Year 3, April 8th-9th, 2018: Routine is the Glue of Life

Ah, back to routine! Normal, full Sunday = check!  It definitely feels good to be back at it!  Abishai never did throw up, and he was his normal bouncy self at 7 am, so we are thinking he is just plain exhausted from last week.  He even fell asleep in the recliner this afternoon.  We have a few appointments this week, but nothing out of the ordinary and we have two full days at home as well.  And then we get to work on cleaning out part of the garage (basically rearranging the contents) next Saturday so we can get a water softener and filter on the well water!  Yeah!  We are pretty much caught up on normal life stuff, too, at least for now, lol.

Poor Justin ended up with a headache by the end of the day, but he also felt some social pressure at church.  He got upset at lunch at Gary and Leah's because we are all trying to encourage him to do his arm stretches.  He felt we were picking on him too much.  When we got home, he was still in tears, but finally confessed what was really wrong.  He said he was tired of everyone asking him how his arm is doing but not asking him "about his real life."  Wow, profound!  I told him that sometimes people don't know what to talk about, so they just bring up the obvious.  You don't need to get annoyed, but just answer them briefly and introduce a new topic.  I know I've gotten annoyed when others seem to focus on certain current topics.  "Are you glad to be home?" was a big trigger for me two years ago.  Or, "Are you done having kids?"  Or, "How are you (physically) feeling today?"  People care, but we can take it the wrong way.  Anyway, this whole broken arm thing has taken a mental and emotional toll on Justin, our most sensitive kid.  I just pray that he learns how to cope well with this kind of physical pain, as well as the mental and emotional aspects, because he's going to need to toughen up a bit for the big wide world out there.  I'm certainly glad he finally opened up.  I share it here because I find it amazing how smart kids can be sometimes.  And hopefully he can look back and remember what he's been through and how he can apply what he learned to future issues.

Here's some of the things we've done today.

Keeping his puppy safe and warm under his arm on the way to church this morning.

Despite the cold temps, Leah's flowers are doing great! Our daffodils are fine, but not much else has come up yet.  Jared did a bunch of trimming and tree planting though.

Chaos reigned this afternoon.  Box Monster Justin.

Box Monster Keturah.

We finally put Abishai's Thomas trike together he got at Christmastime.  It's much lighter than his other one and doesn't fit together as well, but it is quieter.  And he can pedal it forward and backward!

Exactly!  When we asked Justin what he learned about in Crave, he said they started a series called "Jesus All."  I said, "What? That makes no sense! Jesus all what?"  Then Benaiah showed me this graphic later on in the afternoon and said, "Jesus ABOVE All, like a mathematical equation."  Oh, ok, now it makes more sense.  I'm still not sure why we have to use all these slogans, but hey, if they remember it, then good on them.

I happened upon Benaiah and Ethan talking to some girls from Benaiah's school.  He said they weren't talking about much, lol.  Ok, then, I'm just happy you're normal and talking to girls just fine, lol.  No, seriously, this is a good thing!

Buds on the trees out front!  The flowers should open this week!

Yeah, my pre order book came!  The highest ranking upline of mine in Lilla Rose wrote a book on having booths at shows or doing vendor event or other kinds of events based on an email series she did.  And it's not just for LR, but all direct sales.  I can't wait to read it!  We probably could have used some of the tips and tricks for this past event, but oh well, now we'll have more to use next time.

And of course it's personally signed!  Love it!

Helping Daddy put together his new bike!

This kid is going to be mechanic or race car drive or truck driver someday, I just know it!

Silly boy!

Vroom, vroom!

I finally remembered to go into Gary and Leah's shed and pull out some toys that were intended to go to my sister's house in NH but never got on the truck.  Jackpot for us!  I knew we had this bucketful of preschool toys filled with puzzles and blocks and an older bowling set from my childhood.  What I didn't know was that we still had some of the large items that go with the old kind of Little People.  My sister has the original house and all the figurines, but we have the castle, garage, and barn here.  I also found a bunch of books, some Thomas cars, and this fire engine that has lights and sounds (which was bought for Benaiah).  We are putting away other toys of course, because we don't have room for everything.

Anybody remember these?  Alphabet blocks!  Some were ours growing up, and I think some were bought for Benaiah.  And this old Fisher-Price camera still works!  You press down on the shutter and it changes the picture inside like a ViewMaster.  Does anyone remember having a real camera like that?  I do!

The music puzzle actually plays a little song when you put the piece into the slot and it was bought for Benaiah.  The rest of them came from my childhood.  These are no flimsy paperboard puzzles!  Pressed board is the material I think.

