Famous Last Words

Because I know you're all just dying to know...here's a little recounting of our Easter weekend.

It was fun and busy. We spent all day Friday with Steve's family attending Good Friday service and then spending the day at the grandparents' for Mexican Train dominoes and an amazing feast. It was a great time. Steve studied all day Saturday and my little brother and his girlfriend came over for our Shabbat dinner. The boys requested apple pie so I was busy in the kitchen all day making Challah, pie and dinner. Dinner was tons of fun and once the boys were in bed, I set to work on cinnamon rolls to pop in the oven come Easter morning. I laid everyone's clothes out, ironed and realized that I probably should do this every week as it made the morning much more smooth the next day!

But the next morning things didn't quite get off to the start I thought they might. I should've been suspicious from the get-go. I can't tell you how many times I've made these cinnamon rolls but, I made a cardinal mistake the next morning as I pre-heated the oven in my sleep (I guess if I do that, I should have seen it coming). I accidentally set the oven to 450 instead of 350 and then just about burned them to a crisp. Luckily I got them out when I did or they would've been inedible. But Christ is risen and we ate them anyway. Better luck next time. The rest of the hockey pucks were thrown away later.

We got off to church and even took some pictures beforehand. Wow. It seemed like a miracle. Church was great celebrating the resurrection and we had plans to meet my parents afterward for more Easter festivities. Before we left church, I was chatting with a friend in the snack line. She has five children. And we were doing our usual drive-by conversing while trying to still tend to our childrens' needs. Sometimes this is the only way to talk to catch up with anyone. She mentioned that they were finally all well after weeks of being sick.

And then she asked, "Have all of you been well? Is everyone healthy?"

And I responded, "Yes, we haven't had too many illnesses to speak of, just a few colds. Yes, all are well...at least for now."

And then we chatted a bit more about life and once we had gathered all our food (for it was a lot), we bid each other adieu to go run after someone's hurt knee or something like that.

Famous Last Words. Little did I know where I would be just eight hours from that innocent conversation.

Once we got to my parent's house I realized I felt a little weird. But as the snacks started getting pulled out, I realized I wasn't hungry at all-not even for a Diet Coke. For those of you who know me well, Red Flag #1 just came out. After a bit of time I began to feel the need to lay down, quickly, and knew that if I didn't I was about to be sick. Red Flag #2-I don't ever just want to go lay down in the middle of the day!! So I discreetly as possible vacated to upstairs and tried to rest and sleep off whatever was germinating in my belly.

But stomach flus don't rest-they stew and the more they do, the worse it gets. Before long, I was totally sick and Steve said we'd have to go straight home. I felt horrible. The Easter festivities came to a grinding halt just because I was sick. My parents offered to keep the kids so that we could go home and I could get some sleep. That proved to be a very strategic move.

I barely made it home and from then on was sick non-stop for many hours. When I wasn't sick, I was in immense intestinal pain so I was getting in and out of the bath tub trying to get relief. But that also caused me chills so, I really couldn't win. I began thinking that the night stretching ahead of me would be long and arduous and I didn't know how I would make it. Our neighbors were having an Easter party and I could hear people laughing, children playing and tons of merriment. All around was evidence of the risen Christ...yet I felt like I was stuck in the tomb.

My running buddy, who is a Nurse Practitioner, happened to call and see if I wanted to go for a run and Steve told her I was pretty sick. She came right over to check me out and told me I didn't look very well and that it seemed I was getting dehydrated. After checking my pulse, she told me it should be around 60-70 at rest (since I run regularly) and that it was 90. When I checked into the ER later it was at 120 which is a major sign of dehydration. She gave me some anti-nausea pills and told me that if I was still super sick in a few hours, I might need to be seen. I made it two more hours or so and then I practically begged Steve to do something.

