The J6 Journey: Year 4, February 11th-15th, 2019: He's Home!!!

As I type this, Jared will be holding me in 16 hrs! We cannot wait for our reunion! It's not about the physical help, it's about the emotional support, and the tag team parenting we do. I'm so very blessed that ever since we went to Canada in 2012, Jared has worked so close to home and has had the freedom to help if I need it. I do NOT take that for granted. And I know that a lot of you have spouses that often travel for work and that's great, too. I'm not great with change, and it wasn't until Jared told me to STOP and just DO it on day 2 of his absence that I finally stopped being such a ninny and dug in and made it work this week. But he's ready to be home and "off" socially. And it's awesome that our home is a place we all want to be and can be our sinful selves. Yes, we are our rawest at home and it grates on me, but I would not have it any other way. I am grateful and I am blessed, and I pray for those that don't have it as good as I have it. Truly, I'm well aware in my very own extended family how divorce and broken relationships can negatively affect life. And I am grateful that Jared can speak truth into my life and will push me when I need it. "And the two shall become one..." "A cord of three strands is not easily broken..."

Puppy love? Or deep marital love? Or a mixture of both? Or just knowing you've been through so many hard things together and that you truly are best friends. I don't resent the church or ministry for being apart from my husband. I'm just acknowledging that there is a sacrifice and some trips are easier to handle than others. Pray for Jared in his recovery this week because he slept very little in the last few days. I know his dad will jump right into work a couple of hours after getting home and then will stay awake until close to his regular bedtime here. But Jared, phew, who knows what it's going to be like. So, I've cleared the schedule to accommodate that. We are only doing some math and reading for school this week. I had to prepare for Jared's arrival today, Abishai's actual birthday on Wednesday, plus an eye appointment for Keturah, basketball and Bible Bowl, Valentine's double date with Benaiah and his girlfriend (oh my goodness, that's a new phrase to get used to!), Valentine's party on Friday that I have to prepare games for, and then Abishai's birthday on Saturday. Oh my word! I need to bake a cake sometime in there, too, and Keturah has a basketball game on Saturday. Eek! And this is why year round homeschoolers take a week off every 6 weeks to catch up on household things.

Otherwise, today, Monday, was just that, rush, hustle, go to appointments (I LOVE going to the chiropractor!), clean up, get kids to write cards for Daddy and fill out Valentine's Day cards for Friday. Grandma and I tag teamed as well, and she took Keturah and Abishai with her to pick up Benaiah from school and take him to work. Praise the Lord that Benaiah's friend Ethan is now working at the Taco Bell right next to CFA and Ethan's mom offered to pick up Benaiah! Lisa has always been such a blessing to us, helping with transportation, buying us milk last Wednesday when she brought Benaiah home from small group, babysitting for free sometimes. She's the sweetest helper ever! And her kids and hubby are awesome, too. We used to share a meal together and I'd teach the kids piano lessons every week. And of course there's Ethan and Benaiah. They didn't fight over the girlfriend, thankfully. I made sure that Benaiah made sure Ethan was ok. You can't destroy a BFF friendship like theirs over a girl. You just can't. Anyway, that means I don't have to go out tonight and I can work on this! I'm pretty happy that I'm up to date on food prep, laundry, dishes, blog, etc. I've learned that I can hustle when I know I need to, but I will procrastinate and play too much on my phone if I don't have a concrete deadline. I don't know how long I could keep up the hustle, but I don't feel too bad physically right now. My neck and shoulder started seizing up yesterday, and I did have a day or two of bad headaches, but that's related to weather. It's been in the lower 30's, which I don't mind too much, so that helps. Well, we did have a little bit snow on Sunday that promptly melted on Monday.

There's a lot of hurting people around me right now, but I think I can safely say that the 6 of us are in a great place right now. I know it won't be permanent, but it's incredible to finally feel that well. We have settled, have rhythms to our life, have working relationships with somewhat open communication, we can start to plan more, finances aren't perfect, but they are stable and we can breathe a little easier this year because of Jared's raise. It's been a long 3 year journey to get to this place of mostly peace for me. And although I take on the emotions and mental states of others, it kind of feels nice to not be the one in the crisis at the moment. I can take a step back and not be in flight or fight mode and really think hard and make some changes mentally, emotionally, and physically. That's an awesome place to be!

