The J6 Journey: Year 4, May 3rd-5th, 2019: The Last Hurrah!

Now that Gary's transition is done, it's our turn to finish up the school year and it's activities. Day 180 of the official school year was today! We didn't do anything special for it because we've been short on time this week and we've done so much other celebrating that we are on sugar overload. Perhaps we'll celebrate later on in the month when things die down. But two major activities finish tomorrow, Justin's last Bible Bowl competition and Keturah's last Sonshine Kids' Choir performance. And by last, I mean last. Justin will not be doing Bible Bowl next year and Keturah has aged out of Kids' Choir. In fact, I got letters in the mail today from the MSM team and the HSM team welcoming them into their new grades/groups for the fall! That's right, we will have one preschooler, one middle schooler and TWO high schoolers! And for once, we won't have anyone in elementary! Wowzers!

And I just finished taking the older high schooler out to pick out a corsage for his prom date, buy a new shirt and tie, and was hoping to fix the PS4, but at least we got new SD cards for Keturah's performance tomorrow! That's right, Benaiah's a junior and is taking his girlfriend to prom! Squeal! I'm so excited! And I was able to help him out with colors to match her dress without him seeing the dress. Prom is only 6 days away! But, it was fun to take the big one out for a little Mommy and Me date (can I still say that?). And, I didn't take pictures, but do we really need pictures of everything? I'm trying to hold back on taking pictures and videos because it just means I will have to process them and I don't have the time in the next week or so. And that's ok. We've just had alot of events happening and I've been behind, but by the time I'm done with today's paragraph in this post and before I add tomorrow's, I should be caught up. Yeah because tomorrow we have SO MUCH going on! In fact, I have to pause and call the mother in law and discuss tomorrow...hold on a second....

Ok, now I sleep.

Doesn't everyone eat fruit in a cup laying down on the coutnertop?

Mommy, I'm invisible! I forgot this outfit was a bit smaller, and with a little bit of adjustment, he can play in it!

"There's something moving in the grass and I can't find it!"

*giggle giggle* Hey, it's the camouflage monster!

Now, who put those on the sidewalk? Maybe some naughty kids. Here's let just scoot them over out of our way. We went to park day only because it wasn't raining and it's the park closest to our house.

Justin likes to penny board so away he went with his friends on the paved trail. He actually stayed longer at the park with them when I came home because we live so close.

"I don't want to go to the park." (and then she has fun anyway)

Ssshhh, we are hiding.

Mom! Don't give away my hiding spot!

Darn it, you found me!

This is the thing that Benaiah massively hurt his lip on last time we were here. It's much more fun with a ton of kids on it that are the right size for it.

And they managed to squish onto this one, too.

Hi, I'm Superman! I'm an astronaut! 3...2...1...Go!

I'm in jail, but I have the key, so I can escape. You go away, Mommy, so I can escape!

I love having a preschooler still. Their imagination and innocence are magical.

Saturday was busy! Oh my goodness, where do I begin? I had this elaborate plan to make sure everyone was where they needed to be on time. Let's see how it was supposed to go. Gary wasn't home to help, which left the three of us to handle things.

8am Justin and Jared leave for Bible Bowl competition, Jared drives straight back home
10:15am Leah takes Benaiah to a funeral for a friend's grandmother.
12:30pm Jared and Melinda leave for John Crist concert
12:30pm-2:30pm Leah is at house with 3 kids (Benaiah, Keturah, and Abishai), Jared and Melinda at concert, Justin at Bible Bowl
2:30pm Leah leaves with 3 kids
2:45pm Leah drops off Benaiah at work
3:00pm Leah drops Keturah off at church for kids' choir concert
3:30pm Leah picks up Justin from Bible Bowl (in Franklin, IN, south of Greenwood).
4pm-5:30pm Leah feeds Justin and Abishai before taking them to church for Keturah's performance
2:30pm-5pm, Jared and Melinda at John Crist concert
5pm-5:30pm, Jared and Melinda drive to church to meet others for Keturah's performance
5:30pm-6pm, get seats and set up camera for Keturah's performance
6pm-7:30pm Keturah's performance and refreshments, everyone goes to their own homes.

