Year 5, July 13th-16th, 2020: What's New? Nothing. Or Everything?

Oh, hi. Where did this day go? I've been lethargic and yet anxious. A township in our city decided to go all virtual for the start of school. That has thrown everyone else in a frenzy. So we wait with baited breathe for the other shoe to drop and and million more posts to come out asking for help. The IAHE team is doing it's best to write, edit, and post articles that are relevant to the most frequently asked questions like, "Can I homeschool someone else's child?" "What if I just want to homeschool for a year, will be child be able to get back into school at the same level?" And it hit me like a ton of bricks because, I have a hard time processing the fact that not everyone "homeschools" for the reasons that my passionate, long term homeschoolers do. And honestly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on them. I want to share about different curriculums and methods. I want to share about the lifestyle. It's just hard. As I wrote on many groups today reminding them that they can turn to IAHE and us for help, we are praying for all administrators, teacher, students and parents for the hard decisions they have to make. For setting up methods of learning they don't fully understand. Yes, they've had a few more months now, but it's honestly probably not going to be much smoother. And I'm guessing we will be talking about it at Bible study as well. Maybe this will be my chance to shine and ask deeper questions. On the positive side, this fiasco is exposing the school system for what it is. And maybe there will be major changes in the future. It's not my concern though. My concern is to answer posts that I see and be ok with ones that I don't catch. Someone else will answer them, and if not, then we don't. We can't catch them all. I'm going to have to try to gather myself and focus on something else this week.

I felt really tired today. Maybe because of all the "socializing" I did this weekend. Maybe because I've been skipping my multi vitamin because I'm out. Maybe those couple of really late nights are catching up with me. And most definitely, the weight of this school stuff is heavy on me. So, I will try to stay off of social media. I'll go to my book sale tomorrow, try to fit in a workout and shower, leftovers for dinner. And maybe tackle those Howell boxes. I'll eat better, too. I'm still a bit sore and can't eat things like cashews and chips. I thought about asking the dentist today, but he seemed to be in a hurry and running late.

Oh yeah, today was Benaiah's wisdom teeth removal surgery. He did better than I. I don't know the details, but the only thing that went wrong was that the oral surgeon had to poke Benaiah 5 times to get an IV going. I guess he didn't drink enough water the day before. Benaiah slept the rest of the afternoon, but the bleeding stopped well, and he had no sense of dizziness or mentally unaware. He was nauseous on the way home and I had to pull over for him to throw up. I got him started on meds after awhile, and then dropped off his prescriptions later on when I went to get the school food. I just let him have a couple of my pain meds. He's doing fine on the hydrocodone, so that's good. He says he feels no pain. Well, he will when the pain meds wear off. But he's anxious to eat more food. I guess I had to pay extra for another med that helped with swelling, so I did.

Sorry, I feel like I'm in a fibro flare and can't concentrate. While we were gone, Grandma came over with a friend and her grandson. I guess Abishai didn't feel well and ended up throwing up? I don't know. He was fine the rest of the day. Electronics and pool time. Tacos for dinner. Feeling tired. I took my bedtime meds at noon today. Duh. I nearly knocked out for a nap. So I had Jared pick up B's meds. I honestly can't concentrate right now. Ava's over talking to Benaiah. I'm trying to stay away and multi task. I think it will be an earlier bedtime for me and a do over tomorrow.

Ooo, I found this on Facebook! Very helpful!

Daddy had to leave the bedroom first this morning.

I drink milk like Uncle Aaron!

Abishai made sure we all had something to eat or drink this morning.

Snoring on the way home from surgery this morning. He said that the tech said he was snoring through the surgery! Lol!

Jared built a "helocarrier" (from Avengers) and a submarine for Abishai to play in the water with since his other toys make sounds.

Wood, dremel, and wood glue.

We'll see if she floats.

He plans to add paint or water proofing to it.

Pool time. I'm glad the big kids don't mind this little kid pool. They have lots of fun bubbling at each other.

