Year 3, June 26th-28th, 2018: Errands and More Errands

I'm so over going shopping! Not really, but Benaiah, Keturah, Abishai and I spent an afternoon yesterday and an evening tonight shopping.  Toys R Us is going out of business, and we've waited and waited for the last couple of months, watching the discounts get deeper and deeper.  Well, the "last call" was sounded so we went! We went to a store that was actually closing that very day and it was so surreal because we did that with the Target in Canada as well when it closed.  And boy did we ever get some great discounts!  $700 worth for $165! Now, did we really need all of it? Probably not, but we had planned on doing this.  I was hoping to save it for Christmas, but of course everyone wanted to open their stuff right away.  Oh well.  Side note: one of the craft kits Keturah bought that she had had her eye on for over a year didn't work well.  Definitely not worth the full price.  And a booklet was missing from another kit.  Kind of sad that someone would steal something like that, but that's life.  We also bought sneakers and sandals for Keturah at another store, and I bought shoes the next day at a different location, last minute, but I had looked at these shoes for about 1 1/2 months.  Buy one, get one half off sale for the win! I also had to bring the kiddos to my appointment again today because the other 3 adults were at the North American Christian Convention, this year being held in downtown Indy.  It was a quieter start of the week, but the next 4 days will be chock full of convention, warbirds, weddings, and church.  Oh, and Justin is finally home for good!  What else?  Abishai went pee in the potty on demand 4 times today! Two big poop accidents on the floor.  But he had a dry pull up even after we had been out! That's progress.  We are using pull ups and underwear now and he can pull down and up the underwear by himself because they are very loose.  I keep chipping away at projects, today being taking care of the clothes sorting in my room which has been out of control.  It's not completely done, but it's much more functional.

Yup, that's about it.  Time to load pictures, journal, and bedtime because I'm going with the men tomorrow to enjoy date "night" and see John Crist (new favorite Christian comedian) and Bo Chancey (lead servant of Manchester Christian Church where I grew up).  I'm not sure what the rest of the day will look like, but I'll take pictures.  Leah will have the kids all day, including taking Benaiah to work.  He can now cook just about anything, except maybe assemble salads and bread the chicken.  But he can cook the chicken.  Yeah!  He gets his first paycheck next week.  I'm sure it will shock him how much they take out for taxes and such.  We've got to get going on lots of his stuff like SAT/ACT/PSAT tests, enrolling at a college for dual credit classes, getting his drivers' permit done, etc.  I'm glad we have a 3 yr gap between the older 3 because it's alot to do in these last few years at home.  And the year is now half over!  That's even crazier!  Ok, now here are some pics.

This is the last year that the conference will be one big national conference.  They are going to try and split it up into regions so that more people can attend.  It's a family oriented conference for all Christians, but most people come from our "denomination" of independent Christian churches. Lots of great speakers, worship, tons of vendors (and I personally know at least dozen of them), and such.  It was at this conference 8 years ago that we met the president of Maritime Christian College, Fred Young, and started our journey to PEI.  And the conference was here in Indy that year.  It typically goes to about 3 or 4 different cities.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Another massive summer storm front.  It develops so quickly, but it's also easy to see on radar out here in the midwest.  At least we don't have to water the trees!

Yes, 40 mph winds, no hail, but tons of rain.  And then poof! It was done and we went shopping.

Couldn't see out the windows because the rain was coming down so fast and hard!

I bought two of these to start with, but Abishai wanted all four.  So, I went back in and got two more thinking I would save them for Christmas.  Well, he saw them and although Jared did hide them, Abishai asked for them multiple times today.  They were $40 original price but we paid $8 each.

When a store goes out of business, they also sell off their business supplies!  We just scored a Christmas tree for $15!  I don't know how big it is, but for $15, it's worth the risk!

Envelopes for Jared's office for mailings. $5 for the box.  Brochure and sign holders, again $5 for a big boxful.  I plan to split that up and give some to other direct sales friends.  There were some storage drawers but they were filthy and I didn't want to have to clean up.  They had lots of cribs left, too.

All of this for $165!

And this, too!

The employees were super nice and a manager was taking pictures.  They encouraged us to take pictures with Geoffrey the giraffe one last time.

Yes, I'll always be a Toys R Us kid.  My parents used to put toys on layaway at our Toys R Us near the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH.  It's very sad that they decided to close nationwide.  But I don't think they can compete with the Walmarts and Amazons.  Their prices were always high, but their selection was incredible.  I've been in and out of their stores often with the kids, even to buy maternity wear and pick out baby clothes for Keturah.  Sigh.  The end of an era.  One employee came over to the cashier and she was talking to him about just thinking it was another day to work and do your best, and yes it's sad, but let's do this well.  I think he may have had a bit of a disability like austism or something by the way she was handling him.  I thought it was super sweet and loving.

We filled the backseat!

Then we dashed off for shoe shopping for Keturah who literally had no sandals or sneakers.  But I also have been looking to update my shoes and be more in style.  Here's a pair I like!  I like the strappy sandal look but don't like an open toed shoe, so these were an option.  I didn't buy them though.

Cute, right? $30 so I didn't go for these.

Science kits for school and Keturah's loot.  Keturah paid for some of it out of her pocket.

Justin and Benaiah.

Benaiah and Abishai's stuff.  Benaiah paid for the hockey table.  Abishai couldn't wait until I opened his trucks.  But they are cheaply made, in fact, I think most toys are cheaply made with thinner, breakable plastic than they've ever been made.  These RC toys don't have a lot of features and they retail for $30-40.  That's nuts!  We paid about $8 each.

He loves them!  I just hope they don't break too soon!

Oooo, she had had her eye on the Wonder Woman invisible jet for a good 6 months or more.  I'm glad she could find one and buy it for cheap!  It does hold both dolls, including her Supergirl doll.  What fun!

I'm in a quandary because Keturah is almost the size I was at her age and I still have some clothes I've been saving since then.  So, do I put them aside for her for the next two years?  Sure, and then we'll have a jumpstart on her wardrobe including shorts that are long enough because I always made sure that they were long enough to be modest.  Here Keturah is wearing a dress my mom made and I wore in my "senior pictures" done at Sears.  It almost fits her!

The label says "Melinda's Miscellaneous" which is one of the names my mom gave her sewing businesses.  Country Quiltworks is the one she used most often and most recently.  It's awesome having these sweet reminders of the work my mom did.

My mom made all these dresses for me and I wore them a ton!  They are mostly plain cotton, so they don't stretch and I'll never be able to wear them again, But, give Keturah a year or two and they will be perfect!  I hope she grows into wanting to wear them.  The green dress I wore when I went Col. Oliver North and about a dozen other political candidates one evening in 1995/1996.  I was wearing the dress when a local leader of a Christian organization was signing something for me and our picture got it in the newspaper the next day.  Pretty cool!

My outfit for tmorrow, sort of.  Working on sophistication.  I bought new shoes to go with the blue.

Still got some stuff to purge.  The boxes are my personally crafting supplies.  It's the clothes on top that I need to go through like tank tops and dresses.  But at least we can walk and I can open the drawers to my dresser.  A step in the right direction.

I also bought these because they will go with all the dresses I will keep and it's very comfy!

Oh, Abishai, ye who won't go to bed with Daddy home.  Will you go get the mail please?  Yes, in your "candy cane" pj's.  And yes, he did reach the mail pretty well.

This gem was on my Facebook flashback timeline.  That's Justin and Keturah at the very hot, sticky Thomas the Tank Engine event at the train station we recently visited.  Abishai just wore that outfit for 3 days in a row.  Don't you think they look somewhat alike?  Hm,,....