Year 5, February 17th-20th, 2020: One More Week of Rechecks

Sigh. One more week of doctor visits. This week: Keturah's stomach issues, Keturah's 6 month eye checkup, and my gynecologist appointment. Then there's the normal stuff as well. Hopefully, we will then be done for awhile and can regroup at home. Keturah's stomach issue recheck went just like I expected: no answers. There's no test they would want to do. No scans. They just treat symptoms and avoid the foods that she knows is a trigger. Thanks. Not helpful. I want to know WHY her body can't process whatever it is when we find out exactly what it is. Maybe it's a preservative since most of the foods that are triggering are processed foods, like cream cheese, but not sour cream. She says she will just stay away from her known triggers and doesn't want to proceed with anything else right now. I know there's a naturopathic/osteopath doctor I wanted to try for myself perhaps this year who might be closer to us, so I might pursue that. For now, we will just let it rest.

It was a clear, somewhat sunny day to begin with, and then a little bit of rain. It's warm enough for mud season, so that's nasty stuff. I had to put a board down on a corner of the yard where Socks walks through to come inside. I think I might move the patio table there so that grass can grow back instead and it will keep Socks off of it. I keep checking his bandage and it's full of mud right now, so I might change it tomorrow when I have a little bit more time. Again, he's not limping but if I touch it, he wants to pull away. It's supposed to be a bit rainier tomorrow, too.

I was doing something and didn't notice the time, so I forgot it get Abishai lunch in time for us to leave for choir. He didn't want to leave and I figured he had had enough social time over the weekend, so I let it go and he stayed with Justin. I figured I could get my Bible study done, and I did! Not perfectly, and I feel bad because it's supposed to be done over 5 days per lesson so you can really think about it. I wrote down a couple of applications but I'm sure if my brain wasn't so foggy I could have done better. Oh well. I'll do better next time and at least I read and understood what I could. There were two families missing at choir, one was on vacation and one was sick, so there weren't any little people around to play with Abishai anyway. One little girl came in with her mom, but the other little girl might have been napping in the car or something with her mom. On the way home, we stopped at the dry clenears to see if they could help me with the zipper on Abishai's coat which was very stuck and we had no idea why. They said their zipper specialist Mary would be in on Wednesday so come back then. Ok, that sounds bad. I love the ladies at our dry cleaners, and that's why I went to them. I'll go back on Wednesday, no problem. Then Keturah and I scooted down to the library to make book exchanges and she picked up a bunch of easy to read graphic novels.  "They aren't comic books mom." Um, yes they are. They are also called twaddle in the language of Charlotte Mason. But she's been good at reading lots and lots of other books on her reading level, so I let her pick them out as a reward. Sometimes I like to read easy stuff, too. I ended up dropping off one of our own books, whoops this time, so they called me to the front desk. And then I had to have them help me scan some books because they come from school libraries and don't have the right barcode thing for their machines. It's pretty cool to see the names of some of the local schools on the books. Those books will go back directly to their schools instead of in circulation in the main system.  We have the most wonderful system of libraries in this city and with other libraries in the surrounding counties. This week it's about Shakespeare, Don Quixte, and Australia.

This week I decided to switch up electronic time. The kids can watch a movie together or play video games together. So I came home to find Justin and Abishai both on Fortnite with matching headphones with mics playing with Eli and Caiden's friend David. Oh my goodness! And Abishai kept trying to boss everyone around and he actually had the highest kill record for awhile! Justin said it was so adorable having him on the mic. I'll show you some great footage below. I did let Keturah have some game time on the tablet alone because she was with me both times we were out of course. Otherwise, she'll be playing with the boys instead. We have a lot of library history DVD's to try to watch, so that is part of my motivation. Also, I want Abishai especially to detox from seeing toy reviews and ads on YouTube kids. He begged all morning for the tablet and promised he would only do games. I did let him use it while Justin did his Spanish. Justin said he made Abishai take a break before they got on Fortnite together. Keturah and I did manage to get a history lesson done and all our read alouds, yeah! That will be helpful tomorrow. I plan to work on condensing/getting rid of the birthday supplies and cleaning up the garage. I actually did some tonight. Part of the garage mess is stuff that was in the house that I put there for the party that really needs to go to the shed. I can't do that in the rain, but I can certainly clean up other areas around that. So, we'll see what I can do. I already cleaned up the recycling and put away Abishai's bikes in an area where he can't get them out. Jared still had a mess of stuff in there and I don't want Abishai out there in the sawdust, which is everywhere and driving me crazy! I can't wait to hire someone to build that man a workbench at least so he has more floor space for his projects, too.