That was the proposed schedule. Here's what really happened.
8am Justin and Jared leave for Bible Bow competition, Jared drives straight back home
9:30am, Benaiah wakes up asking for a thermometer to see if he can call into work because he's sick.
9:30-10:30am Lots of texts with Leah to sort out the new plan, Leah and Benaiah do NOT go to the funeral; Melinda signs a waiver so Leah can take Benaiah to MedExpress
12:45pm Jared and Melinda leave for John Crist concert
1:30pm Leah takes Benaiah to MedExpress to try to get a doctor's note for Benaiah's work, which must be obtained within 24 hrs of calling in sick.
2:30pm Benaiah has been seen and waiting on prescription
3pm Leah drops off Keturah, and then Benaiah goes into work, late, with no recorded fever and doesn't need the doctor's note. Leah drops off the prescription at Meijer, thinking we would have time to pick it up before they closed. Nope.
3:15-4pm Leah starts to drive down to get Justin from Bible Bowl, and Abishai throws up. He has only had a fruit snack since a big breakfast at 9:30am.
4pm-4:30pm Leah drives the two boys home and they eat a small dinner.
5pm Jared and Melinda dash out of the John Crist concert just as the performers are bowing (first time I've ever left that early from a concert before). They arrive as planned at the church.
1pm-5pm - numerous texts between Justin, Leah, and Melinda giving updates about the unfolding events.
5:30pm set up cameras after getting seats, press the wrong button
6pm enjoy Keturah's performance, hoping that it was being filmed, but then found out later it only periodically took pictures. (I'm pretty bummed, but I have a friend who filmed a lot of it, too, plus I took small clips on my phone when I had a suspicion of what was going in, thank goodness).
7:30pm everyone goes home to their own beds.

Oh....my....word.....And this is why I felt awful on Sunday. Too much social activity coordinating all of that. Benaiah has an ear infection and is taking an antibiotic. It's debatable as to if he really needs the antibiotic, but it's rare we use them, so whatever. Keturah did a marvelous job with speaking her lines clearly and on cue. She sang decently, too! Who knew she had such talent! We didn't take many pictures/videos at the John Crist concert because he's a comedian and there isn't much of a light show. I knew a lot of his mannerisms and jokes though. The other two comedians were pretty funny, too. I think I was a bit too distracted by the phone messages though, and the uncomfortable position I was in trying to see the comedians around a person in front of us. Overall, a fun, but full day. I'm still haven't fully processed it because then I went into sick mode the next day. But wow, Bible Bowl and kids' choir are done forever! Keturah is now too old for Kids' Choir so we'll have a 1 yr break before Abishai joins in. And Justin is not returning to Bible Bowl next year because of the time commitment to studying. We have other things to focus on than the nitty gritty details of Bible passages. Sorry. It's just the way a Bible trivia game works and it's not for everyone. He did get a new personal record on his written test though. And it was only he and Jamie on his team, so he had to chip in as much as possible. They scored 2-8 in division 2. Pretty typical when you only have two people on your team. Just as long as he had fun, and he did.

Gotta start your day right with a concert by Abishai. He literally told Socks and I to sit down and "whisten."

Enjoying Abishai's concert.

I think she ran out of the books I bought her for Christmas. The Thoroughbred series and Saddle Club books. Now she's reading all the rest of the horse books on the shelf that were mine as a kid. Yeah!

Somebody was very, very sick but still had to go into work. He was snoring loudly, too.

Saturday morning lounging. Abishai likes to snuggle and play with us on our bed.

Just one semi trailer of things plus the guys usually drive themselves. Much easier set up, especially for smaller venues, than the other concerts we've seen recently.

John Crist has these cardboard cutouts of himself set up based on some of his 3 minute YouTube videos. I'm not going to take the time to identify them all, but they are quite funny like the lady that has a Scripture for everything, church shopping, short term missionary guy, etc.

Short term missionary guy.

Millenial worship leader video?

Bwahahahaha, I remember last year when he couldn't stop talking about his white belt! Now you can a belt just like his stamped with his initials or something! I've never seen anyone sell a belt at a concert before!

