The J6 Journey: Year 4, April 1st-5th, 2019: What Season are We In?

Well, you can interpret that two ways: physical weather seasons or life's seasons. We are in the intensive parenting stage of raising kids. But our physical weather can't make up it's mind if it wants to be 60 degrees and sunny or 30 degrees and snowy. So, there's that. Monday was fine, kids got up a little late, but we finished school on time. Stew for supper, which didn't make it into the crockpot until 1pm, whoops! Good thing there's a "high" mode on it! Abishai was up to no good today, and was actually pretty mean to this brother and sister, calling himself the "boss baby." Eek! Time to work on his attitude! It's going to be a quiet week, with maybe a park day at the end, and cousins from Michigan coming in on Saturday. Time to rest up! Every Saturday in April and halfway into May has something major going on that we need to be aware of or part of. Craziness! Here's to a great Tuesday with lots of learning accomplished!

There's just as much sugar in very berry Cheerios as in Lucky Charms. Who knew?!

These cups were filled with water in Jared's office at MCC. I LOVE those kinds of "not messy" pranks! It means the kids care!

Sitting on his siblings since 2015!

2 yr old Abishai with much blonder hair!

Apparently, ASL learning is best done when papers are spread out.

Tuesday, hm,...Tuesday was fine. Yes, we got our work accomplished on time. Rooted was pretty in depth, but in a good way.

"I need you, Mommy." Why do you go away so much?

Benaiah tweaked and presented his speech on anxiety/depression/suicide to his classmates today. His main point was that if you make a list of pros and cons about life, the good always outweighs the bad. I'm not sure if he brought up our friend Seth's suicide, but the topic is still on his mind.

Grandpa's little helper! Grandpa was so excited to find 20 oz bottles of Coke Zero for $.33 a bottle! Even when you earn enough to spend $2 per bottle, you still "win" financially, buy continuing to find those deals! Abishai carried a 6 pack all by himself!

Yes this child lives his life in a blur! He was spinning the chair around by himself and THEN hopping on! None of the other kids tried that. We would do the spinning.

Boom! Dizzy!

Just the way he lives his life!

Apparently the e2 office is our home away from home. "Lead Servant" and "Executive Director" doesn't always have a pristine working environment when the grandchildren have come around. Hehehehehehe!

Wednesday, we had an appointment, went to Dunkin Donuts, went to Craig Park, went to the library, and then came home, exhausted, but we still managed to get some school done and two loads of laundry and one load of dishes put away, woot! woot! Meanwhile, Jared and Benaiah didn't have the best of days at school. Benaiah's classmates are just difficult people. Let's just say we are all tired of hearing about their "I don't care" attitudes and/or drama. Benaiah even decided to skip small group and instead go to church for some quiet time and drum practicing time to clear his head. And he went to bed at 10pm. Yup, it was that kind of day for him. And he wasn't being whiny or over dramatic about it either. We all know that people can be exhausting. Poor man child. I really feel bad for him. He's tried so hard to keep his head down and push through, but he hit the wall like I do sometimes and feels defeated. It makes this mama feel sad. Sigh. But for the rest of us, it was a great day.

At an appointment today, Abishai had fun making me food at the kitchen, one of his favorite toys in Sunday School as well. His imagination and pretend play are awesome and off the charts!

"Now, you boy can't fit on the bed so you need to sleep on the couch."

Homeschooling at it's finest...take it everywhere we go!

Tools!

Easter donuts with peeps on top!

I was trying to think of a cheap option to have a treat after the appointment because it was 1pm and drove past DD on our way there. Perfect! We used to hit up Tim Horton's all the time because it would satisfy our craving for a treat without being too pricey. Justin got a frozen lemonade and Peep donut, Keturah got hot chocolate and a Peep donut, Abishai got a sprinkle donut (he wanted a big one, not a donut hole) with orange juice, and I got a dark roast coffee with almond milk and mocha and raspberry shots. The total was $15 vs. $30 if we had gone to CFA. The frozen lemonade was nearly $3 and the orange juice was almost $2! And I saved money and calories by adding to a regular coffee instead of asking for a straight up cafe mocha like I normally do. Plus it didn't hurt my stomach as much because it was almond milk. I ate a granola bar from my purse stash. They also had granola bars in the car and we called it lunch!

