Year 5, June 5th-7th, 2020: Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

At least for some of us. Jared sort of took half the day off to finish the trench, which had to be lengthened. Then he and the kids had to put all the dirt back in once the barrier was in place. I just stood back and watched because I was nursing a headache. I'm happy to say that I'm not as sore after a workout or even the day after! So it wasn't that. I just didn't want to lift a shovel. I did work for about 30 minutes in the front this morning while Justin mowed half of the yard. And I got up at 7am so I could something I've always wanted to do (see pictures below) to someone's vehicle. I took it slow today after I used the weed eater and strained a nerve or tendon in my letf arm. It was sore from the mid forearm (outside) to my wrist. I sometimes like a buzzing sensation after using it, but this lasted longer and still feels a bit sore. I almost pulled out my wrist brace and I held it across my front as I walked so I wouldn't fling my arm around. I didn't notice the rest of the day until now. Also, this headache and gotten worse. I shouldn't have taken headache medication yesterday. Ugh. I don't know what I'll do in Israel if I get one like this. I know I'm used to popping pills for muscle soreness, but I might just have to leave my pain meds at home so I'm not tempted. Just kidding. I always bring everything and the kitchen sink because I'm afraid of not finding what I like when I'm somewhere else. Getting it all to fit in a suitcase and leaving room for souvenirs is going to be tricky!

Anyway, I finished up Benaiah's birthday celebrations on our end today and they came and took the sign down. Wah! But it was so worth it, at least for me, to know that I CAN provide something like that. For many years we wouldn't have been able to afford it. And I know, I know, we are privileged white people. We know. But we are also lower middle single income, too. Anyways, Benaiah went to work today and came home early because we have curfew again tonight, Saturday, and Sunday, 8pm to 6am. It has worked well this week and I only heard about one major incident between some police officers and a couple of female protestors. Otherwise, it sounds like the protestors did their thing in the afternoon and early evening and went home. Lots of people are complaining about stores closing early, and I get it, you can't get food until after work. I'm privileged I can go any time during the day. But I have a son I want home soon after curfew as humanly possibly so he's safe. And I'm sure other stores want to keep their employees safe, too. And that means they have to do their night closing procedures BEFORE curfew. So closing a store 1-2 hrs earlier than curfew is not absurd. It's only for a few more nights hopefully. Everybody hates our mayor apparently. I never knew his name or paid attention to him until Covid stuff. I don't know which party he is on or his political stances. I just know that he and all the other governmental officials, locally and state wide, are doing what they can. They don't just willy nilly make these things up. A lot of times, it's not even their favorite opinion but they want to listen to the people around them advising them.  Anyway, if there's anything I've learned from Covid and now the curfews, is to just shut up and put up. It's not worth the fighting back. Yes, fight against racism. But no, I'm not going to engage in fighting whether or not a confederate statue should be taken down or not. I'm over it.

So, instead, I put my thinking cap on, and couldn't think of anything, but was saved by an email I had recently saved of 100 basic at home summer things to do! We're talking "go fly a kite" "catch a lightning bug" "stargaze." We have done some of them in the past and have already done some of them this spring, which made me feel like a good mom. I was just having a hard time coming up with simple ideas. So, I printed them out, cut them into strips and put them in a jar on the table so we can beat the summer boredom. Like I said yesterday, our summer traditions revolve around people, holidays, camps, and the like. So I don't usually have to come up with stuff in between these things because I'm usually cleaning up or preparing for the next one. So, it's nice to have a break, but we've already had a break.  Even I'm bored. Anyway, it worked today. I puled a few out that we had just done a month ago and/or we won't do like "give the dog a bath." I'm not putting Socks through that torture. He hasn't had a bath since he was 2 or 3 years old. He doesn't need it. Dirt stays on the outside of his fur and is easily wiped off. His paws always need more work, but even they don't stay super muddy. Besides, washing animals strips them of the necessary oils in their skin. And he never stinks unless he's been soaked in rain. He's usually fine once he fully dries. Anyway, and Jared doesn't want us to wash the cars because of the iron in the water. Well, poo poo. I always thought that one was fun! Maybe we will sneak it in if he's gone or goes back to work. See the rest of the things we did in the pictures below.

