Year 5, December 7th-10th, 2020: What Will We Get Up To This Week?

 Monday, Monday. Heavy school day, but the kids did well. Abishai is recognizing the word, "the" and guessing on some others and is able to sound out long vowel words. Justin did some square root equations today. And Keturah, well, she is still doing homework because she didn't get started on her IEW writing homework over the weekend, plus she backtalked me today. Sigh. I'm tired. We did laundry, dishes, cooked chicken, school, put up ornaments on the tree, wrapped Christmas gifts for family, tried to keep up on email, did more school, ordered hot chocolate bombs, ordered my essential oils for the month, decided on a plan for tomorrow, and stayed up last night waiting for my phone to backup to my computer. I thought it was just doing another iCloud back up, but nope. I think it did go to my computer. Here, let me check....

30 minutes later....can't find the backup, but iTunes said it IS backed up to the computer (and my C drive looks very full) AND it backs up to the iCloud in the middle of the afternoon every day.  The iCloud doesn't save every single setting, so in case I wanted to restore a full backup, I have it through this morning at 2:30am. I can deal with that. The iCloud does keep track of anything through gaming center, some apps, my notes, to do lists, calendar, contacts, text strings, and the like. I make sure of that. So, I hope to go into the store tomorrow and make the transfer happen. I opened and turned on my new phone briefly last night waiting on the backup, and if I had had both bluetooths on, they phones could have synced together. Eek. I haven't done it that way before, so I'll wait and do that at the store. My questions surround the sim card and phone number and such. I have successfully transferred my information via iCloud a few times. No big deal. That's why I stick with trusty, but expensive, Apple. And the new phone is heavier and twice the size. Which is great for reading and watching (I often find myself zooming in on a photo or post), but not so good because I don't know if it will fit in my pocket. Oh well, time to upgrade!

Otherwise, its was normal, stay at home, cold day. Somehow I've got to finish the semester well for school AND fit in all the Christmas stuff and not get exhausted. This is going to be so hard to do. So, early to bed for me tonight, since last night was super late.  I'm just waiting for iCloud to catch up with a couple of more pics and a video.

NOTHING is safe with this guy around. He can now unlock our bedroom door with a Hot Wheels car! Hot diggity dog! Mom and Dad just need some privacy if you know what I mean! So Jared's going to take the hook and eye latch from the pantry door and put it on the inside of our door. Good grief this little guy is so resourceful! He's going to make great leader, engineer, inventor, or entrepreneur. Crazy little guy!

Well, I wasn't going to take the time to make these this morning, but dang, they were good! I've seen "steel cut oats" in the instant oatmeal section, but it's still just heartier flakes, not actual oat grains. These are oat GRAINS I think just got off from the stem!

Boiling the water and THEN simmer for 30 minutes. Or do half of the work in the evening and half in the morning. Hm,...

Weirdest looking oatmeal I've ever seen. Oh wait, I've only seen heavily processed oat grains.

I made half a batch, which I think is two servings, but that's what I would normally have anyway. I HATE babysitting food cooking in the kitchen, but it was worth it. I did have to watch it carefully so it didn't stick to the bottom and burn.

Cook 'em up!

Oh...my....word! That texture!

This is the BEST oatmeal I've ever had! It had FLAVOR all on it's own! No need for anything else, not even salt. The texture was like corn grits, but with bigger, chewier grains. This wasn't mush. This had TEXTURE. And FLAVOR. Leah said they were expensive, but man, oh man, what a treat! I do have to be careful with the can though because the inside top is sharp. I guess it was really metal instead of a normal foil or plastic layer. I LOVED watching them cook and was reminded how the pioneers had to cook their food for a lot longer than we do, from rice to these types of grains straight from the stalk. No pre-processing on machines. I was super impressed!

 

Wrapping Cousin Auggie's, Auntie Stefanie's, and Mr. John's gifts to send in the mail! Socks wanted to help, too!

