Year 5, July 17th-19th, 2020: Relaxing, Loving Weekend

Ok, ok, ok, ok. Too much social time to have any time left to write up a blog post so here goes. Friday we went to our first park day since March. We hadn't seen our homeschool friends since then. My oh my did they look taller! Ok, it was just Brenda and Molly and their kids. And then I went out with Brenda, Molly, and a few other regulars for Mom's Night Out that night as well. Boy did I miss these women! Justin, Abishai and I were very giddy on Friday morning and we stayed extra long! They didn't even ask me for food for like 3 hrs! And it was nearly 80 degrees when we got there. The splash pad was supposed to be open, but then I checked before we went because it was 25 minute drive to Shelbyville, and they delayed opening it because of the Governor's mandates. I guess we are only in Stage 4.5 out of 5. We didn't hit stage 5 on July 1st as planned I guess. I hadn't been paying attention. I guess that's why the church had to split up CIY more because gatherings are limited to 250 people per the state. And the mayor's office mandated the masks in our county. Crazy! I don't even bother look to see if I need a mask, I just put it on anyways. Better safe than sorry. It was hot and sunny, and I was on the edge of canopy we were under so my shoulders got burned! And Abishai was pretty red in the face. I brought sunscreen but didn't bother put it on. That was dumb. But right before I was going to tell the boys it was time to go, I got stung by something. Whatever it was, was tiny, but it was definitely a sting of some kind because I started getting a welt. The only essential oil I had on me that would potentially help was peace and calming which had lavender in it. But I know that sometimes my body doesn't react well to stings, so I quickly hurried us along home and didn't stop for lunch like I thought about doing. Well, the oil did the trick and instead of getting worse, the sting welt was almost gone by the time we got home! Hallelujah! I'm not allergic, but I'll get a skin reaction for sure.

Home again, home again at 2pm! Oh, and getting there and back, and also driving to Washinton St. and back, was a nightmare. Every road going north and south seemed to having something construction going on. Franklin Rd. bridge. Post Rd bridge over the highway. Southeastern near Acton Rd. Spots on US 52.  German Church was "closed" but I was able to keep going on the uneven pavement until I got to the other side after Mom's Night Out. I finally figured out to go west on I-74 to the other side of Southeastern, past the post office, and go down Ferguson to come home. It's so silly and crazy! And oh, the Marion County Fair was going on, and it's RIGHT THERE in the middle of it all. There was more volume of cars on the road on my way from MNO but I didn't get stuck in any real traffic. Actually Benaiah and Ava went to the fair for the evening. He said it cost $6 per person to ride the ferris wheel. And he said they did get some pics. Jared and I have never done that fair, although it's super close, because we really don't like playing fair prices and I'm not into rides. I was telling the family again how when I was growing up, we would go to our New England region's fair (no state fair since the states are smaller), on Friday, when my siblings could do get the all day pass for the rides. My mom would get me just enough tickets to do like two rides and then I would trot off by myself (high school age) and visit the booths and watch the horses and animals. I typically did the merry go round and the little kid Ferris wheel. One time, I did the enclosed UFO one that spins like a top and you are stuck to the wall because of the force and I said, "Never again!" And I think I did a couple of fun houses a few times. But really, I went to the fair for the agriculture and the animals. I remember one family we went to church with had a booth and sold New England baked beans that they cooked old fashioned style in a big iron kettle over a real fire. Oh, and I think I would have a bread bowl with soup in it as well. Their fair is always in October, so it can be quite chilly. And it's only 4 days long, unlike the fairs here that encompass 1 or two weeks and two to three weekends. Anyway, great memories, and I'm glad Benaiah and Ava could do the typical dating couple thing and go to the fair in the evening when it's dark and could see all the lights and such. They wore their masks, and everyone was supposed to wear masks, but most didn't.

