Year 3, November 29th-December 2nd, 2018: Rest Before The Crazies

Thursday and Friday we had rest days mostly at home.  I was able to catch up on the blog and household chores.  Kids did some schoolwork.  Everly and Nora went to their other aunt's house.  We tried to keep Abishai out of trouble.  Benaiah came home Thursday exhausted mentally and physically and went to bed early at 7:30pm.  The kids his age at school are very immature and are very draining.  I could tell he was just so weary of all their drama and I feel bad for him.  It's life and this is what he'll face in the big world, but still, it's not easy to deal with.  At least he made the smart choice to go to bed.  He has to get up early to go with Jared to his breakfast meeting and work a full shift at CFA until mid afternoon. 

Best laugh of the day was when we were looking for Abishia's stuffed animal (white porpoise?) and he knew that he had stuffed it into the Veggietales princess castle and easily found it!  He's such a goof!  Lots of giggles and snuggles and "play with me!'s" today.  We were stuck inside because the weather was kind of wet and cold.  And all the snow melted, too.  Boo!  I'm glad it was a quiet day though.  Friday will be more of the same and then Saturday is absolutely insane again.  That's life!

"I don't move when I sleep."  Um, yes you do, kid, yes you do.

He moved all these pieces from the living room to the kitchen counter so I would play with him.  He was lonely and I wasn't done with breakfast yet.  I did get one structure set up for him and then helped him knock it down.  I'm glad he gets in our faces and is persistent because it's sometimes hard to remember to spend time with him and all the others.

Abishai kept shaking his head back and forth.

What on earth as the world come to where kid toys involve cute mystery potties?  Yikes!

Up there to the right is a what's called a "cinnamon broom."  I saw them at Aldi's.  But this one came from Shauna's family.  Shauna's mom loves cinnamon anything so a relative bought this broom for her that is infused with cinnamon. Well, they can't have it at the hospital so Shauna's older sister asked if I wanted it.  I said yes.  And now it's hanging there, making the room smell amazing, as a reminder of Shauna's family and to keep praying for them.  Justin loves the smell as well (he doesn't like when I diffuse essential oils though) but Keturah doesn't.  It reminds me of the broom we used as a prop in a musical about Gideon we did when we were little kids.  I still have that broom, too. I sent this picture and a little video to Stasia to cheer her up.

Show and tell day at school in Mrs. McCollum's class.  Benaiah brought Legos of course.

And certain plastic cups (maybe they were in the Lego bin for Justin to use to sort the Lego brick by color and type) and a Pokemon piggy bank, which also was probably in the Lego bin.  I'm glad they had fun with it though.  Then Abishai and Jared has a grand time with the same bucket of Legos after supper.  I enjoyed and soaked in those moments and didn't take any pictures or videos though.

Hammering away fixing his bus because he's stir crazy and it's dinner time.  He's also blowing through the "smoothie straw," or extra wide plastic straw, which makes a sharp whistling sound.  Oi!

Daddy's head makes a great road for his cars.  And the "fuzzies" are fun to drive through.  I was trying to get a decent picture of all of Jared's white and gray hairs, especially in his beard.  I love it!  And you can really tell where his hair line is and why he shaves his head.  He's got quite the receding hair line and "monkey butt patch" like his uncles on his mom's side. 

Poor baby guy's nose is very, very stuffy so he's snoring really loudly.  Yes, he's 16, but he's still my baby.

Friday was gym day, pick up Benaiah from work, prepare for Saturday day.  Saturday was the start of the crazy weekend with me at a local craft fair/town event and Jared driving Justin to his coach's house to go Bible Bowl, Benaiah to work, Keturah to basketball, pick me up, pick up Justin, and finally pick up Benaiah in the late evening.  We are all a bit brain dead and of course not many pictures were taken, which is a good thing since I take so many most days.  So, I'm grateful for busy days.  I'm grateful for stability and life marching on despite other family's woes.  I'm grateful that some family members can get away from all technology and rest.  But I'm also grateful when we can all be back together again.  And we have to make time for a family picture.  Oh, and I know exactly when, too!  See, even when my brain is on it's last bits of thinking power, I can still figure things out.  They don't call me the organizer for nothing!  And I'm the detail oriented one, at least some of the time.  I love the roles I play.  I love those bits of my personality and I can use my negative tendencies like anxiety to help keep others safe and on track.  And that's what the Enneagram has taught me so far.  And I'm grateful it's December 1st, paycheck day! I overspent on Christmas type things in November so the bank account was closer to empty than it has been in previous months.  Eek!  Back on track now.  Let's finish the year strong and do it smartly!

