The J6 Journey: Year 4, May 13th-16th, 2019: The Spice of Life

Monday! And since I was "lazy" all weekend, I'm ready to tackle those to do lists again! Ok, I'm not quite ready to do books yet, but I'm ready to tackle all the little stuff like sewing, cleaning out the medicine cabinet and under the sink a bit, and tidying up and baby proofing a bit because we are babysitting tomorrow. Lots of little stuff got done and it felt great! Then we had dinner at Gary and Leah's with some friends from India. Man, do I love listening to people outside our culture and country. They have such interesting perspectives on our country and the world. And yet, we share the same faith. For example, a lot of Americans and people worldwide view Trump as an idiot, but compared to India, whose economy is in the tank, seeing a growing economy and unemployment lows we haven't seen in years are great accomplishments! And for the kids to be able to hear and see someone from out of the country is an educational moment! The wife even made us Marsala (?) tea! She's a very intelligent woman and so is her husband, and it's incredible to listen to them. They know their English very, very well. It was a great evening.

Monday started off with a Abishai bringing his Paw Patrol friends and some of his plastic balls into our bed. Eeek!

Aww, brothers.

Baby feet.

What my sunroom is supposed to look like when it's cleaned up properly.

We got out the bucket of toddler toys for Carter and Abishai was ecstatic about playing with his old toys!

Socks had his head between two of the rails, it was so cute!

Waiting on the front porch for guests to arrive discussing what to do with the flower beds. Sweet!

A real Indian woman showing Leah how to make real India Marsala tea with milk! Yes, I had half of a cup and between the cooking process and spices like ginger, I didn't have much of an issue. It was so sweet, though, because they add a lot of sugar. It was so much better than any chai latte anywhere! Fresh spices from India, fresh tea from India, and freshly grated ginger root. Oh my word! Fresh is best!

I just love how multi cultural we get to be!

Just in case you were curious as to what's in it.

Wait a minute, how are we supposed to go to sleep tonight?

Look, a clean living room, too!

Abishai said, "MY ALLIGATOR!!!!!!" He LOVED and still LOVES this stacking toy that a friend on PEI gave us. Jared liked to play with it with Abishai, too. Fond memories!

On Tuesday, we had our buddy Carter hang out with us for 2 hrs while his momma went to an appointment. I didn't have to do a thing because Keturah mothered him the whole time! I really think she would make a great mother's helper, paid or unpaid! She was trained well since the day Abishai was born. She's never been into playing baby dolls, but she knows how to play with kids. I think I might suggest that she volunteers in the crawlers/walkers nursery rooms at church when she isn't doing KP worship team and when she's old enough (you have to be 13 I think). And Carter had a ton of fun, with no fussing! Which is amazing for him, because he can be quite clingy, especially since he has been on and off sick for 9 months. But I told his mom, Jessica, to bring him even if he does get sick because nothing annoys me the most than having a sick child and having to change plans. My kids have extremely healthy immune systems, so a few cold or even flu germs are ok, and even if they would get sick, who cares. Abishai behaved fairly well for having his space and toys invaded. He likes Carter and wants to help, but he also doesn't want Carter touching his favorite things. So we had to put up a lot of things and show Abishai how to share. There were a few tears from Abishai, but that's to be expected. Plus Abishai had a late night with us at Grandpa's house, so he wasn't at his best. Socks didn't seem too interested in Carter at all, and Carter wasn't afraid of Socks at all. I can't wait to have them over again with Carter's sister Maddie. It's fun to have extra kids in the house, as I've said before, because they help my kids find other things to play with besides electronics. And again, one of the big advantages of a larger family is that you can split up the responsibilities of taking care of younger ones from time to time, and a lot of the time, the older kids don't mind. Plus, they learn how to care for their own families (boys and girls, mind you, I'm definitely not stereotyping here. I teach them all equally how to care for others and a household because someday the boys might be living on their own before they marry).

Then it was time for screen time and finally outdoor time since the weather is only going to get better and warmer this week, with a high of 82 by Friday! Just in time for temps to climb into the 90's by the weekend after, Memorial Day weekend, and the Indy 500 of course! It wouldn't be the 500 without a blistering hot day! Lol.

Not sure who painted it and what not, but what an incredible design!

