Year 3, September 23rd-24th, 2018: Weekends Are For Socializing

No one ever shall say to us that we are kids lack socialization! Define for me what socialization looks like, because in no way does it just been spending time with just their peers.  But, they HAVE spent a ton of time with their peers this weekend!  From Benaiah working at CFA (all kinds of ages there) and church (working with youth staff aged 20-50 and his own friends) to Justin having his friends over (some of which are 2-3 years younger than he!) for a movie for his birthday to Abishai spending a couple of hours in Sunday School classes with his peers and running around a field with a kickball with kids ages 2-10 to Keturah hanging out with me on Saturday with mostly adults around and then leading kids ages 2-11 in worship at church, I think we've got all bases covered here and more!

Not all weekend are like this.  Some Saturdays (although it's getting more and more rare) are nice and quiet.  But this weekend, we had a doozy of a Saturday.  Here goes:

9am Keturah and Melinda go to craft fair
9:30am Jared, Abishai and Justin pick up chicken minis catering at CFA for party
10a-2p Keturah and Melinda do craft fair
12p-3p Justin and Abishai are at Justin's birthday movie party at Leah's house, she watches Abishai
1:30 pm Jared takes Benaiah to work at CFA (yes that 2 trips so far to CFA)
2pm Jared picks up Keturah and Melinda from craft fair (this would be so much easier if we had two vehicles I could drive that we all fit in!)
3p-4p Finish up birthday party and make food for nursery pitch in
4p-6p nursery pitch in, and we were 30 minutes late because the meat wasn't done cooking!  We are NEVER this late!
7:30 Leave Nursery pitch in, pick up Abishai who went home with Grandma 1 hr or so earlier (she was also at the pitch in)
8-10p tuck the three younger kids in
10:30p go back to CFA to pick up Benaiah

BTW, I'm usually there to oversea the birthday stuff but I really wanted to do the craft fairs this fall and simply couldn't be two places at once.  I told the other adults and kids with phones to take pics.  See, I AM letting go!  Well, sort of.  I did micromanage and make that plan I just wrote out.  Someone has to take charge when time is limited!  Gary was away from the weekend, so there was also one less adult to help.  Not that he helps a ton because he's very, very, very, very busy right now working two jobs, BUT, he does what he can.  He even had to mow his own lawn this week!  First time in months! (Well, I could be exaggerating but really, our boys do 98% of the mowing for both houses.  You get the point.)

And then we have our typical full Sunday.  Poor Abishai is beyond exhausted! I think he might be an extroverted introvert.  He likes being home as much as he likes being out.  But on some level ALL PEOPLE need to be still and recharge at home.  But when the 3 yr old is crying out "I want to stay home!"  you know that at some level he's got to have some down time.  BTW, we were home all day Friday and will be on Monday.  The rest of us true introverts NEED that time!
 
Ugh, I'm starting the rest of this late, so I'm hoping to remember some stories from yesterday.  Here goes!

Keturah and I sold Lilla Rose hair jewelry at a elementary school's craft fair on Saturday.  There was a good amount of foot traffic for it being the first big one the school has done.  And it was only 10 minutes from the house.  Keturah had fun roaming around gym looking at the vendors' other things, deciding what she wanted to purchase and begging for food that an acquaintance of mine was selling with her boys across the aisle.

Keturah even let me play with her hair!  Her ponytail is thicker than mine!  I think she has Grandma Howell's thick hair!  Isn't this pretty?  I really wish she would let me do her hair more often!  We sold two clips, both to our neighbors who happened to be there.  Go figure.  But alas, it gave us something to talk about.  The craft and vendor event was 75% vendors or direct sales reps like me and 25% true crafters.  I felt bad because I LOVE those who take the time to create masterpieces!  I did buy a set of oversized decorative clothespins that a lady painted a nativity scene on.  Yes, painted by hand.  $15 for the set and they stand 8 and 12 inches tall and are great for holding Christmas cards!  Sweet!  And Gary's office assistant, Ellen, was also there selling her crocheted items.  I'm going to try to remember which events I do and stay on their mailing lists so I can do them again next year.  People don't recognize my brand and aren't really willing to take the plunge.  Plus, I need to tweak my booth space some more.  I thought I was doing better at that, but when I asked my fellow stylists they said it looked too busy still.  Ok, time to tweak it before we do it again next Saturday at Benaiah's school's fair.  Keturah and I were able to just sit and hang out for the 5 or so hours which was nice.

