The J6 Journey: Year 5, November 16th-20th, 2020: A New Week

Ok, now that I fixed the weekend blog, I can focus on today. The weekend blog was me processing some personal things and I needed to edit that out. Now it's all about the kids, so go read it!

It was a good Monday. All the schoolwork got done. Abishai's nose is a bit runny, so we put him to bed early. He insisted he need to go outside several times today with the dog, in his pjs and rain boots, no coat, and it was barely 50 degrees. He wore the boots so "I wouldn't get a second cold." Aw, and he did ask if he had the "virus" aka the virus that causes Covid-19. No, kid, you're probably fine and no, I'm not dragging you somewhere to get tested. My throat is scratchy and Justin has some congested and even woke up with a bloody nose so it's the normal winter cold/flu season stuff we typically get. No biggie, just stay home like we already were going to do this week. And there's no more youth group because of a) Covid-19 numbers but b) they typically take the Sunday before and after Thanksgiving off anyway. Justin will meet with his group via Zoom on Wednesday night. I suspect Crave and small groups will return to online programming after Thanksgiving because the school will have gone virtual by then, but who knows. Yup, I slowly went about my day, trying to keep up with Monday emails, finished a DVD program on brain functions and learning, cleaned up the house like I said I would, and now, well, when I get up to spend a few minutes with Jared listening to an audio book, I'll put the laundry in the dryer. The dishwasher had already run.

Then, I need to got on the Kohl's website and look for the pants that I bought but in a bigger size. I just knew they were too small. I don't know what I was thinking .I should have gotten the same pairs in the bigger size, brought them all home to try on, and then taken the wrong pairs back. I HATE that you can't try things on in the store. The hassle of the back and forth and shipping and all that. At least with Kohl's, I don't have to drive too far, so I'll just return to the store. I might order online though first. We'll see. They have a 180 day return policy and everything is the new Kohl's charge card I opened to get the extra 35% off, so it will be a rotating balance for awhile. I've had a Kohl's card before. No problem paying it off. I want to see if Kohl's product lines last longer than Old Navy's. I love the shirt I bought and the socks are cute. And the styles of jeans were fine, just too small. Sigh. Oh wait, I can't buy online until I get my card in the mail. Shoot! Hm,.....maybe I'll have to go to the store after all. We'll see!

That's about it. I'm not sure I have pics, but let's open up my files and see.

Yup. He's always been the happiest little guy! Our Abishai!

I was scrolling through Facebook pics looking for something and saw these. Ah!

Hm, I might have to go find this!

Socks is now Keturah's snuggle buddy during the day and Justin's snuggle buddy during the evening in the garage and eventually in his bed for the rest of the night. Spoiled children and puppy! It's a good thing he's usually a super clean dog and always has been. That was my biggest fear of having a large dog, that he would track in mud everywhere. His paws do get muddy, but if we wipe them off well, they dry in no time and it doesn't sink into his sink. I did have to clean out a huge weed with pointy knobs out of his tail and then discovered how Justin doesn't clean the tufts of hair on his legs under his tail. Hm,....or under his collar. I can tell when he's brushed well and when he's not. I can see "tufts" of hair clinging together looking almost like a scale pattern. But when I brush him smooth, especially under his ears, the hair all goes the same direction uniformly. Kind of like before girls brush their hair and it looks "piecey" and greasy? And then you brush it smooth. Anyway, I gave him a good quick brushing. And no, he never smells bad either.

Oh good grief. That was way too much Facebook scrolling. 10:20pm and just starting the blog. I'm more at peace today, so that's good. School went well. I was able to join a Zoom call about the library's online resources, especially for kids to use when researching instead of having to use Google to find out information on any topic imaginable! I can't wait to start using it more and more! Whenever you do a research paper, and need to have several articles and resources, you usually have to include more than just websites. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying, but an incredible, amazing, hidden gem our Indianapolis Public Library is! I can't believe that more people don't utilize it, even from home! I've been streaming movies and TV shows, downloading audio books, and of course have access to my account and just ordered the rest of the semester's print books. I haven't gotten into eBooks for me or the kids because I don't like us staring at a screen to read. But, it might be a handy tool once we resettle on all our devices after Christmas. Keturah might be getting a used phone from my sister, and I'm still waiting on a better deal on the iPhone 11 so I can upgrade. Justin has the laptop, so as soon as I show him, he can do a lot of research on the library website himself. I'm hoping to get a second tablet, and then I can separate Abishai and Keturah. Keturah can use the older tablet that doesn't have as many parental controls and Abishai can use the new one that will be preloaded with great apps and parental controls and extra protection. That's the plan anyway.