Mother Hen, a preschooler to play cars with, and lots of toys is all that Carter needed today!

Big kids are so fun and fascinating!

Super chill and super happy!

He came with free mini chicken biscuits for his lunch, lol. And he fits in the jr. chair well. Carter is 15 months old I think.

Two little boys eating lunch.

Playing peek a boo with Keturah in the pantry.

Boo!

Following the leader! Make sure he doesn't fall off the sidewalk! He's a newly minted walker!

There ya go!

Keturah volunteered to take Socks for a walk around the block! I said go for it! Yes, I did think about how he could pull her down if he wanted to. But she said he obeyed and they did well together. She's been also adding cookies to his food. I think she's taken a bit more of a shine to him since she can't have other pets, and since reading all the horse book we own. I did find more horse books though! I completely forgot about one half filled tote of books, which had some crosswood puzzles, fiction, and my old high school Bible in it! So, there, one less box in the way.

Awww, I did write a lot of things in this Bible. This is Gary and Leah's front door before they added the front porch!

Sweet!

The ONE and ONLY time we went to CIY in 1998 between junior and senior years in high school at Milligan College in TN. We did do Workcamp every year though, repairing and painting people's homes that couldn't afford it.

An old intern at MCC.

Back in the day when you could receive mail from the fan club in the 1990's. He looks so young (and handsome!)

Rest time after Carter was here.

Awwww....I don't know who Justin is, maybe I kid from youth group? But the other two lived in the duplex across the street from us. I message Emily all the time and yes, she is a Christian (partly because of my sister Stefanie). John Timothy's family is Catholic, and still is, but I am friends with them on Facebook, too.

Another intern, turned long time worship minister at MCC before he headed out to the even bigger megachurch, Saddleback, in California where he's been for 15 years? He has two boys around Benaiah's age, and then, they just had a third baby boy a few months ago. Talk about a surprise! So sweet!

He wanted to get the baby swing out to prove that he still fits!

Abishai and I set up the porch so we could eat our dinner outside on this gorgeous bug free evening!

Gotta mow like big brother.

"I want to help make dinner, Mommy. I want to cut vegetables!" Ok, sure, here's what you do. And he did!

Rolling around in the grass, a favorite pastime of his.

Throwing "helicopters" (maple seeds) to the ground from on top of the truck.

He THINKS he can drive....

It's not your turn for this buddy.

Gorgeous evening in a quiet suburban mature 1960's neighborhood.

Now big brother joined in. We were waiting on Daddy to come home for dinner.

Yes, skinny boy can push and pull himself through the window.

Dinner outside! That girly in the corner got her chores down without much complaint, played with Carter the whole time he was here, AND got a 93% of her math lesson, including getting ALL her multiple digit multiplication RIGHT for the first time in her life! Eeek! We are finally making progress!

Trying to get Socks to lick him. Justin put the towel down because he didn't want Socks to get a splinter from the wood. Um, Justin, Socks lays on the deck multiple times a day waiting to be let in. I think he's fine.

Pjs and sunglasses, eating dinner outside. What a life!

After I saw my friend get covered in dog hair today without barely touching Socks, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I spent about 10 minutes each on each quadrant (shoulders and hindquarters). The results were pretty dramatic. This is Socks' right side that has already been brushed.

This is is left side which I had not brushed yet. See how it looks like tufts of fluffy hair? That's the undercoat!

Close up of right side.

Close up of left side.

Each pile of hair represents 1/4 of the dog, and 10 minutes of work.

I thought it would be cute to have Abishai demonstrate how soft Socks' hair is, so I told him to lay down in it. It also demonstrates how much there is.

Bad, bad, bad idea! This is going to be a nightmare in the wash! Knit pj's are the worst for catching the dog hair! I stripped Abishai down to his underwear and sent him inside for a bath, which he needed anyway. I shook out the clothes and put them directly on the washing machine away from the other household laundry.

