Easter

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday, for us, is always exciting and new.  Though we have a couple of traditions, we never seem to celebrate the same twice.  This year, we went to service on Saturday evening as part of a Sacrifice Your Seat movement.  The notion is, if you don't have friends or family that you'll be bringing to church, then please attend a non-Sunday service in order that there are more seats available to the extra large crowd expected on Sunday.  In some ways, this is great, because we don't have the foot and car traffic of a busy Sunday morning to deal with, but it's also a bit awkward, because not going to church on Sunday morning feels weird.  Still, we went on Saturday, and boy were we glad we did.  We had heard that this was the busiest year ever in our church for Easter Sunday!  That's awesome!  I hope you had a place to go and to enjoy a service. 

Sunday morning, we were able to sleep in a bit (which was nice) and enjoy a special breakfast together--always a nice treat. After breakfast, during clean up, the kids watched Charlie Brown's Easter special.  Later, we had an egg hunt, enjoyed the Resurrection Eggs (the eggs are numbered and they tell the Resurrection story as they are opened in order), and the kids discovered their Easter basket gifts. 

On Saturday, before service, we had watched The Ten Commandments, so Sunday afternoon was a different movie scene.  The smaller kids and I watched Risen while John and the older boys watched the Passion of Christ.  The stillness of movie watching was shaken up by playing with confetti eggs--a fun tradition.  Dinner followed and the night quickly wound down after that. 

It is a bit odd to break up the holiday, to not really dress up, and to be without extended family, but we do enjoy what we have. And truly, we have it all, seen as our greatest need has already been met--our salvation through Christ. 

He is risen!  He is risen indeed! 

Good Friday

This year Good Friday truly was good.  Nikolas has been strategizing how to best find and obtain his first "real job".  His first idea was to work at a summer camp, but that idea, as well as several others, was dashed by the fact that 18 is the magic age for most employment in our area.  Not ready to give up, Nikolas continued his search and decided that a job at Chick Fil A might actually be a good thing.  As things go, right around the same time, conversations at Jozsef's location were happening that opened doors for both boys--one for Jozsef to get a promotion, and another for Nikolas to be added onto the team.  It all happened rather quickly.  Nikolas as advised to wait until he officially turned 16 to submit his application.  Almost immediately, an interview was lined up.  Though nervous, Nikolas did a fantastic job with his interview--so much so, that he was offered the job the very same day and asked to report for training the following Monday.  Being that it was Easter weekend, we had a bit of scurrying to do in order to gather the necessary items to prepare him for his first day of training, but the mission was accomplished and he was thrilled!  Our foodie has the title of Chef and he works the back of house in food prep.  He is very much enjoying his job and his crew. 

The boys work the same morning shift (open) so that they can commute together and end their work day early enough to still complete school work.  Life is full for them both these days!  The promotion went through for Jozsef too.  He works outside (this arrangement is great for the boys--they work together, but not really, and they love it) mostly on drive through and he's a team captain now.  He loves his job serving people and his team is great.  Truly, the boys are in a great place and are surely blessed to have the kind of people that are at this location and in this fantastic company to work with.  God is good!  :-)

Celebrating Sixteen

This is the year that we celebrated Nikolas' sweet sixteen.  Yes, it's here already.  Amazing, I know.  These are the things that seem to creep up on me, and at the same time, they feel somewhat delayed.  Maybe you can relate...It's that space in which you think you've already been operating for some time, and you find yourself defaulting to when questioned about it, like "My sixteen-year-old, well, actually my soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old" when you're actually six months out while simultaneously you find yourself feeling like the kid can't actually already be there because, well, he was just four like five years ago.  Strange how time passes and we interpret it...

And yet, here we are.  The boy is less of a boy and more of a man-child.  He's tall and deep voiced (albeit, it still cracks a fair amount which belies his stage of development).  He is often accused of being much older than he actually is, but that's not new.  He's spent most of his life larger (not fatter) for the average of his age and therefore judged as a more mature model of a growing person.  This has simultaneously been a detriment and a benefit to the boy as people often expect from him more than he's prepared to give and the high bar gives him much to aspire to.  I dare say he's done well at rising to the occasion(s).  This makes him both patient with others who struggle and also impatient as he understands the battle and yet does not seem to comprehend how others cannot just rise up.  There is a constant battle of the wills for him--he is fiercely strong willed and sees the world mostly in black and white with little to no grey, but he also has this rather soft space, deep at his core, which he prefers not to bare.  However, it seeps out now and then and it's a beautiful sight. To see him actually connect with and nurture another soul truly makes you take pause, especially if you know how he's made.  This boy, this man-in-the-making, holds so much potential.  I have often thought that he will either do great and amazing things, a true pioneer, or he will tear himself apart.  I pray that he finds the right channels and shows the world just how amazing he is. 

