Year 5, September 14th-17th, 2020: Busiest Week since Covid hit!

 It's going to be a busy week. Not sure how much time I will have to describe it. But I hope to catch up by the weekend. We had the Mondayiest Monday so far this school year. I had no reason to be on edge, but I was. I just can't tolerate Abishai's antics some days. Maybe today was worse because I know I had to push really hard to get lots of school done so I can be involved with a homeschool 101 tomorrow. I'm not presenting, but I have to be present at it through Zoom.  The presenter asked me to be the one to post links in the chat box, so I just made up a document getting that organized with verbage so I can just copy and paste. Should be easy to accomplish.  I just hope the kiddos can occupy themselves without me. I'll have Abishai do screen time. Um, ok, now that my new mine is up in my stupid phone game....

Back to today. Today, today. Tiring. No major meltdowns except I couldn't tolerate Abishai during history read alouds. I managed to bribe him with TV time again today, which he over did, which made me mad at myself. He did say "80" when we were putting together numbers for place value, so at least some of this learning is sticking. Really, it's all sticking. It's just that he doesn't tolerate the practicing part. He nearly did the 10 commandments by himself today. So that's a win. And I did finish a read aloud book with him. He was just extra wiggly. Sigh. I'll have to limit his sugar intake beforehand. I made sure he had run around time outside first. I did have to send him away because I couldn't read over his noise making. 

When we opened the books today, I realized we never did science experiments last week or over the weekend. Whoops. So we did Keturah's did and made a plan for Justin's (pond water study with mircroscope). Abishai wanted to do his own "xperiment" so I showed him how he does experiments all day long figuring out which car is the fastest on his track. He just doesn't have the terminology to explain it. He loved that idea and built his own track for an experiment. It was cute.

Jared texted about 4:30 and said he was missing eating breakfast foods (he intermittent fasts so he skips breakfast) so we had steak and eggs for supper with hashbrowns and fresh veggies. He came home early and finished up making the eggs while we did chores and warmed up meat. He wanted bacon, but we didn't have bacon. We'll add that to the grocery list for Thursday, if I'm not too exhausted by then. We spent a little bit of time outside after supper, although the sky was still hazy. As you'll see in the pics below, the smoke from the California fires are covering the upper atmosphere for 2/3 of the United States including us. I think today was the 5th or 6th day of hazy skies. Skies that were completely covered over, which is so abnormal for us. We need our northern jetstream to come down and clear the air. My throat hurts. I read my chapter in Read Aloud Family and then typed up my answers for the daily questions. I hope I don't get behind, and probably should have read ahead, but who knows. The chapter today on the 5 myths of reading aloud were very helpful reminders for after we had a rough read aloud time today. I didn't make any progress on household things, but oh well. And piano lessons will have to wait until tomorrow after the zoom meeting. I'm hoping to be off in time to make supper.

Colorful sunset, sure. But the haze is well, messing with my brain!

Wow! Who knew that two weather systems could have such impact on us? From the smoke rising from the California wild fires to Hurrican Sally in the Gulf of Mexico. Yikes!

Nice temp this morning. Yes the windows were open. Yes, I had a face full of snot to start my day and my throat hurts. Jared thinks it's worth it. I don't know about that. He gets to go to work where the environment is extra filtered. (And super cold).

Lemon Meringue pie on my puzzle game today!

When you borrow a book from the library and realize it's an incredible resource, you buy it. But, it's sort of out of print and you pay way too much for it (at least in my opinion) AND it comes from New Hampshire! Nice!

Nice experiment on density.

Honey on the bottom, then water, then vegetable oil. The ice cube floats in the oil until it melts. There's also a toothpick and a coin in there. So, do YOU know how to explain this one?

No, it's not going to rain. This is the haze in the backyard. You can't see the sun. This is California's fault.

Abishai's "speariment." We had to devise some support structures underneath and he wanted the cars to land in a container of Legos so we improvised. He loved it! And kept it a secret until he showed Daddy how it worked after supper.

