Year 5, August 10th-12th, 2020: Who's Dis Cleanin' Lady?!

This lady! Woot! Woot! Besides having to move all the furniture, well, not the piano or bookcases, it's kind of fun to clean the carpet! And the water was so dark and yet satisfying to see that I actually had deep cleaned something! I did a couple of small areas and rugs this morning, and then decided to move the couch after supper and do that as well. Jared had stepped out for a walk, so Justin moved it a bit and then I did the rest. Jared will move it back for me once everything is completely dry. The steam carpet cleaner does an excellent job picking up the extra water. I'll finish the middle of the living room and one more carpet tomorrow. I did manage to look at school books today, but didn't go too in depth with the planning stages. I pulled some minor things I need to prepare like checking Justin's old Spanish course and printing out memory work for Abishai. Tomorrow or the next day I'll work on writing in assignments or figuring out the pacing and all that. Abishai's will be a bit tricky because I got rid of the lesson plans for the reading program, but there's a much older lesson planning book that I hadn't gotten rid of that will help me remember. I also would like to try some games this go around. I'm a bit nervous but we'll see. I just think games makes the work take longer, but it does make it more fun. I should aim for one game per day or something. We'll see. The older kids will be ok once we get started. I do but I don't want to start school. That's why I cleaned today and only worked on school stuff for an hour or so. I also had to work on my blog article, which I need to get back to doing tonight, maybe. I'm still really tired, so I don't know.

It was an uneventful day for the most part. I typed alot to friends about my worries about my own kids' socialization since we don't have much going on at church. I'm getting super nervous about what to do to help Justin and I keep telling myself that it will take time, but I feel so behind with it that I want it all done for me and done right now. I don't want to read about ADD. I don't want to play memory games. Ugh, it's all too much. That's why I can't start all the subjects that need my help right away. Math and science perhaps. I guess I'm still feeling overwhelmed. Not by my IAHE responsibilities. Not by my cleaning and cooking responsibility. Not by outside activities, except making playdates happen.  But the actual reading of material and applying it. I can tell someone else how to do it, but then I don't want to do all the steps myself. I can't concentrate long enough on a book to read and prepare. I keep telling myself to prepare more, but then I procrastinate and fly by the seat of my pants. In school. In faith. In meal planning. I need sleep so I can concentrate and have clarity because that's not even happening tonight. How I can type a beautiful article at 4pm and then can't think straight at 9 pm? Ugh. I can't crank it out like some people do anymore. And now I'm sore and cranky.

When your kid becomes like you and has a working lunch.

"Mommy, I'm lonely, come play with me." aka "Mommy, come watch me play because I don't want you to move my guys in your ways, but my ways."

Our first time moving the couch in 3 years. Eh, it could be worse.It wasn't really dirty, just a lot of dog hair and a handful of toy. We have tried to scoop out as many toys here and there as we could over the last 3 yrs. I didn't take after pictures, because it was hard to tell. I just know from the dirty water that it's cleaner.

Major line of thunderstorms tonight. 70mph winds, lots of rolling thunder and lightning.

It should be over around midnight.

I wrapped up the carpet cleaning today and finished out my first official blog post today! I sent the blog post over to the IAHE team to look over it for major errors. I was proud and anxious the moment I sent it. I'm sure I have a bit of polishing, but the words and themes came together pretty well. It was a new homeschoolers but I took a little bit of a twist on it so I wasn't rehashing much of what is on our website. I focused on the "why" each family might choose homeschooling and what resources they might look for. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't really circle around to the "why" theme in the conclusion and focused on our resources and links. So, yeah, I need to edit that. I was under a time crunch with trying to leave for Justin's doctor's appointment, but I'll make a note of it for tomorrow. Someone from IAHE made it into an editable document so, I'll probably work on it over there. Anyway, after cleaning carpets, I texted our family members and said, "No more shoes on in my house ever!" I have always not liked the idea of wearing outside shoes all over the house because I learned long ago how much dirt and chemicals are dragged in on the bottom of our shoes. Not only does it make things dirty, but it can be unsafe. Except for Jared who has to wear a shoe with his orthopedic piece of wood in the sole, no one else needs to be coming in and out with shoes on. Not even for a minute. Maybe to use the little bathroom.  This is why I have slip on shoes at both the back and front doors. I also made sure all our shoes fit on all the racks. No more shoes on the green carpet or painted rug Shauna made. Guests can put their shoes there, or if our shoes are really wet or something and we don't want them to drip on other shoes, but in general, minimal amount of shoes at the front door please and thanks.