I feel like I haven't been home and yet I have been. I just have been lounging more than normal waiting for Benaiah to "discvoer" what I did to his truck. Then checking in on the men's progress on the trench for the bamboo. And somehow, it's 11pm. Gee whiz! All that Facebook scrolling got me today! Tomorrow I will focus on paperwork while Jared works on the pool and Justin finishes mowing.

I made this homescreen background on my phone. One of my favs!

Ssshhhh, he was still sleeping because it was only 7:15. I always forget that the longest day of the year is in June so the sun gets up pretty early and sets late. Thank goodness I had oiled all the doors the night before!

The balloons wouldn't stay upright, so I smooshed them into the window.

Just  few more pictures of the sign I had rented. The lady on the phone was super nice! She said they had a new picture for the 18th birthday, so I said, sure, let's try it! It was perfect! And I helped a local business.

Ta da! I've been dying to saran wrap a vehicle for years! I did it all by myself and I didn't even need a ladder! I thought about going up and over the roof and then under the truck but didn't want to get the saran wrap dirty. I'm glad I choose this method instead. I stuck the end of the wrap in the passenger side door and then went up and over the windshield and the back window a few times. It was tricky at times, but I got it done. Then I angled it down and around the fenders a few times, too. I'm so proud of myself!

These photos are out of order. But, I was looking up a photo for a friend and saw these again, for like the 10th time this year alone. Anyway, I love throwback photos!

That's Jared's truck that people are sitting in. The new sanctuary and parking lot outside the doors of the main office weren't built yet so that's where the fun was had.

Leave it to Phil Robertson. Wise man.

I was wracking my brain for some basic summer traditions but we really don't have ones that we do every single summer. I had saved this list of 100 ideas from a local mom's email and it was perfect. I transferred the list to a document (because the email wouldn't print right), edited it, cut the things into strips and voila, a summer to do list of fun! I'm a genius! And the fun part is that we've already done a few of the things in the last month or two, so I'm going to count them if I don't want to do them again like chalk paint.

I moved to Indiana almost 21 years ago for college. Friends at Indian Creek at moved the Busby family out to Massachusetts to plant a church. So, my parents and I drove down with my college stuff and met up with them. Then I rode back to Indiana with them and my stuff went on the now empty truck. Come to find out, the semi truck was borrowed from the Dickersons, who own multiple companies, and Jared and I went to work for them for a few years starting that very summer. Yes, we've got a lot of networks. I remember that 16 hr van ride home fairly well. I think we did it over night or something because I remember sleeping in the 15 passenger van and we didn't stop at a hotel. I don't remember where we ate or when I got my boxes. Yes, that was the start of my "totes." I moved all of my stuff out to Gary and Leah's house and put it in their spare bedroom, which is now Gary's office. I didn't take everything to college with me, because some of it was just my childhood stuff. I'm glad it came out then and we didn't have to worry about it in two years when we got married. We still own the bedroom suite that was in that spare bedroom. 21 years! Time flies!

Here's one of those 100 summer things to do. We typically make popsicles from kool-aid when we have some made up.

I can't remember what restaurant we ate it that night. I think my parents had already left. I do remember waiting in the lobby like this. It was a nice sit down restaurant, something that I had only done a handful of times as a kid.

I was able to share with the family where Cristobal came from. It's actually Cristobal Colon according to our history book. I think that's his Portuguese name? Christopher Columbus is an English or maybe French version of it? I don't know. But I do know that it's heading for NOLA as a tropical depression now and there will be surge waters and 70 mph winds. I now think about whether or not those huge storm surge doors will close and if the people with houses up on stilts moved their RV and if the fruit trees we picked from will be ok. Those fruit trees survived Hurricane Katrina and are further away from the shore on a hill and the (oh what do you call those mounds of dirt that they built after Katrina?). Anyway, fun stuff, or not!