Shout-aaa-y is something Crist says to begin his Instagram videos and under it it says, "Eat More Strips," because he did a video comparing Chick Fil A strips vs. nuggets. And then the blue t-shirt syas something about CFA sweet tea. And of course his signature "For Sure No" and "Check Your Heart" phrases were on everything.

Again, I've never seen someone sell crocs that are signed before! Crazy! But that's another thing he talks about often, his crocs!

The DJ did music for pre show, intermission, and a bit with John Crist's routine, especially when Crist was trying to get a feel for who was in his audience so he played 80's Sunday School songs like Father Abraham and "C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N", plus a couple of main steam things.

This particular church has their drum set built way up high on the left side. The auditorium felt a bit smaller than Indian Creek's auditorium.

They showed all kind of John Crist trivia about his videos before the show.

First up, a decent comedian, Aaron _______.

Then the showed this 10 minute video of them driving around in Indianapolis, specifically Greenwood. They asked us not to film anything, but I did film most of this because I knew it wouldn't be showing up on social media. He talked about all the roundabouts, which, they must have been near the Greenwood mall because there's two roundabouts there. There's only one another roundabout in Greenwood that I know of. So, I don't think he got the right impression, unless he had gone north to Carmel first. He also pointed out all the discount liquor and fun eateries in the area. Basically, Greenwood is a slum is what he thinks. It's not. He made fun of the Colts and bought a t-shirt in a gas station that said, "Tom Brady goes to the bathroom sitting down." A tad inappropriate, check your heart!

Hello, Indianapolis! (Please do not share this video!)

Very southern guy, with a slower southern drawl than the other two comedians. He says his outfit is something he wears everyday because it's his "police repellent." I.e. if you dress like a black thug, you're more likely to be ticketed or arrested. He's not wrong.

Selfie time! For once, I didn't take a bazillion pictures. It was good just to listen and watch. There really wasn't a light show either.

Time for John Crist! They shared a couple of quotes about laughter, which Crist said, if there's any point or agenda to the show, it's to simply relax and laugh. He's not trying to evangelize or be critical. And I've seen his interviews. It is really his goal to just make people laugh and give them a break from life. He's very serious when he says that, too.

John Crist Entrance

Nice entrance! Like the walls that separate on a talk TV show, the screen came apart and Crist walked through with some extra flashy lights and such. And that's it for the flashy stuff. Pretty fun and simple.

Dancing through the screens and across the stage.

Jared said to stop taking pictures, so I only have a couple of them. It really wasn't the best spot for pictures anyway and I was looking around someone's head.

Near the end, the three guys got up on stage together to try out some new jokes on each other and banter a bit. There were definitely some fun things in there and a couple of things that crossed the line.

And lastly, his signature ending. Claiming he has never seen "The Lion King" because "he was homeschooled" he uses the Simba dedication moment at the beginning of the movie comparing it with dedicating babies at church. He then puts on face paint like Rafiki does. "The Lion King" was one of my family's favorite movies and we were homeschooled. We just knew discernment and not let the "circle of life" part bother us. There was plenty of fun and relevant things in the movie anyway.

Then, a quick ride to church so we could set up and be ready for another 45 minutes of sitting through the show. Now it was Keturah's turn to shine. This time, I made sure we had closer seats. Unfortunately, I pressed the wrong buttons and only got pictures on the video camera. Thankfully, I did take a few video clips on my phone, so at least I have some of her play. Faith News Network, here we go!

Faith News Network Musical Playlist

Mrs. Alison saying the opening comments and prayer.

Jordan and Keturah, our little reporters. Keturah is interviewing Noah's wife.

There's Noah! I'm so glad Shae Wynn has been featured in some service intro videos and now in the kids' musical again. His son, Seth, was the one who committed suicide last September. So to be able to get back up on stage and do something you love is awesome! Shea has been an integral part of drama at the Creek for more than 15 years. They used to have a full on skit in Kids' Rock every week and I think he played Vinny (or Tyler, I don't know) and those characters carried over into several VBS' we had. Love it!

Cool! They did a green screen effect (probably prefilmed it) to tell the weather!

I love the names!

They must have gotten one of our regular worship leaders to sing the beautiful solo for Esther. The Faith News Network was full of different basic Bible stories. Fun!

