Year 2, Day 119: Just Breathe

It was a day.  A day full of moving boxes, fighting, eating leftovers, naps, showers, church, groceries, some schoolwork, some TV time, oh, and a dress rehearsal for Keturah's musical (see more info on that below).  My mood was all over the place depending on what I was doing.  I certainly do get anxious and overwhelmed when I'm on a deadline, which I am because in less than a month, we will probably have possession of our house!  But May is full of finishing up school for all of them (Benaiah's done mid May and we are done May 8th with co op!)

Oh wow, while I was typing that, my phone resurrected itself!  I was using it at church tonight, and it had 75% battery left, which shouldn't have been an issue.  Well, it completely shut off! And the charging sound didn't ding when I plugged it in.  But I left it on the charger now for 3 hrs and, bam, it turned itself back on!  Woot! Woot!  I thought I had completely lost it!  But thankfully, it was automatically backed up at 12:45pm today and everything I had already inputted at church was on iCloud already.  Yeah for Apple!  Seriously, if I had to get a new phone this week, I would NOT be going back to an android based phone.  Anyway, at least now we can wait to find me a new phone a little bit longer because to be honest, all the things you have to pay for when buying a house is adding up quickly.  Plus, I'm trying to buy books for next year, plus there are other one time or annual expenses coming up soon.  At least the taxes are paid.  But, if you have or know someone with an iPhone 5 that they are selling, let us know! Phew!

Our family could really use a little bit of extra prayer to get us through this final transition period of coming back home and settling.  I need lots of help being patient and kind to my family as my anxiety levels rise.  And they need some understanding that this is just the way Momma functions under stress.  They do tend to groan when I ask them to work, but not always.  But thankfully, it's a short lived situation and we'll get through it somehow, again.  I am being a little looser in my labeling and matching numbers etc. than I was the last time.  If it says kitchen on it, but doesn't say the contents, then fine, it's for the kitchen and it all needs to be unpacked eventually anyway.  But if it's something for storage or a very low priority to unpack, I do make sure it's more carefully labeled.  I think I'll need to go through my numbering system at some point and update it fully.  But for now, it does work ok.

Tomorrow's a long day, and I'm exhausted.  I'm hoping to get to bed soon.  I'm so exhausted that I had a really hard time staying awake during the sermon!  (Sorry, Dad!)  I need to prep for co op and pack a couple of boxes if I can, put away laundry, and cook some kind of meal for the crew.  At least I was able to find some yummy new gluten free items at Aldi's tonight.  I will pay for it stomach wise later, but I found spinach and cheese gluten free ravioli.  I LOVE ravioli!  It will be a treat on a day that I'm home all day.  My pantry looks like it could be the gluten free section of Aldi's, lol.  But, yum!

Just hanging out.

Justin: "I don't wanna _____ (I can't remember what he said!)" but he laid down and Abishai joined him.

Me: Why is the baby on the counter?  Jared: Because he's sooooo cuuuuuttttteeeeeee!  (Well, I can't argue with that!)  And Justin is enjoying his Pokemon game "cheaters" book.  I wish he would study other subjects like he studies Pokemon!

My crew, walking into church tonight, hand in hand.  And carrying most of my junk for me!  The two actually fight over which one gets the "lighter" Tardis bag (which is my purse).

Finally, if you are in the area, please join us at 6pm tomorrow night, Sunday, April 30th, to see Keturah play a major part in the childrens' choir musical called, "The Star Factor"!  It will be in the big auditorium at Indian Creek Christian Church.  We're really excited for her!

Year 2, Day 118: The Day After

I have decided I will post an entry about yesterday's concert separately, and write up today's events so I won't forget those details first.  I guess the kids had stayed up late last night, because we didn't get up until 9:30am.  Well, Jared did go to his breakfast meeting and then onto his normal workday and Benaiah spent a good portion of the day doing yard work at the grandparents' house.  Soon enough he'll have TWO yards to keep up!  But I did wake up pretty much on a concert "high," which I haven't had in about 10 years.  I was in a "go get 'er done" type of mood, so we tried to hurry up our morning routine so we could get out to do some errands.  We ended up not leaving until 12:30pm, so I decided to skip the first two errands and head to the park first where one of our homeschool groups were having a meet up.  Most families decided not to go because of the threat of rain and it was a park about an hour from them.  It was only 30 minutes from our current location.  It was a gorgeous park and we ended up staying there for 2 hrs!  Then we only had time for one other errand before having to be back in time for Bible class.