But it's Easter and the only place open on Easter is the ER. So, in a blur, Steve passed off Elliana to our neighbors, gave them a bottle and her jammies, and we hit the road. When I got into the passenger seat, he handed me a bowl. When we arrived we joked about how the last time we showed up in the ER, I was in labor with Josh and how the time before that, I was in labor with Caleb so at least this time, I wasn't in labor. Although, I think I felt worse this time. Seriously.
I'll never forget him handing me the bowl as we got out and me saying, "Really! That's so embarrassing!" To which he responded, "We're past that now." And then he handed me back the bowl. Okay.

Lucky for me it wasn't a long wait. The funniest part about the ER though was that the doctor walked in, got all the info and then asked very discretely if I could be pregnant. Then after getting my response of "Well, yes it's possible (it's always possible I guess)..." she said, "Now you're 18 right?" Ummmm...what?!!!! I quickly responded no that I was 30 with four little children. Then she laughed and said, "They all told me out there that you were the 18 year old with the major dehydration." Awkward times. So if they really thought I was 18, who did they think my husband was? A boyfriend? Oh dear....I guess I must've looked pretty bad. She then ordered some tests to rule out some more serious ailments and then gave me some medicine.

I cannot even tell you how amazing it felt to get that IV fluid. It was as if someone was pouring my very soul back into my body. The anti-nausea medicine helped quite a bit too. I started to feel like dawn was on the horizon and that I wouldn't be stuck in this death forever...the resurrection was coming.

While we were there, we got a call from my mom that Joshy was sick too. We promised to come by as soon as we could to pick him up. So we finally made it home around midnight, tucked Joshy in close by, sent our neighbor home who was asleep on the couch, and tried to rest.

It had been a long day.

I'm not sure why the stomach flu hit me so hard. It has now gone through half of our family and I definitely had it the worst of everyone. I think it was a combination of being really busy, nursing and being a bit run-down in the first place. My reserves just must have been low.

But all in all, it was a good day. For even in my misery, I was reminded that all of my pain, all of my suffering was taken upon Christ's shoulders on the cross and it was defeated!! Victory!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed.

And for those of you who are wondering no...I'm not pregnant. I know that now for sure:).

Easter Outtakes

Because it's fun and I'm still recovering.

I love this picture of Caleb and Elliana. I wish Josh wasn't so grumpy and that Isaac was looking at the camera...but it's candid, cute and hilarious in its own way. Caleb kissed his baby sister all on his own (as we didn't stage it or anything).

Aaaahhh....can't get through a photo shoot without someone screaming their head off can we? I love how everyone else is unaffected.

But when it was Joshua's turn to hold Elle, he was happy as a clam.

This is the perpetual "lean in" pose. We all look like we're on the edge of our seats. Although still very cute, Joshy reminds me of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Ha ha ha!

Hope you're having a great week. We're just doing a whole bunch of nothing and my brain is still mush. Hopefully I will be back with something more thought-provoking in a few days.

Ta ta for now.

Happy Easter

Well, it's a little late but...Happy Easter from our family to yours. I've been down and out with a bout of the stomach flu (pictures can be deceiving huh?! This was just hours before I got sick!). I'll write more about that later. But for now, hope everyone's Easter was full of what matters most-Christ!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!
And for my Greek heritage..."Christos Anesti! Aleithos Anesti!"

Should've Done this Sooner...

It's true what they say..."Many hands make light work." Now my many hands can do lots more things...all by themselves.

Easter Fun

Recently I was talking with a good friend about Easter and why it's so hard to get into it. I mean Christmas is easy. The whole world is celebrating it (in their own ways) and it's so incredibly simple to get caught up in the hype. Christmas does have Santa but the Christ Child is still pretty prevalent. Also, we pull out all the stops for Christmas as we wait for weeks (Advent) for it to come. But Easter, is harder. The Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs pretty much take precedent. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with hunting for Easter Eggs at all! But there is so much more to Easter that gets lost...I think this happens more with Easter than even at Christmastime.

