Year 4, October 21st-23rd, 2019: Forging Ahead, While Plans Shift

We worked hard today. The End. I'm highly distracted tonight. Let's see. Yeah, we had a very good day and accomplished lots! Abishai was extra bouncy and Jared said maybe we should make him carry around heavy water jugs to wear him out.  Nah. We just need to bring in the small trampoline from the shed tomorrow when we go digging for other winter things and put away the summer things.  My body is not excited to do all that physical work, but it must be done at some point.  I do it stages because I can't handle it all at once, so it will be fine. I just want to zone out though and do nothing. It's hard sometimes to stay on task all day.  I'm sure people who work outside the home are just as tired as I am by early evening and don't do much before bed, right?  Anyway, one last thing.  Having a tooth problem is a big problem. Trying to get enough water in without it touching the tooth takes a lot of mental energy.  And I want to eat, but can't eat much at a time.  It just aches. It's time to get it taken care of. Still, it's not as much pain as what Shauna is going through this week.  She says it's not bad, but I know pain meds help a lot. We're praying she gets some rest and the girls are obedient and don't fight.  That's what I don't like when I'm laid up in bed, the kids seem to get away with everything and then when I do get up, I see all the mess. I'm sure Shauna handles it better than I do.

Anyway, time to binge watch some YouTube and not worry about what didn't get done today.  Just trying to stay sane and productive until Thursday.  And then hopefully fully heal before Saturday.  Eek. I need to do some planning for that!  One more big day of school and then I can put my focus on planning for the weekend.  First things first.

Yes, I did start the process.  And I fixed the big boys' closet mess.  Well, I need to ask them some questions about what they wear/don't wear, but at least everything is categorized now.

Actually, I could skip this one.  I somewhat know the names because I follow other IG accounts and the 50th Dove Awards just happened, but, none of these are ones I listen to or have an album of.  Oh well, we'll see what the boys say.

Yup! School went very well, and Keturah even got up by 10:30 on her own.  We had a lot to do and I stayed calm and got us back on track.  I even fit in a little declutter project!

When the assembly line goes a little haywire.

The advantage to your husband calling you at 7:50 saying you need to check the downspouts because he saw lightning in the west is that you see some of the sunrise yourself.  And how the pinks of the morning hit this plant.  I had no idea it was reddening up!  Cool!

Sunrise, eh?  Ok, I love how our bed is situated where can actually see the different colors from the east. But it's something else entirely when you are actually outside in it.  Can you tell I don't get up early anymore?

This guy is changing colors quickly.

Morning beauty.

Uh oh, time for rain! It wasn't that bad actually and I found pockets of time to send the dog out without him getting soaked.

I haven't seen a line of storms that big in ages.

Love this!

And this too.

Mr. Sunrise himself!  He can't wait for Mommy to get out of bed so he does it all himself!  He cut the banana in half and peeled it and ate it. I think the scissors were out so he could get his fruit snack. And then he came up with how to stack the vitamins all by himself.  Good thing those vitamins have child proof caps because he's been trying to sneak eating 10 of them at a time.  Scares me to death!  I need to hide them or keep them with my other stuff or something.

I thought my kids might like this one, lol.

"I'm not Abishai, I'm a police officer."  Officer Johnson is on duty.  Although I did find him later trying to take a nap in our bed this afternoon.  I had to call in the Sargeant to wake him up.  I am the control operator. I take the calls and send the policemen out.

Adorable, as always.

Justin's small group met tonight instead of Wednesday because one of their small group leaders is having open heart surgery on Wednesday.  It was a kind of a last minute change of plans.  Thankfully, we could easily make it happen.  But Abishai didn't want Justin to leave. He missed his big brother after Justin was gone overnight at Bryce's house and we had a normal full Sunday of activities.

