Year 5, May 4th-7th, 2020: May the 4th Be With You

Because what else is there? Sometimes not much. I had a rough night last night and I don't want to talk about it. But I did distance myself from the family again just in case. And we are talking about me being moody here, not a sickness. Unless, you call self loathing a sickness....but I said I wasn't going to talk about it.

Covid-19 Day 46 in the books.

Another GORGEOUS day! I'm seriously considering nixing all screen time for the month of May. Except, Jared just let Abishai on to play video games, Justin has access to the tablet for Discord, which leaves Keturah out. Maybe we can just stick to one hour of screen time after dinner per day for the month of May. Yeah, that sounds a little more doable. School went smoothly. We finished at 2 because I had a chiropractor appt at 3:30. Jared took books to the post office to mail. Then he went to the office to get an idea of how much space was in the work closet. Ava dropped of a blizzard to Benaiah and Benaiah gave her some twizzlers because he had just been at the store, too. Sigh. Can't convince Benaiah to stay home or to play with his brother for more than 2 minutes. I made Justin finish mowing/trimming from FRIDAY because the dandelions had gone to seed and looked awful. I am so over it an either want professional treatment or professional lawn cutting services. It's ugly. But I digress.

I ate a big salad for dinner and now my stomach is very full and unhappy. I didn't have carbs and enough protein on it so I'll still be hungry later, but I tried. And it's thoroughly distracting me, but I digress. I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep today, but I don't think I've stopped long enough to do that. I was up until after 3am. But I digress...

May the 4th Be With You aka Star Wars Day. A favorite. I didn't do anything special, but I liked Brenton's article: https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2020/05/04/why-did-star-wars-stick/

And now the boys are disagreeing about the ending of the animated Clone Wars series. The very last episode aired at 3am this morning and Benaiah stayed up to watch it then. He binge watched the whole series over about 2 weeks time. That's like 7 sessions or 12 sessions or I don't know. I didn't follow or watch it. So, I'm staying out of it. Now Abishai and Daddy are talking about the church they built in their Minecraft land and how they are going to grandma's and grandpa's house for Sunday lunch. Goof balls.

Ok, got distracted again, but the peppermint mints are helping....silly Facebook. I need to stay off of it. I feel so disjointed, can you tell? Maybe I am emotionally and mentally tired.

Pictures

Baby Yoda is hilarious! There's a zillion of these memes around for different songs, but you just can't beat him!

Yup.

Single biggest purchase I've spent on one clothing item. It's going to be too small right now, but it's motivation to fit in it by next winter. I should have gotten the Large based on the measurements I didn't see until later. However, I give them huge kudos for getting these done in 48 hrs! And that's with them going to see a glacier yesterday! Yes, my friends, these are the real homeschoolers in North Pole, Alaska, no joke! They live 15-20 minutes from Fairbanks. They are awesome vloggers!

Abishai wanted to talk to Grandpa when I queued up the e2 video for today. I always bring it up and let it play a little big to help the algorithm. You know when you've been in lockdown too long...you start talking to YouTube videos and then, hold your own stuffed animals in lockdown until the virus is over. #kidsof2020

Let man has some basketball skills! He was working on his "dribble" and running up and jumping! He actually got it in a few times, too!

Taco Tuesday, Cinco De Mayo, Covid-19 Day 47

I was more alert today. We did our normal amount of school, plus some extra science experiments with magnets while Daddy had his Bible study! Then I went through the microscopes we have and would you know it but my Dad's microscope from his childhood was the only one that worked! (Pics below). The other one was given brandnew to Benaiah and the top piece broke off and we couldn't get to work. A handheld one (glorified magnifying glass) also didn't work. There is dust in all of them, but we got to see one of the slides pretty clearly. There is a company that is usually featured at our homeschool convention, so if I need help or something serviced, I'll look them up. But for now, hoarding saved us $200, again! Abishai also got to look through the science box with me and play with a few things. I reorganized the box and was reminded about some pretty cool things we have in there.