 

 Abishai wanted to send this message to Auggie:

Oh goodness me. Today was "hold up, plans are changing" kind of day. I knew it was coming. I could feel the snot starting to block my sinuses near my ears. So, yup, today was a vertigo day. Abishai seemed very concerned for me, so I explained to him that it's something I've had multiple times and it goes away in a couple of days. I finally gave in and took a Draminine after a nap laying on my left side left me so dizzy, I almost threw up. It was awful. Now, I'll just sleep it off. I can still feel my ears hurting and my eyes are sore from having to concentrate all day. I was going to let the kids read our read alouds, but I want to add things to it so I read it. I also spent some time on my phone. But, I did take time to thoroughly shut my eyes, too. I posted on FB how I was kind of wanting a day off to rest. So, I'm glad God let this happen. I was supposed to do errands today, like switch out the phones and such, but I'll have to do that another day. I looked at our schedule and decided that tomorrow, Wednesday, Benaiah can do the oil changes in the van and car, and I'll go do some errands if he finishes early. Or, I'll go on Thursday. Friday, we are going to the Children's Museum. I was trying to fit Jingle Rails in this week, but when I looked at the calendar for next week, the other activities are shorter activities so we have time. So instead, we did another intensive day of school. And boy am I grateful that the kids are all independent. Abishai did his well, leaving his handwriting again to the last minute before screen time. He did it pretty quickly, but it was just F's and it was easy he said.

I pushed Justin to read more and Keturah to type up her paper from 7-8pm. I did my Bible study, snuggled with Abishai, and read to him. He was very, very loving, putting his arm around me, too. It was the sweetest thing. He wanted to listen to music on my phone, so he kept trying to put my earbuds in his ears. They weren't even connected to the phone and he was bobbing to the music in his head. It was adorable. Then he wanted to play one of my phone games and he actually figured it out! Genius! And I told him if he got his cars off of the table, I could put candy out. I'll take a photo of that tomorrow when the clear glass Christmas tree is dry and I can put MM's in it. But this year, each kid has a clear glass fancy plate and every night, I'll put some treats on it and that's their allotment for the day. They can choose to eat it whenever they want to. I thought I had bought more actual candy, but I think I've been eating the kind that I was supposed to leave for Christmas candy. Whoops. It's just the Hershey's mini candy bar mix of regular milk chocolate, dark chocolate, the peanut chocolate one and the crispy chocolate one. I can't eat too many of them or I'll get sick. So there's that. And we opened the hot cocoa oreos package. I'm treating them to these extra special cookies and sweets because I don't want to make cookies and I know it's fun to have them. I miss our MOPS cookie exchanges where we'd get such a variety of great stuff!

Besides that, I set up the library's research page on all the devices. I taped and labeled a box of Christmas gifts for my sister. I plan on getting these Christmas cards done for Michael W. Smith fans tonight. So, I did a few things. Everything else was pretty much caught up, so no worries. Tomorrow I'll feel a tad better and keep going. I'm grateful for a day of rest. I'm grateful we all stay on top of things most of the time. I'm grateful that we went on Sunday and spent $300 to fully stock up. I'm grateful that everyone can fend for themselves when they are hungry and they can mostly clean things up. It's a pat on the back to know that we've raised them somewhat well. Or when Keturah mentioned that a Mexican people group she was asked to research talked about a third gender, basically a male to female cross dresser. So we took a few minutes to talk about that and Justin was able to make the point that God made us male and female, there's only two genders. People might be attracted to something other than what God created, but they can choose to act on that attraction or not. They don't have to. So we were able to articulate that even with Abishai buzzing around and my head spinning. Couch school is what we did today. Bring me your books instead of me standing up looking at them. But we did it. Another day in the books.

The view from the couch this morning. Just like his Grandpa, he's fiddling with the tree to make it just right.

Abishai wanted to show us the big number on the scale today! 40 lbs! Wahoo!

So I weighed the others. Um, Keturah weighs more than I did when we were married. Hm,....sugar intake?

And as typical, Justin weighs exactly 20 lbs more than Keturah. 124lbs is what I should weigh.

