Year 5, March 6th-8th, 2020: Full Weekend

Well, let's start with Friday. Jared was still in a lot of pain so he didn't go to his regular men's breakfast meeting. Which means, we got up late and were 40 minutes late to gym day. Oh well, the boys ran around like crazy and had a good time. I stuck to myself because I really needed to just charge my phone. My phone cords haven't been working (yes cordS, I bought a new one on Amazon this afternoon), and I hadn't had a chance to check email for the day yet. The outlet was in the secondary gym, so I just stayed in there pretending to be the parent in the room for everyone. I just needed some alone time. Last weekend was pretty intense and I just haven't fully recovered. Keturah has been a pill all week, too. Must be our time of the month or something. I don't know. She's just angry at everyone, which puts me on edge. I needed to take a break from talking to anyone about anything. We then got home and I had intended on going back out to get a head start on grocery shopping and errands, but waited until the kids were done with school and Justin started screen time. Well, I forgot Benaiah and Ava were going to do Benaiah's oil change this afternoon, and I can't leave them here and by the time they left, it was too close to rush hour. And it's like winter again outside. So, I stayed home. I'll probably regret it but whatever, I have a backup plan. Benaiah only got through half of his oil change because he did something to the filter. But he and Ava needed to leave for dinner and a movie, so he borrowed my car, again. It's a good thing I filled it with gas this morning. He'll owe me.

And I'll make him work with Jared in the morning getting mulch. I still plan on doing mulch tomorrow because it's supposed to be much warmer. I just don't know it's all going to go because of Jared. I might just have to go to Wanamaker Feed and Seed myself and have the guys put it in the van for me or something. I want him to take Benaiah and Justin with him to do the lifting. And then they  can it when they get back. But now Benaiah has to fix the truck, too. Super frustrating. I don't want weeds this year. I need to keep putting my foot down and just make it happen. But I feel so bad for Jared. Here's what I wrote on my Facebook page today:

It hurts my heart to see my husband in so much pain. His sciatica treatments made his pain worse this week, but he’s slowly getting better. He’s been bw 6-10 level pain for two months now with no end in sight. Chiropractor for now. Don’t know if he’d try a nerve block or acupuncture. Are there any surgical interventions? Docs won’t prescribe pain killers. He’s trying an oral steroid for a week and has a muscle relaxer but just wants narcotics which isn’t like him at all. I think he’s feeling down as well like all people do with chronic pain, something I know well. It’s just gut wrenching to watch your best friend hurt so much and not do the things he wants to do. I’m grateful he doesn’t have to travel with his dad. We are only 38 and 40 but feel like we are 60. It’s sad and depressing. He didn’t want kids late in life bc he didn’t want to hobble into their graduations but know we are looking at him hobbling into Benaiah’s graduation this May. This grin and bear it method is a killer. There’s got to be more invasive treatments. For my issues, it’s about diet and exercise and not getting discouraged and giving up. But I’m not in severe pain and most days I don’t take anything even if it’s a 7 out of 10. Please keep Jared on your prayer lists for awhile. More than ever I want a miraculous healing for him. I have prayed that for myself before. Suggestions are welcome, except CBD and essential oils, he won’t use those. We do have a flip table and massage wand, cold and hot packs. Thanks.

Ugh. His sadness and pain makes me sad and in pain. Now we are doubly slow and can't seem to keep up, although our schedule is wide open. It's stupid and ridiculous. I think I'll stop there.

As I told my Bible study ladies after one of them shared a devo from the devotional she is reading, Satan will attack harder when we are doing the right things, as we draw closer as friends. So hopefully this is just what it is. And I'm tired. And I get to babysit Madison and Carter in the morning. And then try to deal with mulch. And then have a birthday party at the mall downtown on Sunday. And there's snacks that need bought for the snack drive on Sunday. Ugh. Too much and it all falls on me right now. I don't have enough hours in the day and I'm used to delegating to Jared now. Good grief, I just want to ball again because I know the feeling of desperation because you are in so much pain. I'm not talking about giving birth, that pain is so temporary. No, I'm talking about the chronic pain that will never got away and you have to find the new normal. God moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF2wV9AREVM

 Tomorrow is another day. I have no more strength for today. I must move on. 

