Year 5, March 30th - April 2nd, 2020: This NOT an April's Fool's Joke!

Covid-19, Days 11-14

Monday, Day 11

Phew. As time as gone on, I feel less and less inclined to post all day every day on social media. It's bad out there. No one is listening. I've done my part. My guy(s) are home. What else can I do? That's right, Benaiah has agreed to take 4-6 weeks off from work if we pay for the rest of his schooling and car insurance over that time period! Praise the Lord! And he will still have a job, his rate of pay, and his leadership position. I don't know if he will have to use his paid time off or not, and I know that he would want/need that for CIY (if it even happens this year), but that doesn't matter to us right now. I had no idea he would even consider it. It was a money issue for him, so once I eased that burden, I think he felt relief. He again told me to stop sending him stuff about this virus and I again had to apologize, and rightly so. I think secretly he's been extremely worried about this, too. But, we've taught him to be tough and loyal and work hard. I think Grandpa also has grasped more of the urgency and has also brought it up with Benaiah because he mentioned to me that he could help out moneywise as well. Praise the Lord that we do have pockets of money in places as emergency funds (sort of). We can use our IRS refund or my dad's leftover insurance money that is earmarked for college to pay off the school asap. We can use our own or the IRS refund money to cover the car insurance. The Bank of Gary has been used in a few years as we have tried to be even more independent in our own savings, but it's there if any one of us needs it.

Anyway, we have options and many don't. The Governor of Indiana said in his press conference today that they expect the Coronavirus to peak late April to mid May. Wow. That's through Easter and Graduation season. We are really going to be stuck for that long. Oh how I wish we had that second fridge! But, we did end up getting the mulch, and I have shingles to put underneath it as suggested and it's going to be nice this week. And Benaiah is home on Wednesday and Thursday. And the school said that instead of classwork, everyone is supposed to get their volunteer hours in by helping their families, so,........my front garden will get done! I feel so guilty though! I keep telling everyone to do without the luxuries and I was so prepared to let the garden go. But, we had already called the feed and seed store and was on the list to have it delivered. So, it was. I also feel guilty for going to the chiropractor today, although I made it very clear that this is essential to me because it keeps me going physically. Plus, it's one guy, his son, and some lady assistants. Lot of hand sanitizers and space. It was very, very quiet in there today. I got once a month and I had already waited a week to get my shoulder fixed. I knew if I postponed it even two weeks we would still be under these restrictions, so I just kept my appointment. I'm not keeping other appointments though. And maybe Benaiah's teeth extraction consultation will also be postponed. It's not until the end of May though. I'm so glad I got all my other rechecks done in February . I think God had a hand in planning all of that. I do have an ultrasound scheduled for June on my cyst that I will probably keep. But everyone is healthy and Jared is finally stable. He goes to the same chiropractor I go to, so he would be bringing home the same germs regardless. Anyway, there's that.

And now let's go further back in the day......to the beginning of the day where I had to clean up a 3 ft diameter of dog urine from in front of the fridge. Yeah. No fun. Jared called it Socks' first old man loose bladder. I call it that I forgot to let him out at 9pm the night before and Jared didn't let him out in the morning so he went 15 hrs without peeing. Human error, not dog error. At least he picked an easy clean up spot. It did reach a rug near the sink, but that's easy to move, and replace if necessary. I couldn't put it in the washer though so I sprayed some Thieves cleaner on it and left it to dry. Socks seemed to feel very sorry and ashamed by it. He hasn't peed in the house since he was 6 months old. He's had a few throw ups and a couple of diarrhea moments, but that's it. And usually right back the back door, easy to clean up. Poor doggy! So, that was a fun wake up call. Plus Benaiah washed most of the dishes but not all of the dishes he used to make dinner last night for himself. I had forgotten to run the dishwasher midday when it go full so the sink was extra full, too. Ugh! But that was the end of the yuck for the day.

