Year 2, Day 160: Always More Work To Do

Thursday, June 8th, 2017

Today we headed back to the dentist, hopefully for the last time for the next six months, for Justin to get caps on his permanent teeth and for Keturah to get the panaroma x-ray/MRI type thing done. It was fun to see all of Keturah's inner head parts, from her spine, to her ear canals, to her sinuses (which were clear, unlike us adults who have had some horrible noses lately!), and even to see the beginning of her wisdom teeth! It was a bit frustrating to me because Abishai wanted to play with the water dispenser and whined a ton. Then Justin had to mention “fries” and I had to deal with that for 10 minutes straight. It takes 30 minutes to get there, so two days of driving like that doesn't agree with my back, but oh well. We stopped at the dollar store on the way home and came out with a decent amount of useful stuff. They each got a treat, but that was it. I got cute smaller shelf fabric boxes for any bookcase, silver office organizers for the bathroom, more shelf paper, shower caddies (we'll use them for school suppleis), an extra trash can, drain plugs, and then the fun stuff like a beach ball, 20 ft water squirters, a water gun, etc.

When we got home, we dug out all the water stuff we already had, including all the swimwear that we hadn't gone through yet for the year. The kids and I dug out the really, really long hose that works fine (the connection to the house isn't fine, but that's not the hose's fault), and they got to work refilling the water table and filling a bucket for the water sprayers. And they had a blast! THIS is what summers are supposed to be like! I know kids enjoy all the sports camps, regular camps, day camps, etc., and some parents have to do that because they work, but I am grateful a) I can stay home and b) that my kids can be entertained by simple at home things like I was growing up an like we had in our other Beech Grove home. They did play a bit in the water in Charlottetown, but the season wasn't long enough. I think there's another box or two of outdoor stuff in storage, because it feels like we are missing some stuff. Either that or I finally threw it away or gave it away.

Abishai had a blast with his water table and even got a little burned before I had moved it into the shade. I was testing to see if he needed sunscreen, and I think he does. We have plenty of that because we didn't use that much in Canada or last year because we weren't outside as much. In fact, I think we've outside 10 times more than we were last year in just under 1 week at the new house! By far, my favorite feature of this house is the big back yard. There's so much potential! Speaking of the yard, Benaiah mowed all of it today and it took him 2 ½ to 3 hrs! That's with a push mower, not a self propelled one. And it hadn't gone to seed or anything. He also mowed a friend's yard as well. Then he pulled up some of that rhubarb type plant that was crowding the front walkway. We really need to dig up all the old mulch and weed barrier stuff, but that will wait until next year. We pulled up some weeds as went, too. The walkway needs to be redone because it has crumbled. Jared worked on the railroad ties/new mailbox stand project. Abishai was all over the place in his diaper (because he was playing in the water table again) on his bike and doing this or that following us around.

This evening, Keturah and Justin went with Grandma to the Greenwood Public Library to a special food event where they learn about food from a certain country or area of the world. Benaiah has gone with Grandma in the past. Keturah loved it, but Justin got a headache/migraine on the way home. He did bring his water with him today, but he must not have drank enough, maybe when he was watching TV this afternoon. The poor thing had a hard time resting because we were so noisy going in and out of the house tonight and getting Abishai settled for bed, which went better than it did last night. Jared said he had to spank him in order for him to stay in the Thomas bed. He'll stay in the Thomas bed at night but uses the pack and play for naps. I'm sure we'll finish the transition soon enough, but for now, I need that quiet time. If I get a chance to fully lay down for 30 minutes or so, I can last a lot longer during the day, especially with less pain meds.

Meanwhile, Keturah has been working on setting up all the Barbies that I and she have owned in the past 30 years. No joke! She got out the gymnastic equipment that belonged to my cousin in the late 70's! And my Ariel and Eric dolls, plus my sister's Beauty and the Beast dolls. She is lovingly organizing and taking care of them. It is incredible heartwarming to see her have her own room to decorate and rearrange and make her own. She has needed that for awhile now. Her treat was a new wall sticker that says something about dreams. She loves window clings and water stickers and rearranging them! The boys, however, need a great deal of help in organizing all the Legos, around all the beds and dressers, and the extra pack and play in their room. I will definitely help them because it's a big project. It may have to wait until next week while Keturah is gone at camp though because we need to make sure she's ready for camp!

