Year 4, June 10th-12th, 2019: Roller Coaster Ride

It was a much better day today, but the only calm day of the whole week it looks like.  The weather was gorgeous, but of course no one really wanted to play outside.  Ava came over for a bit and watched Thor:Ragnarok with Benaiah, and Keturah watched part of it with them.  I got some bits of work done, still not working on the books, yet.  But I did make a phone call to the naturopath and have an appointment scheduled for late next week.  Should be fun! Again, sometimes all the anxiety comes before doing the thing and then you're at peace once the thing (or decision) is done. Abishai was his usual hyper self, except for when he wanted me to snuggle into my bed with him and watch videos on our devices.  He then said, "Why does it smell?" And I asked, "Did you bubble (toot)?" And when he realized he did, he hopped out of bed leaving his bubble behind!  Ugh! Yeah, nothing else worth noting.

Well, I let Benaiah borrow the van to go to his dentist appointment, and he took my credit card so a) he could drop of the PS4 to get fixed (there's still a wrong sized disc in it) and b) to pick up coffee at our friends' brand new coffee shop that opened today after not one but TWO years of labor called the "Mocha Nut."  Their coffee was delicious, although I still would prefer some flavoring in it if I'm buying coffee. It needs to be different than what I have at home.  Apparently, though, at times, there were lines out the door!  That's so encouraging to this couple who a) have loved on the youth of our church for eons and b) that we as community do support and love them, too.  Even the youth staff held their meeting there, including an Instagram live today.  Ah! Meanwhile, Benaiah of course needs to brush and floss more, but he doesn't have any cavities.  He had a whole head scan and some junk showed up in his sinuses, so it was suggested to get that checked out.  Also, it was recommended to get his wisdom teeth removed in the next year.  He wants to do it this summer, but I'm not wanting one more thing to think about nor does he need to take off one more day of work at this point.  I'm not worried about the surgery or money for it because maybe it's covered under medicaid and we were recommended to another church member's practice, so maybe we'll get a discount.  And I'm still praising God that so far no one needs braces.  We would only do braces if it would severely affect them later in eating for example.  We wouldn't do it just for cosmetics.  Keturah has a gap right now in her two front teeth, but her back molars aren't all the way in it, so we'll see if those push the front teeth closer together.  I never got braces because my issues are with my bottom teeth and are hidden.  Sometimes I've wondered if the right choice was made because now some of my teeth are worn unevenly.  Anyway, we are keeping an eye on things and are definitely grateful for no cavities in the last year! And we are grateful that Benaiah can go by himself and run errands!  Woot! Woot!

Hammerhead and swordfish!  I have no idea who put these together like this, but it's pretty smart!

This year, we pre bought their CIY soveniers to a) save them time in line b) they don't have to carry the cash with them and c) I can help them with their decisons.  Per usual, Keturah wanted to over spend, Justin bought a friend and was minimal, and Benaiah just wanted a hoodie.  Thank goodness they have spending money from Grandpa because the total was over $150! Prices were very reasonable though, don't get me wrong.  And, it did ship later today so hopefully we'll have them by the end of this week!  There's also an option where a parent can have the merchandise held at the merchandise table for the kids to pick up.  I thought that was a bit confusing for the kids, too.  And the choices were easy because the boys at least had already been planning what they wanted from seeing things in the past.  Keturah had to be told no on a few things (like a hand grip for a phone that she doesn't have and a hacky sack, where she already has one she doesn't use at home).  So, check that off the list for the year!

Then Keturah tried on some hand me down clothes.  Doesn't she look pretty in his romper?! She doesn't like it all.  But it's SHORTS not a skirt or dress, kid! I did keep some simpler, yet stylish dresses just in case we need them.  And, praise the Lord, she received the perfect size and comfort level of jeans she likes in like 5-6 pairs. She'll be all set for winter.  And two awesome tankinis that overlap so well you can't even tell they are tankinis!  Thank you, neighbor, for having great, conservative choices!

Abishai and I built yet another police headquarters and jail.  "Make it stable, Mom, make it stable.!" (push the pieces together so they won't come apart so easily.)

Pre teen in all her glory, not wanting to go outside.