We did manage a full day's worth of school before lunch time. Yeah! I didn't do all the read alouds, but we got history done! It worked keeping us on a regular schedule during "break." I just needed to add a couple of things back into the day. That meant they had plenty of time to go outside and enjoy the day. 50 degrees, a bit breezy but dry and sunny! I think Abishai and Justin played on the trampoline for 2 hrs in total or more! I had a hard time getting Keturah to ride her bike, but she did. I and Abishai did one lap around the block together, him talking all the way, want to go eat at Grandpa's house or use one of their bikes. Then I did a second lap around. Everybody had a little screen time. Keturah even got to Zoom with her small group girls! She was giggling listening to them chatter. Sweet! Even Luke Green got on for a moment, too! So precious that my kids have those connections, even when I don't feel I need them myself. Yes, especially since they are homeschooled and don't have teachers and school mates to talk to, yes, I get it. I only had youth group leaders and friends and I survived just fine. Jared had a handful of friends and a couple of teachers he liked, but mostly it was youth group stuff, too. Anyway, that was fun.  We wore Abishai out today, so he was beyond giddy at bedtime. He even took Dinosaury on a ride in the stroller today.

Dinner was spaghetti with ground turkey (there was no ground beef at the store) and leftover green pepper and zucchini mixed in. Benaiah didn't want the zucchini that came with his Hello Fresh meal and it was about to go bad, so I threw it into the meat, although no one else but me eats it. And you know what? They ALL ate it, including Jared. So, I might just try that again! I told the kids that moms have this trick of getting kids to eat extra vegetables by hiding them in things like spaghetti sauce, either diced up small or pureed. I didn't do either because my kids know to at least try things and I don't want to be that deceitful. We ate our fill of 1 lb of ground turkey and still had a bit leftover. So yes, we can stretch our proteins out a bit and survive. I am tracking the foods I eat to see if I'm overeating carbs/sugar and the last two days I haven't felt super hungry but my intake has been fine. Smaller portions and less candy. Less Starbucks at Kroger after counseling on Thursdays, too. Eating healthy at home helps. Now, if I could just get everyone else to properly clean up after themselves when they cook, that would be great.  With a small kitchen, we need to clean up after nearly every meal. And I hate cleaning. We all know this. Just do it.

Yup, that's it. Another Monday under quarantine is in the books. We are still learning. We are still making progress on the house. We are still meeting with people through Zoom. I think life is grand! But ask me tomorrow, and I'm sure it won't be so grand, lol. One day at a time. I'm feeling more settled in a routine and plan and that brings me peace. I'm excited to have Benaiah home, even if he sleeps a lot. It's just safer. Maybe we can even get some scholarships going or get that FAFSA done and the passports for Israel, assuming we are still going. There's a meeting for the Israel trip this week via zoom but I said I would have my Bible study again, so I told Gary to send me the powerpoint. Benaiah can listen in though. And Shauna and Everly can join in as well. We'll see. It will be interesting.

Yeah, this guy used all the gym equipment he had at home and then some to make an obstacle course in his house so he could keep practicing his par cor or whatevery you want to call it. He jumped onto balls sitting on his counter, or onto a roller on a table. It was crazy!

A great post helping us to redefine what it looks like to truly be poor, without education, and behind fencing. We have it easy in America, still.

Prayer suggestions from church of what we can pray for when we stop to pray at 3:17 pm every day. We did this for a while with a different time stamp for a certain reason Gary had started. It was 2:11 or something.

Awards for people playing the "draw on Mr. Johnson's face" game.

Morning sunshine. I think Jared wanted to leave the big door open but it wasn't quite warm enough yet.

That's a cool reflection.

Keturah's window reflection in the hallway.

Not as cloudy today.

I need to redo our windows, but this graphic shares it through May.

Back to the regular routine of school. Abishai did a great job listening and going slowly when making his lines! Although he thought the bubbles were coconuts that could break things when they landed on objects. Oi!

He got cold outside so Keturah let him borrow her sweatshirt. He was pretty proud of it.

Oh my goodness. If the back fence was ours, I would have the boys make one for our squirrels. Cute!

Not summer yet, but the kids found the popsicle makers I had tucked away but at their eye level so they would eventually find them. So, the fridge and freezer were a bit emptier so we had room for them! Kool-aid with 1/2 cup of regular instead of the full cup

Justin was trying to master some flips today!

Benaiah showed up at 1pm today. Trying to play with Abishai.

This is so cool! It only shows up on the flight trader app or website because it's a digital model of an airplane's flight path. How cool is that this person flew in a line to make a word on the radar!

And then they thanked the medical people! So cool!

Mulch delivery! $120 for this much mulch AND delivered! Sweet!

Abishai is ready to help!

Ah, I think we wanted to put soil down first, and this might not actually be enough because of the way I want to build up the garden, but we'll see.

