Year 5, June 15th-18th, 2020: Keturah's 12th Birthday week!

That's right! This week, on Tuesday, June 16th at 11:44 PM, Keturah turns 12! Oh my goodness! I had a ton of great things happen to me when I was 12! From my baptism to my first Michael W. Smith concert to horses to yes, it was a great year. So, I hope this is her year! Today we took out most of the stuff in her room so we can get started cleaning up the walls, patching, them and getting them ready to paint! We haven't picked out the paint exactly yet, so we'll need to go do that.  Grandpa loves to paint, so I've "hired" him to help. That way it actually gets done, lol. It's been 8 years since I said we would paint whatever room she was in. The problem is, she's so hard on her toys, her furniture, and the walls. There's scribbles everywhere. And I asked her to start cleaning and she gave up after 5 minutes. Well, I won't buy paint until she's gone over her whole room to clean it. I can't scrub a whole room like that. In fact, I'm exhausted and hurting because after Jared loaded up all his things to take to the office this morning, I dusted the desk and vacuumed our room. Then I cleaned up the garage area and vacuumed that rug. Then I took all the stuff out of her room by myself and vacuumed that room. Phew! Plus making sure kids got in and out of the pool all day and making a nice "first day at the office" dinner. So, she's got her work cut out for her. Tomorrow I will take her to the mall to the Lego store, so it will have to be later this week that she works on cleaning it up.  She's just one messy child.

Meanwhile, let's go back to this morning. Yes, today was Jared's first day back at the office in 3 months. Very, very bittersweet. I was mopey for a good part of the day. I've been very blessed to have him home like that several times in our marriage and I just prefer him to be home. We work as a team and it just feels right. I'm sure I'll adjust again pretty easily. Abishai was not upset that Daddy was going to work, which was surprising. But as you will see, he thought he was going to go with Daddy to work as a stowaway! He wanted to back a bag and the tablet! So, he buckled himself into the van and waited for Daddy to load it up with stuff!  Then I followed in the car. Jared picked up blueberries and strawberries and whipped cream for Mrs. Ellen's birthday, so Abishai got to deliver them.  He was also super excited to get out the stool when we got there and run in circles. And then he was a big helper (in his bare feet!) bringing in Daddy's books and his Lego guys. Remember he wanted the Lego Movie 2 figures to come to the office so he didn't destroy them.  His words. Lol. He's so cute!

When we got home, it was time for the pool! Abishai ended up in it 3 times. Twice with Keturah and 1 time with just Justin. Yes, he changed out of swim clothes each and every time. It was only 75 degrees and breezy so he got cold easily. But they all had a blast! It finally felt like summer! Well, the temperatures will be summer like by the end of the week. I'm glad it was cool out because by the time I went with Jared and Abishai to church and back and tried to eat some brunch, my stomach was off and I had phone calls to make, so I didn't get to workout until the afternoon. I'm glad I worked out, but I didn't want to. Yes, again,  I was sad that Jared wasn't home. Yes, I know, white privilege/first world problems. But I'm grateful that we have that attitude towards one another instead of "I just want to get away from you and go to work." Or "I just want to go hang out at a bar instead of go home." But, absence makes the heart grow fonder and I'm sure he'll be slightly more productive at the office. Slightly. Because he typically comes home and says, "I fought with this one thing for hours and made no progress." fairly often. And he'll get up to make tea or eat something or whatever just as much at the office as he would at home. He just can't make food on a stove, lol. And right now, he has his Dad in the office, so, it's harder for him to relax and get in a groove. I'm so glad that Ellen is once again Gary's secretary. The learning curve for them would have been very short and I can trust Ellen and Jared at the office together. I've know her since Benaiah and her boys were preschoolers. She's the best! And she won't hesitate in giving me Dad's schedule or whatever. I'm sorry it didn't work out for her to work with Dan, but I'm glad she's back with Gary. Gary's only known a couple of secretary's (or admin assistants) and the one before Ellen was there for something like 10-20 years. He needs someone to keep track of him at work, lol.

Anyways, it was a great day and little man is so beyond exhausted it isn't funny! Well, it is funny because he's slap happy. My back is screaming at me though. I've got a personal fan on my face and a heating pad on my back. Jared's got the windows open and house fan going again. We've made it partway through summer with very little a/c running, so that's helpful. I just hope that going to the mall tomorrow isn't too difficult. We have to wear masks and not touch things and we not be able to return things or try things on. So, we'll see. Grandma will come help watch the boys. There's no way I'm taking Abishai into a Lego store right now. He has an anger streak when he doesn't get what he wants. I wouldn't mind taking Justin, but then Abishai would be jealous. So, I'm just taking Keturah. Should prove interesting.