 My head is pretty much overwhelmed and swimming. Between my own projects, a rep call with IAHE and all that's going on there, trying to find time and the right mood to work on school prep, not hearing from Benaiah, worrying about socialization, worrying about ADD, it's all a ton right now in a different way than other things have been. I did get to bed a little earlier last night so I had a bit more clarity today, so I need to stick with that. It's hard when the TV series you're watching is just so interesting. I'm going to share the name of this one only because not everyone would approve of it. It's sci fi and a bit weird and creepy. I have to skip some scenes sometimes. But, yeah, it's BBC or PBS or something like that, so lots of British accent stuff. Anyway, moving on.

Abishai was very upset when Jared left for Bible study and I had to get on the rep call. He desperately needs one on one time. I will be including him in school prep tomorrow. It's easier for me to spend time with the kids when we are doing school because I feel like I'm killing two birds with one stone. I have a really hard time just sitting and playing a game or playing with Legos. I've been done this topic before, but that's where it's at. We'll definitely make it to play group this Friday and if it's raining, I'm going to see if they want to come over to my house. I'm so over the Covid-19 restrictions that I don't care. Well, Eli's family and Caden's family at least. I trust them. We'll see.

I got distracted there for a little bit....emails, new people, people that know where we live! Just kidding, this particular new homeschooler looks familiar and talked to Jared the other day when he was chopping wood. Fun times! But things are moving right along in some areas. I'm getting stuff done, but my brain is done for the day. Time for a little YouTube and TV show. And those are part of it, too. I watch a lot of informational type YouTube channels, so if I'm overwhelmed, I don't watch their videos right away. Or if I'm frustrated with the family or the house, I won't watch the family vlogs. TV shows are were I can let my brain vegetate on something totally different. When you are a thinker like me, the brain just swirls and swirls and swirls. I have to be careful what I watch sometimes, but watching something that is not real, like sci fi, helps to kind of calm down the rest. It's like working on math for 10 minutes and then history for 10 minutes and then back to math for 10 minutes. Just give your brain a break! So while I enjoy historical dramas, I don't get upset if they aren't totally accurate. I get wrapped up in the romances anyway. So off I go to do that I guess.

Very surreal, folks. I know I have written a ton over the last 5 years, but nothing terribly formal that a lot of people will read and take to heart. I wouldn't say it was my dream to be a writer, but I think it goes with the territory and all the practice I've had so far. And relearning how to write through teaching it, lol. So the girl who says "I can't write" has become the woman who says, "Well, yes, yes I can write!"

Our tech team has way too much fun on a Sunday morning. They are such a hoot back there!

See that dark area in the bottom of the picture? That didn't happen with the other two bucketfuls I did yesterday.

Here's that same area, the sludge of gravel and sizable dirt pieces, like grains of sand. So gross!

Yup

Yup

I'm still in the cleaning mood, so I tackled this green lap desk today that somebody had colored a lot on with a pencil. Abishai was excited to help clean it up with me! No, I don't think he colored it. It was most likely Keturah. A little Mr. Clean magic eraser got it all cleaned up.

What is it with leather rotting in my house?! My ankle boots from childhood are rotten, too. Makes me so made! Maybe I was supposed to add oil or something, but I think it's the environment. However, the leather was rubbing off, so I kept rubbing and now look at them!

Under the leather was a nice cushion of fabric that will hopefully stand up over time. Abishai said he wanted to wear these boots, but they might already be too small. It's one of those pairs that we don't grab for because they take longer to get on. I also didn't want to just put them in the donation bag looking like crap. It wasn't a long project, thankfully.

We were waiting for the living room rug to dry so everything was up off the floor or pushed to the side. Abishai decided to nest on the gaming chair (the chair I used to nurse him in) up on the couch.