On our walk today! What a cute, talkative walking buddy! We saw both sets of ducks, too! And he held my hand the whole time. When a truck passed us, he insisted on staying between me and the side of the road for safety. So thoughtful!

When I dropped Abishai off after my frist round, I saw these too working on brining the old shingles up front so I can use them as a barrier along the edges of the garden. Ah, it's coming together this week!

You can see our pretty windows and door from the street!

Today's time for 2 laps.

Less 1700 steps I had already taken, so 3,600 steps more or so just on those two laps!

Why would you want to try fit through year? Goof!

GF pasta, ground turkey, basic spaghetti sauce, and the secret ingredients: zucchini and green pepper! Dad added garlic power to all our food, too.

Keturah giggling with her small group friends. It's good to see her smile!

Good night, exhausted one. I'm glad you have lots of friends to snuggle with.

Tuesday, Day 12

Oh goodness, it's 11pm and I haven't started typing yet. Like I told a friend via her Facebook page today, block scheduling is a thing and you get done what you get done in those hours. But, if you have major deadlines, those come first. So, I scrolled for a frothing machine. I reread the Core 52 chapter and some Scriptures for our Bible study tomorrow night. I printed off the extra materials that go with this week's sermon because I have a hunch that the women aren't going to want to talk long about the chapter we are on about Jesus' identity because even I'm a bit confused. I get distracted by my phone game and scrolling social media or reading the next email. Sigh. That's life I guess.

Normal day here. I'm still smiling and overjoyed at our mutual decision about Benaiah's work. He did put into his boss that he will be gone April 13-May 25. I'm so excited to have him home and for him to have a break. He's worked so hard for two years straight, I know this is a blessing in disguise from God. I just paid off his tuition bill for school and transferred monies from our checking account to our savings account for his car insurance. I just knew something was up when we had a huge "refund" from the IRS this year. I'm so grateful we don't have to worry financially at all right now. In fact, we are chomping at the bit to spend that money on our to do lists. And now, with Benaiah home, we can enlist his help on some of it. He still has schoolwork, but I'm praying and hoping that he can really develop his relationships with his siblings and Jared while we are all home together. I'm not setting the bar too high, but did tell him he can be helpful while he is at home. I know he must leave our house (and cleave to a wife) someday, but not yet. I will enjoy this 6 weeks the best that I can, and hopefully, I will feel more at peace and confident that we are done. That we've raised our son to be a man. Teaching and training doesn't really stop, but we've made it through the childhood part. It's time to celebrate!  What a blessing it will be to have this extra time with him! It warms my heart!

Ah, I wasn't too motivated to push hard today, but I worked steadily where I could on school. Abishai and I painted rocks. I sent some long encouraging messages to friends. Jared had a chiropractor appointment and then stopped at Aldi's and Meijer again. He bought powdered milk, but I wish he had bought regular milk, too. Powdered milk is fine in recipes and maybe cereal, but not to drink. So he was late getting started on his work and was a bit frustrated. I couldn't think straight to pick out dinner until the last minute so it was late. I did work through some of the parts of the IAHE convention since I hadn't touch it at all yet. I did the virtual vendor sections first, making note of when discounts expire. I will got back and watch some of hte longer video of the vendors before I move on to main sessions and workshops.

The boys were outside for a little bit today, but it was 43 degrees, cloudy, and dull. But they did it with bare feet on the trampoline. Keturah and I stayed inside nice and toasty warm. Jared keeps turning down the heat and I keep turning it up. Heat wars! Sorry, I hate cold fingers! He also had men's Bible study of course. I will have Ladies Bible Study tomorrow night, at the same time that the youth group is doing a livestream on YouTube with worship music.  And Benaiah and I are supposed to be on a Zoom meeting with Gary about the Israel trip. So, we'll see how our bandwidth is doing when all of that is going on. We do have great bandwidth for how many devices are on every day all day.

Other than that, all is quiet. If the weather is warmer tomorrow, I can have Benaiah help me in the garden for his volunteer hours for the week for school. They pushed academics back a week so the teachers' can get caught up. Let's finish this race well, young man!

I love doing these things! And they did put up on their Instagram stories, too! It was from the student ministry pages. I have no clue what the characters are like in the comic books or old tv shows. So, I based my opinions on the current TV shows and movies. Fun!

I love that word! Triumverate!

Yuppers.

Eek! The desk is starting to look cluttered! A knife, fingernail clippers, cords, papers,....