And I had a great time at Mom's Night Out. I wanted supreme nachos but after having a few regular free chips, my mouth couldn't handle it. I had a flattened chicken breast with guacamole "salad" which was basically guacamole on top of lettuce with a slice of tomato and some red rice. Pretty low calorie actually. I made up for those calories in the two glasses of full sugar Mr. Pibb I drank though, lol. That was my treat since I haven't bought pop all summer to drink at home besides those 100 calorie cokes. Typically I switch from hot tea/coffee to pop in the afternoons in the summer. But I've been trying not to have those extra empty calories. I have eaten cheesecake and such though. The only thing that bothered me, and it's minor because many, many people feel this way, was how everyone felt about wearing masks. They only wore it for the few feet they had to from the entrance to the table. I mean, you can't eat with a mask on, but they were saying how much they don't wear it and they don't like it, etc. And they were also talking about how their churches have handled being together or not. One church even has one service for those who feel they need to wear a mask and one for those who object to it. They do socially distance though. And they aren't in Marion County, so the mandatory mask policy doesn't apply to them. But, I can overlook all that because we have established friendships and talk about everything and anything. We had a lovely time listening to Randi's talking about their adoption coming up this month. She's watching the same YouTube channel as I am and I'm so glad! I'll be tapping her for some advice on ADD soon since she and one of her kids has it. Oh, at the park, a fourth person did show up late, Amanda. Poor Brenda has to sometimes listen to us other three talk about IAHE business. We almost have her on board with us though, so it's ok. She doesn't mind. I think we all try not to talk too much about IAHE stuff because I know I would find it annoying to listen in on something I'm not involved in.But it's who we are and what we do constantly right now, so, whatever. At both park day and MNO, I did enjoy our conversations and that's all tha matters.

Keturah stayed home with Benaiah and spent 4 hrs on the tablet. SMH I'm ready for Benaiah to go back to work. He feels fine and isn't taking any more medication besides his antibiotic.

On Saturday, I sat down and looked at my list of to dos and got to work. I managed to spend a couple of hours on IAHE things, which is great! I was able to catch up on Friday night pretty easily despite being out all day. And I did exercise as well. Then I started a conversation that I didn't really want to finish or argue with certain people so I ignored social media for a bit. Jared took a nap in the morning and in the afternoon, lol! He actually went over to Jim's house for a little bit Friday night after I got home from MNO, so he was up pretty late and had gotten up early to go to Friday morning men's group. He said that that group is going camping at the end of August and he's going. He didn't ask, he just said he's going. And I said, ok, sure, why not. He needs to go. Don't know how much gear he'll take because of his back, but yup, we can make that work. I love that he has friends and groups of men to be with. He needs that fellowship. And it brings me joy to stay home and let him do things. After being somewhat of a recluse in his 20's and early 30's, it's good to seem him more socially active. So, he was legitamately tired. But he finished the painting on Abishai's aircraft carrier and submarine and played with them and Abishai and Keturah in the pool today, which makes my heart full. I joined him for his second nap this afternoon. And then I scraped together leftovers for dinner. I had wanted to go grocery shopping this afternoon but all of a sudden felt very tired myself. We have time tomorrow to get that done. And Leah had dropped off some ground beef, so I knew we had more protein to use tonight/tomorrow. Benaiah was putting his supper together and debating on whether or not to order a pizza because he claims we have no food. Um, check the table. I managed to get everyone some protein, carb, fruits and veggies and make even more room for new food tomorrow! Waste not want not. I'm good at stretching things.

Oh my, I keep getting distracted. Let's see. Benaiah is leaving his PS3 out for Justin to play Rock Band with so Justin has been working on that all day. I told him though, that keeping the PS3 in their room was not part of the rearranging of the furniture plan, so we'll see if it stays or goes. Otherwise, normal day for us. Not many projects to do for the rest of them. I have my list of course. I probably should have pushed harder or something, but sometimes, these lazy Saturdays are the best. Tomorrow we will have church at home because the Smith's can only do the first service time and we don't get up that early. There is a worship service outside in the evening, but it will be too hot for us. It will just be another relaxing afternoon and evening at home where I can catch up and prepare for the week. It's CIY week! Although I don't have to do anything for it and it's in the evening, it's still the dropping off and picking up and making sure they have a good dinner before they go, dealing with them when they are exhausted, and making sure they have their mask on hand. And sunscreen since they will be outside for most of it. I have no idea how it's really going to go. They are doing it at someone's house because of the mandates and liabilities that the church doesn't want to be directly responsible for on their property. I honestly think it's silly, but it's not my choice to make. The kids will go and have fun and enjoy time in their small groups. Benaiah will get to enjoy one last thing with Justin and have a proper send off on both nights he can go. That's what matters. They will get a free swag bag as well. And since it has become our tradition to do CIY or camp every year, it's nice that they will have something to do and look back on. And then the next week is graduation open house prep! Time marches on!

