Another week is starting....so, I worked hard at cleaning up after neglecting some dishes, dirty oven surfaces, toys, laundry, etc all weekend. We didn't do any schoolwork together because my counseling appointment was right after lunch, but the kids did their independent work. We'll put in more time tomorrow. Keturah started highlighting and memorizing her lines for her musical. Justin finished all his challenges in Fortnite. Benaiah got to see his girl at school (whoops, am I NOT supposed to talk about that? hehehe). Jared had work and school. Abishai got some Mommy snuggle time and Daddy playtime. And I just printed off a bunch of music scores for Justin and I from a music website I am doing a "free trial" on. I might pay for it month to month for a bit if I think of anything else I want. It does have some decent arrangements though. Otherwise, it's a straightforward week, with Rooted Bible study starting on Tuesday, Leadership/Bible Bowl/D group on Wednesday, Abishai's annual doctor's visit on Thursday, as well as piano lesson, and gym day on Friday. Oh yeah, and Shauna started her chemo treatments today. You can sign up for her updates at caringbridge.org and search for Shauna Johnson. Wow, it still hurts and is shocking to say that.
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| Yes, we were literally blown away yesterday, especially in the church parking lot. I felt like we were at the harbor front in Charlottetown, PEI. |
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| "Leave me alone. I do it myself." Tired little guy did not want anybody helping him build his police boat. |
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| "And this is the couch, and this is to stop them from yawning." AND he can "read" the word "police" on any Lego brick! Meaning, he recognizes the pattern of letters from seeing them on the Lego City Police videos he watches from YouTube! I hope he's still able to learn phonics and then easily memorize words when I teach him to read. Crazy smart guy! He's also been chanting, "No means no and yes means yes." And he told me he didn't like the girl breaking the jar (of perfume) to wash Jesus' feet, which is the story they had in their Sunday School class yesterday. |
Tuesday, well, um, Tuesday. I was pretty lazy. Ok, me being lazy is like a normal person doing a normal to do list, let's face it. Anyway, we did catch up on our together lessons, two history lessons, went over science, and reviewed Latin because both kids were thoroughly confused. Justin completed all his work, but I puttered around too much and didn't get a chance to really check it. But I don't usually have to worry about him because he's like me and does get stuff done. Keturah on the other hand, well, pray for us. There's something up with her and I don't know what kind of doctor or counselor to turn to. She refuses to do school work claiming her brain can't think, and she claims she has a stomach ache and/or other physical ailments when she it's time to do school work or chores, but is physically fine the rest of the time. I'm just at a loss as to how to approach it. So, I just didn't force it today. I played with Abishai, kept up on social media, put books on the bookshelf (that required a few decisions more than anything), and tried to mentally and physically rest for our first session at Rooted tonight.
Well, oh my, I wasn't prepared for tonight. This is going to be way harder than I thought. Rooted is this 10 week small group program that is supposed to help you "connect with God, with the church, and with your purpose." Now, this isn't surface level Christianity 101 stuff. Oh no, there's a whole bunch of stuff I wasn't anticipating like "sharing my story" in the group and then with a stranger. There's a service project and an extended prayer time. And we are in a very mixed group of older couples, some older and younger women (some married, some not), and another young couple. We know one of the couples and our leader. I haven't been vulnerable in a group setting for, um, probably 6 or 7 years. I've been so withdrawn hiding behind this screen for so long, that I've lost some of the ability to hold a face to face conversation, so I just avoid people. But, like Jared said tonight, we are doing this because a) we haven't been part of a small group, well, since we left for Canada and b)when the leadership tells the congregation to try this new thing and jump in with two feet, we usually jump in and set the example. I just don't think I prepared myself for the anxiety introverted feelings. It's going to take a lot of effort on my part because I've had to guard part of our story, and will still need to for a long time. And you know I like to tell everything to anyone who will listen. And Jared and I haven't been together in the same place talking to "friends" about deep spiritual things in a very long time. So, yes, pray for Satan's minions to be thwarted. Pray for every single person of the 500 people doing this this time puts in the effort and grows a ton. Pray that even if or when I can't do this study "perfectly," that I will still grow and it will be the next step in my personal healing and that our family will feel even more settled and known in a different way afterwards. We are meeting actually in the e2 office, which is fun and strange all at the same time because no one really knew where this room was and that it's Jared's personal office, etc.
So, it's been a long mentally exhausting day. I can't think anymore. I'm stuck with what to do for and with Keturah. I'm terrified of Rooted homework. And I don't have any major deadlines in sight, so I kind of just wander around knowing I could do this or that, but in the long run those projects don't matter and I'd rather play by stupid phone game. So, there's that.