I'll share this again and again, but it's about Benaiah's graduation ceremony! Come join us outside after the ceremony (around 7:45/8pm) on June 26th at Southside Christian School. Social distancing celebration!

Steve is ready to get back to work today!

Wowzers! That's not unusual for PEI on a summer's night but it IS unusual for us. Nice!

Mommy, make Socks sit right there so I can get him some treats!

Super long messy ponytail. Up it goes!

Uh oh, is that a stowaway? And yes, it took Jared 20 minutes to load up everything and about a dozen trips. He almost forgot his food and tea!

Little guy put on his mask by himself and buckled himself in. Yes, he's still in pj's and has no shoes on. He was determined to go to the office with Daddy!

I should have taken a photo after I cleaned it up, but no more book boxes, wahoo! A few things went to our room because it's office type stuff of Jared's and I moved the recycling to the front. Next up: to buy a used fridge that I can put right here for extra veggies and fruit!

Steve, Emmet, Wild Style, and the Sewer babies are moving to their new home at the office! And yes, Jared makes all his beverages for the day at home because we have better filtered water than the church does.

Waiting on Daddy to pick up Mrs. Ellen's birthday yummy!

Ready to make a delivery!

Whoops! Gotta fix them first!

Aww, part of the collection now! The yellow Bumble Bee transformer car is NOT coming back, according to Abishai. But Peeper might.

He was so eager to help carry things! Again, no shoes and in his pjs, with a mask. Yes, I realize that he's not well protected. I'm not that concerned about it as this point.

And a one, and a two, and here we go! The water was clear but because Jared didn't rinse the hose water out of it before putting the sink water in, there's still some tinge to it. Sigh. Time for the clarifier I guess. I"m afraid to put chemicals in, but we'll see.

Super cold! Well, the water wasn't bad but with the cooler air temps, little man got chilled within about 15 minutes.

Keturah's new bathing suit looks awesome on her! I think I might get one for myself. We'll see!

I told her she would be in the pool a lot and enjoying herself. I know it's small, but it's what we can do for now. Yes, we would love a bigger above ground pool but they are much more expensive. At least we have this!

Swimming with the dolphins aka a dolphin floatie I found on clearance last year at CVS. So much fun!

Even Justin had a blast! It's not perfect, I get it, but it's better than nothing.

Just relaxing in the pool. My kids are so big though!

Watch the videos and listen to him yell! And then hurt himself, of course.

Jared thinks we lost an inch of water and that's because of this guy. I told Justin he will have to refill the pool by hand from the bathroom tub if there's too much spillage, lol. They also created a whirlpool affect.

My shivering little guy! But he was in and out of the pool 3 times!

Bittersweet. I have my desk back (if I ever get around to using it) but he's gone to the office. At least we do have a space that maybe Justin could go for schoolwork or Jared can still here with his computer if he wants to. He got a new computer so he doesn't have to have the big screen anymore. His old computer's screen was blacking out. I need to put that computer away somewhere in case we need it for Zoom or an online class or something.

Oh, did I miss this? I can't remember, but I know I've been looking for it!

Senior Sunday! Isn't he cute!?

Murky, so we will need to try and fix that. Abishai needs to be careful because that's a lot of water.

This came out brighter than I expected. But I'm trying to take as many photos I can of Socks because you just never know when his time will come. He's such a handsome boy. I clipped his nail today when I gave him his heartworm medication and of course, I made one of them bleed. 16 toenails plus two dew claws, you'd think I could it right. Oh well.

Time for a nap! These kids are exhausting! His nose was buried in the grass at one point and Abishai thought it was hilarious! I'm glad Socks has some gorgeous soft grass to sleep on. Such a handsome guy.

A no oven supper! Actually, I hardly ever use the oven these days. I prefer my meats cooked in broth in the crockpot or Instant pot. The air fryer cooked up the mini potatoes in 15 minutes. It would have taken 30 minutes in the oven. Yes, I do have a lot of appliances. But I do use them. I'm so glad I rearranged the pantry in a way that they were all accessible without me using stools or bending down.

Just waiting for the men to come home. Well, for Jared to come home. Supper's ready and waiting for him. Benaiah's at work, too.

Daddy dubbed him the Mountain Goat. I wanted to stay up front but went to check on Abishai because we are still establishing pool rules and I knew he was in the backyard. So I encouraged Abishai to come up front. It was his idea to climb onto of the garbage can and "practice my balancing act." It was perfect timing because Jared came just a couple of minutes later.