Aww, the office crew. Mrs. Debi Poer just started (on the bottom left) and she will be helping with communicating with partner churches. I'm so excited because I love Debi! We got to know her and her husband Jim in our Rooted group, but Gary and Leah have known the for years. And then Ellen, of course, is Gary's right hand lady at the office, getting lots of admin stuff done. The funny thing is, is that both Debi and Ellen are taking over duties Gary's been doing the last few years. So, basically, he's been doing the job of 3 people. That's just how he works. But he also knows when it's time to delegate and add to the team. When you lead a church for almost 30 years and your team goes from what, 2? 5? people to now a staff of 50? Yeah, Gary knows how growth works. We are grateful that they have enough donors to cover the costs of hiring these awesome ladies. If you want to know their official titles and such, you have to go https://e2elders.org/

The day started off very foggy! Very humid out there!

Daddy arranged the tracks to look like this. He's loving this little train set!

Awww, we have an even deeper and honest relationship now, 7 years later, after all the stuff we've been through. Our communication is decent most days. And I still have that sentiment. Sweet whispers in the ear are the best!

First time on a playground in 4 months! You go get 'em!

Looking for pirate treasure!

Look at the tracks, Mom!

Abishai couldn't get a good grip, and it was very high off the ground. But Justin had fun on it.

Just sitting and hanging out.

He still fits in the baby swings!

Running around, skating around, and screaming around with the others.

Woot! Woot!

Cutting watermelon for dinner, but needed a quick break to taste it. It's been in the garage fridge for two weeks and still wasn't very sweet. It was juicy, but not ripe.

He wanted to cut the watermelon, so I got out a few easy to handle knives. I thought maybe we could dice it up in the watermelon and then pull out the contents. Well, that didn't work well this time. I ended up taking over and using the spoon scraper. It was a bit of a mess.

Working hard.

He remembered that I used a straw last time to suck up all the juice so it was easier to see what I was doing, so he asked for one and started sipping. Yum!

Oh...my...goodness....what in the world?! Ok, these three legends/hooligans/famous guys in the CCM music world are so adorable! They are on this drive in movie theater tour thing together.  It's Mac Powell (previously from Third Day) on the left, Michael W. Smith in the middle (a grandpa) and Steven Curtis Chapman (also a grandpa), in the middle and then right. How stinkin' cute? Both Michael and Steven are in their 60's and Mac is now in his 50's. Crazy kids!

Ain't that the truth with these three! This is why I love CCM. They are not in competition with one another or bitter rivals. No, they collaborate together, sing together, pray together, worship together, and cheer each other on. They are a hoot! Very different personalities, but man, fun all the same!

Oh boy, I feel like I went backwards 10 years to a previous hairstyle and life. Now, where did I put my round brush?

Not bad, not bad at all for a little blow drying and no product.

I just explained this on a post about our church's new policies and whether or not they will kick you out if you don't have a mask on. I basically said that they can't cater to everyone, they've spent gobs of time (which relates to money because we pay them) to make the best decision they can. Online church services are valid. God is still there in the midst of it all.  Be the church.

Don't do it! Don't do it! He did it! Daddy wasn't pleased because it landed in the sink and Daddy needed to use the sink. You sneaky little boy!

Now, this. This was the sweetest gift! Justin's friend Bryce/Ace Giyer, custom build Lego minifigures for all of us. I don't know how he had all these pieces, but what a stinking sweet gift!

Bryce made minifigures to look like all of us! Oh my word! What a sweet thing for a teen to think about and do! I'm on the left and Jared is on the right.

Keturah and Justin. And he individually bagged them and labeled.

Abishai, with the little legs, on the left, Benaiah on the right.

And then he sent all these other Marvel characters, complete with custom pain jobs or something Justin said. So incredibly precious!

And then his mom sent along a couple of photos from our wedding! Yes, we've known their family for years and years. Check this out! It's so interesting because Jared has lost so much weight. He was pretty much at his heaviest at our wedding. Maybe 240-250lbs. He's down 201 lbs now! I don't really care how much he weighs. But the contrast in his face is huge! Plus the hair, I miss the hair.

Awww, at Southeastway park for our reception. I didn't plan any of it. Mrs. Stephanie Wright pulled it all together with the picnic theme. In hindsight, I'm glad she made all the decisions! And the weight Jared has lost, I now have gained. 98 lbs at our wedding, 153 lbs now 19 years later. But wow, yeah. 19 years. Let that sink in for a moment. How sweet of Angie to send these along to us! They are going to be moving to Connecticut soon so her wife can go to grad school.