I was putting away some things in the backyard and I hear this giggling thinking it was coming from the neighbor's yard. It was the boys' laughter bouncing off the neighbor's house. They were simply chasing each other around the van! For no good reason!

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The verdict is not yet out for this. Is this ragweed pollen on our flowers and cars or is this junk from the California clouds? I vote ragweed.

If you could sum Abishai up in one picture, this would be it. Living life to the full and in a blur.

Not sure what song Jared is counting, but yes, hazy and gross. I don't like this. I want my blue skies for apple picking and in September. This is making me cross.

Hanging out at front and Justin does a move and literally trips over Socks. And Socks winced! Well, you big dummies, the both of ya! Those with long legs trip themselves up. But Abishai did have a blast and giggle fit rolling around in the grass chasing Justin, pjs and bare feet and all. BTW, Abishai can button his own shirt now!

Last move of the day, climb a tree!

Monday part 2?! At least that's what it feels like. I am in a depressive mood and the hazy skies aren't helping and certain people trying to help me find "joy" or asking why I can't find "joy" isn't helping either. I helped with a Homeschool 101 meeting today via Zoom with the homeschool committee of our local public library system and a few new homeschoolers. I was nervous because I always want to present myself well, even if I'm not talking. And it was in the middle of the afternoon so I need to do school quickly, take a shower, and get the kids settled down. Abishai ended up having 5 hrs of screen time today between playing video games as a bribe for doing his work quickly and while I showered. He was all up in everyone's faces again today and we all had things to do. Then he had his regular screen time while I was on the call. Then he watched Justin's screen time for another 2 hrs. And then I went to rage monster exclaiming again why kids can't do their chores at 5. Chores at 5pm allows time of them to be off of screens and out of the way so I can make supper. With Jared coming home at 5:30pm most days, I feel pressured to have things at least going by then. Instead, he comes home to be trying to light fires under everyone's butts. So, Jared gave me access to the app where I can remotely turn off the wifi on any device. I'm going to go through it tonight and set up new limits. There will be some kicking and screaming if Justin is in the middle of a match when the wifi goes off, but he will have to learn to finish BEFORE his time is up. He doesn't have to bump up right to the 2 hr mark. And we will eliminate the "I just need to finish this round (20 minutes later)" or "I'll just finish this episode (40 more minutes passes by). I'm over it. I can't keep the clock for everyone. For Abishai, yes, for the other kids, no. So, I'll force them off. Yes that means I have access to my own cut off time. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. It doesn't matter much because we have unlimited data on our phones now so if I really wanted to, I could finish anything I was watching on there. And if I have DVD's from the library, I can keep going with those episodes on my laptop. So, I have to be an adult and make wiser choices. I'm just done with yelling at kids for the same things.

And we wasted a gorgeous afternoon. I was done with my call around 3:30 and decided to work on email. I should have not let Justin get on the PS4 and I should have kicked everyone out of the house. It was 77 degrees and the air was a little less hazy. I always regret it when I do this. But, even if I turn off wifi, they will go hole up in their rooms, their stuffy, cluttered rooms. No, come out here and play with your brother so he's not in my face like he has been while you were doing schoolwork. Yikes! It's time to revisit all of this again. Not to change the schedule but to reinforce it. Plus Justin having that big laptop is not a good thing. And it takes me being on top of things enforcing the rules, which doesn't go well either. So, I'm moody, and I'm tired. I have to find time to read both Read Aloud Family and now a daily in depth, spend an hour a day on it, Bible study book. I have one more big Homeschool Q and A next week in the evening on Wednesday, so I'll skip Bible study and Jared can keep the kids entertained. And I'm just feeling blech. My body hurts because I can't find time to rest. I'm hungry but don't know what to eat that is somewhat healthy. My nose is full of ragweed snot and yet Jared wants to run the house fan and keep the windows open. It's probably not good for the piano to have such a big swing in temperatures all the time. We do not need to sleep in 64 degrees. Blech. Stop freezing me out before winter comes. My toes are cold and I'm about to go find my little space heater. And you all want me to feel happy? Nope. Not today. You don't know what being moody means or what depression is like. Back away slowly is what it means.

