Year 5, November 13th-15th, 2020: Do-Over's

 I had a blog post ready to publish yesterday (it's Monday, November 16th), but have decided to not publish it as it is, but also not to destroy it either. It's pretty personal and was a way for me to think through some things. So, this post that I am publishing, will be a hopefully quick copy and paste of the non personal parts and then I'll get on with this week's blog post. And it was! Praise the Lord! Even the photos and captions. I have to go check on the videos (and they work! Hallelujah!), but otherwise, here ya go! It will be a bit disjointed, but I had to leave out some on Saturday and a ton from Sunday. Sorry.

Friday:

And that's what I did today. I needed to get out of the house. I needed to be off of the internet because I was just scanning FB constantly to see if anybody would respond to my post(s) next. I had some errands to run and I wanted to try to buy some new jeans for myself. I have a "home" pair of jeans that have a huge hole in the crutch, so I can't wear them out, and I have 2 pairs of skinny jeans that are ok, but kind of tight, and I don't want them to wear out on me and have nothing to wear. I'd wear my lightweight pants I bought for Israel, but they are made of cheap material and already wearing out in the thigh area, so I need to save them for that trip. So off I went to Kohl's, a store I used to shop at all the time and still have lots of their clothes in my closet. I was sticker shocked at the price of jeans though. And I couldn't try anything in on the store, so I opened  Kohl's charge card (I've had one before and had always paid it off, but the discounts are massive) and bought several pairs to try out at home. I'm pretty nervous and probably should have bought a size bigger just in case. After Kohl's, and finding some good deals on stocking stuffers, I went to Aldi's with the intention of just buying a few groceries for the weekend. Well, I did the normal haul of grocercies instead, plus some Christmas candy shopping. (It's easier to buy the candy when Jared isn't around staring at me and judging me for the kids and I sugar addictions). 

On the way out of Aldi's, I must have dropped the paper towels and one of the chocolate advent calendars because they weren't in my cart. I saw a package of paper towels or toilet paper next to someone's car and thought it was strange, but didn't think it was mine. Well, it probably was mine. And there was this guy who had been locked out of his vehicle, and the locksmith helping him, right there while I was trying to bag my groceries as I put them in the trunk. They might have said something but I was also in my own zone. Anyways, the happy customer that owned that car just got a surprise of an advent calendar and paper towels. Whoops. I'll get more next time. At least our small Aldi's on Southport Road had enough milk, eggs, bread, TP and paper towels. I got what I needed and then some. I had planned to go to other stores but time was running out and traffic was picking up. So, I headed back to Kroger to pick up prescriptions and went home. I also went to the library, too.

The munchkins at home had their 3 hrs of screen time at home. We had had a great week of school and I had done read alouds before I left, so everybody was in good shape. After I got home, I had to whip them back into shape as I cooked dinner. I was going to cook pizza but had enough time for a real meal and saved pizza for another night. We had fish, rice, and a blend of veggies with kale, purple onions, spaghetti squash chunks, and cranberries with a slightly sweet sauce. It was pretty yummy to me! 

that from the outside, they don't quite belong either. But that's something for another day.

Keturah decided it would be better to put her mattress on the floor and her American Girl doll stuff on the top of her bed. And Abishai agreed to help her. Teamwork!

All for the sake of the puppy. Take a look.

I think Keturah wanted a turn sleeping with Socks. Time with Socks is in high demand these days! The kids' attachment to Socks has been becoming stronger and stronger. It's so sweet! My kids have bedframes, but now all three of them have mattresses on the floor. Their choice! Cracks me up!

Saturday:

Ah, that's better. I got to hang out with "my" kind of people for 4 hrs today! The conversation just flows so much easier because we have so much more in common. Sometimes we repeat the same stories and advice and sometimes, I learn a lot more new things! Anyways, here's the scoop. Justin and Abishai were invited to Autumn's birthday party. Autumn just turned 11. Justin is 15. But she thinks the world of Justin. He was at the top of her list of invitations. And Caiden as well, but Caiden and Autumn have known each other since they were babies. It was a good group of families, some friends, some relatives. I'm sure we were under 50 people but it was more than 25. Good thing it was at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenfield, a different county than ours. And boy did it feel different. I walk into church and everyone, I mean everyone is dutifully wearing their mask. I walk into the Boys and Girls Club and we all wear our masks for a minute and scope out the situation and then boom, everyone just takes them off, even the young lady who works at the Boys and Girls club. (It's a quiet place on the weekends so Autumn's party was the only thing going on that day). It says on the door to wear masks and I'm sure they do when the senior citizens come in the morning and the public school kids come in the afternoon. But the amount of people, from various backgrounds, some homeschooled and some not, all took their masks off. We tried to keep our distance, but it was hard to hear as well. Contrast that with Marion County and her mandates. Totally different animal. Different amount of infection rates of course, too. But, it felt good to be part of the "rebellious" group on this issue. Off goes the mask. I'm glad Jared wasn't there.