Although I didn't capture it on camera (phone was on the dang charger again), Abishai used the pencil grip today we got from Mrs. Ali and he used it on some brand new clearly marked #2 yellow pencils (b/c come SAT/ACT time, I'm going to want them) to draw some lines in one of his "school" books. It worked so well! Woot! Woot!

Parts of Nashville were hard hit by a F4/5 tornado early this week. 19 people died. I'm grateful that there was good weather for most of the week. And of course my favorite Christian artists are sharing what they are doing and where you can donate. But yeah, Nashville is a pretty cool spot in my book.

I'm looking forward to seeing what these t-shirts look in real person! One of my best MWS fan friends went to the first concert on this tour and shared with us some great pictures and such. Lancaster, PA was the first stop. I'm thinking I like the Red or teal one. On the website, the red one might say, "Love One Another." The rest of the t-shirts are fairly new, so we'll see. So expensive though!

Clarke, my friend, and Julie know me! Ok, I asked, but they got the set list!  I totally know this will change a bit in the next three weeks, but I'm glad to see some of my old favs on there like Thy Word and Great Are You Lord and Agnus Dei, oh boy, I think I'll cry at that one. Actually, this is mostly worship stuff. Uh, yeah, I hope it changes a bit. Now that I look at it, this is not what I want. (insert sad face). Bummers.

Throw back 5 years ago to this smiley guy in our Charlottetown kitchen. So little!

And he's still little, but so big at the same time. He used the scooter board to take his snack from one end of the gym to the other.

Don't worry, he didn't fall. But he was trying to "fly" on someone's penny board. I didn't see much of him all day.

Fighting over the owner of the penny board, Esther, Eli's sister.

The kids got into the gym mats a lot today. They were hiding in them like they were a tunnel and then some would get on top. Amazingly, not one came away upset or crying.

Abishai brought his RC car again and this time he shared with some friends when another person brought theirs. He even said how nice it was that the other person shared his with him.

Nice spot to sit with your RC controllers and have the car roll down the mat.

Some of the boys got Abishai's RC car to do tricks like wheelies!

Not everyone plays basketball. Some just lay around. But they all seem to get along ok.

I love this graphic.

Abishai gave Dinosaury a massage with the massage wand and made Dinosaury laugh.

He knows that it helps Daddy feel better. We got this massage wand from an old employer as a Christmas gift 15 or more years ago. But, we think it's dying from all the use it's getting right now. Bummers!

After listening to the whole Nighty Nights cd in the car, Abishai grabbed the books off the shelf today and read them to himself.

He wasn't happy that I was taking a picture of him.

Abishai bundled up and tried to hang out with Benaiah and Ava but 35 degrees is just too cold! It was even snowing on our way to gym day!

Well, it happened again. My plan did NOT happen. I will give Jared kudos for calling Wanamaker Feed and Seed and asking about mulch prices and delivery. I could have done that, but I wanted him to be involved somehow. They do not have mulch ready yet. So, mulching the garden will wait a week or two. Bummers! But it was actually a good thing because I knew I was short on time. Instead, I focused on babysitting Madison and Carter, going out for errands, making sure everyone was showered, and taking things as slowly as I wanted to and still knowing that it would actually get done. God had better plans for me today. Jared is feeling a bit better. I told him all the advice my friends gave me, but it's up to him to do something about it. Take B-12, use a topical magnesium gel, got to a neurosurgeon, get an MRI, have surgery, got to PT, etc. etc. First of all, insurance is an issue. Second, surgery co pays are expensive. Third, when he's ready to go, he'll go. He needs to keep actively trying new things like I have off and on with my fibro. Mine can't be cured surgically, but I've tried PT, acupunture, massage, $1,000's in supplements, diet changes, bloodwork, etc. Sometimes I just stop trying for awhile and maintain wherever I'm at. Sometimes I get a new idea, like this trying to fast and trying to walk more thing, and I'll try it for a little while. I have more motivation though, so I'm trying harder. I did not go for a walk today because I was too busy. We needed groceries (and I still forgot the snacks for church, ugh!), weed/grass killer, and birthday gifts for a birthday party tomorrow. I wouldn't leave Jared with Madison and Carter, although they know him well enough. But I did get enough steps in, technically, for the day. Jared will do what he wants to do when he wants to do. I'm just a bearer of information.