Something seems a bit off in this picture. Smog! Jared said even the hotel smelled like smog! And he couldn't sleep because the walls were thin. Poor guy!

I LOVE how he took this selfie! Way to up the selfie game! I think that might be the alcove Grandma was talking about where guards could see people coming in but the people couldn't see them.

I asked for some non touristy looking photos. I got a picture of a tree with the Taj Mahal in the background. Yup, my tree hugger strikes again! Love it!

Abishai wants to put on his own lotion! He's got very dry lips and a boo boo on his chin. Grandma gave him a chapstick to use just like Benaiah would say before he got out of her car, "Grandma, I need to do my whips (lips)!" She keeps a chapstick in her car at all times.

I caught the men as they were taxing in the runway! 15 hrs flight this time, but they only advance 5 hrs in the day because of the time zones. Let's just call this timey whimy wibbly wobbly stuff (to quote the famous Doctor Who on time travel). 1

Time to fly over the 'stan countries.

Through Russia!

Close up of Russia and surrounding countries.

And Finland! And then of course Sweden and Norway, too. Too bad it's nighttime and they can't see anything! I wonder if there are daytime flights, because that's what I want to do! See Europe by air? Yes please!

Whoop, whoop! Greenland!!!! It looks so big on this map! I don't know that this map is accurate like a globe though. Sweet! They will land in Newark, NJ around 4:30 am and then get on another flight to make it Indy around 10:45am.

Tuesday! He made it home! But not without some turbulence, literally. They left two hrs late from Newark and none of the websites had the correct information. But I guessed correctly and got to the airport 15 minutes before they landed finally at 1pm. So we had a late lunch at Steak and Shake and then went our separate ways. The 5 of us went to pick up Benaiah from school and take him to work. Then we finally got home again. We did our best to keep Jared awake until 8pm, and then he passed out for the night after tucking Abishai in for the night. Abishai went to bed as a 3 yr old and wakes up a 4 yr old! We put up some of the decorations for the birthday party, and filled the pinata. Jared gave us the gifts he bought for us. He unpacked, we snuggled, we ate a little dinner, and that's the end of the day. Reunion was incredible, but I can't take the time that I normally do because I have so much to do before Abishai's birthday party on Saturday. And there's a big surprise coming for that! I have the best friends! The weather has turned colder, windier, and from rain to snow to rain to snow all day. And Jared arrived in shorts and his toe shoes! So, it was a crazy day, but Jared is home safe and sound and we will get back in sync with one another soon. He does have to teach at the school tomorrow and should do a little bit of work, but hopefully we can have a slow morning because Gary is taking Benaiah to school in the morning. Yeah!

I bet this is when Jared saw the northern lights (see post below). Greenland!

Back into Canada!

Landed safe and sound, but the fun was just beginning for the morning.

This was when we thought everything was going to plan. They were even on the plane in time and taxiing out to the runway when the pilot turned around, headed back to the terminal where they deplaned while decisions were made. It took another 2 hrs to get clearance to try again. The weather high up in the atmosphere could have been the culprit.

Great reminders.

Big airplane next the one he flew on for 15 hrs to come home. He said he slept maybe 6 of those hours.

Night sky over ______

The regional jet he was flying on from Newark to Indy and he could see in to the cockpit!

Grandma gave Abishai one of her chapsticks because his lips were dry. He said, "I need to put on my own lotion on my owie spots." and tried to put the chapstick on his tummy! Thankfully, the product wasn't pushed up high enough for him to get much on himself. I'm glad he's independent like this. "I do it myself!"

See how confusing this is?

Finally, the correct information was added to flight tracker! Almost home!

Gloomy cold wintry mix day with rain and snow changing every hour on the hour. Cute kids watch for Daddy's plane though.

Justin hadn't eaten enough and felt sick, so he stayed with our stuff at the couches at the airport while we waited for Daddy to walk out of the terminal. We have such a great set up at our airport with plenty of room to see what's going on and to greet passengers. It's not typically crowded because this the visitor area, before you go through security. And it has a huge atrium roof letting in tons of sunlight (when we have it).

There's Daddy's plane!

I told them to make signs and seh came up with this. Good enough.

We stopped at the dollar store and picked up a balloon. And would do you know they had Valentine balloons all ready to go! We choose the frog prince one over the teddy bear one.

Waiting, waiting, waiting, straining our eyes, where is he?