Pjs all day, and watching his shows close to mommy.

Snuggle time, Mommy!  Whoops, I bubbled! I will leave now!

We tried the chalk paint for Aldis with the same result as the spray chalk.  It didn't last very long.  Not worth the price.

The roller didn't roll.  I managed to save a random drawing by writing Abishai's name.  The green became more white as it dried.  It didn't take long to dry though.  Great for identifying the house for a birthday party or open house.  Not great for everyday use.  We won't buy it again.

Can you spot the huge dragonfly?

I cut the RV mat to fit the porch.  I didn't trim the edge over the stair/sidewalk yet.  I'm seeing how that goes before I do.  So far, no sliding and Socks' nails dn't get caught on it.  We'll see!

Not sure how many layers of the driveway we can dig up, but we know that we have to completely strip and redo this driveway some day, so Jared doesn't mind if we do some of the work beforehand.  Abishai loves his little digging spot and loves it when someone plays with him.

Take from one place to another to fill in the pothole.

Pat, pat, pat, make it flat.

Now that's a great summer scene.

I want the foot rest to later.  I don't need it now, silly.  Time for a nap while waiting for Daddy to come home.

Playing the "grass is lava" game.  Lots of jumping.

Flowers at the parents' house.

Today, Tuesday, was a good reminder as to why I don't work with middle and high schoolers.  I love them, and I'm glad they are social, but man, I can't stand how they talk over each and then get louder and louder and one up each other, both boys and girls alike!  You try to tell them to calm down and take their voices down a notch because really, their faces are 6 inches apart in the van but they just tune you out.  Wow! Were we ever that loud or rude to one another?  I'm not sure that we were.  And really quickly, I think it's because of our culture and social media, etc.  Americans have been taught and inundated with the ideology that we are bigger and better than everyone else.  We talk the talk but don't walk the walk.  We puff out our chests and squawk at anyone within listening distance.  But we don't mean what we say. We aren't taught to just stop, and listen to the other person talking.  One reason for this is that kids don't see it modeled at home.  They are with their peers more than they are with other age groups that should be able to communicate with each other.  The other thing is that video games and social media come at us at warp speed.  I'm beginning to hate the phrase "I just want to take a quick second and tell you about...." on Instagram stories.  Of course it will be "quick." Why even say that?  You have 15 seconds per story! And everyone wants to be heard, so they jump into and onto other's words before letting the other person finish.  I think we need to practice more listening.  Thankfully, we have from time to time caught it in our own children at the dinner table and try to practice a bit.  I think it comes also from the "freedom" movements like in the '70s where all etiquette was thrown out the window.  No one was taught how to properly sit at the table or hold a conversation.  Sometimes we correct the children in the moment, but we aren't teaching them beforehand what is expected.  Anyway, I get tired of telling kids in my house to just lower the volume.  We can hear you.  Take turns when speaking.

Anyway, back to todayI had volunteered to drive around some extra kids so that my kids would have friends to jump with at SkyZone.  SkyZone had a 60 minute jump pass for $6 today!  That's at least a $10 savings!    The extra kids' parents paid their way this time, but I did the driving.  We all had a blast and I was able to jump AND get pics and vids of everyone, not just Abishai.  Abishai attached himself to Keturah's friend Emilee, so she was very helpful today.  Before that, I had left Abishai, Justin and Benaiah at home.  I picked up Emilee and her brother (Justin's friend) Elliot and took them all to Taco Bell for Taco Tuesday.  Then I brought those three home, and Bryce came over to join us.  Justin went for a short check in type of meeting with Chad Koke and Alison in KP.  All went well, nothing special to report there.  They just want to connect with everyone outside of church.  It's all about relationships between volunteers and staff members and I love that! Not only are the kids in the classrooms loved on, but us volunteers as well!