Awake and feeling ok. Ready to get up and try to eat something.

Mommy, I have a special trick. I'll use my black bike because I know it worked last time.

Alley oop!

Waiting for Daddy to come home!

My sister got this for me for my birthday. It's an original The Little Mermaid crayon box! Very neat! Not in prime condition, but that doesn't matter.

How neat! It still has some crayon scraps in it. Oh well.

Well, that was a better day! I got a 40 minute workout in AND a shower! It's always a good day when I get both of those things done. We also went through Benaiah's castoffs. Both Justin and Keturah took a few things, and I saved a few things in a box labeled "Benaiah's Memories that he didn't want but Melinda did." Lol. I also took a little nap. I think skipping out on my multi vitamin because I was out of it really affected me. I won't do that again. I also drank a Beachbody energize drink and my Beachbody shakeology and had much more energy and focus today. It was partly caffeine, yes, but I think some of the other electrolytes and ingredients helped. I asked about if becoming a coach gets you some good discounts because I'm becoming addicted to the shake. It's so easy to make and it does fill me up for several hrs. I've been eating my usual breakfasts, then a shake at lunch with some kind of complex carb sometimes, or I do that a couple of hrs later, and then a normal dinner. I found myself clenching my teeth as I cleaned, partly because my hair was done and in my way and was getting hot and fustrated, and my teeth started to hurt again. I've been taking 1 200mg ibuprofen tablet every 6 hrs. Normal dose is 2 tablets, but I want to wean completely off of it and I'm getting used to my normal fibro pain again. Working out actually helps with that.

So, the kids helped with the cleaning, and they did their normal. I still didn't pull out anything extra to do. I barely held their attention for the cleaning part. But, I've been starting to think about school routine as well. I want to start looking at the books but Abishai's tent is in the way. I can't move him until the boys' room is closer to being done. I can't do that until Benaiah gets his stuff out. So, we'll work on more of that tomorrow. It's such a waiting game. But I downloaded a book to read, so maybe, possibly I'll get to that when I'm bored. There's not much on our agenda this week. I'm a boring mom, I know. Abishai asked me to play Lego with him but as soon as I try to make something, he tells me it's wrong and takes it apart. Tomorrow, I told Keturah and Justin I will pay them $10 an hour to resort the non Lego bricks from the Lego bricks and put the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets back together so they can be put away properly. Abishai never really played with them as their own because they got mixed in with regular Legos. I just don't have the patience and time to do them myself. So, at least an hour of day for each of them should get that done. It's really starting to bother me, the extra clutter, and Abishai's Lego table isn't being used well. My newest pet peeve is stuff being left on the couch. It's not a table. Put things away. And if it's heavy, it's going to misform the couch cushions.

Oh, Benaiah the patient is impatient with what he can and cannot eat, poor thing. He did not have any bruising. I think that extra $50 towards extra medication really helped. He is taking some medication, but it doesn't feel the pain is that bad. Ava and her mom don't want him driving on the medication. I told him that yes, you shouldn't be driving when you first start taking a new medication because you don't know how you will react to it. But once you know how you react, you can better judge if you can drive. With the hydrocodone, I wouldn't drive if I could help it, but when it's out of your system (6 hrs) then you're fine. For example, I take gabapentin which can make me groggy, or even dramimine, but sometimes I still have to drive. He's had several small 2 serving pouches of mashed potatoes, ice cream, and many pudding cups. He lamented about how he was at the store and 95% of the ice creams had chunks in them.  I told him to just carefully chew the chunks towards the front of your mouth. Just don't suck down anything. So far so good. He's going to get bored before he works again, and he only has a little bit more of cleaning out he needs to do, but it's better to take the time off, then to have to come home from work in pain. He actually used some of his paid time off for this week.

