Year 5, July 6th-9th, 2020: Better Days Ahead?

It's Monday. Jared turned to me and said he is home again today because the office is closed because of the holiday. So, you now get two days off for the 4th of July just because it's on a weekend? Ok, then. You know, if he told me that earlier last week, I could have actually planned something, a project, a trip, an errand like to fix our phones. But nope. Nada. Thanks. I'll pull you out of work one day soon to go fix the stupid phones, ok? K. He finally got the pool back up on his 4th try. And made a boat for Abishai while he did. And somewhere in there ruined my rose bush again. Why he thinks he needs to touch the flower beds, I don't know. He has free rein over the rest of the outside. So many other areas need help. Just because I hadn't been in the flower beds for over a week because a) it turned hot b) I had surgery, doesn't mean I don't care. Leave my roses alone. I didn't know that until the evening though and I am still fuming about it. He also pulled up the grass weed I was watching to see just how grass goes to seed. So thanks, it was an experiment, I told you it was an experiement. Leave it alone. Sigh.

While he was doing that, not spending time inside with us, I was working on phone calls after doing a little yoga. I was supposed to shower, too, but Mr. had the hose hooked up to the sink for 6 hrs again today and was complaining that it was gurgling so he was thinking our well will run dry. Good grief. Go back to work. I did get all my phone calls done though. I woke up in a mood because of pain and him trying to get me up. Um, leave me be. I know what time it is. I know what I want to do today. You are not my alarm clock. I get more done than you do. Go cut some weeds down or actually take your son around and SHOW him what to do.

I have a plan for the rest of the week now that I have some answers about things like Keturah's glasses. A new pair might be covered by medicaid if we go back to the pediatric eye doctor. It's time for a new pair. Her old pair is well, several years old and I don't think it was covered my medicaid. I could be wrong. I don't remember. We'll see. I better call the other doctor to see what her records show.

The rest of the kids did their puttering around "I'm bored" kind of thing. Sorry, Mommy's no fun. I printed off those scavenger hunt sheets and forgot about them. Maybe I'll send them out tomorrow morning with them. I'm just hyper focused on my to do list and not being in pain. After I got some meds in me this morning, I've felt much better. I was able to eat more tonight with less pain afterwards. I haven't reached for the creams and oils as much. And you'll see my bruises are better. It's still hard to tell if there's food back there or where the holes and clots are and I think one side has stitches. I wish more of what happened to me was explained so I would know what to expect. "Oh we had to put stitches on this side but not that side. This flap is bigger than that flap. Be extra careful with this one, it was really hard to get out." Anyway, I just poked around a bit and shouldn't have. Oh well. One more day of antibiotics. And a few more days of pain meds. I have regular ibuprofen of course, so no big deal on that one.

I'm too hyper focused on productive on Mondays and didn't catch the kids doing much. I guess it's the lazy days of summer before a couple of crazier weeks at the end with CIY and out of town guests. Yeah, open house, start of school. There's things to do. I didn't plan for vacation time or go to the park time. Perhaps we can go this week. Church schedules make us busy enough. I just don't feel like planning much, but perhaps I should. Abishai said, "Tomorrow I have a busy day." Oh yeah, with what? "With playing with you and Keturah and Justin." And playing in the pool? "It's too cold for 3 more days, Mom." Ok, then. Abishai has a plan. He did bring each trike inside to "fix it." Lol. And had a monster truck rally on Benaiah's bed while I cleaned out the last bits in Benaiah's backpacks and found some real gems. Well, not gems, but some notes from CIY, and my THIRD DRYER BALL. No joke! I bet I've been missing that for two years! And a brand new thing of toothpaste. And, some gum. But we're getting there. He needs to do one more box and the rest of his knick knacks in his room ASAP. Then go through his things in the garage, and then we will see what's left and how we can store it. I just want it out of that room. He can a rubbermaid tote or two that I just bought and store it over at the other house for now. I can't do it all here. I didn't get to the other boxes today, and tomorrow I need to do a real workout, shower, and then errands, so I'm pushing that off until Thursday. Wednesday is really, really busy.

So, boring day, productive day on my end I guess. Holding pattern on other things as I freeze to death because I have to have a fan blowing on my phone as it charges. I might stop by the ATT store tomorrow at the mall if I get a chance just for that one issue. It's quite annoying. And I know it's an "older" phone. But what can I do for a couple more months until my husband is ready to take the plunge into a new plan? And don't be all sales pitchy with us, either. Yeah, so much fun! Not. At least I get to hash out detail of the open house with Lisa tomorrow. That will be some major planning progress. Not sure what to expect, but we are meeting at the Mocha Nut, so, coffee, without kids. Yeah! That will be awesome!