We own a sheep now, didn't you know? This is about as wide as large rake and about 6 inches high. Yes, it's all 4 piles of hair carefully rake together (Justin had just mowed so there were some fresh grass clippings in there, too). When compressed, it fits into a plastic grocery sack. I know a friend on PEI that would take this, spin it herself, and knit it into a keepsake for a pet owner. This is crazy! And poor Socks. I disturbed a lot of dandruff and I think all the scraping and pulling agitated his skin on his hindquarters because he kept trying to sit down to get away from the brush. He didn't wince and he never, ever bites if he's hurting, but I could just tell. I really tried hard to get at the undercoat layers. He felt so soft and had no shedding for like 6 weeks after the vet groomed him after his surgery in January. No wonder people get their dog thoroughly brushed out like this. If it's done properly, it really cuts down on daily maintenance. Justin brushes him daily, but for like 5 minutes tops and only gets the surface layer. In fact, I think Justin loosens some hair but doesn't brush it long enough to get it all out. I'd rather not be the one leaning over to brush the dog, but I also know how thorough it needs to be AND I can take a look at him and make sure nothing new has popped up. I will be keeping an eye on his skin though. It wasn't red or bleeding. I just think the skin cells are just being trapped down there between the fur layers. But I think IF we get another dog, we will definitely be more careful about the breed(s) and the amount of hair it will have. Mutts are harder to predict, but Great Pyrenees and retrievers are both known to have a lot of hair.

Jared was able to get the truck up and running! He drove around in it for about 20 minutes just to be sure. It's not perfect, like the van, it still needs a lot of work to run efficiently but for now, it's a third vehicle. However, we believe Benaiah needs some practice time in a parking lot with this truck because all clutches are different and it's going to feel different than driving Grandpa's stick shift car. So, he'll have to be taken to and from school tomorrow as I need the van for errands. He was able to use the van today to get to school, work, and then home, all by himself though for the first time. We were a bit leary about leaving the van or car out in the back of CFA late at night, but all we can do is try to trust. One more step to complete freedom for Benaiah, woot! woot!

Wednesday I had back to back appointments, so it was an "out of the house" kind of day. It was gorgeous out, too! I went to my counseling appointment, stopped in at a thrift store, and then headed to me annual eye exam appointment. Only thing was, they didn't have me on the schedule! I was pretty sure I had called this one in over a month ago, and didn't do it online. Maybe I did though. But I never received any reminders and they are very good about that. But, they were very accommodating today and squeezed me in about an hour later. And since they told me that up front, I was able to leave and shop at the dollar store across the road instead of just playing on my phone for an hour. I did end up playing on my phone, but I got to sit in my car and soak in some sunshine and the warm breeze. It was 70 degrees today!

And what did my kids want to do? Stay inside of course. I swear (and I mean swear), if they pull this stunt again, I am going to lock them out. Or at least put out a timer. Or something! I had plenty of stuff to do inside but I found reasons to be outside! I vacuumed both cars, cleaned the inside of Jared's car, and hand washed the vinyl siding around the deck that faces the north and gets that awful green algae type stuff on it. The kids did go on some errands with Grandma, like the library to pick up my books for me, so they were sort of outside, but not really. They even got new towels that they could just put out on the grass and read a book on! Come on! Anyway, tomorrow is a new day and we are home for most of it and the weather is going to be awesome and almost 75 degrees. So, I'll kick them outside tomorrow for sure. Maybe I'll get some reading done. Who knows.

Oh, and my eye exam was fine. It had been almost 3 years! How embarrassing! Ever since being married I've been a stickler for getting my eyes checked every year, most of the time without insurance to pay for it. I guess I was so focused on Keturah's issues and having to go to the specialist for them, that I forgot about myself. Thankfully, my prescription still hasn't changed enough to warrant new glasses. My current glasses are 4 years old I think, and from Canada, and are still in great shape. So, I'll keep them for now.

Then Jared took Abishai out in the truck for an evening jaunt to pick up wood. After the wood was unloaded, it was Benaiah's turn to drive, while Jared was in the car in case something came up. Benaiah needed practice with the truck's clutch which is very old and different than Gary's almost brand new clutch. And the driving went well, and Benaiah's put 1/2 of the money down on it, so.....he gets to drive it to school tomorrow all by himself. It's the last day of "classes" before finals next week, so at least everyone will get to see him in it once. Jared doesn't have to go to class tomorrow because they are actually having a more relaxed fun day, kind of like a field day I think. Sniff. Sniff. Our little boy is growing up! After literally 5 years talking about it, it's official! Benaiah is licensed and has wheels under him! I just hope there's gas in the truck because he's already down to his last $20 in his checking account until next payday next Thursday! Oh boy! He asked me for cash to buy food for dinner when he goes to Shelby St. for rehearsal, and yeah, I relented. It's a legitimate meal and we want to still provide that sometimes. He had put gas in the van the other day, so it's pretty fair so far.