Sigh, I feel so much better after working out today. My abs are getting stronger, but I'll never actually see them. My skin is too loose from having babies and extra weight for all these years. And cleaning up/out a few things also helps. It's just that I haven't had the energy and I was in pain. Oh, and I did let my hair air dry and boy did Jennae did such a great job layering it! I still have a funky wave because I tuck my hair behind my ears too much as it dries, but in general, it lays really nicely! I can fix it with a curling iron, or blow dry it like I used to with a round brush, when I find it again. I love it! Easier to wash, too! And no more long pieces of hair to go down the drain. I've never been this excited about a shorter haircut before. I don't know if I'll keep it this way, but for now, I'm enjoying it.

That's it. Time to load up a few pics and get back to Poldark. I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time on social media today, so I answered some questions and then spent some time looking up info on Poldark for fun. The story isn't real, but could have been based on a real person. It was a series of books written in the 1940's and some I think much later, or at least published later. I think 12 books in all. And those who have read the books say the TV show is very similar and they love both. I looked up the three main characters I like, how old they are, what their career has been like. The main character, Capt. Ross Poldark, is played by Aidan Turner, who is 2 years younger than me, and was born and lives in Dublin, Ireland. He had some good quotes on IMDB.com which is the best place to find info on actors and tv shows and movies. And his curly hair is his, it's not a wig! Same with the main female lead, Demelza Poldark. Her hair is her own, but she's only 28 yrs old. Her name is Eleanor Tomlinson. I then followed all their social media accounts. I'm sure it's just a fad for me, but I get into these things. And it's ok. It keeps me from being anxious about real life happenings like tomorrow's announcement about our township's schools school opening plan. I need that escape sometimes. The show has it's issues, like infidelity, but that's life in general. The main characters work through a ton of kinks in their marriage and they both have tempers. It exposes some social issues as well. And the scenery. Oh my, the scenery! It was shot on location in Cornwall, England. I'm already excited because we loved Cornwall, Prince Edward Island. And apparently Cornwall, England, is near some gorgeous cliffs and the ocean and on the moors. Ah! There's nothing like shooting in real life instead of a green screen! I mean you have to if it's sci fi, but even a lot of the city scenes in Avengers were green screen. I'm a realist through and through. Real instruments and orchestras. Real movie shoot's sites. Real true color instead of the filters on social media. Real life instead of a curated life on social media especially. I could go on and on. Don't hide all the real issues either. Don't take things out of TV shows, movies, and statues because you find it "offensive." Everything is offensive to someone in some way. Leave the past as it is. Do something different in the future.

Oh my word, this is sad. This is a 49 year old guy, Grant Imahara. We know him from the show "Mythbusters" but he worked with Lucas film on the Star Wars prequels, the Matrix, and Jurassic Park on special effects. He died yesterday of a brain aneurysm. It's scary to think he was only 8 years older than Jared. We don't know what he was up to or his current health status, but still, he was pretty active and vibrant on the show. Ugh.

Did I share this yesterday? Probably, but it's so awesome!

I LOVE this one because it acknowledges the fact that because we already choose homeschooling, but also is a way to reach out with our knowledge and help our fellow parents. It's NOT a YOU vs. THEM mentality, although I'm prone to think that way. I feel so badly for parents and admins and teachers and students. So badly.

The creator of Larry the Cucumber himself. Isn't this awesome! Ok, so now we need one for Bob the Tomato!

They are doing this little tour, Michael W. Smith, Mac Powell, and Steven Curtis Chapman, there legends and giants and goofballs, where they are setting up at drive in theaters so people can be safe. Crazy! I don't know if it's coming towards our direction, but we'll see. Rehearsals happened today.

This one is the best! It has so many extra good things you can't find on the pharmacy shelves, at least not all in one formula. It's almost $40 a bottle but worth it!

Awww

My boys. Playing with Nerf guns. They are so different, in size and personality. My boys.

A little bit of a funky aftertaste, but still good. I felt energized, but I have to be careful not to drink these things on an empty stomach. I didn't get the shakes, but I ate lunch right after my workout.

My hair was still wet here, but look how nicely it's laying!

The backside looking good.

