Abishai woke up today and at first wanted Daddy to get him breakfast, but then he snuggled back down with me and dozed off a bit. After Daddy and Benaiah left for school, we got up and almost immediately Abishai wanted to lie down in the middle of the living room with a towel. He was a little warm and I was afraid that he was going to throw up. Thankfully, he didn't, and he felt better as the day went on. But I wasn't about to travel 30 minutes from home to take Keturah to gymnastics with the threat of the stomach bug hanging over my head. I didn't sleep well last night because I was so sore from our field trip on Monday. Thankfully, Jared came to the rescue and took Keturah and Justin to gymnastics for me (Justin plays with the siblings of one of the gymnasts). While Abishai watched TV and ate some carbs, I went through all my pants and I was able to make a "too big/maternity" pile! I also pulled out pants that were too small that I probably wouldn't wear because I don't like that style anymore. I might save those for Keturah. Then I do have another "too small" pile because I'm hoping to loose another 10 lbs maybe in the next year. My goal is to get rid of enough clothes so that I don't have to do a seasonal switch. I have more to purge, but it happens one thing at a time.
Then when the kids got home, we hustled through school. Abishai went off to a nap a little earlier than normal and then we were able to squeeze in a history lesson! Then I was off to another appointment while Grandma babysat. When I came home, Abishai was upset that Grandma was leaving and asked to go with her. So, after some supper, she took him with her to the grocery store (brave Grandma). The rest of us were off to church for Bible Bowl and quiet time and finishing up office stuff. Now everybody's in bed, Benaiah's typing a paper, and I get to finish up early since I didn't take many pictures today.
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| I don't feel good. I need towel. |
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| Sad baby eyes. |
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| He almost fell asleep here. |
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| Finishing up his tv watching. He didn't move much from the couch and floor until after naptime today. Pitiful. Not himself. |
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| Aw, snuggly. |
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| Starting to feel better. He kept moving the board closer and closer to Justin and then telling Justin to move. Hm,..do you want to be close or not? Justin has been watching YouTube videos on how to draw Pokemon' characters. He's getting pretty good! |
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| Jared and Benaiah have an inside joke where when Benaiah "dabs" Jared chases him. Benaiah acted incredibly goofy as he tried to get away from Jared after Bible Bowl. |
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| Justin and his drawing briefcase. He wants to try and sell some of his Pokemon' drawings, too. It's so funny to see him carry this big thing around all the time! But awesome all at the same time! Art! Business! Great stuff! |
We have some really busy weeks coming up, so the next few days will be spent doing smaller projects in preparation for them, as well as pushing hard into school so we can take time off when we need to. Part of preparation is actually just making a plan as to when all of the work will get done, i.e. prioritizing. I still use the strategy my 4th grade school counselor taught me about how to take the end date and go backwards, writing down each piece that needs to get done every day. And that's how I rarely had any almost late papers college. I knew that I needed to print my papers before the front desk closed in my dorm room the night before, or even the afternoon before the class it was due. I didn't want to take the risk that a printer wouldn't work and I would have to go clear across campus or something to get it done. And I've transferred that knowledge to every home class/party I do, vacations, big meals, etc I like to be efficient and you can't be efficient and effective without a plan.
And even when you have a plan, it sometimes doesn't work out. You can have a budget for your finances and sometimes, something still goes majorly wrong. Sigh. I'm not going to lie, finances are tight, but I don't want to say we are poor. My parents often claimed they were poor when in fact, they were in the upper middle class. We are in the lower middle class and well, it's tough. And I thought I had it better handle this paycheck, and I didn't. Jared and I will be combing through our expenses over the next week or so and finding and correcting the issues. "Put a name to every dollar," Dave Ramsey says. (I used to listen to his radio show on my way home from work on the northside of Indy a couple of times a week). We can do this. But we have to say, "no," more often and we aren't really saying "yes!" to much either. It's all part of the adjustment process of moving back to the States and settling in. Yes, we might be 17 months into coming back, but our permanent move was only 5 months ago. It still feels a bit unsettling. But each piece is getting put in it's place. I just need to quit panicking every time I think I feel I'm been caught red handed when I buy a pop or a Christmas gift that I don't "need." It might have been a mistake, sure, but it isn't the end of the world. It's just money.
Which brings me to another topic. I'm glad I have saved clothes from when I was smaller and I now have clothes in a bigger size in case I get bigger (for any reason). I save us tons of money carting that stuff around! I'm trying to fit it into just one or two totes, but totes can hold a lot! 20 pairs of jeans? Even at Goodwill prices, that's a lot of money! So sometimes, saving things for 10 years might just pay for some day. I do ask myself sometimes, "Could I just re buy this if I really needed it?" And a lot of times, yes, I could. But in the leaner years, (which this feels like a leaner year), no, I really can't go out and celebrate my weight loss with a new wardrobe. I'll just make do with what I have saved. And I'm ok with that.