Group picture of SCS from the retreat.

Another picture of Benaiah doing his thing.

Let's see, Justin's birthday "party."  They played hide and go seek outside, ate CFA chicken minis (chicken nuggets in a little biscuit), played Monopoly and tried to watch Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  His friends were Kylie (who gave up a canoeing trip so she could come to the party which was so sweet!), Bryce (his best friend), Daniel and Jordan Henry, Grady (who goes to Benaiah's school), Wolf, and Elliot (son of our hairdresser, Jennae).  A great group of kids and most of them just happened to be homescholed at one point or another I just realized.  Hm,...interesting....These sweet kids serve at church with one another or do Bible Bowl together or are in small groups together.  And I'm so glad that Leah's house is ready to entertain without much advanced notice.  It's just pre teens and young teens anyway.

Some of these kids were so animated that they could not stop talking during the movie!  Oh well, they got through a lot of it before parents starting picking up the kids.  Justin got some movie money stuck into a sack of popcorn, some candy, and some cash.  Wolf, who gave him the popcorn, didn't know how much Justin didn't like popcorn, but trolled him anyway.   And the popcorn did not go to wasted because Abishai ate it.  Abishai carried the bag with the popcorn in it everywhere.  It was just a brown paper sack with handles.  Too cute!  He also enjoyed time playing with Justin's friends.  I'm glad we were able to make this happen.  Very low key, but it gives the feeling that a) just because you're last (Leah's truly the last one of the year) to have your birthday in the family, doesn't mean you're the least and b) just because you're meek and mild and peace loving, doesn't mean you can't have friends and c) Mom doesn't always have to be there to oversee the details, lol.

As the kdis were finishing the movie, Jared was putting the finishing touches on the bacon explosion.  He said that if Leah bought the ingredients than he would make it.  It's hamburger with onion and other yummies wrapped in bacon that is crisscrossed and around the "loaf."  Yes, it does look like a meatloaf without all the extra stuff.  And this did take longer to prepare and cook than expected!  Plus I had to go home and warm up other meat to take the nursery pitch-in.  I can't believe we were 30 minutes late and everyone was waiting on us!  That's so not typical of us!  Oh well, it was an early dinner anyway at 4pm.

Abishai wasn't as scared of the dinosaur movie as I was.  Yes, that's one of those huge tv screens.  Yes, it's too much for most of us.  But it makes it pretty cool to watch a movie on with your friends!  I made sure Abishai backed up though after I took the picture.  He was concerned with "Blue" one of the main dinosaurs in the film.  He was also concerned when the main guys left the island or area and left some baby dinosaurs behind on the platform.  Awww.....We'll rewatch it later when Justin's friends aren't there to talk his ear off.

Well, there were more shoes at the door just a little bit ago.  No, the green shoes belong to Wolf, not Justin, although Justin wants some.  A couple of things I didn't capture on camera was that Abishai insisted that he change his pants because he got 2 drops of water on his shorts.  And then when they were dry, he proceeded to put them on over the shorts he had replaced them with.  Too funny!  He loved hanging out with Justin's friends though without Daddy, Mommy, Sissy or other brother around.  Oh, one funny thing he said at the pitch in when one of Benaiah's friend's mom I know asked if Benaiah likes his job was, "Miah likes fries.  I like fries."  So he recognized what we were talking about and joined the conversation.

One bacon explosion.  Jared used to make this for the college kids at MCC.  Well worth the wait.  The cake I brought that was carried under a baking dish of hot brat and hot dogs was not worth the wait because the icing was all melted.  It was just a gluten free sheet cake which I left in the pan and frosted.  Sigh.

