Year 2, Day 251: The Eye of the Storm

Yes, Sunday, September 10th, 2017 Hurricane Irma hits all of Florida.  I have family in south Florida.  I have friends in Orlando.  I have friends of Aaron (and Jared worked for him) in Gainesville. I have a friends' kids at college in Pensecola.  And I have numerous Lilla Rose friends, including my own upline (who did evacuate) all over Florida, Georgia, South Carolina.  This storm is the worst storm I can remember.  It was a category 4 storm when it hit the southern tip this afternoon.  120 mph winds and it stretches from one coast of Florida to the other.  I am afraid, and I don't even live there.  But, I can't watch the storm all day.  I have life to live here where the weather is a perfect 70 degrees with a light wind and gorgeous blue skies.  I have a garage to rearrange.  We need to take kids to activities this evening.  We have school and work tomorrow.  And yet, our friends and family are not safe.  At least this time, a lot of evacuations and preparations happened days before the storm.  Hopefully that will decrease the number of people stranded.  They opened up all the lanes of major highways to only go north, not south, and still there was gridlock as a quarter of the population left.  The last remnants of Irma will be felt by us later in the week.  And Jose is not far behind.  I even saw a video today of how the combination of low tide and the storm surge emptied out a beach of it's water showing the ocean floor where you normally wouldn't see it, meaning you could see bouys, conch shells and anchor ties.  Wow, just wow!

And yet, as Aaron's friend share in an article, we can't fixate on the storm.  We have hope of survival while we prepare for the worst because God is on our side. We keep our eyes on Jesus, and pray for uncommon peace, uncommon wisdom, and uncommon faith in God.  I do have to say though, that I would rather be in a snowstorm that cuts off power for days than a hurricane, tornado, earthquake (Mexico had a huge one this week, too) or wildfire (there's another big one roaring through Washington state right now).  And as we closed out the sermon on the mount this weekend at church, we have two choices, Jesus and Heaven or no Jesus and Hell.  You'll have to listen to the sermon online this week, but apparently, Gary used the word "wusses" today at the 11am service, which set the behind the scenes tech room into an uproar of laughter.  I bet Gary was just being his very passionate self because this topic, more than any other, matters the most and I believe the context was that we just need to tell our friends and family about Jesus! So stop being wusses and do it!

So, we listen to the updates, check in with our friends, pray, trust, and move on.  And we did.  Jared and I had to move around some more things in the garage in order to prepare for the termite guy to do his thing and also have places to put more boxes from storage in there at the same time.  That means we had to leave all the seams where the termites have been on the garage floor exposed so he can spray them.  That's pretty difficult when you'd rather cluster having together in one big pile.  But we did it and put more away in the shed.  And just the two of us, while Justin and Benaiah were at church volunteering and Keturah kept an eye on Abishai outside and then watched some "Blippi" videos inside.  "Blippi" is a Canadian based show where a 20 something dresses up in a clownish outfit and basically acts like a 5 year old.  They talk about colors and show how to clean monster trucks and go through indoor play lands, etc.  It's extremely goofy, but Abishai is learning from it and loves it!  Ok, then!

Naps, and then Jared dropped the older boys and I off at Skyzone and then took Abishai and Keturah to Meijer and then to church for Keturah's choir rehearsal.  The youth group literally rented out all of Skyzone for two hrs, including 1 hr beyond their normal Sunday hours.  I think they've done this for a couple of years now.  I was thanking the manager (owner?) for staying open late and for playing Christian music for us and he said he loves having us (the youth group) and asked when we'll be back since we've been there 3 times in 10 days.  He's really a nice guy and the place is run well.  Super clean and safe.  I made sure the boys thanked at least some of the employees as well.  But seriously, we packed the place because usually I think there are 200 spots per hour and I know that we have more than 200 middle schoolers and more than 200 high schoolers.  The middle schoolers jumped for the first hour and the high schoolers jumped for the 2nd hr.  Actually, I could have jumped, too, but was content just to take some pictures and videos because I needed to read my book for book club next Saturday and watch our stuff.  They have lockers, but it's a one use kind.

Bubba picked Abishai and Abishai ran in mid-air until Benaiah's arms ached!

Wrestling time with Benaiah!

Time for a throw down!

Or let's fly!

Time to land!

Let's get Justin!

Perfect shepherd's pie!  The way my mom makes it with just browned ground beef on the bottom, veggies in the middle (she used just green beans, I use whatever I have on hand and this time it was corn and peas), and instant mashed potatoes with parsley, almond milk, and regular salted butter.  Keturah and I love it and everybody else does it, but Jared isn't a fan of casseroles so I don't make it often.  It also lasts for another meal, too.

Doggie loves his little baby and is waiting for him to get up from his nap.  He's very protective.

Wow!  I'm so glad I didn't pick this the other day.  I had gently pulled on it and it was firmly still connected and I thought to myself, surely it would be easier to get off if it was ripe.  It was starting to turn colors and I was afraid I had left it on too long, but nope, it is a red pepper not a green one!  Sweet!  And full size, too!

