The J6 Journey: Year 4, March 8th-10th, 2019: Weekend Vibes

Well, that was fun! Kind of weird to sit in a seat surrounded by strangers (I sat behind the teens) and have a popcorn and pop all to myself looking like a pig because I bought the "economy" size that cost more than the movie ticket itself. But hey, it's been a rough couple of weeks and I totally deserve it! I didn't make Mom's Night Out this month, so I figure I'd splurge. And my spending habits in February were appropriate instead of overkill. Captain Mar-Vel was a decent origin story. Lots of funny moments, great for comic book geeks and even for the those that grew up in the 90's. (It's set in 1995). I'm glad I knew a tiny bit of what to expect, but I didn't know the whole plot either. It won't be as a big as other movies, but it's a great pre curser to Endgame in a month and a half. And it was worth just getting to see the teens have fun. And I let Benaiah drive home in the dark, hyped up from his teenage hormones. That was fun to watch. Hehe! I need to see this kind of stuff, that all my hard work of parenting is working out and the baby bird is on the edge of the nest starting to flap his big wings. Now, when do I get to push him out? Hehehe. It all just brings me joy. Yes, I'm a romantic. Anyway, go see the movie if you care about comic books. If not, you may or may not understand the plot and how it works into everything else. It was also interesting to see the mix of previews because Marvel now falls under Disney, so there were several kid animated movie traliers. I'm used to having adult movie trailers before the comic book movies.

The rest of the weekend is pretty normal except that same teenager is taking his first ever SAT on Saturday. I don't have high expectations, but I do hope he surprises me. I did find out that the school where he took the PSAT also does the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT 10, so I can take Justin there for those, yeah! But I feel like Benaiah's childhood is rapidly coming to a close. It's both so very exciting to see the fruit of our labor but at the same time, wow, our main work as parents is done? Already? No, I'm not ready for it at all. But it's just another reminder to not get caught up in the mundane and squeeze every minute of every day in being with and for our kids. Yeah, I know, "don't lose yourself as you raise your kids." My mom didn't. She put her interests aside for a time while we were growing up and fully intended picking them back up when were grown, which she did try to do. I know where some of my interests still lie. I just have put them down, for now. I only get one shot at this. I have and never will wish it away. Ok, sometimes I do. But I didn't wish away toddlerhood like some do. It just goes by so fast. Sigh. And we did finish school for the week on time, so that isn't going to loom over our heads tomorrow and I can focus on other school related things.

Keturah's doctor appointment was fine. She's over the major part of whatever viruses she had and just has the lingering cough. The doctor and I did discuss what immunizations the rest of the kids need, and we are a little behind with the bigger boys, so I'll make well check appointments and get everybody caught up to date again. Otherwise, Keturah is in the 50% when you cross height and weight as she should be. She weighs the same as our dog Socks, too. But she is now clear to go back to her outside activities at church, which is great considering she has KP worship team and kids choir acting practice on Sunday. She missed practice last week, so it's vital she gets there this week. But now Justin sounds hoarse, so it might be his turn. Otherwise, normal weekend/beginning of the week for us!

(No pics today, I was super busy doing life! But Abishai was super clingy though!)

Saturday, Jared took Benaiah to the Perry Meridian High School to take his first SAT! They said there were hundreds of kids in line to get in. Crazy! And several times they heard "Hey, Benaiah! Hey, Benaiah!" See, kid, you're known around town! Lol. Then Jared went to Steak and Shake for a few hours to work since he got way behind on it this week with the extra "come home early for this" and "do that transportation run." He was super frustrated with the e2 website yesterday, too. Then Jared picked up Benaiah and they came home. Jared made some lunch for all of us, although it was 2 pm before we got to it because.......We slept in! Ok, Justin was up by 9am, but didn't eat breakfast until 11 because he was playing on his phone. Keturah woke up at 10 and read for awhile before eating breakfast and dragging her heels on chores. School is done for the week so we get an actual break from it today! Abishai was up at 7 with Jared and Benaih, but he and I spent too long in my ced and he fell back asleep again. He's got the bad cough that Keturah does. I got up at 9 with major vertigo, and then Abishai slept another 2 hrs. We NEEDED to rest today and kick these viral sicknesses to the curb. The kids played and I worked on cleaning up my desk of paperwork, which included actual looking up things and asking for babysitting for my jury duty week, etc. That kind of family business type stuff I put off because it needs a few more minutes of clear thinking to accomplish. Then after taking Benaiah to work and picking up a few groceries, I worked on Justin's high school stuff in preparation for a book sale and the homeschool convention. So, I'm slowly making progress.

