Year 2, Day 50: Got any acreage for sale?

Well, we can't afford any acreage, but, our little man could not WAIT to go outside barefoot today.  And he and the puppy (or senior dog that he is, Socks) palled around the "back 40" aka Gary and Leah's yard today having a blast.  I did put his shoes on for that part though because, yeah, dog poo.  We just need a place where I can open the back door and let 'em out! So, fence is a must, big enough for Socks to NOT be able to climb.  5 ft? 6 ft?  It was chilly in the shade today, so when we kept their porch door open I was frozen!  But go out front in the sun and it was awesome!  This was all after church and Sunday dinner, before naps.  Then youth group and choir as normal.

Speaking of choir, Keturah has 10 lines to memorize!  And her character is an artist!  Her name is Caitlyn!  Super excited for her!  She has to be at all the rehearsals so they can use her during blocking out the scenes.  That means she's going to be super tired come Monday morning co op, which we do have tomorrow.  We had extra time off in January, but even then, we weren't planning on taking off tomorrow for President's Day anyway.  We have one Monday off for Spring break,  Other than that, we chug along as normal.

While the older 3 were doing their thing, Abishai did his thing running the halls of the church like he owned the place.  Just like his big brother Benaiah did and still does.  Abishai watched as the middle schoolers transitioned from small group time to worship time and at first he was giving them the "move along" arm swing that policemen do and then he started just waving and saying "hi" like they were part of a parade and he was on the sidelines.  He also got excited when a few of them starting wrestling each other, laughing at them.  Daddy chased him while I read and crosstitched and tried to listen to a podcast.  Poor Justin is exhausted from staying overnight at Grandma's house last night, then being at church all morning, then playing video games this afternoon, and then more church stuff tonight.  I hope he sleeps well and isn't really sick.

Benaiah has the day off tomorrow and so does his buddy Ethan so they are spending the night at Grandma's house and then heading off to church to do some stagehand work.  Benaiah also worked for a church member on a jobsite for a little cash.  My little boy is growing up!  And then, he tells me he played 6 hours yesterday of his new video game he supposedly bought for his siblings.  Not quite grown up all the way yet.

These are my friends Julie, who owns the horses, and Alisha, who introduced us to Julie.  Julie and Alisha have been friends for over 20 years!  This was from the baby shower yesterday.

The best part of waking up....is baby hiding in your bed!

Awwwwww.

Benaiah gave me the "Beaker face" when I told him to sit back down so I could take this picture of the two of them playing a video game.  Unfortunately, this video game is only 1 person a time, unless you play with people online.  A lot of the games are like that now and have only that option.  Sad, but true.

I'm going a huntin'!

Redneck baby!

Poor kid doesn't fit into 18 month pants still when he's wearing a disposable diaper!  They work fine with the cloth diapers.  These pants were bought for him and I think that a lot of the newer pants are made bigger than when Benaiah was little for the same size.  He almost walked out of them several times!

Playing the board game!

Grandpa won, but they were seeing who won next.  Meanwhile, Abishai got to play with Grandpa's pieces.  Mini me and big me!

I couldn't resist capturing this moment!  A woman and her dog, sort of.  Socks really does have Gary and Leah and they give him tons of loving.  Gary even said that Socks came up to him while sitting on the bar stool and put his head in Gary's lap to be petted.  And then, when Gary wouldn't pet him anymore, he went around to the other side of Gary to get more lovings.  He's a very loved dog.  But don't you dare call him Gary and Leah's grand dog!  Leah especially doesn't like that term.  Even I am not very fond of it.  He's just a dog.

All dogs need to have their own kid to play with, right? Abishai knew that Socks just had to have these big sticks to play with and kept saying "Go-go!" until I opened the gate for him.  Abishai offered the sticks to Socks but he wouldn't take them from the baby until I threw the sticks for him.  He's such a good dog.  I can't believe he'll be 7 years old in April!