Not doing chalk paint again right now.

Jared's shirt is the "McLenin" shirt/anti-communist shirt. I actually took it when he wanted to no longer wear it and put it with our 20th century school stuff. Don't we all look like we are from the 90's? Oh wait, it WAS the 90's! 1999!

Yup, it counts! It wasn't quite the right equipment, but I call it a win because they initiated it!

It took me three full days but I did what I could. One more celebration dinner on Sunday.

Cute video where they sped up the video to make the tortoise look like he was going fast and had a high pitched car running noise going. Hilarious!

Super sad face for most people. A modified 4H and animal show will still take place for contestants and helpers only. A lot of vendors pulled it out on their own so that contributed to the cancellation. It was going to be the year of basketball. I hope they keep that theme and use it next year!

We've done a garden, in the ground and in containers. But I thought I'd help Abishai learn the growing process and I did have cilantro seeds still! They are really, really old, but we'll see how it goes. It's now Abishai's job to help water them.

Them skinny days. Yes, that's the size 0 skirt that Gary bought me. I only wore it once or twice. I was more of a 4-6 range, 5 if I was shopping in the teens section. Basically, I didn't have hips or a butt.

Gosh I was tiny. And you wonder why I feel so big after I look at myself in the mirror now. I don't look at myself in a full length mirror that often. That's not how I see myself, the fat mom frump. I don't want to be 98 lbs again. But I don't want to look pregnant, either. Sigh.

They left the kids' clothing in their drawers, so somebody pulled out some boxer shorts and hung them up. That's young, skinny 20 yr old Jared walking back to the truck, too. With hair. Lots of hair.

Only because it was Benaiah's 18th birthday did I buy a full priced brand new just released $60 video game. Can you hear me choking on that price? Typically we wait until the $20-40 range. But, he's sharing it with Justin (until he moves out), so I can't complain too much. It's quite different than Battlefront, so it's not a game Abishai will play. It was either that or Lego.

Doing homework outside with her watchdog. She pretends she doesn't care about Socks and wants her own tiny dog to take care of, but there are moments that she pays attention to Socks, too. Like when she puts dog biscuits on top of his food when she is asked to feed him. She was only 2 when he came into our lives. They've grown up together.

Justin was talking about how he earns money for Lego sets and Abishai wanted to spend his own money on a Lego set, too. So I said, well, you need to ask us or Grandpa what jobs you can do to earn money. So, he agreed an we went to ask Daddy if there was a job he could do. Daddy found him something that would earn him $1. And yes, I did actually pay Justin for the trench. We don't give allowances for basic every day household chores, partly because we've always had money restrictions. But we don't have that issue as much anymore, so we will pay for the extra projects when we can.

$1 to take apart some nuts and bolts. Abishai does have household jobs that he doesn't get paid for.

Then we talked about giving some money back to God of course. I didn't explain the 10% thing quite yet. And since we aren't going to the church building, I needed a way to collect the change. Justin said he has his tithe money in a special place in his wallet. I have to admit, when it's $1 or $20 here and there, I tend to forget to make sure the kids tithe. But the older three have done it a lot and have an envelope for savings, that they get the point. Tithing is returning to God a portion of what belongs to him, and it's the first fruits. Typically it's 10% at a minimum. God owns everything and lends it to us to use and care for. Giving is anything above and beyond the tithe. So if there's a special offering at church or the generous buckets to help the generous ministry or buying socks for the homeless or giving to an adoption fund, that's not tithing, that's giving above and beyond the tithe to the local church. And the extra funds people pledged to pay off the debt of the church is also extra giving, not part of the church's monthly budget or people's regular tithing. That's how Jared and I were taught when we were kids. That's how Gary and the elders steered Indian Creek. And that's why we are (mostly) fiscally responsible and have always had enough for our needs and some for our wants. Most churches and families aren't debt free (or on their way to becoming debt free).  And it's sad. And tithing regularly doesn't mean you won't lose your job or you won't have huge expenses that you will be in debt for for a couple of years (like my medical debt). But it's a win for God and a win for us.