There he is!!! In shorts and toe shoes no less!

Aww, hand in hand again!

For the first time, we did NOT bring in the stroller, so we were able to use the escalators. Abishai declared, "I LOVE these!" And then, Abishai wouldn't stop jabbering all the way home. He thoroughly missed his Daddy! The other kids, well, they didn't care either way. I'm not happy about that but I'm not sure what to say or do about it either.

Mommy, let's do the lights!

After Steak and Shake with Grandma and Grandpa, Keturah ran to the car and unexpectedly sloshed through this huge puddle soaking her shoes, getting her pants wet, and it even hit her cup! Justin was already in the van and saw the whole thing and kept calling it a tsnaumi! So, here's the video because he couldn't stop laughing for 30 minutes! Jared was very unhappy about it because his head was swimming from all the travel. So when we got to Benaiah's school and Jared went in to talk to Mr. Nanney, I let the kids scream and laugh all they wanted to get it out of their system. Then I remembered that they had homework to finish that they had brought with them. So, they sort of calmed down enough, but, when I checked it the next day, they didn't do that well on it. Go figure.

"I'm adorable!" - Abishai DID proclaim that. Now he just looks like a little Amish boy in his Sunday clothes. And Socks was there to help hand out gifts. Jared gave Benaiah a wooden block puzzle like a rubix cube.

My gift from Jared was a silk scarf like the Indian women wear. Awww....

Like Mommy, Keturah got a super long scraf. Pink with a little glitter. It was rolled up tight.

Trying to wear it like an Indian woman does.

Abishai's souvenir was a wooden tank!

He loves it!!! Let's blow up everything!

Daddy bought Justin a vest that he can grow into from India and it's the same style as Abishia's, which Grandpa had bought Abishai last year.

Awww, precious plaque. I love how they call each other brothers!

Let's just crawl up and into Daddy's closest while he puts away his clean clothes (they did laundry before he left India). And amazingly, Jared put away his OWN CLOTHES, which doesn't happen that often. "Magic" (who is I) usually does it.

Aww, Mr. Johnson, another teacher in the family.

Someone special in Benaiah's life is getting a little gift on Thursday, Valentine's Day.

Daddy helped Abishai fill his pinata for the party!

Tonight we tucked in a 3 yr old for the last time. In just a few hrs he will be 4! And, he didn't want to read or snuggle in our bed. Super sad face!

Wednesday, Abishai's 4th birthday, started out well with snuggles and birthday messages, eggy toast made by Daddy, and opening gifts! I had bought a used set of Geotrax and a used set of Hot Wheels wall tracks to add to our collections last fall and saved it until now because we had bought other things for Christmas. He also got the last of the 8 Paw Patrol plush puppies! It was awesome to have just a little bit of time with Daddy before he went to work and school as normal. Jared slept nearly 11 hrs and although he still feels off from the shakiness of traveling on a train for two days and on airplanes, I think he was able to function a bit better today. Unfortunately, we have several things going on today, so we won't be doing anything else special for Abishai's birthday. We continued to tidy up both physically and paperwork/blog, keeping the hustle going this week because there's a lot of upkeep to do.

Hey! Hot Wheels tracks!

More Geotrax!

Just a few birthday greetings. This one is from Aunt Shauna. It's funny because this was probably last spring or something and he still wears that shirt!

Auntie Stefanie, my sister.

Playing with the new Geotrax!

Let's see....Everest, Rocky, Zuma, Marshall, Chase, Tracker, Rubble, and the last one he got, his favorite, Skye!

I couldn't get this to play, but birthday greetings from Grandma and Grandpa.

From Mommy's Big "brother" Eddie, too! I'm sure there were more throughout the day, too. I can't believe it's been 4 years since I gave birth in the dining room and I would do the labor and how I birthed the same way again. I would just have the right supplies on hand next time. And wouldn't you know that it's wicked cold here and it snowed yesterday! That's what February is supposed to be like!

Grandma keeps buying us cookie and goody mixes so we keep trying to use them. I don't want to spend the time on them, but I don't want to be wasteful either. I was going to make these oreo tuffles with the kids last week but ran out of time. Today was a perfect time to do it, sort of, because Justin can bring most of them to Bible Bowl for Valentine's Day (on Friday). These were surprisingly easy to make actually. And that's because the kids are older and I could make them do most of the work. I've tried dipping things in chocolate before and never seem to get the mixture right, so I'm glad these worked well.

