Year 4, September 30th-October 3rd, 2019: Keep It Goin'

Despite the heat of 92 degrees on the LAST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, our Monday went well!  I slept on the couch in the fireside room because for the third night in a row, I just couldn't settle down to sleep! So when Abishai woke up and went to our room and didn't see Daddy and didn't see Mommy, he was very upset.  Poor little buddy!  We cuddled on the couch for a very long time and I think he dozed off for a bit.  I stayed close to him the rest of the day to help him feel secure that I hadn't left him.  Then Justin got up at 10 and Keturah got up at 11:30.  I puttered around decluttering, playing with Abishai, tried to read Smokey the Cowhorse (I've lost all patience for books it seems, thank you social media, YouTube and phone screens), and tried not to get all hot and sweaty.  I ended up vacuuming the whole house, which I sometimes do because I want it "perfect" including all the nooks and crannies.  Oh, I dumped out the vacuum canister and cut away the dog and human hairs that collect on the roller.  I vacuumed under Benaiah's desk and found probably $1 worth of change.  And, I started on organizing the garage.  I'm just so over the mess in there and I have to move Jared's stuff out of the way in order to get back into my stuff, the extra photo books my brother brought me months ago, the birthday boxes that need to be put back on a shelf, and now Benaiah's boxes are everywhere because he was looking for his WWII and gun books.  Plus I was getting annoyed about tools, chemicals, and materials everywhere.  The floor is not a table.  Stop spreading horizontally.  Build yourself a simple workbench and keep your stuff on it.  Good grief! I vacuumed and moved things around, and tomorrow or another day this week, I'll see what fits in the cupboard space up above, and then scoot everything to one side so I can access my stuff.  Time to move on!

School went well, and I made sure to compliment Keturah on that.  Both kids did great on their math tests. Justin's math tests are now multiple choice, which I find interesting.  It's a good prep for the PSAT/SAT/ACT that's for sure.  Everybody had screen time.  We went to Grandma's for dinner to eat leftovers and watch the concrete people build the foundation for the house being built near us.  Then Jared played with Abishai on the tablet on the Angry Birds 2 app, and we finished with part of an episodes of the cartoon Star Wars Rebels.  Daddy stopped at 33 out of 44 minutes!!  Just finish it!  But then Abishai still rolled around in the bed too long and was put to bed late.  I have to go to the naturopath on the northside tomorrow so I asked to borrow Jared's vehicle because it's going to be 92 degrees again tomorrow.  And our friend Brenton was wondering on Facebook if there was going to be a kill frost tomorrow in Charlottetown.  That means 35 degrees or lower overnight!  Oh how I wish it to feel like fall!  It will be 65 degrees on Saturday when we go apple picking,so I'm gald we waited. Bring on fall!

Abishai decided that he needed to be at and eat at the counter all day today.  He moved everything over, including the white pumpkin with the letter A on it.  That's what I get for decluttering and making the stool chair clear of stuff.  Lol.

Abishai and I played with his cars, castle, and his new garage became the palace on Nebo with Queen Armadala and Anakin.  Oh yeah, and Batman (the other castle was Bruce Wayne's mansion), came for a sleepover.

Ta da!  The new editions to my fall decor.  Each piece cost less than $7 a piece.  Now, I'm not sure how it's going to do in the rain, but since it's going to be 92 tomorrow and Wednesday still, and then 70 degrees until next week, we have time to worry about that later.  So far, nothing has fallen over.  The pumpkins are fake and very light.  The hay bale is real hay so I might scatter that somewhere when we are done with it.  Not sure yet.

Time to do some dejunking!  Here's the before shot of my essential oils drawer.

Here's my after.  I was able to fit the tub of oils I use almost daily (lower right hand side corner) in the drawer!  I got rid of the older, unpure oils and any extra packaging.  I also pulled out the samples from the original kit I got almost two years ago so I could use them up.  They don't "expire" but the Ningxia drink samples probably do at some point because they have Ningxia berries and blueberry puree in them.  Isn't it pretty?  Yes, I've slowly accumulated a nice collection by only buying the minimum monthly Essential Rewards order (around $100 a month) for the last two years.  I get a free 5mL every month and then I get points that I can use on orders in between my ER orders.  Plus I have my pain meds in there as well. Yeah!

Abishai was interested in this road tape he saw on one of his YouTube videos.  So, I bought plain masking tape and made a road for him.  He was very happy with it.  I even showed him how it's easy to peel it up when we are done.

