Year 3, April 30th-May 2nd, 2018: Undoing the Hurt

Ouch! Again!  I woke up in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, April 30th, with my neck and shoulders locked up again.  I felt pain in my upper forearm, so I must have slept on it.  This is the exact pain I had back in October while we were at our getaway, but this time, it radiated down to past my ribcage on the left side of the back.  And, it has caused dizziness!  The pain is a 9 out of 10, 10 being the worst pain ever.  And I've tried every pain killer and essential oil I have and it still is a 7 or so when I move my head suddenly.  It seemed to get worse overnight into Tuesday, so I woke up and kind of panicked asking friends and family what chiropractor I could see this week.  I haven't reestablished all my old doctor routines yet because of time and money and constantly changing insurance, so I don't have one yet.  I did have a physical therapy appointment on Wednesday, but I knew she wouldn't do any manipulation.  I also wanted to see if the chiropractor could speed up the healing process.  Well, I did drastically improve on Tuesday thanks to oils like Frankincense and my other suppplement, CBD oil, as well as the typical copaiba essential oil and Ningxia red fruit puree.  But I made myself sick taking all of those at once.  I did keep gently stretching because I babied it on Monday and didn't seem much improvement.  I also panicked because I have an important concert on Friday and I don't want to be in pain every time I look up and over at the stage.  So, please pray for continued healing.

Because of this, I made the kids do even more work than I normally do like switch laundry, carry laundry and sort laundry.  Instead of me going outside to pick up toys, I made them do it.  Yes, they usually do some, but I try not to burden them too much with Abishai's messes.  These past two days, I made them do it all.  The school days have been pretty good, where we've gotten most of our work done before lunch.  It's too bad we only have 23 days left because I think they finally have the routine down!  But, there was the regular squabbling and I literally couldn't tolerate any of it and was very firm about it.  I didn't play nice or hold my tongue, which I know isn't ideal, but I needed to get my point across that I don't have the capacity to gloss over minor mistakes and do things myself when I'm in so much pain.  And it worked, short term, yes, but tomorrow I won't have to be so mean.

Monday, they spent a couple of hours messing around in the tent and playing in general, and they asked for swimming gear, but I told them no because I knew that once one bathing suit came down out of the closest, the rest of the junk would fall and need to be sorted and it wasn't on my agenda that day.  And I couldn't really change my agenda.  I did however make sure to make it a priority on Tuesday, so it did get done.  It's one of those things I procrastinate on because I know once I get started organizing, I won't want to stop and then I won't and my body will scream at me later.  I had to have enough space to deal with it correctly.  So we did, and they spent another 2 hrs outside using the hose.  I refused to put up the pool yet.  Why?  Because of the pain, mostly, and the mess of them coming in soaking wet (they don't get as wet with just the hose), and having to physical blow it up with the blower and fill it, etc.  It's not time for all that yet.  They got out the water table for Abishai and Keturah proceeded to sit in it, as well as Abishai.  Oi!  Abishai spent 3 hrs outside in his now too small reusuable swim diaper and got a little red from the sun, whoops.  I'm going to designate a t-shirt and call it his swimshirt so that I don't have to put so much sunscreen on him all the time.  He hates it when his t-shirts get wet, but if I tell him that it's ok if this one shirt gets wet and is part of his bathing suit, that might work.  At least until I can get him one of the those real swimshirts.  I had one for Keturah, but I don't have time or physical ability to go through the girl clothes to find it.  And it might have been for a smaller size anyway.  Oh, speaking of, I did switch out Abishai's shoes! I have to take the spring clothes switch in pieces, or wait until school is over, because it can be so overwhelming.  We've had so much going on, and will for the rest of May, that we just don't have the time to tackle it yet.  I don't know where exactly I put my shorts in my room because I didn't finish going through all my clothes when I had been a smaller size.  Now I need those bigger shorts again, sigh.  And then I wake up with this pain, and it sets me back for the week.  Oh well, maybe it won't stay in the 70's and 80's permanently and we can squeeze out a few more long pants days.