I was busy preparing inventory for my craft fair today, so I didn't get a chance to really talk with other parents or take pics of kids.  But, Abishai did seem to have a great time hanging out with the kids.  He brought his truck, but soon after this photo, he brought it to me so that other kids wouldn't use it.  Keturah got bored halfway through because she didn't bring anything to do and didn't want to share a basketball with others.  Next time, we'll bring some of our own things to play with.  There was a lot less kids today, too.

Yup, that's how you should feel after gym day.  He didn't put on socks, but wore winter boots.  He didn't wear a coat either, but did put on his winter hat.  I'm to the point in my parenting career that these kinds of little things I don't fight them on.  You shouldn't have a heavy coat on when in a 5 point harness carseat anyway because then the buckles aren't tight against your chest.  And the socks, well, he does usually wear socks and has some in his diaper bag, but who cares?  He did have a coat in his bag, too.  Yes, we still have a "diaper" bag packed with snacks, sippy cup, extra clothing, and maybe a toy or two (and sometimes blankie and paci).  A lot of times we just leave it in the car.  But he's so good about using the bathroom now that we hardly have a full on accident.  In fact, today, he used a bathroom stall all by himself, without taking his pants all the way off (which is what he does at home), and then just needed a bit of help to pull them back up.  All while keeping his winter boots on and talking to me in the stall next to him.  I can't believe he's potty trained and will be 4 yrs old in a few months.

Super sad day.  Former President Bush, the senior, was the first president I remember being in office.  I was in public school at the time of Operation Dessert Storm and our 4th grade class (my last year of public school) wrote letters to soldiers.  And we used to here the 5th grade history class practice singing "I'm Proud to Be An American" for an assembly we had that year.  I also met Barbara Bush at our local polling place of one of the first in the nation NH primaries or the general election, I can't remember.  I think it was probably the year he was running for president the first time.  And morally, he and Bush junior and their whole family hold values similar to ours.  Michael W. Smith is good friends with their family.  And of course, they have connections to New England, which makes me happy.  I can't believe that he and Barbara died in the same year, too.  That's what 72 years of marriage does for you.  They were the longest married Presidential couple in the history of the United States.  I'm pretty sure Queen Elizabeth of England and her husband are the longest married English royalty couple.   These kinds of long lasting, faithful marriages are almost extinct, so let's celebrate them when we can.  Rest in peace, President Bush.

I read a few articles today from different news sources and most of them seemed pretty fair in their life summaries of Bush.  I didn't realize just how involved in politics he had been and how each thing prepared him for the presidency, like being a solider himself, he could put himself in the shoes of the soldiers that were sent to Kuwait.  Being a diplomat to Nato or whatever, he could understand and say and do the right things with all kinds of people in Eastern Europe and Asia.  It wasn't an easy period of time in world history, and it sounds like he handled it with poise.  One article cited that he used the words "It wouldn't be prudent."  I'm not sure what that all referenced, but just the fact that he used an older, unused word like prudence, a word that is used in some Bible translations, and how he took calculated risks, makes me like him.  There's good and bad in every person that sits as the president and each term has it's ups and downs, some created by the current president's policies and views and some inherited from previous presidents' terms.  We are so quick to judge the man that sits at the President and how that man's views, policies, and agendas affect our country.  But if take a step back and remember that they are just sinful men like us, give them some grace, take a wide angle view of politics in general, you'll see that being a politician is not an easy job.  And ultimately, it's not the government or who sits in what position, but the morality of our country that forms our culture.  The issues we have in our country are moral issues, not political issues that can be controlled by laws.  Guns don't kill people, people kill people.  That's why we need more non-profit ministries addressing the needs of troubled youth, addicts of all kinds, sharing the love of Christ with pregnant women, etc.  We need churches as well, but as our track record shows, the Church hasn't always done a great job at addressing the needs of their communities.  Our hope is not in a man in office.  Our hope comes from God.  He will save us, and our homes, and our communities.  So, respect the office of the Presidency, vote because we have the privilege of voting in this country, and don't take sides on political party lines.  Look at the person running for office.  Look at the hot button topics that matter to you.  And then let God handle it all.