You're an adult now. You're still building Legos while waiting for your new video game to upload. Are you sure you crossed that threshold into adulthood? Lol.

Great plan! The kids were already signed up and their $50 each were paid, so here we go!

Benaiah's reaction to the saran wrap on the truck was, "Meh." and a slight smile.

Oh, I forget to say that this wrap was actually the same wrap that I used to wrap boxes that went into the shed. I did not actually use that much of it! It was the perfect size and strength for the job! Yeah for using what we had on hand!

Balloons that say, 18! I am actually thinking of being a cheap skate and buying a 2 to go with the 1 for 12 for Keturah and a 5 (if the 1 is still floating) to go with Justin's birthday in September, lol. Not really. I'm sure I'll just buy new ones. I ordered them online but the curbside service was in the store for pickup. I had to wait to pick them up from the counter because the lady was working on some white and pink regular latex balloons. And I got choked up and sad when she handed them to the big black dude and said, "I'm so sorry for your loss." My immediate thought (based on what I thought was his age) was maybe his and his wife had baby girl die. But maybe it was an older child. It was a good reminder that a) I don't mind shopping up in the "ghetto" because I see more black people and I need to be more comfortable around them and b) it's usually pretty quiet up there and c) everybody has pain. We need to be more sensitive.

Interesting product. You put a sleeve into it, pour water between the sleeve and the outside part and then freeze it. Take out the inside sleeve, squeeze, and all the ice pops out. It has a lid, too. But I would have to transfer the cubes to a different bowl if I wanted to make more ice right away. We are going through ice cubes a lot right now and don't use the ice maker because of how hard the water is on those things. So, we fill ice cube trays. I found all the trays we have and have started taking out the frozen ice cubes and putting them into a small bowl in the freezer so I can make more. I even brought my refreezable Canadian ice cubes back into the rotation. Jared keeps turning off the A/C fan when he thinks it won't shut off on it's own and we are way too hot in here. He wasn't working from home the last few summers so he doesn't realize that it does run alot because of our leaky house. And yes, the electric bill goes up. 78 degrees is where we keep the thermostat. It's just what it is. It was the same way in Beech Grove for 10 years. The Charlottetown house didn't have a/c.  Our first apartment and the condo did, but they were newer units.

I was sharing this with Shauna in case they come to Indiana during that time frame.

Let's go to Mix/Move! It will be at church in separate spaces. And plenty of social distancing. And because they made it later in July, I think we will feel more comfortable with the number of cases going down even when more people are out and about. So, we'll see! The youth ministers have a plan and it's time to rock and roll!

Don't squish my face! Too late!

I thought this was tea. It was not tea. It was Jared's weak cold "brew" coffee. Blech! It tasted like watered down church coffee. No cream or sugar. Blech!

Whoops, that's some kind of old wire! But they didn't cut it. They just dug around it.

Got to get this to fit in the hole!

Abishai saw in one of the unboxing videos of this brand of toys, Playmobile, that the kids were playing in the dark a game of crime scene. So he wanted to recreate it. Oh, and he disocvered, or gleaned from the videos, that you can change the siren sounds from British to American! Cool! And the top piece that has the sirens, is interchangeable between the two cars. The wheels are, too, but not the tow hook and cable piece.

All done. It's in! And it's supposed to come up and over the sides. So ugly!

Jared dumped the pool out so he can widen the base. We hadn't put chemicals in the water yet, but we are talking with a neighbor about that.

Start filling in the hole and making it look prettier.

Leah shared this with Shauna, Donna, and I. I love the Mask line. Because the mandates and consensus has changed often over the last few months.

Watering the flowers after watering the cilantro for me.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's off to work they go. I'm Snow White by the way. I clean house, these four dwarfs work. In their bare feet because yeah, that's safe. Not!

Abishai worked the hardest of course.

Keturah had the huge pick axe to loosen up the dirt for Justin to shovel. I was afraid she was going to hit her feet with it.

I saw the sun shining on Socks and then Abishai plopped down next to him for a hug. I'm sure I'll blow this one up someday and frame it.