Meanwhile, I thought babysitting was going to be difficult or too long this morning, but it was perfect. 3 1/2 hrs and the kids were so happy and well behaved. There was so much playing and laughter! And I think Keturah felt very confident and maybe even happy watching out for Carter, who is 2. She lifted him onto the trampoline and put his shoes on and walked around with him. Somewhere inside, she does care about people and things and does have the natural nurturing instinct of a woman. Maybe that's why she feels the needs to correct everybody all the time. She's become me! The bossy one! Oh no! I just realized that my sisters and mom would call me the bossy one! *facepalm* and typically daughters become like their moms in at least some ways. Oi! That makes sense now. Anyway, she hesitated going with me because she wanted screen time, but then admitted she was bored and wanted to get ear pods (wireless earbuds) at the store we were going to. So, we went shopping and had a good time. Not much arguing or begging. No constant reminder for her to be nice. Ah, mother and daughter time. I did eventually tell her to step aside so I could bag the groceries because I was tired and didn't have the strength to explain how I wanted it done. But other than that, she was helpful and browsed with me, helping me make decisions. So it was a good time! No picture though. And even told her I don't have many photos of her because she's always in her bed! Whoops! Sigh. 


Let's see, we played inside and outside while the extra kids were here, so we all got some sunshine. Benaiah got up in time to finish his oil change and went for a haircut, but the wait time was over an hour. Then he went to work for the rest of the day. Justin worked on Spanish tests that I'm letting him do open book, partly to boost his grade, but also because it's obvious from his other assignments that he is understanding the material. It's just the memory work he's lacking. That's an overall problem in general so I'm pretending he has an IEP and letting him retake tests open book style, but just for Spanish. He's still doing closed book math. This is until we've figured out how to help him with memory work. I also trust him when he says he's studying. I can see the frustration on his face when he gets it wrong. So I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Spanish is not a mastery subject in my book, well, I mean you have to master some things in order to understand other things, but overall, unless he's using it regularly, he will forget it eventually. Point is, foreign language rank very low on my importance scale. Shakespeare on the other hand, well, that too we are skirting by. I think it's interesting but it's not as interesting as other things. We are about to dive deep into Macbeth with a great study guide, one that I used, that has vocabulary, and lots of activities and study notes, and that will help us make a tick mark in the checkbox for English Literature. We all know how much we read over here, so reading and comprehension aren't an issue. Justin is reading the Lord of the Rings again. Yes, the real version. He read the Hobbit at age 8 I think, and has reread it.

In fact, I bought a plaque with a JRR Tolkein quote on it. Well, I didn't double check it, but hey, it makes sense and I felt like buying decor today on a whim after seeing what the Beavers had for decor and watching the vloggers swap out their decor, etc. $7 at Ollie's, ok? I don't have a strict theme or kind of decor around my house, just things I like individually. And as you will see below, we apparently like having decor for all holidays out at the same time, lol. Whatever, I'm an eclectic person that likes all the things. Although, our fireside room is very well themed and I like it the most. When I was hanging the new plaque in there because our literature "classics" are in there, I moved over the hand painted canvases of some flags and thought that that room is more than just an international room, it's a room full of memories. Our photo albums are in there, my keepsakes from Canada and NH are in there, flags of where we've been, the plaques that were given to us when my parents died and other notions of theirs, etc. It's a treasure trove of memories and it's mostly toy free. It's not clutter free because our book piles are atrocious, but that's kind of like passing down the legacy from my parents to my kids anyway. I don't mind it at all. Even the couches in there bring memories because I used to nap on them at Gary and Leah's house on Sunday afternoon after dinner while a baby slept in the guest room. And the red chair that came from Jared's grandmother. Yes, indeed, I'm glad I took my friend's advice and made it my sanctuary. Ah,....


Groceries done, too much money spent on candy and frivolous knick knacks probably, but a good day to be in and out of stores vs. yesterday's freezing cold temps. Oh and we listened to Michael W. Smith old school while we drove around. It gave Keturah a headache though. Whoops! Pizza for dinner, pickup toys and do chores, shower, more chores, and bedtime. I already changed all the clocks for Daylight Savings (forward), too. You know you are obsessed on knowing the time when you have 8 clocks to change, lol. What's the Johnson 6 rule? You must have a clock in or visible from every room, along with kleenix (in our case toilet paper because it's cheaper and just as soft) and a trash can. Yup, I've got to know what time it is (although my phone is right next to me, sometimes I just need to see an analog clock to calculate time) and I typically wipe my nose 100 times a day and I hate trash on the ground. Yup, that's how I role. Maybe at my funeral they will have clocks, kleenix and trash cans, lol! So, it's already 10:30, although my computer says 9:30. Justin is late going to bed, but I don't think he realizes it. Abishai went to bed "early" because he played HARD today. Lots of outdoor time. Yeah!