At Christmas in Wanamaker, they have a parade at lunch time and have vendors set up in a variety of the small shops.  They also have this game card where you have to get stamps from the different businesses, that way, you get more traffic in the buildings.  I love this little event because you get to see the old "townees" interact, meet the business owners, and it feels like home and family.  Jared grew up less than a mile from here.  We were in the dry cleaner's building, and I know that Gary and Leah have used them for all 30 years they've been here near Wanamaker.  They've used the flower shop down the road, where the owner used to go to our church.  We've recently taken our cars to the mechanic next door to the dry cleaner's.  Our CVS and Dollar General are right there along the main street.  There's a branch of Chase bank and a gas station.  And most importantly, there's the "elevator" maybe named after the "grain elevators" but basically it's a feed and seed store with farming kind of stuff.  Gary and Leah get their water jugs from there, but you can get all kinds of stuff there.  Santa was in the "Back Porch" garden supply store, that used to be the old post office.  And finally, the most important part of a town is where people gather to talk about town news.  We have "Wheatley's" that serves biscuits and gravy in the morning, a home cooked meal for lunch and they do Fish Fry Friday's in the summer.  We also have the "New Bethel Ordinary" where we used to get pizza from.  They changed owners or managers, and so the pizza isn't as good as it used to be.  There's a couple of spas/hairdressers/massage therapists (I've seen the massage therapist there) and our lawyer friend has an office on that little main street, too.  He's also from church.  It's a neat little typical midwestern hamlet and I love that kind of stuff!  The dry cleaner's alone has been in business for 60 years.  We had a great location there, with plenty of foot traffic and it was nice and warm and dry.  There were periods of rain all day except during the parade and it was a bit warmer than average, so around 50 degrees.  Just fun, free, hometown type of event.  My favorite.

Shauna and the girls came and brought Keturah.  Keturah had her first basketball game today!  She's officially another Flashes team member! All Franklin Township sports teams and cheerleading go by "The Flashes."  So now we can say Jared was in the band for the Flashes and the logo has been passed down to the next generation.  As far as the game went, it was a great length and Keturah played 3 out of 4 quarters.  She only touched the ball once, and spent too much time just standing around, but she tried hard and complained about all the running when she got home.  And she refuses to put her hair up, too.  I think next time I will make her use a pony tail holder.  She borrowed some gym shorts from Justin and they fit perfectly!  She's already saying she doesn't want to do it next year because of all the running.  Not sure what she expected from the game, but yes, there's a lot of running!  Jared said some parents were trying to coach from the stands and it was annoying.  Abishai mostly played on Jared and wiggled around.  He didn't know he could cheer for Keturah.  She has to miss the next practice and game because of her musical choir at church.  Oh well, it's just one time.  She looks so grown up, too!  Time to go shopping before puberty really hits if you know what I mean.

There was a rainbow outside of the dry cleaner's after one part of the storm today!  And I saw other people share pictures of the full rainbow!  The colors were so vivid!

Keturah is on Team 5, the Mystics.  They were pretty well beat because only one person was brave enough to really handle the ball.  There's a few newbies on her team including Keturah.  Her game had 8 minute quarters, and ran about 45 minutes in length.  It was at he gym where she's been practicing on Saturdays in one of the local elementary schools, Arlington Elementary.

Daddy seemed very proud when he sent me these pictures.  Keturah is the short middle.  There is this very large kid all the way to the right who is probably 1 year older than Keturah.  The contrast is big and interesting.  All the girls are in 5th or 6th grade but they are all so different.

Keturah's over there somewhere, just hanging out, not protecting the ball.  Oops!

We bought an advent calendar for the girls to share, so they started it today!

The girls watching the parade.  Hey, I spot Santa!  Aaron and Shauna don't do Santa, but I think Keturah still believes in some way.  I'm afraid to ask her and spoil the magic.  And that's the flower shoppe in the background there.  There has to be some historical significance to that big beautiful brick building.  It has also hosted events in the past that I've attended.  Beautiful old building.  My mom was good friends with the owner, too.

Sunday Funday as Normal.  But by ourselves, no Gary and Leah to help.  Jared woke up with a massive tension headache, but still took Benaiah (who was playing drums for middle school), Justin (who wanted to attend middle school worship), and Keturah (who sang with the kids' choir at the beginning of all 3 services) to church by 8am.  Abishai and I were awake, too, and I decided to go ahead and go at 9 am to catch Keturah's kids' choir songs.  I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have gotten video footage otherwise.  I was thinking Jared and I would go to the 9:15am service and then he could go home and sleep, but he stuck it out for the whole morning (and later on in the evening, too).  Jared worked in his office, I took Abishai with me to see Keturah and then off to his Sunday School class, and then I sat outside the cafe' watching and listening to the middle school worship time.  Then we attended 11 am service together.  We had 3 hrs at home and Jared took a nap.  Then it was back to church by 3:45 for choir.  Benaiah had to be there at 5:30 because he has a part in the kids' program as well.  He didn't lay eyes on the script until today but Mrs. Christy said he did fine.  He had to skip Crave, which had an incredible element to it tonight, and he'll miss D-group this week for the dress rehearsal and he had to rearrange his work schedule for performance day, BUT, that's all ok.  It's a privilege to be asked to take part in something that you've done previously.  And what fun to have both Keturah and Benaiah on the same stage!  The choir had an extra long practice on the big stage tonight, too.  And, Shauna left the girls with us overnight while she was at the hospital.  The girls and Abishai had fun while the others were in their activities.  Yeah for having an office at church and yeah for having physical activities like a basketball hoop and tether ball pole to play with!  I developed a headache, too, but managed to read this month's Christian Standard magazine.  I also had a great conversation with Shauna about some church stuff.