Speaking of that, when I took a shower today, Abishai played on the tablet. But when I was on the Zoom call, Keturah wanted the tablet and I wanted Abishai to wait anyway for the rest of his screen time. So, the Lego and toy catalogs I have saved came in handy today. He spent the rest of the day thumbing through them. Now, we know all about the new Lego sets out there because we keep up with the emails and social media, so nothing new there. And we already made our wishlists. And I told Abishai he could have them, but he couldn't beg for stuff. But after the meeting, he did show me all the things he liked in the catalog. I need to go back to my master list and update it and check how much I've spent and all that. It's only 37 days until Christmas! Ah! I've been so wrapped up in my own head, that I'm so behind! And my inlaws, both Gary and Leah, and the NOLA crew, are not very good at sending ideas our way! Ugh! I hate getting stuff that they don't need or want. I don't even know their preferences, really. I need to get on this ASAP. But I lost track of time today. Sigh. Tomorrow is a new day. And I'm tired. No reading or listening with Jared tonight.

I need to rest up, and make decisions. A plan for money and for what we are going to do besides schoolwork the next few weeks. Yup. Even doing something this weekend or evenings would be good. We'll see what I come up with.

The dog gets himself into some weird positions sometimes. Abishai was cracking up at this!

Time for turkey, 9 days early because I bought a turkey on Friday, and let it thaw in the garage fridge thinking it wouldn't fit in the freezer with the intention of cooking it now. Well, it leaked all over the fridge. So, time to cook it! I only used the foil until it cooked down some and I could fit the lid snugly on the base again. I got many compliments about how moist it was. I always prefer to crockpot my meats, not insta pot or oven baked. They come out moister that way.

Evidence that Abishai has been here. He wanted to take a nap in the hallway while the others were in their rooms doing school work.

Well, then, they must be doing something right on the Island! Only 68 cases for 140,000 Islanders?! For the last 6 months? That's pretty cool! But, there's a lot of rural farmers and fisherman, too, so that helps. And they have their Maritime bubble as well. Good stuff!

Watching a video on the tablet in a new sitting position. Goof!

I made two burgers for lunch, one for me and one for Keturah. I read aloud to the kids while it was cooking, drank some coffee, and then got on a Zoom call at 2pm. It was done and the burner was off, but I completely forgot to eat my lunch! Coffee is good for suppressing the appetite. I did have some cashews in the afternoon because I realized I had skipped a meal and it was already getting closer to supper. Whoops!

Abishai read his 2nd reader to Daddy tonight. He's getting it, slowly but surely. I think he did memorize the story or maybe a couple of the words, but I'll take it. Eyes and fingers on the page!

It's not fall until I've made one of each type of squash, like acorn, butternut, yams, and then zucchini and yellow squash/zucchini (brain isn't working). No salt, no butter, no nothing, just squash. It's just sweet enough on it's own and I can eat it just like this all day long. Ah....

He's getting too big to do this!

Big almost 6 yr old toes!

Blurry because someone can't sit still. Although doing our schoolwork in the hallway kept him contained a bit more.

Anybody remember this lovely couple? I LOVE this show! Oh my word I had such a crush on Sully! HUGE crush, yes, it was the hair. It's always been about the hair. But love medicine and the fact that it was woman in the pioneer days doing it, made it even better. I screenshot this from an Instagram account that loves all period dramas and has these contests to see who the best female actor is or male actor or couple or this and that. Fun instagram account. But yup, this couple would be on the top of my list!

Alert! Alert! Christmas is coming in 37 days and Amazon is going to get backed up! Hurry!