The host and hostess at the news desk.

Walking around Jericho with Joshua (Nathan Paulson, who LOVES to help out and act in any play they do.)

Moses.

Abraham and Sarah.

Beautiful solos as well. He is in the tech booth now with his grown son and their family has been part of church for longer than I have been, too. It's so much fun to see adult actors on stage.

Ok, last bit to polish off this blog post. It's been in the works for almost a week! Sometimes when there's lots of bits and pieces everywhere, I'm just not in the mood to work on it. But here's the final touches! The DSLR pics I took of Keturah's musical! My iPhone pics didn't turn out well and are redundant with these anyway. Enjoy!

And the stage is set...

Last minute flowers were bought....

Audience is ready and waiting...

Directors waiting for curtain call....

There she is! Our little Chera Bim! Reporter for the Faith Network News!

Cute songs!

70 kids in choir, as per usual!

Left side of the stage.

Right side of the stage.

And center stage. Keturah is on the right side in the lighter blue robe.

Here we go!

One of our favorite friends who loves to share a line or two!

Ready to hit the streets to get the daily news about the Bible!

Talking to Queen Esther.

I didn't understand this segment, but the desk people did some kind of triva or piggy backing banter thing.

Not so little Max Hittel, a friend from MOPS, but also from Grandma and Justin's class. He did so well!

Basketball and cheerleading song.

Nathan Paulson in the white robe telling the story of Jericho.

Pharoah and Moses

Crossing the Red Sea, and yes, they did part in the middle after they waved their streamers.

And finally, Abraham and Sarah.

Let's it for us tonight! We are Faith Network News!

Flowers and a card as usual for Mrs. Christy Tapp.

Our little star with her Daddy!

Good friends. Jordan Minton and Keturah Johnson. Doesn't Keturah look just like me when I was in high school, complete with stringy greasy hair and a headband and glasses? Oi!

P.S. She IS wearing the shoes I wore in high school though.

The girls with Mrs. Christy and her daughter Becca. Sweet!

Full Length Version of FNN Musical by a friend

Sunday I woke up feeling awful. From restless legs to vertigo to sleepiness from taking medication for the vertigo, ugh. So I didn't go to church but slept 1 1/2 hrs in the quiet instead. And then Leah came over so we could eat up some of the leftovers from the food our friend Rhoda made for us. I was feeling much better so made it back to church to serve in the nursery. It was baby dedication Sunday, and this time, they decided to put the ceremony back into the regular service like we used to have it. They had to break up the 20 families into three groups, one for each service, so it wouldn't be as long, but it went very well I heard! I wish I could have seen it, especially Hudson's (Dan and Keren's baby) dedication, but I didn't know which service he would be at anyway. I was so tired from sitting and mentally paying attention all day yesterday, that I wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway. I did get to hang out with a couple of the babies that were being dedicated during the 4:30pm service though. That was fun.

It didn't feel like an abnormal Sunday either, with Gary being gone. He's been gone so much the last 6 months that is abnormal when he is around. He's still guest preaching most Sundays. I don't think he'll ever stop doing that. But as far as our routine, it hasn't changed yet. What is usually a strange thing is when there's no more youth group and no more choir practice. We have one or two more Sundays of youth group. Then everyone moves up into their new classrooms on June 3rd. That means Abishai will moved up to the 4/5's room and will no longer have Mr. and Mrs. Boyer and the Henry girls as his teachers. That's pretty sad and crazy. I think our previous preschool dirctor, Mrs. Christy Collins (sp?) and her husband teach in the 4/5's during the 11am hour. We shall see! Thankfully he will be kids he knows, so it should be fine with him feeling comfortable with his peers. But wow, one more year of preschool and then he will be in Kindergarten! Now that's unbelievable! Also on June 3rd, I'll have two high schoolers and a middle schooler! And I have yet to figure out this parenting gig, go figure.

Let's just say, we got Benaiah's ACT scores back and they were worse than the SAT scores. I am very disappointed, sad, frustrated and angry. This is not at all how I dreamed it would be like. But I'll have to accept it and let him be. He will be mad at himself later for not heeding his mother's advice.

Now onward to another week, the beginning of our summer break with new routines and new character development traits to develop.