Part of the reason, I think, is that in an effort to drop some traditionalism, the church ousted Lent which gave a nice lead up to Easter. And regardless of whether or not you think it's well and good to observe Lent, its absence leaves the Easter Season with much to be desired. But this should not be!! Easter is THE cornerstone of our faith...and I might even be so bold as to say more important than Christmas! For as my friend reminded me of Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ didn't rise from the dead, if there was no resurrection, then we Christians are fools and greatly to be pitied! "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins...If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." vs. 16-19

Last year we didn't do much for Easter because I was just too pregnant with Elliana and I was tired. Some years, in this little years period, it just happens that way. But this year, we were hoping to get a little more on track. So out came my favorite book on traditions written by, Noel Piper-Treasuring God in our Traditions. Okay, just hear me. I am NOT crafty. I am NOT creative. At least not in the crafty way. So, when it comes to trying to teach things about God to my children in tangible ways, I need some major help. In walks Noel and spells it all out for me.

Thanks Noel.

She's already raised five children (four boys, one girl) and has an incredible gift for making these holidays come alive. She is the one with the genius behind the Advent Calendar and Bethlehem Tree we do every year at Christmas and she is the one who came up with the two ideas we do at Easter.

This year we decided to take some of the items from our Bethlehem Tree and then turn it into a Jerusalem Tree with more items that pertain to the Easter story. So we took the hammer, the empty tomb and the cross (among a few others from Christmas) and then we added a bunch more like nails, a silver money bag, a spear and a picture of the Bread and Wine of the Last Supper. We made sure we had enough items to last us for five nights with one for each child a night (15 total). So we started Sunday and will continue to read about the Passion Story all week until Good Friday, putting up items that pertain to the story. Like any children, the boys loved making things for the tree. That big weird red thingy is Jesus' blood by the way.

The other idea we decided to do from the book is the playdough mountain. We had done this activity one other year and it was fun but the kids were still too little to really get it. This year, it's been perfect, especially for the two older ones. We made our own playdough on Sunday and then formed it in the shape of a mountain hollowing out a hole in the back for the tomb. We then baked it. Monday we colored it and the surrounding areas. Today we started gathering people and made our cross. Tomorrow we'll make some more people out of popsicle sticks and by Friday we'll get Jesus on the the cross. Friday night, after the kids go to bed, we'll put Jesus in the tomb and then wait for Sunday.

Such a simple idea yet, such a powerful image. It's almost like an Easter Nativity scene.

So this year we're trying to make it more real, more tangible. Because this is a story our children need to hear, see, touch and experience year after year after year.

It doesn't really matter what you do. And don't let this post be a downer because you don't have anything planned. It was meant to spark ideas to get you going to create something of your OWN. It's your family. Do what you want. Or copy Noel. That's what I like to do!

Just get the story out there this week-somehow.

For even though it's been two thousand years, it's still the greatest story ever told...the Gospel, our salvation...the Good News.

My Own Little Mighty Mouse

He's just like his Dad.

Earlier in the week Steve entered a Lip Sync contest at the high school where he teaches and he did Andy Kaufman's rendition of Mighty Mouse. I got it on film which I will post at the end for anyone who is interested but, I must say I couldn't figure out how to zoom in closer with my camera. I'm still figuring it out so, it's from far away. Bummer. Anyhow, the boys saw Steve practice a few times on Monday night and so they learned the song. He did great the next day. I thought it was hilarious and so did a lot of the students. And just an aside, what made it even funnier is that a few of Steve's coworkers didn't get it and came up to him afterward to encourage him and tell him, "Don't worry...next time, you'll remember the words." Did they even watch it?! He has this going for him though, he was the only one who got a standing ovation at the end. Of course, it was only by one student but, there were others screaming, "Encore! Encore!" like a bunch of groupies. I keep making fun of him for that. Classic.