And tomorrow we are going to Conner Prairie and have to leave pretty early because it's only 5 hrs long. Keturah is already whining about it. Too bad. We are getting out of the house while it's nice out. And cheaper. 82 degrees for a high, so a bit warm, but not unbearable. She'll manage. We can't stay home forever. At least we got piano lessons done today and they worked on all their regular subjects. We won't do normal lessons tomorrow (like we won't do a math lesson, but science still needs to be read by the end of the week), but will have a full day on Thursday. I decided only to tackle the two lessons in history for this week instead of three because the third is the start of the American Revolution. I want to spend some time this weekend making a timeline and copying photos and doing up this unit right. But finding the time is hard because I have to be on everybody else to take the initiative. Sigh. Oh, and I did a thing. I bought a ticket for the drive in theater tour with Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Mac Powell in two weeks. Probably one of the only times I've purchased tickets this late in the game. But, I can take 5 other people (and hopefully they will pay). It's only 35 minutes away in Shelbyville. I'd regret not going. And seeing that my front row concert is postponed again, it's time for ME to get out and see a concert, whatever it takes. So, I did it. It will be what it is. I will see what I will see. I will take whoever God sends my way to take. I'll be nervous because of bugs and food and bathrooms, but hey, I'll be there. I won't be sitting at home, looking at my dirty house and staring at clutter. I'll be out doing something a bit more normal. And that's all I want. I bit more normal.

We did finish the day with something I drew on our sidewalk that tells them to do different actions. It took them a bit to get into it, but Abishai did it a few times. I did have to tell him to go inside when he was being bossy about the basketball hoop. He can't be quite bossy, imagine. And sneaky. And a negotiator. And I finished my book reading for the day outside. And Keturah and Abishai had baths. Justin's been showering every day, so no worries there.

Tomorrow is a new "normal" day and we will see what we see and experience what we experience. I have not expectations or plans. Just get there and find out. I mean, I already scoured the website for the restrictions and ideas of what is available. It will be fine. I'm so much more comfortable going back to a place I've been to rather than a new place. It will be fine and it will fill our day. And then home again, jiggity jig, so I can go to Bible study. Fun times.

He said he's fine out there in the middle of the junk in the garage. Alrighty then!

A two week science experiment has begun. Justin had to collect water samples from a nearby outside water source. It's a good thing there's a little creek down the hill. He was told to put it in 4 jars and each jar as one of the following: rice, hay, egg white, or soil. So, he'll go back to them in a few days to see what has changed. He then had to describe the environment that the water came from and he did very, very well! He pulled ideas from his botany class 4 yrs ago about how to describe a plant and got pretty excited about seeing a crawdad.

Why didn't we think of this earlier? We clipped Justin's birthday balloon to Socks' collar and he became the birthday balloon delivery dog. He didn't try to mess with it, but he didn't like it either.

A little bit better sky this afternoon but still not the brilliant blue I want and need.

Mommy, push me!

Jared noticed this injured betterfly in our garden. See how the right wing has ragged edges? It didn't fly away at all, even when I blew on it. It will probably die or be eaten tonight.

Beautiful butterfly. Keturah wanted to watch it for awhile and was concerned about it.