Tuesday was another full day of school and winter season prep.  Last night, I couldn't stay awake past 12:30 and I was only awake until then because I was waiting for Benaiah to get home and settled. Poor kid had to stay up and do homework and wait for the laundry to finish so he could have his work shirt for today.  With him being sick last week, we got out of routine with when his work clothes are washed.  I could wash just one outfit, but that's such a waste of time to me.  And we are waiting on the third shirt he ordered.  Then we'll be fully back in business.  I don't mind making sure laundry is done for the men if they need it, and I don't totally mind that I do the cleaning/dishes or at least make sure they are done because I'm not the one getting up "early" in the morning and heading out the door quickly every day. Jared will cook and help with kids and do some outdoor stuff.  So he does pitch in.  I'm just the one home.  And I did take care of the shed and outdoor funriture today.  I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow, but we should have done that on Saturday.  We are fairly busy the next two weekends, so I wasn't sure when it would get done.  I needed to be in the shed anyway to get out winter gear and bigger clothes (just in case Abishai grows out of 3T things, lol). So it made since to rearrange things so we could fit as much of the summer gear as we could.  I got the chairs and small tables in, but not the big table.  I think the big table could be taken apart, but some of the nuts looked rusty and I wasn't going to attempt to mess with it.  We'll probably just put a tarp over it.  I put it on top of the boards covering the crawlspace, so it's pretty protected between the a/c unit and two overhangs in a corner.

While I worked outside, the middles did their schoolwork.  I spent less time with each of them today, but that's typical. They are pretty much set up for the rest of the week, while I go to a couple of appointments and prepare for our horseback riding trip.  It's nice having older kids who can work independently.  However, after 2 1/2 hrs, Justin said he was done except for math.  I asked him how much of the worldview book did he do and he said he filled two notebook pages full.  Well, he needed to finish at least one full page in the worldview book, which was looking up Scripture and writing out key words.  Um, not a key word outline, but a few words to remember so that he can do a compare and contrast two paragraph essay with Dante's Inferno.  I think he wrote too many details down.  But also, I reminded him, we are "behind" in the worldview book and he needs to spend more time on it and all is studies.  Spending 10 minutes on CC and still not knowing the info by the end of the week is not enough.  If he's only spending 15 hrs a week doing high school level work and his peers are spending 30 hrs sitting in chairs and then doing studying and homework, uh, you need to step up your game a bit and you have it way easier than they do, Mr. Sleep in until 9am every day, and 2 hrs of electronics every day, plus your phone at night for another 2 hrs. Yeah, I think Justin can spend more time on his studies.  Homeschooling is more concentrated learning, however, if you are keeping a slow pace and still have plenty of down time, things need to change.

Keturah is hit and miss on pacing and knowing material.  She hit a "I don't know" rut today, especially at dinner when I was trying to coax out of her what we read today.  We read a part of a story that involved a little "dirty" girl who didn't want to love people and ate with the pigs.  But the King reached out to her and she finally wanted to be clean.  But she could only clean the outside and not the inside. The King came and made her clean.  It was a direct parallel to where Keturah is at spiritually and emotionally and mentally right now.  And yet, she couldn't or rather wouldn't remember it at supper.  It's a bit heartbreaking to see her be so cold hearted towards God and grace. She's got such a wall of protection up and nothing seems to penetrate it.  She's secluding herself at youth group, too, just playing video games. All we can do is pray.

Abishai made these cool tents out of this flat shape pieces that interconnect and I helped him figure out the rest.  They were for his mini figures.  Then Keturah came along and thought he was done playing with them and started making her own things.  Well, that made Abishai and I very unhappy.  You see, Abishai has these little areas where he has different things set up and plays.  Throughout the day, he goes from station to station, carrying on his stories where he left off. That's why I typically leave his stuff out and I always ask if I can move something, and usually, if it's in the walkway, he's ok with me moving it.  But because Keturah secludes herself in her room, she doesn't realize that he does that. Lesson learned.  Always ask.  And she totally rearranged her room again.  And I discovered she was listening to a trash radio station.  Back to kLove it is, deary.  kLove comes in nice and clear on her radio.  I did hear her singing the Greatest Showman earlier today and she sounded pretty good.  I was too lazy to get a video of it though.  Bummers.

We finished the day with vegetable chicken soup where I snuck in sweet potatoes! Hehehehe! Jared hates sweet potatoes.  He ate it anyway. And now I'll have some on Thursday when I want something warm and soft after my dental work, whatever that might be.  I'm not scared because I know I'll be numbed for it.  I just want it done. It hurts. I'm tired of chewing on the left side of my mouth . I'm tired of pushing a straw under my tongue so I can drink without cold fluid hitting my tooth.  I'm tired of dreaming so hard that I clench my teeth and wake up with a sore tooth and jaw.  I did try honey on the tooth today and it worked!  Although it's sweet, there's something antimicrobial or something in it where the sweetness doesn't hurt the tooth like sugar does. Plus it made it feel ok for a little bit. 36 more hours....

No, they aren't cheaters.  They are just great football players.  The ONLY team currently with a 7-0 record!