Evening swim to show Daddy how much fun we have! I'm some glad the kids don't care about the color of the water.

Are you comfortable, Keturah?

I'm a genius! Sometimes! I call this the "cinch sack" method. I strung a rope through the grommets on the tarp from last year and then cinched it down under the top ring of the pool. Boom! It barely fits, but once I tucked the edges of the tarp under the rope, it was fairly secure. We'll see how it goes!

An easy knot that I can get out in case it gets tight with rain. And you can see the string cinched up under the top air filled ring of the pool. Boom! Perfect!

Sigh. Phew. Exhausted. Woah. This whole "going out of the house" thing is a little too much! Where do I begin? Uh, I got caught up in answering homeshcooler's questions. Then I had to shower. We didn't leave for the mall until 1:20pm. We were home about 4:30 because of traffic and a slow line at DQ because Keturah wanted an Oreo blizzard for her treat. And everybody wanted to message me all day. Yikes! I need to write some better shopping lists. I'm a bit scatter brained today. We didn't accomiplish all the things I wanted, but I think I'll make a second trip out by myself later this week. Keturah and I did walk the whole mall and stopped at a few stores. We noticed that about half the stores were closed (not for good, but for now). Only about 1/3 of people were wearing masks but everyone was fairly spread out. Some stores required masks, some did not. Some had places to stand, some did not. The mall felt busy for a Tuesday afternoon though. And because it was on the northeast side, we did see a lot of African Americans. It's a wealthier part of town, though. Not that it really matters. I think we actually might have gone in the same entrance where the shooting took place late last week. All was well though and it was an isolated incident where one person was mad and chased the other one into the mall.

The Disney store was closed, DQ in the mall was gone, and the place looked sad and weird. When we went into the Lego store, the employee had to open the door. They had taken everything out of the middle of the floor. You had to stand on the yellow squares in the middle of the store and only the employee could hand you a Lego box to look at. I'm guessing that they sanitize them in between people? They had lots of plexiglass and counterspace between us and the cashier. And then they unlocked the door to let you out. It was unreal! Then we walked along until we found a discount shoe store. And I actually found 2 pairs of name brand sneakers for a total of $90.  It still hurts my wallet, but my friends will think it was a bargain. I bought a pair of more traditional looking sneaker and one that is more of a slip on, light weight, but comfortable all day one. Both 5 1/2 size, so at least they fit me better than some have in the past. Keturah wanted some fancier $65 shoes that are more for fashion than for practical running around the playground. I said no because she's still growing. I suppose she could borrow one pair of mine if we were in a pinch. We also were able to get into Dick's Sporting goods and looked at swimwear. I couldn't find anything for Abishai, but I did see and purchase a long sleeve swim shirt for myself. I tried it on at home and it's a bit big, but I don't want it too snug. It was an XL. Yuck. But it's rated 50spf or whatever so my arms will be safe from the sun when I'm in the dead sea.  It's actually a similar color to Keturah's. I'm happy with that. You do wear it over another bathing suit though. I saw that I had a different suit in our swim bag when I was digging out stuff for the kids, so I think it will be fine. I wish I wasn't so embarrassed about my stomach these days and would make the effort to put my bathing suit on, but I just can't. It's just not fun for me.

Our final store was a peek into Victoria's Secret. Keturah didn't want to of course, but I wanted to show her the cool lounge wear and what kind of underwear there was out there. We both agreed that certain types were not fun to wear. And I told her how I would buy this kind or that kind. And I found some that I might purchase later on my next expedition out. The prices weren't too much more than I remember them, plus there were plenty of sales. I think one of the last times I was in VS and purchased something, Keturah was 3 or 4 and in a stroller with me. Crazy, eh? I used to be on their mailing list and got coupons. I might have had a small credit card with them, too. I need to not do that this time though. We have way too many of those store cards right now. And if I got to Kohl's on Thursday, I'll be tempted to open up one with them again, too. Sigh. But I am closer overall to what I want to have for our Israel trip. It's been fun purchasing things with that trip in mind. It's kind of pushed me from just making do to actually having things that really work, aka sneakers that fit properly or proper bathing suit attire. I'm not addicted. But I do have a scarcity mindset, so when I do go shopping, I want to get it right then and there because I don't know when I'll be back. Like the swim shirt. I did go online and looked at some but didn't find ones I liked. But I did know the price of them and what would be comparable in the store. So I did my research there at least. And we knew exactly what we were buying at the Lego store. And I knew my price point on shoes. So, overall, I shop fairly well.  We'll see how my next trip goes.