Onward....I wanted to watch this new musical called "Hamilton" that everyone loves or something, but tonight's not the night. YouTube and Poldark it is. Yup.

I was looking into stripping/deep cleaning some clothes and forgot that it might also help Benaiah's work clothes. Hm,...I might just purchase the good detergent for this!

Borrowed this from an Instagram that is from the Royal household. But after watching Victoria the TV show and seeing Dash, it made a connection for me. They showed lots of her other drawings and paintings and she was very good! I guess when you don't have YouTube to pass the time....lol.

Almost refilled again! Yeah!

He made an aircraft carrier for Abishai while he was watching the pool be filled. For 6 hrs. After blaming me for taking his wood glue. Um, no, if something belongs to you and it's a tool, it goes on the workbench. After that, it's your problem.

I spy a boat!

Abishai was very excited when he found out Daddy got a picture of the dragonfly they saw in the garden together (I like to steal Jared's pictures from Twitter.)

FREEZING but happy to be back in it! And it's super clear now that it's been half way filled and dumped 3 extra times.

Left side, the worse side is significantly better. I don't know why it looks so swollen and weird though. It doesn't feel that way anymore.

Right side. Maybe I just have a weird way of holding my head. But much more back to normal.

Shortest lived argument ever. Both of us apologized about yesterday's shouting match over the rose bush. Abishai made mention of it last night and this morning, telling me that God doesn't want us to argue and fight. Oops. So it was nice tell him we apologized to each other. Little guys have big ears.

I worked out today and showered. First time in awhile for both. Then this afternoon I went to the AT&T store to see if they could do something with my phone. Of course they can't; I need to upgrade. There's a good deal going on, but I really need the men there to help me with it. At least Jared. So, that's back on the agenda for this week because this phone is only getting worse. We might just need upgrade mine to an 11, and let one of the kids have my old one as an iPod and get a brand new SE. Grrr....expensive no matter what we do. Changes the policies, too. I need help. But at least I tried.

Then I finally, after probably 18 months of collecting them, I dropped off empty ink cartridges for recycling at Staples and there happened to be a clothing donation box in the parking lot, so I put a bag of clothes and backpacks in the bin. Then I headed over to Mocha Nut to talk with Lisa Strunk about the open house. We had a very productive and great conversation. We are definitely still friends and could chat forever since our kids are in the same phase of life. She's going to buy and prep everything, and have her crew set up and tear down. I just have to pay for half and show up for last minute details. Seems fair, right? She offered and has "less" to do than I. And that's ok. I'm going to let her do it. I have three other kids to do later on. We were able to talk about some of the boys' feelings about everything, how low key they are and just ready to move on. This is just a formality to the Strunk family. It's a bit more to me, but I'm ok with the low key decor and such. I'm more concerned about people showing up (and their conversations), having the best pictures for viewing and trinkets to show off rather than what color the tablecloths are or what food is there. We decided on hot dogs and hamburgers and pre wrap them, then individual bags of chips and fruit cups. Oh my word. I just remembered another parallel to our wedding reception at the same park! It was totally picnic themed! Like corn on the cob, hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon fruit salad holders, etc.! Oh goodness, yes! And I'm going to have Ethan bring home a box with "Taco Bell" on the side like Benaiah is going to bring a box with "Chick Fil A" on the side to put their cards and gifts in and have a contest! Ok, I've got my little to do element! Hehehehe! Lisa will get some pallets and string for the photos and have the pallets dropped off at our house soonish. She's got the rest handled. I'll handle Benaiah's show off table and stuff. Bam! We done! Three and half weeks to go!

I still have some other errands to run like school supplies, an exchange, and misc. But for a week with very little appointments, I ended up making four extra ones! Today's meeting with Lisa, Justin with behavioral health tomorrow (there was a cancellation), Keturah for new glasses on Thursday, and Keturah and I get haircuts on Friday! That's a whole month early!  Yippee! I get a new haircut for my birthday like I wanted! I'm so excited! I even posted pictures today of my long hair. I can't wait to get back to a healthy length and add some layers. And, if I keep it down more often, I might just color it this winter. We'll see! Time to donate our hair! Squeee!!! Very productive week outside the house and I'll procrastinate and work on the mouse infested boxes another day. My face is feeling so much better today. So we're moving right along. Only 3 weeks of summer left for most kiddos. I think we'll start a bit towards the end of August. I just don't want to look at school stuff until after the open house and family has been here, etc. I still have two more curriculums to purchase as well. Then I'll spend the first part of August continuing to put everything in place, pulling the first set of books for history, etc. I know I already have most things ready, but I need to go over some things before we start. We could start math though and reading library books, starting slow and building up to full swing after Labor Day. That usually works well. And if I'm ready, I'll start little guy. If not, then I'll wait. We'll see.