Tomorrow IS very full, and now I have to remember to get snacks for church. Ugh! We should be home before the kids are out of youth group, so I might drop Abishai off at home and do it then. I can't take him to stores anymore. He always wants a toy! Anyway, onward!

Ha! We were talking about Prague in our history studies of the 30 years war! I'm glad I knew how to spell it! I LOVE crosswords and have become addicted to this app again. However, you have to spend so much watching ads to get extra coins for extra hints, that it limits my game play.

Oh boy, be nice to my piano!

They had a blast jumping on the trampoline!

The smile tells it all!

Big boy Carter with a big boy haircut!

I think this kid weighs almost as much as Abishai does. He wears a size 7 diaper! Wow! And I told myself that if he got wet or dirty, I could probably put him into one of Abishai's pajama pants, lol.

He'd fall down and say "ow" but laugh and get back up. Even when he face planted!

He didn't mind feeling the vibrations of the trampoline laying down on the ball.

Keturah was under the trampoline and pushing up against the kids. They loved it!

Justin and Socks getting some exercise. Justin got mad because Socks wouldn't leave the neighbor pups alone while he was trying to brush Socks. But they are his friends!

Always the first to come up! Oo, I need to remember to really spray the grass here. It's not quite poking through yet.I don't think this was part of the original garden but someone planted bulbs here so I blocked them off.

Irises are growing! Maybe they are finally on a normal schedule! Remember we planted them late a couple of years ago and then they bloomed in the fall because of the warmer weather. Irises are a spring flower. Looks like they are right on time!

PLEASE don't grow weeds and grass while I wait to mulch you. PLEASE. I worked hard on getting this barrier down. I'll remove the bricks of course and put the wet newspaper down that my friend suggested. And I'll spray some weed and grass killer. But for now, I've picked out all the garbage I can.

It makes me nervous that we can't zip up the net anymore, but so far, no one has fall throw the hole yet. I thought for sure that top heavy Carter would today. But nope, instead I found him climbing up and down the ladder! What an adventurous little guy!

Timothy came back! So Dinosaury and Timothy are telling each other stories about their separate lives.

I so wanted to buy these for Aaron, but had to refrain because someone had opened the plastic wrap on the peanut butter one, took out 1/3 of it to play with, and then just left that nastiness on the store shelf! It felt like mousse or lightweight play do and did spell like peanut butter. The jelly was going to be like gel or slime. Ew!

Listening to all the oldies, Michael W. Smith style.

I bought Jared a acupressure mat, the flowers and the peep. Why? To make him feel better and just because I can. Well, Abishai thought the peep was for him. I told him, no, and he had to ask Dad to play with him AFTER supper. Abishai's world collapsed! Perhaps I've spoiled him too much and gifted him too many stuffed animals! Sigh. Abishai did get to sleep with the Peep, but only after Jared sat with me at the dinner table for a few minutes while we ate so he could enjoy the gift I got HIM. Jared didn't really smile, but it made me feel better that I did something for him. And come on, a stuffed peep? Lol!

Another $12 later and I hope this red cord LASTS this time! My black one broke at the end 6 months after I bought it and it's supposed to stay in the car. Well, it was the only one that somewhat worked, so I had to keep bringing it inside. My white one that I just bought like 2 months ago at Meijer quit working and only charged the phone for a minute or two at a time and then electronically disconnected itself. I went to use my backup very short pink cord that is supposed to be in my purse and I can't find it! And then the mini three cord charger is VERY SLOW at charging. So, instead of the $6 kind, I bought the $12. I think the white cord was $17 or something. Super frustrating. But in my haul from Ollie's today, I bought a set of  international plug adapters, yeah! Yes, as far as we know, we are still going on our trip to Israel despite the hysteria over the coronavirus. I almost bought another charging bank today, but I wanted a bigger block one. I know Ollie's (a deep discunter) carries them all the time, so I can always go back. We got the weed/grass killer from there for $20 today. And a few other things.

I did pause for a second to notice the sunset. Happy Daylight Savings Day!