Still a lot of steps to try on clothes, but the shed part is done. I left room for the pool and the boxes when I'm done with them.  Abishai wants me to swap out toys again, but I'll probably wait and do that next week. We need our cold weather stuff now.

It was a chilly 55 degree day out there!

Abishai has been watching Dude Perfect videos where they do bottle flipping stunts.  The videos are probably 2-3 years old because bottle flipping isn't really a thing anymore.

But he worked hard figuring out how to make it all work.  And he wasn't upset when it didn't stand upright.  He just likes using the bat in the house.  He did actually copy a stunt directly!

You can check out Dude Perfect's video below!  The trick Abishai is trying to mimic is about 25 seconds into the video.

 Dude Perfect Water Bottle Flip 2

There were some boards sticking out at the end of the shed so he decided to play see saw with them.  But try telling a preshooler, no, you can't get out anymore toys right now. Just be quiet so I can think about how do move things efficiently and find what we need.  BTW, he wasn't wearing a coat but I did make him wear shoes around the shed.  Jared laid down some chemicals in a trench covered with dirt and there's always a stray nail or two around.  Plus, some broken glass right inside the door that I finally threw away.

This weekend is going to be peak fall colors!  It's a good thing we planned on going to this horse thing with Keturah and being oustide in it.  I might even get to trail ride!  (And maybe Jared, too!)  And then we can go on our hike the following Friday.  Woot! Woot!

Dusk.

Wednesday was a normal day, although I almost forgot Grandpa class again.  Whoops.  I worked on filling out Benaiah's FAFSA but got stuck when there was a lag between making his ID and getting the verifying information entered because he was still in school at the time.  So now I'll have to call when he's got a few minutes to spare, which is never on a weekday. I registered for the IAHE conference, although I would think region reps get in free.  I don't want to get in free.  The IAHE needs money, too. And I found out some details on our current medical bills, like I only have to submit one application for all my bills associated with IU Health and their facilities.  I have a feeling my polyp removal surgery will have several different bills, one for the OR through IU Health, and another for the actual doctor/nurse from Barrington Health Clinic/Healthnet.  No problem.  I'll just wait until the new bill comes out with my polyp surgery on it before I submit anything.  Other than that, chiropractor and errands.  And buying a certain color pair of track pants and white removable tape so Justin can make an anime superhero costume for Sunday's dress up day in KP.  It took way too long to find the right color, in the right size, at the right thickness, with the right shipping and the right price.  Ugh. But yeah for Amazon Prime!  Oh and the men finally came home later than normal. But at least I got to have a few hrs to myself when Grandpa had some time with the other kids.  Yeah!  I listened to a two hour debate on YouTube about the validity of the Bible and the footnotes that monks would put in.  I listened to it at 1.5x speed, like I do for most YouTube vidoes, and it made for a more lively debate.  At least the debators were nicer to each other this time and the one "in the wrong" admitted to not knowing as much as the guy he debated with, who is part of the YT channel I was watching.  Fascinating stuff to me.  And I played my phone games while listening to it on the tablet in my bed.  That's an evening f pampering right there, lol.  The quiet was very, very nice, actually!  Ah!

Well, Trey (who parodies girls but isn't gay), kind of took a worship song, "Fight Song," and made it into his own "Fall Song."  Oh my goodness, it totally suits me!  I'm not on Instagram that much, but it's a fun a little break at times.

And then our home boy John Crist has a show coming out on Netflix on Thanksgiving Day.  Woot! Woot!

And, we are officially on the IAHE website!!  The volunteer who coordinates all the region reps said I did a great job at keeping the bio to 50 words as asked.  Yup, I'm a rule follower.  I took out all the extra words and really paired it down.  I'm not signed into the email yet, and I don't know if the phone number is linked to mine yet, but it's there! They don't put your private info out there for safety reasons.  Homeschooling is still a hot topic issues and persecution, bias, and discrimination is a constant threat.

Baby dog doesn't like the colder floors now that it's fall/winter. I find him up on the ouch often. This suede material seems hard to tear, so we just let him be. And actually, not much dog hair gets left on it either.

I asked Justin to stretch out to see just how long he is in his bed.  Yup, he's getting pretty tall!

Abishai got in his bed and said, "I'm tired!" He didn't fall asleep then, but scroll down....

Justin and Abisahi went outside to play on the trampoline, both in their pjs, no coats, and no socks. They came back running within 10 minutes.  Abishai had long sleeves on and long pants, but Justin was in a tshirt and shorts.  Brrr!