Abishai be packing (guns)!

Completely dry. See how I have that bit of a wave on the left (but it's mirror image so it's my right side). This side tends to curl out instead of under, and I tuck it behind my ear. I tried not to, but it still happened. Sigh.

See how I'll still have to use a bit of a curling iron after it's dry on that left (my right) side? Or blow dry it with a round brush.

Speaking of hair, these two aren't wearing wigs. It's their own hair! These two are the main characters on Poldark Captin Ross Poldark played by Aidan Turner (age 37) and Mrs. Demelza Poldark (who puts up with Ross' crazy antics and fights like the red head she is), Eleanor Tomlinson (age 28).

Pool time! I'm so glad they spend 30 minutes out here every day! I know it isn't much, but they can get a little bit of exercise doing their favorite sport!

Abishai was demonstrating to us how he wants to learn how to kick and swim using a kickboard. Maybe he'll have to join a swim team when he's older!

See this stuff? It's stuff that Benaiah doesn't want, but I think he will want someday to show his kids, like his favorite Hardy Boy books. And I kept his CFA red shirts in case he moves to a different store in college and isn't a team leader anymore.

This guy started playing Legos  on the table right after dinner and didn't stop for 2 whole hours! He just kept tinkering and figuring and imaging His middle name is now "busy" instead of "Nathan" lol!

Working, working, working. I tried to help but then he would just change it saying I was doing it wrong. So I just sat and listened  and watched while I played on my phone.

This is his ambulance. And then he turned the top into a jail. Then he put the jail on top of the police station roof. Then he created a getaway car like in the police Youtube videos that would pull down a wall of the jail. Then the bad guy could escape. Yup, all of that working and playing.

Got some more stuff cleaned out and reorganized for Benaiah's big move!

Aw, so sad! He loved this box and kept his treasures in it. Thank goodness the keys were still in his boxes, too.

It's a great box! And he didn't want any of this money. Not the special $2 bill, not the 10 cent Euro, not the Canadian money, or the American money. And not the pressed pennies we got at the Creation Museum many years ago. Benaiah is just not sentimental!

Ta da! My brother suggested I put something under my lap top to create space for more airflow. As I was putting away the duck tape Beaniah didn't want anymore, I saw these little rolls. Perfect! Now, it's a bit tiresome to type like this, so if I'm sore tomorrow, I will just lower it when I'm typing up the blog. However, having the screen more at eye level will help me and my neck issues. Awesome!

Abishai played Lego for two hours while Daddy was at Bible study. But the men had lots and lots of questions so Daddy stayed with his friend for 2 hrs, too! Abishai won't go to bed without Daddy unless Jared is away overnight. So, he was fading, but stayed nearby until Daddy got home.

So sleepy! But you should have heard him squeal when he heard the front door open! And his giggles when Daddy put him to bed. They didn't last long, but Abishai can sleep well knowing Daddy is home. And maybe, just maybe, he will sleep past 7am tomorrow!

Oh my. I'm so tired! 40 minute workouts are brutal! I was much slower today for sure and I'm super sore. Time for just a yoga workout tomorrow. I have other things to work on anyway that I didn't get to today because I had some unexpected emails and phone calls to make. But all is well. I just am getting nervous about what our new routine will look like for school and working out. And now I (and Jared) have been asked to be part of something else, so we are mulling that over as well. (Sorry, I had to pause and write an email to the person who asked before I forgot). Good gravy. I'm so tired that I'm in that headspace where I can't think about what happened today. Hm,...oh yeah, worked out, answered emails, lunch, more emails, went in the pool with Abishai, went to church for a meeting, quickly fixed dinner, Justin has Bible study, now back home home answering emails. So, let's explain some of that.

