The J6 Journey: Year 4, April 14th-18th, 2019: Jury Duty Week

Because I knew Viking Fest had a lot of pictures, and I knew that this coming week would have very little, this blog entry will be a little off and is a Sunday-Thursday blog. Then I will continue with a Friday-Sunday Easter blog, ok? Well, here goes.

Sunday Funday!

Sneaking up on the young couple....

Oh the hair! It's exactly how Jared's was! I miss it! And Benaiah didn't flinch when I ran my hands throw it. I LOVE it!

Still talking with 5 minutes left to be on stage. Benaiah was playing drums this morning. Then Ava's brother Grady ran up and jump on Benaiah. Benaiah and Grady have a good relationship going too. Ava and Grady definitely have a solid love/hate relationship going on.

Uncle Mike said Benaiah made the drums "talk!" He was super impressed. The songs today weren't too crazy drumwise, but he did well.

2nd to last sermon. I'll need to try to get some better shots next week. Today's topic was humility and I sure did need to hear that today.

One last time, people, one last time. The circles! Find out your "why" in the middle, then your "how," and then your "what" (or product or service).

Gary used a kindergarten's version of the chart to illustrate how it works. Why do we go to kindergartneer? To preapre for school. How do we prepare? By learning to listen and sit still. What do we learn? the ABC's and 123's. And then Gary mentioned that it was Ali. Sweet!

It's always too dark back there to get great pictures.

Ava came to lunch with us today! Yeah! And Karl Bush was there again, too. I remember sitting in that dining room over 20 years ago, hanging out with Jared for the first time with my mom and his parents. Eeek!

Boy does Benaiah have Jared's physique! And eek, there's another girl in our midst!

Instead of the typical Sunday afternoon nap, Benaiah opted to play in the den. And show off. I eventually moved from the adult table to this room to a)get documentation of Ava being at Sunday dinner b) I was in a mood and didn't want to sit in on an adult conversation and c) to make sure the lovebirds kept their distance from each other. And all was kosher.

Playing "keep the phone away from Benaiah" because apparently they play this game often after taking videos and pictures of each other.

Jump on 'Miah!

Awww, I think they are smitten with each other! Abishai woke up saying, "Ava comes to Grandma's house today! I'm so exited! I love Ava!" So sweet!

Constant pillow fights! Grandma had to close the door because they were beginning to be too loud.

Ava showing Abishai some of the pictures they had just taken.

Mophead!

All 4 kids, plus 1! All in the same room! It's a miracle!

Calling Ava on the pretend phone.

Girls ganging up on Benaiah.

Talk to the hand!

I wish I had taken a second picture and watched the exposure. Abishai is the perfect go between. He loves and looks up to these two a lot.

The hair!

The big arms! Stocky boy, strong boy, a lot like his Dad.

Ava's visit to the grandaprents' hosue went well. She didn't say much in front of him. We also had Karl Bush over for dinner, and that felt a little awkward. Poor Grandma cooked a big dinner but then couldn't eat it because she didn't feel good. Thanks for making lunch though! Then Benaiah and Ava went back to church with Grandpa so Benaiah could play drums again, and then go to youth group. It was Jared's turn to volunteer in nursery so he took the middle kids with him. That left Abishai on the tablet, and me taking a nap. I took a solid 1 1/2 hr nap, complete with dreams. I felt so bad because it was just Abishai and I at home, and I was so out of it, I was totally unaware of what Abishai was doing. Thankfully, he got himself a snack and watched his shows on YouTube kids, and left me alone. I don't like it though. If I'm snoozing on the couch, I don't sleep as deeply, so I feel more comfortable that I can get up quickly if I need to. Praise God for protection and safety while I slept.

And then I had to call the hotline number for jury duty....and I was called in! Here we go!

Monday was the start of jury duty week. Everything went smoothly and after 3 1/2 hrs of sitting, waiting to be processed as a potential juror, I was dismissed. I was so bummed! I wanted to be part of the process! It was going to be a typical criminal case, too. Bummers! But I learned a ton, read some of my book, played my phone game for as long as I dared (battery life), and hope I get called in and get to really serve! I was looking forward to having lunch at City Market, and could have still gone although I was dismissed but by then I didn't want to spend any money. And I had the blog and schoolwork to catch up on, never mind household stuff. But we are now up to date! The kitchen is clean, the laundry is done and put away, the kids are mostly clean, but well educated and tomorrow is new day!

Gorgeous 55 degree crisp weather downtown! At least my parking was validated and I receive $15 just for showing up.