I'm glad the weather has warmed up and spring is solidly here.  But I need to finish school and prepping for summer before it arrives, too.  I don't know why people made such a fuss about the cooler and snowier "spring" we had.  We'll have spring for a week or two and then it will be summer and everyone will cry about the heat.  If you don't like the four seasons, then don't live here.

Wednesday was the boys' last Bible Bowl practice before their last competition on Saturday.  They don't plan on doing any of the summer tournaments.   I think they will have a pizza party this week or next.  Justin will want to keep going to practice to see his friends, but I'm not sure if we want to do that.  We are also going to take a break from gymnastics for June and July, regardless of what the couch does.  And if Keturah decides on basketball, we will drop gymnastics during that season as well in the fall/winter.  There are a couple of basketball programs that are run out of churches we would try, kind of like when Justin did his season on PEI.  I think he was 10 yrs old as well.  Fun!  But first, we need to finish strong with our activities this month.  And that means Mommy needs to feel better.  Eek!

Oh, I forgot to mention that no, we didn't do any exercises during physical therapy but she did do a light manipulation and some trigger points.  I didn't tell her I was going to see a chiropractor the next day because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.  I just think I need something more than she can provide.  Then we'll get back to strengthening exercises.  I also went clothes shopping for myself on the way home before picking Benaiah up from school and let me tell you it's more painful than my shoulder!  I have no clue what to buy, never mind I'm unhappy with my size.  I need someone to overhaul my wardrobe and put me back in the "classy" but not overly "trendy" side of things.  I like what I have, but it's worn out, or stretched out, or too small.  Ugh.  Anyway, thank goodness it's just me that needs a few items and Keturah, but she's not picky.  The boys pretty much have what they need.  Painful, painful, painful shopping, but I got great deals!  But even with great deals, do I really love this or that item?  Do I really need it?  Probably not, that's why I haven't bought anything in 3 years.  3 years and I'm still wearing maternity shorts because I have nothing else that fits right....ok, then, I guess I do need some shorts!  Moving on!

Here's the pics:

Abishai absolutely hates it when Daddy leaves every morning.  It doesn't matter how many hugs Daddy has already given, from cuddles in bed, to getting him breakfast, to hugs at the door, he often will run outside no matter how cold it is to say good bye one last time.  He even climbed up into the truck this time!  And, today, he called me Daddy! Bwahahaha! It's very sweet that he loves his Daddy so much!

The "Pinchy wave/goodbye": tap the thumb and first finger together a few times.

First taping was Sunday night, second taping was Monday night.  Yeah!  And the hosts stuck around for the Indy 500 Mini Marathon on Saturday, too!

Apparently the warm weather has him most comfortable without clothes.  I'd rather him stick to the backyard when he wants to do this, but alas, Daddy was working in the front.

I get my tools, Daddy, and my hat!  In my "baby Sarah" shoes! (Baby Sarah has shoes just like these, and I think they were a hand me down from her brother.)  Daddy's new tape measure came with a pocket size tape measure so he gave it to Abishai.

Measuring and cutting.

Jared got down the big pine bush because.....

......this tree was growing up underneath it!  It's super tall! So Jared staked it because it was using the branches of the pine bush to hold itself up.  And he left a couple of branches of the pine bush in place just to see if it would grow again.  Um, ugly, but that's the least my problem this week.

This isn't happening every night like we had planned, but yeah for a walk!

The crowds came, they saw, and the ninjas conquered or didn't conquer.  Looks awesome!

From 60 to 80 degrees F in a matter of two days.  Why can't we have some 70's? The kids begged for me to bring out the pool but I said no because I didn't have the strength to deal with it with my bum shoulder.  The water table did just fine.

Bought a wedding gift.  Thought it said it had 2 day prime shipping.  It is for this coming Sunday, not for September.  Whoops!  I even grabbed me an extra one because I wanted to try them out.  I bought the bride something else. 

My medicine cabinet.  Ningxia Red with lots of healing fruit purees and oils.  Frankincense, an overall healer, Fennel for the gut, Copiaba for inflammation, and deep relief has wintergreen and peppermint (and others) that feels great topically like ben gay or icy hot but oh so much better, in the convenience of being pre diluted in a roller bottle.  I just had other three to my shot glass full of Ningxia in varying amounts.