I'm so exhausted, but if I wait until tomorrow, I'll be even more frustrated because things will keep piling up and I can't rest until Saturday. It's only Wednesday. This is why field trips or even simple trips out of the huose have become a rarity, because just when I think I'm got it handled and go have fun, then I don't. We were gone all day to the Civil War/1800's era village called Connor Prairie. Everyone goes there on a class field trip because it counts toward their Indiana history studies. For me, it's like when I went to all the Revolutionary War era reenactments or villages or homes that are 100-200 years older than the ones here. I feel like the kids only get part of their national history because they haven't seen anything older than 1816. That's why I want to take them east to my homeland and share with them the major differences. That's why personally want to go even further east to Europe and Israel because of the history I've learned 10x over and stand where Jesus stood, and Ceasar was, and Norsemen, and Mongols, and Abraham, and Louis XIV and Leonardo Da Vinci. And all the rest. I had to laugh (internally) when one enthusiastic employee was talking excitedly over a 200 yr old building owned by the Conners. Yes, it's old. Yes, it's 90% historically accurate and mostly original. But, it's not as old as some of the buildings and things I've seen. Sometimes I find myself explaining to the kids something from the Revolutionary Era instead of the Civil War era. We were listening to a young man from the Union Army with a long gun and I wasn't sure if the gun was a flintlock and still needed gunpowder or not. We were just about to read a book called the Matchlock gun, so I knew I was safe in saying, "flintlock" because it could have been past technology for him. And I was partly right. There was one part of what is used to set off the charge that was different from the 1700's gun and the 1800's gun, but you still had to use gunpowder, ram it down and add the projectile. And it still had the spear attachment. And this is from me just watching for the last 30 years reenactors and movies and reading hundreds of books, and without doing any research, I could at least come up with this much (and this from a brain that comprehends much but remembers little.) So, it was a good match.

Also, Abishai had a fun time engaging in coversation with this young man (I don't think he was more than 20, you could tell from his acne, poor dude, and hesitancy and lack of communication skills) about Star Wars. "There's a war in the stars?"the young man asked. And then Abishai just kept talking and talking. This was after Abishai asked him how many battles does he fight? And does he hide behind things to stay safe? Oh my, if I could just keep Abishai talking like this in every museum we go to, it's going to be awesome. That's why, I need to start leaving the older two home. They were over it before we even left. "But, Mom, we know everything!" It's true, they could probably, with a little of studying of the vernacular, could tell you all about the things we saw. I told them to keep their eyes and ears out for things they haven't seen before. And then, about halfway through the day, I told them that really, instead of me telling Abishai what things were and keeping his interest on what was in front of us instead of the "corn playground," that they could be teaching him to reinforce what they knew. But anyway, I'll try to remember to tell them that BEFORE we go somewhere. It's helpful to have their help because they are like 2nd and 3rd parents, but it's not worth hearing them whine about everything. 

Thankfully, like I said, Abishai was more engaged and taking it all in. Like the chuck wagons. He thought those were cool. And the outhouses of course. And the benches that the kids sit on for school. And the thing that a kettle sits on to go over the fire and then you can swing it out to stir the pot. And he had questions about the animal skins in the fur trade area. And he wanted to ask where the chickens slept at night. And he wanted to make friends with the sheep.All of this is really new to him, although he's always come with us on these trips. But now, he's piecing together some things and will be able to remember it better. And I love that. I have a little museum buddy. And because he's an extrovert, he's not afraid to ask questions like the other 3 of us are. He did enjoy the treetop playground and the "corn playground" which was a new addition to the village of a modern playground. It's the first thing we saw when went in because they used a makeshift entrance to avoid using the main building because of Covid. We did walk all the way to the back of the property to start our tour and that was very, very smart. Abishai spent way less time on the playground at the end than what I thought he would. I think Justin had a hand in that though. We visited every building and talked with several of the reenactors, so I was pleased. You couldn't go into most of the buildings, but we saw enough and I was able to say something about each one. 