Truly, this man-in-the making has much to offer not just the people in his midst, but the world around him.  He's intelligent (far too often I've remarked that he's too smart for his own good) and resourceful.  He's determined and knows how to focus his energies on whatever achievement he has lined up.  He often exceeds expectations--especially if he's truly interested in what is in front of him.  He has high standards, maybe even higher morals and values.  He is both reserved and fierce in love and loyalty--he reserves himself until he knows he can safely invest in you, and once he decides, his loyalty is nowhere else.  God centers him and for that I am extremely thankful. In no other way could I be more happy than to know that his fierce heart is held by and anchored to the Lord.  With this, I know that this man-child cannot go wrong. 

People ask if I'[m terribly sad that my boys are getting so close to leaving me.  No,   I can confidently say I am not broken up by it like so many others that I know.  I do not wrestle with if I should or how I can let them go.  That is and always has been my goal.  My task was to correctly work myself out of a job.  They need to be launched.  If they can go out and be productive men of society, who know how to continue to learn, how to get and sustain employment, how to court and marry a woman who craves the Lord as they do, who can support said woman and subsequent children, then I have done my job.  I need them to launch successfully.  They need to launch successfully. 

So here we are, one more big milestone closer to said launch.  He' sixteen now, and one fine man-child.  And we celebrate him, coming this far, all that he has accomplished and all that he will accomplish.  He didn't ask for much.  As lofty as some of his ideas and goals are, he simply wanted to stick to tradition for his "big day".  All he asked was that we do what we've been doing for about the last four years--me spending the day with him.  We go out to lunch, we pick up a pastry, we visit a book store and drink coffee, and we always go home with a container of chocolate covered raisins.  Simply.  Lovely.  Memorable quality time.  How can I refuse?  <3 p="">

Then, after our day is spent, we return home to the others, to share in a nice dinner, a cake of his choice, and we top it off with gifts and cards of love.   It's a grand celebration of the heart of this man-child and our love for him. 

Welcome to sixteen Nikolas.  We love you so much !  

Starting Spring

I have decided that Spring is my favorite season, followed by Autumn.  The colors in both seasons are spectacular and the weather is most enjoyable.  Both seasons have celebratory factors as well--Spring carries birthday season with a few holidays, and Autumn is the grand kick-off of the "big" holiday season.  So much to enjoy! 

We enjoyed my birthday as the first birthday of the season as well as one of the first beautiful weather days for us to enjoy.  The rain we've received this year has been record setting, so the reprieve was very welcomed.  My birthday was meant to be a day off of duty.  John took me out to dream over at the Jeep dealer. I've always loved a Wrangler and in these parts of the country, Jeep is a plenty!  There are so many models to consider and to experience that it took us a good amount of time to tour the grounds and to design what I would consider the perfect Jeep.  Some day, maybe...

Pirate Mode!  Yes! SO fun!

The little details were some of the best! 

After Jeep dreaming, we enjoyed a lunch out and then returned home for time with the family--dinner (yummy homemade street tacos), dessert, and a movie.  John took care of dinner and dessert--both were quite tasty, and dessert was a bit of a show.  The kids were thrilled to see a flaming dessert! 

The kids made some wonderful handmade cards--I have to say, their art skills are really improving! :-) 

Jozsef sent me on a treasure hunt all over the house to find my gift--several notes of love attached to a York Peppermint Candy.  It was a wonderful addition to my day :-) 

Sonja made this wonderful Peacock pet rock for me.  It lives on my dresser now.  :-) 

We watched one of our favorite actors in a great movie action series.  Such fun to finally see it! #GoRedbox

The day after my birthday, John sent me out to paint.  Here's how it went--Id say it was a success. 

This was the sample painting

This was my rendition

We had wanted to go tour the garden for my birthday, but we didn't get there on the day proper.  However, with some patience with the weather, we did catch a break and ran over to enjoy the Spring blooms that are gorgeous but are gone too quickly.  It was a wonderful stroll and it really did feel like an official welcome of the season.  We determined that we need to visit the garden more frequently--our goal is once a month--there's just too much to see and appreciate. 

Here's to another year of wonder!