Oh no! Not another stack of papers!

Starting to bloom!

What in the world? When did we have to start putting this warning on the bag of flour?! "Flour is raw. Please cook fully before enjoying." Duh!

This is Abishai's way of emptying the trash cans in the house. Keeps him busy!

I finished the Mandolorian TV show last night. It was only 8 short episodes but so good! I love baby Yoda! It's not Yoda, and it doesn't have a name, but it's the Yoda species.

Changed up the window decor! I used some construction paper and cardstock. Simple but cute! Hand drawn and cut, by the way.

A creepy ladybug.

A blue tulip.

Always the go to for exercise. Another day, another time to jump.

Another time to wake up the Benaiah.

Aw, we've had these forever!

They came from a family from the Candia Congregatinal Church, probably one of the first families that introduced my parents to homeschooling. Mr. and Mrs. G were awesome! We were at the church for the last few years of my elementary school and middle school, so maybe 8yrs old to 13 years old.

Painting rocks! Using our smock and the little paint tray that I bought a convention last year!

The other kids weren't interested, but Abishai persevered until the last one. I had to finish it.

Put that tongue back in your face. Here he is painting with his left hand!

And now with his right! Yes, he is ambidextrous still! I will be having him learning to write with his left hand because it has been a bit more dominant than the right, however, now I'm thinking I should do both? Hm,...

The rocks will be spread out in the grass near the road for our neighbors to find on their walks.

Yes, we are all in culture shock.

Oh yes, we are definitely coming to the experimentation and adaptation phases. Especially now that I feel more peace, I can dive into making this work. But it's ok to grief and go through all kinds of emotions. We'll get through this.

For usre. I got these three screen shots from a child social worker friend who lived in Italy for 3 years with her family to do ministry right before we moved to Canada. Her kids are the same ages as our kids.

Wednesday, April Fool's, Day 13

Ok, now that I've watched a few YouTube videos to relax me.....I'll get started. It was decent day. Same old routine. I have noticed a drop in sibling squabbles, for the most part, especially on the days we can get outside. It's been a bit cooler, but dry, but no one wants to go out and I'm doing school again with the kids so I didn't make the effort to go out for a walk. It's that whole "slow morning" routine I have, ugh! Anyway, not worth battling that guilt right now. Keturah, however, got up on the wrong side of the bed today, wow. It was a reminder to me again why God only gifted us with one daughter.  Yikes! I didn't try to find out why this time, I just gave her her space. She did get less tablet time partly because of her grouchiness, but that's almost just my go to instead of finding out if it's really the problem or not. We also simply ran out of time for everyone to have their time. Several us needed the difference devices for different small groups and it will be worse next week. Benaiah and I was supposed to be on a call with the Israel trip, but I had Bible study and Benaiah refused to be on the all after spending 6 hrs on his math homework. He once again got up at noon. I could my counselor I'm trying to be patient, but this sleeping until noon will stop once next week's work is over. He can do homework between 9pm-12am and play video games during the day. None of this 3am stuff. Because, he needs to contribute somehow to the household and he agreed to. Well, I was trying to convince Jared that Benaiah will act differently this time around, but he's already showing signs of "I don't need to get up when you say." He needs to put in volunteer hours for school this week and he was told to do it for his family. But he wrangled his way out of some hours by asking Mr. Nanney if last week's church volunteering counted. Mr. Nanney relented. If Benaiah only has one great skill in his life, it's how to negotiate. He's been great at it for his whole life. I guess most kids have that skill, but some are more crafty with it than others. Benaiah and Abishai both have that skill. Justin backs off from the discussion because he's a peacemaker. At this point, Keturah just gets mad and pushes, but it's not always logical or she doesn't try a different approach. So, if Benaiah makes me out to be a liar that things will be different this time around with him home, well, I'll get mad and then move on.

Anyway, at least Keturah made it through school ok. She was mad I had given her more homework but last week was a break week and this week was full throttle. I gave her until the end of the week to finish the assignments. I clearly told her she didn't need to finish the whole book series I gave her on America because it goes all the way through the 20th century. I just wanted to get her started on them to read as we went along. Sigh. I guess I should be thankful that she's doing the work and feeling the urgency to get things done. That is an improvement from a few years ago when it was taking her all day. Justin was interrupted several times today by Abishai especially, but he claims he read and studied. And I didn't take too long to go over his homework today, so I'll have to do that double checking tomorrow. I'm still trying to get them both to self pace and decide on how long they need to spend on each thing, but they can't go too long without being checked on because I don't want them off track of my time table. For example, I tell Justin to write notes using a certain set of questions every single day. Will he remember to do that? No, so then we have to go back and rewrite things and then it's been too long from the reading and he'll forget what it was about. So, more butt wiping. And again I skipped work with Abishai, whoops.