Aishai wanted me to tell him which mini figure was going to get knocked down. This are the mini build from the Lego advent calendar. Yes, that's the Razor Crest (or Crust as Abishai calls it. That's Po with his Christmas shirt.

And these are the bad guys.

Abishai did this. It's quite distracting though.

I decided today was the day that I would get photos of all the Christmas decorations, so bear with me and the $25 tree we got from Toys R Us when it was closing. It fits perfectly in this spot and I wish I could leave it year round. But then, we wouldn't have room for my mom's rocking chair. Sigh.The kids decorated it last night and put all the ornaments on the front side and the right side. None on the left or back sides. No wonder you ran out of room! You only used half of the tree!

All the wall hangings are ones that my mom made. This crossstitch is a bit damaged (from my mom's smoking) but it's still a favorite of mine. And then I bought the red placard last year. Cardinals was my mom's favorite bird.

I actually changed the wreaths on time this year! I have a spring/summer one, a fall one, and this guy. All made by our friend Betty at the Wanamaker Flower Shop.

We love gingerbread men! This is in the little bathoom.

Perfect spot.

Old towels, new rug.

Lots of stuff here. From new signage to Jesse trees to the advent calendar from my childhood.

Too many advent calendars!

This was a cute place to put these. They are so dated, but I LOVE these kind of shelves. So cozy! These are some of my winter ornaments. I try to focus on winter or Jesus, not Santa.

Fun little stocking I got last year. My mom made the crosstitch angel in 1984. I was three. I remember we hung them too at the Hooksett house.

This is my snowman collection. What a perfect spot for all of them! I had to rearrange them a bit, but it worked! So pretty! And out of the way (mostly) so they won't break. Lots of items that the kids made. All of these are hand me downs from all over the place. Gary's parents or Gary himself. There's a few things thrown in that Leah gets for us, too.

I think my Mom had that I think she used to pose her dolls in the outfits she made them to sell on etsy. And the rest are hand me downs, and I don't mind one bit.

Some home made items here. And I love the little tree.

All the pretties.

Stockings as normal. Keturah found some of the holes for the pushpins for me.

In the big bathroom to the left of the mirror. One of my favorite wall hangings.

To the right of the mirror.

The second sink leaks and needs fixed so we don't use. I decided to put a little holiday cheer here. Oh, I forgot that I put the wooden nativity on the bookcase in the fireside room.

Nativity from Alaska.

Perfect bowl for my current flexis.

Christmas books.

More Christmas pretties.

Wow! That's crazy! There's just not enough traffic I guess.

If you think we have horrible restrictions, they just put this in place on PEI. The story goes that there's 11 current cases on Charlottetown and they can't seem to trace them. So, they are testing all 20-29 yrs old because that age group is what makes up the 11 current cases. Also, there's no travel between provinces again. So weird.

Cuddle bug wanted to snuggle Mommy while Daddy was at Bible study. And he wanted Socks in our selfie.

Abishai gives the best hugs! He kept putting his arm around my back as we were reading and patting it.

I told him to go under the tree. too cute!

Last decoration pic for tonight. We did the house last year at a Santa event at the Shelby Campus of Indian Creek Christian Church. The coasters are hand me downs, and we've had the train for 6-7 years. Oh and the pretty candle. I think we got that that the nursery volunteers Christmas party white elephant exchange I think. I love the color!

Wednesday was worse than Tuesday. I woke up to a headache and vertigo and then fell back asleep. Keturah and Abishai were awake. Keturah started playing piano while I was sleeping and it was like she was in my dream playing. I tried to yell in my dream from my room for her to stop, but no sound came from my mouth! Finally, I was able to fully wake up and tell her to not play while someone is sleeping. I'm glad she has mastered the elementary sons, but they can be so annoying! I've heard those songs for 30 years! Enough is enough! So all of this made my headache turn into an all day migraine. Nothing has cured it. I've tried both headache medications. Lots of applications of CBD and essential oils. Cold pack, short nap, you name it, I've tried it. I did take another Dramimine, too. Ugh! The cold pack helped it enough so I can try transferring my phones. That's why I'm typing here at 4pm! I'm bored waiting for backups and transfer to happen, lol.