Cookie crumbs and cream cheese. Freeze them.

Melt chocolate in the microwave and dip them.

Add sprinkles and put them in the refrigerator. We did two boxes in less than 45 minutes including freezing time (not fridge time afterwards).

More dipping.

Abishai wanted to help but I didn't have much patience for it.

He was good at sprinkles though! And you had to be quick because the chocolate hardened quickly.

More birthday wishes from an old friend of mine in NH.

Talking to Aunt Stefanie and Cousin Auggie for Abishai's birthday while we were visiting Daddy at the office. Grandpa also chased Abishai down to give him his birthday "spankings"! I was trying to capture it out on film but Stefanie's phone call interrupted it. Oh well, it did happen!

But we are at the office and I want to watch Dirt Every Day! No, buddy, Daddy and Grandpa are working and have orders to process!

Keturah had her annual eye exam today, including dilation, and her eyes were so big like the cutie eyed stuffed animals! But she's healthy and her prescription stayed the same.

Friend from nursery.

Another nursery friend.

Some birthday decorations so far plus all his pups in two buckets!

Wow! They came out extremely well! I'm impressed!

Great job, kids!

Birthday mail! Check out the video below of what it was!

Birthdday boy snuggles! We were waiting for everyone to get home so we could sing Happy Birthday as the J6. Benaiah had been at small group, Justin was at Bible Bowl, and Keturah had her last basketball practice. At one point I thought he had fallen asleep because he had gone to our bedroom and was quiet. But I found him hiding under the covers towards the end of the bed. I told him not to scooch down anymore because he was going to fall off. Well, I walked away and not 10 seconds later, I heard thud. Because the sheets and blankets were tucked in, he landed wrapped up in them. What a goof! And then when Daddy snuggled him in our bed, he tooted 5 times and wouldn't stop laughing. Oi! What a party animal!

Cute card! Thanks J4!

Whoops! I rolled off the bed!

I like it in here!

Learning how to show how old he is.

Eating his breakfast treat - one of the oreo truffles we made!

What Keturah did with her scarf Daddy bought her in India.

Thursday was hustle day. I had to get the house ready for Saturday's party AND make sure we were ready for our Valentine's Day party on Friday at gym day. I am in charge of games for it, so Keturah and I made sure we were organized and ready. Then I put the rest of the extra toys in the garage or out of the way, cleared the countertops, and cleaned other areas like the bathroom countertops and under the sink. You know, the projects that have been put off for ages. The house feels so nice and decluttered and I didn't get rid of anything! I just put things where they should go, like crayons and colored pencils. I had left them out thinking that would encourage us to use them with Abishai, but it's been 6 months with no obvious increase in use. I wish I could keep the house this free of toys, but I don't know what to get rid of! Abishai still likes all the toys and plays with them in rotation very well. Hm,....

Meanwhile, we baked again, some brownies for Friday, and then on Friday, I have to bake the cake. I've baked more this week than in the last 6 months! I'm glad I have Keturah and Justin to do the stirring though. That's the part that hurts me the most, especially if it's stiff batter. I have a hand mixer, but sometimes the batter is even too thick for that. Abishai played today, and had some screen time, especially during piano lesson this evening. Jared took Keturah to the movies for a little date and to chaperone Benaiah and Ava. Benaiah said it all went well. Keturah behaved, there was surface level conversation and some hand holding. Keturah and Jared sat on a row behind and to the left of them. Benaiah also gave Ava some very nice chocolate and a Starbucks gift card. Jared and I have never done much for V-day, and I told him just to spend the money on popcorn for Keturah. Jared and I have had plenty of time to reconnect since he got home and it's been a sweet reunion. But he's also extremely out of sorts and tired from the jetlag. I knew it would take him awhile to adjust. Gary is used to doing it and probably has his own coping mechanisms, but Jared's new to all of this. But at least he has his Abishai to snuggle at night.