Monday went fairly smoothly.  I am out of sorts physically, sore and my stomach doesn't know what it wants, so I was moving slow all day.  But I pushed through.  Kids behaved pretty well today, too, with just a little fit here and there.  We made it to Pokemon club as well, and I found myself having more patience and wanting to interact in Abishai's play more than I usually am, so that's a win.  Now I'm just exhausted, so I hope to finish up and go to bed.  I've been waking up with a headache from an intense dream every morning because of being so tired.  Jared watched a Ted talk recently on health and wants us to elimnate more of the junk food, go for a walk every evening after supper, and have better sleep habits and I have to agree, we all need it.  So away we go....

It snowed, AGAIN! It's still pretty.  It's not a nuisance, it's just there.  It melts within a couple of hours.  Everybody stop freaking out.  Spring can include snow.  It's ok.

Beautiful!

Woke up to this!

Ready to come in.

Doggy footprints.

Snow, snow, snow!

When will it warm up?  Soon, very soon, promise.

Abishai played for a long time by himself this morning, allowing me to rest and read and the others to work on their school work.  It pays to switch up the toys once in awhile!  It's harder to build with this blocks, but he did try!  I love the plaid shirt on him, by the way.

Abishai used the dog has a mountain for his cars this morning.  I think he was playing a chasing game where one car was chasing the other.

Good puppy.

Trying to make the most of my time and not on my phone.

Abishai and I also did some workbook pages together.  Woot! Woot!  He colored with his right hand today, which was interesting because we are sure he's a leftie.  (See more pics of the pages below).  He listened so well, too!

At the downtown library, Abishai got into making tea and waffles for me and his friend.

Abishai was showing his friend how to pretend to eat the stuffed waffle instead of putting it in their mouths.  These two got along so well!  The little boy is a younger sibling of one of the other pokemon club players.  They shared well, trading off vehicles, bumping into each other on purpose, running around a bit, but still listening to parents.  #winning

Having tea and waffles with Mommy!

Pretend eating is when you get up close to the object without putting your mouth on it and make smacking sounds.

Just a few of the kids at Pokemon' Club.

Abishai was playing with the green garbage truck like the one we have at home and when he went to play on the stage in front of the green screen, it disappeared! Lol!  He didn't seem to notice.

Abishai loves these "egg" chairs!  He did a decent job of staying quiet, especially when we went up a floor to the cartoon/graphic novels.  "Graphic novels" are kid books that basically a comic book with a bit more of a story line.  I think they make kids lazy readers and try to discourage taking them home.  Kids need to read chapter books with no extra doo dahs and use their imaginations!

Thor's hammer made out of cardboard.  This area was much quieter than the floor below, so I tried to keep Abishai in check.  He ran away from me a couple of times, so we didn't stay up there too long.  There were a few kids trying to read and study.  It was an area with bookshelves that were set up more traditionally rather than the areas downstairs that are more open and flowy, with lots of extras for the kids to do.

We found some extra props at the circulation desk  He loved the dinosaurs and did put them back without a fuss.  Yeah!  Having a stroller for him to sit in, and having paci and blankie helped with the transition.

Peek a boo!

Too cute!

Back at home, this little guy proved once again, that he is Gary Jr., or Gary's mini me!  He kept switching up what chair he was in so he could be on the opposite side of the table from each person.  Then he asked, "Justin, how was your day?" or "What you do today? Pokemon club?" He was asking questions just like Grandpa does! Ok, we ask the same questions, but, I loved how he made it a point to look each person in the eyes and told us to sit down so "I talk to you."  Yes, he can be bossy, strong, and confident.

Abishai also listened very well during our sticker book time!  He even wanted to redo some of the stickers because they weren't on quite right.  He did do the work, too, and was careful with them.  The next pages in this book will have me cutting out the pieces and him gluing them!

"Mommy, there's no little cow!" Nope, there isn't, little guy, good observation!

Abishai drew spaghetti and the plate, but also wanted the cups and bib to have splatters on them as well.

And lastly, this boy makes his momma proud!  He said he did fairly well on 3 out of 4 songs.  He was off by 1 beat on the other one.  He'll hear back from Tom and crew in a couple of days and it could be either, "Yes, you are ready, come join us!" or "Please go work on these few things and come back to us in a couple of months."  I am amazed because I can't bring myself to audition with these semi professional musicians.  It's too intimating!  And you have to remember, Benaiah has taught himself to play drums.  I'm reminded of a boy who joined our young worship band at MCC years ago when he was 12.  He would sometimes speed up or slow down the tempo by accident.  It's amazing though, that these young people have the guts and talent to be serving in a powerful way at church.  Amazing!  We are very proud of you, Benaiah!