Justin's turn on the drums and he's doing ok with it. Rockband on the PS3. With Abishai having a blast in the background dancing on Benaiah's bed.

It's time to take the tape off the carrier after Daddy put a runway on it.

Jared MADE this! Can you believe it?!

Wow! So talented! And I'm so proud of Jared for finishing it in a timely manner.

Apparantly, screaming at Chase while playing a video game is a necessity. This kid needs to go back to work. He'll go on Monday.

Found this in the pool today. I'm not sure what it is, if it's a grasshopper or a locust or something. There's been those locust swarms in Africa this past winter.  Well, when we went to dump it out, it flew away, I kid you not, up and over the roof of the host! It was crazy fast!

All read for it's maiden voyage.

The bamboo is doing great!

She floats! Even with the airplanes on it! Woot! Woot!

What a beauty!

A treasure for sure.

My husband made this.

I repeat: Jared made this with NO plans but what was in his head!

Girlie was trying to hide under the top ring of the pool.

Gotta get away from the sea monsters and drive around the island, aka, Daddy.

Looking just a bit different than our wedding day, eh?

Our deck has now become a pool deck where I throw all the toys so they don't blow away. And then we set out the wet things today on the railing. It's too hot to sit outside anyways.

Maiden voyage of the sub. Of course it doesn't sink because it's made of such light wood.

It did turn upside down, too, because the balancing point is off.

Trying to catch it!

Throw it in there!

Hiding from the splashes when Daddy puts the sub in the water.

Mr. Tattle tale. I have no idea what he was upset apart, but he's so cute when he comes to my "office windows."

Pitiful, and so read in the face from two day of sun exposure. Poor guy.

But then we played clone trooper, android, and Count Ducku. And guess was Count Momducku? Me! Whoops! I better get out of the way!

Sunday, just the 6 of us. Since we weren't going to the Smith's for 9:15, we had church at home. Easy peasy. We had spaghetti for lunch and then Abishai, Jared, and I headed out to the grocery store. I dragged myself there. Too many late nights watching Poldark, ugh! And now I've distracted myself by going through a USB drive with Benaiah's school work from 2015-2017. 2015-2016 was his 8th grade year with me on PEI and 2016-2017 was his 9th grade year at Southside Christian School. I found some treasures in there that I printed out and will make a little portfolio. I was going to go through all the bins in the shed for his little kid work, but I just don't want to. These are fun enough.  You can't get any funnier than "A Master's Degree in Derp." Lol. Ok, back to lunch and then groceries.

The sky was darkening as we got to the grocery store. By the time we were ready to check out, probably 30 minutes later, it started to drizzle. Jared didn't want to bag groceries inside the store because it was very crowded so he sent us outside with the first grocery cart while he paid and got the second cart. Well, by the time Abishai and I got to the van, huge water droplets turned into a downpour. We were soaked. The groceries were soaked. Jared just threw everything (carefully, but quickly) into the van instead of bagging them. When he was done, he was so soaked that his clothing was dropping wet without him wringing it out. The inside of the van is going to smell a bit damp tomorrow. He blasted he A/C on the way home to try to dry stuff out. We saw lots of lightning and rain of course. Abishai was scared and wet and unhappy. At least Jared and I were in good spirits and could laugh it off. We've had a great weekend at home together. I "miss him (when) go work." The kids helped us get everything into the garage, and then we dried and put away the cold stuff, leaving the dry goods to dry out. Because no one wants to move wet cardboard. It slips and breaks apart. The egg cartons were ruined and it's a good thing I had been collecting some for a friend so I just transferred them to new cartons. We still spent $330 and I fell like we barely had a cartful. I mean it was full, but not over the top this time. Very frustrating.