Ok, I'm done. I'm exhausted. I worked hard being out and about and then immediately getting to work when I got home. I did take a couple of resting breaks, too, which have been helping me to keep a steady pace. Oh and as you'll see below, I've been dealing with some kind of injury to my ligament or nerve that wraps around my elbow. I must have over extended or tore it because there's a huge goose egg under my skin but no external bruising. It hurts inside the elbow joint as well as on the outside when I pull my arm up to more than a 90 degree angle. It's a wait and see game I think. Essential oils are helping, but otherwise, I'm not doing anything like icing and heating it. I guess I could have when I was taking a rest, but, I didn't think about it. Oh well, I'm sure it will heal on it's own anyways.

Here's a few leftover pics I found of the kids. Abishai's in the front row with the orange shirt. I know he had a blast!

Keturah is the one holding the Rooted Kids sign. She also enjoyed her time there. I forgot to mention that Silly Safaris visited the Rooted kids during Celebration night! Keturah couldn't stop talking about them! Oooooo, I wonder if she could volunteer there when she's older. Hm,...depending on where they live. But we know someone who was employed by them, too. He moved on to other things I think. Anyway, the owners are Christians and will present a Biblical view when asked. Otherwise, they keep their language neutral. I'm guessing they don't mention evolution or "God made the animals" at their average presentation. It's pretty easy to skirt around either one when just describing an animal, what it does, eat, what it's adaptations are, etc. I love Silly Safaris, and the Creek always hires them when they want an animal presentation. Abishai loved petting their bunnies, too. Yeah!

CFA for dinner, juice boxes, and other yummy things.

Grandma couldn't help out with the babysitting because Rooted was on Tuesday nights and she has Lifebrdige, but since the Celebration was on a Saturday night, she helped out with serving food that night.

Abishai in his classroom with his popsicle.

I think I'll just start calling him Mr. Muscles. Check out those forearms! He loves to help!

He tried lifting this bag, but it was too heavy.

And they're off to get more wood and take one last drive in the truck before it is Benaiah. The car seat is way too big for the truck, so I think we only put it in there one other time in the last 3 years. Then Abishai got fries at the CFA fry store. Daddy gave them the option of chicken nuggets or fries and he choose fries because we have chicken nuggets at home but not fries. And he picked out the small size when Daddy gave them those options, too. Way to go, kid!

Finger waves! Last ride in the truck!

Justin! Put on shoes when you go out to help!

"It's not Miah's truck, it's MY truck!"

Always helping!

Always slacking. But she is enjoying the towel that looks like a piece of kiwi as a new blanket. It's actually shaped like a full circle.

Justin got the cheeseburger one!

Benaiah had to roll 5 logs up the hill before Daddy would take him out to practice in the truck.

Again, always helping.

Miah, let's go for a ride! Benaiah can take siblings with him, which I'm sure will help in the long run.

The truck is so old you need a roll of Gorilla brand duct tape at all times at hand! Just kidding, I have no idea why Jared has kept this tape here for the last 3 years.

Off they go with Benaiah in the drivers' seat, practicing with clutch and stick shift. Eeek!

Birdie nest! Everytime we came out of the garage, we would scare the parent away. I can't get up high enough to see what's inside. But I think they used some dandelion fluff or white flowers or something.

