Year 3, April 10th-12th, 2018: Title Unknown

I personally have had a rough week recovering from the frigid cold event I did last weekend, but nobody has time to hear me complain once again, so I'll move on.

Life is back to normal and routine.  Abishai has been more exhausted than usual though.  And he's getting very cranky and passes out by 7:30/8 every night and doesn't get up until 7am.  Like today, Wednesday, Grandma took him to have a playdate with Hunter and they played at a playground.  Then he hung out with Grandma at her house until 3.  That means that yes, I didn't have to chase him at " 'nastics track" today, yeah! Plus it was quiet this afternoon, which was good because I wasn't feeling good and Keturah had felt queasy from the drive to gymasntics.  She recovered, finished her schoolwork, had her screen time, and then went with Granmda to a fundraising dinner.  The boys had Bible Bowl, and Jared, Abishai and I spent some time out in the church parking lot walking and running around.

Earlier in the day, Benaiah had taken that classical education driven test and he finished it in 40 minutes.  It's supposed to take 2 hrs.  He said he didn't understand a lot of it.  I was sure he knew or could guess more of the math.  I took issue with the way the guys set it up and proctored it, and we argued over it in general, but Benaiah did come back and apologize and reaffirmed that he appreciates that he was homeschooled and said sorry for not being a better student, etc.  I don't like to write about our disagreements, but this one deescalated quicker than normal, so it's proof we are all maturing.

Speaking of maturing, Jared is really into getting rid of the junk food and going for walks in the evening.  The Christmas holiday through Easter brings a lot of candy with it and our physiques are testament of that.

Thursday was a gorgeous day!  We spent a lot of the day outside, which was both invigorating and exhausting.  I swapped out a couple of toy bins, and Abishai is super happy about it!  But my back isn't so happy about it.  And then I'm not happy about my back, etc. etc....moving on now...
to....allergy season!  Oh joy!  Lots of kleenix, some meds, essential oils, and hot tea.  It was 70 degrees F today, but will be in the 50's next week.  It's going to rain on Saturday, so hopefully we can get our garage project done with out tearing each other apart.  I want it done, but I'm not looking forward to saying "do this, do that" knowing I can NOT do a single physical thing and I need contentment with whatever they do.  Contentment with the "good enough" or "not done my way" is very hard for me, so we'll see how it goes.  I have a facial appointment tomorrow that was gifted to me, so I'm hoping that helps start me off in a calm way.

Abishai is exhausted every day by suppertime, and it's a great thing!  His appetite is huge!  And so is Justin's!  Justin ate a 1/2 of a 12 inch frozen pizza for lunch!  But he and Keturah enjoyed outdoor time, too.  And we finished the day with taking our family trip to the grocery store and then Benaiah went  to an overnight lock in at the school.  We should be able to finish up school tomorrow just fine since we had two "at home all days" this week.

Now, if I could only get my phone to connect to wifi long enough to sync up the videos, that would be prefect!

Good morning, snuggle butt.

Most mornings include this.

Abishai wanted to get out the rest of the items we found in Grandma's shed.  I thought I had sent these to my sister's house, and I think they were intended to go there, but they didn't fit on the truck 6 years ago and got stuck at my in laws.  SO, we get to play with them instead!  All from my childhood, except the firehouse which I think came from Jared's house.  My sister does have the original Little People house and all the figures and cars and stuff we had.  We do have the Little People garage as well.  Abishai has thoroughly enjoyed using his cars in them all!

They were in a cardboard box, and of course, I had opened it at some point, and they had been moved several times within the shed, and bugs and probably mice have gotten in the box, so....they were very dirty.  I used up half of a magic eraser on this castle alone, but it was worth it.

Much better!  They could have also had residue on them from my mom's smoking all the years.

Oh, and I had sent the Thomas tracks to my sister, but since she already had the trains, our trains got put in this box as well.  This box might have been intended for my brother, too, but I can't remember.  Abishai did find two figurines and a matchbox car in the dragon cave that I'm sure the other boys had gotten stuck there years ago.

Playing is hard work!  Jared was out for whatever reason, so I had to do bedtime.  Abishai was only in the chair for like 2 minutes when Keturah noticed he was falling asleep and covered him with the blanket.  He was out in a minute.  He plays so hard and for so long now without a nap that he literally knocks out by 8 every night and gets up with the sun at 7.  He will fall asleep in the car often still.  Or nap in the chair at Grandma's house.  I think he's in a growth spurt as well because he's eating a ton, sleeping a ton, and everything seems smaller on him.

Socks seems to enjoy being outside for his naptime, too.  I will find him either here or on the grass next to the sidewalk.  It's more peaceful out here for him, too.  But I'm sure he'll want back inside once the weather is hot.

Watching a big, fat squirrel hang out on the fence!

Like I said, a very, very, hungry little boy!

All I can envision is the little boy on "A Christmas Story" eating his mashed potatoes and meatloaf like a little piggy.  Bwahahahaha!!!

No, he did NOT stay in that seat when we drove.  But he looks so big and ready! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE him in plaid shirts!  Adorable!

It's official spring.  I see dandelions.  I hear lawn mowers.  And....

I see pollen everywhere!  And my seasonal allergies are out of control!!

He's the king of e2!  Just kidding, but the boxes of books make a great climbing spot!

We took a walk during Bible Bowl this week.  Abishai is still obsessed with messing with piles of rocks.  We left some on the trailer hitch at the back of the church.  I was thinking we would walk the perimeter of the parking lot because I think it's almost a mile, but it was very windy and we lasted about 15 minutes before going back inside.

Sweet!

Grandma and Keturah found some Minion and Gru pez candy dispensers at Ollie's and Abishai loves them!  He doesn't realize that you are supposed to put candy in them.  He plays with them like other characters, having fights like "I'm taller, no, I'm taller!" and then the Minions also eat bananas.

Cheering Keturah onward on her bike.  It's gotten significantly warmer this week!  We'll be back down into the 50's and 60's, but it's nearly 70 and 75 today and the next couple of days!

Keturah finally finished an art project for an ancient civilization (India I think) from back in the fall.  So now she can get out her pottery stuff!  Finally!

Warm enough for shorts, no shoes, and everyone being outside!

Just for fun and because we had time, we put the laundry on the clothesline today.  They dried very quickly.  Plus, the sun can bleach out some of that iron in the whites.  I can't wait to get our water treatment stuff this month!

We were outside when the garbage truck came!  And we got to see it dump the front bucket into the back!  Next week we are visiting a garbage facility and get to see some of the process of what happens to our trash.  This field trip is for Abishai, but the middles will be dragged to it, probably complaining, but so be it.  Hopefully it will make us all a little more appreciative of these hard working people!

Not only does Abishai like the original Little People but Justin and Jared had fun with them, too.  Keturah has been messing with it all day as well.  I love that we can rotate the toys and make them seem fresh and new again.

Fire houses are great for matchbox cars.

Sandbucket in the sandbox, who knew? Yeah!

Very impressive spider web on my windowsill in our bedroom.  I didn't have the heart to clean it up.  Why?  Because I often find flies on the windowsills so hopefully the spiders can catch a few of them, too.  I have cleaned this windowsill about every month, so I'm surprised this web has gotten so big!  It looked kind of cool in the sunshine, too.  We did open the other windows but this window doesn't have a screen on it, so it's best if we keep it closed anyway.  Don't worry, I do clean and dust these things 99% of the time.  I just thought I'd leave this one alone for once.  Just admiring the Creator's wonderful design.  (and I did kill a little spider on our dining room table the next day, fyi, because I didn't want it crawling on my food! So, I'm not completely crazy.  Or am I?)