You know, when I think about it, we don't just have a home, we have a school classroom and all the things that entails. So, we have science equipment and specimens like pinecones and rocks, even gem kits and feathers, owl pellets to dissect, etc. We have all the art materials you could want as well. So think about a school with it's separate lab room or art room (or cart or whatever) and all the other things you find in a normal classroom, we have at our home, too. I don't know how much schools are hands on anymore, and sure you can find dissection of animals on DVD or maybe even YouTube or in video curriculum, or what not, but it's fun to do them in person as well. It makes me not feel so bad that we have so much stuff. It does make me feel bad that my kids choose not to get into this stuff despite it being out in the open and on their level. It takes me pulling it out and showing them, which I don't always have time to do. I bought science kits I thought they would want to do or could do on their own. I would have done of them myself if I were their age. In fact, I have done lots of hands on projects, and yes, I dissected a worm for my biology lab right in my Mom's kitchen! Benaiah might have participated in dissected a cow's eye in PEI, maybe, don't quote me on that.

Or tonight, at supper, Benaiah started naming all the states on our map above our dining room table and the little booger couldn't name them all! I DID have him memorize states and capitals back in 4th grade. And since he's been in private school, he's become one of those "memorize it for a test and forget it" kind of students. That's not how education is supposed to work. I told him again, K-12 education is only a FOUNDATION of learning for the rest of your life. No, you might not know everything perfectly, but come on, you just did American history again in high school (never mind with me in 5-8th grade). Do they not go over geography? I will never ever forget that people at college my freshman year didn't know where New Hampshire or even where New England was. Come on! I knew about the Midwest and the West Coast and Alaska and Hawaii and used the same textbook Benaiah did in 4th grade. You've got to be kidding me! Or, this year, he still has trouble explaining the three branches of government and he just took it this semester! Oh, dude, we've gone over that a million times in your K-8th grade years. "It's not important." Um, heck yeah, it is when we have a political hotbed right now of people NOT knowing their history and what "freedom" really means and WHY our constitution is the way it is, and how our government is set up so not one person can get all the power. Everyone would rather argue about what is "essential" and having to wear a mask because a store says they have to or they can't shop there. Drive me insane! Even my favorite Christian speakers and authors can't agree. Homeschoolers no less! Again, drives me crazy! Maybe it's because we are just now studying the colonies again, so I'm studying with the kids about what documents were used for each colony and why each one was founded. How Puritans and anyone who disagreed with the Church of England were KILLED because they simply preached in an open field. Are we being shot at by employees? No, instead, someone opened fired at an employee who wouldn't let them into a store without a MASK. Go shop somewhere else! We still have freedom of choice in MOST communities. Even in rural communities, you can still choose to a different town. So, someone's definition of freedom means something incredibly different in our privileged country vs. the world at large and historically. Just wear the stupid mask and get over it.  I don't like it either. But it's not worth killing people over it. Rant over.

I managed to stay off my phone a lot today because I didn't want to get into political discussions and in fact, I said some things and didn't respond to the rest of the responses because I don't want to be disagreeing with people that I know somewhat well and love and trust. Satan has us in a worse way than ever. More vicious and divisive and distracted. So, I started posting more cute moments of people having fun during the lockdown or positive stories or "look what we did today." I'm still sick of arguing with everyone. The rules are the rules. Obey them. If you don't, then suffer the consequences. I'm no longer engaging much on discussing whether it's tyranny or not. YOU try to be a politician in this hostile environment. You try to please everyone who is literally screaming at you. You try to get 4 hrs a sleep at night and be wrestling with if you did the right thing. And if you think you'd be better at this, vote in the next election. Vote out the person you don't like and vote in yourself or someone else. That's what makes America great. We, the people, still have the power. The government is slow because it was meant to be slow in some ways. Calculated. Really, it wasn't supposed to be as involved in our lives as it is, but because we can't govern ourselves internally, we need Big Brother to do it. And now, you are all upset about it when they do. You made this mess. Now live with it.

Ok rant really over. I guess since I haven't posted on social media today, I still needed to say it to someone. Just want my kids to know that I care, I have read articles and paid attention to history since I was child and in teaching them. I stay involved and ask questions. And sometimes I have to retreat and rethink. Or most of the time I do. And that's ok. Try again next time. I'll just wear the mask when I do it.

The pics are a little big disjointed in time, so hang in there.