I'd rather be Christmas shopping than blogging. Sigh. I did get my Christmas to do list sorted out for the most part and some financial things in order. At least enough to know what I've already spent on Christmas and what I still have funds for. But I need to do the ordering soon so it will get here in time and not overburden the Amazon drivers and postal workers. I also mapped out the kids' schoolwork and vacation time through the first full of January so we have a rough plan to go with. We still have to get some solid weeks in before Christmas, including working through Thanksgiving next week. We have no where to go and nothing to do so that's fine. I did start on the tidying process and decluttered the fireside room and made plans of where things will go and when. Like I won't move Abishai's books and the coffee table until Christmas Eve. The rocking chair, and a couple of boxes hidden behind it will have to live in the garage will the tree is up. I got rid of most of those little snack boxes that Abishai claims he needs for "bowling" but has never used. He didn't say a word when he saw me do it either. We always get more anyway. I left his newest ones for him. I went through a few piles of school books pulling out and putting away things we aren't using. We are starting up the Mystery of History again and I ordered 40 books from the library for the rest of this semester so, I will have to work through the logistics of having those books around for a bit. Then I'll order next quarter's books in a couple of weeks just in case the library shuts down again. There's still no late fees, so if something does come due and I can't renew it, I'll keep it for an extra week and if still haven't gotten to it, I'll make a note to borrow it again in a couple more weeks or I'll just let it go. We'll see. We have to cover 11 lessons between now and Christmas, none of which are of utmost importance.

I am excited because I plan on hitting up some of the museums and displays on our Access pass, as soon as I get the card in hand maybe next week. We'll see. I'm so confused with what I need and how to use it to buy tickets online for each thing, but, if I have to, I'll call the venue to figure it out. I looked into doing a Santa train ride and it's a bit expensive for us. It would be a great year for Abishai because he would remember it. $75 for the 5 of us to ride for 35 minutes and get cookies and talk to Santa. But the rest of the museums we can get in for $2 a person, so if that's the only expensive thing out there, then we are fine. I've already paid for ice skating I think. If not, I think it's $6 a person, so $30 for all 5 of us. Again, not too bad. And we can drive around one night to see Christmas lights and all that. I just needed to space them all out and make a plan on how to get the tickets. Everything is timed so you have to go at a certain time so that you can socially distance and all that. No problem. I understand. Anyway, that was part of my brain dump today.

Abishai was a big butt munch today, getting into everything and driving everybody crazy, being loud, farting in Keturah's room, purposefully creating havoc. And he won't leave! Just leave the room! I don't care if you are listening to the story or not at this point. Just leave me alone with the other two so I can teach! Yes, I said similar words aloud to him. Bad parent. And then, instead of following through on punishment, I just shoved the tablet in his face. I needed some peace and quiet, ok? Ok. Don't worry, he had already done his schoolwork. But he just wears you out! And now I'm worn out and it's almost 11pm.

Yikes, I still want my relaxing time and Jared kept trying to get me to talk about serious stuff for 45 minutes. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about anything. I was just starting to move into some peace and NOT think about those topics for awhile. Thanks. Sigh. Moving on. Things to do. I made the plan and I intend to stick with that plan and NOT think about these tough things and figure it out right now. If you want me to have peace and joy this season, I need to think about the surface level and mundane things. Not the deep things. That's why I'm taking a break from the stuff that triggers me. I need space in order to regroup and cultivate a new attitude. So, yes, leave me alone, and let me talk about the Constitution and geometry, and cherry winks, and Santa. The hot topics can rest for awhile. And then they will pick up again in the new year when the legislature starts meeting and we have to worry about our homeschool laws. What is interesting is that there's a couple of guys that didn't wear masks at the opening of the legislature that are proposing a bill to stop making it mandatory. They want to override the emergency order by the governor. Last year was a "short session" where they didn't meet for as long because they didn't have to talk about the budget since they make 2 yr budgets on the state level. So, the legislative session was over before Covid hit. Therefore, there was nothing it could do to stop any emergency powers and mandates in 2020. But they've obviously be thinking about how to do it. And since Republicans still have the majority on the state level, it's a possibility that they could over turn what the Governor has said. Now, I don't know about our county and our Mayor, and who reports to whom, but it should prove interesting. Otherwise, I'm ignoring all the bickering about recounts and the electoral college and lawsuits and blah blah blah. What's done it done. They will have to figure it out somehow. No one is right. So, let's ignore all of that, and just focus on home and hearth and kids. That's it. Not even really the grown up relationships. Just home. That's where I'm at.