And then we were done. Keturah doesn't like to be out and she doesn't like to shop and she doesn't like frilly things. I didn't forget her birthday, but I didn't make effort to gather friends together or anything and she seemed to be ok with that. We just started getting together with others, so I just put it out of my mind to do a birthday party thing. We'll have a big dinner on Sunday (also Father's Day) with Grandma and Grandpa. She's getting Legos again on Sunday and Grandpa is going to help paint her room. Shauna will do the mural. And I think Keturah is extremely happy with that. I think she also hopefully understands that this was Benaiah's year. I needed to focus on his things. So I didn't get balloons or a sign for her. I won't for Justin either. She and Justin talk more about new Lego sets for their birthdays than they do getting together with their friends. So, that's what we did. I made the day special by taking her to the Lego store (vs. just going to Target or something) and letting her pick a special treat. She got lots of message on FB and IG when I posted there. Alisha Caudill put a little something together for her, too (she's so awesome like that!) Grandma brought her a cookie she got from Luke Green's baby shower (for his daughter Penny, or Penelope, which is such a cool name!) Stefanie called her, too.` And now she is staying up until 11:17pm when she actually turns 12. I hope to get a picture of her then. I didn't think to take pictures of her at the mall. And she would have been against it anyway. Not everything needs a photo, right? Well, in my book it does, but I'm choosing to let today be good enough. No guilt here. She's happy with her new Legos.  I paid for both, but she will pay me back for one once she earns the money from shredding Grandpa's papers.  I know that's kind of like buying on debt, but it's a timing issue for me. I wasn't going to go up there twice and since the Lego website was sold out, we wanted to make sure she got the ones she really wanted. And it made sense to just do it on her birthday. She has asked to go to Grandpa's house, so she is taking the initiative and that's what matters. I did talk about debt and how I tend to put things on my Amazon card but then don't always get that paid off well.

And on the way home, I told her the story again about Jared and I's first date because we were passing the Red Roof Inn that my mom and I stayed in that night. 22 years ago this coming October, we drove into Indianapolis after visiting Cedarville University in Ohio. We had dinner with Gary, Leah, and Jared and Leah had made her chicken noodle soup with thick noodles. Jared had specified in a letter to wear a skirt but I think I wore some shorts or something or maybe jeans. I don't remember exactly. Then my mom drove back to our hotel, the Red Roof Inn off of Emerson behind Steak and Shake, a place we all drive past often, and Jared took me out and about around town. That was back when there was no Target shopping plaza or Aldi's or Chick Fil A. Meijer and Menard's were there on Emerson and Southport. The only things on Arlington and Thompson was the two gas stations and we stopped at the Marathon for gas. I forget where else we drove around, but I know we ended up in the church parking lot but there was no big sanctury back then. It was just Banner Hall and the old gym and old offices. I like to say that we were on the spot where the stage is now, but honestly, I think it might have been more were the atrium is. I sat on his lap (facing forward of course) in the passenger seat of the white four door car he had right before he bought the F-150 red truck and we cuddled, kissed for the first time, and listened to Jennifer Knapp. And I refused to let him French kiss me until we were engaged. We didn't get back to the hotel until 3 or 4am. He had given me his gray sweatshirt because I had gotten cold. I remember standing on the balcony getting one last hug and kiss. I was on such a high that night! I did end of sleeping in the car the next day as we were headed to North Carolina I think. Jared went to bed for 2 hrs, got up at 6am, wrote a paper for philosophy that was due at class at 8am, and went to class at Indiana Wesleyan University at the northside campus close to where we were today on the other side of the big 465 highway. Yup! It's fun when you're back in the town where all your "first" happened. 22 yrs. Jeepers. We old. And next year, Jared's been warned that we need to do something for my 40th birthday AND our 20th wedding anniversary. Oh my goodness. 20th?! There's a photo collage on Gary and Leah's wall of their 20th! No way! We can't be at that point in our lives already! And yet, here we are, with a high school graduate/young adult, an almost 15 yr old 10th grader, a 12 yr old 7th grader, and a 5  1/2 yr old kindergartner. Wowzers!  Time has flown by!

But today is Keturah's birthday. I just like to think about other things today. Like obsessing over the Victoria TV show. They are a handsome couple on and off the stage, Jenna Coleman and Tim Hughes. But I won't write too much of that this time.

Here's what I could get of photos today.

A little This or That for ya.

I thought I had more genealogies that traced all the way to my grandparents, but perhaps my aunt has those. These are pretty cool though. A whole history of Southhampton. And the other book I have includes this and other Howell lineage through the last 1800's.

Some birthday greetings from FB!

Alisha sent me these pics. This is from 2012 when we moved into our house in Charlottetown, PEI. Keturah was 4!