Emails. I keep having to remind myself that a) they will be there an hour from now, so you don't have to get them all done at once b) it's not my responsibility to catch ever error in the homeschooling dialogue c) reading social media and responding and answering emails take up a lot of time, and I'm not talking about scrolling for the fun of it. Right now, it is intense. I probably spend a few hours on it every day. It's my job. And that's ok. It makes it hard to plan things for the kids, and I could always ignore it for a day (at least the social media posts, not the mails directly to my IAHE account). Lately, it's been overwhelming and frustrating. I think I've already explained that in earlier posts.

Oh goodness, groan, every time I move, I'm in pain. Those 40 minute workouts are intense! I do the highest level I can manage. Yesterday I did the complete workout and today I did the ab workout. I can feel my abs from inside maybe becoming more pronounced but I'll never see them on the outside because of the mommy flab. I wrote this on my FB page:

"You can't fight genetics. My abs have felt strong and are on fire after my workouts, however, I can't seem to loose weight or the pooch. Why? Because even when my mom was at her sickest and lightest, she still had that mommy pooch! I think even my grandmas would have had them if they hadn't been overall overweight. Just about another week and a half of Barre Blend (I do about 4 out of 5 workouts a week because I need the rest time plus life) and then I'll take more measurements. But just as a reminder, no matter how hard you work, physically, mentally, possibly even spiritually, your family's genetics and dynamics will have an effect on you. You will overcome a lot of it, but you will always carry some of it. The Bible does talk about blessings and curses from previous generations and the consequences of sins reaching down to the next generations. Again, a lot of it, with counseling and hard work and with God, you can overcome, but it will never be completely resolved on this earth. I'm an over achiever, I strive towards my best life, a perfectionist, and I often forget to include God, his forgiveness for my forgetfulness and his Mercy and Grace in my striving. But I work towards excellence, and let it go of my shortcomings (at least sometimes I do). That's my PSA for today."

The pool water was clear and tepid, perfect for me! There were some leaf floaties here and there, but not too bad. Abishai and I had a blast and came up with a new game where my legs were a bridge and I had to put them under the water so he could swim over them. Then he would touch the bleach tablet holder and change to a different vehicle. If he became the robber, I would quickly raise my legs and "catch" him. One time, he twisted the wrong way and faceplanted in the water. Not good. He can put his chin in the water and blow bubbles, but not his full face, so I tried to talk to him about that. Now that I know I can get in and feel good about it, I'll have to do it more often. My bathing suit did roll on a bit better today and Abishai was impressed with how it looked. I don't swim often, partly because getting on a bathing suit is difficult. Yeah, I'm big, but once I'm in the water, no one really sees me so I'm good. I wish I could take the kids swimming but you have to wear a mask if you aren't really in the water. That would be such a pain! And going to the couple of big pools that are open is an all day affair and I haven't wanted to make the effort. The kids haven't complained though. Justin got to swim at the Brakes' house tonight for youth group Bible study night. And their CIY stuff might also be there, so they will get a bit of time. Benaiah has gone swimming in Ava's pool, so he got his fill. I was impressed with ours. It's perfect depth for me to sit and keep my head above water and float around some. Pretty relaxing.

Ok, I'm done. I'm hungry. I just want to veg out. I don't feel like I accomplished much, but I know that I tried to be intentional with my time all day. Again, social media take a lot of time and it's not just fun scrolling. It's my work. And it's ok. And my workouts will be less frequent and take less time when school starts. They have to. One day at a time. Wait a minute, was that an illegal firework? Again? It's been going on for over a month! Jeepers!

It's finally time to think about this! There will be no kid programming until September, but children are welcome in church. Live in person services will be at 9 and 11 at both campuses to allow for cleaning in between services. Masks are required. Then someone asked on the Creek's FB page if they will get booted out if they don't have one. I'm sure they will provide one at the door, but no, you have to abide by the mayor's mandate. There will be no in person 4:30 service. Online services will continue at 9, 11 and 4:30 and then put on the website. I don't know if they will record the 9 or 11 and put it on at 4:30 of if 4:30 will be prerecorded. I don't know if Shelby St. will have a live band or pipe everything in. This should prove interesting and Jared and I have to talk it over. We'll see! Also, the township's school's plans were released today. Kids will got to school 5 days a week or stay home to do eleanring. No back and forth on a whim. You make a choice for 9 weeks at a time. You have to sign up for e learning or it's assumed you will at school in person. Buses will still run, with best practices in place. And the rest of the mandates we've heard before. Oh, there will be a dedicated teacher for the elearning students vs the in person students, at least that's what I understood. I don't need to know all the details about desks and fevers and such. So either a student wears a mask and is all in or they stay home. Chromebooks will be provided for a rental fee for the elearners.Should prove interesting.