I had my counseling session today and I told her all the lovely things I was feeling. Then putting together dinner felt rushed because I got an email that said all small groups were meeting in separate zoom rooms online so I panicked about getting everything set up. The chicken for dinner wasn't properly thawed so I felt behind on that, plus the sink was full of dishes that needed to be put in the dishwasher (the oldest needs to be trained! He's had too many years of me doing it for him because he's not home). Then I had to get on zoom for Bible study. Bible study was ok. No one really wanted to talk much about the chapter which was pretty historical and not as applicable. We talked about the sermon briefly, and eventually ended up talking about one mom getting her kid ready for kindergarten next year. Then I was like, "Whoa, wait a minute, what do you have to do academically to prepare them for kindergarten? I thought that was the start of their formal learning." So, rest assured, the kindergarten teacher that is in our group, laid it all out for her what is required in her classroom and I chimed in with what I've done with our kids.  I always feel "behind" that my kids don't count to 100 or write their names until the end of kindergarten but looking back, who cares when they learned it! I could have taught them earlier I suppose, but I didn't want to. That doesn't mean they aren't smart. Same thing with shoe tying or potty training or anything else. I would just like Abishai to get used to sitting down with me for a few minutes every day to work on something more academically. But we aren't doing letters yet, written or orally. We are working on some 3 and 4 yr old workbooks. Of course the usual "This is why I can't homeschool my kids, I don't know this stuff!" came up. Oh yup, I took that opportunity to say, "I didn't and don't know this either a lot of the time" One of the mom's said she has a tutor for their 7 year old. Why? He's not reading well yet and doesn't really care for school. Maybe he's just not ready for some of the work or just isn't motivated. There's no learning delay or anxiety or anything. But oh man, a paid tutor at the age of 7?  I'll bite my tongue though and wait for another opportunity because it was time to end the call, especially when one of our questions tonight was about humility. It's going to be so interesting to hear what people say and the questions that they have about home education after this. It's almost fun to watch sometimes!  No, your kid won't fall behind because they aren't in the physical building or they aren't doing a lot of the lessons at home. Do you know how much they don't learn in school? My kids seem to lack the ability to pick up material, too. Nope, you don't have to know it all to teach it. And I could go on and on. Fun stuff for me to watch them wrestle with some of the same questions beginner homeschoolers have.

Woah, I just went on a runaway train deleting emails.....it's because I remembered a resource that I could share with the ladies, so I did. Moving on now.

I love this! Thanks friend from PEI! "I'm not stuck inside, I'm safe inside."

Abishai is so much an extrovert that his little enterage gained another specimen today, Clifford. And he is loving taking them around the house for walks in the stroller. We visited Benaiah's "house" but he was snoring. We visited Daddy's "office" but he wasn't in at the moment. We visited Keturah's "house" but she growled. And finally we visited Justin's "house" and he smiled and said hi. So much fun!

Eating a grape popsicle for breakfast with his friends. No social distancing needed between these guys.

He was cold because he was in shorts but I immediately said, "My baby Yoda!" when I saw him. Cutie!

Great one, Brenton!

See Jared's Twitter post below but yes, Abishai was setting up shop next to Daddy.

Lining up all the books he's going to read to himself while Daddy works. He even brought in a puzzle to do.

Best work buddy ever.

My friend Laura, from PEI, is a genius! For April Fool's, she pretended it was someone's birthday, but no one could figure out who. She made a cake, gave them "presents" aka canned goodies from the pantry all wrapped up, and then they played this game. Genius! I miss that goofball!

Wait, what?! You can open a cheesestick all by yourself? How did that happen? And he said, "Because it had happened!"

Going for a walk and taking care of his friends.

Full bloom!

And our tree has bloomed as well. Not the greatest pics today but it was cold and I did these on my phone.

"Mom, Dad's right, you don't have to take pictures of all of life's moments." Well, son, I have very little pictures of you because you are never home. And, because of social distancing, I have even less of you and Ava now. And, I thought it was so cute how he was talking to her while he was just waking up and cooking breakfast.  I think she was watching a TV show and eating lunch. It was 1pm. And I love where he put his phone! Great idea!