And then I was exhausted. We changed, and we napped. Too many late nights and early mornings (thanks to Abishai). We cobbled together some dinner, put away the rest of the now dry groceries, did chores, and then it was time to start heading towards bed. I haven't touched email all day, so I will tackle that after this post. I made some assumptions on something and need to address it with my peers. It's still storming outside so the worship service at the church got canceled. The sermon from the regular service went along with our chapter for Bible study this week. What else? Oh, Benaiah said he woke up dizzy. I almost forgot that I needed him to get two full size pallets from someone for the open house, so I sent him on that errand while we were at the grocery store. He stopped by Target, came home for a shower, and then took some things to Ava. He didn't say when he would be home. Meanwhile, Justin is banging away on RockBand drums. So annoying! I need to move that thing out of there this week. We did go through another box of Benaiah's casts off, so I'm ahead of the game for the week. We've got a few things to do this week, including CIY. Yup, random, normal. Back to the workweek tomorrow. Nothing earth shattering.

I will say though, for my children to read and hear maybe someday, that I love Jared. I know I tease him and say this actor is cute because of his long dark curly hair and intense eyes and 5 o'clock shadow. Most of the actors/people I think are handsome have a similar build to Jared. Jared likes to tell me that he has lost weight (again), but it doesn't matter terribly much to me. Like he wants for me, I want him to be healthy. I'd love for him to workout and gain strength as I have so he can do tasks more easily and keep his sciatica at bay. We were looking at that picture my friend Angie sent us and wow, what a contrast. I didn't mind his bigness then, but it's good that he's lost weight, too. No, physique has never really mattered to me. It's the kindness in his eyes that does. It's his intelligence in his mind that really got hold of me. And it's faithfulness to God and the Church that also sold me. Later on, his love for young kids also endeared him to me. And just look at us now. He's serving the Church. We have 4 kids. His intelligence is revered and looked up to by many. The women in my Bible study tell me how Jared basically teaches the men's Bible study. Just like it says in Proverbs 31, which is mostly about the "wife of a noble character," the husband gets to sit at the city gate with the rest of the men talking about news and philosophy of the day. Now, I know Jared doesn't get to quite do that every day because Gary is the one going out and speaking with people. However, whenever Jared is in a small group of people, and he has a chance to speak up, he does so with easy and his own unique twists of words. Because I'm a deep thinker, God knew I needed someone that could think deeply and know more about the world than I so that I would be challenged.

So, maybe Jared doesn't have long curly hair, wearing a tricone hat, and rides horses all day long, but he certainly has captured me for the rest of our lives. I had a friend tell me recently that her husband's grandfather passed away after 68 years of marriage to his wife. I'm guessing they married young as we did. I told her, what a blessing to be married that long! And that I hope that we, and others, can do that. You just don't hear that in our generation. Too many times we've heard of people having marital trouble and/or divorcing. Too many times. It makes me want to run into Jared's arms and weep because I know we've had our struggles, but 19 years in, we have such a strong marriage and I wish that all people could have a strong marriage like we have.

We don't have a secret recipe except to just make the marriage a priority over children, career, and yourself. It's not the number of date nights or bundles of flowers and cards. It's not the diamonds. It's just the commitment to work at it, through the hard times, with counseling if need be, and then coming back to the point of resolutely setting out to stay together. To be faithful as best friends, doing life together, like going to the grocery store. I would rather go with Jared than by myself, not only because he physically helps and help me to not spend too much, but because of the companionship. We married at ages 20 and 22. We were still babies. We weren't really full grown yet. We finished growing up together. I think that's truly very special. We met 22 years ago. We married 19 years ago. We have so much longer to go. We are right in the middle of raising kids and middle aged and in the middle of our working lives. I keep typing to other homeschoolers, we've been homeschooling for 13 years (Benaiah) and have 13 more years to go (Abishai). And I can't wait!

So yes, even when Jared thinks it's a good idea to bag groceries outside when it's obviously going to rain, I still love him. He's weird. But a good weird and odd like me. And I miss him when he has to go to work.  Every weekend is too short. At least we made the best of this one by spending lots of time together instead of off doing our own projects.

I love Jared. Through and through. 'Til death do us part. In sickness and in health. (and you know we've had a lot of sickness). Forever.

He said he had to close his eyes because the rain was coming directly at him.

Aw, poor Abishai, he gets so concerned about everything!

I just love how my birthday flowers are both roses AND something else. You usually just see roses or bouquets that have multiple different kinds of flowers. I've never seen roses and another flower together before.

I think roses are one of my favorite flowers. I love all flowers though.

Not sure what this is called, do you?

It looks like the sky cleared up for a minute. I just saw a bunch of awesome pics of rainbows and sunsets in the area. And the light was bouncing off the house making the house glow and look warm.

Flash back Friday: 3 months old Socks!

The End