Phew, what a busy day! Jared went with Jim to see their friend Greg preach at a church over an hour away, so I was left with taking care of Abishai and I and getting to church. That all went fine. I sat in the balcony has I normally do when Jared isn't with me. He hates the balcony for some reason. I like seeing things from a different perspective. The sound mix was on point, even up there! Ok, I was directly above the sound booth, but still, it was well mixed. Sermon was decent, I wrote some notes that were directly related and some notes that were a twist on what was said and connected some dots for me. After church, Justin spent the afternoon with Eliot, but the rest of us had dinner at Gary and Leah's, including Gary. Yeah! Jared had come back in time for dinner as well and seems to be having less pain today. He and I discussed next steps and he doesn't want surgery or a nerve block or whatever else. Ok, then, it's your body. I'm just sharing what others shared with me. I do believe it's just the sciatica and he doesn't need an expensive MRI to tell us that it's misfiring. He, like me, does know his body well and can articulate each change or what bothers him when. He also stubbed his toe really hard at school last week and it's black and blue all over. Ouch! Again, even if it's broken, what are they going to do with it? Tape it? Put him in a boot? Sometimes, you just don't run to the doctor for each little thing. 


Meanwhile, Gary and Benaiah started discussing a different college, one that is a few thousand dollars cheaper and a little closer to home. In general that might be good, but I'm unsure of this new school. How big is it? Why are we bringing up another school in the first place when Ozark has people you know and you are already accepted?  *oo, look, something shiny* It drives me bonkers! Just because a school's retail price is lower doesn't mean they will have enough scholarship money to make it lower than what another school might offer in grants and scholarships. Gary brought it up because Jim Estep is now on staff there. Sigh. Benaiah wants me to be supportive and I am, sort of. I don't care what school or career he has, as long as it's done well and cheaply, and with little to no debt, which can be done, but Benaiah refused to work with on how. Justin will not get that much choice in the matter. Sigh. It's hard to be a patient parent and watch your kids make big mistakes. Super had. We'll see. I think it will also depend on Ava as well.  Sigh.

Meanwhile, we subtlety encouraged Keturah to play with Kendall across the street and she ended up playing with her for the rest of the afternoon! Grandma and Grandpa were home and Grandma took her to church but I think we are almost to the point where we don't need to have Grandma and Grandpa home to keep track of her, especially now that I'm friends with the women over there. And she could go through Ali's yard again after the dirt gets smoothed out and the grass starts growing. They did do some of that today, taking down the black barriers and everything. I'm glad they did. It's going to rain all week this week. So, Jared just had to get himself up from his steroid induced nap for nursery. Where was Abishai and I? Having a fun mommy and me date downtown because some friends had a birthday party at the glow golf in the downtown mall.

It was a gorgeous day outside, so I did walk around downtown a little bit. We probably looked ridiculous, but I used the umbrella stroller because I knew he wouldn't want to walk that much. I got all my steps in for the day though! It was a decent time, although there were some not so fun moments. Abishai cried when the birthday kids got their presents (twins) and he didn't get any. He didn't really want to hang out with any of the other kids either. We've known the twins since all three boys were born, but Abishai isn't that close to them. That's why he didn't invite him to his birthday party, which makes me sad. They are in Sunday School together. I only feel a little guilty about not inviting them to Abishai's party, but at the same time, you can't force friendships to form. So, we sang Happy Birthday, ate cake, watching kids open gifts, played a bit of glow golf and moved on. I tried to show him the arts garden above the roads and he wasn't happy about it. He wanted to find a store with some toys in it. Sigh. Same thing when we walked around Monument Circle. I had said he could have a treat or toy. There aren't toy stores in that mall anyway, so we went to Rocket Fizz. There were a few very expensive things, but I'm glad Abishai settled pretty quickly on what he wanted. He got a couple of pieces of candy, too. We saw all kinds of things on our walk, too, like motorcycles, pedal bikes, food vendors, horse and carriages, the chicken limo, the Big 10 Tournament sign (which prompted me to tell him all about Grandpa Howell's love for March Madness. I know he won't understand or grasp all that yet, but once again, I have to repeat everything I've told the older kids for Abishai because he hasn't heard all the stories yet), alleys for superheros to fight in, and a couple of homeless people and Jehovah Witnesses. Abishai was sing songing the whole time, making older folk smile. We stopped for a quick snack and then headed home. We beat Daddy home! 