Um, this ws the best steak ever! I'm pretty sure it was moose steak but wow! We marinated it in oil and spices for about 8 hrs and cooked it on 350-400 degrees for a little over an hour. Oh my word! Take me to Alaska! I just love having access to this stuff sometimes. It was a gift from the church that Gary has helped for a few years now near the southern coast of Alaska. Somers in Alaska is a family on YouTube that lives in North Pole, Alaska near Fairbanks. They have shown moose in their backyard and are the sweetest "Happy Peoples" I know!

I hope we never ever have a purely grown up table. Just like in our bedroom, we don't mind have the kid stuff around like this. I left the cup from breakfast because the evil superman was hanging off of it. The Lego Batman is a container I got in one of those monthly subscription boxes from ThinkGeek or whatever and Abishai stores packages of fruit snacks in there. And of course, the Bumblebee Transformer car from Jared's office. We added a cool cube thing we found in the science stuff that uses 7 C's to describe God's story in history. We bought at the Creation Museum and Abishai memorized it almost right way this morning. He even knew that "Adam and Eve" sinned and Jesus died on the cross. Aw, so cute!

This is a clean box. I pulled it off of a high shelf to discover not only mouse poo, but dirt along the back edge. Now, I'm sure we have a mouse sometimes in the sunroom. This isn't the first evidence of it. But way up there? And with all that dirt? I don't remember putting it up there with that much dirt on it. And yes, I believe it's newer poo because I have cleaned the other areas I found it in much more recently two or three times. So, yuck! Thieves cleaner to the rescue!

Discovering the properties of strong magnets. Don't worry. They are always kept safe from any hard drives. That's why they were in the science box on a high shelf.

 Abishai Playing with Magnets


Abishai 7 C's

The end of the chocolate bunny lollipops. Ok, sing it with me, "The bunny, the bunny, oo, I love the bunny,..." Veggietales, people!

Little things amuse little minds. I matched up the long glittery stick thing with it's counterpart the long blue tube from in the science box today. This is why I keep a lot of things around for way longer than most people do. It's one of those prism type things.

Abishai ran in here just to give Justin some snuggles. And then, he farted, as usual, just to get us to laugh.

Hopefully these posted in the correct order. IndyStar, our newspaper had them on their Instagram.

As a reminder, we live in Marion County in the middle of the state. And our mayor had already declared May 15th to end the strictest of stay at home orders. And the mayor's order supersedes the governor's orders, per the governor.

My phone camera lens was dirty, that's why the fuzziness. But always, always, always, the wrestling. Oh, one story about Benaiah today was he went to his room around 5pm to "take a nap" or so Justin said. He just wanted to lay down, which I don't blame him since he sits in his desk chair for 12 hrs a day (by choice). However, he did want the light off. I flipped it on and said, "What, are you a vampire? Do you only come out at night?" I should have just said bat or something real that is nocturnal, but you know what I mean. But when I flipped on the light, he also squealed and hid on his blankets like I was poisoning him, so, vampire it is.

He's looking so much older! He was working on his "prison" today.

The prison cell has a bed and the big grey brick is a sink. I think he was working on using a window frame piece and a partial ladder piece to make bars for the window.

That's how long it takes to get to Somers in Alaska in North Pole. I say this because that's how far away my hoodie is and how much it will have to travel to get to me. I'm sure it will be flown down, maybe, and stay in USA land.

Abishai made up his own game of pick up magnets earlier today.

Having fun with magnets!

Then Mommy's fun began. I did open Benaiah's telescope and it didn't work, so I opened this one.

I couldn't find a date anywhere on anything but everything has my Dad's and Aunt Katie's name on it, so I assume it was theirs back in the 60's maybe. $10 for a microscope. Can you imagine! Oh, by the way, my grandfather was a chemist I believe at a college near where they lived in Needham, Massachusetts. So, I get my science abilities and my music abilities from the Howell line. I get my strong personality from the Finnish side, my mother's Koski side.  Something like this costs at least $200!

Check out that old cord and transformer! I hope it doesn't spark or something when I plug it in!

Lens cleaning clothes? But inspected by the makers in Japan. Original tags beacuse that's what Howells do. We keep everything and then some. Honestly, I'm surprised it's still in this good of a condition. I'm sure it was in my Dad's room at his parents house for years, and then finally made it to my parents house during my childhood because I know I played with some of the slides as a kid. Maybe my dad kept it in his stuff in his room. But, luckily, it's never seen any water damage or mustiness. And I'm sure both homes had that, never mind the homes it's been in with me, to and from Canada of course.