The kids had a ton of screen time, so I'll have to monitor them better tomorrow. I should have had them do chores before I left for the afternoon. Whoops. Keturah and Abishai had some pool time and we all took turns playing "life guard." At least the middles understand the importance of having someone to keep an eye on Abishai in the pool. They whine a bit, but it's necessary. Benaiah's at work. I bought him so new detergent for his work clothes that is meant for cloth diapers. I actually needed the deep cleaning pre soak stuff for my own feminine pads, but I forgot that this brand is known to be the best for other things, too. It's a little bit expensive, but if I can "strip" i.e. really soak his work clothes next week when he's taking the week off for his wisdom teeth surgery, then hopefully, he won't smell as bad. I don't know why I didn't think of this before! I've done the whole stripping/deep clean process years ago. Duh! So, there's hope! I just hate using the detergents that are full of chemicals and those scented bead things. This new detergent is plant based and works on ammonia smells and poop stains, so maybe, just maybe, it will work on the grease in his clothes, too.

So, yeah for cancellations so we can get appointments done today! The more we get done in July, the more I can focus on school stuff in August. It kind of feels like "back to school" with getting our minds (Justin) and hair/sneakers/new pencils all in order. Oh, and "sending Benaiah off to college" aka the Grandparent house will be part of that prep. It's kind of nice to be a little busier. I hate the wearing the mask thing because it fogs up my glasses, but I'm just going to put it on regardless of store policy. And in fact, in two days, it's mandatory in our county for most things. So, whatever. I will stay home as much as possible as I usually do. And when I go out, I'll wear my mask. Whatever. Life needs to move forward, with or without a virus.

There was a cancellation and we are getting our haircuts this Friday before my birthday! I'm so ready to donate this length! I plan to still keep it below the shoulders and maybe add some layers to it.

Much better!

Yup, up and out of the way.

Any grays in there or are they blonde? Can't tell.

Morning doggy snuggles.

Hi, puppy! You are quite stylin'!

Awww

So sweet!

The power went out for about 5 minutes and he wanted to call Daddy about it. He had all kinds of grown up words to say.

Good bye length!

So silky smooth.

Keturah finished the horse puzzle she's been working on. She put the cover to the toy box on her bed like a desk and left it there. She puts her feet under it to sleep and it's a miracle she hasn't kicked it. Soon, Benaiah's desk will become the puzzle/game/craft corner! I bought a puzzle mat and everything for it!

Just some of her "Friends" Lego collection. I haven't really seen the one of the right because I think it's been tucked away. I think she got that one this past Christmas.

Keturahtook some felt to make a beach in one of the craft drawers! Kind of like they make displays of some of the sets at the Lego store. Genius! This is her newest one with dolphins!

This is the other newest ones, glamping!

So many plans to make, keep, and remember. Yup, I have a clipboard and lots of notes!

It's always a good day when this comes!

Time for new goggles! Gotta add that to the list, but I kind of doubt the stores have them anymore since they switch to school supplies in July. I know, I know. It JUST turned to 90 degrees. But kids go back to school in 3 weeks and they have to gear up before then. Sigh.

Oh good grief! I feel like I've been on the computer all day! Justin and I had an appointment with Behavioral Health this morning and I had a counseling session this afternoon. And then trying to keep up with the demands of social media and homeschooling questions, phew! We hit a record number of new people added to our IAHE Discussion FB page alone at 67 people! While we rejoice that more people are turning to homeschooling as an alternative, it's also hard because they haven't had a lot of time to process and think about it. But copying and posting links is a lot of what I do because our resources at iahe.net are just that good! And all the answers to the most frequently asked questions are there. I'm grateful for the volunteers who have put all those posts together in an easy to understand format. Copy and paste link. All day long. I was all super chatty with a few friends today in person and offline. The KP crew had an "ice cream social" before the outdoor worship service. It wasn't well attended, but I'm glad we showed up. The kids got ice cream AND shaved ice! We opted not to stay for service because of the heat, and I had a tension headache despite keeping up with liquids and meds all day. I had to take an exedrin migraine to get rid of it. I'm feeling a ton better overall, so I think I'm going to skip my ibuprofen dose tonight. It still hurts to eat sometimes and cold things bother me, but I sometimes forget I have holes in the back of my mouth and reach for something I shouldn't be eating that could get stuck back there. I miss my nuts and seeds and granola. I didn't get a workout in because of time constraints and I pulled my left hamstring a bit yesterday, so it was a good day to have a recovery day. Tomorrow I will workout and then take Keturah to get new glasses and run a few errands.