Or this one. This just about sums up their love for each other.

Note to self with store bought cilantro AND when I get over run with it when the seeds germinate!

Slow moving Saturday. Justin did yard work at Gary and Leah's. I worked on paperwork. Abishai puttered. Jared made tea and breakfast and started on the outdoor work. Keturah exercised in some way so she could have screen time in the early afternoon. Benaiah got up, played video games, visited with Ava and went to work early again because of county wide curfew again tonight. Um, what else to say? I think we'll stick to photo captions today. It's already getting late and I didn't finish yesterday's photos yet. Eek! I had hoped to watch more videos, too, today, but I played with Abishai instead. Oh, we did have thick pork steak on the grill. Why does steak always tastes better when it's grilled? Oh my word. I just love that charred taste I guess. And I had marinated it all day in a ton of seasonings.  We only have that small Pampered Chef electric/charcoal grill, but it works for us! (Someday maybe we'll get a real grill. We've never had one before though.)  It got pretty warm today, but was less muggy by the end of the day. It was great day like Abishai prayed it was at dinner tonight. He's our little prayer warrior. He's always saying things like, "Jesus will heal my boo boo." "Thank you for our big day (God)." The others refuse to pray, or at least hesitate. And if Abishai doesn't want to, we don't make him of course. Sometimes Daddy insists that it's Daddy's turn to pray and Abishai will then butt in and start praying before Daddy can open his mouth, lol. He also wouldn't let me stay too long snuggling him because, "Mom, it's past my bedtime!" Ok, ok, little one. Good night!

Awww, little girl! I think this was 8-9 years ago? She doesn't give me those kinds of hugs anymore though and she hates boys. But I think those are the Dora the Explorer shorts! I think they might have gone to a costume but I picked them up at a thrift store or they were given to us. She wore those a lot. This was at our Beech Grove house.

Loads of growth in our garden! These day lilies (not moses grass as I call them) are about to bloom! I love how the flowers bloom at different times!

I wanted Abishai to water my cilantro plant, but he wanted to water the whole garden. So instead of him messing with the house, we filled a big bucket with water and then he refilled a watering can from it.

Fun fact: this watering can was my mother's! I believe it's the same one we had at the Hooksett house. In any case, it was hers at some point because theirs teeth marks on them and I know Socks didn't do that. Abishai wanted to water the sidewalk so it was "refreshing" to walk on. He was upset at how quickly it dried.

The bumble bees love this one!

Still a few roses left. And weeds, but the mulch and black barrier as really helped this year!

So fun to nurture this little area. It was so worth all the hours I put into fixing it up. There's still some other spots that need help, but we are getting there.

The new bamboo is in place. But boy does it look ugly! Jared says it willcover up all this uneven ground and dirt, but in the meantime, it looks ugly. We should get some more mulch and at least fill the rest of the area inside the black barrier. I'm kind of glad that some of the dirt stayed on the stuff up close the house. Less to mow and trim. It's functional, but I'm not waiting for 5-10 years for it to look pretty.

Abishai was changing out the tires in his SWAT vehicles because the bad guy used a gun to blow them out! Plus he switched the top lights.

He also wanted the grappling hook on the front of this vehicle but there was no where to hook it on to. So I used scotch tape to secure it. He took it off 5 minutes later. I was very careful not to put the tape on the stickers because I knew he would be ripping it off sooner rather than later. And he did, and the stickers are fine.

The vehicle did a little off roading.

Ah, my "today's list" pile is gone! The other pile is my main working pile that rotates and I typically pull down the exercise worksheet and the Core 52 book every day.

Benaiah got his card from the J4.

Because Abishai can no longer open the back door by himself, I've been leaving the garage door open so that he can go in and out without help. He has been very good about closing the gate, too. Well, he wanted to show me that he could put Socks on the leash and lead him to the back yard and then unleash him. Socks of course obeyed very well. So sweet!