The nursery pitch in was at the new pastor's place way out in the country.  They have an empty pole barn perfect for small gatherings and it's why they purchased this property so I'm so glad we were able to use it!  Our nursery director works really, really hard to create an environment where we can be like a small group and know each other well and do life together.  And it's so much fun that Jared also works in the nursery so we are serving in the same area (different rooms though).  That's something he would have never done before we left for Canada.  And we DO know these people and hang out with them obviously during services.  There was only a few I didn't know.  Sweet!  An introvert's dream to actually know enough people at a party so you don't run out of people you feel comfortable talking to!  Anyway, Dan and Keren have a nice tract of land great for yard games, football, kickball, baseball, etc.  Everyone had brought some lawn games to share including corn hole and a new game with a ball that bounces off a net or something.  They also had those velcro mitts with a tennis ball that you catch on the mitt and then toss back. 

Rocks!  He did throw them into the grass and I told him to pick them all out because Mr. Dan doesn't want to mow over rocks.  He obeyed and I helped him of course.

The kids LOVED the hammocks they have on the north side of the barn.  Hard to get in, but the kids had a blast figuring out how to do it.  Now they want one!

Saw what?! I don't know what made him think to do that, but Abishai had a box on his head!

And then he took his shoes off like Daddy did so they could play kickball.  It was maybe 65*F outside with a light breeze so some of us were cold.  Not Mr. Michigan and Mr. Canadian.  Bare feet in the nice grass.

They use the velcro mitts from that game to make the bases.  I was surprised to see how many adults actually joined in!  Nice!

Waiting on kicking the ball.

Hammock time for Keturah.

You can't see me!  This looks like a grown up version of a newborn pic where you swaddle them up and put a cute hat with animal features on their head!

Baby toes!

Jared got out there and kicked the ball, too!

Well yes, the man can run, in his bare feet nonethelesss.

Everytime Dan had the ball so he could pitch it, Abishai wanted it.  Dan wasn't quite aware that a little person needs more than one word answers to stay out of the way.  Dan was intent on keeping the rules and winning the game!  Give him time.  He'll learn enough in a few years when his little guy is old enough.  Keren only has until December I think and has had a hard time with pregnancy sickness throughout the whole pregnancy so she stayed inside most of the time.

Aw, brothers as usual.

A little blurry but two little boys got in this fake cans that are meant to catch frisbees not little boys.  But they had a great time!

Dan and Abishai trying to share the ball, except Dan does't have a clue and basically just took it away with a little bit of effort.  He was all about winning that game!

Where is Abishai?

There he is!

New type of outdoor game.  Throw a ball in the middle and it bounces off or something.  Obviously Abishai was exhausted because he was trying to make a nest.

Not tired enough apparently because now he's stir crazy and climbing Grandma's car door.

Dan set up an ax throwing area after going to a party where they spent way too much on it. It's all the rage right now.  Jared is pretty good with it but Mr. Jeff there (a chef) knew exactly what to do.  Sweet!

Even Justin got a turn.  Grandma had taken Abishai home and we stayed a bit longer to close out the party.  I think we drove away around 7:30pm.  Long, long day and we have a similar one tomorrow!

Interesting landscape at the "golden hour."  The yard is already in the dark but the cornfield isn't.  Cool! The property was literally a 5 acre piece of land sandwhiched between cornfields and a horse barn/field.  It's like they sliced off this parcel from the cornfields themselves.  The driveway was built to go around the fencing for the horses.  Thanks for opening up your property, Dan and Keren!  We had fun!

Indiana sunset at it's best!

Guilty as charged.

The group that came tonight.  I think this might be about half of us.  Dan and Keren are on the far left.  We all serve the infants through potty trainees (age 3ish) for all three services times.  I can't imagine what a whole Kidustrial Park team of volunteers pitch in would look like! 

Gotta love John Crist.  Do you agree?

Sunday Funday:

Benaiah has been following Islander hockey on Instagram and shared with the family a screenshot of some of our friends going to pick up their season tickets.  I checked and I hadn't followed the team yet, so I quickly did so!  Well, the season started this past week and I thought it was so neat that their pop up entry tent is a lighthouse!  So cool!  Go, Islanders!

Then there's these two BFF's.  They were helping out with middle school Crave and there were several costume heads going around.  And man, Ethan needs a new wardrobe!  I never see that kid wearing hardly anything else!  And of course, Benaiah wore his new favorite zip up fleece with the CFA logo on it that he bought himself because he's very proud of his job.  Love these goofballs to the moon and back despite them driving us moms crazy!