Meanwhile, I found a bit of time last night and today to catch up on IAHE stuff. I just need to go over to the Monster Jam vlog post and finish that after I do today's entry. Then I'll check cds and will be caught up there. If I have time, I might tackle the random stuff behind my chair. But it can wait until next week, too. We have nothing on Saturday, woot! woot! Full steam ahead!

Poor buddy couldn't regulate his own temperature, so we tried to keep him warm. He still likes to hide in Daddy's shirt, aka, see Saturday's mishap of him not wanting to stop playing to do cake time. Aww, so little!

I tied a new recipe! And I tried fresh cilantro! Now, what else to put that big bundle of cilantro I have in?

Basically, steam the chicken, saute the veggies, put them together and let them simmer on crockpot mode. I thought the amount of spices were going to be too much because most people like spicier food. Well, this was just as spicy as my chili so the kids liked it! In fact, Keturah ate a second bowlful! We finished the whole pot!

Oh no, what's going on here? Gamers!

Double the fun in Fortnite!

Cutie! And his mic worked and he tried to boss people around!

Is it Tuesday or is it Wednesday? Both seemed pretty normal. School, nag kids, chores, make sure dinner was ready, go out for the evening. Well, Jared had Bible study and I had Mom's Night out on Tuesday night. MNO was at a small but newer establishment called Sugar Creek Brick House. It was a bit loud, but otherwise super friendly servers, decent prices and yummy food. I had a swiss burger with no bun and the yummiest sweet potato waffle fries, crispy, and you could tell there was cinnom and sugar on top. 7 of us were there and we talked until 10:40pm. The restaurant closed at 10. Whoops! I looked over and one of the servers had her purse over her shoulder just waiting on us. Whoops! But we had a great time talking about all kinds of things including church, health struggles, vaccines, kids, GI stuff, sometimes school, etc. Wednesday was normal except for Keturah's annual eye exam, which was fine. She doesn't need new glasses right now. Then small group for Justin and Benaiah, and Bible study for me.

Abishai, however, had quite the day. This morning when he got in my bed, his foot landed squarely on my lip and it left a cut and some swelling! Then he hit me in the house with his whole body. Then he hit me in the leg too! I said, enough, out! I was barely awake. He said sorry though. Then he threw fit after fit all day, throwing toys, trying to get his own way. I had to take away the goldfish crackers because that's all he's been eating lately. After I put them up on a high shelf, Abishai started telling me exactly how he was going to climb up the shelves to get it. He wasn't pretending either or vague. He knew exactly what he would do. I had to lock the pantry.  He was just so full of it that I texted Jared and Leah to come over and help Justin out with Abishai while Justin finished his work. That was while Keturah and I were at the eye doctor's. Yeah, it was that bad. After I came back from Bible study, Abishai was all over me trying to snuggle me and make amends. It was cute, but I was looking for ulterior motives, too.

Wow, I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open so now it's Thursday already! Let's see where I left off....oh yeah, it's the end of the a three week stint of appointments, the end is in sight! Bible study was really good last night, not necessarily rich in the Bible, but in just talking in general. For example, we do bring up concerns about our church, but in a gossipy way. We aren't looking for church hopping, but for making it the best church for our community, not just ourselves. And we all know how I've been complaining about things. Well, I was able to turn that around and remind ourselves who the morning sermons are for and what we can do in other ways to get fed beyond that. And this comes not even a week after I figure it out in my own head. I was also able to share a bit more Bible knowledge like how important the "forefathers" were to the Jews, as it was important to our chapter. One woman doesn't know the Bible stories and characters themselves, but is eager to learn, so I suggested a children's Bible or even the Lego Bible to get an easy to understand overarching idea of all of these characters. Of course reading through the Bible also helps. I kind of felt like Gary for a few moments. Actually, I will bring up that "Gary says this and Gary says that." Like I don't have my own thoughts to contribute or something! But, when you listen to your father in law's sermons for a good portion of the last 20 years PLUS his personal conversations, it's just there. Maybe I don't want to project my own ideas onto others or maybe I haven't fully embraced Gary's ideas as my own. I don't know. I'm still knew at this articulating my knowledge stage. We also talking about how to help a fellow friend going through some marriage issues, again, not out of gossip at all, we just want to support her in whatever she's doing. I just love how sweet, deep, eager, genuine and awesome these ladies are. I've already revealed a lot about myself to them without hesitation. I don't get to bring up everything I want to because our time is short, but there's already some great progress.