"I'm scoping out the area, Mom"  Justin had permission from Benaiah to get out Benaiah's Nerf gun collection.  Yes, we have a collection of guns, accessories, and all those dreaded orange and blue bulletts!  We have extra ammo holders and a vest, the whole nine yards.  They've come in handy for Nerf Wars in Middle School.  Benaiah at one time thought he might take them to college so they can have Nerf Wars in the hallways of the dorm.  I'm not sure.  They take up a lot of van space!

What is it with boys (and girls sometimes) and guns?!  Too cute! Go protect our kingdom from the bad guys!

We went over to Leah's for dinner to eat up some leftovers just in time to see the big concrete boom truck fill in the walls to the basement of the new house! It took 4 cement trucks, which were all lined up on OUR street, to pour the foundation.  I love watching how it all works!  I've never lived so close to construction zone before.  Jared and I are more excited to watch it happen than the kids are.  I told the owners that I made sure to talk well about them at our block party last night.  The other Creek members don't know who they are, so they were a little concerned.  But it's going to be great!

Wow!  I've only seen that thing on YouTube videos when I've watched big buildings being built and them pouring it over the rebar for the foundation.  Nice!

Tuesday's word was MOOD as in the females of this house were in MOODS today.  I was out of sorts because well, surgery is 1 week from today and my dreams were a little scary.  I didn't see Keturah's moodiness until dinnertime.  I didn't do any one on one work with the kids today because I had a doctor's appointment I had to leave at 1:15pm for.  They both had new math concepts to learn today and did fine with.  I made them study extra on their memory work and read more.  Everyone had electronic time while I was gone.  Have I told everyone how nice it is to leave the kids home for a couple of hours at a time?  I know going to a doctor's appointment isn't exactly like having a spa day, but it is a way for me to have some alone time in a way.  Oh, that's what my problem was, I had severe fibro fog today.  But I drove Jared's car the 30 minutes north to my appointment and listened to Rend Collective so that helped.  Plus some Cherry Pepsi., hehe. So, when I got home, I was ready to do something active since sitting in the car for 1 hr and at the doctor's office for another 1 was alot.

I told Jared I wanted to move the foam insulation boards that were just dumped into the garage somewhere because they really junk up the space and I can't get to the parts I need to organize and clean out and he said that they were going into the attic to help with insulation up there!  Say what?!  You're telling me that in 6 months, we couldn't take 1 hr to at least throw them up there? Jared doesn't want to climb on the drop down ladder, but that's not a good excuse either because we have a regular ladder we can use.  So I had Justin climb up the drop down ladder, and I handed the insulation panels up to him.  I didn't know how Jared wanted them arranged, so I left a small piece of the insulation in the garage to remind us that he needs to up there and fix it the way he wants.  These kinds of things drives me nuts!  Then I wasn't going to do anymore in the garage today, but you know how it goes, you get started and you don't want to stop.  I finished tidying up the things that had been pulled out of place over the last oh, 9 months, and but them back on their proper shelves. Everything has a place, but the other 5 people in this house continually forget that part. I put the old TV screen and Benaiah's midi piano in lawn bags after I dusted them off so that they will stay clean and set them aside.  Then I cleaned off the table that came from Leah's brother that I had intended to be able to drag to the driveway outside to play on or have Popsicles or something.  It had become a dropping ground for stuff.  This family and horizontal services!  Think vertical, people, vertical!  So much head space is wasted in this country with the whole vaulted ceiling craze. Anyway, that's my pet peeve. Condense and use vertical space like shelves and stacking things when you are done with them.

I had also cleaned up well in general because the two neighbors that Jared has been meeting with were coming over for their hour of Bible study. I guess it's a little quieter over here.  Uh, ok. I guess so.  It's was good to hear the guys in the fireside using it for what we set it up as, a place for discipleship.  And then Jim's son Derrick came to play with Abishai, so they played in the living room and the sunroom, which again, we had set up in a way so that the kids could be separate from the parents and disturb them less.  And after listening to the way Jared "tells the story" i.e. put it in more modern terms like, "Jesus said, 'Hey, dude, I said,....' ", I am amazed at how far he's come in his teaching skills.  I think teaching students in one form or another for the last 7 years has really stretched Jared, although it can be quite tough at times.  He says this year, Ava's class is much more calm.  I think they participate a bit more and have done better, but they don't goof off like Benaiah's class did, and still does.  Jared is of course behind in his grading as usual.  But he did finish the termite trench today! He came home early to get it done, so we had an early dinner of leftovers.

And we'll be right back at it tomorrow.  The high temperatures today broke records again for the third straight day in a row.  One more day of 90 degrees (it's October 1st!) and then it will cool down to 75 on Thursday and 65 on Friday.  Yeah! We've had the longest "Indian Summer" on record, that's for sure. D group and dance class after a big day of schooling.  Here goes!