Meanwhile, Keturah cleaned the outside case of the sewing machine for me. And Benaiah is changing the oil in our car and van (for money). I was not able to do much school, so we skipped Abishai and only did our George Washington reading. I'll check their other stuff tomorrow. My eyes hurt from trying to keep up on screen things. If I listen to an audiobook right now, I would fall asleep. It's quiet, but only because boys are doing their screen time We'll see about Keturah's screen time later. Justin has small group and needs the tablet for Zooming them. 

Gross! But yes, his hair is everywhere and will be long after he's gone.

I eat in here, Mommy, so we can talk. Abishai stays by my side like a puppy dog and keeps me company. He snuggled me on the couch, too.

I lay here with you, Mommy, and talk. Aww, my heart, little one. Actually your heart is so big and generous. May we never squelch it.

Abishai "read" these books during read aloud time. At least he was quiet. Look at my book tower, Mom!

Abishai also pulled all of these out again. He definitely knows what Mama needs. I had some of the pumpkin cool whip this time in my coffee. It's real dairy, and I have to let it melt, but it's good! Not as good as that $5 a bottle kind, but good enough!

I took a few more photos of our Christmas decor. Here is the table all set up. Each kid has their own glass dish that I put the daily candy allotment out on. The glass Christmas tree has MM's in it and was my parents. The kids aren't allowed to touch it.

Oh so pretty!

Do you BELIEVE? The bell is from our trip on the Polar Express 10 years ago. And the key helps Santa get in the house.

Wooden nativity scene on the literature bookshelf in the fireside room.

Leftover Gramma and Grampa pumpkins with our card holders I got last year (hand painted and gorgeous!) and a little bit of all kinds of things.

REAL mistletoe! I think the "mistletoe" inside the weaved bell is in one of my parents' Christmas boxes in the garage along with the lighted 5 candle electric one we have sometimes used as our advent wreathe. This will do just fine! Just don't eat it! I don't know if I can keep this from year to year, but I kept the box, so we'll see! The only person who has kissed me under it is Abishai.

After sitting at my desk for over a week, it's finally time! It's already been two hours waiting for the iCloud to backup on the old phone and for me to pop out the SIM card, but we're getting there!

Newer iPhones need different chargers, so here goes! I'm glad I bought it though because I can't use the cord that came with the iPhone with the square block of older iPhones. I can use the charge cords and blocks of older iPhones though. But I'm thinking the wattage is different and such, so I might as well go with the updated version.

Yeah! I feel "normal" again! Well, back to my base level at least. No headache today. But boy, when the cat (Mom) is away the mice (the kids) will play. They did do some work but I had to go over it, and follow up on it, and they didn't study enough. And I'm PMSing and short tempered. GRRRRRR. That was our day. Then they had Bible class and I had some peace to calm down. With some new music that wouldn't play in iTunes on my computer but was magically transferred to my new phone when it automatically synced with iCloud and iTunes like it does every 24 hrs. Go figure. But the old phone was turned off, so it didn't update and didn't need to. I went through the rest of my apps to make sure I had them all and signed in (I hate remembering password!) and then sent the old phone to resetting itself. Now it's all ready for Keturah as soon as we set up an Apple ID for her and a gmail account. I guess she could use the Apple ID's email, but gmail is much better and I can keep track of things on my phone like I do for IG or GroupMe for her. Jared is worried about it all but it's not different than it has been for over year a year with her having full access to everything on tablet, including while I'm not home. I mean it stays in the drawer when not in use, but she can access everything on it. So we've built up some trust. The phone will be in my possession except for a few hrs a day, similar to, but not conncurrent with the tablet. That's all. And not during school hours. 