Now I'm off to write out some scheduling things for the week.  I'm sure we'll all sleep in a little bit tomorrow.  The 3 girls decided to sleep in the fireside room tonight, so we'll see. Then we have school and appointments on Monday.  There's nothing big on the schedule, but I have to plug the fun Christmas activities in or they won't get done.  We'll use do some thorough cleaning, too.  Fun stuff!

We've had some rough conversations with the oldest teen, and this is what I wrote on Facebook about it.  I tried to keep it as uplifting, yet truthful and humble as I could.  Life isn't always peachy, but we keep trying.  Here's the post:

Raising a teen (or bunch of teens, pre teens, and toddlers) isn't for the faint of heart. Even the good ones have their issues. I'm proud of my kids, but sometimes, wow, it's hard to swallow my words and not let their thrashing about/figuring things out affect me on a personal level. It hurts, and I had no idea letting go of them would hurt so much. Their negative words sting. I'm fine with them doing things on their own and moving on a bit, but those words, man, when words are your love language, it sure does hurt. My kids aren't angels. And I'm sure yours aren't either at home. Just remember that sometimes we all put on a face in public, but we could be struggling and wrestling internally. Pray for our youth. It is tough for them. It's tough for us, too. Lean into those relationships, but take time to be encouraged by others who have been through those years already. Step away for a moment, regain your composure, and then tell your teen that no, you will never, ever, ever, ever fully let go of them. Never. No matter what. That's what I'm trying to do, no matter how much it hurts. And by the literal grace of God, we will get through this because we've already gone through so much, and only because people prayed for us, when we couldn't even pray for ourselves. Prayer. When you physically can't do anything, you can still pray. That's what my mother did with the other mothers while we had youth group. Informal, but intentional prayer. And you know what, I think we had the best, least dramatic, close knit youth group during my high school years that I've ever known. I still love those other moms and keep in contact with some of them because they know and love me and my side of the family. I wish I could do what my mom did, however, I KNOW and have SEEN how the volunteer youth leaders pray for our youth group all the time. I've seen how they love on those kids. And I am grateful for them because when I can't get through to my kid, I know that they are also speaking the same things into his head. But it all starts with prayer. And that is an area I'm seriously lacking in. I need to get back to it. It's been kind of hard to talk to God when you're really mad at Him. But I'm slowly coming around. Prayer. Keep praying for me, for our kids, your teens, your relationships, and those around you. When you don't know what to do, pray. When you don't know what to pray for, tell God that. He already knows. And the Holy Spirit will intercede for you. And other people will, too. Ok, sermon over. Enjoy your week!

I was listening to "O Come Emanuel" and we actually sang it at church, too!

I always love our stage set up for Christmas.  Beautiful!

Keturah is on the top row all the way to the right.

A brief glimpse of said teenager.

The fun jobs this kid has.

Video games with the guys before middle school Crave starts.

Creepy big brother is "helping."  And you should hear how loud Justin gets when he's playing the game and "posturing."

Best buddies.

Before 2nd service where we sat closer up.

Jump to the evening after the 3rd service before choir practice.  Shauna and Aaron's church participates in some Jewish tradidions (don't ask me why though).  So, the girls taught Keturah how to play the driedal.  It's a fun little game!

"I got Grandpa's chair!"  I also made the rule that they can NOT have any of Grandpa's candy if he's not there.  They are cleaning out his stash too fast!

Awww, in honor of George H. W. Bush, I remembered these nesting dolls Jared got.  Yes, the big one on the far right is George H.W. Bush because these sets were bought during the Clinton presidency.

Tether ball!

Keturah made a basket!

Play with me!  But don't take my ball!

First rehearsal on the stage.

Yeah! Our friend Shannon Knaack is reprising her role as Jane Blonde!

Abishai got really stir crazy and started cackling when he wore Nora's shoes!

PK's playing with other PK's.  Monahans, J6, and J4.  And technically Jared, too.

One of my best friends Jennifer fixed my pants!  Now they are really skinny and fit in my short boots with having to roll them.  Yeah!  Plus they have a high waist and are very slimming.  Happiness all around!  Thanks!

Now get some rest!