I agree buddy, the best part of a donut is the topping!

Justin, 13 1/2 yrs old, needs to shave! Check out that dark mustache!

Then a few yards away we visited Craig Park. I have passed under this bridge a million and one times (this is the route I take to my counselor too) but have never been on it. It's just a footbridge that connects the two sidewalks. But fun for the kids to use. Justin was very uncomfortable with the traffic going underneath it though.

It was nearly 65 degrees today, so we ditched the books and stayed outside for a couple of hours!

A favorite past time, watching the cars go by. In fact, it was Abishai that choose the window seats at DD.

Babies and I on the bridge. I love these kinds of shots of seeing their height differences.

3/4 of my babies.

I love these little free libraries. Someday I should just have a few books in my car to add to them.

Rooted devos (trying not to get behind this week like I did last week!) outside while kids play is a win win!

Keturah thinks this was a bunch of woods and I think it was, too. And I thought Abishai would be interested in the trucks moving about, but he wanted to run around on the playground more.

NO FEAR

King of the World or Boss Baby or Baby of the family gets his own way all the time. Yes, it's his personality and his cuteness and birth order, but he somehow belongs up on top.

I wanted to get a picture of all three of them, but Abishai wasn't having it.

Aww, this picture is perfect! So big! 10 1/2 and 13 1/2!

I think he climbed his rock wall 20 times! That top ledge is barely a foot wide! But he wouldn't climb back down and I'm glad. One more and it would be all over.

I had to push these over to him, but he made it!

"I'm Aquaman!" Where did he get that idea? I really don't know because he hasn't seen the movie. Maybe he's remembering the turtles he hopped on at the Children's Museum 8 months ago.

She didn't make it across but she tried!

This is more of what she likes to do. I'm so glad we got a chance to be outside today. Academics are for rainy or cold days.

Again, my babies!

No, Keturah, you can't push me, only Mommy!

I can go higher than everyone!

Keturah wound up the swing and then got on, making herself dizzy. That's an old playground trick!

"Superman, Batman."

Gorgeous day! But then it started to cloud over. 80% chance of rain tomorrow.

There's a gap between the tunnel and the area it's attached to, so the kids kept falling in. I also taught them about the troll that lives under the bridge and how he would ask for money, solving a riddle, or some other form of payment for a traveler to pass, so they played for a few rounds.

A better picture of how high this climbing wall was.

Stuck!

You would think I had three preschoolers! Oh my! And they fought like preschoolers, too. Eek!

Never too old for slides.

And climbing on top of course.

I don't want to go home so I'm going to hide way up here so you can't get to me.

Trying to pout because he didn't want to go home.

Justin said this was a comfy spot to play his game on his phone. Ok, then.

Benaiah's American history class had to make shanties out of cardboard and other materials. They will eat their lunches in them tomorrow. He was able to have CFA save a ton of supplies for them. There were 3 shanties in all.

Thursday was a bit lazy, but a bit "oh crud, we need to hustle." We had a delay in doing in Bible class with Grandpa, and that pushed our together work until after lunch, no big deal. But Keturah wasn't very efficient with her morning hours and finally attempted math at 8pm and did horribly. It was not a good for her. I spent over an hour outside picking up the piles of sticks and leaves I made the other day, picked up more leaves and sticks in other areas, cleaned up around the A/C unit and cleaned off/swept the deck. I also loaded up the van with recycling that Jared took when he dropped off Benaiah at Indian Creek, Shelby St. for rehearsal. Abishai had been busy all day, including bringing in all the little people toys and then the box, as well all the balls from the ball pit to put into the little tent he had me set up in the fireside room. So he took a little nap on the way to drop off Benaiah and now doesn't want to go to bed. Eek! We also finally took down the Christmas tree today. Yes, the tree and lights were still up. The ornaments had been taken down in January. It just wasn't a priority and I like having lights in the winter time. It took us over an hour to do it because of the weird way Jared had put on the lights. But it's finally done, right in time for Easter! Oi!