Thursday, well, was a full day. I had no chance to rest. I had three loads of laundry to do, plus I broke the knob on the dryer in the process. I didn't know that the knobs were interchangable, so I called into GE for a replacement. I then hung the wash on the clothesline! Praise God that it was a perfect day for line drying and that we even have a line. I don't think I've seen a clothesline in anyone's yard in our entire township. But we have one because we didn't have a dryer at first and I was used to one in Canada, so Jared made one for me. What a life saver! And hanging out Benaiah's work clothes is helping to get rid of the smell, too. So that was a good portion of my morning, and checking the kids' math, which, they diligently did and got right! Woot! Woot! Note to self to lighten their loads next year so they have more brain space for math! Then we went to book sale to help them clean up afterwards. Since we only live 10 minutes from the church they were using, I thought it would be a good service opportunity for the kids, plus a reason for me to go to the book sale. But, I only bought a $1 puzzle for Abishai. Most people were packing up anyway. The kids grumbled and fought, but we did it. I think I need to look for more opportunities to help. It's something that we haven't really done before, not even at church besides KP. I mean like physically cleaning up type of stuff. Justin did do a "Love Your City" thing, but I just think we need to do it more frequently so it becomes automatic.

Anyway, we came home, got the laundry off the line before it poured rain during a 1 hr thunderstorm, ate leftovers, I taught piano lesson, and then bedtime. Meanwhile, Benaiah drove "his" truck to school, then to the mall, and then to rehearsal at Shelby St. tonight, all by himself! He even named his truck, "Bart." The big boy milestones are coming in fast! And maybe that's exactly how it works: big milestones in the first 2 years of life and milestone the last year of childhood. And then you have the slow brain middle school years where, even at 13 1/2, you still run over the brand new garden hose, AND destroy the cap to bathroom sewer access, AND dump dirty cleaning water into your brother's clean water table, all in the same day! (Facepalm!) Or the almost 11 yr old who doesn't remember that you punished her earlier in the day and took away her electronic time. Tweens and middle schoolers are so much fun, aren't they? Watching their brain synapses rewire themselves requires a lot of patience. And mine runs thin sometimes.

Then there's Abishai, who wants to help, who plays chef and cooks you food, who escapes from the bedroom when it's bedtime, who has this tiny little muscles on his skinny little arms that can be seen when he wears a tank top, who literally cries his heart out when his daddy leaves for work (even when Daddy takes him around the block, their new favorite pastime, before he goes to work). Oh Abishai, you're a hoot and you're exhausting, just go to bed. And you all wonder why I'm forgetful and all over the place! A driving teen, head in the clouds tweens, and a high energy preschooler. It's downright nuts sometimes! Oh, and don't forget the husband who is turning 40 in two days. But at least we are staying in one place and can put down roots. We can say, "This year we will add this to the yard and next year we will do that." and not be afraid that our plans will change too much. Chaos and peace all at the same time.

My little guy wanted to make me food. "I'm a chef Mommy!"

Here's all the food I packed.

He even brought over the kitchen to cook it on.

Yummy!

His turn!

Now pay up, Mommy!

Thank goodness we have a clothesline and I bought extra clothespins last week.

Keturah took the dog again for a walk today. I'm really loving that she's doing that because it gives her exercise, it gives the dog exercise, it gives her peace and quiet to think, and she's in the fresh air. But I insisted that everyone spend even more time outside because it was the perfect day!

This is the first time the driveway has been totally clear of vehicles in probably 10 months or whenever we switched from the truck to the car. Wow! And it was weird to drive back in the driveway and not have a truck beside me.

I have no idea who took this picture but whoever did, has a nice camera or phone. But Benaiah names his truck, "Bart." So a long conversation was had between our family members as to why he named it that. No, it's not after Bart Simpson (although Jared did watch the show a little bit) and no, it's not after Bart Heldman, the sign shop owner where Aaron worked in high school and I worked when I was pregnant with Benaiah. It's just a basic name he came up with. Ok, then. And now I found out Ava got her license today and both of them drove their own vehicles to the mall and Amy had approved that they could be there in public by themselves, not chaperoned, but not at a park where no one else was present. Ok, then. Glad I knew that. So we talked about having a bit more communication, or at least responding quickly to texts, because I know how quickly plans change and how there's lots of conversations taking place at once, etc. Benaiah then drover over to Shelby St. for drum practice. Eek! Big huge milestones again today! That's a lot of milestones for one week! Today was the last day of school before finals so it was their fun day called "Pay Day" where people write notes to them, decorate the hallways, have fun and games, and provide their lunch. Which is good since the boy is broke and we have to pay for a tank of gas before his next paycheck. And I'm fine with that. We were paying for gas taking him back and forth anyways. We'll give him a leg up and then he's on his own. And if he's out of money of gas, well, then, you don't get to go anywhere.