The other errand as for me to pick up next year's writing/language arts curriculum.  It's an expensive one to invest in at first, but I've been listening to the author and his blog for at least 6 months, plus it comes highly recommended by a lot of people, including friends back on PEI (for the record, it's called Institute in Excellence for Writing, or IEW by Andrew Pudewa).  It's got a whole set of DVD's explaining the writing method, which is different than your typical approach to writing.  I'm super excited about it!  I can't wait to "do my homework" and really dig in to understand it this summer!  I wish I had it with Benaiah.  Anyway, that was one of the errands.  So, we came home for Bible class and as soon as Jared and Benaiah got home, I dashed out to finish up by going to the library and the UPS store to pick up a package.  I was so beat and grumpy by all the changes of plans when I decided to stay longer at the park, that I just needed a mommy time out.  I was literally having a concert crash!  I needed to regroup and take care of the pile of papers on my desk and come up with a plan for the next couple of days, so that's what I did.  The kids played video games and Abishai was stir crazy because he had only a 30 minute nap in the car.  He had had a 4 1/2 hr nap yesterday, so it all evens out.

The weekend will be a busy one! But we have some work to finish up as well.  And I need to pack some more.  A new month is on the horizon and we may even get to close on the house this month!  Exciting!

The park was called Holiday Park and it was in the Broad Ripple area I think.  Three huge play structures, two of which were wheelchair accessible.  It was cool and cloudy, but that was perfect!

One of the play structures was for the little guys with no openings except for the entrance and the slides.  Perfect for letting little guys run without mommies having to follow their every move!  Plus, it had a gate around it with just one entrance in and out.  Sweet!

Abishai wanted one of us to follow him and play with him at all times, but I couldn't with my backpack purse on.  So he turned around.

At first, he insisted that we drive the stroller around the play structure.

Gorgeous setting with lots of trails.  Just no water bubbler and only port a potty's so make sure to bring your own water! Keturah didn't bring her water bottle and Justin didn't fill his up, so we were very short on water today. I'm glad it wasn't hot out!

All those roofs belong to just one huge play structure!

This one was very tall n one end and it made me very nervous to let Abishai on it.  I followed him very closely behind.

"Babee, babee! Come play with me!"

Keturah just walking along.

I see you!

Abishai did attempt one slide by himself.

And he's gone!

Abishai actually turned around and did not go down the slide.  He's currently afraid of slides and water.

Lots and lots of groomed trails!

See how tall this one is?  The kids kept comparing it to the one on PEI.

I looked down this way and realized that there was a river down.  So, Abishai and I turned around and called out to the middles for them to come with us.  He was very bossy about it, too.

"This is easy, Mom!"  Yes, little gymnast, it looks easy!

Violets?  They were very fragrant and huge.  Beautiful!

Looking down into the "valley" before we went on our hike.

This little guy inssisted that he walk a majority of the trail by himself!

A bench high off the ground!

Finally too tired to walk, but he wanted Justin to pick him up.

Prefect grin.

Swinging on the time.

Cool see through tunnel!

A little wa-wee on a see through tube!  Wash, wash!

We were very careful with letting Abishai climb the ladder.  But he climbed it all by himself.  He didn't not go on the slides and I did hear that they are super fast, so I'm glad he didn't. 

When you are at a concert and you reach into your pocket and find a Lego piece you found while cleaning out the car...you know you are a mom......

New concert swag!  And, I've lost 13 lbs since October!

Watching the big thunderstorm outside, including folding his hands under his chin.

Watching Tayo with Babee Benaiah.

That's all she wrote!

Year 2, Day 116: Not a Good Day

I wish I could redo today, but I can't.  It was like pulling teeth getting kids to focus on some homework before we went on our field trip.  As expected, they weren't really into the Dallara IndyCar Factory tour.  It was also an afternoon field trip during Abishai's usual naptime.  I brought him along because it was race cars. But I should have known better!  He was a crazy man! Sigh.  Keturah started to ask to come home about halfway through.  Usually that means she's bored and wants to be a couch potato.  I was just over Abishai's craziness and the others' attitudes, so when we finally left, we sat in the car and I lectured them about how you can still learn something even if the material isn't your favorite.  It's important to know about where you live, blah, blah, blah.  I then plugged in my podcasts and away we went home in silence.  I took the back roads so Abishai could sleep.  Plus, I like seeing different parts of the city.  It helps me learn where things are and eventually I do make it back home.  When we got home, I assigned them a one page summary on what they saw going to the factory, during the tour and what they saw on the way home.  I really want to teach them to open their eyes to big wide world of life instead of staring at a screen being couch potatoes.  This is one reason why I don't want to do a co op next year.  I want to take them on more field trips and apply these observing skills and EXPERIENCE life beyond a book or screen.  They both did their papers and they were excellent summaries!  So, see, they CAN learn something!

While they did their writing, I called Jared to vent.  He suggested that he come and get Justin for Bible Bowl.  I said, yes, please, and I'll do some packing.  I didn't do a lot yesterday and I have this goal to do 10 boxes a day.  So, I worked hard for about 1 1/2 hrs while Keturah and Abishai bummed around.  Keturah helped me push the heavy done boxes to the front door because my shoulders can't take it.  At least she didn't complain about it.  She also helped me pack one of the board games boxes (there's 3 of them).  I'm glad the day is ending and I can move on to tomorrow.  And tomorrow's the concert, so that will help lift my mood.  Here's to hopefully a restful sleep!