We woke up to yet more construction.  They actually blocked off the street all the way from Beavers' house to our house!  And by the end of the day around 4:30, it looked like they had already packed up all the concrete forms.  How crazy fast is that?

This is what our view is going to look like looking south on our street for the next few months.  Fun times!

Well, we have October, but we don't have October weather, yet.....

A closer look at the pumpkins, with the added gourds that accidentally grew at Gary and Leah's house.  Yes, you know how we said there was a pumpkin vine growing in the flower bed?  Well, it was these these small gourds instead!  I think they had 4 of them.  How cute are they?  All in all, my little project cost less than $40 and most of it is reusable. And the hay can be repurposed.

Abishai decided that his vehicle needed a tune up!  So he laid out all his tools on the dryer, and had me hand them to him one by one. Yes, he has pjs on.  Yes, the garage floor isn't very clean, but how cute is this?

Next tool, Mommy!

Using the googles to make sure it all looks right.

Watching for Mr. Jim and Mr. Andrew to come.

Welcoming committee!  Those two are like, "People! People!  I love new people to play with!"

The two blondes.  This is Jim and Adrienne's youngest, Derrick.  I think he's maybe 7 or 8. And apparantly he loved playing with Abishai and all the cars (he collects them, too, he said) and asked to come back.  Of course he can!  We would love that!

Just listen to the next two videos.  I almost nodded off, so sorry if they seem weird.  Listen for the talking about the Bible between the men and the kids playing.  That's how it should be.

Wednesday we hit the books hard   Well, the kids breezed through their materials, but I at least tested Keturah to see if she was studying enough.  She's got plenty of homework to do between now and Saturday though.  And Justin MUST get a move on in his reading as well.  And of course this was the "3 hrs in a hot van" run around in the same 10 miles night.  We left early enough to get gas on the way to dance lesson and Abishai immediately fell asleep.  I dropped Keturah off and basically double backed to our library and the grocery store to drop of recyling because we were too early to drop Justin off at small group.  We dropped him off and then I took Abishai to Grandpa's house.  Abishai had woken up when we stopped at the library and immediately drank some lemonade he had brought with him.  Big mistake.  Between the heat and the long car ride, he nearly threw up in Grandpa's front yard like he did our front yard last week.  Thankfully, he didn't, but I had to rush out the door to go pick up Keturah without telling Grandpa because he was on the phone.  Abishai did just fine after I left. I picked up Keturah, took her to Steak and Shake for a treat to kill some time, and then went to pick up Justin. Benaiah skipped out on Leadership group again to go with his friend to a worship experience night or something at the friend's church.  We all got back late and the chaos gave me a headache.  Jared came in grouchy from working in nursery tonight at Rooted and because he couldn't get his things from his office because people were still discussing in their Rooted group.

But, it was the last 90 degree day and tomorrow it will be 82, then 69.  Yeah! I told myself that "oh, it will be cool soon enough and I won't need air conditioning in the van.  Um, 2 1/2 months later....however, I got an email from TurboTax today that our long awaited IRS tax refund should be deposited soon.  No, it's not a hoax because it came in the email I use TurboTax with. 8 months late.  8 months!  I guess I should have talked to the taxpayer adovacy group sooner.  Next time (hopefully there won't be a next time) I'll call them first!  If the money is deposited before the end of the week, I'm going to see if we can get the van in to the mechanic next week while I don't have anything going on (besides my surgery but Jared will drive the car anyway). Time to pay the credit card and then save the rest for now.  Oh wait, mulch and dirt maybe for the flower beds and wood for a workbench for Jared and used fridge for extra storage.  And,......lots of other things I'm sure.....

Oh, Benaiah played the piano at chapel at school this week.  He didn't tell us he was doing that, but ok.  Others on Facebook said it went well.

Game face for milk and cookie time at Grandpa's house.  Plus, Grandpa made a little video like a real millennial does!  He asked Abishai some leading questions and Abishai answered.  Too cute!

Hm,...I wonder what these are for.......Oh yeah, Benaiah becomes a full fledged Team Leader on Monday!  Woot! Woot! Benaiah has now gone from being hired to becoming a Team Leader (basically a shift manager in the kitchen area) in under 16 months!  Not too bad for a 16/17 year old!  Woozers!

Is it fall yet?  I've got my fox towel, my fox door stop, pumpkins on the fall colored sunflower tablecloth, new decor outside and my fall wreath up.  Let's go Fall!

Storm clouds approaching with the last bit of evening sunlight on the tops of Grandpa's trees.

Caramel apple shake for her, bacon cheese fries for me, with real bacon!