BUT, Benaiah has an A minus in his college speech class! And he presents his speech on teen suicide at his school's chapel next Tuesday! And when I went over to talk to him at his computer last night, I smelled something different and asked him about it. He looked up at me and grinned this sheepish big grin and I figured it out! It was a mix of whatever his girlfriend uses for personal products and whatever their family uses for laundry detergent or something because he was wearing the hoodie that his girlfriend borrowed. Oh, I get it. It's so adorable! Why? Because it's exactly how Jared and I were with each other. I'm loving the face that I'm finding out that I have all kinds of similarities to Ava. It just makes me smile and gives me hope and joy that Benaiah is in an incredibly well balanced, happy, normal place in life. He has needed this for a long time and has worked hard to get here. So, for the moment, he's on the mountaintop and I am truly grateful and glad because so many kids aren't. And between issues with Keturah and Shauna's cancer and my own insecurities and anxieties, it's just awesome to see someone be that happy and joy filled and right where God wants him to be.
And one note on Shauna's breast cancer. I did get permission to share her caringbridge.org page on Facebook and here on the blog. She has decided to backtrack and share more of her emotions and journey, and come to find out, she writes well (better than Aaron I think). She doesn't share much with me at least of her inner self, so she's stepping out on a limb and sharing this with those on her email list. So, if you want to continue to receive updates and learn her back story, please go to caringbridge.org and type in Shauna Johnson and sign up to receive updates via email. I'll be posting the link to every entry on Facebook, but not everyone has a chance to see my status before I post something else or before Facebook messes with the algorithm, to it's best to sign up for the emails. Her first chemo treatment was yesterday, Monday, and she said she felt ok today. She has something like 6 treatments, 3 weeks apart, then surgery, then more chemo. But it's best to get your details directly from her, and not from me. Plus, she posted some pictures. Maybe, just maybe, I'll turn her into a family blogger yet! Lol. We'll see.
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| Great quote that Jared retweeted on Twitter. |
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| I bought this beautiful solid wood oak bookshelf from a church member for $50! It's a little shorter than I was thinking of for this space, but it holds a ton of books! Here are most of the books sorted into categaories that were in brown boxes in our room. They are the Bible studies/inspirational books I sorted through and purged this summer. I have to now go through the rest of the bookshelves because I have more books than actual shelf space. This was the last bookshelf to be purchased because this category didn't have one yet. I'm going to combine it with some books from another shelf. |
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| A little bit distracted on my project because of this guy playing next to me. |
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| And it's done! (for the most part) Bibles, personal journals, and classic Christian books by authors like Billy Graham, Mother Theresa and Paul Bunyan are on the top shelf. Devotionals and Bible studies, including studies on whole Bible books on the 2nd shelf. The third shelf is strictly inspirational/self help type books with a Christian theme. Fourth shelf is all relationship based, like parenting (not homeschooling based) and marriage. And the bottom shelf has some personal growth books that aren't strictly spritual in nature like finance, health, and then the rest are homeschooling books (not curriculum, but books that parents read about homeschooling.) The books I need to go through and maybe combine with these have to do with Bible reference material and children's Bible studies, biographies on missionaries, etc. For now, the other Bible stuff is near the history shelves because of course history starts with Creation. And there's two more brown boxes of Jared's mostly non fiction books he didn't take to the office. Yes, we own a whole library, what of it? Lol. |
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| Abishai singlehandedly changes his police boat into a fire boat by completely changing out the color of bricks he was using. He put the red on the boat all by himself. |
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| Interesting set up for a our Rooted small group in the e2 office. |
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| We went really early to church so we could spend time with Daddy before Rooted started, but then Daddy had to run to the post office. So, we had to carefully play around the chair set up until we could take them down to the babysitting rooms. Abishai got to spend the two hours in his normal Sunday School room and Keturah got to spend her time in the room where some of the middle school gaming equipment is. Everybody was exhausted when we got home at 9 and went straight to bed. Justin stayed home all by himself to watch Pirates of the Caribbean and play video games for 3 hrs. At 13 1/2, I think it's about time he gets to do that. Babysitting for Rooted only goes up to Keturah's age anyway. Fun time bouncing in Grandpa's chair though! |
Wednesday was same old, same old. Well, Justin had a fun day because he was asked to be part of a promo video for middle school Mix trip and then got to play video game with his favorite youth minister Luke Green. He adores Luke. He even played on Luke's Fortnite account and helped him complete some of the challenges. Meanwhile, in the same building, Benaiah was doing his thing with his youth leaders. And then Jared buzzed out of the office for a few minutes for a post office run. Justin ate some of Jared's lunch food and stayed at church all the way through Bible Bowl. I'm sure it was nice to have a change of scenery. He said he finished his homework, too. Benaiah stays at church on Wednesdays until Lisa takes him to D group. He almost skipped D group tonight because of homework and sleep. I'm glad he didn't because now he's spending more of his free time with the girl instead of his guy friends. He's going to watch a movie with her at Grandma Johnson's house on Friday, hehe!
