Year 3, May 12th-13th, 2018: Mother's Day Weekend

Meh. That's how I feel.  I'm exhausted from last week, and in pain physically, so meh.  Mother's Day? Meh. Just let me deal with me by myself.  So on Saturday, the Jared and Benaiah did yardwork, Justin was with a friend at a carnival, and then Keturah, Justin and I spent a lovely 3 1/2 hrs at an high school graduation open house.  I found friends to talk to at length, so to me, that equals a good time.  The graduate herself was pleasant as always.  Oh, that's right, Abishai woke up with a fever that morning.  It was between 101 and 103 all day, so he ate little and slept much.  Today is bouncing around as normal.  We did keep him home from church and he took a nap with me this afternoon while Jared was at church for nursery.  Poor Jared has done nursery like 3 Sundays in a row due to a change in schedule and then last week's switch up.  Because of Abishai's sickness, Jared took the middles to church for the first hour and Benaiah and I went the second hour, bringing the middles home.  Well, we went to Gary and Leah's for the first big grill out of the summer.  Oh...my...goodness....I LOVE beef steak done on the grill, especially the fat/gristle and it's crunchiness.  Leah had also brought me two gluten free/dairy free cupcakes from bakery again and a card.

Jared, with the help of his brother's prompting, went out late last night to get flowers for his mom.  Wow! That's not something he has done much of in the past.  I didn't get cards and flowers from my crew and I'm actually very, very glad.  I'd rather buy myself for essential oils, or concert tickets, or something much more fun and useful.  I did have them finish mowing the lawn today and Keturah and I tackled the van.  I wanted them to clean the van but I knew it wouldn't have been done the way I like it, so, I got in there despite feeling icky and just got 'er done.  The poor van probably hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in 3 years.  It's got a lot of stains and ground in dirt I'm afraid.  Thankfully, no sticky surprises (a melted crayon, but that wasn't too bad) and not as much trash as I thought.  But now I'm really, really sore and tired again.  I didn't go through the glove box, the front box under the cup holders between the seats, or the back box of misc stuff, but I know most of what's in there and tackle that another day.  There's still trimming to be done in the yard, but boy was it it super long and hard to mow again.  The dandelions are out of control this year for everyone, especially those, like us, who don't use chemicals on the lawn.  It should be mowed twice a week at least in the spring.  But it looks good now just in time for the rest of the week which has chances of showers every day.

This week, and the rest of the summer, is much more open and I've cancelled some appointments and field trips to give us more room to relax.  I'm not even sure any more what we are doing for vacation, and honestly, I'm happy just to stay home and work on my projects and take day trips as usual.  3 more weeks of official school for the middles and I, but Benaiah has finals this week, Jared turns 39 and then because Benaiah is almost 16, he gets a little more freedom.  He also applied for a job and has lots of plans for the summer.  He will just need someone to transport him.  I'm not it! Lol.

As far as Mother's Day goes, yes, I saw everyone posting about their moms but I'm just too tired to form an opinion about it or grieve or enjoy it.  I haven't felt like putting much on Instagram lately either because I'm afraid it's going to be a bit whiny.  In fact, the only tears I shed today were for another one of out long term staff members at the church, Mark Miller, who will be moving on to a church planting organization after 25 years at Indian Creek.  After Gary, I believe he's been a paid staff member the longest (there might be a couple of secretaries, but I couldn't tell you who or how long).  He and his wife aren't moving out of the area either, but we will miss Mark.  His roles have changed, but he is Gary's equal in teaching.  In fact, Jared and I thoroughly enjoyed his adult Sunday morning class for years and years because he taught differently than Gary.  He wasn't as structured when he taught, but he definitely had a well prepared last sermon today.  I do feel like everyone seems to be leaving us one by one.  It's just a period of transition from our parents' generation to our generation.  It's time, yet it feels weird.  Very, very weird.  So, tears for Mark and Gloria today.  None for my mom.  And the topic of the sermon was on grief, as Mark has lost many family members and friends over the years.  Interesting topic for the day, but actually, I think that it was soothing in a way because of all the moms who have suffered infertility, infant loss, etc and the families who have lost their mom and grandmothers.  So in a way, it was very appropriate and timely, and different.  Different is good.  I don't like my cliche'd Sunday holidays to always be the same.  So I'm happy with the weekend.  Actually, we had other "family time as the J6" on Saturday, so I guess that was my mother's day.  Just being the 6 of us always puts a smile on my face.  Praise the Lord for 4 day schoolweeks and a flexible boss. And homeschooling groups that help make discounts possible, lol.  The end.

Well, at least we have one child who is eager to work hard and help out (even when they are sick)!  Yes, we have two mowers because....I have no idea why, but it gets the job done quicker when both boys are able to be out at the same time.

Sick baby equals a long, long nap.

Weeds? Flowers?  In the front garden, which desparately needs attention, but that costs money to fix it up the way I want to.  But I'll enjoy the variety of weeds while I can.

Not sure what this is, but it's beautiful.  I wonder if Jared scattered seeds with flowers that attract bees.  I know we had a packet of them.

See, weeds are pretty! 

Wild strawberries I think.

Aw, daises!

"I do it myself!"

Car washing with small sponges and floor cleaner.  But it got done!

Cute helper!

Aw, Jared got a birthday card from the staff in Kidustrial Park!  We volunteer in the nursery area, but it all falls under KP, birth through 5th grade.

Are you comfy on Daddy's chair?  Pillow behind him, blankets around him, even the foot rest is up!  (Which he can put up!)

Gluten free/dairy free cupcakes, again! Vanilla and Strawberry Shortcake!

So tired from his fever, he fell asleep on the floor.  He also complained about his legs hurting.  I wondered if he felt achy.

When high school graduation parties have bounce houses.....all the kids, up through the teens, had fun in there.  I got the middles to go with me because I told them there would be food and probably a bounce house.  I was right.

It's always more fun when friends show up.

BFF's Jordan and Keturah.

Mark Miller's last sermon.  Sigh.

A drummer never stops drumming, or comparing himself to the drummer on stage, lol.

Mark and Gloria with Gary and Dan saying a blessing and prayer over them.  Other elders were also up there.  "Not leaving from something but going to something"

Since Abishai wasn't with us, we had to still do the weekly "pat pats" for Grandma's car (and sometimes Grandpa's).

Grilling time!

Cool, dude!  And yes, those are the same jammies as the day before.  #fourthkid parents are tired and/or lazy

Favorite meme on Instagram today.  We certainly have a lot of growling going on at our house.

Classic baby in a bucket shot! "I take my bath!"

Then he was exhausted again, so we snuggled.  I slept a good long while.  Baby hands on the blankie.

Sleepy baby with his blankie and paci.  And when that paci breaks, we are done with pacis.  He only gets it during sleepy time.  If he needs other comforts during the day, he only gets blankie.

Jared's Saturday projects included restacking the wood and using fence posts on either side.  Abishai helped me sort the wood into different sizes.  Beautious pile!

Double mowing! It was so bad at out there that I called it tick heaven.  A foot high in parts?  It's a massive 0.55 acre yard with loads of potential.  Our Beech Grove house had 0.18 acres of green space. Charlottetown was somewhere in between, but we didn't have to mow it.  I just have to have patience.