Today, Thursday, was counseling, and a stop at Kroger for milk and bananas. Some families need milk and bread, but, this family doesn't seem to eat bread anymore. No one makes toast in the morning. No one makes PB&J or deli sandwhiches. Jared won't eat bread because he thinks yeast makes his nose run. Even Keturah is turned off by bread. I can't eat their bread. Isn't that weird that none of us really eats bread? Our cereal. Our breakfasts almost mimic lunch foods. I don't think it's a battle I want to wage. Unless it's Abishai who eats breakfast out of the snack drawer and then we run out of snacks. Or like today, I open up all the packages and he doesn't want them all. I made him eat them at lunch time before I made him anything else though. I might just have to let the snacks run out and then have some way up top for when we really do need to have something on the go. I have about a dozen boxes of cereal and crackers and even cookies that no one is touching. I feel like I need to throw them all out but it pains me. Oh, lightbulb! I'll crunch them up and throw them in the front lawn in the spring. I can't put them out back because Socks would eat them. Hm,...and then I won't buy more of course.

We got school done a little late, but that's ok. I made another pot of that mexican chicken soup because I didn't want to waste the cilantro and we still had the other ingredients. Quick and yummy! But now it's time to go grocery shopping. The question is, do I do it on the way home from gym day tomorrow or do it on Saturday with Jared? Hm,...I've got so many little projects to do, or reading for school to prepare, or books I need to read that I borrowed from the library that would help now, etc. Again, I could fill every minute of every day with 10 things. So Friday and Saturday and Sunday, I will be doing some of those. And then next week in the mornings now that I don't have a million and one appointments to go to. Phew. Back to normal. So, I'm hoping Abishai will get back to normal because I think he's acting up because I've been gone so much. I also didn't make sure the kids set their morning alarms so I need to get back on that.

And as I was looking for a book in my "catch all closet" which is really just the space behind my desk, I found the IAHE bags I thought hadn't arrived 3 weeks ago! We were just about to see if the company would replace them! Duh! I've become THAT person now. Not fun, but fair enough with the last three weeks I've had. I can't wait to use them, especially at convention and promo them! Woot! Woot! Oh, and I just learned that the libraries in Indy are sharing their vision at some meetings across the city, so I've made it a priority to get to one of those.  I couldn't go to the one last night at our branch because of Bible study. I'm doing my best to connect to new resources for our area, but it's so slow! Sigh. 38 days until Michael W. Smith, so 36 days until convention! Eek! That's 5 weeks! Gotta get on those phone calls too! If only I had phone numbers for all of them. Our information can be so incomplete, that it's so frustrating at times! Anyways, that's life.

Let's see what else we've been up to:

I've always hated spring since trying to drive a wheelbarrow full of horse manure through 1 ft or 2 ft of pure mud in the paddock. We even had to put boards down so we could get from the barn to the manure pile 100 ft away. It was nasty. The kind of mud that sucks the boots right off of you! Give me cold and clear any day!

It was a fun game!

Facebook flashback pictures got me this week! Trying to keep baby warm because he wasn't keeping his own body temperature up high enough. The hospital in Charlottetown had real baby clothes we could use, not just the little white tshirts. He was so tiny! 6lb 8.5 oz!

A year later....oh those little fingers and bright blue eyes! That crazy hair! My friend on PEI took this one!

Still gorgeous.

I'm serious, go do it now! www.thecreek.org/summercamps

eek is right! I'm starting to listen to all my favorites from the '90's and refresh the 2000's in my brain.

The boy was tired but needed to talk about something, so he sat down and started fiddling with duplos.

He must have love on the brain because he made a heart! And he wasn't even talking about Ava!

Another throwback from 4 or 5 years ago. So little! On our stairs in Charlottetown. That's our friend Amy. Yes, Justin had a crush on her. He's definitely into girls and they dig him, too. So cute!

Mr. 5 year old using a pretzel rod to bang on the piano through DVD holders. Goofy!