Meanwhile, it was another frustrating day with Keturah. So, I've made an appointment with a counselor and I will make a doctor's appointment while we are there tomorrow for Abishai's annual visit. Jared thinks it's all mental, but the fear/anxiety/maybe mother's intuition says it's a bit more than that. No, I'm trying not to go to some rare disease, but her symptoms are not presenting the same as past colds and flus. I was looking up symptoms tonight and ran across meningitis, so I'm going to ask about that. Stomachaches and throbbing headaches. The headaches are very new. Plus her saying she just can't focus on any subject also makes me wonder if it's more than just mental. So, after hemming and hawing and giving myself headaches over it, I finally made the decisions and will proceed from there. After having the "sudden" onset of cancer in both Shauna and her mom, and again, hearing prayer requests of kids getting cancer at 5 years, and coming across the "Heaven is for Real" book in our personal library, I just want to make sure I'm doing our due diligence. Part of me hopes it's all mental and she just needs to figure out what's changing hormonally and thought process wise because she is 10 1/2, it's time for those changes. But that's hard, and counseling isn't cheap. Part of me hope it's something easy to diagnose physically so we can fix it. I don't want some long drawn out process of every test under the sun like I've gone through in the last 10 years. So, I'm biting the bullet and pushing forward, being cautious, and trying not to be overly anxious. You all know I do not run to doctors for every cough, fever, or stomachache. The kids really don't like the essential oils, and although it might help the symptoms, I want to know the underlying cause.
And I, too, have had a headache for 3 days straight and now some different neckpain, so we'll see how that plays out. Our weather pressure and temps have been all over the place, so my stuff is likely tied to that. I just need to get in gear and not wait around for Keturah to work and get to some of my own work that doesn't have definite deadlines. And that's about it. The kids did get to play on the trampoline today (including Keturah, so she can't be an acute pain). And I promised myself that as soon as it's 50 degrees and I start to see green shoots in the front garden, I'm cleaning it out! I'm pulling every thing that is brown out of there. That way I can see the green better and determine what are weeds and what is dirt and what is actual plants I want to keep. This is the year!
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| I'm so glad we kept the trampoline up this year! Even a few minutes outside is helpful! |
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| Mom, watch me! Watch me! Yes, he's in his favorite jammies that now have a huge hole in the knee and it's getting worse as the day goes on. I might have to make them into shorts. Or put them away permanently/hide them. |
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| Oh the hair! |
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| He loves arranging the boats for battleship, and has asked Daddy for days and days to play with him. Great fine motor skills getting those pegs in! I love how he is great with patterns, too! No one told him to make a border with the red ones. |
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| Yes, our battleship game is literally about 30 years old. One is marked "Jared" and the other one is marked "Aaron." We haven't inherited a whole lot from Jared's parents yet, but this game seemed to have migrate to our house about 10 years ago or so. |
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| Came over to my desk to this guy hovering over my computer. He had lost a leg that held him down. And there was a post it note that said, "Look up." |
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| Daddy's turn to try to conquer some homework. Maybe she just wants one on one attention, although she doesn't need the one on one instruction to do the material. |
Thursday went a little better. Keturah got moving a little quicker and she actually finished her homework! It was nearly bedtime again, but we got it done. Justin paces his own work, so I tell him that his assignments are due Friday and he typically gets them done on time or early. I do check his work every day to make sure he's making progress, but I don't go over each detail until the end, say when the rough draft of a paper is due. So far, he's the easiest one to homeschool, maybe because he's exactly like me, lol. Who knows. I didn't actually get a chance to make a doctor's appointment for Keturah today, but you'll understand why in a minute. Otherwise, it was a fine day, and ended with an episode of the UK based car show Jared likes and plenty of laughs over their antics. The last antic of the evening was Abishai climbing around Jared to reach the PS4 controller to pause the show so Jared would fill his water cup. He did it discreetly and without warning, and handled it like a boss baby! Sheesh! Then he found it hard to go to sleep because his leg felt "funny" and kept making him laugh. I think it has fallen "asleep" or maybe a little knot was forming from his shots today.