Keturah was 4, Justin was not even 7 yet, and Benaiah was 10. Crazy times! That's Jett and Jesse Caudill. On the front steps of our Charlottetown, PEI house. Less than 3 years later, I would be carried over the steps on a stretcher, holding Abishai, when he was born at home. We were fine, but just needed some extra help getting to the hospital.

This picture is two years old, but Happy 12th birthday Keturah!

From Luke Green's baby shower for his daughter Penelope.

This was a fun surprise to find on my Instagram today! I had no idea there was a part of the 501st Legion (worldwide organization) on PEI and/or New Brunswick. How cool! That's the Confederation Bridge in the background connected PEI (Prince Edward Island) to New Brunwick. I totally geeked out when I saw this!

My only exercise today was walking the mall and I'm not mad about it.

How sweet of Alisha! She put together all those little things for Keturah and Keturah loved it! Alisha had used that stand up thing at the craft fair last fall for Southside, so I recognized it. Aw!

The 15 yr old's way of holding his ice cream cone while he got dressed to go swimming.

Jenna Coleman, who also starred as Clara in Doctor Who, and Tim Hughes. They began dating during their filming of the TV series called Victoria.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. The show is doing a great job of including a lot of important historical events in Queen Victoria's reign and showing the family side of having 9 children. I'm not looking forward to what I'm going to assume is the end of the show when Prince Albert died of typhoid fever when he was only 47 years old. According to the show, they seemed to be a very happy couple.

Queen Victoria hated being pregnant and giving birth, but she did have 9 children and loved them all. The second born, Albert/Bertie, became the next monarch. The show doesn't show all the births and often skips a year or two in between episodes. And it also shows romances of the waitstaff, just like Downton Abbey did. During this season, some of the themes were the Irish potato famine, the working class wanting the vote, rioting, slavery, and of course childbirth. Oh, and Miss Coleman wears blue contacts over her brown eyes! And her make up is heavy and very, very light in color because she has more of a skin tone like mine. And I saw a picture on her Instagram where she actually wears a wig rather than her own hair. Her own hair is somewhat straight and that shade of brown though. Ok, enough of that.

Their chemistry on screen is incredible and now that I know that they were daring, too, I can definitely see it in how they look at each other. Ah, I love the British monarchy!

Abishai had attempted to go swimming this morning but he said his boo boo's hurt. They were able to go for a quick evening swim though.

Fun times!

Madness! Ok, ok, because my doctor and the pharmacy were slow, I ended up skipping 3 doses of my cymbalta. SO, I was way too snappy today. Wowzers I even surprised myself. So I tried to shut up and keep to myself. We had dental cleanings today, which went ok. It's a bit confusing going in and out with masks and if we were allowed to go back inside to use the restroom and we had to wait in the car, yada yada. But apparently Abishai went in and out with the dental assistant by himself, no problem! We know these gals really, really well.  He even told them that Keturah eats DAIRY (when she shouldn't be) and that he brushed his teeth with only water this morning (because I couldn't find any toothpaste he liked). Thanks, kid. Justin and Keturah both have to go back next week to put some caps or whatever I think on their adult teeth and Keturah now has a cavity, go figure. I need to brush my bottom teeth next to the gum line a bit better. I just wanted to get in and get out and go home. Then with all the back and forth, I saw a Facebook or Tweet and I snapped. Someone drew graffiti on a statue of Thomas Jefferson in Seattle, WA. That's it. I've stayed silent long enough. I want my kids to see these statues, thank you very much. I want to visit Monticello and Mount Vernon with my kids. You can't simply take out every single thing that is a related to a slave owner because they were much, much more than a slave owner! So I threw that out there and got home, tried to calm down and started to posting Scripture after Scripture with no comments about how ALL have sinned and ALL need Jesus. Jesus came for ALL people. YOU cast the first stone if you haven't sinned. Jared says to let all these things live in museums, not as monuments. Well, there's not enough museums to explain the history of it all. If you are going to start destroying Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, we won't have a capital city. I like General Lee, too. King David owned slaves, why not destroy Michaelego's or Donatello's David statues? And what about the Colesium in Rome? Tear that down because slaves were killed there? Why?! Why would people destroy property? Physical evidence and reminders of history? We've become a society so full of hate and way too sensitive. Buck up everybody! Did you know that white homeschoolers are ALSO persecuted? We have trouble getting into colleges sometimes or getting a job! I'm persecuted socially when I don't want to drink or I homeschool or I stay at home and don't want to go out and get a job. Racism, bigotry, cruelty, persecution, it's every where and in everything and affects everybody. What else does this minorities want? Do you know how many white babies were killed in the womb today? How many white police officers were hurt? Or how many white people were arrested? I'm not racist, but I've had enough of this super sensitivity. I deal with it every day in my own household. "She touched me. He won't share with me. I want the last piece of cake!" Enough! Life isn't fair and never has been. Racism is real, but it affects all in some way, not just Blacks.

