Day 308: They were here, now they're gone.

Yup, our PEI friends came to visit, and besides a brief hello at church tomorrow night, they'll be heading back to the Maritimes soon.  Sigh.  It's been a mixed emotional day for me, but mostly positive.  I took the kids to the grocery store because we were fixing dinner for the crew tonight (humble pizza and salad and gluten free pasta for our GF guests), and well, we needed groceries and there was going to be no time to do it this weekend.  I was extremely happy with how well the kids behaved in the store today that I got them several treats.  They got to pick out pop and mints and cheesecake and pumpkin spice marshmellows and regular marshmellows.  Oh, and chocolate chip mint ice cream because Justin was dying to make a milkshake since Keturah has had several recently from Steak and Shake.  The grocery bill itself was actually not too bad either.  We've been going shopping about every 10 days, so if we spend a little more than we would on a weekly budget, it actually equals out quite nicely.  And that's all thanks to the store called Aldi's.  I love that store.  I love that store so much because they sell unique items like venus fly trap plants!  Yes! I had to get one because well, we homeschool, and it will be a fun experiment.  It will be dormant for the winter, but maybe if it lives, it can eat the bugs in the spring.

The kids did their math and I read them a lesson on the breakup of Yugoslavia, putting in the bits about Jared going on a mission trip to Kosovo and a mutual friend being a missonary there for a couple of years, as well as one of our favorite families being in one of the provinces for 4 years, during the same years we were gone to Canada.  I remember hearing the names of Kosovo and Sarajevo on the news many, many times.  Three people groups, three religions, equals lots of conflicts.  It's actually very sad because I know they still struggle economically and spiritually.  I don't think the kids really understand that.  Except that Justin was trying to understand the unrelated phrase, "a rolling rock never grows moss."  He actually tried to apply it to people who change their beliefs or religion often and never have a solid belief system.  His wheels turn in his head in very interesting ways.

Then our PEI friends came over for a bit.  They were exhausted from the conference and allergies, so they couldn't stay all evening.  The kids wanted to have a fire and roast the marshmellows we got, but those will have to wait until another evening. They did haul in the groceries and the firewood though with much less complaining than usual.  They also played video games and watched a movie together.  I love days where there is less fighting!

Abishai was shy at first with our friends, but he warmed up quickly when he saw pizza and cheesy dip.  He even dipped his raisins and apples in the cheese!  The two younger guests, our friend Megan, and our 3 kids went outside for awhile, and so Abishai got to hang out with Megan and get to know her.  So when she went to leave, Abishai let her hold him and gave her a hug.  Megan is one of our favorite, favorite college students that we got to know on PEI.  She is currently working on our Masters degree long distance with Lincoln Christian University.  She was supposed to take a class this week, but was unable to get her student visa.

Which brings me to a sad part of the day.  I got a letter in the mail that said my MRI was NOT approved because I hadn't done physical therapy recently enough and it wasn't medically necessary.  I am getting very sick of the go around with the medical system here.  Why can't we just get rid of insurance and pay cash for everything?  It would be cheaper because doctors would have to compete.  But alas, it's not the case.  I see a holistic doctor in a few weeks, so I'm just going to wait until then.  I'm way too busy to try and do anything else this month.  Not to mention Abishai not having insurance because he doesn't have a social security number because the government is super slow in telling us what they need in order to prove that we live here and we are his parents.  So dumb and frustrating.  We need less government intervention, not more.  So vote appropriately, please and thanks.

Mr. Cool Dude at the the grocery store.

Miss Megan from PEI!!

Our Venus Fly trap plant.  I think I'm supposed to take the clear cup off and maybe put this in a bigger pot, but I didn't do that today.  So, we'll see how it goes.  At least it's fun to look at!