Once Justin came home, we all went to SkyZone, and Benaiah went to work.  It wasn't too busy and not too loud actually.  Everybody came home exhausted.  And Abishai was in beast mode the whole time!  You HAVE to watch the videos below!  I knew I should have taken him to toddler time prior to this.  But I can't bring the other kids and until recently, I couldn't leave them home alone either.  Anyway, he nailed so many things!  And then he came home and wanted to jump on our trampoline with Daddy!  Next time there's a big sale, or really, anytime there's a toddler time, I think I'll have Jared take Abishai.  The others conquered big things too.  We hadn't been to SkyZone for probably 16 months, so they are all taller and stronger.  After Skyzone, I dropped Emilee off to her house and took Elliot to the high school near our house for his swim practice.  Then Bryce came home with us for a bit.  I do love helping other mamas when I can.  Physically, these hormonal beings aren't hard to deal with but the mental exertion of keeping everybody in line is hard, especially when the preschooler thinks he's one of them.  It cracks me up how he and Socks the dog attaches themselves to every new person that walks into the door.  And because he's much younger and still very cute, Abishai gets away with it.  Socks will always be cute and endearing.
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Ok, I'm going to be a bit sore and we will all need some quiet tomorrow, which we should get.  I have an appointment in the morning and I think Benaiah is going to do the birthday thing with Ava that they couldn't do last week because of weather.  She is taking (well, meeting him, but it's her plan) him to Southeastway Park, maybe an early supper and then a movie.  Meanwhile, Keturah's birthday is in 5 days and I have yet to firm up plans!  Eek!  I guess I can work on that tomorrow.  I know, I know, way to go procratinating on that and my books.  Sigh.  I just don't want to get rid of books, ok? But I must.  I really must.  And I need to do the whole, "let's take everything off the shelf and put back only the most important things first" mantra.  That should help.  Ok, time to check out my little beasts!

I love Abishai's creativity.  He made himself a bed with outdoor furniture pads and uses the tablecloth as a blanket.  Goof!

She apparently knows how to order at Taco Bell! Although she did accidentally (or maybe purposefully) choose two main items.  I took it off before I paid for the order.  Those poor employees though should be warned of the influx of preteen customers.  Most of them knew how to order and pay for their food.  It makes me wonder if one of the cons of homeschooling is that we mothers do a lot of these things for our kids because we are always with them.  I need to be more intentional about letting them do it.  I guess kids do get on and off a bus and get to their classrooms and write down assignments without parents being there to remind them.  Hm,...

The testosterone side of the room.

The estrogen side of the room (there were twice as many girls though).  I'm glad Keturah now has a core group of girls and a nice young lady leading them.  She does need more social time with other girls her age.  I hope there will be some deep friendships that form.  Come to find out, two girls are from families we know, one is a previous staff member and one is a current staff member.  We've known both families from before they had little ones.  And now they are 6th graders?  Yikes!!!!! Where has time gone?!  But it's pretty cool that they are in Keturah's friendship circle.  I might have to follow up and ask them over individually.  Hm,....and this is why I occasionally poke my nose into youth group things and sniff around.  Most parents drop off kids, but we like to know what's going on and what the kids are really talking about.

See, my kids NEVER play outside like this unless they have friends over.  Sigh.

Boys' turn.

We definitely had to set limits on the tire swings, but no one got hurt.

At least they choose board games and didn't ask for electronics.  The PS4 is in the shop right now because Abishai bought a PSP disk in it, so, the boys couldn't even play fortnite, thank goodness!

Awww, playing Scrabble Bannagram style.

And their favorite: monopoly.

Abishai has never jumped at SkyZone before, so he was wide eyed when we walked in.  I made him wait for me while I got  locker and such and we were there early anyways.  They did allow the kids to go down early because it wasn't full.  They can have up to 200 jumpers at once!  Crazy!  And after a tiny bit of hesitation because he didn't know where to start, he was off and jumping!

I only brought my phone camera since I was jumping and thankfully, they didn't tell me not to have it so away I went with it.

Wobbly ladder climbed by Emilee.

Abishai wanted to try it, too, of course.  He didn't get far.

And then he did want to joust and got up there and held on for a couple of seconds.  Emilee was very good with him.

He played on this for a long time.  I had to show him that there are "lanes" and that he couldn't jump across the lanes, but after that, he jumped in and climbed out pretty quickly.  Again, there weren't that many people, so he didn't have to get in a line or anything.