I'm not sure what all he did today besides paint the roof of the treehouse. I'm guessing he took a nap as usual while kids played video games. Justin and I didn't get home until 6:30 because Autumn invited us over to her house to see her ferrets and ride her 4 wheeler.  You should have seen how cute Autumn and Justin looked on that 4 wheeler! I know Justin's heart and he's just being a good kid and loves being around nerdy people like himself. And THAT is how I want things to be. Nerds or geeks literally geek out and don't seem to get in trouble. I'd rather see my kid a) be a kid a bit longer b) draw pokemon rather than nude anime' (which I assume adult gamers might do) and c) laugh over silly memes than brood over sports performance. Just the mere fact that Justin can hang out with 10-13 yr old's without feeling like he's a babysitter or that they are too young for him tells me we are doing something right.  He's their mentor, the person they can look up to. And since he has older guys in his small group and his youth group leaders, he's also being poured into and has mentors. But I don't see his small group guys asking to hang out with him, save the one nerdy one that moved out of state that he talks with almost every night.

So, I purposefully said yes and didn't fret too much to staying at Autumn's house for 2 extra hrs. I love playing with the ferrets. So busy and feisty! I got to ignore my phone for 5 hrs today and that was bliss. There's nothing much to see on social media anyway. Autumn's party was a great distraction. Yeah!

How appropriate! And I got an email saying they were sold out again but taking orders for the next batch!

Baby girl 10 years ago actually wearing pink with the elephant that was my sister's. I eventually mailed the elephant back to my sister. Barbar was one of her favorite movies. And that's the bunk bed that is now a treehouse! Cutie!

Playing some kind of game where one kid was blindfolded and then had to find the others while they ran from one corner to another. This was at Autumn's birthday party today at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenfield.

Birthday girl Autumn on Caiden's shoulders with Justin nearby.

Paper airplane throwing contest. Autmn's dad was in charge. Actually, both Autumn's dad Brad and Caiden's dad, Jason, talked to me like they knew me, lol. Well, I know a lot about them! Lol.

Birthday cake time! They had the whole club to themselves, so they set up a few tables in the smaller gym to eat at. They bought pizza too.

Presents time! Mostly money or giftcards and candy.

Nerding out with Eli over Pokemon.

Really?! First of all, I didn't realize that the CW had resumed filming and second, I'm sure they are not wearing masks in the show itself. Weird.

Came home to this masterpiece that Keturah destroyed a few minutes later so she could vacuum. So cool!

Jared did start a fire tonight and I wish we could have enjoyed it together. Relationships are hard work. But do you like my new socks? They have foxes on them!

Who wore it better? Benaiah or Abishai? Althought, this is Justin, Benaiah, and my sister Stefanie.

Baby girl in pink again.

That is SO Abishai's face!

Look at how big he is in Benaiah's favorite pjs! Justin didn't wear them because they were too hot for him. Abishi, age 5 3/r years.

Sunday:

(Most of the post was very personal.)

 Tomorrow will be a new day. I will get up and clean the house. I will educate my children. I will stay off social media by leaving my phone in the kitchen. Maybe I'll read some of those books I didn't read today. The ones that aren't related to anything that is making me upset. I may or may not do my Bible study. We'll see.

I will find peace. I will find joy. I will find contentment.

I was looking for picture of Benaiah the pjs that Abishai is now rocking, so I found some great pics! Justin never wore those pjs because they were too hot for him. Lol.

Add caption

I'm not going to share my other passionate posts. I put them on IG stories and FB stories and they will have their time in the limelight and will disappear in 24 hrs. End of story.

While this is a very biased book, and I do cringe at it sometimes, there's plenty of Scriptures in the back of it that backs up my opinion about education. Ok, some of the points he has are redundant.  But like when you read any book, you can still usually get something out of it even if you don't agree with everything. But yes, does God have an opinion? I believe so. Jared doesn't think so. And God's opinion that it DOES matter where your children spend their days and with whom. It is the parents' right and responsibility to educate their children, not the state. And when we give up that right by sending them to a school, we must answer to what they are exposed to and taught.  And I believe with all of my heart, that homeschooled children are different than non homeschooled children. I see it and heart about it all the time from both sides of the aisle.

Handsome boy in his Sunday clothes that actually fit him!

Caption this!

Who knew this would be a constant position of any two of our kids even now? Watching the screen!

Didn't have time for a selfie in the bathroom mirror at church, so here's what I rocked yesterday and today. The shirt is new and I got it at Kohl's for I think $10. I wanted Christmas pjs for everyone, but compromised with just this shirt. It's a large, so it's longer, but I like the little bit of room and not hugging my belly. I also wore a black, too tight, from the '90's plastic headband. Oh yes I did!

I couldn't sit in my black skinny jeans because I'm too fat, so I wore winter leggings. I felt so comfortable! But I was also wearing this long sweater that covered my butt and curves. I don't know where my short black booties went (I think I gave them away), so I went with the brown ones, which actually broke up the monotony of the black.

I saw this posted a couple of times on IG. I know it's been talked about for months. When is enough enough?

Well, it's true!

Sounds about right.

When people call me a hypocrite or that I'm judging them, this is what I think and feel.

I got kind of mad the last few days about Abishai playing on the floor in the walkway from the front door to the kitchen. I told him the whole point of having a play table is to play on it, and not for using it as storage. That way he can set something up and leave it without us picking it up every evening in order to vacuum. Well, he took it to heart and did this. I think Keturah helped him pick up, too. At least someone listens to me sometimes.

 

The End