So, I was ticked. And then I made Benaiah ticked because I'm trying to talk to Jared in the front seat and Benaiah's on the phone with Ava talking about Holiday World plans. Kid, we have you for like a total of 1 hr this week, hang up the phone. He had told everyone to be quiet because he was on the phone. Uh, we are all in the same 2 ft of each other. If it's too loud, get off the phone. You talk to her 24/7 it seems. If you care, you'll listen to what really is going on and it wasn't even a fight yet. When I finally calmed down at 3pm, it was too late to workout AND get some things done and cook supper and leave for Bible study. So I skipped. I don't regret it. I got started on Benaiah's photos for the open house and gathering addresses for the invites. Thank goodness we have such a tiny family! I'm sending invites to all of Jared's and my's aunts and uncles and cousins. And it's still something like 20 households. Super easy. I don't have all their addresses on my phone like I thought, and I'm not sure I want to go digging out old phone books I have that are probably wrong, so I'll ask Leah for some and then just send the cousins' ones to their parents if she doesn't have them. We'll see. It's hard because the cousins move around more often than the parents so I don't want to get it wrong. I also had to sort out my HSA card. I needed to reset my pin number a long time ago and it finally caught up with me. TCU, or Teacher's Credit Union, is a smaller bank based in Indiana and we've always had great service with them. The employee even made sure I knew which SSN to punch in when I used the automatic number to reset the pin. I barely remembered my member number though and we've had it for more than 20 years! I just don't use that number (different than all the account numbers we have) very often. Eek! But it's all settled and I used Jared's card to pay my monthly payment on last year's surgery. I had to put a down payment on my wisdom teeth surgery so I'll have to pay myself back for that one next year or the year after. Sigh. And this is why I'm hesitant to do another surgery right now. I don't want all these payments! Ugh!

Then I had to intervene and find out if Justin had small group tonight. He did, at the church, at the south pond. Then Bible study. We sat outside and it was warm, but not terrible. The gnats were getting bad, but not horrendous. I left in time to say good night to Abishai, but missed the extra gabbing session. I'm still feeling a bit like an outsider. And I didn't make any plans with anyone. And then I feel like a loser. And then I feel depressed and not wanting to make any effort. But the Bible says to go and do. I just suck at it.

Tomorrow I will hopefully get some more retail therapy done by myself. I will only go if I workout in the morning. If it wasn't for those Old Navy returns, I might wait. But I also don't have a whole lot here I want to get into or start up either. You have to get supplies before you can hole up in yourself again and improve it. It took a lot of fighting, but I got Keturah to clean up most of her walls this evening. She said her arm hurt after a foot of wall and I was like, nope, you have to keep going. You made this mess, you have to undo it. And because of the fighting, she lost screen time tonight and tomorrow. Yes, I should have taken more time to show her what to do but it was 5pm by then (she had had all afternoon to work on it and didn't come to me for help) but, I also had given her tidbits of information on how to get started. She has to use the hair dryer to warm up the glitter glue to get it out of the corner. And we'll have to systematically get take down the screws and hooks if she wants to keep them where they were, unless Grandpa can magically paint around them. I'm not stalling on this project. I'm not leaving crap in the hall way for too long. We don't have the new beds yet and honestly, I don't want to do that until Benaiah is moved out. But the rest of the stuff can be put in place once the room is painted. The mural is going on a wall that won't be covered with other things, so it will be easy to access. I need to move forward, kiddo. So wash the walls. She had all week.

I wanted the kids to go swimming, but they only went for 15 minutes before screen time. And Jared didn't want to deal with it tonight. Ugh! I push, and push, and push for the pool You are going to use it daily! I guess Jared put some chemicals in it. I still wasn't happy that you needed something to circulate and filter the water. And this point we are guessing and I don't want to ruin it! I don't want to have to dump out water again. Sigh.

And then all the women were talking about the wonderful things God is doing in their lives and how He shows up and I sit there and pout. Why can't I see the positive things? Why do I dwell on the negative things? Why can't I choose joy? What's my problem? Why don't I have a testimony? I guess I have a lot more things to work on than I thought.

He's a bit closer to me than normal. Maybe he missed us today (Tuesday) when we were at the mall.