Abishai brought this to me again singing his little song about the trinity. Then he went looking for his "microphone" aka the old maraca from the Fisher Price drum kit. But that's in a different box in the shed now. So, he said, "How about a pieced of paper rolled up like we do at church!" Yes, they have made trumpets at church a few times. And then we found something to represent the "ball" of a microphone on top. He went around singing for a little bit just like that. And he said he didn't need the paper to remind him of the song because he knew it wel. Good grief, just stop it already, you're so cute!

My set up, until my face kept freezing because this is the end of the internet line. I needed to charge the tablet, but I got just enough energy out of it to finish the call. I moved it to the edge of the bed near the door so hopefully I didn't look stupid on it. I didn't have my video up on the screen. I like our ringlight and it definitely helps. I use just the cell phone holding part for my telepathy counseling sesions. We had me on Jared's zoom id with the ladies, Justin and Keturah on YouTube live at first to do worship music together. And then Justin used my zoom id to log into a zoom room with his small group. Because Keturah's small group saw each other on Monday, they will start meeting right after the worship time on Zoom, too. I think I will have her do the livestream on YouTube and then zoom on Daddy's computer. We'll have to set up a third id first though. That way Jared can help her with it, and she can see everyone at once. You can only see 4 people at a time on the phone/tablet version of the app. Justin can manage my computer like he did tonight using my profile on zoom. I'll keep using Jared's paid for zoom profile and host our Bible study. Our Wednesday evenings just got crazy! I was enjoying the break from all commitments, thank you. Now I have to add this back to my calendar. Sigh. The kids don't really care (or they won't admit to caring) if they talk with their small group or not. Benaiah should have been on the livestream and with his small group but he refused to be. He's too good for it and he's lazy and doesn't see why he should do it unless it benefits him. That's not the purpose of the group. This is your senior year. These are the last few weeks you'll have with these guys. But, I can't force him, so, there he sits playing his video games and not talking to anyone from real life unless you already have a deep relationship with him. Sigh. That's not how leadership works better, but what I can do. I didn't want to go to the Israel meeting either. We are still planning on going to Israel in November, and the Michael W. Smith concert got rescheduled for October so all is well there. Yeah!

Thursday, Day 14

Time to get outside! What a gorgeous day we had! I'm glad it was the end of the week where I didn't have as much read alouds and homework set up as I do on Mondays and Tuesdays.  That freed me up to do some computer work while I let my headache go away and my stomach feel better. Note to self: don't eat a full cup of dark chocolate chips before bed, even if they are dairy free. They are still legumes/nuts and yup, I did NOT feel good. I wanted to get outside, so I tried to power through the inside stuff first. And per the rule, no electronics if it's nice outside until after supper. No one seemed to complain too much about that one today, so I think the rule is sticking a little bit more. I will change it again when the days get hot an we are inside in the afternoon in the summer. And it sounds like we'll be stuck in until then! They announced today that no schools will physical open for the rest of the year. They will go for 160 out of 180 days via e-learning. There will be no testing for graduating seniors which doesn't apply to Benaiah because his school is not accredited and does it's own thing. Plus, seniors don't have to complete the rest of this semester's work or something. Any work done up to this point will give them enough credit for the semester. I'm glad Benaiah's school isn't following that rule. I think there will still be some assignments that are due and such. But think about the overall impact that this will have on children's education? They have basically lost their whole 4th quarter of the school year. And there's no guarantee that the students are able to do e-learning well. What if the household doesn't have the right technology? I know some schools will give them something, but what about the rural schools who were not set up at all for this? Well, 85% of schools in Indiana do have e-learning options, so that's good. It's interesting to see how this all unfolds. So no one gets the end of year school assemblies and parties. No making cute Mother's Day crafts or Easter crafts. Thank goodness there won't be any standardized tests to prepare for.  But wow, lots of things to think about.