Meanwhile I found some nice features on my phone, too. Wow, I don't feel that great, like I feel a bit achy. I'm not sure if we should go to the Children's Museum tomorrow or not. I need to look into the number of tix available and if we can go. I didn't make it a big deal to the kids because of how I was feeling and all the minor details......well, this sucks! I just checked the website and there's plenty of tickets available but EVERYTHING that Abishai likes and plays with EVERY time is closed because it's "high touch!" You can't even slide down the Jolly Days slide! Um, I'm seriously considering NOT going at all. My big guys can read all the signs, but they already know all of that! Grrr......Let's try Eiteljorg and what they have for tickets available for tomorrow. Hm,...I was hoping for more interactive stuff for the little guy and I think the small stuff I remembered is just a part of the overall museum. It's a museum about the West and/or Native Americans. Maybe I haven't explored a lot of it and maybe it would be better just to go for a little bit because they don't allow lunches and such. Hm,....we could just go right after lunch I guess. Basically to see Jingle Rails. Only 16 people are allowed in there at a time, and we would be 5 of the 16 so it wouldn't be too bad. Let me talk to Jared about it. I hate changing my plans, but why get the kids psyched to go to the Children's Museum when they can't really do the things they know and love? We can read about all the things in a book at home. Grrr, stupid virus! Stupid, stupid virus! It never fails!

And now Uncle Aaron tested positive with it. I don't know what his symptoms are and I honestly don't care because everybody is going to get it at some point, even those that are vaccinated. And we will still have to wear masks, too. Viruses spread. People get sick. People die. People have chronic illnesses because of it. And yes, I know people in all those positions. It's a part of a broken world. So sure, try to prevent the spread, but why now? Why this one? Why not the million and one other viruses that have gone around especially in the last 20 years? It's all a stab in the dark. I just want to live my life as I see fit. But shutting down everything for months and then a year and then pretty much forever, over the fear of getting sick and dying? That's fear. Fear of the unknown. You can't mitigate all risk or you will not live. There's probably a phobia out there dealing with all of this. I've never been a germaphobe. Only the hype of the media this spring and Jared's germaphobe ness got to me. Not any more. I'm going out and I'm living it up. Wearing my mask and washing my hands, but good grief. I'm not staying home because of fear of the virus. I stay home because I've always stayed home. I have my own health issues, like pain and low energy levels. Otherwise I would be out there doing more. And my work is at home. I don't go out because there's nothing out there to do! You shut it all down or put so much restrictions on something then you take all the fun out of it. It's not worth it for the kids. I'll just stay home then. So stupid! We might not be in an official lockdown, but it certainly feels that way when you quarantine everyone that "may" have come in contact with the virus until they test negative. I'm never going to take the test and I'm certainly not willing to take the vaccine yet. If I'm asymptomatic, so be it. If I have an ear infection or a cold, or the flu, and I'm out there with no symptoms yet feeling just dandy, I've still unwittingly given it to someone. I saw a post today that you don't know if you've saved a life by staying home. Everybody dies. My life staying home or not staying home affects somebody else's. If someone's business goes into bankruptcy because of me, and they decide that life isn't worth living, they might commit suicide. Doesn't that mean their life is on my head, too? See, it's a no win argument. Why all of a sudden do we have to change how we live? It makes no sense to me. Why are all of a sudden the risks are so much higher? Guess what. 100% of the time, people will eventually die. It's a fact. Whether it's Covid or the flu or a heart attack or suicide or food poisoning or a car accident.  God said we would live abundantly. And the extroverts and church people keep telling me (before Covid) that you can't live abundantly and get out there and evangelize if you are sitting behind your screen and not getting out of the comfort of your own home, your fancy salt shaker.