After doing so much outside last week, and being able to push through it until the sore muscles actually became stronger muscles, I tried to push myself again today so I don't lose that momentum. I'm also finding that I can't fall asleep as easily and don't stay asleep and my legs are restless by the morning, partly because I haven't used them much. So maybe I'll sleep better tonight. Otherwise, I'm going to have to really seek out alternative sleep aids like essential oils and melatonin. The gabapentin I was taking kept me asleep all night with no restless legs and I'd rather not get back on it, but I will if I need to. I don't feel like I have any other side effects, because by not sleeping at night, I'm exhausted in the daytime. So, we'll see on that. It deesn't help when I stay up to watch a 90 minute documentary on the '90's boy band con artist manager. Wow, it was very insightful, and since I grew up during those years I could follow along with the timeline. I feel bad for those young men in those bands. They weren't Christian but were pretty clean cut (not necessarily moral, but not druggies or drankards either, they were mostly underage when they started!) They interviewed some of the guys on the show, so it was interesting to see what they looked like now. We're talking about 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys. Anyway, I stayed up late watching that, and that's always a mistake. Sigh.

Awww, Benaiah found out that Ava was a little down/moody, so he had Jared take him to get Ava her favorite ice cream at Kroger. He then stopped at Ava's house to give it to her at 9:30pm. Eek! Ava was so ecstatic at the gesture! And her mom let her keep her phone for an extra 15 minutes to finish out their conversation afterwards. Ava did want to linger in their goodbye hug of course. My boy is such a romantic! And I get to overhear him tell his other good friend that he is grateful to have a girlfriend who "takes such joy in the little things instead of wanting something un Biblical to make them happy." Oh my word! Talk about melting the mamas' hearts! I'm so proud of him for the way he is taking the time to care for Ava, and her family, and it makes me feel accomplished, that we actually had a hand in helping him grow up that way. Now, Jared has not done those things often for me because we were too poor or practical and it took me a bit to get over it. He's not a gift giver, and neither am I, to be honest. But I think that Ava felt tonight, like how I felt at the WinterJam concert: fully loved by our guys who look after us and shelter us. Benaiah has picked well, and it's so incredible to hear him say things like this. It's very mature of him.

Now onto our crazy busy weekend!

Aww, I love his little fingers laced between his little toes.

Warm enough to have popsicles outside although no one seems excited about it. I can't convince them that it's gorgeous out and to have creative play!

"Defluffing" the tree song and dance from our goofy comedian, Justin.

Benaiah was home for a bit and got in the tent. Abishai saw it in its bag in the garage and brought it in, dumped it out, and expected me to put it up, so I did. It's always fun to have somewhere new to play! And he spent over an hour bringing all the play balls in by the little bucketful. Too cute!

I still fit, Mom!

The huge tall box these were in was on the floor of the garage. Somehow Abishai managed to either climb up on something to reach in and get them all out, or he dumped the box over on it's side. Either way, he brought each piece in bit by bit and set them up. Now that's using your head creatively!

We thought he would stay asleep after falling asleeping the car to drop off Benaiah at rehearsal. Well, when Daddy took him to his bed, he woke up just enough to say, "Star Wars?" He woke up thinking about playing "pew pew" game with Daddy!!!

Awwww, and now he won't go to sleep. Figures. But how adorable is this? Daddy is such a sucker for this "little" guy.