Gorgeous wooden box. They just don't make products that last anymore.

Old slides and most are still usable.

So nice!

Elisabeth is my Aunt Katie's real name. At some point she changed it to Katie from her middle name Katinka. My middle name is Elisabeth.

$1.95! Worth at least $20 today if I were to buy something like this new!

It's actually lipstick blotting paper! Oh my make up loving friends who love vintage stuff would love this! It's pretty clean still!

It works!

Holy cow! It works! And no sparks!

There's a tiny little blue lightbulb underneath attached to this spinning mirror piece and it has to make contact with a metal piece towards the back to turn the light on. Think of the little piece of metal you see in battery compartments.

Wow, they just don't make this kind of hardware anymore! I can't believe how it's in such good shape!

Speaking of, I used this to soak and cook the moose meat in tonight. It was my mom's. Yup, bought in the late '70's or early '80's. It's an original piece. I did scrub it up better than it was when I used it. It was pretty stained.

Another one of the old pieces from my Mom.

Keturah's progress on "my" puzzle. I haven't touched it in a week. But it keeps her occupied so I call that a win. Honestly, it would have taken me too long to do it. I'm glad she's happy.

Wednesday, Covid-19 Day 48.

Yeah, I didn't take a walk today. Probably should have but was waiting for a friend to text back so our boys could zoom together. Abishai is the only one who has asked to chat with a friend one on one. Thankfully, Jared took him for a walk to the house next door to his friend's house and they got to play on bikes together instead. And then they came up with their own plan for a playdate at 11am tomorrow. Abishai even insisted and made sure that his friend's dad and the neighbor knew the plan. Oh my goodness, slow down extrovert. We'll get there! And I was on our Zoom Bible study call when the other little guy came in to tell his mom about the plan. Yes, our neighbors/small group, etc.Too funny! Just another reason why I want the lockdown lifted, but I am not going to break any rules or whine about it anymore and here's why:

(I just posted this on Facebook) "You know what's been frustrating me the last couple of days? It's that so many of my close friends are disagreeing and each other, people I highly respect and typically agree with on all kinds of things. It truly, truly hurts. Satan has a hold of all of us. I'm tired of battling it out with everyone. What's the point? Just work the plan our government put into place. Let the chips fall where they are. Or don't follow them. But I'm tired of the philosophical discussions. And that's saying a lot because I love them! But it's time to politely agree to disagree. It hurts too much to stand on a soapbox and battle it out with my brothers and sisters. Satan is winning our hearts. Do what you think you need to do, but just stop discussing it. No one is going to be swayed from one camp to the other. No one. Just like I can't convince someone to homeschool or use essential oils or to even become a Christian. Just drop it. It's not worth ruining friendships over. Satan is winning and we need to unite and push him back to where he belongs. Enough is enough" 

And you know the feedback I've already gotten on that post? Yeah, more arguments. SMH! One didn't know what people were arguing about. One asked if the arguments were "peaceable" and I think she meant it's ok to discuss if it's peaceable.  I think I'm just going to stick my head in the sand, obey the ordinances, and move on. Since Friday is our 180th school day, we technically don't have to go on (actually, we could have stopped on day 165), I think I'm going to try to come up with some outings to local parks or something. And maybe some drive thrus.  I'm so tired of the mundane, routine conversations. No one, not even me, wants to do the stuff we have at home. We are tired of looking at the same stuff. Gas prices are going up, but maybe we can drive somewhere or something after May 15th or whatever when our part of the ban is up. We did support Chick Fil A today. Benaiah was getting something for Ava because she didn't feel good so we all put in our orders. Except for Jared and he was actually disappointed! I gave Benaiah cash to pay for it of course. So, I guess we did have a break in the routine a little bit. We tried their new take home and cook meal, chicken Parmesan and the kids said it was delicious. Super easy to make and only $15 for two decent sized meals! Fresh kale, lemon, and tomatoes, perfectly fried chicken, the right amount of cheese and spaghetti noodles, tomato and alfredo sauce. Easy directions, too. I was impressed! 