Flying paper airplanes!

Yes, that's Abishai, who had a hoopin' hollerin' time going up and down the backstairs with Daddy.

The church's kitchen's makeover is coming along nicely.  Drywall is up!

At the end of the competition year, there's an overall team in Bible Bowl will get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in each division and they get to permanently keep the trophy that has been passed around to the winning teams each month.  These are tucked away in a cabinet on the upper floor of the East Hall, just like they have been since we used to worship in the East Hall and there was no big sanctuary or fancy Kidustrial Park or South Rooms etc.  Some things actually don't change at the Creek!

Twinning.  Oh, and my favorite thing is to chase the 3 yr old into the boys' restroom - not!  It's a good thing no one's around on Wednesday evenings.

Hi, I'm Abishai, how can I help?

I workin', Mommy! (tap, tap, click)

Have you every noticed that there's this little room that we pass under when we walk down the ramp from the main sanctuary to the chapel and East Hall?  Well, there is!  It's called the Upper Room/Prayer Room.  I believe used to or still do meet there during the services to pray for people.  It's a basic meeting room now, but at one time, it also had some cabinets and such.  Abishai had never been in it and the door was open, so I let him see what it was all about.

One of Justin's teammates has a step dad who is a police officer, so we often see his patrol car outside when he's picking her up.  Well, Jared walked outside with them and Abishai and next thing I knew, the lights were going and the sounds were blaring.  It actually quite frightened Abishai.  The external radio/megaphone is so loud!  I hope Abishai isn't scared of them for the rest of his life though.  Oh well, we tried to make it fun!

These boards are what you see in the picture up above of Abishai looking out at the ramp to the main sanctuary.  In the summer, before the summer camps, every student participants' name goes up on these boards.  There's some Middle School Mix, High School Move, KidJam for Kidustrial Park Elementary, as well as Camp Allendale for some of the younger ones and even a special camp at Camp Allendale for our special needs students.  Then, next to each name is a keytag with their name on it.  Anyone in the church can pick up one of the tags (there's like 3 per child) and they take it to remind them to pray that that kid will meet Jesus at these camps.  There's also a place and supplies to write notes to the kids as well.  Known Valued and Loved.  That's the motto.  So, here's Justin's for Mix.

And here's Benaiah's for Move.

Keturah decided to do KidJam this year instead of the other church camp, so she's on the board as well!

And I guess Abishai felt the need to be part of it all and crawled around behind all the boards, go figure!

These hooligans danced and chased each other out to the parking lot per usual.  Hooligans.

And this one likes to play in the car.  He likes to lock us out and then laugh hysterically.  I always have the keys with me though, always.

And this big 'un decided to try out all his dance moves on the back of his truck!  I think he was doing some kind of kicking dance, but he can also do the "floss" really well.

Sweet cards!  At church they have one for each age and stage to help guide parents throughout a child's life by helping them understand them.  And they are spot on!

Then the ministries also put together these awesome quarterly/semester/summer calendars so we can be in the know in advance of upcoming events.  It's easy to go to the fridge and ask "do we have Crave this week?" And the card on the bottom left explains what other people in the congregation can do to help support the youngsters, specifically as they go to camps this summer.  From praying to having all the donations that are dropped in the orange buckets, which normally goes directly out to the community to fill a need like pay for a light bill or pay for groceries, go to helping families with lower incomes send their kids to these camps.  I KNEW there had to be a way to more fairly let these kids from lower income families have a chance to experience what rich kids can experience.  Those kids could possible benefit more from camp than say, ours do. love it!

Mommy, I'm taking a nap (pretends to snore).

Always wrestling.  Bad guy, good cop.

It's just a hose, but it can still be fun.

He looks so much bigger this year.  He loves his boat and he'll leave the tower in place better, too.

He was lifting up the boat and then letting it drop down.  Splash!

Captain Adorable indeed!  What a ham!  He thought it was funny to eat the eyes off of the Easter marshmallow peep.  Goof!  And yes, he smiles with his eyes as they say.