And the pre ordered Lego sets finally arrived.  They were released yesterday and packaged up in Illinois, so it really didn't take long.  Justin pre order these two first sets in the Wave 2 of the Overwatch line 5 weeks ago.  The second big set is for Bryce and the little Brick Headz one was a bonus set because of how much he spent.  And yes, he plans to give it to Kylie, not because it was a Valentine's set, but because bees are an inside joke between him and her.  Ok, if you say so.

Abishai of course wanted to stay up to help.  One of the sets, Wrecking Ball, with the tiny hamster figure called Hammond, is Abishai's favorite Overwatch character.  The little hamster is adorable, that's for sure.  Abishai's "it's so cute!" was even more adorable of course!  Oh and I spent 2 hrs sorting and then putting together two of Abishai's "siren" Lego vehicles today (first responders.)  He managed to put together the small fire car without instructions all by himself.  I didn't double check everything, but it's pretty close, if not perfect.  How did he memorize how to put it together?  Who knows! And he has way more minifigures and accessories than I realized.  I think Justin came him a bunch, too. Crazy Lego fans!

We wrapped up the week pretty much today.  I gave Keturah some things to work on if she gets bored while we are at the concert. And Jared actually gets to come home to sleep because the "retreat" is just at church.  Ok, then, I thought "retreat" means you go to a "retreat center" or something overnight.  Anyway, that means the teen babysitter doesn't have to be here past curfew.  That makes me feel a bit better for her being out on the roads, although she lives locally.  She volunteers with Leah and I in the nursery at church.  I'm not crazy happy about paying someone, but I'm glad to give money to someone I know and who will use it as their fun money.  I'm sure it will be fine.  I haven't thought much about tomorrow because it's just the start of a long weekend of on the go stuff.  I feel scattered and am just trying to prepare anything and everything for all of it, like picking up a birthday gift and wrapping it for a birthday party on Saturday.  Tomorrow I'll pick out clothes for apple picking when I pick out my "concert outfit." 

And the weather finally cooled off enough for me to be able to send kids outside several times today!  And Abishai and Justin played a ton together today, from Lego, to "jumper soccer" on the trampoline, to just rolling around and wrestling.  The laughter, giggles, boy grunts, flailing arms, etc told me they were having a lot of fun.  Now I just wish the kids would actually write more notes when I tell them to with their homework.  They are both finishing quickly now, but then there are math mistakes or incomplete work. Take your time and think deeply.  Add more adjectives, describe the scene with mature words, what else happened?  And then pick up the pace on the reading!  Good grief!  We did get our science experiment done and our history read.  I rebuilt a couple of more things for Abishai from his Lego. Jared, Benaiah, and I keep passing each other in the hallway but have had zero time to catch up. I have also developed a headache, probably from the change in air temperature and pressure as it becomes cooler over the next few days.  That's about it from today!

Dog-O wanted some attention, so he pawed Justin, who is always a sucker for Socks or Abishai.

One little brother loves his older brother a little too much.  "Dustin, pway with me!"

We put an empty 1 L plastic bottle in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to cool it down.  Then we topped it was a balloon.

We then transferred it to a bowl of very hot water, so the water quickly expanded into the balloon.  Demonstrating hot vs cold air and air pressure.

The leaves are starting to turn! And we have zero time to go on a hike and enjoy them!  I have to MAKE the time during the week.  We just get in such a rut of staying home, getting up late, too much focus on screen time, etc.

The neighborhood now as a port-a-potty that says "women" on it.  Lol.  Nah, this is the construction site up the road! The concrete forms came off the day after the concrete was poured.  Then I think yesterday and today they must be working on getting some piping going for sewer and water perhaps?  I've only seen two small work trucks, and then the big blue one who is the contractor's truck.  Abishai was fascinated by the orange rocks though.  They had spray painted a few of the rocks when they were marking sewer pipes.

A little bit of leaf color.

This is why the road was closed.  They put in a new water drainage pipe.  I overheard Jim say on Tuesday night that he likes Gary more and more because Gary knows everybody in our area and looks up stuff, calls people, and gets stuff done.  I didn't look on Leah's street, but I'm guessing they might have done the same thing over there.  Gary said the entrances to the sewer and the rain water is supposed to drain towards the middles of the lengths of the streets, not to the end where Jim lives.  We'll see if this helps any.

I found a mum for only $4 at Kroger, so I scooped it up to add to my little display.  This little display makes my heart so happy!

P.S. If you looked through this whole blog post, you'd think we only had one child!  I have very few pictures of the other kids!  Why?  Well, they don't often do the cute and fluffy things anymore.  I'll have to remember that in the days ahead. Plus, they just sit and read or play on their phone or draw or putter in their rooms.  Nothing too new or exciting. I could take pictures of them doing chores or homework, though.  Lol.  I'll try!

The End