Super sad day! The Notre Dame in Paris was doing some remodeling, but it's unclear what started the fire. 500 firefighters. Couldn't use water from helicopters because it would crush the bricks from the pressure. 850 year old structure. Took 100 years to build. Most artifacts had been removed because of renovation. But the roof is completely gone and everything that was wood, from altar to pews. Several of the original stained glass windows were melted. Awful! Even Jared was saddened by it! So much history lost. Sigh. But it's just a building and it will be rebuilt. But you, temple of God, aren't temproary, but you can be rebuilt, and be found in Heaven when you die. All of this during Holy Week, so I haven't prepared much for Easter. But now I have the time! Yeah! Time to reflect and rebuild!

Super duper clingy boy. Still catching up on sleep rom the busy wekend. Found him in my bed, under the covers, with his tablet. Lots of snuggles and lots of tickles. Now off to bed!

Tuesday - home, school, trying to get kids outside, and Rooted. Nothing fancy.

And once I start, it's hard to put this book down because I agree with most of what he's saying! If only everyone read this book, they would understand me!

Abishai will play outside along as someone is with him. He does play on his own, too, and I try to keep the door open this time of year so I can be on my computer and he can be in and out. Get dirty!

The tent and balls have to be put away before the weekend, and to be honest, it makes the fireside room feel claustrophobic, but at least the kid have had fun in it.

Sunbathing, again. Perfect weather for the puppy! 70 degrees max! And a light breeze!

Warm enough for ice cream! And he didn't spill any in the bowl or his shirt! Just a bit around his mouth. Such a big boy!

I laid down to play with Abishai and this happened. And then when I took off my shirt I realized just how dog haired it was. Eek!

We brought our bikes with us so we could get more fresh air before being inside for Rooted for the rest of the evening. Keturah had balked at the idea of being outside and I knew that Jared hadn't spent time outside either. What are empty church parking lots for anyway? Having fun!

Retention pond. And yes, there are fish, mallard ducks, and Canadian geese. In fact, Jared got so close the geese that I though they were going to chase him. Eeek!

Can you tell it's the end of the day and we're tired? But we still have two more hours of playing with kids tonight! He does enjoy the kids at Rooted though.

Getting our steps in. I kicked around our slightly deflated basketball for extra steps, too. The basketball just needs to be pumped back up. I couldn't even dribble it.

Scootering around, and it looks like she and I need to go shopping for shorts, shaving equipment, and certain undergarments. Eek!

Is that an eagle? Hard to tell.

We caught the last fit of the sunset on our way out of Rooted two 1/2 hrs later. Ah....

Very clear, full moon, but iPhone cameras don't do close ups very well.

Wednesday we went to the zoo with some friends, so I'll do a separate blog post with that. Then I will put Thursday's happenings here. Then I will start another new post for Friday-Sunday (maybe Monday?) for Easter.

Um, Thursday. Oh, that was yesterday (it seems like an eternity ago), let's see. School, check. Chores, check. Home all day, check. Girlfriend came over, check. Oh yeah! I forgot about that part! So, Ava came over after school and spent a few hours with us before Benaiah went to rehearsal for tech team. I tried to keep the other kids away from Benaiah and Ava, but it was impossible. Homeschool (or maybe it's just our) kids see a new person and think "ooooo, a new playmate!" no matter who the friend is there for. Benaiah did lecture them the next day about it, but it they had been really annoyed, he would have spoken up more on Thursday. I was going to clean anyway for Luke, our second cousin, to come visit, but I made sure everything was pretty spiffy before Ava came, too. If you want a clean house, just invite people over often! Otherwise it was a quiet day. Keturah did "forget" what a subtraction sign was, but then suddenly remembered first hing this morning, grrrrr. The weather turned very cold, rainy, and windy today, too. 40 degrees, and 40 mph winds. Where did I put the winter stuff again? Hm,....Oh well. That just means more school work, right? Hehehehe! 11 days left at this point...

Abishai was all over it when I suggested we write in chalk. And he proudly showed it to her, too! "Ava, it says, you come to my house to play with me!"

Anxiously awaiting Ava's arrival.

Waiting for Ava

Pretty cold outside but Socks and Abishai couldn't wait!

Let's mess up Benaiah's computer shall we?

Big and middle brother wrestling. I've begged for Benaiah to go outside on the trampoline but he won't until he has a friend over.

Abishai is everyone's little sidekick.

Uh, how many pounds can the trampoline hold? And we don't have to be worried about Benaiah and Ava being alone. They don't stand a chance with all these siblings being nosy!