This is the best I could do with the carpet shampooer. I did spend extra time on it for sure. I bet I'll have to try goo be gone or something. The stripes are from some masking tape I used to make a road for Hot Wheels cars. When we lifted up the tape, the glue stayed and collected dirt. So, yeah. Oh well, it's clean enough for now. It was very old carpet when we moved in. And like my parents never replaced theirs because why bother when your kids are still going to have more spills and mess? Abishai did like having more floor space though. I feel bad that I do have some kind of table in every room and he can't just spread out. We loose square footage from the bookcases too. It's just how it is. But he also plays on the tables, so I don't know. I put every thing back to where I had it a couple of days ago.

Mr. Justin had a follow up/annual check up with the doctor today. I LOVED the decor in this room! So sweet! The doctor was on time today and we did ask him for a prescription for Justin's ADD. I feel confident that we'll try it and see how it goes. Short term, long term, whatever. We do need a quick fix at the moment because we are in a time crunch. We'll learn more about tricks and tips as we go along. Justin's stats are: 5ft 7in tall, 125 lbs, 73bpm (we had just walked in the room and such and maybe he was nervous?)  and bp was 114/56. One of the healthiest kids I know. I SHOULD weigh 125. Sigh. He also got one shot today. And yes, I just read an article on how many vaccinations today's kids get vs. what I got. Part of that is because there are more vaccinations available like the chickenpox vaccine. We started vaccinating with Benaiah before we even knew we didn't have to. All of the kids have reacted fine. We don't do all of them. We didn't space them out. Well, we kind of did between going to Canada and coming back because we don't always do annual physicals, but they were easy to catch up on. We don't do the flu vaccine or HPV. But Hep A or Hep B? Sure. He had the Hep A one today and because he had the Hep B when he was born, he was exempt from that one today. I quickly looked all three up on Wikipedia (which shouldn't be a primary source, but I was just looking at how long the vaccine has been available) and it was fine. I'm not for or against vaccinations. We've done them because it's not a mountain I want to die on or argue much with the doctor about. All our doctors have been pretty respectful. They ask, I say no, we move on.

Little guy was getting very tired while I was on my rep call. He wanted me to take this picture to send to Daddy so Daddy would come home. He wasn't actually sleeping. He was pretty upset about a bug that was flying or crawling around. He was thinking back to seeing the cockroaches at the bug museum in New Orleans where it talked about if we don't clean our house, it will become a roach motel. He actually remembered all of that from 8 months ago AND was hysterically crying about it. Man! He made all those connections himself! I just need to start reading more material to him because he can absorb so much! Or we need to watch nature shows together instead of derp YouTube videos. I can't let this kid down! That's why I'm scared and excited all at the same time. He's so smart!

Can you see the sparkles? The sunset was coming through the windows of the sunroom through the windows in the kitchen to the piano making this church sparkle! So cool!

Wednesday was the usual. Did a little more homeschooling figuring. Had a shower. Run a bunch of errands while Justin was at small group in one of the boys' back yards. Benaiah came and got his drum set. Tidied up the garage and swept and vacuumed it. (Yes I vacuum the garage because brooms don't do enough for me and there's those carpet squares near the door leading into the house.) Scrolled too much on FB so now I can't make signs and lists for school like I wanted to. But there's always tomorrow. 

Hmmmmmm, this scene led me to a couple of newer ideas for homeschooling this year. They all were eating breakfast at the same time....this could lead to doing a little something together to start our school day, like prayer? A 5 minute read aloud? Memory work? And again at lunch time.

Back at it and still didn't get it done. Sigh.

This is what happens when you are watching a YouTube video that was originally recorded in a foreign language. It's Eastern European, right? Russia, Ukraine? I don't know, but it cracks me up!

Now maybe I can get one of my favorite crocheted lap blankets back. Jared uses them at night for sleeping on his life side only.

Apparently the new promo gear isn't a fancy pen, pop socket, or water bottle. It's a mask with the company's logo on it. I will say, this newer designs are much better than the ones that go straight across my small face. I'd invest in more of them if I had to wear them all day.  But I don't go out much, so we're all good.

