Easter is Hope

Easter this year was overshadowed by the lack of the ability to gather believers together to celebrate Resurrection Sunday due to shelter in place.  All celebrations happened in separate houses, in multiple ways, but all who celebrated marked the rising of our Lord and Savior with grateful hearts.  The ironic thing was, the churches may have been shut down, but essentially they divided as homes became places of worship. 

Church isn't about a building, it's about the people.  And since God is omnipresent, no one celebrated without Him.  Easter is all about hope because Easter made the grave a garden,  Seeds are not planted to die, but to rise in glory--and that's just what Jesus did.  God took the worst thing that could have happened (death) and turned it into the best thing that could have happened--because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we can, in faith, have eternal life.  Now that is certainly something to celebrate! And so we did. 

Earlier in the week, the kids and I did an art project on our big kitchen window.  It took all day, but it was fun and we were all so thrilled with the results.  It was a great backdrop for our Easter remembrance.

We watched movies that remineded us of the Word and the Hope we have in Christ (Risen and the classic Ten Commandments).  We had an Easter egg hunt (despite the rain) to help us collect Resurrection eggs and retell the bible story of Jesus' death and rising. 

We had a great fish dinner and enjoyed our Easter baskets which included a new Kerusso shirt for each of us.  Kerusso makes wonderfully clever shirts that help to spread the gospel just by wearing the shirt in public--so much fun! 

That night, the day time storms turned into dangerous weather and for the first time, our family took shelter for threat of tornadoes.  The kids were able to hunker down in the teen bedroom and go back to sleep even though the sirens went off multiple times.  John and I got little sleep, but we were safe.  I am thankful for basements--even unfinished ones. 

We did end up with a good list of ways to make our environment safer and easier to use for dangerous weather.  The high winds did a little damage in our yard but all things considered, it could have been far worse.  We were grateful.  So much to be grateful for.  So much to have hope for.  Because of Easter there is always hope.  Praise the Lord!

Happy Covid Birthday!

This season of birthdays has been quite unique for us.  With social distancing and far too many businesses closed due to a pandemic, celebrating has taken on a whole new form--largely a more simplistic one (not that we, as a family, were ever over the top) and along with the changes has come multiple conversations of explanations as children realize that their plans must be reimagined and their ideas of a celebration newly conceptualized.  IN some ways it's helped us to really find the core of what is important in marking a moment.

My birthday was the first Covid celebration.  At that time, shelter in place was voluntary, as was the closing of business.  We were happy to have been able to buy the groceries we desired to make a special meal and were equally as thrilled that the garden remained open.    The weather was wonderful and John and I enjoyed a stroll admiring the beauty of spring. 

Dinner was specially made by John and the kids and dessert was a fabulous fruit flambe over non-dairy ice cream by John accompanied by wine jellos with edible flowers by Nikolas.  :-)

My new sushi plate.  It has a lovely trifecta--bees, sunflowers and lavender :-)

When toilet paper and wine make exciting birthday gifts. you know you are living in strange days

A gift to help me SIP (Shelter In Place)

This is 46

Nikolas had the next Covid birthday.  By the time his birthday rolled around--just five days later--shelter in place was now expected and no business that was considered non-essential was open while those that were all operated under service modifications.  Our usual lunch and casual shopping day was planned to be replaced by a gathering of teen friends this year, however, Covid effectively shut down both.  Instead, Nikolas worked in the morning, had a quite afternoon at home receiving well wishes via tech, and the evening brought cake and gifts (which even gift buying/giving was compromised by closed stores, item sell outs, and longer than normal shipping for online purchases).  However, Nikolas had, what he called, a great day and he was very pleased with the love and gifts that helped to mark his day. 

Nikolas enjoyed loving calls from friends and family who wanted to wish him a happy birthday

Much love to our boy as we celebrate another blessed year of having him with us

Nikolas wanted a very specific shirt for his birthday.  The problem was that it didn't exist on the market.  The perfect answer was a friend near by who has an Etsy shop for shirt making.  She helped to make a birthday wish come true.  Thanks a ton Natalie! 