Friday we dropped Benaiah off at church, and then he walked to Ava's house later to hang out with her for a couple of hours before work. Then the 4 of us went a really awesome park all the way out in Greenfield (it's 35 minutes away) to meet up with our Friday homeshcool group buddies. It's called Riley Park after the guy who gave money to fund Riley Children's Hospital. There's also a Riley Birthplace site or something, too. We spent a couple of hours there, then retrieved Benaiah. I left Justin and Abishai home, and then took Keturah to Bailey's house and Benaiah to work, right at the height of rush hour! And oh boy what a trek! The normal 20 minute round trip took nearly 1 hr! One of the main intersections were closed, and the detour took us AWAY from CFA a block, but right by Bailey's house, so I stopped for a couple of extra seconds to let Keturah out at the end of Bailey's driveway because there was no way I was going to pull in and try to get out. Plus I didn't want to go back through the intersection near where Bailey lives, twice. So I dropped Keturah off first and Benaiah off second. Benaiah was actually late to work! And we had left at our normal time! He texted and called them. I'm sure they understood because he's never ever late and he called it in. He probably was at his station 10 minutes after he was supposed to be. I took a different route home and it still was backed up! This all happened between 4:30 and 5:30pm on a Friday night in Franklin Township. Remind me never, ever to do that again. Wow! That was after the 1 1/2 hrs worth of driving before that. My hands were going numb (neuropathy is back) from the vibration of the steering wheel. Super annoying. However, in possible 1-2 weeks, Benaiah will have his drivers' license and we won't have to make those trips anymore! Woot! Woot! And also, eeek! Him, driving alone? Eek!

And now it's just Abishai and Justin at home with us, and it's all nice and quiet. Yeah! Hopefully Abishai will go to bed sooner than he did last night, but Keturah will be up late. There's other friends at Bailey's house so they will be there until 10:30 anyway, and that's when Benaiah gets off of work. Jared will pick them both up then. And they both can sleep in in the morning, because I'll take Keturah and Abishai over to Grandma's mid morning so I can join Jared and Justin at Bible Bowl around lunch time. We won't be able to go to the next competition because we'll be at the John Crist show. Then cousins from Michigan are coming to visit, and Benaiah will work. Full day again! Full weekend! Eek!

Abishai very proudly said, "Mommy, come see! I rebuilt my bed!" Abishai made his bed without being asked! Actually, I've never made the kids make their beds because they often get back into it. I do make our bed though because it helps me get the day started. How cute! He can "rebuild" his bed!

The daffodils survived the snow and my trimming/weed poision work.

This park reminded us a lot of the Sarah T. Bolton Park in Beech Grove when they converted the basketball courts to a skate park. They have since torn it down again because of gang activity. But the Beech Grove park also has a bridge, bathrooms, multiple playgrounds, pavilions, etc.

Uh, that's not how you do it. Whoops! There was also a skatepark we liked in Victoria Park back in Charlottetown. Keturah used to do exactly what Abishai did today, run up the ramps and slide back down on their behinds.

He desperately tried to get up!

Abishai's way of riding the skateboard.

He looks so much bigger than 4 yrs old!

Carrying the skateboard like a boss!

Miss Pouty face.

Abishai followed his favorite people around again, Caden and Justin.

Underexposed, but the bridge over the rapidly moving Brandywine Creek in Greenfield.

Overexposed, but we really liked how the crawling tunnels went over and under each other.

Always climbing!

"Time for the show!" Abishai said!

Gaga ball, again.

I have never seen a hanging merry go round before! This was so cool!

Cute play house!

Trying to drive to get away from the monsters.

One end of the log cabin house with window, the other had a doorway. Abishai and I played in the house pretending the girls were the monsters. He would come in and "lock" the doors behind him.

Yes, he did climb up on top of the roof with the girls. It was a perfect day to be outside because it was overcast and 60 degrees.

Cheese!

Sweet! They did have TP in the bathrooms but you need to bring your own soap and paper towels. Pretty rough in there!

Adorable! Oh, and we also got on a teeter toter and he said it was his favorite thing today.

On top of the roof!

Awww, looking like a big boy.

Back at home we set up the tent in the fireside room and he put all the balls in it last night. So Daddy, Mommy, and Abishai played in it after supper. He kept saying "mess it up! mess it up!" and "Bury me!" He had a blast but it got about 10 degrees warmer in there with Daddy than it was out in the room. We could feel the heat escaping through the net at the top. Eek!