And we are over here just doing our thing as normal, thank goodness. I don't have to wait on decisions to be made about this or that or wait on my child to get their assignments from the teacher. Well, Benaiah does, but he's a big boy and handles that. He said he doesn't mind not having all the pomp and circumstance stuff. He wants his diploma and wants to move on with his life. He's just over it. And while that's sad to me as an educator, I can understand that he's just over it. Again, I can't think too long on this because it's a huge loss of a dream for me. I've been waiting 18 years to do this whole graduation thing. I told him we could put on a gradation ceremony for him like my parents did for me (I was homescholed), but he said no. Anyway, at least he can focus on his assignments and not having to go to work. He has 6 work shifts left before his leave. I hope that they will continue to realize how well he works and wish that they was back. We'll see! He did explain that they temproraily reconfigured the parking lot so there's two lanes of traffic going in and then mobile ordering people park and text their order in or whatever and someone brings their food to them 5-10 minutes later. Adaptation is what we are good at, eh?

Anyway, after a bit of computer time and school time, I head outdoors at 3pm. The boys had just started/finished the post hole for the pole that the bat house will sit on. They had to use the shop vac to suck up all the water that was still in the hole! So now the shop vac is a mess, but whatever. Meanwhile, I started folding shingles in half to make strips to put on the edge of the flower beds to keep the weeds at bay. There are weeds growing under the black tarp stuff, too, but not as much. That was someone's suggestion and Jared agreed that I could use the shingles because they are just sitting there next to the shed. So yeah! I think I used about a dozen of them. We still have 4 packs or something. They were very easy to break apart, thank goodness. I enjoyed laying them out and figuring out the best way to handle the curves. Then I started moving the bricks I had used to hold down the black tarp stuff and rebuild the brick wall. I think that Jared had taken the bricks to the backyard to make a kiln and then realized the bricks weren't meant for fires. So, I hand carried them all from the backyard to the front yard, two at a time. I bet there was 3 dozen bricks or pieces of bricks. Abishai helped, too, of course. The bricks probably weight 5 lbs or so. I'm going to be incredibly sore tomorow. But I got all my steps in! And then I couldn't help myself. It was getting late and I was hungry but I just had to try to put some mulch down. Slow and steady and at a pace that I could enjoy the process. We got a thin layer down on the first section. We'll need to put the first layer down before I got back and fill in more. We might just run out of it, too, and that's ok. One layer is better than none. And I'm so proud and happy! Proud that I finally figured out and did the work to get this beuatiful front flower beds cleaned up and looking gorgeous. Someone spent a lot of time planting everything so that they bloom at different times. I will try to restore it and maintain it. I'm a brown thumb I think. I know just enough about plant to kind of sort of keep them alive. This flower bed has been on my mind for 3 years! And it's finally coming together! I'm just so happy! And now I know exactly what I want for my birthday. The same exact swing with a canopy and three seats that I had in Beech Grove. I loved that swing because I could lay down on it and all three kids could sit there at the time. And we don't have sun protection on the front porch, so we need the shade. I feel like a real homeowner now with mulch in the flower bed! Ah!

Best way to spend the day. Outside doing projects that have been on the to do list for years. I actually found a to do list from 2018 and sure enough, it was on there. Plus potty training, lol. Lots of things! I just keep praising God that when I thought, well, mulch is not a necessity, so we'll just wait and then Jared went ahead and got it and now I have the time and great weather to do it, it just happened to come together. And with Benaiah home more, he can pitch in here and there. I still have to lower my expectations of him helping, but how knows! We also got wood to do Jared's workbench which has also been on the to do list for three years. We moved into this house three years ago, FYI. So things are coming along. No major fights today. Abishai is beyond exhausted from all the outdoor time. We also set up the outdoor table, chairs and umbrella on the deck this time and ate there for dinner. Abishai loved it! Even Benaiah ate out there! He also made a grocery store run for himself and us. Man is it awesome to have a teenager driver who can take your debit card and get groceries! And yes, we wiped down everything he brought home, washed our hands a million times and threw away the plastic bags. All is well for now. Tomorrow he will take the recycling to Kroger before visiting (with 6 ft between them) Ava.

Justin had a rough patch this afternoon though, with something Keturah said and then he was reading for school when I suggested everybody come out and help for just a few minutes to mulch the flower bed. I just wanted company. Abishai has been waiting patiently since Monday to do the mulch. So he was out there, barefooted, with his snow shovel, putting mulch in the garden. Keturah ended up helping a lot so far. Justin wasn't up for it. Jared swept up the mess. He's not allowed to pick up a shovel per my rules. We don't want him hurting his back. When I shoveled the mulch, I felt like I was back in the horse barn in high school shoveling manure or sawdust shavings in the stalls. It felt great, actually. I felt like I could physically do something. I will surely pay for it tomorrow and the next day. I'm praying I'm not too stiff because we have more work to do. All in all, it was a great day. I could really get used to this "shelter in place" thing.