It was exhausting. I had forgotten how exhausted it felt. And I've been staying up a little later at night because I haven't had down time during the day to regroup. It's a vicious cycle. So, I laid on the couch for one hour. I set the wifi to turn off on the kids' devices at 5pm, so I got up in time to give them a 5 minute warning. And you know what? There was hardly a complaint. I had told them that I knew they wouldn't have the full two hrs and I don't care. They had too much yesterday. And one of the reasons I took all three kids was just to get them out of the house. And I told them on the way home that the reason we are doing this is so that I'm not yelling for chores to be done when Dad gets home. And they aren't underfoot when I'm making dinner, which typically starts at 5:30. Today we had to start dinner right away because Justin and I both had Bible study tonight. But Justin was so slow cutting potatoes for the air fryer, that we ended up being late and I didn't get my meds called in (I thought they were both automatic but only one was) and I thought Justin's had been called in/available, that I went to pick them up and they weren't ready. So, I texted after I got to Smith's for Jared to pick them up, and he didn't leave in time to do it before he picked up Justin from small group and didn't want his van seat to be wet for 10 more minutes so he didn't go get them after he picked up Justin although he had plenty of time do it before they closed at 9. Well, he didn't know the pharmacy closes at 9, not 11 like the rest of the store does. And he made no offer to go get them while I was busy trying to settle down so I don't have my anti anxiety med. Now I have to go out first thing to get my med because I take it at night and in the morning and I don't want to be missing two does. Ugh. Plus now I have to find out when Justin's will be ready or if the doctor actually called it in, etc. And I haven't read my book for today yet and our Bible study is now doing a much more intense Bible study and added two new people that I don't want to spill out my inner thoughts to yet. So, when I finally sat down at 9:30, I was made. I'm better now. Thank goodness I had some clarity of thought to write what I could about Conner Prairie. Hopefully I will have more time to do a blow by blow as I add the photos and videos. I'm not doing them tonight because I used the DSLR to take most of the photos, which, is why my neck is sore. I did switch off pulling the wagon with all 3 of the kids so that helped with other back pain.

And I'm still very annoyed about this hazy crap from California affecting my lungs, my throat and my mood. And I have to do school, counseling and go grocery shopping tomorrow, and the library and the pharmacy. And then Friday is park day and Mom's Night Out and I don't know what to feed my kids tomorrow night or Friday night. And I don't have time to meal plan. And Jared doesn't get it. This is why one simple task of picking up my medication is a big deal because now it's back on my to do list. And all I want to do is watch TV, ok? And play my dumb phone game, ok? Sigh. At least IAHE has been quiet today. I do have a homeschool thing next Wednesday, so I have to find time to work on my microphone set up so they can hear me more clearly.  Maybe I can borrow that podcasting mic Jared brought home over the weekend. I think my video is clear enough. Hm,....

Yeah, I have nothing left. Nada. Tired of socializing. But I'm not done. And I'll have to write up a to do list so Jared doesn't waste another weekend. Ugh. Sigh. TV time. Finally. I'm done. 10:30pm. The rest will wait until tomorrow.

(read back through and add more details about the buildings and Abishai's reaction).

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Pumping the water!

Conner Prairie

We had to get our snuggles in before we headed out for the day.

Brrr, this means it won't be to hot today. Yeah!

Very pretty!

Just a tad misleading when 11 students equals 10% of your population. Whoops. And we know one of the 11, too.

The woods between the pioneer village and the Civil War area has a great tree top playground. Abishai went round and around on the slide.

"Way back when" essential oils chart!

Last picture of the day, but he was thrilled to be in the hot air balloon. As I supsected several hands on activites were removed. This area goes through an event of someone trying to be a mail carrier by balloon. Hm,.....Just is there, too. He was just tired and cranky.

How many balloons filled with helium does it tak eto lift you off the ground. 3,000 for Keturah.

4,250 for Justin.

Only 4,000 for me? And I weight more than Justin, so the readings can't be accurate.

Nice spider on Keturah's hat.

Showing off their personalities.for sure.

Her story was about what to send the soldiers in the war. She watches over her dad's medical but has her own chores to do. They live in a fancy home because they have money. Too bad my kids were bored. But this woman also pushed women's suffrage too.

I love the interlocking boards and reminds me of Lincoln Logs.

Hen house in the backyard.

Icons for Conner Prairie. As you walk through the read bridge you are transformed into the 1960's.

The soldier was waiting for a shipment but there's no train!

Nice young dude in uniform sharing what he could about his gun. He said that he hasn't been in any battles yet but he's waiting on the train to arrive with supplies. He was able to show us how the gun worked. You could tell he hasn't been doing this long, but that's ok.

Abishai asked the soldier about how many battles he had been in and asked him about Star Wars. The interpretor said, "There's war in the stars?" Nice comeback! And then Abishai proceeded to talk all about Star Wars. When I take Abishai out by himself to more of these places, I have a feeling he's going to be the chatty one that asks lots of questions. The guy in the top hat there was much more confident. Of course the masks don't quite go with the era, but that's what they have to do. Most buildings were closed and they weren't taking on recruits today.

