Year 2, Day 178: Monday, Monday

I'm writing this midday so I don't forget.  Plus I'm procrastinating on unboxing books and giving myself a rest because it's been a busy morning!  I honestly wasn't on the computer all morning although we were home because it was just that kind of morning.  Crazy!  I woke up dizzy, I think from an ear infection.  But after doing some research, I refuse to go to a walk in clinic for an antibiotic because those appointments cost $100, and that's just the start!  That's nuts!  So, after being frustrated with that, I didn't need what happened next.  Abishai got a hold of a long pole that went to Keturah's Barbie swing set and put it in his mouth.  Well, he fell, so it must have hit a gum or cheek because he screamed in pain for an hour!  "Mouth hurt! Mouth hurt!"  And he wouldn't give up his paci or keep his fingers out to let the boo boo settle down.  I tried orajel and then finally gave him some motrin.  Then I texted Leah to see if she had jell-o because we didn't have any.  She had that, and she had just made pudding for cream puffs.  I was just going to send Justin over to get it, but since we had nowhere to go and Abishai's always asking to go to Ice Cream's house, I thought it would be a good distraction for all of us to walk over there, including the dog.  Leah loved that!  And so did Socks and the kids!  It's a very slow walk when Abishai is either walking or biking, but that's ok.  Again, we had nowhere to go and it distracted him long enough for his mouth to start healing.  It's times like these that make me smile and helps me have a better attitude for being here, in Indiana, in this house, in this neighborhood.  As Gary reminded me last night, they didn't remodel their whole house at once either.  They have lived there 28 years and counting, and there's always something that needs fixing.  It's just life.

Then we got home and I started cleaning Princess Sparkles mess in her room, untangled and put up the solar system mobile, which was surprisingly still in good shape all the way from Charlottetown, and getting Abishai to eat a little bit of something before naptime.  Meanwhile, Jenna, the neighborhood friend, came over and they are now playing outside with Barbies in the pool having a great time on this 72 degree, partly cloudy day!  Socks is out and running around off his leash, too.  And Abishai finally settled for a nap after being super crazy.  He does understand and settles down fairly easily every day.  Sometimes he protests a little, but it's not for long.  He know he needs the nap and then he's ready for the rest of the day.  And he's usually down for 3 hrs because he plays so hard!

Alrighty, I'm caffeinated and drugged (tramadol pain med), so let's go get some books on the shelves and put this schoolroom together!  Another thing I have to remember when it comes to how much stuff I have is that if I didn't homeschool, I wouldn't have this big library of books and craft supplies.  We have made this choice to homeschool, with all that it entails, and to live on one income, which is hard to do in this economic climate.  Both of which, I wouldn't give up for the world.  So, in time, I will learn to be more content and patient, because wow, girls playing outside can scream a ton when they are having fun!  I'm so glad they are outside and NOT on an electronic!  Praise the Lord!  And they both have friends with parents that allow them to go back and forth between the two streets (after telling parents of course).  There's lots of blessings, even when both toilets leak, and there are ants, and spiders, and sloping floors.  Now back to work.

And now.....I'm exhausted!  Friends were in and out.  Abishai woke up in pain from his morning mouth injury.  I emptied 4 boxes (sort of) of books, and placed some books in the fireside room that don't really go in the school room.  They will be resorted and purged maybe.  My lower back is aching and throbbing from bending over and making sure the dog and the toddler don't wander off and messing with a pool and cleaning up towels and and and.  I'm declaring tomorrow a "no friend" day.  I'll need a nap or just some lying down time, even if I have a good night's sleep tonight.  And Keturah is starting to show a need for alone time.  We'll hopefully make it to Taco Tuesday for Justin at lunchtime, but that's it.

And we walked over to Ice Cream's house again tonight because Abishai missed his siblings, who were gone for maybe an hour at that point.  I met two new moms today as well, and Abishai got licked by one of their Boston Terriers, and kept going back for more licks!  Oh, and I captured the sweetest, most perfect video of Abishai's best new words and phrases today.  AND he said, "um" on the phone today to Daddy when Daddy asked him a question, before he gave his answer.  Adorable!

It was one of those red posts that ended up in Abishai's mouth, stabbing his gum or cheek.  Very painful to eat or suck on his paci or sippy cup.

On our way home from Grandma's house, 3 kids and a dog.

Gorgeous day outside!

I'm pretty sure Abishai set all of these up himself.  I'll have to verify that with the kids in the morning.

He set them up just so he could plow them all down again of course.

Abishai ate kale chips!  I love vegetable (non potato) chips!

Keturah spotted the solar system display we made a few years ago, and nabbed it for her room.  Lucky for her, there were already hooks in the ceiling I could hang it from without it hitting the fan.  It does slowly spin when the fan is on which is cool.

I think Justin finally has it in him to sort his Lego bricks by color (and size maybe?).  It's what a master builder does.  He's much more into the Legos than Benaiah was and I think he could be a master builder and make displays and such.

I told Abishai to go to his bed for night time and then went off to do something.  This is what I found a few minutes later!  He "made" his bed on the couch!  Um, no, you can't do that.  I've tried just letting it go and running it with it, but it just prolongs bedtime.  

Abishai does this thing where he rubs his blankie through his toes.  I hope he isn't doing it to clean his toys.  Ew! No, it's just a comfort thing since his blankie is too  small to cover him properly.  Awww.  Oh, and, he wanted to give himself his own medicine out of the dropper tonight.  He knew how to make it plunge, maybe because he's been using the water squirtters outside.  Either way, as he tells me, he's a "big" boy.  Sigh.  Yes you are and you have the bumps and bruises and scrapes on your knees, head and inside your mouth to prove it.  And then you just get up and keep on moving.  Except today.  The pain was intolerable today.  I couldn't even find the wound, so it could have been a papercut kind of size.  I have no idea.  Poor guy.  Now off to your own bed, little man.  Good night.