Trying out a noodle cup and boy did it make a mess.  He also only ate 1/4 of it. I knew he wouldn't eat it all. Oh well.

I had told him that eating at the counter was making a bigger mess than when he was at the table, so he self regulated himself back the table.  The placemat hasn't moved yet though.  And then I said, "I spy with my little eye, two little eyes."  So, he slouched down even more. Peek a boo, I see you!

Mr. 9 1/2 yr old doggy sunning himself in the 55 degree sunny fall weather.

Gorgeous fall colors this week!

Tons of wind, too.  I wish I was out hiking today!  But I put away the pool and the box of winter gear we didn't need right now.  The yard is ready for winter!  Ok, maybe some raking of leaves.  But the grass doesn't need cutting and I don't remember doing much with the leaves last year.  But Grandpa will need his yard cleaned up, so Justin can start working on that soon.

I did have a chiro appointment and errands to run.  I ended up just going to Meijer because the list kept getting longer and longer. I got really frustrated because gluten free items are mixed with other items and I didn't see the gluten free section that our Meijer has.  Oh well.  I'll survived.  And spent too much, but it was mostly specialty food items for me like dairy free ice cream, yogurt, and butter. Oh and dog food was almost half the bill, too. Abishai had looked in the big dog food bucket and was concerned that his doggy didn't have enough food.  I think there was at least 4-5 days worth left.  But, I don't know how I'll feel after my dentist appointment tomorrow and we were supposed to go to this horse event on Saturday, so I picked up the dog food anyway. The horse event got postponed because of predicted rain.  And we are too busy the following weekend to attend.  Honestly, 2 1/2 hrs is a long way to drive for an event like this for me.  It's just more motive for me to talk to Julie in Acton and get her and Keturah connected.  Or at least be more familiar with their place so Keturah and I can go alone.  I know Julie is comfortable with my horse experience, but technically, she's still could be responsible for accidents.  Her youngest kids, twins, are also graduating high school this year, so she's pretty busy with them. That's why I've held of on getting together with her.  She has a chronic illness as well.  I'll see if Keturah, Abishai and I can go see the horses next week or something. I think Jared was more sad than Keturah about it.  I am personally relieved.  I can spend the day doing the seasonal clothing switch.  And I won't have to worry about feeling icky after the dental appointment.

Oh my goodness!  I did NOT plan this!  But now that I know that we will be studying this history on THE DAY, 502 years later, I'm going to pull out some special materials and reenact it or something.  Some Christians celebrate Reformation Day in place of Halloween every year. How exciting! We are about a month or two behind in finishing our Mystery of History book every year, so we've to carry it over to the new year, and I'm glad.  I might even slow down the fourth book because it doesn't cover American history as deeply as a regular American history textbook does. The kids are in a good age range to still enjoy the different things, plus if we got to New England next fall, they can put two and two together.

Nothing says brotherly love like going out with just your pj's on in the cool, crisp fall air to play jumper soccer.

Bwahahahahaha!  I literally circled around to get a picture of these at Meijer.  They are light up pillows that cost $20.  But I don't usually see Patriots gear over here in Colts land. I totally should have bought the Patriots' pillow to add to my new and growing New England Patriots' collection. 

I came home and found this. I guess he really was tired after all.  Keturah had swiped the tablet about 30 minutes prior.  I found Justin on his couch totally unaware of where Abishai was or that he was sleeping.  What kind of babysitter are you?  If it's very quiet in the house, you know Abishai is sleeping.  He's somewhat quiet on the tablet, but typically he moves from place to place and you can hear the tablet going. Poor little guy.  But he was super excited when we raced Keturah and Justin to Grandpa's house!  The three of them were going to spend the evening with Grandpa because Grandpa finally realized he hadn't spent much time with his grandchildren.  That's what happens when you book yourself solid from April through November.  He was home this week for 36 hrs.

Aw, baby hands.  Or rather 4 1/2 yr old hands.

Baby toes!

Grandpa's yard isn't quite covered with leaves enough to warrant raking yet.  We have time.

The three kids were beating Grandpa at Nerts!  Grandpa's getting a bit older and slow I think!  Fun times!

You know we love bananas when we are now picking up bananas twice a week and they are in various stages of ripeness.  I love bananas.  I've never been sickened by one. It's soft. It's not overly soft or salty.  And between the potassium and other vitamins, they help stabilize your blood sugars without making you crash.  We are definitely banana loving Minions.  Lol.

The End