I am pleased to say that our small group is in agreement that if/when we get together, we will do it outside and maybe even with masks, although Jared didn't wear a mask tonight, so we'll see. I thanked the ladies for being on my side of the train, all the while telling them it makes me so sad to be arguing with friends. I have decided to focus on getting to know and do life with these 4 other families, even if a Bible study night doesn't sit well with me for whatever reason. We are all going to be living in this neighborhood, 4 of them on Gary and Leah's street. Oh my goodness, I just realized that a) they all live on the east side of the street b) two live on one end and two live on the other c) two have the corner lots! We are the odd family out, but we can be their pit stop when they go for walks. I plan to start having one on one coffee dates, even if we are sitting outside and social distancing. I'll wait until after May 15th though. And, I don't care if the older kids get along or not. It's Abishai's turn to have friends. Our kids weren't great friends with other families we have done small groups with (except for in Canada when we would get together with another family, the kids did find friends in their kids). So, that's what I'm going to focus on this summer, building 4 friendships. Then I can stop being so lonely. Abishai and I will be street trotting (vs. globe trotting) and having the time of our lives! The other kids can mope on their devices make home. Anyway, enough of that.

Indian Creek did share on their social media pages just a few hours ago that they will not be opening up church for in person services until it is safe for everyone to be together at the same time. Plenty of ministry has been happening outside the physical walls of our church. Small groups are still meeting over zoom or in the parking lot with social distancing. People are still generously giving of their tithes and offering, food for the food pantry, and extra donations to the building fund. Our church is very unlike a lot of churches because it has been financially sound for many, many years. Other smaller churches can't keep their doors open because of finances anyway, and when people lose jobs, they tithe less. Partnerships with other ministries have been built up over decades, so we know the area and needs well and can quickly address them. So, I'm glad our opinions still match up with our church leadership's decisions. Jared and I were planning on waiting anyway, and we are unsure if Abishai, Justin and Keturah would go back to Kidustrial Park or not at all this next year until a vaccine or better treatment plans are in place. But anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I don't know what this means for a virtual CIY or whatever. Hm,...

Meanwhile, I also had a conversation with Ethan's mom this morning and her husband's family from Michigan decided it would be best to postpone the open house for the boys. So we are in discussion about pushing it to July or August. I have mixed feelings about this but I choose to just let the new information just sit for today. I will need to check with Gary to see if he plans on starting to travel any time soon. We know that he and Leah are anxious to get back to church and don't always share the same opinion as us. That is why we've hesitated getting together with them.  Some families are still getting together. Jared's birthday is on May 18th and Leah asked about us coming over. I'm still not sure. The stay at home order is through May 15th, but there's still a lot of phases to go through and I feel hypercritical if I throw all caution to the wind and just give in, so we'll see. Remember they listen exclusively to Fox News and don't see all the discussion happening on social media. They don't see how things could be different and aren't part of the discussion. So, we'll see. 

Ugh, I wanted to start the blog post earlier so I could go to bed on time and still have enough down time and well, it's not happening, again. Sigh.

Little dude is a genius. He built this all by himself and then tinkers with his builds and improves them.

He rearranged the jail cell, too.

No, I don't know who put this out there. But I liked it, ok?

I'm a Kaidy. Don't be an Emily!

We are out of bread, so peanut butter and jelly cracker sandwhiches it is! I used to eat this growing up, more often with saltine crackers though, because my mom loved saltine crackers so they were always in the house.  That and regular Cheez-Its with regular Pepsi. Oh, the new ware house on Prospect and Post is a Pepsi warehouse! Woot! Woot!

We did get to try out our magnets on the big trampoline today. It didn't work that well and they were arguing and it was cold, but we tried.

It worked better if the top magnet was the one being manipulated.

Brand new from CFA, to help out during the crisis. $15 for all of this! It's a meal for two!

Little man got a kids' meal, Justin got a frozen lemonade, I got fries with honey mustard BBQ sauce, Keturah got a sandwhich, Benaiah got a sandwhich and Ava got fries and a sandwhich ( I think on Benaiah's dime, but I wouldn't care either way).

Could my Alaskan hoody be in there somewhere? And is she wearing ballet flats? Has all the snow melted now?

Is my hoodie in there?