Bittersweet and interesting and maddening that we couldn't stay longer.

We brought back less than what we went with, trust me. But we still had the biggest Penske truck and UHaul trailer. We had a second Penske truck filled to the brim on the way to PEI.

A little bit of room left! I was so proud of myself when Jared showed me this! But w left behind the couch, chairs, kitchen table with chairs, the downstairs kitchen table and chairs, the kitchen island, my desk that had been Aaron's, Aaron's old bookcase thing, the snowblower (we sold), the deep freezer, and the dishwasher we bought up there. I gave up stuffed animals, a lot of my mom's sewing supplies, my Dad's crafts, and various other things. I didn't sort too much through clothes, toys, or books. Gosh, I shouldn't have listed those out. Now I'm sad.

Leah had taken Keturah and Justin home a month earlier. Beaniah, Abishai, and I had flown back to Indiana. Jared, Gary, and Dan and Mary Craft drove the van, truck, and Socks back to Indiana. They didn't stop this time but caught cat naps in the vehicles.

Yeah. These are sad and hard to look at.

Today's message.

I waited a week like he told me to. I just posted that blog post and reposted his blurb on Instagram.

Can you find us? We had to hold up a blank piece of paper and then they photoshopped the words in.  Well, Erica did.

I pulled out the trusty old Creative Memories trimmer today. It's a good thing it's still sharp! I don't think I've used this in 8 yrs maybe? I was cutting up the wallets I bought to hand out at the open house.

And then I was looking at them and remember that true senior pictures have at least the graduation year on them (back in the day it was in gold letters at the corner n the bottom). So, I grabbed one of my sticker sheets, made up a quick chart, and printed out some labels for the back of the wallets. I'm so glad I've kept these extra pages from previous projects. No need to run out and buy more!  This is why I don't hold to the "if you haven't used it in 6-12 months, get rid of it" rule. Nope.

I'll add this to my shopping list tomorrow.

No say it isn't so! We can't be collecting school supplies already?! But if the kids go back in 6 weeks.....this time, isn't not by grade level in KP or whatever. Things are still so weird and abnormal.

Abishai renacting a video:
Storytime

Abishai decided to reenact a video that he had watched today as I was preparing dinner. NOT the right time, so I was a little too blunt but let him do it anyway. He was very precise and needed one type of pot, the butter dish, and a flat pan. He also need soapy water in the sink. He was very specific of how they were to race and who fell in the water. Then he did the same thing in the bathtub and out in the grass.  Hm,...I'll keep that in mind when we want to act out history stories!

You can find the announcement of when church will open up again for in person services and why that date was chosen on all the church's social media pages.

Retail Therapy Day #2. Ah, I had an emotional day yesterday so I was really tired today. I did my workout, but would have rather taken a nap than go out. But I went out. And it was fun and great! I got most of what was on my list. The mall was BUSY! Not Christmas busy, but busier than I had seen it on a normal weekday. I guess people are that bored! And it was busier than the other mall on Tuesday. I went to "our" mall in Greenwood, which is slightly closer. Most of the stores were open. Less people were wearing masks. All employees were wearing masks and had rules to follow. I know I smiled a lot and tried to say thank you, and yes, I understand. I had a mission and yes, I took a bit of time, but quicker than I would normally. I only went to 3 stores. I found the same swim trunks I tried to buy online at Old Navy in the store. Lots more stock in store than online! Crazy! But they don't stock petites! That's not fair! They did take the one pair of shorts I wanted to return and I found out that it's taking 1-2 months for returns to process. Sigh. Ok, then. I'll pay a little bit of the Old Navy credit card and sit on the rest. Frustrating. Then I went to a couple of other stores to get anniversary gifts for Jared that I wanted to give to him today but I'll wait. We'll do Father's Day stuff first.

Then it was off to Meijer to buy things to use for our Summer Prompts list, more drawers for Benaiah's clothes so he can just lift and go, and my dairy free ice cream, butter, and yogurt I can't get at Aldi's. I also treated myself to some hand weights and barre slipper socks! I could have used our gripper socks from Skyzone, but they say "barre" on them and I love the look of them. It's my reward for staying consistent with my workouts. And I bought a java chip venti at Starbucks between the mall and Meijer. Why when it's so many calories? Because it's a huge treat! Because I still have a gift card. And I buy at least one per summer.  I don't buy Starbucks that often. Once every month or two. And it was so yummy! My reward for just getting out there and doing the errands when I didn't really want to. I still need to figure out my pants for Israel situation, but I'm getting there. I just wanted to get to Old Navy before the styles I had were not there anymore. Same with the other stores I went to.