"I do my trick, Mommy."  He jumps in and then rolls!  I was afraid he was going to not jump in far enough, but he did!  And he wasn't scared of the little drop off between the jumping "pillow" and the trampoline.  I'm pretty sure it's attached to the wall about 1 or 2 feet down.  He did all the work himself.

He would jump on the trampoline about 5 times, then climb up on the edge, and then jump.

Jump and dunk!

Emilee with the flips, which you are allowed to do in this are.  I think they discourage it in the main area.

This was a new element they added, jumping blocks.  The kids LOVED it!  Keturah kind of skirted around the edge on the bigger ones.

With enough practice, Justin managed to jump over it.

Wow! He's flying!

Around the block, but that's ok.  She'll get it.  She did get tired about 1/2 of the way through and I had to remind her that she needs to build up her stamina for these things by being more active at home. She outright said, "I don't want to have stamina!"  Yikes! Maybe she's gleaning that just because I don't have stamina and I take frequent breaks, that's the way to live life.  Well, that's why I keep trying to work on myself so I can be a better example.

Meanwhile, beast boy over hear climbed and jumped and completely conquered this whole course.  I think he did it at least 20 times!  I wasn't sure at first how he'd do or if there were any height restrictions, but the employees today seemed to be very lax in applying any rules.  That's a good/bad thing because one boy dove over both blocks from the big block head first and that's a big no no! Eek!

Watch the videos that goes with these stills because it's amazing how fast he scrambles up and over these!

Sometimes he got on the block himself, sometimes Emilee helped.

16 months ago, Justin could barely do the 8 ft wall.  Now, with his growth in height and his strength, he can do the 10 ft.

Bryce was up and over, too.

Another angle of Abishai going up and over.

Bye!

Keturah did get bored so she tried the Ninja Warrior type courses again.  She can do some elements.  These are too big for Abishai otherwise, he would try it.

Justin went all across these bars without falling!

He didn't quite make it here, but he tried to.

Abishai tried the basketball jump once.  He's still too short though so he wasn't interested.

Eliot's turn.

Keturah needs a bit more height and stamina to conquer this wall.  She was very tired at this point.  But at least she tried.

Then Mr. Beast gave it a whirl.  He ran and leapt and then clawed his way up to this point.  It was like he had suction cups on his hands and feet!  He gained another foot or two before sliding down.  Way to go!

Time to take a breather.

Almost tandem.  Almost.

Just a few minutes left to play chase with Emilee.

See, I jumped today, too!  And I did jump over the blue or orange barriers.  Barely, but I did.  I didn't attempt any other elements because I was watching Abishai and I knew I would embarrass myself.  But I jumped as hard as I could and got my steps in for the day.

The boys' turn to joust.

So, Jared, Abishai and I were on the trampoline and Socks was going nuts about sniffing a part of the yard.  We went over and there was a poor injured baby bunny!  It already had bugs in it's wound, so Jared picked it up and put it under the shed, where we think most of the bunnies live.  He didn't want to kill it in front of the kids.

Well, when he went inside to wash his hands, Socks was still sniffing around and I found a bunny nest!  Well, I found Socks' hair and thought, this is a weird place and way his hair is.  And then I saw movement.  Oh my word, two more baby bunnies!  I then got a glimpse of a bunny foot in the grass and found a fourth baby, but this one was dead.  Jared used a plastic bag to pick it up, wrap it up, and throw it away.  Then we got the other kids outside to see it.

I'm not sure how wise this was, but we wanted to make sure Socks didn't disturb them again, so we put the slide back to where we think it was, kind of protecting them.  Then we made some baricades so that Socks couldn't get to them but the mommy bunny could.  Later on I saw an adult bunny near the shed, but I'm not sure yet if it was able to find the babies again or not.  Time will tell.  Also, it could have been trying to find the injured bunny under the shed and hearing it's cries.  When Jared moved that one it let out that awful bunny scream, but in a fainter, baby kind of cry.  So sad!  I'm praying we didn't make a mess of things.  And we will be going out with Socks from now on so we make sure he doesn't kill anything.  We think he did catch and try to eat a bunny last year. But what a life science lesson we had tonight.  We learned about the cry of baby bunnies, what their nests might look like, how they could die, and that they do often die because the nest is disturbed or something eats them.  Sad realities.  We have had several full grown bunnies in the two years of living here, so it's ok if some don't make it.  You just never know when science will appear!