Wow! And I guess you could see Pluto next to Jupiter tonight, too!

What is going on with this hair? I'm still working on twisting it up right and finding the right spot for the clip so this doesn't happen. But it's ok for at home.

Boing!

Yup. That's me. In my bathing suit and it fits a tad better in the rear. But, the mommy pooch is still there.

It doesn't look too bad from this angle.

I'm paying the kids to sort out the Lego pieces vs non Lego pieces so we can put the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets together again and put them away properly. Abishai doesn't even play on this Lego table because there's too many bricks in his way. He's been playing on the dinning room table or the floor. Too much clutter. We need to put some of it away. But it's hard. We just never have enough closet space and easy to reach storage for things where you can close the doors and forget about it. Our rooms become the closests with open bookshelves. So, the scenery always feels chaotic.

We've got lots oof gorgeous bumblebees in our garden! #savethebees

Just the humble bumblebee that doesn't hurt you much. Big and round doing it's thing.

Keturah used a building toy from Benaiah's discarded thing into a snack bowl!

Proof that I got wet from swimming in the pool today!  First time this season!

He's back! John Crist is back! This was a very humble 5 minute building explaining how he was in a rehab for his issues for 4 months. And he humble thanked everyone for not pointing fingers and loving on him instead. He didn't tell us what he did, but he took all the blame for it.   Now THAT's how we deal with this and become reconciled one to another. I can't wait to see if he has some commentary on all the things that have happened this year. I bet he's dying to share Covid-19 jokes, or hornets, or riots or whatever. I'm just glad he's better, honestly. He has the help he needs. God wants us to heal and be reconciled. Way to go church!

 Thursday, Bible study, always a late night, but it was a good one. We did spend a lot of time on the chapter this time on Demons and Angels. The chapter even had me questioning what I thought about it. I also asked about the school situation and we talked about that for awhile. I piped up with a couple of opinions. I get I was in the right mood today. Maybe that's because I tackled and conquered those dreaded brown boxes in my garage! That's right! I got through those last 8 boxes from our move 8 years ago. I think I went through them again a few years ago, because I know there was this huge box of stuff I had set aside for my sister Kristina and it wasn't there anymore. I have a couple of boxes of things to give away, but now Abishai has some new toys to play with that he was super excited about. My dad's and childhood's Lincoln Logs, a train set, some zoo animals, etc. Basically, I wanted to reorganize, clean, and redistribute what was left. I know my sister Kristina really doesn't want anything, but I'm going to keep a few things in one large tote for her. I'll go through my other sister Stefanie's leftover things over Facetime very soon, but also put them in a Rubbermaid Roughneck tote for better storage. Same with the last of the toys, too. There hadn't been any more damage than I had seen a few years ago, so that was good. The cleaning was a lot less than I expected. It still took me a few hours because I'm slow and it was warm in the garage. And I was texting pictures to Stefanie and answering texts. But, I got through it without getting to the point of decision fatigue. I decided to keep some things I was going to give to Kristina related to our Finnish heritage and will put that in with the other things in my memorial corner. We have a toy called Teddy Ruxpin, and I don't know if it still works, so we'll have to test it out. It's not worth giving away if it doesn't work. It might just end up in the shed to be decided on later, or never. But it was good to just go through a few things and remind myself that I can make these kinds of decisions. I can give stuff away. It's really ok. And I can still keep what I want to as long as it "fits" in my house.