For the kids' botany class, they started some pepper and tomato plants, so we have to watch them grow and write down any changes, how often we water them, etc.

I'm going to need to get some bigger pots!

Dallara is an Italian company that builds the IndyCars and this factory is the only factory in the United States.  It's been around since the 1970's and is responsible for keeping drivers safe while making the car more aerodynamic.

They had a lot of cars on display as well as lots of racing simulations.  Abishai is standing in this car.  The screen is the simulation part.

Vroom, vroom!

Ed Carpenter was on the north side of the building and here's Foyt.

Babee!  It's my turn!

Before I knew it, Abishai was under a work table!  This is an active factory, so these are real parts that are currently on order for the racing teams!  I wasn't supposed to take any pictures in this area, but I got a couple, including a tag for an order.  Abishai would NOT stay in the stroller and knows how to undo the clip.  So it was nearly impossible to keep him away from the car parts.

In the second half the factory, they have bays where they keep and fix up the two seater Indy Cars that are used in an IndyCar experience where you are taken around the track.  Jared went on this one time.  The car furthest away is Justin's favorite color!  I was very impressed at how clean this factory is!  Everything was picked up and the floor was swept very neatly!

I don't know if it was really allowed, but I let Abishai touch a couple of the cars.  I just made sure he didn't go into the bays or touch parts he could get hurt on.

It was so cute!  He slowly wandered into one of the bays with a type of "awe" response.  I wonder if he was thinking about having this as a job some day.

The 2017 logo and two seater!

Last year's car!

Nice car, nice car.

Another 2017 car!

I'm sure this truck is used on parades or something and it was very hard to keep Abishai out of it.

Part of the experience was racing cars of course!  We also saw some of the half size models that they used in the wind tunnels.

Gotta build!  Although, this isn't the special composite material they use on the real cars. They did show the kids how they make the material and let them feel the different parts.The kids did listen to that part and wrote about it in their papers.

Abishai does eat a few vegetables, including sweet peppers.  But he had to line them up with his milk.  I tried moving them and he threw a fit.

Time to do my own racing!

(Laura Peric, don't read this!) We wrote letters to put in a package going to friends of ours on PEI.  This letter is to one of the younger ones and it's about Pokemon.

This one is for the youngest and Keturah drew it.

Keturah also drew a picture of her new room (which has since changed because we are buying a different house) for the only daughter of the family.

This is Justin's letter for the oldest child.  I love that he put "classic smiley" on the bottom!

Let's just take a nap in the middle of the showroom floor!  Ugh! This venue is used for many large private functions, including some Indy Car announcements I've seen on the IMS YouTube channel.  That's why it isn't full of racecars, but has an empty feeling because they add like 500 seats for guests.

The town of Speedway is one of 3 towns within the boundaries of Indianapolis.  Speedway, Southport, and Beech Grove are all incorporated with their own police and fire departments, government bodies, etc.  I find it quite interesting that the town of Speedway's fire department has their very own IndyCar.  I'm sure it's just a show piece and isn't out there engaged in action like real fire trucks.

Jump up and down!  Every time the car was on a rough surface, the steering wheel would shake.  And when Abishai felt it shake, he would let go for a second.  And then go right back to it.

Some older drawings of cars through the years.

Looks like a prototype of something.

Real drawings!

He was so stir crazy that he kept running around the tunnel and museum type area of the factory.  Giggling up a storm.  It's a good thing our group was the only one there!  We went as a group and got a 50% discount.  

1...2...3...Go!

I read on their website that this is a sister store to a real restaurant in Italy.  We didn't go in, and I don't even know if they were open, but they boost about their Italian foods and drinks.

On the way to the factory, we drove on the downtown roads instead of the highway.  On that route, we took the exit and road that we did when we took my mom to her chemo treatments 8 years ago.  I went with her once a week and my brother did it the rest of the time.  And then on the way room, we got a different route and it took us right past the hospital that my mom died in.  It was on this date, April 26th, that she entered the hospital for the last time.  We thought we were going to loose her that night, so we called my sisters and had them fly in that Sunday.  But my mom lasted 2 1/2 more days and died on April 29th, 2010.  After having a rough day, driving past this hospital was the icing on the cake.  I almost lost it while I drove.  One reason that it's hard to back in Indianapolis is having these painful memories associate with certain areas.  I still won't drive by our old house in Beech Grove either.  I have had many struggles, and this year, the grief has hit me hard.  But I must press on because children need me and a house needs to be packed up again.  Otherwise, I'd rather stay in bed and sleep.  But tomorrow is a new day, and a new start, so we'll just focus on the future instead of the past.  So, I'll grief and I'll move on.  That's what my parents would want me to do.