Some items you might see in the general store. Ink and quills, paper, even some canned goods.

Indiana sided with the North. So they were happy to win the war. When you come into the Civil War area, the banners talk about the fighting going on in this town, and then when you walk out across the bridge, they talk about the victory.

Looking out over the pretty dried up pond from inside the covered bridge.

Next up was the treetop playground area. Lots of fun things to explore. Of course they couldn't do any digging so those things were closed off. But the kids still had fun going up and down the levels.

Up and around and down 20 times. A playground surrounded by woods, made mostly of wood.

Wood logs make great stairs to get up.

There's the 4 level treehouse hidden in the trees.

Many ways to get up.

Fun facts about the buildings at Conner Prairie.

Tree house again.

Xylophone.

A peek into the one room schoolhouse. Doing their phonics!

Abishai thought the covered wagons were pretty cool! This one is pretty skinny and long. Imagine all that they had to fit in there, including the family sometimes. No stores for 1,000's of miles.

We probably shouldn't have laid down on the beds given that they were constructed with cornhusk mattresses and rope braces. But this little one room cabin was for a captain or general.

Other side of the cabin. And that's it. Pretty sparse. Not sure if they store anything in the attics in these little recreated buildings. I don't know when these buildings were recreated or maybe they were moved from other places. Maybe they were part of the original farm. It's hard to tell.

The black smith was very wealthy I guess because this is his home.

What a beautiful covered wagon.

A Benjamin Franklin stove just like we studied about!

Ironing board. I think this was the doctor's house.

Fancy couch and piano.

I've always loved canopy beds. So awesome!

Washbsin and chamber pot (your bathroom in the middle of the night).

Herbalist's shed.

Checking out the garden.

Abishai got a kick out of the "way back then" port a potty! Two seats with different cutouts as well. Hm,....

I was glad to see this was running. All kids like to pump water for a few minutes. But imagine doing it every day and then carrying that water.

Herbalist's home.

Carpenter using 19th century tools to smooth things out by hand.

Some tols have changed while some have not.

The pottery kiln.

The potter's workshop.

Another covered wagon in the barn fo the inn.

Abishai wanted to ask where the chickens slept at night. They do have some real chickens that are free range but they put them up at night in a shed.

And old inn.

"Are we done yet?" Nope!

Prices at the Inn.

Spinning wheel demonstrations. There was a massive one in one of the rooms of the inn that you could see through the window.

Free range chickens that Abishai (and Justin)  tried to catch.

Sheep with brown noses! A "heritage" breed?

"Come here baa, baa's! Come here! I want to make friends with you!"

And he got to pet them briefly. He was thrilled!

Huge vegetable garden (overgrown) at the inn, including a scarecrow and two outhouses.

Indiana and fur trading village. A wigwam by the Deleware people. The Deleware tribe were pushed uot of Delaware to Virginia and finally to Indiana. Abishai asked about the animal skins so I told him the Indians used every part of an animal from the skin to the bones to the meat.

Oooo, trading beads! Just like we learned about! Then an older gentleman came out who is 1/4 part Delaware Indian! He lives on a reservation in Oklahoma, but was a consultant for Conner Prairie for 30 years and comes up during the outdoor season to help. You could tell he was a tired sort of fellow. But the beds were cool!

Animal skins! Badger, bob cat (I think?), and fox.

Beaver skin on bottom, then otter, then muskrat. The beaver and otter skins are naturally waterproof and highly sought after.

I love informational signs, so instead of typing, I'll let them explain.

Conner Prairie is located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The White River goes right through downtown. My oh my things have changed. This is one of the busiest areas and traffic is tough. That's why I don't come up here that often, although it's less than 30 minutes away.

Look at that high chair!

Writing desk like mine.

Curtains and such.

Toys over in the corner and various things.

Another one of those secret doors to the attic. Every house had one. This house did have some a/c and heat when it's closed up to help perserve it.

This kitchen had a special bread oven and a sausage press! Grandma would have liked the bread oven.

More animals! Goats!