It was inevitable. I nearly had a "meltdown"/pity party today. All because I'm mad and disappointed in myself for many things, the usual things I always complain about. But, I went to Bible study, and we had a good discussion, and I learned that on of the ladies has ADD and taught me more things in a quick 10 minute talk that I hadn't picked up so far in my reading. And, I just might have found a new best friend for Abishai just down the hill for us! Now THAT is an answer to prayer! I've been so worried about his social life. A brand new to homeschooling family with a 5 yr old boy. And has lived in our neighborhood longer than we have. Oh boy! Eek! The potential that is there is ginormous! And a homeschooling family that had actually thought about doing it way before Covid happened.  While I am committed to helping all new homeschoolers, it's the ones that are finally taking the plunge after really contemplating it for more than 6 months that I love to help. Those will be the long term committed converts. Yes, yes, I know, I don't get that excited about bringing new people to Jesus, I know. That's a topic and struggle for another day. So, I came home with hope.

And the more and more research and talking and learning I do about ADD, the more I think I have it. I nearly cried over not being able to concentrate and comprehend even the ADD books today. It's my usual lack of sleep that isn't helping, but ADD explains a lot of things about me, the daydreaming, the inability to remember things long term, the not being able to listen to music or "watch" a video while I work (I always feel like I'm cheating the artist or actors when I'm not fully engaged), the creating visuals in my head of concepts (I have this weird picture of a history timeline, it doesn't go completely straight. It's straight for the BC but in AD, the centuries kind of stack on top of each other, and the whole thing goes from left to right and up to the right kind of sort of). I'm so tempted to make an appointment with my doctor and ask her about it. I will probably procrastinate for a bit, but I won't see her for 5 more months, so,.....anyway, at least I have somebody that has a deeper relationship with us and I can bounce ideas off of. Someone who I know has done all the research and is super smart. Ah, what a relief! I'm not alone! Community is so important, especially if you can find the right ones for the right stages of life and concerns. I.e. My homeschool community and this all neighborhood based small group. We literally live life together waving as we walk by and not having to drive through traffic on a special night to see each other. Where we can cut tree limbs down for each other, or borrow some tools. Thank you, Jesus, for that shot in the arm tonight. I really needed it! And I needed the electrolyte drink I drank, yes, between 7-9pm with B vitamins that might make it hard to sleep later, but at least I can try to focus for a little bit. 

I did get some stuff done for school, mostly the visuals I have fun making with signs for routines and themed days of the week, etc. I listed out what we are going to do for our morning basket. I've got a bit more pacing to do for Justin, and some copying for Keturah's work. Then I'll go through my old "teacher" binder and I hope to really use it this year now that I have three again. I did two loads of laundry. Keturah is sorting out all her old Lego sets (she's super bored, especially when she gets grounded from TV), Justin mowed Grandpa's yard, and Abishai was all over the place. Jared wanted me to bring him the grapefruit he forgot, but Abishai wanted it saved for dinner. So we called Daddy and Daddy said there's another one in the pantry.  Oh, ok. So I took him his grapefruit. It was all he ate for lunch. Because he's purposefully starving himself. Because he wants to hit 10 lbs lost. Because reasons. Anyway, I got gas for under $2 a gallon and I picked up a bunch of ADD books from the library. And that's about it. Normal day.

 

Jared took this on his walk around the church parking lot.

At least we've kept the mostly girl/Friends Legos separate from the rest of our collections. She did find some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ones though. How they got there, who knows!

Only the biggest parts of her personal collection. Yes, my house feels like a Lego store or Legoland. But true collectors keep the boxes and instructions. I have some from the '80's!

When it's hard to put the sheet on your mattress. And she colored all those pages and decorated her bed with them herself. She's loving having the desk there and lounging on her couch. A true Princess.

What I get to do in a month! I'm one of the presenters!

What does Mom do when she needs to learn something new? First she asks friends. Then she googles it. Then she orders library books. Library books for the win! Actual workbooks I can go through with Justin so he can learn to help himself. But, if I have ADD tendencies, it's going to be awhile before I bet through all of this. Hm,...

The End