The kids did the usual, again. We did have a thunderstorm, which was mostly thunder and lightning with very little rain. It helped cool the air down from 90 degrees to about 78 degrees. I was grateful for the cloud cover, too, while I was trying to use Facetime. Overall, we just quickly got through the day. As I was telling my counselor, the kids seemed to be handling electronics pretty well so we'll keep the same routine. The boys have been playing video games together in morning, then we'll do lunch and swimming, and then they will play until 3pm when they get their individual time until 5. Keturah has her tablet time in the morning.Abishai has become quite the "little brother" provoking the other two. I asked Justin what he thought and he said that Abishai is 70% annoying little brother and 30% cute little brother. I think he's got his numbers reversed. The others tolerate Abishai's antics a ton. Abishai was looking at a book today about a dad building a treehouse and showed Jared when he got home from work basically telling him how Jared is going to build him a tree house according to this book. Just matter of factly like it's going to happen. He also told Daddy that he was going to the ice cream social. Didn't ask, but told him he was going. Yup. he's a little boss man. Oh, and I told the boys that even if we don't get the bunk beds right away, Abishai has to start sleeping in their room again so I can access the school books and get them ready. It's time to play ring around the rosie! Benaiah promises to take care of more of his stuff in the next few days. Then it's my birthday and his turn for wisdom tooth removal!

Oh Abishai!

Abishai set up breakfast for the other kids! And he wanted to go wake them up, too!

Helping the algorithm at 2x the speed. I press mute and play and let it run so it helps the numbers if I don't feel like I want to actually sit and watch the podcasts. Yup, on 2x speed!

Mixing up some waffle mix! He did such a great job! He even cracked the eggs into the bowl. Well, one fell on the floor, but he was such a big helper!

The baker doesn't approve and wanted to take over.

Take a look at these two! Michael W. Smith in a tux with white gloves and Rebecca St. James, who is actually pregnant with her second baby.

Hm,....hard to keep up with this guy these days. And, social distancing? I guess movies are back in production now.

Wrestle, kicking in the teeth, all the things.

 Boys Wrestling

There's the other son! Working as always.

Not as full as last time, but getting there.

Oh yeah, this guy probably hasn't had much experience with snow cones! And since we don't have the state fair this year, this is it! I'm glad I grabbed a pic! I ended up eating it because he had already had a popsicle. He and Justin both have limits on how much sweets they eat. They self regulate.

This one, and I, however, say, let me at it! So nice for the church to hire Kona Ice to come!

The worship band setting up.

The picture of summer.

Saddest sign ever. Campus closed!

But we got to see some friends like Carter! He just loves his ice cream!

Another picture perfect sign of summer, ice cream running down your face, shirt, hands, everywhere!

Oh hi, puppy, are you trying to get under the table for some shade? Whoops! Thank goodness it wasn't as hot out there this evening because of the thunderstorm.

What to report. Same as always. But Keturah picked out new glasses in under 5 minutes! And she's still a big fan of Elsa and "Elsa blue." She was making a wishlist of Lego sets she wants and it included all the newer Frozen sets. She might be 12, but she still secretly has that favorite thing she'll always have, just like me and the Little Mermaid, lol. She tries to say she isn't girly, especially when we are out and I show her the make up aisle, but it's there when she's interested. She had to watch me buy some very grown up products today while we were out. I'm not ashamed of them. I want her to know what things are. She can roll her eyes and be embarrassed. It's better than being in the dark about them. But, we were able to run a few errands in under 2 hrs, which was awesome. I had dinner to make and Bible study to get to. I stayed late at Bible study because we surprised Adrienne with some post birthday celebrating and had some long chats. And a new neighbor, Angie, joined us! Her husband Justin has been going to the men's study for awhile. And since we temporarily moved it to Thursday nights, she could join us, yeah! She's a hoot! She brings a different personality than the rest of us to our group, and it's awesome. It was an incredible evening! We did stay outside in the shade although it was quite hot and sticky, blech.