Very interesting read. I didn't think about this when I decided when to start writing and reading with the kids. I just started at the average age, pretty slowly, and went from there. Typically they are 5 1/2 when they really get going. Abishai probably has the ability, but I'll wait until the fall.

Wait, what? Who's in there? Justin!

Yup, it looks like it came out perfectly!

Super easy directions too! The chicken is precooked, but we kept in the fridge until dinner time so they had to be reheated. The noodles were also precooked. Pretty awesome!

Lego dances on his CFA cup.

Mommy, come here (insert hand motion). He built this whole Minecraft house with double door entries to two bedrooms, one for him and one for Daddy, a chest and bed in each bedroom, a kitchen with a water table and other crafting tables, and seating. Daddy helped with the roof. He's a genius!

Oh my word...I need to send this to Shan Caldwell!

One of my oily friends did a cool set of IG stories today, but I'm going to have to make these peppermint brownies again.

Freezer goals. A random homeschool vlogger just got these and they sound so yummy and easy!

The message from Dan Hamel about the Creek's decision to hold off with doing in person services until Phase 5. Unfortunately, it's not on the website yet. I'll have to check their Vimeo channel. It's really a shame that older folks don't get on social media. It's where you communicate these days! So, how am I supposed to share with Gary and Leah and keep them in the know? Sigh.

Thursday, Covid-19 Day 49

Benaiah and I got out of the house today! His rescheduled appointment for wisdom teeth removal consult was today. We were diligent about wearing masks, and before we could even enter the lobby, we had our temperature taken and extra papers to fill out. One was stating Benaiah is taking a risk by taking his mask off, so he had to sign that he was ok with that. Of course we were ok with that, it's the dentist! But everyone else was properly decked out, chairs in the waiting room were properly spaced out, etc. etc. After the mountain of other paperwork, which I had to go through slowly because I am so used to filling it out for myself so I needed to remember what applied to Benaiah, the appointment went fine. Benaiah's teeth are impacted and all 4 have to come out. The dentist commented that kids' teeth are growing too fast these days, and by age 18, the roots of his teeth are already very close the main nerve in the jaw. That means, we really need to get Justin checked out at age 16, which is a tad safer. He also said that they have the technology now where there isn't that much of an increase in risk with the teeth being so close the nerve, so that's a plus. Remember, for me, he will be cutting off the top portion of the teeth (or just below it or something) and leaving the rest of the teeth because they go all the way down to my jaw bone and would leave a huge hole with very little structure which could lead to it being easily broken in an accident. We scheduled our extractions for July 1st for me and July 13th for him. Fun times! Sigh.

It was another gorgeous day in the 'hood! So, I took Abishai on a walk to see Nolan, the little guy he was planning on getting together with today. Unfortunately, Abishai got very shy when we got over there and had a complete meltdown. Poor Nolan! They had been playing fine together the night before! Abishai didn't want to talk to anyone, including Grandma and Grandpa. We spent 20 minutes at the end of their driveway until I could talk him into coming home because he just didn't know what he wanted to do. And the irony is that when we started walking home, Abishai said he wanted to get his bubble mower and come right back! I said, sorry, buddy, but you just wasted your playtime crying. He was very slow moving on the way home and he had one hand in mine and one hand on his bike crying. Sigh. We'll try again another day.

It's been a rather rough up and down day on the interwebs, but basically, my post on wanting peace was not taken as well as I had hoped. I decided to start hiding any posts on Facebook that are of argumentative value on both sides of the fence, well, mostly on the other side of the fence than me, because I just can't handle it. And this coming from one who loves to listen to good arguments and all sides of any issue! It's just sad and wicked to be so divided like we are. I even had another major disagreement with Benaiah today. At least Jared seemed to get better quickly from his major stomachache this morning and he let me talk about everything. And he and I are mostly on the same page opinion wise, on the major things. We still disagree on whether the bathroom needs remodeled or the kitchen floor needs redone. Or how many trees we need to plan (or not). Sigh.

