good experience. 

The hardest part for me was not having time for our kids and knowing they were suffering. Thankfully, all of the combined factors make our situation very rare. Hopefully, we will not have to deal with the same thing again. 

We had a few calm days on and then got to go back to Maple and rest. 

And that brings us to the end of October. 

In Christ

~Michelle

September Quarantine

Once we got back from Colorado, we pretty much hit the ground running and we have barely had a break since. 

We got back to Indiana on a Saturday night and went on duty in Pine house, just to fill in for a few days, Sunday evening. 

We took the residents to a park for Labor Day. It was cold and rainy, but some of them managed to hike and swim anyway. 

That evening we had a wiener roast for supper. 

We had a relatively uneventful time on at Pine.  Not long after, I took a quick trip out to Illinois. 

very happy to be with grandpa

The joys of getting dirty :)

It was Emily's early 30th birthday party!

The whole reason for the quick trip :)

A few cousins were able to meet me for coffee in the morning.  It was a lot of fun to hang out again. 

We had a few quiet days back at Maple house. I've started doing "school" with the kids. Basically, just coloring, cutting papers, and stickers, with the occasional learning how to write letters and draw shapes.  Gideon picks things up really fast, and it's been fun to see his progress. I, however, am a terrible teacher and have no patience.  It would be a stretch to really teach him long term. 

Aurelia joins in at school too. 

She doesn't do much more than scribble, but she has fun :)

Their fine artwork....(my hastily drawn rocket coloring page...)

back when it was warm and sunny

Some things about being in ministry are hard with kids. Others are not. I love their little hearts. 

Aurelia insisted on praying for her favorite resident one night.

Two days after returning from Illinois, we were asked to go on duty at Oak. The House Parent couple who was supposed to be coming back on had COVID symptoms.  So, we did changeover with the alternates and went on duty at Oak. 

a walk with the Oak girls and their kids

One of the residents had a newborn. Aurelia was infatuated. 

It wasn't a day in and we learned that the alternates now had symptoms. So, seeing as they were with the residents, we were with them at change over, and we were sleeping in their apartment... we knew we and all of the residents were now exposed. 

So, sure enough after a few days, the residents started showing symptoms and so did I. 

I took them all to get tested one morning.  (In the end, both HP couples, the assistant, myself, and one residents tested positive. A second resident and our kids tested negative despite having symptoms. )

We spent 7 days on. I, thankfully,  did not get too sick, and none of the residents weren't really up for doing much anyway. We had long slow days.  We had a lot of meals brought to us, which was wonderful. 

quiet time at Oak house

painting :)

it was such a mess. 

My main covid symptoms were sore throat, exhaustion, and feeling like I had a cold. It wasn't until the very end that I lost my sense of smell. And, I'm not sure exactly when that happened since I didn't notice it for a few days. 

Weirdly, at teh very end I got pink eye. Which is apparently a rare COVID symptom too. Most of my symptoms were gone by day 10/11ish, all except the exhaustion. That stuck around for days.  I could barely do regular tasks without needing naps afterwards. 

We were really spared a lot. The kids had low grade fevers one night and nasty snotty noses and coughs for a few days, but that was all.

Once we were feeling better, we were then quarantined for two weeks, because Nathan never showed any symptoms. 

out visiting the goats

eating the last of our own watermelon

:)

resting on the swings

In the mean time, we were treated to entertainment from Gateway's escapee cow.

not supposed to be here...

or here.

He is just too smart. He figured out how to step through a wire fence and could jump over low areas. 

Gideon and Aurelia's stuffed animals started having some fun too...

The found them reading Bible stories

and brushing their teeth.

hehe. They thought it was hilarious

We had beautiful fall weather for a few days.  Gateway has short paths through the woods. The kids love to go exploring. 

The trees started to turn

And then, it was Aurelia's birthday. Suddenly my baby is two. 

:)

She loved her kitty cake

The cow got out again...

And again....

It wasn't the end of the cow's escapades. But, it was the end of September. 

After the crazy first half of the month, being in quarantine for a while wasn't so bad. We were still able to get some work done around Maple and had some nice quiet days with out kids.

In Christ

~Michelle