One last story, the day was going well and Abishai went down for his nap. 20 minutes later he comes out of his room and says, "Mommy, clean up!" Oh no, what does that mean?! He had a bloody nose! Thankfully, it was dried up by the time he came to me, and most of the blood was on his face and hands and not on clothes or pillows or his freshly washed blankie. But then, he wouldn't settle back down for the rest of his nap. Ugh! How am I supposed to do school with a loud, distracting toddler?! We managed to finish up, thankfully. But Abishai was beyond tired by 7pm, poor thing. I wanted him to show Daddy his watercolor paintings, but he wanted to actually paint again! And when I said, "No," he started to sob. Yup, bedtime, kid. You needed a nap today. Oh, I did tell him to at least stay in his room for a little bit for "quiet time" just in case we are starting the transition to no naps, and he did! We heard the door knob a couple of times, but didn't get up to help him because he can turn it himself and get out. He may have played with his cars for a bit, too. But the point is, I need a break from the Tasmanian devil every day, and I need that pattern to stay intact. Daily savings time as really messed with him this time, too.
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| Frost on the ground, dew on the window! So, I yes, I wrote his name and made a smiley face and then he drew a circle. Fingerprints are wonderful! I'm not being sarcastic either. I don't mind this kind of clean activity. |
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| Abishai followed Daddy outside only to discover that it's freezing, literally, outside. But Canadian boy braved it anyhow! |
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| Frosty! |
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| Good morning! The best thing about a) having a teen and husband that leaves by 7 am and b) having a toddler that gets up with them and c) our bedroom and living room windows facing east, is that we can see the sunrise! And we have some gorgeous mature trees on this street! Another advantage of living in an older neighborhood with one level ranch homes. More biology and botany, less manmade monstrosities. |
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| I had no idea that I capture this much sunlight this morning. We waited over an hour for the garbage man to drive by today! Or maybe we had woken up super early. But we finally did see him. And the dog, who could be fast asleep, but comes running at the littlest sound of the door opening. Gotta protect the herd! #sheepdogforlife |
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| Yes! Mommy finally did something fun that was on her list! Watercolor painting! These kinds of activities were easy to incorporate in our days when we had only 1 or 2 kids. But 4 kids? With so many different needs? Poor last child. But anyway, he LOVED IT!!!!! And he did listen for the most part. I had to keep telling myself that all kids will use too much water at first and all kids were mix the colors by accident. And yes, this kids is a lefty and we already knew it. |
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| Yeah for an east facing door with etched glass in it! Rainbows in the living room! |
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| "Dive, dive, dive!" - The Penguins in the original Madagascar movie. Abishai kept saying "dive" and being the Mom of 4 kids I am who has seen most major cartoon movies of the last 15 years, this phrase is the one I think of when someone says, "dive." And yes, he dove in. Yeah for garage that acts like a bonus room! (Sorry, cars, you'll have to stay out in the cold this year. I promise, by next year, you can come in). |
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| Maybe someday I'll do a special blog post and take a picture of what we are doing every single hour or something. But for once, we all sat down for lunch together. A lot of times, people are bouncing between school subjects and being distracted by Abishai or their iPod/iPhone. Most of the time, I'll make suggestions (or insist on) leftovers for lunch and the middle two can make their own lunch, including veggies to round it out. And at least for today, Abishai ate his lunch at the table. I don't force him, too, but I prefer it. He is also allowed to eat certain things in the living room. |
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| So, after the bloody nose, we had to finish up our reading with Abishai in the room since he already had had his TV time earlier in the day. He decided it was the perfect time to use his siblings as hurdles. They loved it, by the way! And this is why I tend to complain that school takes all day! Abishai is a fun distraction and it's hard for me to hold back and not say "get back to work." They need this sibling play time, too. But he also needs to learn to be quiet and respectful. And that's why this year is one of the toughest I've had with them all. |
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| Is he a budding artist? Don't know. But I love that I can allow him to use things like wipeboard markers because he's willing to use them properly, only on the board, and recap them well when he's done. |
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| 'Miah's home! It must be playtime! 'Miah, play (with) me! Abishai knows how to put the gun up to his eye so he can target his next enemy. He carries that gun around like a boss. And it's his favorite gun because it lights up and he can actually pull the trigger to make the sound effects. |
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| Boys love to run and wrestle. JK teensy-ness is Benaiah's nickname for Justin. Abishai seems to be saying, "Is it my turn yet? I get 'em!" |
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