But the rest of the day was normal. The Facebook groups were quite quiet today though. Benaiah went to work, took a shower, and headed over to the church again. And he'll do the same tomorrow. I think they are doing some major work for the first Sunday back on Aug. 2. I'm quite nervous about that Sunday and us going will hinge upon what policies they decide on. Today was the first day that just our county was required to wear masks at all times indoors (no matter if you are social distancing) and outside when you can't social distance. There's a short list of exceptions. Well, I was in quite the mood because Gary, Jared, and Ellen have decided not to adhere to that mandate. I'm also not happy that we can't find a time to celebrate my birthday on my birthday because Gary will be gone all weekend to two different states for work. And then they have small group on Sunday night. So poo, I have to find my own way to celebrate with a haircut tomorrow and drag Jared somewhere on Sunday. I'm tired of holidays, birthdays, anniversaries taking a backseat to everything else and celebrating them whenever we can. I want to celebrate on the day. Because it's not the 11th or 13th that's special to me, it's the 12th. It matters. So, I'm being a whiny cry baby like everyone else who thinks that masks are stupid so they won't wear one. Whatever. I wrote out my list of complaints and saved them for my counselor.

Ugh, 10:30pm. That's what happens when you are out having fun! And now I get to figure out how to have fun this weekend. I'll ponder that later. First up: haircut!

I can't remember where we were, but this was from 11 years ago! Nora and Abishai didn't exist yet! Everly was stealing Keturah's cheerios! So sweet! I wish Keturah would do fun things to her hair again. I loved dressing her up! Now, when I take her to the mall, she says, "Mom, why do you always have to look and ooh and ahhh over the frilly clothes?" Because I love girly clothes! Ok, I know enough to know that certain clothes are certain trends, I know about fast fashion vs. classic wear, etc. I just wish I could wear those things!

Abishai had a heyday while I was still in bed. He was cooking food for all his stuffed animals and saying something about the Mommy's being sick and feeding them soap. He had them all lined up on the table. Here's the Paw Patrol gang.

Clifford and dolphin.

I think these were the Mommys. I am assuming that he wasn't talking about lesbians, but rather two different families.

I told him that I was going to put this box away since he hasn't touch it in weeks and he said that he'd play with it. So we brought the mini kitchen in and he went to town! Maybe he's copying Justin or Jared, because well, I don't spend that much time at the stove.

Justin put on the Christian rap music that we were listening to in the van on the way to church last night so the kids could dance and sing song "Jesus makes everything right,..right..right...." Just listen to the video and you'll understand.

Abishai was going to town dancing on top of the table and jumping off onto the couch. He and Justin are my dancing kings!

My garden is blooming and all green and healthy! So worth the effort of the last 3 years!  This is our 4th summer here.

These guys will last awhile.

Thu isn't just a close up. This flower is as big as my hand!

This is CRAZY! We've never seen numbers this high per day/in a few short months! 90 people just yesterday! Now, I get frustrated because I know that they are only homeschooling because they don't want their kids to wear masks or they don't think the teachers and admin can pull it all together or they don't want their kids to get sick. They don't actually understand the brokenness of the system and that they are best for their children. Maybe this year will open their eyes to that and we are to meet their current and ongoing needs for truthful information. But I know that we will also see a sharp decline in the years to come as well. Thankfully, when I say things like that and feel down in the dumps, my team mates bring me back up. And I can trust their words because they have the same thoughts and passions as I do. They are now my best friends in a different way than our church small group has become my best friends. Even tonight, one mom was frustrated about finding a daycare that would challenge her son or understand that he's frustrated and acts out because he's bored. I have to bite my tongue so hard because I know that she is part of our children's team at church, a new position for her, and she's working hard and that's where her heart is at, but I just want to scream, "Then keep him home!" But I can't do that. Thankfully, one of Adrienne's sons has ben part of the gifted program in the schools and could give her advice about what could happen down the pike, in a good way. It's like I live two different lives, one where I bite my tongue about homeschooling so I don't offend the others, none of whom homeschool. And my other life is where I talk only about homeschooling and not theological differences. We are all parents and we are all Christians, but there's some very different distinct camps we fall in. And it's hard to balance it sometimes. So, when I have enough of one, I go focus on the other. I was frustrated with homeschooling groups, so I had fun at Bible study. It is what it is.

The End