Life On Lisburn

Suffice to say 2020 has proven to be anything but predictable.  From being able to share the news that we were expecting Elizabeth to pregnancy, work and education in a quarantine during a global pandemic - it has been an adventure.  Want to have a good laugh? Settle in here for a story. Maybe you've heard me share David's response to Elizabeth's due date - his birthday is May 25 and her due date was May 27.  He thought about it for a bit and asked what month came next later communicating that he didn't want to share a birth month with her.  And I have to admit - there was a part of me that hoped that would be true for him.  But, anyway. May 24th we had the opportunity to preserve some maternity memories with the incomparable Marisa Kinney Photography.  If you haven't worked with her and you're booking pictures of a special occasion you absolutely need to contact her! She is an outstanding individual and just the MOST talented photographer.  We wrapped...

Day 21 counting from March 13 but...since we're restarting this for another 30 days I guess it's more like day 4. I think.  All of this self-isolation has highlighted a few stark and startling realities for me (some funny and some not so much). First, if you do not have children this is a very different experience for you.  You may actually catch up on TV more than normal, you may workout more, you may establish some new routines.  For this crew the kiddos may be watching a little more TV than normal (well, some of them...Jamesey doesn't watch TV), working out more - well, suffice to say I'm getting my steps in chasing the rascals, new routines - not so much.  We have kiddos that benefit from and miss their routines.  Now that we're finding newish normals they're starting to adjust but you can believe they miss their schedules. Second, I'm pretty confident that we're coming out of this with some better habits than we went in - whether we planned it or ...

My devotions today included 2 Cor. 10:5 (an exhortation to take captive every thought).  For me, among other thoughts, that has included arguing with myself about "I can't do more days of this" because well "we can do all things..."  Don't get me wrong -we've been making memories - and I'm starting to realize a little bit what life somewhat isolated on a mission station must have been like for my parents (hats off to you Mom and Dad) but today has had more 'shake it off' moments than some of our other days. Today I said thank you that we don't currently have a newborn although we'll have one in under ten weeks.  I have said thank you that I speak English and reside in my country of origin.  I have said thank you to Disney for the creation of Duck Tales circa 1987 (and for Disney Plus) so that two out of three kids are distracted for a bit.  Thank you whoever created the wonderful peanut butter filled pretzel - maybe Geo...

I'm sure you're wondering how Wednesday, Thursday and Friday worked out on Lisburn Rd.  Suffice to say, we're exercising our senses of humor in addition to exercising our bodies outside in the beautiful weather! Yesterday's 75 degrees proved to be a glorious reminder that Summer will return.  Let's see what's been happening - memory lapses from not enough coffee (LOL), we've been reading, and Anna is learning how to braid her hair and she's pretty excited about that.  There has been baking, TV watching for a few people, all kinds of water play, increased laundry because of the water play (haha), we've colored, we've painted, the Legos are out in full force and seem to be multiplying.  The list of house projects has grown and the Quarantine Bucket List has been created.  I've lost track of the volume of coffee consumed but have been relieved that the creamer supply at our local grocery store remains plentiful (fingers crossed) - but found a ...

Y'all - it.was.a.day.  That whole pride goes before a fall thing....well the fall started somewhere around 4.30 this morning and just.kept.going. I thought yesterday went fairly well and had just started thinking "okay, this is going to be okay." I'm laughing because if I don't the tears won't stop! Let's see if I can summarize 7:45 a.m-8:45 a.m. - Meltdown from Anna because her leprechaun trap didn't capture evidence of said leprechuan - Tears from D because the straw in his milk was bent funny and his sister ate the last chocolate chip muffin -Bath #1 for Jamesey -Clean up spilled milk for D because he was just going to drink without the straw because the bend was making it hard to drink -Hear water running and sprint up the steps to find the bathroom sink overflowing and Jamesey splashing in the overflowing sink happy as a clam having plugged said sink and independently turned the water on. -Clean up water and help settle J in the tub. -Settl...

Whelp - here we are on Day 2.5 (only halfway through day 3 lol) and it's prompting all kinds of thoughts.  Campus suspended classes for spring break (with adaptations at the conclusion) but school for the kids launched into prevention mode full scale - and I support this! Our quarantine started off with a bang - J was home from school Friday with pinkeye and the rest of us were just monitoring communication channels waiting to see if the anticipated closure would happen.  It's been an interesting 72 or so hours and I thought I'd write a bit to clarify my thoughts for myself. First, I shared with someone, I (and my imagination) really wish I had steered clear of Dean Koontz, Robin Cook and most specifically the book "Fifth Wave".  The resolution in these books rarely encourages optimism.  So off I go to bury my head in 'fluffy' fiction and some substantial Faith development. Secondly, I'm really not a fan of news outlets and the generation of chaos....