Tomorrow is camp prep day and Benaiah's birthday celebration day! Benaiah has planned his own celebration by getting his friends to join him at SkyZone indoor trampoline park, and then pizza and maybe a sleepover for one of them. Oh, and he's going to rent some video games. So, I have to take him to Family Video in the morning so he can take them to Grandma's house, with the PS4 and make sure the PS4 is up to date before they want to play. Updating can take an hr or so. We'll also stop at a GameStop because he needs an iTunes giftcard for his monthly music subscription (he pays for it) and a different dollar store (where everything is not only a dollar, but maybe $2-$5 dollars or maybe more sometimes) in our hunt for a big family sized blow up pool. If not there, then Aldi's is supposed to be getting big pools and other helpful outdoor items in stock in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably have to go to the Washington St. location to get it though. Oh, and Keturah will start packing for camp in the morning and then we'll know if we need anything for her at the dollar store. We shouldn't though, because we still have small bottles of bug spray and sunscreen from last year. We checked bathing suits today. And I've gone through the camp checklists for the last 8 years enough to know what they need. My friend's granddaughter is also going that week, but it will be her first time, so I had to give Grandma Morning the low down on what is needed, like NO two piece bathing suits. NO short shorts and spaghetti strap tank tops. Plenty of towels, bedsheets, a notebook, pens, something for quiet time like a pack of cards, toiletries, pillow, Bible, any medications, NO electronics, a simple watch maybe, batteries and flashlight, a simple point and shoot camera (do they make disposables anymore?) , flip flops for the shower, sneakers and socks, etc. Yup, I typed all of that out without having wifi to verify it.

Anyway, it should be a warmer day tomorrow, so the air conditioner will be on again. It's been very pleasant here this week, so the windows are open. The bugs haven't been too bad yet, although we leave doors wide open with no screens and some windows have big slashes in the screens, etc. And, I think the ant issues have subsided for now. I'm keeping Abishai's food picked up and in a plastic bag between meals. Dishes are done 2-3 times a day. Crumbs are swept up. But I'll find the massive ants in the bathroom, too, so who knows. Leah did let me borrow some rust remover for the toilet and that worked wonders for it! Speaking of little household things, we are coming across a lot of little things that need fixed. It does bother Jared when he finds them, but I am grateful that he does notice them and he can fix them without hiring someone, although the parts might cost money and he has to use his precious time on them. I know it's hard to balane a full time job and then come home to work on household projects for 1-2 hrs a night. BUT in 1 week we have made TREMENDOUS progress! We are VERY functional. I'd say I have 60% of our stuff in the right places and even out of boxes. There's three big major unboxing projects (school/toys, DVDs/games, china cabinet) but they are not essential. Oh, and the outside stuff. Point is, there's still a lot to do, but we are all motivated just enough to get them done. Perhaps tomorrow I'll make a little video tour for everyone. I've taken a lot of “in progress” pictures, too.

4 days left until wi fi! CAN NOT WAIT! But I'm glad I thought of typing all my blog posts out in a word document and then copying and pasting them onto the blog later. At least the story is written done. As I learned in my Creative Memroies scrapbooking days, it doesn't matter if you have rotten handwriting or aren't the most eloquent writer on the planet, just write those stories down so they can be shared. What good are pictures without captions? I've come to learn that not all special moments or everyday moments can be documented and most will be forgotten, and that's ok. Even if I were to stop writing the blog tomorrow, at least my kids will have a glimpse into the last 18 months of our lives. Perhaps when I get the schoolroom settled, I'll have a place for my scrapbooking supplies again and get Keturah's baby book done. I do plan to take out most of my old personal crafting stuff out of their brown cardboard boxes that they have lived in for the last 5 years and put them at least on shelves where I can see, use, and enjoy them. My goal is NO MORE BROWN boxes! Which means more storage cubes or dressers (which are great for more than just clothes!) What good is an item if it's in a box high up on a shelf? That's why I put the craft rolling drawers in Keturah's room. She's the crafty girl and I know she'll use what's in the drawers more than I or the boys will. And it frees up space in the school room. Anyway, sorry for the long post. Because I haven't been on social media much, I have no way to use up all my words for the day. Thanks for reading! Good night!