Anyhow, back to my original story. So today, I got myself into quite a pickle you might say. Yes, it was a definite quandary and Caleb was my little Mighty Mouse. I'm sure you've heard horror stories of moms locking their kids in the car, sometimes with the engine running. I've had four kids in five years and I've never done this. I don't know how I've been spared the absolute panic of this situation but somehow I have. I've done a lot of other things but, not that.

So today, I had my nephew over for a little play time. He literally lives across the street and so I told his mom I'd drop him off on my way out to the local corner market. I needed to pick up some chips for tonight's dinner because sadly enough, the bag I'd originally gotten for tonight had been eaten already! It doesn't hurt to pick up a Diet Coke while I'm out either. I was feeling smug and carefree...it never fails that when these two feelings are sandwiched together into one time period, something is bound to happen to smack me back to reality.

I walked him up to the door and then went to climb back into my car and found all of the doors locked. What?! I quickly glanced inside and saw everyone seated where they were supposed to be and then I checked all the doors again. Yep, every single one of them was locked. Panic welled up inside of me but I squashed it down and reminded myself that at least I was at my sister-in-law's house if I needed to use the phone (I was also fairly close to my own abode as well where we do have a spare key but...in the last day or two, I hadn't been able to find it-great timing).

But then as all of these thoughts are swirling through my head I remember Caleb. Of course, Caleby!! He is able to unstrap himself. So I quickly coached him through the window and he obeyed like a champ. What a guy. He quickly got out of his seat, found the lock and pushed it up as hard as he could (they're a bit hard to do). At first he couldn't figure it out but, like a true hero, he didn't give up and kept trying until he got it.

As I opened the door, I praised him immensely and kept telling him he was our hero-that he'd saved the day. And then, he started singing...."Here I come to save the day!!"

I'm sorry...it just doesn't get much better or funnier than that.

And as I climbed into the car, still totally dumbfounded as to how the car got locked in the first place, it finally dawned on me what happened. My precious little nephew, in an effort to get out of the front seat (it was a 15 second car ride people and I did strap him in, don't judge) accidentally pushed the "lock doors" button located right next to the door handle. I burst out laughing when I saw how close they are together. It's the only thing that makes sense. I didn't lock them and the car engine was still running so my keys didn't do it either. Never would I have dreamed it could happen!! It was just a rare occurrence and I didn't hear them lock because I was already out of the car coming around to get him.

Seriously so funny. And it did have a happy ending. It only took five minutes to get back in the car and I didn't even have to bug my sister-in-law. Not bad. And I got to hear Caleb sing the Mighty Mouse song in response.

All in all, I think it actually worked out pretty well and made for a good story. Which is always fun. But I did learn my lesson though...those buttons are pretty sensitive...watch it if someone, other than an adult, is in that front seat for any length of time. If you don't, you could end up getting locked out, with the engine running while all of your children are tucked safely into their carseats.

Steve's Rendition of Mighty Mouse


And if you want to see Andy Kaufman's version here it is.

A Girl and Her Daddy

A week or so ago I went on a walk in the morning and Elliana woke up while I was gone. Steve and I have this stone-age "system" that consists of him turning the porch light on if he needs me to come home since we don't have texting on our cell phone and don't ever want to get it (maybe someday I'll write a post on the "evils" of texting and how it makes you dumb...at least that's what my husband tells his students who have their cell phones permanently affixed-ha ha ha). I know, I know, just call us the Flintstones. Anyhow, I forgot to look the first time and on the second time around, lo and behold, the porch light was on meaning the baby was up and wanting to be fed. Daddy can do a lot of things, but he can't do that! So I bailed to go nurse Elle.

After she got her breakfast, Steve showed me a new trick he taught her in an effort to keep her distracted from her hunger while I was gone. I thought it was so cute, we got it on video (of course, she hasn't done it since that morning-ha ha!). So for your viewing pleasure...here's the littlest having her first heart to heart conversation with her Da Da.

Elliana and Daddy