Most people will think my house is very cluttered and not "pretty." I get that. But I don't have enough closet space to hide it all. So, it sits out. I don't know what to get rid of because it is used sometimes and our kids are still growing up. You won't see a lot of pretty mantle pieces or coffee table books and trays or fancy pillows. It's a "working farm" sort of speak. The clutter is starting to visually annoy me with it's array of colors and shapes. But I don't know how to help that in this stage of life in this particular house. And we are in transition with the room changes as well. So, we have just a path through the garage right now. I have a bunch of brown boxes in my sunroom again blocking the bookshelves. But I'll deal with it before school starts. After my sisters' stuff is decided on and Benaiah finishes his organizing, I'll get back in the shed to put some in there and I'll feel better. I don't do well in chaos. I have organized chaos on my desk. And I'm sure it affects my mental state. But, I take heart in that I rotate through the papers on my desk, and I've gone through my medicine cabinets a few times, and I've looked through my pantry to use the stuff way in the back. Yeah, we rotate toys, but they are still being used. Same goes for kitchen stuff. I chip away at it little by little. And try not to bring much more into the house. 

I was reminded at Bible study today how I can be so glued to my to do list and forget about the fun stuff to do with the kids. Abishai and I did a few of them today, and I did go swimming with him yesterday. But I don't do much with the other three. Sigh. I pretty much tell them "go away, I'm answering emails" all day long. So, I'm working on setting social media boundaries, like doing email 4 times a day for no more than an hour at a time. That should help. Just stepping away and putting down my phone is a good thing. The emails will still be there. I'll catch up later, or whenever I can. It's really late and I haven't loaded up pictures or anything yet. I have been answering some emails and then typing this post at the same time, sigh. I'll share what we did today in the captions of the photos because I don't remember much. That's why I take "ordinary day in the life" photos. It helps to jog my memory! So enjoy!

(Posting things on Instagram with captions makes it easier to caption them in the blog!)

Looking beautiful heading west into Beech Grove! We used to use these roads all the time between our house in Beech Grove and Gary and Leah's house. The buildings right there were the ones damaged by the tornado last year.

Egg and spoon race! The only fake eggs we had available were some random ones Grandma gave us last week that were all sparkly. I think they are made with foam. But it worked!

Frisbee golf? The boys went outside and played regular frisbee.

All the boys!

Can your significant other do this? Jared can tie knots in cherry stems in his mouth with only his tongue (and teeth I assume)!  They say, if you can do this, then it makes you a great kisser, and I can attest that he's a god kisser! Lol. Not that I've kissed anyone else ever. He's my one and only!

Fun times! Just like when Abishai was a baby.

Too bad this one is fuzzy!

Aw, the ladies celebrated my birthday on Thursday evening at Bible study! I got these gorgeous flowers! I love having the other flowers with the roses!  Adrienne made a gluten free cake from a box mix, with Jim balking at the $5 price tag vs. the $1 regular cake mixes, and with Jared's help via text. It's a good thing I know Adrienne and Jared well because yeah, texting another woman? Just kidding! And Raquel made this yummy fruity drink with sparkling water (no alcohol). I definitely felt loved and that my birthday celebrations lasted a full week! I'm loving my hair by the way! It's hard to keep it in a flexi clip because it's so fine and now I have less bulk with the different layers. So, I might be sticking with regular pony tail holders at home. But I feel so fresh and flirty with a short ponytail bobbing around. It's a whole new me this year!

We always have gorgeous sunsets in the summer. I don't always capture them as I walk by our back windows. But aww....

He thinks he owns the bed, the pillow, and he drooled on the sheets, too.

Hm,....13th?......

Nice touch, Stef!

Sweet! But I thought it was the blonde doctor, which is actually #11 now that I think about it. #13 is the new blonde short haired woman doctor! I haven't watched any of her epiosdes yet. But it looks like a sweet book! Thanks!

Aww, Frank the Peacock is doing well in his new home!

The End