Not sure on where the kids are at on it. Justin's not happy that there's no in person events like small group. He couldn't get his Zoom to work properly tonight. Oh well. That's what you'll have to do. And I bet Crave will be virtual between now and Christmas, too. And Keturah's small group will meet over Zoom again. It's only a matter of time. So deal with it I guess. My kids survive just fine in their pj's all day, just ask Keturah and Abishai especially. I had to make Abishai change out of his 3 days old pjs. Lol. We haven't left the house all week because of our sniffly noses. In fact, I told Jared to go to the store, and I thought I told him to do it this evening before he came, because his mother's 65th birthday is tomorrow and Gary and the boys failed to plan anything spectacular. It's a milestone. Come on. No drive by parade? No phone calls from friends? Special food? Yes, they are all behind on the planning. Duh! The kids have Bible class in the morning and then Justin will be doing yardwork. Gary took the day off because it was Leah's birthday but he's going to hang the outside lights sometime during the day. Go figure! We're flexible enough so Justin can help I guess. We'll see what else we get up to soon.

9 years ago, on the rare occasion we tried to give Socks a bath. He doesn't need baths. But we were still figuring that out when he was us 1 years old. At our Beech Grove house with my littles.

Cute idea!

Pretty funny! Might be a good one for me or Gary. But then he would give it away in a few years.

When I went to bed, Socks wanted to go in the boys' room and Justin was still awake because of his drippy nose. So we went to get him medicine and came back to find Socks like this. We laughed for 10 minutes as Justin tried to find a way to push his legs around Socks and put his head at other end of the bed and make all the right adjustments. What a goof! It's a good thing Abishai is a heavy sleeper!

My oh my, Jesus Freak album is 25 yrs old! This lyric is from the Jesus Freak song itself from one of the bridges: "People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger"

This is what I walked out to first thing this morning. Yes, it was that kind of day with him.

Just because I love colonial dress. And I still follow accounts that are big fans of Aidan Turner The tricorne hat always does me in. And we are still studying this time period, although this show is set in England, not America.

Late start again, but for a good reason. I'm sorting out Christmas gifts. I am doing some price matching and deciding where to buy things. I might actually have to purchase things in person tomorrow. We'll see. I know the might be some better prices NEXT Friday, but then things will go out of stock and there are already some great sales. But I'm also curating what Shauna, Stefanie, and Gary are getting the kids, oh and Benaiah want the kids' wishlists, too, so I had to send links and emails and all the things. Phew! But, we've narrowed down some stuff. Now, which ones are Santa bringing? Jared went to Kroger today and bought about 8 Hot Wheel cars without knowing that I've already bought special Overwatch Hot Wheels set and and another 5 car set! This kid doesn't need more than that! And Jared hasn't really ever bought the kids their Christmas gifts. I keep telling him he really does treat Abishai differently and favors him, but he won't listen.

But anyway, Keturah and Justin spent most of the day at Gary and Leah's house putting up Christmas lights. They had Bible class this morning, too. Justin was supposed to go first at 9, but I thought the girls were going first at 9:30 and Justin and Abishai were after that. Whoops. Gary, we don't get up that early, remember? Although, Benaiah is so used to hearing Gary's loud radio playing at 5:30am and if he hears a certain jingle, he knows he will be late for work! Benaiah was telling us a story tonight of how he went to be early one night, forgot to set his alarm, and woke up at what he thought was 5:55am! He has to be at work at 6 on Thursdays and Fridays! And so he bounced out of bed, got dressed and was out the door without waking up anybody else. Well, he didn't wake anybody else up because when he looked at the clock in his car, it read 12:55 am! Bwahahahahahaha! He read his alarm clock wrong! So, he took off his work clothes, put his pjs back on, and went back to bed. And yes, he got up at the right time and made it to work on time. Lol! Haven't we all done that, though?

Anyway, Grandma dropped Abishai off a lot sooner than I had anticipated, but that just meant he and I had a Mommy and Son day until Justin came home around 4pm. Abishai and I did school and just messed around. I cleaned up the sunroom and prepared the boxes for the shed tomorrow. It was warmer today, but the wind was howling at 20-40mph! We'll put the boxes in the shed and put away the rest of the lawn furniture by the weekend, probably on Saturday as I plan to go out shopping again tomorrow. That might mean school might not get finished until Saturday because I also have Mom's Night Out tomorrow night. Yup. Probably the last one before we are fully locked down again.