Sunday was NORMAL as in we had Sunday dinner with Gary and Leah normal! Yeah! A couple of families went to Gary and Leah's for church service and then after they left, we came over for Benaiah's birthday dinner. I basically acted normal. I'm not sure if Jared didn't touch as much as he used to or he's secretly over being extra careful and giving up. Anyway, yeah, normal. Abishai played with his cars, Keturah and Justin and I helped with dinner prep, Benaiah went and picked up Ava, and Jared did the grilling. Gary bought the kids new baseball gloves and went to pick up the ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, just like we had on Benaiah's 1st birthday. "Steak and ice cream cake" was the only things Benaiah wanted for dinner. But we had a full array of the usual, fruit, watermelon, salad, baked potatoes, green beans, pink stuff, yup. I had cherry sorbet, too, yum! And the last bit of hazelnut coffee they made for the church goers. Good stuff!

Benaiah actually joined us for our church service. Why do I always want to fall asleep during church? Anyway, Dan addressed the somberness of this week with the #blacklivesmatter stuff. Good on him for being neutral in specifics, but saying, "We love you (black people) and appreciate you being part of our church." Then it was on to Rahab. Basic stuff for Rahab, but Jared alluded to at dinner that the time between the spies being saved by Rahab and the Israelites taking down Jericho was 6 weeks. Kind of sounds like the crazy times we are living in. Months of crazies, really. (Including our allergies being at an all time high.

After dinner, we came home and did our screen thing and I exercised. Jared irritated his eye somehow and it's now all puffy. Great. Pool still isn't done and he has to work tomorrow. Abishai and Justin played Battlefront after Justin watched Crave. Keturah watched Crave on the tablet and then is in small group. The three boys just went outside for trampoline time. It's nice when they can spend time together like that. Justin just brought Socks inside and said we have baby bunnies! They are in the same nest as last year! One was out of the nest, so we put it back. I counted at least 4! They are probably just a day or two old as well. We did see a large bunny a few times this past week. We rearranged the cement blocks to make sure they don't go far if they escape again. I know that in the wild, there's always loss, but it's so neat to see them again! I used a glove to pick up the one and was kind of squeamish about it, so I accidentally flung it a bit. Whoops. I was low to the ground so it landed softly. It crawled right back in with the others and I covered them up so hopefully they will stay tucked in. Either we never cleared away the dog hair and such from last year or the mama bunny brought in more dog hair because Justin has been brushing Socks in that area this week. It's awesome to see the bunnies and the birds use Socks' hair for their nests! When I went to move the bricks though, there was a huge ant nest. I put the blocks back down, and I'm hoping they don't disturb the bunnies. They looked like they could be red ants. I didn't want to spray them though because of the bunnies, so we'll see. They all coexist in the real world, so I need to just let it be, I know.

Ok, dokey, I'm not feeling inspired to write grand stories about anything today. I really only spent time on social media this afternoon and I watched some "feel good" stories about animals that were very sick or had been at shelters for years and how they were rehabbed and gone to forever homes. So, I'll choose to stick to that. The only news I saw today was that the majority of the city council of Minneapolis (where the black man was held down for 8 minutes by police officer and died), wants to disband the police department! Say what?! How do you do that? This is unprecedented so if they successfully try and actually do that, putting a ton of police officers out of work, it could affect the whole country! That's kind of scary! They want to rely on community efforts or something. I do not understand this concept at all and it's the first time I've heard of it. Black Lives Matter thinks that by disbanding the police we will be safer? I don't think so. That's not it. Especially since our country is immoral and we can't live on the honor system and citizens handing in their neighbors. I don't know how this is going to work. We'll see what things look like next week! Meanwhile, no more curfews for Indianapolis. People were still complaining about stores not being open and not having signs about when they will be open, etc. and there's a whole host of other issues with places like coffee and donut shops, fast food restaurants, and others with employees not showing up. I feel so bad for the managers that have to hear these people complain when I'm sure they are under a ton of stress themselves. It's a nightmare and a lot of people in the community are so whiny! Good grief. Just shrug your shoulders and walk away and try a different restaurant. It's not a lack of customer service, dude. We still have a pandemic going on AND protestors in the streets. You can give up your stupid doughnuts. Move on, people! Ok, that's my rant.