He loves his shirt! 

This is 17!  

 Nikolas and I decided that a very happy un-birthday may very well be in order once restrictions are lifted 

Above all, we have each other, and we have God, all else is icing on the cake.  So birthday while we SIP or not, we can celebrate! 

Rinzler

This year has been unique to say the least.  It seems to have us on pins and needles as we wait for what will be next.  

From crazy weather to pandemics and new concepts like social distancing (and we're only in the first three months!), no one really seems to know what to do with 2020 and its seems we'll only get a true assessment of our experience in hindsight.  

The Covid-19 virus pandemic began to make waves in February but it didn't really start to affect life until March, and then it swallowed March when life seemed to have been effectively cancelled.  Already, the outlook is for April (and possibly May) to continue in stop-life mode with the possibility of further time also being compromised (the President made mention of this maybe lasting until July!)  by a virus that has us in shelter-in-place mode in many places of the nation while the rest of us practice voluntary social distancing that mostly keeps us home and no less than six feet apart.  

All of this to say, the usual of life is very unusual with no certainty in any kind of planning.  This was the first year in many that Nikolas actually asked to have a birthday party.  Plans were made and invitations were sent out by a rather tickled teen--then schools were closed and all kinds of activities were cancelled and kids everywhere had plans and dreams shattered as the reality of not being able to have parties and proms, youth groups and camps (among other activities and milestones) became a glaring reality.  To say we have a bunch of bummed out people in our house is a mild summation.  

As life keeps shifting and morphing into new territory due to a virus, we are trying to adapt and still not overreact as it seems many have.  Social and political outlooks are shaky at best.  And yet, there is much to be thankful for. 

 In our efforts to supply a large family in times of social hoarding, the Lord faithfully has gone before us to provide. Jozsef was supposed to travel to Florida to visit friends but after a feeling of uneasiness and much conversation, he canceled the trip--right before the social distancing and sheltering-in-place began.   We have been blessed in shopping trips that have not been hostile and still stocked with just enough for us to get by.  We've received helpful insider tips from friends who understand that large families have special needs, and we've received care packages to help us ride this out.  John's job is in an industry that is considered essential and his position is one that the company found necessary as well and he was not put on furlough like hundreds of  other employees.  The boys have jobs in food service and their commitment and service reputations have secured them shifts when many were let go. Homeschooling is well established in our house and I am available to oversee the educational aspect even if other changes affect our lives.   

Funny, you would think we wouldn't be much affected by social distancing, but we do feel more secluded as all of our social outlets have been shut down.  It would seem that we should have so much more free time on our hands, but oddly, I feel busier than ever.  Not sure how that works.  Maybe just the constant quick lifestyle adjustments we've had to make and a lack of regular scheduling  naturally takes a toll.  But I digress,,,sort of.  

I was supposed to attend a women's retreat this past weekend.  The notice came that we would have to make a personal choice whether or not to travel (for me, an hour away) to attend--and they wanted an answer that night.  After much prayer and conversation with the family, I declined attendance.  I just couldn't risk leaving and then being put into lock down and not being able to return home for two weeks, or to be exposed to the virus and to subsequently bring it home.   I knew it was a good choice, but still I felt better when I received word the next evening that the retreat was officially cancelled.  

It seems that all things work as they should (there's even a bible verse that speaks to that) :-)  You see, because I was not at retreat, I came across a sweet face on social media that made my heart skip a beat.  (This is where John jokingly says I was not practicing good social distancing by being on social media) :-) I took a screen shot and shared the photo with John and the older boys.  There was no mistaking, this was a special photo.  Understand that, for quite some time, the kids have been asking to get another dog.  We've even had lengthy conversations about what breed of dog and what kind of provisions we would need in order to house a pet.  The decision held that there was one breed in specific that the family was looking for--a Vizsla.  This breed is not easy to find or cheap to buy.  That's especially why I was sharing this photo--the green eyes staring at me were undoubtedly Vizsla and adoption was free. 