Abishai had his 4 yr old physical today. Coming in at 31.8 lbs and 30 something inches, he falls in the low 20's individually for height and weight like he always has and about 50% proportionally when they graph the two together. I told the doctor that this was normal for our kids. As long as they are growing and hitting milestones, we are fine. Again, the only question he "failed" was being able to put on his own clothes and buttoning buttons or snaps or tying shoes. Those things take time for Mommy to teach, and none of the kids have figured them out early or on their own and that's ok. The other 3 can now all do those things just fine. No worries. And when she asked about if his vocabulary was 50 words, I just laughed. This boy has the vocabulary of an 8 yr old! He just wouldn't open up to the doctor of course. I think I want to get the other 3 in for an annual visit just in case we don't qualify for Medicaid in June. They shouldn't need any shots though. Since Benaiah will be 17 in June and will age out of the program anyway in a year, we should finish strong with the well child visits. Especially since it's been several years (or more) since he's seen the doctor. Ok, he did see an allergist on PEI. I just mean a full annual exam. I think there might be a vaccine he might need here at the end of childhood. TB or something? I can't remember. Anyway, I'll try to make that call tomorrow in between things.
Abishai was shy during his appointment and then cried two minutes AFTER the shots. I think he was in shock when it happened and then realized how much it hurt. He had me carry him outside and then used a stroller to go into the library. But after playing a bit, he was fine and pushed the stroller outside the library to the van all by himself. He was normal all weekend. He had two shots, one in each leg. He won't need anymore until he's 11, if we choose to give him that one, which is still optional at this point. Jared teased that we might be using Star Trek technology by then to give shots. You know, the little pen like device they would hold up against the neck of whoever they wanted to knock out in an episode? Anyway, it's done and we moved on now.
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| This is the stats that we get every week in the Creek's e-newsletter and the stats they are giving are different! There's no longer weekly attendance and how it compared to last year. Eek! And no total offering compared to normal operating budget. And they've added the Freedom Generosity portion there at the bottom. The times are a-changing! I still liked the attendance portion, but can understand that it's not about numbers. And no one really needs to know or wants to know what the operating budget is, although that legally has to be provided if asked for. This change just changes the focus to the financial initiative that started off this year. Sigh. Just a sign of the times. |
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| Ready for his exam, but he was a little nervous. The last time he was at the doctor's was for that infectious rash, which did go away because Jared was diligent in applying the lotion on it. So, Abishai did have a reasonable reason to be a bit afraid. He asked me to hold his hand and was very quiet the whole time. |
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| Mommy snuggles, but don't take my picture! And yes, Keturah and I are twins, I know, at least on the outside. |
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| Toes! |
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| See?! All better! Giggling and playing and looking for books in the elementary age sections. (He seemed to have skipped right over the preschooler picture books and prefer more mature material like about camping or pirates.) |
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| He loves these "get ready for kindergarten" videos on the library computer. Very poor animation, but hey, he's learning! |
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| Wow! Big preschooler can wash and dry his hands! And remembers to do it! |
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| Such a big guy! No more paci, fully potty trained, and says please and thank you. He's right where I want him to be developmentally. |
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| See? He's "reading" a book meant for Keturah's age on Lego DC characters. And he inisisted on getting into pj's as soon as we got home. Oh, and I had Jared send him a little "it's ok, buddy, be brave" message, too. |
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| All comfy cozy on the couch with some screen time. But he did have plenty of moments of jumping up and down today. |
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| It snowed a little bit this evening. I seriously thought we were heading into spring, not that I mind it, but I was starting to tell myself that on the next 50 degree day, I need to clean out the front garden. And today, we went out in light coats instead of winter coats. Whoops. |
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| Today, a new season of Fortnite, yes, that very, very popular video game, was released. Justin came up with this plan of how to do all 70 challenges in the 70 days the season is live. He asked to print off a map so he could keep track. I tell ya, he's just like me. I would do something like this to make a checklist. Goofball! But the best part is that there's this "skin" or special suit that makes your character look like a banana! And when you start out that round in the game, the banana has a greenish tint to it, like an unripe banana. Then it turns yellow as you play the round and at the end of the round, it's brown like an over ripe banana. Fun and weird and way too much thinking on the game developers! Thank goodness these updates are free though. I'm sure they make their money when people use real money to buy updated weapons and "skins" instead of earning them over time, just like in the phone games or Facebook games I play. Anyway, I'm glad they all enjoy it and bond over it. But, I also wish they would know all the details we go over in history or science, too. Oh well, to each their own. |
Friday - Where has this week gone? I feel like I've gotten nothing done! Silly phone game. Silly tummy aches and head aches. Silly weather. Ugh! I guess some weeks are like that when you don't have to hustle to get it all done, you don't anything! We ended the week with gym day, but left a bit early because Keturah wasn't feeling good. She didn't play at all today and in fact took several naps. She developed the chills, aches, maybe a sore throat/nose/ears, etc. I think she has finally succumbed to the flu. I'm happy and sad that she's felt worse today and has these new symptoms. I'd rather it be the flu than something like meningitis, which I was looking into because she said her head was throbbing. She doesn't normally get head aches with sicknesses. I did make a doctor's appointment for the end of next week, but that's the earliest they could get her in. I also contemplating taking her to urgent care. But, I'll let her sleep it off tonight and see how she is in the morning. I don't know why it took 10 days of not feeling well to have the rest of the symptoms manifest, but here we are.