-------Facebook has me hooked again! I just spent an hour scrolling! Yikes! Back to typing!-------

Abishai and I hung out with Daddy and then I went to get the kids from youth group. Oh yeah, it was pj day at church for the KP peeps, so Abishai and Justin went in pjs! And since Justin didn't come home in between, he went to youth group in his pj pans. Goof! I made Abishai change before we went to the birthday party though. On our way into church he said, "I'm a big boy, I don't need to hold you hand now." in a very confident voice, not obstinate. Well, ok, but not when we cross where the driveway is. He's so smart though, asking questions like "where's the police cars?" He knows that there should be police cars downtown. Sometimes it's hard to reason with him because he can find the loopholes so easily. I'm glad he's a thinker, though! We finished the day with chores of course. And now I'm hungry since I didn't eat much for dinner. Of course. I did eat a couple of bites of birthday cake because at lunch, Leah put gravy into the shepherd's pie (my mother never did), and who knows if that contained wheat. So, I'll do my trial run of eating a little bit of gluten every day, because there's yeast doughnuts sitting on the table, lol. I can't walk because it will be rainy and there's nothing extra on the schedule again this week, so it's a good time to eat some gluten and evaluate.  

Pics and videos

Just read.

The man of the hour, Michael W., sharing about northern Nashville. It's devastating to watch these things but at the same time, partly because they are in the Bible belt, there's so many stories of people coming together. Even a church pitched a tent in their parking lot to hold a service amongst the rubble of what was their church building. FYI, I think Michael is standing in front of a new guest house/building that they are building on his Deer Valley Farm. I didn't go to the farm, just his personal house, but I don't think it's too far down the road from there. He and Amy Grant's farms share a border, too.  Lots of parties, recording sessions, and horses are there. I'm sure a few music videos were also filmed there.

My big man practicing his worship skills before church. This is him being a drummer.

He so totally rocks the lead singer poses!

Oh yes, this goes with the whole "I don't like paying for a worship concert because I practically have one every week" thing. I sat in the balcony because Jared went to friend's church because he was preaching for the first time there. I know not everyone has this privilege, but it's normal for me.

New banner in "banner hall" aka the ramp between two of the major parts of our church. The light was coming in from the skylight. This is where the old mission, vision and values wer. Sigh. Out with the old and in with the new.

Brothers and Eliot. Justin went to Eliot's house for the afternoon (yes in his pj pants) and Abishai didn't like it. It was pj day in KP because of daylight savings time.

I should have taken my photo in the upstairs bathroom. Today's out fit. I got new shoes at Aldi's yesterday for $10. Yes, a size 7 because Aldi's doesn't carry anything smaller. I had to wear them without socks because they are too big but the sweatiness kept my foot from sliding. That being said, I hate that feeling. They are very cute shoes for short period of time. Plus, oh my word, I look so big!

I look huge. I look pregnant. And there's not much I can do about it and it's so frustrating and so sad. I way more than I did 9 months pregnant with the boys. And I'm not far off from Keturah and Abishai's 9 month pregnancy weight either. I did put hair up a little different in a small clip to the side. That part looked cute.

He insisted on wearing his helmet to church and to Grandpa's house. $8 at Ollie's brand new. I'll take it!

Keturah spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Kendall across the street. She might have gone inside with Grandma, too, but Grandma ended up taking her to church with her for us.  I'm just glad someone was outside enjoying the weather.

Not just for homeschoolers, but for everyone. This is a no brainer. I tried to get into IUPUI, a different school in town, but they wouldn't except my credits and I was considered "in state" tuition yet because we had just gotten married. I can't wait to get this going for Justin. Benaiah refuses to do it. The link is just a helpful one for homeschoolers since they often don't have an accredited program or testing done or transcript put together. I took several classes at NHTI, New Hampshire Technical Institute, which is similar to IvyTech and did great. It just makes sense! Ivy Tech is sponsoring our convention this year and sent this promo card out to everyone on the mailing list reminding them about convention and tooting their own horn.

Time to go downtown! She's a simple one, pretty easy to navigate, but has all the large city features people love. Four sports teams, zoo, museums, a food scene, an entertainment scene, lots of big name businesses, downtown shopping, brand new higher end apartments, and the like. It wasn't very busy because it was Sunday afternoon. I didn't even see that many homeless people either. I'm glad Abishai and I got to be out and about today.

Nate and Donovan had their birthday party at GlowGolf, a little place up on the 2nd floor of the downtown mall. They just had TMNT birthday cakes, one strawberry and one blueberry. These guys are the grandsons of a special lady, Nellie Simmons, who has watched all our kids grow up through the nursery A. I love their family. The boys and Abisahi are in the same class but they aren't close friends. And Nate, aka Peanut, was the much, much smaller twin and had some difficulties to get through. But he's just as feisty as Donovan. Their older brother Marcus is sweet, too.

TMNT!

It's hard to take pictures in a place with blacklighting! Abishai also wailed when the boys opened their gifts and he didn't get any. Oh, 5 yr olds. They are coming to terms with the realities of their surroundings.

The places was clean, but somewhat older looking. Very colorful and fun, too. $10 per adult, $8 per kid.

Aw, lots of people made sure to get gits for each twin and put them in separate bags. They got things like play dough, TMNT trucks, Minecraft Legos, and art kits. We got them kinetic sand kits, and I did make sure to get one for each of them, similar but different colors. I put them in the bags they brought to Abishai's birthday party two years ago, lol.

Abishai didn't do any of the holes in order and sometimes he sat on the carpet to push the ball. I just let him do his own thing since I was the only one with him.

Abishai tired quickly when we finally could do the golfing part. Partly because when we had to rush out to use the bathroom, (which was very clean btw, this is a high end mall downtown) he saw these rides. I didn't let it bother me and let him leave the party "early." He enjoyed this ride, costing $1, alot. I didn't mind spoiling him because it was just him and I in one of his favorite places, downtown.

Loads of fun! We tried other rides but one ate my dollar and the others needed quarters and the machine to make quarters into dollars was not working. I will say that although I did see mall cops and a few people around and everything seemed clean, more than half of the escalators weren't working. They hardly ever are. It took me awhiel to find the elevators, too. I had Abishai ride in the umbrella stroller because I knew I wanted to walk around a bit and he would complain about it. I'm glad I know how to just lift it up and over short amounts of stairs to save time, lol.

I thought Abishai was going to have more fun at the Arts Garden watching the cars go own the street. He just wanted to see police cars and their weren't any! I have to say that he acted up more than I would have liked him to and it wasn't as fun as it could have been. But, we did what we could.

Blue skies and tall buildings. Lovely!

Oh yeah, the Big 10! Now is that for the women or the men? I don't know. Maybe the women because of that logo. Point is, it's March Madness and I didn't realize it. My dad would be so disappointed! He followed March Madness because he went to UNC-Chapel Hill which is usually part of the tournament. And it's pretty typical for Indy to host part of it. Indiana is known for it's love of basketball and for producing great players like Larry Byrd. Larry Byrd played on my home team, the Boston Celtics, but he owns at least part of the Indiana Pacers. He played in the '80's and '90's.

It's so quiet! Actually, I never find our streets that crowded. I see pictures sometimes of large events but every day things are pretty quiet. There's our Monument circle. It is a war memorial actually.

So, old school back alley. How much do we see these in movies and TV shows? It almost makes me feel like I'm in a TV show or big city like NYC. We tried to guess if the TMNT or Spiderman or Batman lived here.

A couple of horse and carriages were out. I really want to do the Cinderella one. Jared took me on a ride when we were dating. They aren't that cheap to do. I wouldn't mind doing it again if we did a mini weekend downtown just the two of us. We did stay in a hotel once downtown I think. Again, romantic. There were also a lot of motorcycles and even pedal bikes roaming the streets in "gangs." I NEVER EVER assume motorcycles equals a bad "gang." Quite the opposite. I see a group of people enjoying their ride and enjoying their friends and the fresh air. We even saw a green three wheeled one!

Abishai didn't one to go into the middle of the circle, so this is what I got of the Big 10 sign. Hard to believe this was full of that TV show American Ninja Warrior, and a huge workout event, and a couple of other things where the streets are blocked off because of all the pedestrians!

Chicken Limo! It's a popular ride around here.

Beautiful.

Ah, we walked past this one again. It's where we ate for my bachelorette stuff. I remember it well. Then we went over to the B105.7 Radio station on the circle and got on the air for a minute. I have the pictures in my wedding album. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Not really, but it was cool. B105.7 is just a local rock station or something, but back then, I thought radio stations were really , really cool. There's something to be said about living where most of your memories have been made and seeing the changes to different locations throughout the years.