Otherwise, I'm enjoying our impromtu "week off" and doing the hustle game for all these celebrations: Jared coming home, V-day party, and Abishai's birthday party. It's insane but fun! Sunday will be full again, and we have a field trip next week, so it will not slow down for awhile. Oh, and it was fun decorating the house for the party with Keturah. We used all new decoartions based on the Paw Patrol tv show and I only pulled out the #4 candle so far from the birthday decoration box. I'm glad I got the $60 kit that included everything. What a deal! Plus a pinata that included the candy and toys, and another pin the badge on Chase game. I can't wait to show you all! And we pulled out Socks' little dog bowls from when he was a puppy (I never throw things away, and see, they've come in handy 9 years later!) and we are going to clean them up and fill them up with "pup treats" because the Paw Patrol pups get put treats at the end of the episode if they do a great job. So, anyway, we are having fun and we are ready to party! Grocercies and balloons tomorrow night!

Amen! I found this on a friend's Facebook page today. I love it!

20 years of doing Valentine's together and right outside our door was this guy . Just one of the results of our love.

Here's another result of our love, this 16 1/2 yr old. The student ministry is doing a 60 day or something prayer thing, so students and youth staff do a 1 minute devotion and then pray through Instastories on Instagram. Because Benaiah had leadership class yesterday, he got to participate today. Unfortunately, I didn't take a video of the video/story, so I've asked a staff member if they still have the clips. We'll see!

Short prayer before sending kids off to school.

Meanwhile at home, Keturah helped Abishai make a parking area for the pup cars out of Jenga blocks. Keturah said her eyes still felt dilated and she couldn't read/do math. I looked it up and it said that it 's normal for kids to keep it longer than adults. But if she still refuses to do work tomorrow, I'll take her to the doctor next week. That and her large boo boo on the top of her head that just won't heal. Hm,...

Abishai eating sprinkles.

Running up and driweay with no shoes on, in 36 degree F water just to get out some of that pent up energy.

The boys were pulling down on the decorations making them bounce back up again. It was hilarious and they were careful with them, too. Way to go for not being scared Abishai.

Leah's creations! Dan had shown a picture of a meat bouquet in the sermon on Sunday, so Leah decided to change it up a bit, and make it her own. She said she went to the store 3 times to get the right stuff. And the bacon roses take 2 hrs or something to bake.

The remnants of Leah's meat, veggie, and fruit bouqet. She spent an hour assembling them together. Then she took them over to the church. What fun!

Standing watch over Abishai and the door.

Abishai kept saying, "Pups, I'm tired, leave me alone." He was playing the Ryder character who is the human that takes care of the pups. His words sounded like something I would say.

Taking a nap on the front half wall. Jared wants to take this out and I said, no, it's a great barrier and protects the piano. I would love to open up the side that faces the door and see if we can put shoe shelves in there or something. I love having a place to put things that are going out the door. I had moved my purse and the diaper bag because that's how it will be for the party, but normally they sit here. Chalk, dishes to return to Leah, and the main library book bag are all usually up there.

Friday was our Valentine's Day Party at gym day with our homeschooling friends! And for those of you who STILL ask about socialization of homeschoolers, I laugh at you. Seriously, we have so many opportunities to interact with people of all ages, that we have to pick and choose! I didn't get much of a chance to talk to other moms, but I was content just making sure the games I made were fun and keeping Abishai from spilling food, and then picking up trash as we went. Although, the kids really did a pretty good job picking up after themselves. The church had left out their gaga ball pit, so that was a highlight of the actual gym time. It was neat to see everyone come together and bring some fun activities. I think I'll encourage the kids to bring a board game next time. We might skip next week though because we have a field trip to a local park to talk about one of my favorite treats, maple syrup. I know the older ones know about it, but Abishai doesn't AND the park is 10 minutes from our house, not 30 minutes like most field trips are. Anyway, I'll explain the games below their pictures.