When we were at his house the night before, Jared was asking what Dan's sermon prep was like.  Each preacher is different, and Gary has had a very steady routine for many many years, well, until now when he travels so much it's hard to find time to write the sermon nevermind practice it!  Don't worry they are always prepared and have done their preliminary research and writing time way in advance.  Anyway, Dan was sharing that it's hard to preach sermons that are primarily setting the stage for a sermon series because it's so full of history and less about application.  While I appreciate and understand that preachers have been trained to present material in a certain way with an emphasis on application, I find it harder to do that then it is for me to teach a history lesson with just a little bit of application.  Maybe the lay person would find this particular sermon less impactful, but I enjoyed it, especially because we did ancient history just last year and are at 80 AD currently with the first century martyrs and Rome and such.  And I have to continally remind myself that the average person may or may not remember ancient studies from their childhood days and they most certainly wouldn't have classes connecting it to the Bible.  But that's how our curriculum presents it and how I was taught history.  As I was saying to a friend today, I love this part of the history curriculum because she includes so much church history that my mom and I touched on but didn't delve too deep in.  It makes me excited to share the church history now and not focus so much on even all the different details of the medieval ages like all the king and queens because other history classes will fill in those gaps if necessary.  But if my children don't go to Bible college, they only have one chance to learn church history like this in their initial studies.  So, this year is one of my favorite years and I can't wait to share it with them!  My least favorite time period to teach is the 20th century because there was so much going on and here in America, we focus so much on it because we are a young(er) country.  The kids will easily pick up the nuances of different periods of culture and the wars during this past century because people talk about it all the time because they lived through it!  But church history is fascinating and I want the kids to have an open eyed view of where Christianity has been.  And that's the beauty of homeschooling, you can teach it in a way where you can put the emphasis on what you find important, not just what Core 40 says it should be.  Yeah for His Story!

Also today was our "missions fair" event where there were places we could write encouragement cards to some missionaries, pack hygiene bags for the homeless, send a picture to the kids that KP sponsors, talk to people from local ministries like Lifebridge, find out more about different mission trips, purchase items made by girls who have been taken out of the sex trade industry and taught a marketable skill, and see exactly what we've done locally through different initiatives.  We had to take the kids through it at different times because of where everyone was serving today.  Justin and his friend wolf packed a ton of bags and raced the clock while Keturah and Jared served at the 4:30 service.  We took Keturah and Abishai through it after the 11am service.  Benaiah was floating around between helping at middle and high school Crave so I don't think he went through.  Oh well.

Operation Bright Christmas for local kids in need, so we fill stockings with goodies.  Snacks and drinks for kids taking the annual iStep testing at a local school we also help with tutoring.  And 220 people who have gone on mission trips in the last year through Indian Creek. 

Sundays are exhausting!  They also got three 2x4 Lego bricks that say "God, Jesus, Us" on them that they can demonstrate the gospel with their friends using the bricks.

Big and little, both my babies.  My baby is driving my other baby home from eating out for Sunday lunch, in Grandma's car, and Grandma of course had to ride with them.

Say what?!  Come to find out, Justin thinks he is second best player at this video game and only his youth leader Luke is better than him.  And then he tells me that he hasn't been playing the gaga ball pit or the nine square game because he's afraid of getting injured again.  So, I made sure to encourage him and his friend Wolf to give it a go this evening at small groups.  You gotta get back up on that horse, Son! "I'm not a sports guy anymore."  Who told him that?  That's totally not true.  One injury shouldn't keep you down like that.  Justin does have fun though and bonds with his friends regardless as evidenced by yesterday's birthday fun.

Keturah serving on worship team at the 4:30pm.

This is what happens when Mommy has a meeting, sister has choir, Justin has small groups and Benaiah has youth group plus a meeting for his mission trip: you are so tired of waiting that you dump out your cars in the middle of the floor after 98% of the people have left!  We were there for 3 hrs in the morning and 4 hrs in the evening.  And Abishai didn't want to go to his class at first again, but soon had fun.  He came home with two music "shakers" and singing all the songs and doing the motions AND he can tell us the Bible story.  I think he'll be fine!  Homeschool meeting went well, too.

Keturah doing her thing in the preschool part of KP where Abishai is at.  Every Monday the KP staff post 5 or 6 pictures from different rooms and parts of the services to share which is awesome because I love seeing what my kids are up to!