And, as I suspected, we got an email today saying that the kids' programming will fully shut down again on November 29th. That means, we will all come home again and do home church. So my little plan of staying away from church has changed. I mean, the kids are going to expect me to watch with them. I'm not sure how triggered I'll be if I do that. And I suppose I'll go to church this Sunday as Jared suggested because it will be the last time for awhile anyways. Ok, fine, whatever. Jared said our preacher Dan was in their office this week and said a couple of things about the sermon for Sunday so Jared was encouraged by that topic. That's why we had a heated discussion about last week's sermon and this sermon series in general last night. I'm skipping reading time with him tonight because we got back late from Gary and Leah's house.

So, why were we at Gary and Leah's house on a Thursday night? Well, it was Leah's 65th birthday today!!!!! She doesn't like birthdays, but I texted the neighbors and let them know. She went out to lunch with friends after making some yummy cookie treats with the kids. She got to spend a lot of time with the grandkids here and there at her house most of the day. And then we came back for pizza and salad, and I had Jared buy flowers, M&M's, and big balloons that said 65 on them (as you'll see in the pic below). He did a great job! I was a tad worried he wouldn't listen to me, but, he made it happen. No card. Oh, but Benaiah got Grandma a card, but didn't sign it, and a pack of her lemon ginger ale pop. He thanked me for reminding him. She also got a huge bouquet from the Smiths. And Justin made that cookie dessert and we had a cheesecake pie. AND we had a lively happy joyful no arguing table discussion. I don't think she could have had a better birthday! Oh, and she said that she had sugar late in the day yesterday, so she was awake at 2:15am playing on her nook in bed. Gary woke up and noticed the time and said Happy Birthday! She was born at 2:30am or something, too! So, hey, I'm not the only one up at that hour accidentally waking up the hubby! Lol.

Again, at home, I did my Bible study, taught Abishai, cleaned up and put some toys in the give away. Made some notes on a few things I want to quickly go through with the kids like board games, art/science kits, and old plastic cups. Actually, the robot kit I got Justin last year is still in it's box right where we put it after Christmas! See, these kids don't really need more stuff. They need money for college, sure. Sigh. But that's not what Gary wants to do. So, I curate the list and yeah, we sound so much more selfish than the J4 or J2. We just want to make sure we get things we really like! I keep it in the right price ranges. Maybe it takes the fun out of buying gifts. But for me, when I don't really know my nieces and nephews, I'd rather be given a specific link, hit buy, and send. My brother and sister did that for me and they have already received their gifts.

Oh, I did tickle Abishai too much and made him pee his pants today! Whoops! Poor guy! And that's all I got for tonight.

So stinkin' sad! Kidustrial Park has only been open for 3 months! And we had just gone to all rooms being open. And of course now Abishai won't get to see Benaiah's Ava and we won't get our 1 hr break! But yes, stay safe. And in our case, we'll be staying home again. Sigh. Abishai did say he can sit still for a bit. But it won't end well. I'd rather stay home.

Playing Need for Speed with his Hot Wheels cars. He told me how the police surround the speeder and then the speeder has this special "ability" and blasts his way through the police cars sending them everywhere.

Daddy also said that the other night, Abishai was looking on the bottoms of all his cars to find out which ones where Hot Wheels and which ones weren't. Abishai explained how he can tell what the Hot Wheels logo is. Then he cast aside all the non Hot Wheels cars and said that he's "only collecting Hot Wheels." Um, you are 5 years old. And you've listened too much to the rest of us talk about our "collections" of things like Rubix cubes, Lego sets, American Girl dolls, Pokemon, and the like. Ok then, be picky. It's ok. I'm getting rid of any of them, but play with what you want to play with.

Selfies with the only kid who will run up to me to hug and kiss me and say, "I love you, Mom." at the most random times. He's too sweet.

Leah's hamburger cookies! The kids helped her make them, too. Colored frosting for condiments, lettuce, and cheese. Some kind of small chocolate covered Oreo thin or something for the hamburger patty. And vanilla wafers for the buns. How cute!