Then after lunch, I attempted to bake a gluten free birthday cake. Well, I read the box wrong and it only makes about 12 cupcake, when the regular cake mix boxes make 24 cupcakes. So, when I went to make a 1/4 sheet cake, the cake wasn't very big. Whoops! I asked Jared what to do and he said that time is of greater value than money at this point, so think of something. I had more cake mix, but I had already baked the caked and then I would have to frost the middle and the top if I tried to layer it. Plus, I had no more butter to add to the cake mix. Hm,....I guess I could try buying a cake and putting the edible icing decoration on it. And that's exactly what we are going to do! You'll see the pics below, but I made my one layer gluten free cake into two layers, frosted it, and then borrowed the rosettes from the store bought cake so that I would have a flat layer to put the edible icing on. I'm such a genius sometimes! We also picked up Benaiah from his girlfriend's house. He had found a way for her mom to pick him up and take him there so they could hang for a couple of hours. Oi! That's after they had spent an hour on the phone. Jared calls this stage "infatuation." It's cute, and as long as her mom is ok with it, we are ok with it. He has the time and they are just watching movies in her family's living room. All very kosher and on the up and up. I'm happy about it. We ran 5 errands in 2 hrs....picked up Benaiah, picked up dry cleaning, bought groceries, went to the party store to fill up balloons, went to Meijer to get a store bought cake. And bam! We are ready and done for the party! All with Jared driving and 4 kids in tow. We make such a great team! And that is exactly why it was hard for Jared to be gone. He does certain things to help me, like get Abishai in and out of the car, which conserves my energy so I can think clearly at the grocery store. I put the groceries away, while he played with Abishai on the Star Wars game and put him to bed. We both know our roles and what we are good at. And that's how it should always be. He earns the money, I spend it as wisely as I can looking for bargains, not impulse buying anything full price. He thinks about practical things like car repairs and I think about how to organize our bathroom cupboards better.

Speaking of, you could sum up the last week with one word: accomplished. It took giving up most of the homeschool studies, and really pushing myself physically to keep moving, but I cleaned up, decluttered, thoroughly cleaned countertops and bathrooms, kept up the blog, and caught up with Jared this week. And I am doing ok. I have upped my caffeine, and my pain level is a bit higher than normal, but I'm not out of it. Jared still is. Wow, he's certainly not like his dad! Jared is still feeling exhausted to the point of sickness. Each day gets a little better, but it's been 3 full days since he got home and he can't stay awake past 9. And he didn't get up early either. He still has to take some medication for things like malaria prevention for the next few days, so I wonder if that's affecting his tiredness. Poor thing! Well, no one has to get up early tomorrow, and Keturah's game isn't until noon, so we have some time to sleep in until 8 if Abishai lets us. We'll see! I'm excited about the party and have enjoyed putting it together with Keturah's help. It will be all hands on deck tomorrow putting on the finishing touches. Yeah!

Hey, Mom, come here! It looks like Star Wars! Like tie fighters or something? Or a grill looking piece in a spaceship? Ok.

And this was the cause of this shadow! Pretty neat observation!

Look, Mom!

Games Keturah and I made! It was mostly the younger ones that were interested, but Keturah showed them how to play.

First up is to use the straw to either blow the petals across the table in a race or suck on the straw making a petal stick to the end and then transferring it to another plate and when you stop sucking on the straw, the petal is released.

This one is throwing pom poms into cups for points.

This game is using the straw to blow a q tip "Cupid's Arrow" into the heart shaped basket. We color coded them, too. We plan to use the dart game and the pom pom toss at the birthday party tomorrow.

Throwing pom poms into the cups.

I think Justin wasn't afraid to use the gaga ball pit because he was bigger than a lot of the other kids. He hangs out with Caiden and Eli, both of whom seem to be much younger than he is.

Mingling and prepping the food table. There were everything from chocolates, to cookies, to cheese and crackers, fruit, punch, etc.

Keturah was great at picking up the darts and keeping things organized. This group with meet with for gym days and park days every Friday is the east side group called the Early Years and Beyond group. Not a co op but just a support group.

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Blowing the petals. This girl said she loves science and asked if bending the straw would change the air flow. I said I didn't know so try it! I didn't stay for the results though.

Some of the kids decorated their valentine's bags.

This guy, Julian, saw the scotch tape on the table and made a flower out of the other materials! He left it behind, so I scooped it up as I reminder of his creativity.

More gaga ball.

We took the time at home to put the Valentine's back in order according to the list we were given and for the most part, we easily found all the bags. The bags were listed by family, so that made it easier to find everyone. The kids came home with about 12 candies and a dozen or so more valentine's without candies.

Playing Valentine bingo. They loved this game and got prizes, so I didn't feel the need to pull out my group games.

Abishai sticks closely to Justin on gym days. And the other kids don't seem to mind or tease Justin about it. In fact, they include him in their fun.These three also play fortnite together every Friday afternoon when they get home.

Valentine Bingo with gum drops. The company that makes conversation hearts, Necco, filed bankruptcy and dissolved, so there are no conversation hearts this year (although someone did find a knock off brand and brougtht them today.) A new company bought the rights and will start production next year again.