The tomatoes are getting there.  Kind of late, but they are there.

Is this a piano or a garage?1  Cute!

Yup, every single big gap in the black keys had a car.

Skyzone time!  Big one let me take photos of him.  He did the 8 ft wall fine.

And got up the 10 ft.

His extra tall and string bean of a friend David gt up the 12 ft wall.

But David cheated the first time.

One of my friends Marnie got up the 10 ft wall with a bit of help from the 8 ft wall.  Their youngest child is a year older than Benaiah.  That's no small feat!

Ethan's turn!

Again, using the other wall as a help.

Benaiah's 12 ft wall trial.  Nope!  It's harder on the heavier kids because they have to pull that weight up there.  I heard that our favorite Sam I Am (who is in his 50's) got up the 10 ft wall, too.  But it's the younger, smaller kids that scale up these things no problem.

There ya go, nailed it!

And without cheating!

Justin planning out his Minecraft building while Benaiah jumps.

Benaiah's project for aerospace class.

You are supposed to drop it from high up in the air I think.

Keturah got her choir CD tonight, so she wanted to practice her dance moves and play the songs for me.

Abishai just happened to be wearing his St. Martin shirt today which was hit heavily by Hurricane Irma.  I am talking utter destruction and years and years of rebuilding.

Naked legs!

Bwahahaha! You never know what you'll find on and in your child's things.  Where on earth did he get this nickname? Justin "the Juice Man"?  So silly!

Yes! We tried the underwear thing today!  Mommy lasted through 2 pairs and 2 accidents and 45 minutes and then quit.  I hate potty training and I don't have any full days at home where I can concentrate on it.  So, I jumped in to see how he would react to being wet.  He wasn't interested.  He did show me the spot in the living room where the pee was.  But the second time, he walked over to the potty in the dining room, slammed the lid down, walked over in front of the stove, and peed there.  Say what?! I've never done a potty chart, but I think I might try with this one.  I don't really know if he's ready, either.  I just thought I would try.  But this picture will look cute at his wedding reception someday.

Cars everywhere!  Even outside on the playground!

Wow the garage looks great!  But we need to put 39 boxes, literally, of all sizes in here still.  And no, I doubt we will get a car in here for winter.  Not unless we invest in a ton of Rubbermaid totes so we can put it in the shed.

Jared's job: his tools.  We haven't cleaned the cabinets or put much in there yet, plus we haven't cleaned off the workbench from the previous owner.  And yes, that's termite damage on the wall up there.  So, your turn, husband, to organize your stuff!

Another day, another whole peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with two pieces of bread eaten by little boy Abishai! He finished the pieces of bread after I took the picture.  And I think, today was the first time I cut a whole sandwhich into triangles for him.  Either that, it's been a year since I did it.  I was like, "Oh yeah, I can do that fun trick for the toddler again! Yippee!"  I always loved cutting up my sandwhich like this.  Fun!

Some dirty children have been in my fridge.  Not quite a foot print, and it was sticky and could have been a spill, but I have seen real footprints in here before.  Plus, the area where Abishai would put his hands was extremely dirty, too.  Food thief!

Take a selfie, silly boy!  Actually, I thanked Benaiah for not being embarrassed when I talked to him or said something to his friends, Ethan, Dylan, or David.  It was fun seeing many, many kids come up to him, shake his hand, give him that boy hug thing, etc. and realizing again I have a popular boy, not an introvert like me.  Not every teenager is ok having their mom around.

Benaiah and his friends.  Beating each other up is one of their favorite things to do.

Benaiah usually loses though.

"Short" guy on the left, super tall skinny guy on the right.  Benaiah thinks he's short, but he's taller than Jared, who is average height.  He just has extra tall friends.  And I think David grew several inches over the summer.

I went down the ramp and explored a bit today.  Justin wanted me to take his picture while he jumped.  His friend Kylie is in the background.  Yes, Kylie from the birthday a week or so ago.  Justin did hang out with some guy friends, too.

This is what it looks like when the Creek takes over the whole building at Skyzone!

Skyjoust!  The high school minister and his wife actually got on these too!  I could see Jared and I trying it.  Or not.  But Justin and Kylie are fairly evenly matched.  Kylie claims she wins most of the time though.

More jumping for Justin.

And Kylie.

There he goes again.

Mr. Lanky Kid.

And one last picture for Abishai of a tour bus similar to the buses on Tayo, the Little Bus.  This one usually is red and is named "Ceeto" or "Seeto" and he is the little buses mentor.  When Jared came back to pick us up, I had him bring in Abishai to see the place, although he couldn't jump.  I think Abishai would try it, but he kept saying, "Later" which is cute because he knew he couldn't do it now, but is he talking about when he's bigger?  Is he procrastinating?  Oh well, we will come back for toddler time at some point.  But for now, we are done with Skyzone for awhile.  We love it, but the entry fee adds up fast, especially when more than 1 family member goes.  Until next time!