Keturah had to make a tent for Grandpa class because Paul was a tentmaker. So, she came up with us. It's a good way to use up food no one will eat. The doughnuts are cushions, and the round crackers are rugs. She used peanut butter (another thing that doesn't get eaten much around here because of sugar and I can't eat it often) as her glue and skewers.

Oh and paper towels. So unique! The other girls used popsicle sticks and cloth, as I would have done.

Easy to disassemble and Abishai ate the doughnuts and some of the crackers.

THIS....BOOK.....IS.....AMAZING! I bought 3 copies! I stayed up until 3:30am reading it on Tuesday night. It is THE book that teens need to read instead of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." I'm not sure how these two were so mature at ages 18 and 19, but someone(s) in their childhood poured into them how to live a Godly life and to have great friends to hold them accountible. Remember, Jeremy Roloff is part of the Roloff family of "Little People, Big World" on TLC. His mom and dad and twin brother are dwarfs. So he spent a good portion of his childhod being followed by a camera crew. At the end of the book they do mention that his mom and dad separated, and I can't remember if they actually divorced or not. But on Jer's and Auj's social media, his mom and dad are often around at their daughter's birthday party or for pumpkin season, which is what their farm is famous for. Anyway, this couple is so honest but what they did right, what they did wrong, what each was feeling. They go back and forth between them as they write, each one telling a part of their story, not just rehashing their side of the same event. They have solid Scripture quotes and philosophy they share throughout it. I'm thoroughly impressed. I mean, I am impressed with their social media anyway. This is the way that the topic should be approached and shown that it is a great thing to wait until marriage to have sex. Relationships can develop slowly. It's hard to explain but I'm making the kids read it. It's replacing Harris' book in our house. And a lot of the things they experienced, Jared and I experienced. From long distance, to getting cold feet, to being closed off and stubborn, etc. I needed to read it this week because Jared and I were struggling a bit and it helped me to have kinder words than I would have had on my own in resolving the issue. Anyway, just go read it. The library has a copy. It's a quick read and beautiful. Now these two have two kids, Ember, who is 3, and Bode (who is a month old little boy). I think I also connected with the book after knowing what their surroundings are, seeing Jeremy's older vehicles on Instagram, how they interact with one another. Yup, fun stuff! Just go read it!

Where did the kids go?

I don't know, but don't you dare lift up the blankets! You'll get screamed at! I learned the hard way.

I made the boys go outside. Justin lasted 5 minutes in his t-shirt and shorts and no socks.

Abishai spent 20 minutes outside dressed like this. #Canadian

Showing off all his Ninja moves.

Push me, mom! And he has one hand up high because there's no cover over the chain on the bottom portion.

A little blurry because the swing was moving, but cute.

Kid, look at the camera! But at least I got those rosy cheeks!

Big dirty toes!

He nearly climbed up on the tire swing all by himself! And then he positioned himself like this. So big!

Eating Keturah's tent.

Not the project I was going for, but I was tired of Keturah asking for the pinball machine. Moved that thing to her room, put Justin's half dirty clothes on the end of his bed, and made him clean up and move his bags that were underneath. Then I cleaned up all the snot wads, removed the extra sleeping bag and blankets from inside the stuffed animal pile, put books on the shelves, and put the books that were on the cover of the bucket at the end of Abishai's bed to a book holder.  I didn't get to put the blankets away because Abishai decided he wanted to sleep on the floor, but oh well, at least it's all cleaned up otherwise.

A little bit roomier.

Keturah's bed has been very loose and squeaky so Jared used some cables and ties to strengthen it. It really is nearing the end of it's useful life. We got it when Justin was turning three. She has to have a loft bed because she's got too much other stuff in her room.

Just hanging out together. The boys.

After 3 weeks of searching, I found me bags. Whoops!

My catch all "closet" behind my desk. I've got to tackle this soon. There's Abishai's books and papers to go through and misc. stuff.

Abishai was telling us that if you squeeze him too hard after eating, his stomach hurts. He did like the spicy soup though.

Jared's gigantic Valentine's card I gave him. It's 2 ft by 3 ft. He didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day. He hardly does.

Always lots and lots of stories. And Bible time on the Kids' Bible app. Abishai has done every story and game on that app that he can but he likes to go back and repeat them all, too.

The End