What a blessing it is to have a nearly grown son to do all the yard work freeing us other grown ups up to do other things!

Abishai decided to water the plants with a water gun after we used a watering can (my mother's watering can!) yesterday on them.

More work.

Drip, drip, drip.

The view from our tiny porch.  I think we will add on to this someday, but for now, it's decent.

The porch is well built, but I'd like to expand it a bit.

I finally got the plants transferred by using some dirt in the garden area next to the sunroom as the base.  I'll add some potting soil with fertilizer on top.  Unfortunately, in all the moving around, I don't think the tomato plants are going to make it because the stems got severed.  But the venus fly trap from last night might be showing some signs of life!

So....much....yard!!!!!

Loads of room!  We haven't seen any young kids, but directly behind us is a family with at least 1 or 2 teenagers and an in the ground pool.  Also, there's a St. Bernard diagonally behind us, and a beagle mix and other medium sized dog a couple of doors down.  Socks will definitely have some friends to talk to since we all have chain link fencing.  We haven't fixed ours yet.  We need to spread out the major purchases a bit.

Benaiah was able to rip out some of the "rhubarb" type weed plant in the front and open up the walkway.  The walkway needs a major overhaul.  And there's still a couple of those tall weeds to remove.  But I'm going to leave the majority of the flowers.  There's a great variety and they seem to be well established despite the weeds.

A little sun powered gnome with a light Leah got for us.  Cute!

Father and son love moment.  They are evenly matched!

First bath in the new bathtub!

Poor guy did get a little bit burned on the shoulders today.  I need to be more diligent with the sunscreen for this one.

Interesting note: "finishing back tonight, hold me to it."  Benaiah had mowed our front yard and 1/3 of the back yard in 2 hrs that morning.  He did come back and finish it up that night.  His handwriting though, despite Mrs. McCollum's efforts and mine, wow, needs a little more help.

We found yet another box of Barbies for Keturah's room, this time, they were from my childhood!  She loves them!

Keturah claims Abishai put these stuffed animals on my red chair.  I actually sat in my red chair for the first time to type up this blog post!  I'm going to use this little area near the fire place as my mini office.  I find that I need to sit on a couch, office chair, or something else soft in order to be comfortable.  Wooden kitchen chairs are the worst for me.  But anyway, I do want to someday get one of those little rocking stools to add to this rocking chair, but last night I put my feet up on a pillow on the fireplace ledge.  It worked really well.

Grandma was cleaning out a closet and found even more cars!  Some of these containers are from Jared and Aaron's childhood and some might have been my brother's.  The cars are from all over the years.  Awesome!

Now, this is what summer is all about!  Water and squirt guns, pools and water tables, screaming when the cold water hits you!  Just don't squirt the baby!

Ah, what a beautiful sight!  We bought the water table in the fall when Abishai was 1 1/2 yrs old but couldn't use it to it's full capacity until now.  Yeah!

First package to arrive at the new house!  It's the part to fix the fridge!

There is a bit of a glare from the front window, but that's ok.  The point of this picture is to show off my inner Martha Stewart and that I spent just $7 at the dollar store for the 7 mini fabric boxes.  I'm not a fan of using space inefficently, but I do like the "white space" between the boxes and the bookcase.  It will need to be rearranged when we add all the electronic equipment, but still, I'm getting better at making things look nice instead of just dealing with it!

Keturah with my sister Stefanie's Beast doll from Beauty and the Beast.

Lots of memories in those dolls that are more than 25 years old!  When you take care of your things, they will last, even when you truck them 1600 miles and back!

This Barbie and her set of gymnastic equipment is from my cousin Laura in the late 70's or early 80's.  Keturah even made the comment that she likes the older Barbies better than the newer ones.  There's a lot of homemade Barbie clothes in there, too, sewed, knitted, or crocheted that my mom made for us.  Sweet!