I just folded the shingles in half and just kind of rip it down the middle. Then I could do the same thing and rip the strip into smaller pieces to fit around the curves. I only put it on the edges because if I want to plant something, I didn't want to have to go through a shingle. The black tarp stuff is easy to rip through. I also incorporated the daffodils into the garden as a whole. But there's a couple of daffodils that are growing outside the bricks. They proliferate and spread like crazy!

Gorgeous!

The boys sucked most of the water out with the shop vac, but there's still some water in there. They need a deep hole so they can put up the 12 ft pole for the bat box.

We have such a huge back yard and hardly use it to it's full potential. Sigh. The bat box Jared made 3 years go will go on top the pole. We want bats to eat the bugs in the yard. I hope the neighbors won't mind. And you can't do something like this in a neighborhood with a HOA.

I finally sprayed the painted rocks with some sealant and we put them out in our yard near the road.

A friend left a rock for us! But Abishai doesn't want anyone to take our rocks. I really don't know what the rules are, but that's ok. Raquel and Sophia walked by while we were outside and Sophia and Abishai, both extroverts, kept talking and talking and talking. I told Raquel we could zoom and these two could just chatter for hours!

He wanted to try to climb the tree again.

But got really scared. I think he called this tree our family tree. Yes, it belongs to our family. And we saw a woodpecker up in the high limbs!

On Monday when the mulch was delivered, Abishai wanted to dig in and play with it. So, I made sure he was with me when I started putting the mulch in the flower bed. He did such a great job keeping the mulch on the shovel and putting it around the plants and not on top of them. All in his bare feet.

He used his snow shovel We also had two regular shovels, too. We hoard tools.

Justin helped for two seconds, Keturah carried about 20 shovelfuls and Jared swept. The kids argued and Justin stomped inside, but we continued for a few more minutes. We were waiting for Benaiah to get back with a deli pizza for dinner.

Oh my goodness! It's coming together! First layer on the first section! I haven't evened it out yet, but it's there! We'll finish the first layer tomorrow and then see how much mulch we have leftover. I know I won't be able to mount id up to the bricks and higher than the bricks this round, but we'll get more mulch this year or next and keep going. So nice!

Ah! It's coming together!

Better photos of our magnolia tree. So gorgeous!

Ah...now I need a front porch swing!

I had the boys move the table to the deck. I don't know why we didn't do this last year. I have to push it to one side, but since we only have 4 chairs in the back, it works fine.

Abishai was so excited to eat outside! Ah!

Hi, doggy. Yes, you are cute.

Oh the sun on his brown face and brown eyes! Gorgeous!

And then more jumping after dinner, of course.

Benaiah didn't get the memo that we were eating dinner so he sat alone.

Oh my senior, what am I going to do with you?!

Abishai found the perfect chair for video gaming! The stroller! Look how big he is in it?!

"Daddy, save me!"

And he's gaming, too.

Now it's Justin's turn.

New bedtime routine with stories on the bed and being side by side. His legs look long and skinny here.

Mom, I saw a picture of Stuart, and Daddy's prayed for him to get better.

Some neighbors got the foxes on camera! There's 3 kits and a mama fox living under the shed of my friend's .

Wowzers! Beautiful and cute!

Mountain Dew!

A friend was listening to old sermons, so I shared with the Creeker Connection Facebook group and got bombarded with "I miss the choir. I miss the skits." etc. I miss them, too, but that was such the '90's and early 00's. Move on.

No longer TBA! October 4th! I can still go!

Gorgeous!

I made a lot of progress on my steps by going back and forth to get all those bricks!

Socks made it into the Zoom chat! Top right corner.

Embarrassing, but I've got to share. What the heck happened the last two years? I gained 17lbs, which to me feels like 50. What did I do? I hate it so much. As the skinny girl weighing only 98 lbs at my wedding, I hate it. I hate that I can't exercise like everyone else. I hate it that I just simply feel hungry and then I feel ill if I don't eat. It's gross. It's not my medications and whatever I'm on, I can't and won't change. 17 lbs doesn't seem like a lot, but when you really need to weigh closer to 120, it's a lot to think about % wise. Yuck.

And on that note, good night.

The End