I didn't get a chance to check homework, but I knew I wouldn't. I didn't get a full walk in and mentally, I'm exhausted and I'm running out of daytime so I don't think I'll get it done either. Tomorrow it's supposed to be cold enough to snow. Yuck! So, I'll sneak a workout in tomorrow. I ate ok today, so I'm not too worried. I'll try again tomorrow. The kids had their screen time while Benaiah and I were gone.  I think that contributed to Abishai's meltdown today, plus the fact that the kid begged Justin to go outside with him 10 times day and he learned to do a front flip on the trampoline! He doesn't quite land on his feet yet, but he's close! He's 5! He has also been saying the 7 C's cube every time he sits down to eat because I left it on the table. He quoted me the Noah story from Daddy's Kid Bible app, saying "male and female" and I had to explain to him what that was, "boy and girl." Lol. I can't wait to get him to memorize Grandpa Scripture memory and CC! Once I convince him that doing more school is good, I'm sure he's going to memorize letter sounds pretty quickly. If only all kids were geniuses like him, right? Sigh.

Yes, that's a lot of sighing. Sometimes I sigh. Sometimes I sob. It's been that kind of day. But we lived to tell about it. Even through dropping off a package at FedEx. I couldn't get the label to print at home, so I had to go to the store anyway. The mail carrier also knocked on the door today asking if there was a package to pickup and I had to tell her that Jared hadn't gotten them prepared. She was super young! Like she looked like she was 20! And we stopped at a drive thru so Benaiah could get Ava and himself some shakes for their lawn "date." Benaiah drove the whole time. Ava surprised him and said that her mom approved them hugging again! She had told him for the last 24 hrs that they could do that after she started babysitting in a week or two. What a sweet surprise! Normally, I am in the other camp of take every precaution of social distancing, and will do that with my friends, but these two have been so patient, we let it slide. Sweet!

Abishai went to bed early and fell asleep quickly. As Jared said, when you master a flip and do it 105 times in one day, you are exhausted! I think that was what contributed to his meltdown. His eyes looked a little like allergy eyes, so I know he wasn't up to par either. Poor guy. Tomorrow is a new day. It's the 180th day of school!

Free giveaway! Yeah!

He was telling me to not take a picture. If you are going to have a "I'll do what I want to do attitude," I can match it. You might not appreciate these movements, like your dad doesn't, but I do. You aren't out of the house, yet.

Dinosaury got a piggy back ride today. He also swung Dinsosaury around in the kitchen and hit the trash can dumping it over! And he slipped on his pants and fell. Whoops! He smiled and got right back up though.

This photo credit goes to someone on the Franklin Township FB page, but I'll probably get my own at some point. Benaiah refuses to take a picture with it. Thus our argument. He doesn't care about all the emphasis on graduation and doesn't understand it's not all about him and his achievements. I love this sign from the youth ministry at our church! They've gone above and beyond to extend love to the seniors and Benaiah will have none of it. It makes me angry and sad. I'm sorry, youth ministers, that my kid just doesn't care anymore. Ethan's brother Benjamin made him take a picture of it. He looked like a dork, but he did it.

I didn't get a full view, but when Justin put this wet rag thing on his neck like scarf I said, "Wow, you look like Gru from Despicable Me! And he does with all the black and his huge nose! Ok, Gru is bald, but that's not the point.

Trying to keep up with Abishai is a big task! Especially when he doesn't want you to beat him and he doesn't even want you up close to him. I should have known something was wrong when he threw a fit about it.

Riding the scooter one time down Grandma's driveway.

Uh, stay at home orders don't apply to 60  yr olds? Lol. Gary said for Justin to come over at 4 to help mow. Well, where are you? I'm not sure what they were both up to, but they did come home a little bit later.

Gary already traded riding lawn mowers for this zero turn one. Justin raced down the hill with it. Excuse me? Slow down there buddy!

Waiting for little boy to come to his senses.

He's so distraught that he had to hold my hand on the way home.

But he bounced back when we put a new battery in his RC jeep. He did a lot of off roading and broke one of the springs! Jared's going to try to fix it but my experience with molded practice is that it can't be fixed. Thankfully, there's another piece that is holding the wheel in the right place, so it's still usable.

Hey! Not in the flower bed! But it got him to smile, so I allowed it.

Helping Daddy like  the big boy he is!

He's been working on his flips all week. Y'all, he's 5!

We had potatoes and eggs for dinner. Little man wanted pickles and mustard to dip them in. Yes, he smothered both sides of the pickles in mustard. Sigh!

The End