Aw, Cassidy is home! Again, just some vloggers in Tennessee (really from California) but the baby didn't need the first surgery that they thought she would need. It's a miracle! She still needs a big heart surgery in 4-6 months though. Time to rest and breastfeed (which is going well) and be a family. What an incredible journey!

The adult joined us for worship this morning. They should a video of the grad walk the church did for seniors that didn't have a graduation ceremony. Benaiah didn't want to participate in it because we are supposed to have a ceremony in a few weeks.  About 60 kids did it though. So I asked him why he wasn't friends with any of them. He said he just didn't like them. I was like, "Dude, you didn't like a single one out of 60 people?!" Weird. And sad. The youth group does amazing things and I think Benaiah is extremely picky about it. He doesn't give them enough grace or enough of his time. Or maybe he sort of tried and it failed. I don't know. It makes me very sad, and a bit frustrated with him, that he didn't participate in this because I'm a person who would do anything and everything everybody else is doing. Ethan did it. Sigh.

Yup, he doesn't care.

A little drumming action while I take care of Dinosaury for him.

Aw, 7 yr old Benaiah's birthday party. I wonder how many of those same kids still went to youth group.

Abishai was very happy to play with his cars again. He's missed them and talked about them for the last 3 months.

Another familiar sight. But then he got an allergen in his eye and it's all puffy and irritated now.

Benaiah had a Dairy Queen birthday cake for his 1st birthday so it's very fitting to have it for his 18th birthday. Except, this is a much larger cake for a much larger boy/adult/family.

So big!

Again, twins. The hair parting and all. Benaiah's bigger and thicker though.

Grandpa, despite Grandma's pleading, gave the kids gigantic pieces of cake that they couldn't eat it all!

Justin's piece was probably two full cups of ice cream. Grandpa said it was two scoops. A scoop or serving of ice cream is usually 1/2 cup. Hm,....I ended up eating some of the chocolate part. And we took home half of the cake. I think 1/6 of it was thrown away. Abishai ate regular ice cream and refused cake.

Benaiah's birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa was....

....just what he wanted. A drum THRONE because you know, drummers are the kings and queens of the band because they keep the band going with the beat. Yes, the side of the box says THRONE on it.  The legs look a lot sturdier than what I saw on Amazon. The seat looks very nice as well. This is the cheapest one he looked at. Other seats look more like bicycle seats.

Spinning!

Grandpa got new baseball mitts for the kids because he couldn't find the other ones. I think they are at our house. But the kids had fun with Grandpa on the front lawn! They actually threw and caught the ball pretty well!

Yes, I'm contemplating putting this guy in sports. He's pretty good at whatever he tries. He's too young for the homeschool soccer league yet. But he could also do basketball or baseball. We'll see in the fall if the basketball program is running.

Uh oh, Benaiah found something on Socks' back. Alisha thinks it could be skin tag or even a wart. She advised sending the pictures to the vet and asking if he needs to be seen. These kinds of things do crop up with older dogs. I remember my beagles having growths from times to time.

Measuring it so I have a reference point for growth.  It's only white, with no pink.

Socks found some baby bunnies under the playground again!

This little guy had escaped and I had to put a glove on and put it back. No hair and eyes still closed. Maybe a day or two old?

I think I counted four of them!

I blocked them in on all sides except under the climbing wall of the playground. That way Momma can still get to them if need be. Hopefully they won't try to crawl out again. I did cover them up a bit because it's going to be cooler tonight and I was hoping that it would keep the one straggler in the nest.

I love nature! I did check around to see if there were any other stragglers or dead ones, and so far so good. We'll have to hand walk Socsk for awhile again. The bunnies love using his fur for their nest though!

It was getting late but I'm glad the three boys were out together.

There they are just 2 years ago. Yes, Look how small Justin looks! He's so tiny! And Benaiah was 50 lbs lighter. And 3 yr old Abishai. Crazy!

The End