Meanwhile, I observed a neat thing at gym day today. At one point, Justin and a bunch of boys were sitting down kind of in a circle and I noticed the other boys' ages. There were a couple of boys Justin's age, several 1st/2nd grade looking kids, and Abishai. I know we've talked to Justin before about hanging out with kids his own age or older, however, since he is familiar with and does a great job mentoring the 6th/7th graders and 1st graders at church, I think they just tend to find him and hang out with him. And THAT, folks, is how you should be socialized! Caden, one of Justin's 7th grade friends, even patted Abishai on the head like Justin does. They don't seem to mind having a 4 yr old little brother tag along. Plus, Caden and Abishai were going to play Fortnite later and they were both very excited about it. It didn't actually happen because of some timing issues, but it was cute nonetheless to see that they were excited.
And you know who else was excited? Benaiah because he had a date with his girlfriend to watch a movie at Grandma's house this afternoon while Grandma chaperoned them. The text messages floating around between Grandma, the girlfriend's mom, and I were fun and cute and on point. Benaiah came home on what I am dubbing a "hormonal high" all giddy and smiling from ear to ear. Oh how I love to see that kid so happy! And to know that it's from innocent and pure hormonal bliss. And to remember how we felt as teens during those years about each other. It's so precious, so pure, so innocent and so right. And now he is binge watching a TV show until 3 am just because he can. He doesn't work until 3pm tomorrow. He did work a normal 7am to 3pm shift today, including training two other people. And you know what I said to him? I said, "Awesome! At least you are home, not out getting drunk, doing drugs, etc. Stay up as long as you want!" Because in reality, he does go to bed when he needs to. We are so blessed to have teens that are at home on a Friday night and that we don't have to worry about. But that smile of pure happiness. That's what I live for. And I can see and feel Jared's contented happy smile in Benaiah's smile. I know what it means. All is right in their world. They've got a girl on their arm that they like, they have money in their pocket, they have health, and of course, they have Jesus. It makes the heart go pitter patter in just the way God intended it to go. It's awesome and I can't stop talking about them! For once, something I've thought through and dreamed about for years is going better than I planned. At least at this moment. I know things can change in a heartbeat. But for now, I will rejoice in this GOOD that I see.
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| Only one photo today. I found this Ironman Lego minifigure posed on my piano today. Oh Abishai, you are too funny! |
Speaking of funny, a few more things.....Abishai picked up somewhere from a YouTube tv show what pirates say, "Shiver me timbers." and "Argh." and because the new Fortnite season is based on pirates, he keeps walking around saying these things. It's too cute! It's even cuter when he's only wearing underwear and eating a croissant roll. "I nakey, can I have a croissant?" Bwahahahaha! And then I heard Justin say, "The banana killed me!" One of the new costumes in the game is a banana as I explained above. So I grabbed a real banana, came around the camera and made "pew pew" sounds, pretending to kill him with a real banana. He wasn't amuse. He had video game rage, too. Hm,....Justin actually admitted to getting a headache because he stared at the screen too long. Very smart of him to say that, although, he did forget some bags of groceries in the car in between video game rounds. Oi!
Well, for not doing much this week, I'm exhausted. I hope I don't have the flu, too. I am home all day tomorrow with the younger ones, while Jared takes Justin to Bible Bowl, if he even feels like going. Benaiah has work. Then it's a normal busy Sunday. Crazy! Here comes March, roaring like a lion (I so totally sang that phrase because Newsboys has it in one of their songs), with it's change of weather and snow. We'll see how crazy March is an hopefully it will got out with a bang on the 29th at WinterJam followed by a quiet 30th and 31st. Benaiah takes his SAT next Saturday. I have a homeschool convention this month. WinterJam. And then Benaiah takes the ACT the first or second Saturday of April. Will it ever end? Nope!
The End.....For Now...For This Week....See ya next week!
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