Year 2, Day 186: It's the weekend!

Yes, it's the weekend, but that doesn't actually matter that much to me.  Since Jared has been in and out this week working on house projects, sneaking off to church to work for e2, and what not, and since my days pretty much have the same routine, there is not difference.  It's a good thing though.  And it will change when school starts up again.  Sigh.

Let's see, today we had someone look at the crawlspace project, but he can't do it, so Jared made an appointment with another company.  That was at 8 am.  Then he went to work and we got breakfast.  We had an impromptu lunch at the in laws.  Benaiah worked for them today on taking glass out of a broken glass door frame so they can get it replaced and various other jobs.  Then he and Jared started on getting some blinds up in the boys' room, but found it hard to get the brackets in correctly and gave up.  They worked outside on the drain pipes for the downspouts instead while the rest of us just played around.

Oh, Abishai would NOT take his nap today without Daddy's intervention and I almost had to have Daddy intervene again tonight.  He wouldn't me to sleep with him during naptime and he wanted to sleep with Justin tonight.  He's such a cute "delay fish" though!  And, I'll share the video, but he pulled out a yellow and black transforming car from a box and said in a normal tone like he's been saying this word forever, "Awesome!"  He's mental abilities are increasing rapidly right now.  He hasn't done much more physically that I can tell.  Potty training will be the next big leap there.  But it's so cute when he says something new and all 5 of us go "Awwww, you're so cute!"  And at dinner tonight, he kept standing on his chair and yelling above the rest of our chit chat, "Ta da!" with his arms up in the air and everything!  And he said, "Abishai sausage" about his sausage that he was eating.  Abishai made up his own version of "truck" that I can't share on here.  It doesn't start with an "F" but it does have a different meaning.  Oh, and he wants to give kisses now on the lips!  We'll be encouraging him to kiss cheeks instead.

Anyway, Justin didn't seem overly tired today after getting in at 11 pm last night.  He seemed happy and content and had a good time at CIY.  He wasn't pouring out stories though like Benaiah did last week.  And that's ok.  I'm sure he's internalized a lot.  And he missed his Pokemon and fidget spinners and such, so that's all he wanted to talk about.  But he did say he tried out a friend's skateboard (longboard) and wants one for his birthday or Christmas.  I said sure! I'll put it on the wishlist! Benaiah went through a skateboard phase, and so did my brother.  It's a neat mode of transportation.  Justin did say the speakers were good and that he sang with every song and that there were lots of flashy lights on the last night.  He got along with his suitemates just fine and he even found another friend who likes Pokemon!  So, CIY Mix was a win for Justin!

Oh, and I spent my afternoon making plans for our vacation in August to upper Michigan.  I scoped out beaches and grocery stores and hiking trails.  And the coolest thing is that I made the plans in the notes section of my phone and added the family members that will be there and they can now comment and edit the note, too!  I printed out a list of menus from the tourist guide and will go through them to see what would be paleo friendly and what wouldn't be.  We usually only eat out once or twice on vacation.  Otherwise, we save money and cook at our accommodations. So now, I'm super excited about vacation!  We haven't had a big vacation in 2 years! I know it will be tough on me to travel far and do things, but it will also feel great to have a change of scenery and be near water and forests again.  I can't wait!

First picture with the new phone! Featuring our big, big probably male bunny.  And his mate was just there as well.  Gary and Leah have a chipmunk and squirrel problem.  We have bunnies.  And we love them.

Aw, he's all ready for naptime.  It's very warm in his room, but he insists on three blankets.  I think he throws them off eventually.

But, as I closed the door, he kept crying out for Mommy.  So I laid down and snuggle him.  20 minutes later, I try to get up because he wasn't settling and he said, "Mommy nap.  Mommy stay.  Abishai go."  He put me to bed!  He even got up, left the room and shut the door!  Boogger!

He kept patting my arm and pulling it around him for hugs.  Then he started kissing me and thought it was funny.  He kept turning into me like when he was an infant.  And I allowed all of it.  Someday, they will think they are too old for these kinds of snuggles.  I cherish the days where I can take the time to soak it all in like I did today.

Hm,...I wonder if I should keep this book with a Donald Trump quote in it.  I didn't realize it was a secular book.  It's a decent quote, but I'm not sure he lives up to it.  None of us have read this book, so I think it's going in the give away pile.

Here's the title.  Lots of contributors from all walks of life.  Short stories, poems, quotes, songs, etc.

Abishai did the same thing to Justin as he did earlier to me today and snuggled up close with lots of arm patting, hugging and kisses.  Oh, and farting noises as well.

First thing this morning, Abishai found and pulled out his puzzles!  Yeah!  My plan worked!  The floor was cleaned the night before, so he had plenty of space to work.  AND nothing was in front of the bookcase, so he could easily see them.  It's awesome to see that my efforts translate into something good like this!

I found a bucket of money in my desk stuff, so I gave most of the coins to Keturah to sort.  There are American and Canadian coins in the bucket.  Then I gave a few coins to Abishai with a piggy bank that doesn't have a plug in the bottom so he could practice fine motor skills by putting the coins in the bank.  Great toy!

Hm, how does this work?

Aw, look at those fingers working hard!

Uh oh, this looks like trouble on our hilly driveway!  The front axle does not turn anymore, so we don't use it much.  My parents bought it for the kids though, so I'd like to see it repaired at some point.  They actually didn't end up going down to the driveway when I explained to them that they would have no control.

Aw, family time on this gorgeous evening!  The weather had cooled off significantly, the bugs were at a minimum, and wow, just wow!

I found these two holes near the back fence.  I'm not sure if Jared or Benaiah made them, or they are some creature's nest.  Jared also found another large hole near our back porch that might be a bunny's nest.

Cutting tubing for drainage.  I hope we do bury them this time.  We had something like this in the Beech Grove house and it was a pain to mow around them.

Yup, sitting in the water again.  Actually, we need to watch how much time he spends in the water because he had a rough time at diaper changes.  And I think there's a rash on his tummy, too, that could be related to the water.  But we will have to watch that rash because it could be something else.

Who needs swimming lessons?  Not our family!  All our kids have learned how to swim just by being in the water.  Keturah can now go in the deep end and such.  I can't wait to see how much she can do at the cottage on vacation.  Abishai loves the water, and doesn't mind getting water in his face or floating on his back.  We can't wait to show Miss Mary, who does teach swimming lessons, how much Abishai already knows!

He made the cutest sound of "woe, woe, woe" when trying to balance on the boogie board.

Abishai saying "Awesome"

Abishai kicking in the water and standing on the boogie baord: