Year 5, April 3rd-5th, 2020: Recovery Weekend

Covid-19 Self Isolation Days 15-17

Oh no, here it comes. The pain. The soreness. The "I can't concentrate on anything because I just want to cry because it hurts so much." Think of how sore you are after doing a full workout after not working out for months. It's that much soreness times 100 for someone with fibromyalgia, and boy is it starting to kick in this evening. I'll try all my oils and lotions and OTC pain relievers, but only time heals this kind of pain. This time, it's in the back of my thighs, and the base of neck and upper shoulders. Oh my-lanta. My body is calling it quits. I managed to finish what I'll call the "crumb" layer of mulch today with Benaiah's help. I shoveled a few loads of mulch myself into the wheelbarrow and then had to call in reinforcements. There was no way I could that and spread it. I know he worked a 7 hr shift today and just wanted to relax. I needed about 6 wheelbarrows full. Thankfully, he didn't complain about it. He had even showered already, poor thing. I know, I know, we should expect him to help at a given's notice and not complain, and we shouldn't feel guilty about it, but I do. I grew up with parents that had health issues and I was the oldest. A lot of things were left to be to do since I was the one at home more than my sisters who are 2 and 4 years younger than I. So I mowed the lawn, made supper, washed dishes, switched over laundry, walked and fed the dogs, cleaned one of the bathrooms, etc. etc. I did have plenty of time for my studies and doing my own thing, believe me. And I'm sure my parents were grateful for the help and felt a little sad I had to help out so much. I didn't mind too much. I just did it. We didn't have allowance either. Maybe that's one reason I have the mantra, "If you live you here, you pitch in." That, and up until the 1900's or whatever, everyone pitched in until the work was done. Little ones could water the animals and elementary kids could milk a cow. And no one thought it was a burden. They just did it to survive.  But I digress....

I don't want to write out a whole long thing tonight. We did spend the majority of the day buzzing around inside and out, finishing up a little school, having a touch of screen time, eating dinner outside, playing on the trampoline, etc. etc. I told Keturah tonight, "I wonder what all the minimalists have in their homes to play with and do right now? Sometimes being a hoarder has it's advantages." We have all the things we need to survive (except food, never enough food) for ages and ages. You don't find me ordering craft supplies online. We have lots of books to read, games to play and puzzles to do. I find more and more projects to tackle as I get older and realize that oh yeah, these things don't clean themselves and eventually, they just look awful and it's my job to clean them. Like the flower beds. It took me three years of watching what was growing, researching different ways to tackle it, taking the time to do it, and finally having enough "extra" money to buy the right amount of mulch all at once. The first year, I pretty much ignored it, because I was unpacking, but by the 2nd and 3rd summers (this will be our 4th summer), I was noticing how weedy it would get and how was I going to keep it nice looking. And now, we got our mulch ordered just in time. I feel a little guilty because it's not an essential (in our book) to owning a house, but whatever, it's done. And I'm happy. Jared still doesn't care. He hates spreading mulch because his dad made him do it for years and years growing up. Then my boys did it. I hate rocks. I wanted more natural looking mulch. Jared picked the red mulch so it's not as natural, but I actually like it against all the green plants growing right now. I feel like a real homeowner with a huge mulched flower bed, tables and chairs on the front and back porches, an umbrella for the table, mowed grass, a basketball hoop out front, etc. etc. No, it's not essential. Every house is a home. It doesn't matter that much. But with every house, every year, I learn something new to do and what I want to improve on it to make it more inviting and usable to be honest. Now I want the three person swing with awning I had at the Beech Grove house. Yes, that exact one, lol. I loved that swing. It took me awhile to figure out that I wanted a three person seat vs two person seat so I could lay down when I was pregnant with Keturah and watch the boys play. We don't have an awning or roof in the front, so it would be helpful there. And then I could watch kids play out front and wave to the neighbors. My birthday is coming...there's money in the bank....hm,.....

But I'm exhausted. The kids are exhausted. Poor Abishai was stumbling and we had to give his first "post outside" bath instead of "Oh wait, how many weeks has it been since he's had a bath?" Remember, our kids when they are younger don't bathe every day, and especially Abishai, because of dry skin, especially in the winter. And because it is a big chunk of my time to do it. I was just happy to see how dirty Abishai's feet were. He wears his boots sometimes when he's outside, but for the most part, he has been barefoot for 3 weeks. Even when he helped with the mulch. Or when he plays soccer. He's the perfect little farmer boy with dirt smudges across his face and I LOVE it so much! It's been the perfect weather the last couple of days. Oh, and Gary came riding down the street on his fancy new ride on lawn mower. You would have thought he would have gotten one by now, but he's had Benaiah and Justin to do the mowing for years. I think he was just making an excuse to get out of the house so he mowed our whole yard. I had told him via text that Justin would get a mower tomorrow so he could do it all in one day so it was all the same length. We weren't ready for mowing when Gary came at 4:30 after Bible class via zoom. He literally ran over our painted rocks for the neighbors and now we can't find one! I had Jared go out in the back yard to make sure Gary didn't mow down any trees. And Justin still has to go back and mow over some spots and trim. Sigh. Always ask first. Always. I hadn't given Abishai the lecture about staying away yet and he nearly got run over. So thanks, but no thanks. We can handle our own mowing on our time. It was barely ready anyway. Oi! I was also right about to head in to make dinner and now we had to be out while that was going on. Not the best timing. But it's over and done. Tomorrow is a new day. Justin can mow next week I guess.

Tomorrow I think I will sleep in and let Jared take over with the kids, even if he's in pain, too. I just can't even right now. I need a physical break. Cooking a meal every single night is driving me bonkers, too. And making sure people don't overeat. But I think he headed to bed already. Whoops. We also had our first thermostat war today. He had turned off the heat last night. The house was 67. My hands start freezing at 71. I have kept it at a constant 72 all winter long. I have worn out my space heater, and if you turn of the heat, then the space heater runs even more. Do NOT touch my thermostat. Or my rose bush. Or put your stuff all over the horizontal surface of a coffee table that is temporarily in the garage because the kid wanted to play on the floor in the fireside room. I had to promptly move his new tools into the heap that is his power tools and remove the table. I'm trying to keep that space clear for my second fridge. And there's a pile of papers in my room on my specially painted chest. It makes me so mad. I declutter, but then something else ends up there. I'll never have a fancy clutterfree horizonal surface b/c a) kids toys b) husband junk. Go up, not out. After I put everything back where it goes and condensed it in the garage, I could actually see the floor. If you use the tools, put them back in their pile. The bikes go where bikes go, not hoses and vacuum parts that the boys didn't clean out well. So, anyway, we'll see how the morning goes. I'm done. It was a great day, but I'm done with any physical activity for awhile. It's a good thing I figured out where to find books online that I had on my library ordered list. And a way for kids to keep track of which ones they've read. I'm still not happy about handing them a device to read. But whatever, the colonial times are that important to me and I want to finish our school year well.

Ok, I got long winded. This is why I'm stopping now and doing something else. I'll come back tomorrow to load up pictures and journal them. I took a lot of them today.

We definitely have boys that like to just message a few friends on chat and aren't on social media as much, so I did this for them. The student ministries did re post it.

I think we'll try this on Sunday.

Mom wants to do other things, too.

Morning vibes. There's an advantage/disadvantage for Jared's work area to be in the bedroom. I'm not allowed to lounge too long, but he also can stay and snuggle more on the mornings he doesn't call his buddies. I think Abishai is going to crawl into Jared's lap until he's 10 yrs old or something. Jared is milking it for all it's worth.

These photos are of Five Points and Edgewood intersection where the next roundabout is going in. Yes, roundabouts are considered "essential." I say filling in potholes might be potholes but not roundabouts. Sigh. Aerial photos I found on the FT Chat group are by J.C. Aerial Photography. His website is:J. C. Aerial Images

The top is west, the bottom is east, the left is south, and the right is north.

The last bit of fields in our area.

So many houses stuck on so little land.

Too many houses.

He's a drummer, dancer, singer and entertainer. He's singing his Sunday School version of God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit, (three in one)."

Check out the rapid movement on the drum "stick" which is a roof piece for lincoln logs. When Benaiah took out his other gaming drum set, Abishai wanted to bring out these old ones from the shed. I'm glad we still have the microphone. It was part of a "first piano" set we had. The piano broke but we used to keep the leg pieces as shields. I think those are gone as well now.

It's a good time to teach this kiddo to cook more. She's not that interested. I made her stir the mac and cheese together although she complained about her arm hurting.

Keturah wanted to write down her spelling test instead of being tested orally. She did very well and wrote quickly. Sometimes just waiting a bit leads to independently willing to try new things.

My little helper (for all of 1 wheelbarrow full). No shoes. No gloves. Just digging in the pile.

Working hard, like a farmer boy.

So smart, cute and independent.

Goregeous day outside! A little rain on the way tomorrow and slightly cooler temperatuers.

Someone showed unannounced with is new toy.  Oi! We weren't ready! And I hadn't picked up our painted rocks! SMH

Abishai wanted to get Gary's attention, but Gary had his ear phones in.

Careful! You're getting too close, Abishai!

After I very sternly lecture him, Abishai found a hiding spot between Benaiah's old mattress and the washer/dryer. I was frank with him and told him how kids would get mowed over and hurt very badly. He stayed in the garage the rest of the time Grandpa was out front.

I think it would have looked better if I had used the skinnier masking tape, but that's alright. I love the colors.

And our church picked up on this idea and asked us to share it with them. You're welcome.

Abishai found a toy camera in a box of doll food/toys he wanted out of the shed. He was taking pictures just like Mommy does of Grandpa mowing our own for the first time this season using his new ride on lawn mower. You certainly don't use as many calories when you drive that thing. And I was with Abishai the whole time. He definitely understood the danger of it.

I'm posting all the photos I took of our mostly done flower beds. You can just quickly scroll through them. I'm so happy with them! There's more to put on so it will look more even in the end, but I wanted to at least finish the first "crumb" layer. I saw "crumb" layer like when you ice a cake because if I raked too hard, the black tarp stuff would come up or I'd put it in weird spots. I also found that I was using all my skills that I had when I mucked out horse stalls. Well, the scooping part into the wheelbarrow was like shoveling snow, but then rolling the wheelbarrow and dumping out the mulch was like dumping out horse manure on the pile, and then having to shake the last little bits out by moving the wheelbarrow side to side. And then the raking was like icing a cake. But it all worked well! I was surprised at myself at how fast it came together.

I'm glad Jared got the red mulch. It might not look as natural as the brown mulch but it contrasts the greenery better. We'll have to see how it looks when the flowers are up. I'm also glad we didn't wait too long because it was easier to put the mulch around the plants this way. All the work I did in the fall with the black liner helped mark off the spots where the plants grow even if the shoots for this year weren't quite up yet. I just made sure to only put a thin layer of mulch on those specific spots. And getting rid of the dead stuff a month ago also helped in the process this week.

Look kind of weird but this is a panoramic view from my front door.

I never remember if we have shutters or not. I didn't remember at the Beech Grove house either. My parents' house had shutters, so I know it's a thing. I don't think a lot of new homes have them acutally, do they? I like shutters and I bet these haven't been taken down and washed for decades. Plus, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my lattice windows. It makes me feel like I'm in the castle! The kitchen windows and back door are like that as well. They are just so unique to the time these houses were built and no one has them anymore because they upgraded. We know we have leaks through the windows but we probably just need a little sealant. And of course, the BRICK. You can't get a cheap all BRICK house anymore. They either put brick on the front portion of those huge subdivision homes or maybe around the bottoms or something. Ours is fully brick on the outside except the sunroom, which was the obvious built on addition, thus the brick is on the wall in the sunroom between the kitchen and sunroom. And again, I LOVE it that way. I can sit at my desk and hear and see what's going on but I still have a full wall for bookcases and a desk. I can also close those inside windows so I can block out noise. And we often do that during Grandpa Bible class. It's weird, but it works and I love it that way. BTW, this area was easy to put a full layer on because I didn't have to put as much black liner down because the grass hadn't overrun it last year. So I won't have to go back and put more on it here.  Just the rose bush that Jared trimmed down again. I swear, if he touches my rose bush again, I'm going to kill him! Just kidding! It did grow back from his chopping it down almost to it's roots last year. Just leave it alone! I need to go back and properly trim these bushes, too. I did have a lot of bushes to trim at the Beech Grove house, so that's easy for me to eyeball.

Isn't this flower bed massive? And I didn't plant any of the flowers! There's such a variety that blooms at all times of the spring, summer, and fall. I'm sure the actual owners of the house did this when she lived here, but the renters didn't do much to keep it up. It looks amazing with all it's brick back in place, too, creating a much more easy to see edge for the mower and trimmer. BTW, that load of mulch was only $120 delivered from our awesome local Wanamaker Feed and Seed store less than a mile away. They've been there for something like 100 years. It's one of those places where the "good old folk" go instead of Home Depot. Love them!

Yes we know the front lawn gets burnt. We aren't sure what to do with it, but it's less to move, so, we leave it alone for the most part.

The "trees" that Jared planted with yellow buds on them are an interesting add on. We also did added the irises, but that's it. The daffodils keep growing outside their domain, and then we have all these "moses" grass type bundles that are kind of high up over the rest of the main surface area. Those are the big bushy things you see growing. They are very low maintenance, too. They have flowers on stalks in the fall and then I just easily pull away all the dead stuff as I see it or in the spring. I think they had a nice anchor for everything else.

Irises are a just a little bit right of center.

Those daffodils crack me up. I love how bulbs just regenerate and spread out, too. I found them two years poking up through the grass and not even part of the flower bed. So I put a layer of bricks around them to prevent Justin from mowing them down. But there's a bunch of grass that grows in that area, too, so we'll see if it pops through the mulch. I guess we just expanded the flower bed!

Abishai safely taking pictures of Grandpa from within the garage.

Grandpa fit through the gate! Praise the Lord that we don't have to mess up the nice fence line Dan and Mary did on the other side of the house! Jared didn't want to acknowledge that his dad was here and he was rolling his eyes, but I insisted he come out and show Dad where all the trees were.  Some of the newest bushes are low lying things that are hard to see. So Jared staked them all. I was thinking we could put in some baseball diamond type markers back here but now I remember that those trees will get in the way. Oi! A plain field type backyard would have been just fine, dear.  Although the kid tend to stay up in the front half of the yard, especially when it's wet and muddy in the back half. We do have one of the biggest backyards in our neighborhood and for the size of house we have even in the township. It's massive!

After Benaiah helped me, he wanted to work a little bit on whatever, so Jared had him start on the work bench! I told Jared I didn't expect this to be done yet because it might require some moving around of stuff in the garage AND I wanted to make sure he left room for the fridge I want. So, I'm hoping that he does listen to me. We didn't exactly talk about the design of it. Eek! Ok, I just ran out there today (I'm writing this on the next day), to see what Jared's plans are. He's not 100% sure yet, but I put my input in. And I'll try to let it go. Try being the operative word.

Measure twice, cut once!

Abishai wanted to call Daddy on his pretend phones, so he did!

So cute!

Well, at least with the tape gone, the dog can see out a little bit better, lol. I'm always amazed at how much he barks, but if the glass door is pushed up against it's frame without being latched, he still won't charge it if he sees people walking.  Very good doggy!

Yup, I look ridiculous but who has time to pull out the right length pants? Shorts it is! and no, not slippers. I wore my other brown shoes and comfy socks. No fashionista here today.

This is an old shirt of my mother's. It's thin but not the see through thin that the Old Navy t-shirts are like. It's the perfect length to cover most of my arm, especially my scar. I think I will take this one to Israel with me. Then I"ll just have to put on a tad of sunscren on my neck and lower arms. It is a v-neck so somewhat flattering up top, too. Oh, and it has these tiny buttons above the elbows so you can roll them up and use a little loop that is inside to button them there. Anyway, vintage is cool!

Abishai got so excited when he saw this kitchen set! Maybe he likes the kitchen sets because he sees Daddy cooking, I don't know. Unfortunately, we were both a little too quick on getting it out of the yellow bag and dropped it, which broke the toaster off, sad face. He managed to carry it into his bedroom and spent a long time "cooking his dinner" complete with pots and pans and wooden spoon Jared brought back for Keturah from Kosova on a mission trip. Justin watched him "cook" and said it was really cute. It also occupied him while I was mulching and Grandpa was mowing.

Abishai had his dinner all packed up and ready to go. He's drinking some kind of "Sprite" mixture he said. It's an old baby bottle I actually had for Benaiah. I bought the cheap Gerber ones for when I stopped nursing him at 8 months. I threw away most of the nipples for those because the rubber/silicone or whatever was rotten.

I took a second look at the beam for the bat house and thought, "Wow, that's the same width as a balance beam, let's try it!" So we did! The kids loved it and would have spent more time on it but we were already late to eat supper. Grandpa being here put us off our timing a little bit. Abishai learned pretty quickly to walk across it pretty fast all by himself, and barefoot. He didn't know he could get splinters and I didn't worry about it. He was having fine. He was fine.

A little bit of sisterly help in the beginning. She can a pretty nice big sister when she wants to be.

He's such a quick learner!

The hole for the bat cave pole is 4 ft or so deep, so Justin was trying it out. I told Abishai to back off because yes, it's wide enough for him to fall in and get stuck.

Justin was making it wobble, but he made it across the impromptu balance beam just fine.

My turn. I did fine.

Jared took down the bird nest that was above the light on the front of the garage. It's full of bird poop but also Socks' dog hair of course. No remnants of eggs though. I know they kept being disturbed, so I'm not surprised..  We threw it away.

Abishai was ready for his dinner! Lots of fruits and veggies of course! And a toy to "pass the time" and his phone/camera.

 Abishai's homemade dinner

Very dirty baby feet. Yeah! They should always look like this at the end of the day! I made him take a bath though. He had dirt streaks on his face and then his feet and hands needed it, too.

Hi, you old dog. I bet he's exhausted from all of the comings and goings in the last week or so. Every time Abishai goes out, Socks wants to be with him, even if it's just for a few minutes.

Benaiah tried to reach his phone without getting completely out of the trampoline. The noises he made were ridiculous.

After Justin left the table from dinner to play on the trampoline, Jared sat in his chair and looked over at this hole. He saw a little bee coming in and out of it. Uh oh. Not good. We do NOT need a beehive near our way in and out of the house! Fly away and make a nest somewhere else, please! So Jared immediately sealed up the hole. We hope that does the trick!

Brotherly fighting!

Two students of MCC married and now have two little girls! They were pregnant with their first when we left Canada 4 years ago. Yeah! So beautiful!

We aren't exactly like this couple because we don't fight like that, but we do disagree and today's temperature war proved that. Lol.

Saturday, Day 16

A little cooler today, but the kids got outside for a little bit. Keturah even made a cocoon bed for herself on the trampoline to read her book with outdoor pillows and towels. She had voluntarily gone out there to read and was really excited when I said she could have the pillows. So I think the "you have to outside when it's nice and no electronics until after dinner" thing is becoming more of a habit. She and Abishai did ask for screens a few times of course. I told her, especially she's the only one who really cares, that I think if we want a cushion to sit on outside on any of the chairs, we will just bring it out with us and when we are done we will bring it back in. That way, nothing is getting left out in the rain and I don't have to keep an eye on the forecast as much. I probably should do that with the pillows up front. I could put them under the front window so they are better protected from rain. But I don't have a good place to store them up front with all the shoes. Which reminds me, Jared and Benaiah could start working on that project. We wanted to try and make the little half wall into a shoe cubby. We don't think there's any duct work in there, but we're not sure.  With Benaiah being home for 6 weeks, he will get bored at some point. So we are thinking of ways he could help and/or be included. I think it's going to be hard though. I want him to play Risk with Justin or patiently teach Keturah some behavior skills, but if he doesn't get up until noon every day, he won't see the routines we have. (I almost said rhythms, blech, that's what the church uses for the Rooted and priorities and things.)  Jared doesn't have much hope, but we can at least try.

For example, Benaiah wasn't supposed to see Ava today, but he did. He came home from work at 2:30, showered, played on his Rock Band game, and then went to her house through our supper. Then he got himself dinner and sat down in front of his screen. We've had no face to face with him today. That's not good. So, we'll have to work on that. Again, this may or may not play into his routine for all of next year, but I'm not going to miss this oppurtunity to further our relationships either. So there's that.

I thought I was going to spend the day relaxing in bed listening to or watching videos from the conference, but after a slow wake up, I kind of dove into vacuuming and brushing the dog. I didn't end up sitting down at my computer until 1pm. And I just stayed upright because I wasn't feeling too bad if I didn't move much. I'm not as sore as I expected to be, but if I kept pushing, I wouldn't get too far either based on pooping out on work yesterday way earlier than I expected to. So, I rest. I finished the library reading lists for Justin and Keturah and just showed Keturah what to do on the Nook. We couldn't download a tracking app, so I'm hoping that she is a good girl with it. She's been pretty good on the tablet over all, so we'll see. This is a big thing to trust her with. Maybe she will have to do her reading until after the rest of her school is done. I was able to find most of what was on my library lists, so as we read them on the Open Library website, I will cancel the holds I have on them. I know that might cause some extra paperwork for the librarians when they go back, but I don't need to pick them up and then return them. They will have to get sent back to their other libraries anyway. I found a lot of the picture books and this particular website scans in the actual book (not like e-books on a kindle), so the pictures are in full color. It's a national archive of sorts, so I'm pretty happy with it so far. Making a separate list for each kid was easy, and then finding out how to read them as well on the website, no downloading to a device needed. Again, I'm very happy with that. I think they might have to keep track of where they are in a book, but we'll see.

I'm glad I posted about it and got the names of the different websites. Although, one person pointed out that it's a #firstworldproblem and I guess when I posted it in the homeschool group, I didn't follow up with my understanding I'm being whiny in light of the death that is surging in our country. Point is, I know it's inconvenience, but it's also my children's educaiton. I'm already worried about Benaiah's knowledge not being complete. The public school systems have pretty much said that the kids will get through what they get through and not to worry about it to the parents. They are trying to shorten the school year by 20 years, either finishing really early or only doing e-learning 3-4 days a week. They won't really grade anything, but will get credit for work turned in. High schoolers won't have new assignments either and seniors will get full credit for the semester. Say what?! They are missing 25% of a year's worth of material 50% of a semester if it's only a one semester class, and you are letting it slide? For reals? I guess you have to accommodate the homes that don't have access to technology, although I know some providers are giving free access to the internet and the schools handed out what devices they did have. And it's the parents that are groaning about how many days they have to "homeschool" their kids. For reals?! This is your kids' education! There are countries out there where kids don't go to school at all!  But we fat, lazy Americans want to the least amount of work for the max benefit, or even a moderate benefit. Dumb! And Benaiah has bought into some of that, too. Formal education is a privilege. You can teach your kids something new every single day of the year, so do it. Makes me so mad! But, #notmyproblem. We will continue on running the race well until our days are done or a bit beyond that. Steady on. Because it's not about how long it takes but the content, the mastery of a subject. I don't skip whole chapters. I skip assignments occasionally, but until this year with Justin's worldview, I don't skip whole sections of books. There's a reason why all the chapters are in there, especially at  the higher levels. I was just watching a video about our math curriculum, Math U See, and it is a Mastery program. You practice until you master it. Period. Which is a bit frustrating when you run out of practice pages. Oo, I need to see what the Algebra 1 is like on Khan academy. Or maybe Justin needs to repeat this year's math and Spanish.

Oh, that's the other thing I learned today! It was workshop n How to Teach Your Child You Know Almost Nothing About. Well, I thought I knew the answer, but I only know part of it. Get a tutor or have them take a class. But, also be careful what textbook you are using. I haven't had this problem until we hit this Spanish class. Most of the homeschool curriculum we've had comes from the perspective of self directed learning. You don't need a teacher's lecture to fill in the blanks, all the material is right there in the textbook or workbook with relevant diagrams and charts. The teacher books sometimes have helps, but that's it. Well, I guess some more standard textbooks are really a supplement to the teacher's lecture because every teacher teaches differently. I guess I didn't realize that when I was in college. Some of the time I would be bored in class because the professor would just go over what was in the book. And I thought, "Why am I sitting here? I can read the book and understand the material without the lecture." Just like I self taught myself many things in high school, including math.  The more interesting classes were when the teachers taught what they wanted to and then referred to the book as a help for better understanding. So, I guess that makes a little more sense now. The Spanish textbook we have that goes with the course doesnt't have a good outline of grammar rules. It's not speaking directly to the reader like say, the Apologia science books or our Mystery of History books do. So when I was looking up books on Amazon last night and coming across "self taught Spanish" books, and I could actually understand the flow of it and teach myself in a pinch, wow, I was on the right track and didn't even know it! I did ask my friends and there's a couple of courses I can also look into. Justin (and I) needs a book that will use poor man's language in terms of what the different conjugations and tenses are. That's the part that I didn't know well when we attempted Latin. The Latin we had was pretty well laid out with charts and simple rules. And I did find a book on Amazon with something similar. So, I have more research to do, but we'll see. I could have him give up or give him credit for 1 semester so far. Not sure on that one yet. I can toss it out and bring up his "GPA" if I want to because we don't have the same rules and algorithms for calculating GPA and putting things on a transcript. There are definite guidelines, but there's some minor discrepancies in calculations. The colleges usually don't know for certain what exactly was taught in each class or how the grade was calculated. We keep track, but I've never had my colleges ask me about my past coursework. There could be basic competency exams for entrance, but usually that's if you have a pretty low GPA or on something like math. So, we'll see. I feel so much better about the Spanish situation now. I was just so frustrated because I can't give him tips because I don't know the rules. And I don't have brain space for that anymore. I would need a plug and chug to help him, and that's why I thought of a tutor as well and I have a couple of people in the leadership group that would help even for free. I knew this was going to happen, I just didn't know how it was going to play out. Sigh.

Meanwhile, Jared started on the workbench. I was a bit nervous, so I paused on my lectures and went out there. I know it's not going to look how I visualized it. I wanted to make sure he understood that ALL the things currently on the floor between the inside wall, the step, the water softener, and the garbage can holding large tools and the ball pit have to fit on the workbench, underneath it or in a cupboard when all is said and down. I said I would organize it to begin with because he doesn't know how to organize. And for the most part, he doesn't organize. He flops everything and I organize. Maybe, yes, he organized the book closet at work. But that doesn't happen at home. I'm going to put all the screwdrivers in a pile and prove to him that a) he has duplicates and b) it's ok to have everything organized so you aren't wasting time finding things. I'll organize it once, and as long as it stays within it's physical boundaries, I won't touch it again. If I see a tool he isn't actively using, I will put it on the bench. Everything needs a home to start with. So, we'll see. I won't get rid of anything. But I will put things in categories. I'm not a dummy. I think I can figure out what is needed for drywall, or what set goes with which drill. I know the difference between stain and paint. Or what a regular hammer and a sledgehammer are. I just refuse to use them, lol. This should prove interesting. And the workbench doesn't have to get done right this minute, but he was feeling ok, so he went for it. I wish the boys were out there helping him. I told him to just go and get them from inside and stop suffering on your own. You have to initiate. Just like I have to. But anyway, that's that.

Abishai spent part of the day watching TV and playing video games with Daddy, but he was also outside with him, too. He played around the house as normal. I think he was still tired from yesterday though. He wanted to go to bed early, poor thing. We had leftovers for supper, and the fridge is beginning to look a bit more sparse. It's been 10 days since we went to the grocery store and we still have a big package of chicken, three lbs of ground chicken/beef, frozen pizza, some meatballs, a shepherd's pie, a bit of deli meat and cheese, and some fresh fruits and veggies, plus all the canned good Jared bought. We have a massive amount of eggs, too. We run out of milk often. And yes, we bought the dry milk but I'm telling ya, the kids aren't going to drink that straight up or in cereal. So, we'll see. Benaiah picked up milk, bananas, bread, and the eggs at the grocery store on Thursday. The less Jared and I have to go out, the better. And we did decline going to Gary and Leah's house. Gary said his typical "No problem" after we explained why. We strictly adhere to the rules and don't set foot off our property except to walk the neighborhood or Jared goes to the chiropractor or the grocery store. Leah delivered bread yesterday in mailboxes (did she use gloves? I don't know but the mailman and the people do touch their mailbox! The porch would have been better) and Gary is still taking laundry to the church when it's open because they are still doing videos for Sunday mornings. Seriously?! But I'm not going there tonight. I think Jared and I are almost treating it like a mind game and seeing what we can do without to challenge ourselves whereas others are getting right up to the fence without technically crossing over it. Even Shauna and Everly were out delivering goody bags to people today. I think it's a nice gesture, but I would hope that everyone is wiping down everything coming into the house no matter who it is from. We are. Every box, every food item, every piece of mail. That's just who we are. We are the legalists. Just as long as I'm not fussing over everyone else. I know where we stand, and we are sticking to our rules and it's not going to be our fault if someone else gets sick. That's a bit arrogant, but I kind of have to draw a line or I get too emotionally involved. A friend said on the FT chat today that enough is enough. It's no longer educating people to tell which camp you fall in. Either people will abide by the rules or they won't. Either they will stay home or they will throw back yard BBQ's . Either one person will carefully go to the grocery store, or the whole family will go as a field trip. People won't change their minds at this point. Makes us sad of course, but that's just what it is. Jared and I both fall into the "worrier" categories of personalities, so we are cautious people in general. And that's ok. If our cautiousness saves lives, than so be it. The End.

I watched a bit but it's all the normal worship songs he does. I did get to hear "Breathe In Me" from the I'll Lead You Home album from 1995.

What?! How do we have an arsenal of FAKE guns in our bedroom hidden like we were in a video game or something. Oi! Cracked me up! And at the time I took the photo, they were playing video games and Abishai was calling out "I need a goody!" aka health or guns or ammo.  Good grief.

Yup.

Oh no, this came out blurry! He doesn't normally block the whole walkway like this, so I thought it was interesting. Poor guy is still probably exhausted from yesterday's in and out people. Every time little guy goes out, Socks typically gets up and follows. Or if Abishai is out front, Socks is in the living room as close to the door as possible or at the garage door. He's so protective that way.

Keturah brought all these outdoor pillows outside and they decided to make up a game of leap frog with them! They make up all kinds of game on the trampoline.

I slipped!

Bwahahaha

Yup, but who's bored? Not us!

Wow! That would be fun! But it's hard to draw all of this.

I felt this on Sock's shoulder so I took pictures to keep an eye on it. I think it's just a pimple and when I picked at it, it bled. A little bit below the skin, and growths can just be growths and nothing horrible. But still, this is why it's important to look him over when you are brushing him, which I did this morning. I was tired of the "mats" of hair under his chin and on his neck and chest. They aren't true mats like retrievers have, but more like tufts. Anyway, you have to angle the brush just the right way to get the undercoat and smooth everything out. Justin and I had fun outside with all the dog hair floating in the air and Justin trying to catch it like he was a 2 yr old catching bubbles. But Socks felt so much better I'm sure! I also took a paper towel to his ears because oh my they were bad again. He's a healthy pup, these things are normal, but I need to keep up with them.

Jared feels good enough to work on a project! Yeah! That's progress!

Grrrr....go help your dad! Girlfriends can wait! But he does want to keep up his drumming skills, so there ya go. Rockband.

"Bob! Help the carnivore cut his meat!" - The Incredibles  That's all Abishai wanted for dinner and he only ate half of it. Two hours later he had some of his favorite wheat things. He didn't eat much in the afternoon and his other meals were pretty light. Oh, and we did measure all the kids today! I'll try to get a picture tomorrow. In 2 1/2 years, Benaiah grew an inch, Justin grew 7-8 inches, Keturah grew 5 inches and Abishai grew 5 inches. That's insane!

Social distancing at Smitty's studio. Gotcha. Mr. Jim Daneker, one of the best pianists and composers and music programmers on the planet, is in the back there.

30 minute worship set. I'm glad others enjoy watching it. It's the same kind of stuff to me and we have our own big band to listen to on Sundays. I'd like him to get back to the "total request live" type of social media "show."  Anybody else remember TRL on MTV? It's the only MTV show we watched every afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30pm or something like that. You call in before that or something and see if your band is requested the most. On any given day it would be Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync or Britney Spears. Yup, the 1990's was awesome!

Sunday, Day 17

Our new typical Sunday full of screen time and naptime. We laid low again today because I'd like to hit it hard on Monday and Tuesday and I know it's better if I fully recover first. I wish that would happen in Israel, but it won't. So I'm praying for a miracle for my body to respond well or the walking not be too intense. I know I'm going to be on high alert trying to soak it all in. I'll hopefully keep a diary and write down things as we go, vs. being on the blog posts. I won't be bringing a computer and there won't be any time to blog anyway. I need to get together with Gary about what they talked about at the meeting last week and get our passports done. But we'll see.

I took the opportunity to lay down for a quick nap one our bed while Jared was occupied with Abishai on Minecraft. But Jared found his way in for a nap soon after. I was sure that I wouldn't fall asleep again because I had had a cup of coffee less than an hr earlier and probably would need a restroom soon. Well, 2 hrs later and we woke up from a glorious nap! Am I immune to caffeine now? Or have I just deprived myself of sleep that much? It doesn't matter. I was at peace with kids doing screen time all day and me not looking at a to do list. Now I'm ready to tackle the week ahead!

But before I do that, here's monologue for today. The other day when Leah had sent us a website link with some memes about sheltering in place or the coronavirus, I texted back and said, "meh, not the funniest ones I've seen." She wasn't happy about my response, but as I was talking about it with Jared and Benaiah, I now know why. One of the first memes had to do with a friend asking another friend about where her husband was. The second friend said, "In the garden." The first friend said, "I didn't see him on my way in." And the second friend said, "He's under the dirt." or something like that. Basically, that meme and others, or other general posts, that say things like, "I am going to go crazy spending all day every day with my husband and kids." rubs me the wrong way. I know I say that sometimes, but it's more about why do I find the kids annoying and how can I change my personality and habits to like and love them better. Sometimes I do want to change them, or at least try, because it would benefit everybody. But that's my job as mom and trainer. Anyway, I was thinking about this as I woke up from our nap and how blessed I am to crave time with my immediate family. Well, we have to have time alone, too, but I feel more at peace and comfortable when we are together. Four years ago, Jared took a sabbatical from the presidency at Maritime Christian College to deal with a family matter. That was sometime in late February of 2016 I believe. And then he was fired on April 20th of that year. He was home 100% of the time from February until pretty much the end of 2016. Oh how Abishai and I loved it! That's when Abishai and he really bonded while I packed up the house, taught homeshcool, unpacked, and taught homeschool again.  I feel much less anxious when Jared is home to pick up the slack, to help Abishai get food, to cook for himself, etc. All the parenting decisions aren't on me. Now, I know that most people aren't used to having their spouses and children home at all. In fact, sometimes they barely see and/or really know each other. So this shelter in place thing is super hard. They fight. They don't know what to do with themselves. Their routines are gone. But I hope that they adjust well and then be sad when it's all over. I'm not counting down the days until things become normal. I like not having to go anywhere and not have any expectations. I love having all of us at home. I miss Jared when he's at work. Abishai misses him, too. We have created an ebb and flow environment and I enjoy the adult talk when Jared pokes his head outside the bedroom door to go water trees or have lunch. Maybe that happens more in a workplace, the chit chat. But then again, how deep does your relationship go with your co worker? I'd rather work alongside my husband. We are a team. We are raising the family together. We both take care of the house. I have to wonder sometimes what God's original intention for the family was. Are men or women really supposed to work far from home? Or did most Bible characters farm or have livestock and worked the land around their dwelling? Why do we think that being gone from the house for 8-12 hrs is supposed to be normal? How can family relationships grow if we only see each other for a few minutes everyday? I know that there will be a baby boom and a rise in divorce rates. I understand there are stupid or immature or dangerous people in relationships with vulnerable people. But for us, and the majority of people in our circles, I hope and pray that by the end of this shelter in place, some might enjoy it so much that they change their jobs and lifestyles to accommodate it. The comments that people make about "I can't work alongside my husband." or "X amount of days/weeks until the big yellow bus comes." breaks my heart. There are days where I want to leave and see my mom friends or just go be myself because the kids are driving me nuts. But it's because of my own insecurities, issues, and personality. And I lack the ability to handle them. Sure, they sin and need to be corrected, but sometimes, it's just their personality and they can't help it.  Jared and I had a nice fight over the thermostat the other morning. He turns it down when he walks past and I turn it back up. And, we have tease fought over the workbench and organizing tools and other things. But otherwise, it's been so incredibly awesome having him home. I'm looking forward to all this extra time with him and Benaiah (if Benaiah ever gets up before lunch time) in the next two months. I just can't believe these two long stints of Jared being at home happened exactly 4 years apart. Things are quite different than 4 yrs ago, but we will spend time remembering those days as well. So please, stop with the "I can't stand my husband and kids" posts and appreciate all the time you have to observe your kids, get to know them, do new things with them, and keep them close. Use your time wisely.

Our school district goes back tomorrow, and some parents are scared to death about getting the e-learning done. Some think it's going to take hours and they won't have to work from home. Some are concerned about getting assignments done on time. I saw a sample schedule that read that the teachers will post materials and assignments by Monday afternoon. Then, the kids have Tuesday through Friday to complete them. Each day it should take them 20 minutes do language arts, reading, or math, and then they have to go through some "slides" of material. Teachers are available for questions from 9a-2p. I don't know the details about turning in homework, but I don't like this a) because it's all alone b) how on earth does anyone think this will take 5 hrs? They are only focusing on the bare minimum, and even that, they are just requiring completion, not correct answers. Ugh! Watered down education, but it's better than no education. Benaiah's school is still going with paper packets and real grades thank goodness. And no school will physically be back at their buildings. If they left stuff in their lockers, they have to make an appointment to go get it. I'm not sure how that will work, especially with a big high school, but it's not my problm. Benaiah left his good winter coat at school, so he'll have to go pick that up.  He doesn't care, but we do. He doesn't care about graduation and senior lunch either. Sigh. Ok then. I'll stop living out my graduation dreams then. And now Mrs. Nanney has been diagnosed and sent to the hospital with Covid-19. This isn't funny folks, stay home! Mr. Stuart Prawatt came home today though. He was in the hospital for over two weeks! And also this week, some people are going to get together in the parking lot at St Francis South and honk their horns and flash their lights in appreciation for all the nurses and doctors inside.  Sounds fun, but it's on Wednesday and we all have Zoom meetings. Sigh. Jared and Abishai might be going all by themselves. I wish I was!

Not a lot of pictures today because we spent a lot of time on screens and Jared and I had a glorious 2 hr Sunday afternoon nap together, despite drinking a whole cup of regular coffee before hand. Here's what I have.

Shout out to Miss Ali Summers for sharing about e2!

Awww, thanks, Ali!

Here are the measurements from yesterday! This wall isn't the best because the lower measurements get rubbed off from little hands holding onto the trim, but it works ok. We did have use I think some door trim in the Beech Grove to do measurements, and I know that we physically measured and I put those measurements over the years on this blog, scrapbooks, etc. if if they weren't on walls. It's been 2 1/2 yrs since the last measurements, almost to the day. So, here goes, Abishai.

Difference in height between Justin and Benaiah is getting smaller.

Difference in height between Keturah's measurements. But take note, Keturah is taller now than Justin was when he was a year older than she was now. That could be the boy/girl thing. I stopped growing around the age of 12, so Keturah might be reaching her peak soon.

Justin grew 9 inches in 2 1/2 years! Benaiah gained another inch or so.

Abishai grew 7 inches in 2 1/2 years! I knew his pants and shirts were shorter, it's just that skinny little waist and butt that makes it hard to move up in clothes.

Keturah grew 6 1/2 inches in  2 1/2 years.

Just about another inch for Benaiah. Then Abishai asked if Mommy and Daddy would get measured and we said no because we don't grow like you do.

Dancing with the before church music.

Pastor Eric Denney talking about generosity today.  Mr. Denney is the campus pastor at the Shelby St. campus.Regular drum kit today, too.

Hey! They actually played Candyland together and didn't argue! I tried to get Justin to play Risk with Benaiah and Benaiah refused to. I'm not sure what he did during our nap, but Benaiah talked with Ava and then got pizza for us today. I'm trying to bring them all together but it's hard when Benaiah doesn't show his face until 1pm, which is about when they were playing Candyland. Then Daddy and Abishai played Legos for awhile before playing Minecraft. Sundays are probably going to be screen days, only because we have to watch online in the morning for an hour, then the kids play on devices in the afternoon, then they have their after party youth group thing online at 6. It's hard to count the two church things as screen time because they really are not entertainment in the traditional sense, and yet, you are still straining your eyes to see them and there's physical movement in your body. I know many people are using Zoom to chat, but again, the eyeballs, the movement.

I made low sugar protein balls using ingredients I bought but don't care for on their own. 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of protein power (the Nuzest chocolate kind from Lilsipper, which has a bit of cane sugar), a splash of vanilla extract, a couple of tablespoons of honey, half of cup of no sugar almond butter I melted so things would mix quicker, and unsweetened dairy free chocolate chips that taste horrible on their own.  So, hopefully this will be a lower sugar quick lunch/snack for me. They didn't turn out to bad. I was looking for no bakes but then thought why not protein balls that are similar. I did have a recipe I loosely followed. I told the kids they can have them as well, but they are not super sweet. I wasn't eating most of the ingredients on their own, so here goes.

I grabbed a quick pic of just this flower in the garden because it probably won't last long.

Sun tea! A few of our windows don't have the screens in them, although they do fully open, so Jared can open this one and just put the jars of tea on the windowsill without going outside. How cool is that?! We've made sun tea occasionally over the years. You brew tea and then let it cool off in the sun. Or maybe he was just getting them to cool off faster. He doesn't drink iced tea, but he often just has room temperature tea.

It was partly cloudy today and somewhat cool out so nobody had the willpower to go outside. But the tree is still beautiful!

Benaiah actually took the time to take the dog outside to wrestle with for a few minutes. I'm always saying that we have a huge backyard to run around in and wrestle in the grass (I don't care about grass stains and honestly, most grass stains come out with today's laundry detergent and washers pretty easily). But look at those big hobbit feet! They didn't last long because Benaiah bopped Socks on the nose and Socks lowered his head in shame. Poor puppy. I told Benaiah that Socks knows you didn't mean it after you talked kindly to him. He'll be ok.

They didn't last long, but they got their heart rates up for a minute. The other kids did get on the trampoline for 15 minutes, too.

Loads more of the brotherly teasing going on these days. Especially has Justin catches up in height. Benaiah weighs about 2 1/2 times what Justin does though.

I found some old to do lists in a pile of papers on my desk, so I nabbed this one off my window above my computer. I think Jared did this one in 2016 or so. We've done a lot of it.

Ok, this PROVES that I've been talking about mulch for YEARS. This was possibly put on my window in 2016 or maybe 2017. I'd say 2016 because we did bring those boxes from storage here pretty quickly after we moved in.

This one is most likely 2018 when Abishai was 3 because of the potty training. I think the boxes were the books that ended up in our room last year.  Again, note that the flower bed is still on there. We don't have a slide for the playground yet either. And we haven't painted Keturah's room.

The back page was our summer bucketlist. Not too bad of a list but we didn't get a lot done off it.

I was putting away the platter from the protein balls and saw the paper goods I had stored up there. Well, since we were having a fun easy supper of Papa Murphy's pizza, I decided we'll go with some fun plates. This one is mine. Benaiah had an itch for the meat lovers pizza from Papa Murphy's, so I let him order that and a GF crust one, paid for it on our card and then he went to get it. We have our own grubhub guy that we don't have to tip, lol! When he got there, they had it set up where they had the front doors locked, and you had to knock on the door and tell them your name. You had to be with exact cash or online, i.e. they weren't using all the buttons on the cash register. And then they brought the pizza to you at the door. Way to go! We still wiped down the outer plastic wrapping on the pizza, but it was nice having something different. You have to cook Papa Murphy's pizza yourself at home. It was $30 for a 14 inch super thick meat lovers crust and a 14 inch gluten free half Hawaian/half pepperoni one. While we are trying not to make this a habit, it was kind of nice to have a break, something we've had in 3 weeks. Benaiah knows he has to keep his drive thru experiences to a minimum.

I had #1 Prince at Abishai's spot since it was from his 1st birthday party, but he wanted Thomas so he switched with Justin. Justin was the one who was most interested in Thomas the Tank engine back in the day.  Keturah of course had her Frozen stuff.

Daddy and Justin.

Real men use pink plates, Benaiah.

Benaiah had bought these, one box for the kids and one box for himself but twizzlers, but purposefully left them in his truck so that we would eat other things first. Good thinking! What a nice surprise!

The End