It's raining here today, and nearly 50 degrees, so the kids are running around and playing some kind of pretend game. I'm glad we can have a somewhat calm day at home though.

When you get bored at watching Mommy play on her phone....

Snuggle time!

Caffeine!

He likes to use his special "lotion" on all his booboo's.

They actually had time to play a game!

Abishai wanted to take my picture!

I asked him if he wanted to play with his siblings and he said, "I play by myself." He loves his truck Grandpa got him from Alaska.

Goofballs getting ready to be crazy.

Saw this somewhere on social media. This is on a car and when the wheel moves, BB-8's body spins, so true to life!

Cool costume! Actually, I asked for the economy sized since we like to do refills and bring it home. However, I totally felt like a pig sitting by myself with this tub and a huge pop next to me! Bwahahaha! I didn't drink the whole pop either because I did not want to get up to go to the bathroom. I ended up eating half of the tub during the movie, so, yes, I'm totally THAT girl. Whoops!

Daddy has some helpers today. Both Socks and Abishai like to play/sleep/be near the most in charge person in the household at any given time.

Look, Mom, a lookout! Except he's looking at the wall! We fixed it so he could look out the side window. But I'm glad he noticed it! One of my biggest pet peeves is when there's crap in front of bookcases (I'm notorious for that) and kids can't get to the stuff that's theirs. So, little by little, I'm working on it. But how cute that he discovered it on his own!

Sunday was "spring forward" or "daylight stupid time." We got everyone in bed on time the night before, clocks set, etc. Well, Keturah was up on time for Grandma to come and get her (she ONLY gets up when it's important to HER, grrrrr) and Benaiah had been up earlier for Grandpa to pick him up. But Jared, Justin, Abishai and I didn't wake up until 8:30ish, and didn't get out of bed until 9:30! Eek! I guess none of us are getting to church for the 11am service! Actually, Justin stayed home all day because he's at the height of his illness! And Abishai did as well because he was coughing so hard this morning that he almost threw up! Grandma brought Benaiah and Keturah home after church, and then she also took Benaiah back to church at 3:20pm. He was on as video switcher today and he was so tired (he's been ill too) that he had to literally stand up so he wouldn't fall asleep! Then Jared and I left Abishai with Justin and attended the 4:30. We didn't help in nursery because we're carrying the sick germs. Keturah had KP worship and then drama rehearsal and then regular kids' choir rehearsal. She ended up eating a total of 5 doughnuts today at church because she didn't eat enough breakfast or dinner. What a goof!

So, overall, it was a slow day. I finished up my sorting curriculum thing so I'm ready for a booksale and convention. I think I'm more prepared than ever for a school year! I'm so excited to start doing Literature with Justin because I haven't read many of those classics! And I already have the curriculum and I can borrow the books from the library. I'll also be on the hunt for math books, too, for Keturah. And science. I have no clue what I'm going to do for their science next year. But at least I know what I'm looking for. And I've marked off what workshops I might want to attend (or buy later).Now, if I could only finalize all my babysitting plans for the rest of March.....I told Leah she is never, ever allowed to leave until a) she's consulted with me and b) and never ever during spring break ever again! Edit: I got word on Monday that I could postpone jury duty until mid April. Clear your calendars now! What a relief!

Ok, I won't talk about that anymore. I've got some help, so we'll see how it all plays out. Hopefully I won't have to go in at all. But in other news, my brother got to see his kids for the first time in 3 months since their mother took them from him 15 months after she moved out and didn't take care of them in all that time. They had to wait until this past Friday to get things moving in court for custody and finalizing the divorce (final paperwork isn't until May). So, now that they've made some legal progress, the judge will have some court orders that must be followed or the mother (or my brother but he's doing everything he can to do things by the law) will be in contempt and my brother will get more custody, etc. It's been a nightmare and will still be for awhile, but at least now my brother has some legal paperwork to back him up. This whole thing has been a nightmare, but he's got us and my sister mentally and emotionally supporting him. He had a wonderful reunion with his children this weekend, including taking them to church! Good for him! Yeah for progress and yeah for church!

Now, onto the week, which isn't too bad this week, it's next week where it starts to get all crazy. Sigh.