P.S. Boys are gross!  Justin was doing his nightly exercises (which he didn't really need to do because he jumped so hard at SkyZone) and was in a plank position.  Well, he let out the loudest longest fart I have ever heard from him.  It sent me into a giggle fit complete with tears.  You know you're a boy mom when......It's a good thing his friends weren't around or they would never let him hear the end of it.  Justin would be very embarrassed and defensive if it happened in public.  Poor guy.  I seriously had to ask him if he needed the restroom or change his underwear.  Sheesh!

Wednesday was recovery day and it was just kind of ho hum.  The bunnies are still alive.  I moved the slide out of the way and recovered them with dead grass.  I also kept the dog away, which was hard, and he had no idea how to pee with me standing outside with him.  Sigh.  Kids had extra screen time because we all needed some rest.  Cleaned out the refrigerator of all leftovers, making plates of food for kids instead of asking them what they wanted.  Benaiah drove Justin to high school 4th meal and scared the crud out of him because he could.  Benaiah also had gone to health class, out to lunch with friends, walked the trails of Southeastway Park with Ava, and then took a dip in Ava's pool with his regular clothes on!  Then he came home and sat on the couch in his still damp pants! Oi! He changed and then took a nap!  Sigh.  So much for family time on his day off.  And did I tell you he ripped his work pants trying to get away from Jared last week?  Yup, so I sewed up the seam and we are hoping it lasts until his new ones came in.  He has yet to go to the gym either.  But I guess walking the woods with Ava counts.  He is supposed to write down if he exercises on his health class papers.  But we all know how that will go.  He stayed up late writing a few things down before class today (facepalm).

Anyway, emotionally neutral day.  Calm, restful.  Now onto the big appointment day tomorrow where I find out what really is going on with my uterus.  Then I can finish planning some other events based on what we need to do with it.  Anywho, time to finish up.

Tie this apron on me and I'll be your chef!  He LOVES playing these games and I think it's because of YouTube videos and Sunday School playtime. 

I bought a thing to help with our sports themed Sunday in Kidustrial Park this coming Sunday.  I've been wanting one for a couple of years now.  And for those who can't read mirror images, it's a New England Patriots shirt!  Woot! Woot!

After my counseling appointment, I took a detour to see the Mocha Nut for myself.  I won't do it all the time, but it was good to see my friends, the owners, and congratulate them on all the hard work putting this brick and mortar coffee shop together after two years.  I got a lavender latte with almond milk.  Yummy!

I COULD have gotten this shirt, but I think it would have been interrupted wrong.  There are still many more things I like about the Northeast than I do of the midwest. 

He insisted that he needed his diving gear.  I kept them in the front yard today because I wanted to make mama bunny feel safe to go back to her nest.

Only Justin came out to play, and even he wasn't as kind as he could have been.

We made Justin sit in time out because he was splashing too hard.  The water was very cold.  And then the inmate escaped and the invisible cop had to get him with his stink bomb. #boys

3 ducks and 1 bunny in a neighbor's front yard!

NO!!!!!!!  The extra acre that someone has own and has been just a side yard for 30 or more years finally sold.  There's some gorgeous trees that will probably be taken down.  We are praying that whoever builds a house there, makes it look similar with the rest of the neighborhood.  We don't need some 2 story boring subdivision home sitting here.  Plus, now, our shortcut will be gone until we make friends with them.  Sigh.  End of an era.

Big brother took little brother to their youth group event tonight.  Yeah! Both adults get to stay home!  Justin said Benaiah purposefully blasted his music and took a few corners as quickly as he dared just to annoy Justin.  Oi!  Be careful!

I kept the kids out of the backyard all day, but then Daddy let Abishai come out back and they did bounce some on the trampoline, too.  Abishai tiptoed around the bunny nest and for a while tiptoed and put his finger to his mouth to say, "SSHHHH" while he was on the trampoline.

Daddy taking care of his baby trees making sure no bugs eat them.

The End