Meanwhile, the kids hung out in the morning and then had lots of screen time while I was gone. I'm trying to remind myself that it's summer. They are going to die if they have 3-4 hrs of screen time vs their 2 hrs during the school year. Lots of families have movie marathons, right? But I did realize that I don't have a good way to contact them, so I think I might get one of those cheap phones at Meijer or Kroger that you can add minutes to so we can leave it at the house as the house phone. It wouldn't be anyone's personal device to play on. When I got home, the kids went out to swim before dinner. I had bought pizza for dinner, my go to meal if I'm out all afternoon. Benaiah worked during the day, had dinner with us, and then took Ava out for dinner because she was having a bad day. I keep teasing Jared about the way Benaiah treats Ava, taking her out to dinner, buying her special treats, bending over backwards for her, etc. and halfway seriously saying that I, too, want to go out to dinner! We have gift cards and everything. We just need to make a plan since it's not our normal thing to do. He smiles about it, but truly, date me! Anyway, I date myself when I go shopping, so that's ok, too. He asks how much I spend, and I say, too much, and he grimaces and that's the end of that.

Otherwise, all is calm for now. Tomorrow Gary will take Keturah to get paint for her wall and I'm to help her tape up the edges and take out the nails and such. She did finally get the room washed down. I knew that by involving Gary this time, we would get it done sooner rather than later, and I was right. Yeah! And I think we narrowed it done to Shauna actually painting the largest flat canvas she can find and just hanging it on the wall. Less pressure that way. But Keturah and I narrowed it own to what she wants and it's much more traditional than I thought it would be. She wants a red barn with white trim and I said that's what I typically think of when I think of a barn with a horse's head sticking out the half door of a barn. She also wants a dun colored horse with cream colored mane and a blaze on the face. So, I made some serious progress today and now I'll be able to stay home for a few days and continue work at home. That's how it goes I guess. I think I'll send the empty ink cartridges with Benaiah because he parks at Staples if he has a day shift. I didn't have time to do it today.

Aw, and at bedtime, Abishai asked to do my workouts on my computer by himself! He's so adorable!

Today's Praying Wife Quote

Can you find Justin? His small group found this huge float in a nook between parts of the church building. I think it was used for something recently and then just left there. But how fun!

Wait, what are you guys doing out here? Oh, there's a birdie that fell from the nest! And then Abisha scaled the fence to put the stool over it for Daddy, who had gloves on with the baby bird in his hands, trying to put it back in the nest or a tree and it kept falling out!

Daddy holding a baby bird!

Trying to put the bird in the tree.

Thank goodness for zoom lenses. Baby bird not quite ready to fly. But it did hop to the neighbor's yard and out of the way of Justin trimming and mowing today.

Can you please bring in the stool? No problem, Mom!

Yes, I said wash ALL the walls. It shouldn't take 4 days, but it did. These kids need to learn how to hustle! Again, that's why I got Grandpa and his timeline involved. But Keturah kept saying, "I'm not like Grandpa and I'm not normal (paced) either." I know, that's why we are doing this!

Anybody need goat cheese mac and cheese? I forgot that these are gluten! Bummers! I really wanted to try the goat cheese, although you have to add regular milk to it.

My rewards for working out consistently for 4 weeks straight. Starbucks was for just going out to run errands when I didn't want to. Then the weights were on my list and Meijer was sold out of all the normal looking weights, and then I saw these. They are meant for walking, so they are filled with gel beads or whatever an kind of soft. I like how they feel in my hand plus they have a strap! Nice! Great for traveling, too. And then how new, different, and cute are those socks? They remind me of ballet slippers, have grippers on the bottom, and match the ones that are in my workout videos. I don't want a bunch of workout clothes because I don't want things that hug my body. But these cute $11 pair of socks are perfect! I can't wait to keep doing my barre workouts!

Sploosh! I think I'll have Justin refill the pool tomorrow from the bathtub using 5 gallon buckets of water. Maybe, possibly.

Watch out, Daddy! There's a clone storm trooper behind you!

Signs of summer. Bathing suits and towels. I've been leaving them out overnight and they've been find. I guess they might get bleached by the sun though. And I'm not responsible for all the toys in the yard either. I'll help with the cover (which I forgot to put on tonight).

Tomorrow's quote.

This was Keturah's inspiration for the mural on her wall.  One of my favorite horse book series, where I took all my inspiration from when I drew up plans for my house, complete with a girl's room with a horse mural on the wall. My dream is finally coming true! I"m so excited!

Keturah wants this color of a horse.

In this stall with hay on the left and a tack box on the right. We'll see what Shauna can come up with.

The End