The Arts Garden from the outside.

Stopping for a snack we picked up at Rocket Fizz, the older kids' favorite store on the circle. Since we had just eaten cake, I didn't want to treat him to ice cream (he wouldn't have finished it anyway) and it was too late to go to Starbucks for coffee. And I was hoping there was a toy in there because I said I would treat him to one. He got the most expensive fan with candy in it that I ever purchased, $9! And a couple of pieces of candy for $0.15 per piece. They are the kindest owners in there so I don't mind supporting them and their local business. However, yikes!

While Abishai was eating his candy, his feet were moving to the song playing over the loud speakers at the mall. Also, Hoosier hospitality was evident today. Because I had the stroller, it was a little bit difficult to get in and out of doors, but I found many people holding the door open for us. Loved it!

Time for a dance session before the mall officially closes. You can still use the elevators and escalators because the parking garage is down below and that's the only way to get to them. I even had a very kind garage ticket person, too.

We beat Daddy home from church! So Abishai was trying to block him from parking, lol. Don't worry, I made sure he got over before Daddy got near him.

Already back in pjs and doing his exercises.

It takes big arm and leg and core muscles to pull that see saw of sorts up and down and NOT bang it on the way down. He has very good control of it so we let him do this often.  If he abused it, we wouldn't let him on it. It's the flip table for Jared's back.

I did a few videos about the "Fireside" room because a moved a couple of things. But I'm renaming (in my head) to be the "Heritage" room. Jared calls parts of it a shrine. He's not necessarily wrong. But it's where I've put all kinds of important pieces that remind me of years gone by. Here's a few of them and then I'll share the videos that go more in depth.

Heritage Room Part 1

Heritage Room Part 2

This is the new decor I bought. I NEVER buy decor. I see people on YouTube changing up their decor all the time and I'm like, "What do you do with your old decor? Isn't that a waste of money just to use it for two years and then get rid of it?" Anyway, I like that it was a JRR Tolkein quote. I made sure I had a place for it before I bought it. It's now near the shelf where the Tolkein and Lewis books are.

My decor style is eclectic. If I like it, I put it up. So my house mostly looks like the 90's threw up in it or something but I don't care. I love those colors and things. This one, though is a mini quilt my mom made. It's fun, and a slightly different color scheme from the other things in this area. And you know what, that aqua color and the dark green color, even the sandy color go with my shower curtain. When we redo the big bathroom, hopefully with a sea green shade (yes, I know, use a bright color in a small bathroom but I don't care), I think I might move this one in there since it does go with the beach theme I have in there.

Heritage: homeschooling being passed down from one generation to the next. Oh yes, we do read a lot of those books. Are main books are there and all our library books. The crates underneath hold older papers or curriculum we aren't using at the moment. The diaper box has now 3 years worth of schoolwork I'm keeping in it.

Again, mom quilt, the nail and tin art I made at my first sleepover camp when I was 9, and faith plaque I got in Canada.

One of the three wreathes my mom switched out from time to time. She loved seasonal wreathes and her friend Betty made her some. Yes, I know it's a fall one. I never switched to the Christmas one, and now I need to switch to the spring/summer one. I'll get there. The colors are pretty though. Our front doors aren't in the best of shape and I don't trust putting a wreathe on them.

Abishai's school work.

Photo albums are of course heritage. I'm keeping an eye on the photos in the frames and make sure they aren't fading. This is the west side of the house so the sun isn't as strong coming in those windows.

One of the candles from our unity candle part of our wedding ceremony.

"The Shrine." NH on the top, Canada in the middle, and variuos things on the bottom. Hanging basket held my parents outgoing mail at our Hooksett house. The stockings are my mom's and dad's and are left up year round. Plaques were from my parents' funerals, and of course flags.

Pictures from PEI and more flags, USA, Canada, India and Nova Scotia.

Check that out. I think this is the first album that has the names written in their code and the car can recognize it! Fun!

Incredibly full and bright moon over the high school.

At least I got some extra steps in from walking downtown an up and down the mall a few times. I didn't think I would get that all in today. But who doesn't like walking on bricks? All the streets around circle center are paved with bricks, so you do drive your car on them, too. The sidewalks are brick. It's fun!

Jared moved too fast, but I was trying to capture their moment of prayer. It hurts Jared a lot to be down in that position but at least he can be there for a moment. Abishai is surrounded by all his friends.

The End