The guy said that they have quite a lot of chickens they keep at the farm in the areas off limits to guests. These 3 week old chckens will be out there soon.

Hey, get out of your hay! This guy/gal is so Abishai's twin! I could see Abishai climbing into something like that if he was a goat.

Someone was getting tired so he created a nest for himself. We brought the wagon for our stuff, not for carrying people.

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I didn't get any pictures at the modern playground, but it's pretty sweet. I can't wait to take Abishai back there to show him inside the welcome center with the mini playground, art studio, science area, and build your own fort. It's pretty cool!

Thursday. Ugh. Do I have to get up? Jared commented rudely on my snacking last night, not realizing I hadn't eaten much and was actually hungry. I nearly cried being that I'm hurting physically and have to mentally push myself through the next few days. He thinks he's enabling me by not putting the dog out in the morning for me sometimes. So when he came back in the room and saw I was on the verge of tears and told him he had fat shamed me (he said he wouldn't call it fat shaming, whatever), he (or someone) did put the dog out and he brought me some tea. He never brings me anything in bed. NEVER. So I played nice the rest of the day. The chips I ate because I was hungry. I don't like salty, crunchy foods. But I need a carb. The MM's I ate at 1am were not necessary. Those were comfort eating. I did put all my to dos on a schedule, but it's still too much. I can't get it all done. I'm sitting here thinking, how am I going to load and label all the pics and it even make sense? I'm just too tired to do a good job! And I haven't read my now two chapters of Read Aloud Family nor touched my Bible study yet. And the SD card and Bible study book is in the other room. But I don't have time to get it done tomorrow unless I do it in the morning or between 4-5 in the afternoon. We have Grandpa Bible class, park day, and Mom's Night Out.

Because of MNO, I decided to go with Abishai for a shorter grocery trip to Kroger because I needed my meds. That was the thing. I was mad Jared hadn't picked up my meds and I NEED to take those on time. So if I'm moody, it's all his fault. Not really, but yes, skipping a dose or being really late on two doses can mess with you. Abishai finished his work quicker than normal so we could go. We ate a little bit of lunch and then spent over an hour picking up library books and wandering Kroger. At the library, we went over to the kids' section, and like I had suspected, it was cleaned out. No computers. No puzzles. No duplos. No board books. No coloring table. And both the tractor you can sit in the silo you can sit in to listen to stories were blocked off. It made us both very, very sad. So there's just the empty bench seats, the tables and chairs, and adult chair.s How sad. Abishai picked out some Star Wars books and then we picked up my books that were on hold. Abishai helped me scan them all in and the librarian was kind enough to give him a sticker for it. 

Then we headed to Kroger, where one of those mini shopping carts was just waiting for a min shopper! I'm not talking about the smaller half carts I like to use. No, this is right down on the kids' level. We are had a blast trying to figure out what was the better way to navigate the store. He wanted to take the lead of course, so we did try that with mixed results. It was much better when I lead the way. But Abishai had a blast putting the groceries in his cart, stopping often to rearrange them like Daddy does. We bought some of his money so he could purchase his own hot wheels cars. He didn't deliberate too long and settled on buying one 5 car set now and the other 5 car set later. I let him pick out some reduced price doughnuts and swiss rolls. I couldn't find the creamer I wanted or bacon of all things. I also let him get a kiwi/green apple and some kind of vegetable smoothie in a bottles and I got a greens juice. And we both got a 20oz pop for later. AND I let him have a huge bus balloon. I went overboard and the finally price was a bit too much. But we had dog food, toilet paper, a bucket of cottage cheese that Abishai saw on his own in the dairy case and knew exactly what it was. We had a blast. He would bump into my cart like we were clinking glassses together. He wanted to help bag and put back in the cart. He was so adorable and endearing.