The face we fell in love with

I received notices back from the boys with heart eyes and John simply said he wanted to discuss it later.  I was not counting on any action, I mean this was so out of the blue, but I could agree to a discussion at a later time.  

Before I even saw John, Sonja ran in to tell me how cute the puppy was and Riley wanted to know if we were going to get him.  Apparently John was more interested than he let off because he shared the photo with the little kids (I even knew better than to do that without a plan!) and the buzz in the house was audible. I relayed the adoption details to the top tier (John, Jozsef, Nikolas, and myself) and we had detailed conversation well into the night.  The final consensus--if it was meant to be, all the details would fall into place.  

The adoption process had changed, along with so many other aspects of life, due to possible viral contamination.  The shelter was offering all-inclusive free adoptions on a first-come-first-serve basis.  Available animals were posted on social media on Friday night and adoptions were opened Saturday morning.  A line was formed and as animals were adopted signs were posted.  IF the animal of your interest was available during your turn, you could take them home.  If not, well...

Both of the older boys were to be at work on adoption day, so even though they were eager, they could not even try to acquire the dog of our interest.  The rest of us could not go together because potential adopters were only being let in one-at-a-time to reduce risk of the virus.  That meant either John or I could go, but not both of us as would have been preferred.  I had waffles to make (my Saturday tradition) so it couldn't be me :-) but really, everyone knows that if you put an adorable puppy in my arms the likelihood of me not taking it home is slim, so it was best if John went because he could ask the appropriate questions and (presumably) be more neutral in his judgement in making a good pet placement.  Therefore, it was settled--John, armed with specific inquisitions, would go and see if this was the Vizsla for us.  

In what we call a fortuitous event, John was able to secure a place in line that allowed for him to visit with our choice option which the shelter was calling Gomer.  John texted me a photo of the little guy when he met him and then called me to tell me all that he had discovered from the shelter staff. 

He looks so attentive, so eager, so sweet!

Gomer's story is mysterious and confusing, but what it came down to was that he was a healthy 8 week old Vizslador (half Vizsla and half Labrador) ready to go home to a family. None of the information we sought was negative and before I knew it, John texted me back a photo of our new pup ready for the ride to his new home.  

The rest of the day was a flurry of supply gathering and getting acquainted with our new family member. The first order of business was to change his name.  Gomer was renamed Rinzler. The name was proposed by Nikolas and was rather easily agreed upon by the rest of us.  First off, it's different and is spelled a little oddly (Jozsef loves that it has a Z in it) so it fits in our line up well.  The name comes from the movie Tron (a kid fav).  Rinzler has a key role in the movie that includes a life transformed and the title of Enforcer--a story the kids felt fit our little guy and a name they hope he will embrace as the protector of the family.  In addition, Rinzler's color is orange--fitting for a rust colored pup.  So Rinzler is now an official member of our family.  And that is why it is a good thing that I did not attend retreat.  Had I gone, I would not have seen his face and we would not have him today.  Unplanned, yet fortuitous.  :-)  

Rinzler is a smart, energetic, playful, and spirited little guy.  In his short three days with us, we've observed sweetness, aggressiveness, intelligence, playfulness, and a streak of stubbornness.  Solid training is a must for this little guy.  It's a good thing that was already in the plan.  :-)  So it begins.  Welcome Rinzler!  We love you already! <3 font="">

Garden Glory

Spring is such a beautiful season.  So much so, that we tend to travel to see the blooms as often as possible.  We've been to the garden three times already this year.  :-) 

One of our trips was quite the treat.  The Botanical Garden offered a free entrance weekend and we took advantage of the opportunity to attend--crowds and all.  Even in the rain, the wet and the other people that showed up, the experience wasn't too crazy and we were able to enjoy a day of flower exploration.  The kids took some amazing photos too! 

The third trip was us re-visiting the local garden.  Since we are season pass holders (grateful for that Christmas gift!) we will be able to view the flowers frequently as the bloom season alters through the year.  So, when the rain takes a break and the sun shines, we walk the garden.  :-) Looking forward to future trips for sure!