When I got home though, Justin was super mad that we had been gone so long because he was done with his homework "hrs ago."  We managed to pull  it together and do some schoolwork. I'm not happy with how the end of the week is turning out and I'm super nervous trying to figure out how to pull everything together for the American Revolution. And I have two appointments on Monday, so how is it all going to look like? I don't know. Keturah is reading me out of house and home. I hope she's actually learning something. Maybe that's something I could have them do. Write one quote from every book they read or one fact that interested them. They don't need to read all the books on George Washington, but there will be some overlap with other people's stories for example. Or they could take one page per major character and add to it as they read. Justin's thing with literature is that it all sounds the same. No it doesn't. Stories are similar, even morals are similar, but that doesn't mean characters react in the same way each time. But at least math is going well. And Justin feels "known, valued, and loved" according to his lesson in the ADHD workbook. So, that's good.

Then I had my counseling session and they had screen time. The 5-6pm hr went much smoother tonight. Yeah! And I made them go outside while I was making dinner. After dinner, Abishai and Jared went back out and saw Adrienne, Derek, and Jim walking so Derek and Jim stopped to play and talk. Adrienne just kept on going.  Lol.

Ugh, I can't keep my eyes opened, so I'm going to wrap this up and shut everything to.

Jared actually brought me tea in bed!

Over 10,000 steps in one day! I haven't done that in a really long time. No wonder I'm exhausted!

Best shopping buddy on the planet. There was this cart, just sized for little kids, and he absolutely LOVED it! "I put it in my cart, Mommy!" And then he stopped to rearrange it like Daddy does. We brought some of the money he earned so he could buy his own Hot Wheels cars. He looked at the $4.39 sets (5 cars) and the $1 cars. He had the choice between two $4.39 ones and actually didn't take too long to deliberate and made a plan to come back and get the other one. He made his choice and we were on our way. He tried to be the leader, and we had a good time with it, but I eventually said we need to get going. Again, no complaints. Sweetest thing.

I let him put his money into the machine (and thankfully it did give us change). He was so excited and methodical. He also helped scan most of the groceries. We did take our time and the other kids weren't happy about it, but it was so fun!

Oh, I didn't think about me being in the mask. So that's what I look like. Eek. But our carts were full, the bank account was less, we got all three prescriptions we needed, and had fun.

This kid made out like a bandit. Yes I splurged on a $8 balloon that looks like a bus, because why not? He got his cars. Oh, and we had been to the library where he helped me scan all the books. We were very sad that they took away all the toys and computers. Very sad. But he had his library books stacked right next to him for the short ride home. Then we stopped at Daddy's office and Mrs. Ellen gave him some blueberry muffins. And we took home the cardboard that held some mugs or something because Abishai wanted to put his colored pencils or something in them. Spoiled baby of the family. But he's so cute!

Blurry because that's how my life goes sometimes. Abishai wanted to use these for his things.

Man! I've had this pitcher for most of our married life. The plunger still works, but that's not nice! I might have to buy myself a new one and retire this one. I've made so many quarts of juice, kool-aid, and lemonade in this thing. The plunger part is the kids' favorite part. It's Rubbermaid brand of course so it has lasted a long, long time and the plastic wall is very thick. Bummers!

I'm so bummed. They didn't have this anymore at the store and I checked and no retailers have it.

Typical Justin ADD moment here. He went to have a snack and then got it in his head  to take a shower and left all of these things out. Good grief! Poor kid! At least we know what his issue is and we can work with him on it.

Abishai moved the birthday balloon to the calendar. He also had clipped it to his ultimate hot wheels garage because he thought the garage needed a happy birthday or something.

But the happy birthday balloon was replaced by the bus balloon. Busy playing cars before playing video games. And then for whatever reason, the video below was banned from YouTube. What in the world? Was it some noise and words they are saying? I have no idea. But, here it is anyways.

Card and gift from Aunt Shauna, Uncle Aaron, Cousin Everly, and Cousin Nora. A special wired battery back to light up the light sabers on a mini figure. Cool!

Abishai's first store receipt buying things with his own money. And he got the sticker from the librarian because he was such a good helper.

Abishai has been very concerned about heaven lately. He did say twice now that he wants to go to heaven to be with Jesus and ask him questions. He's so smart. He gets things others don't. It's amazing. And it's scary because he will out grow this teacher's intellect faster than others have. It's fun to watch.

The End