Once again, PMS has ruled the day. And once again, I'm thoroughly peeved at this situation. It doesn't help that I'm watching a tv show called "The Man in the High Castle" which is about what couple have happened if the Nazi's and Japanese had won WWII. So, it's socialism to the max. The loss of freedom. The sick are killed so that the white supremacists can rule. The poor are poorer still. The Jews are in hiding. That's fear. And that's where we are headed. AND we are reading the details of the Constitution, the actual Constitution itself, which is not very long and not very detailed FOR A REASON. So all these things are swirling in my brain. The American Revolution was fought for freedom. This isn't freedom. This is tyranny. Except NONE of these mandates are actual laws. But because people fear each other and what happen if you don't do it, like being banned from shopping somewhere, they are forced into doing it just so they can get groceries. That's close enough to law as you can come. And that is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. NOT what America is about. Not what the Constitution says. None of this is for the common good if it's forced. Or highly encouraged to the point that you are ostracized for not going along with the mob. That's exactly what our founding fathers did NOT want. Wake up America! Wake up! Fools! All of you!

So, yes, family, "we will be careful" but only as careful as we always are with washing hands and staying home when sick. I'm not afraid of getting Covid or spreading it. I'm not afraid of getting the flu or spreading it. We do what we can and God allows it to land where it lands. I can't 100% guarantee anything. I did everything perfectly until I was pregnant with Keturah. And then circumstances compounded and continue to compound despite my best efforts and preventative measures. I didn't do this to myself. No one caused me to be this way. I couldn't have prevented it. I was healthy as healthy can be, having had all my immunizations, working out, eating well, keeping my gestational diabetes under control. My mom didn't burden me with her stressful cancer. She rarely asked for any help. I should have given her more help, but I knew I was helping her by taking care of her grandchildren, she even probably told me that. But these outside factors caused my issues. I could not prevent it. I could not prevent my mom's cancer or my dad's pneumonia. Where were all the preventative measures 9 years ago? I never saw gloves or masks in either of my parents' nursing homes. So, why now? We know exactly the same thing then as we do now. So why all of the sudden are things changing? Do I believe in conspiracies? Yes and no. I believe SATAN, the father of lies and fear, has used this particular virus and the media to his advantage causing chaos and confusion and fear. And I will not succumb to it. And whatever fears and anxieties I have are very personal and usually not valid when you are outside looking in. So I don't ask anyone to change for me (maybe give me more space and here's the tips to help me until I'm better kind of thing) or make me better. Only I know what's going on in my head and that my fears are really irrational. I don't impose my restrictions on other people. I provide my own food in case a restaurant has nothing I can eat. I choose to go to a museum that might not have benches where I can rest. I choose that risk. I don't tell others to stop living because my own health problems or potential to make my health problems worse.

It's a slow and painful cultural death we are living. That's what scares me. Not the virus. Saying someone has the virus is like saying some has the common cold. It's common. It's going to happen. It's just a matter of time. I'm not going to pray for you just because you got a positive test and show no symptoms. It means your body is doing what God told your body to do. I will pray for those on ventilators. I had skin cancer. But cancer is not always a death sentence. Getting Covid is not a death sentence either. Your body handles it or it doesn't. Just like my body didn't handle stress well but other peoples' bodies would have handled those circumstances well. It's our lot in life. I'm just tired of being restricted and hearing the buzz words. That's why I've pulled out of the main culture. I don't want to see those signs, "out of an abundance of caution." Yes, Karen, the coffee is hot when McDonald's put it in the cup. We can't prevent everything from happening. We don't live. What kind of risks do we glorify in our movies and tv shows? What characters do we love? Why are we living vicariously through them? Me included because I hurt everyday. I'm down with earaches and vertigo multiple times a year. I'm still paying off debt because of minor surgeries. I live with pain EVERY SINGLE DAY. But I have to get out there, take the risk that I'm going to hurt more, and just LIVE. 

And living, for me, is NOT going to the Children's Museum because seeing all their favorite exhibits closed will not be fun and having to tell them not to touch will not be fun at all when you have cultivated your kids to BE HANDS ON. And you go to these places so they can play WITH THEIR HANDS and get their wiggles out. Not worth the extra pain for me, and screaming at them, and hearing them whine that it isn't fun and not what they remembered. I'm not going to ruin their memories of our all-time favorite museum like that. And THAT, my friends, is awful. Just awful. I'm devastated and hurt. We'll try somewhere else where the norm is not to touch everything. We'll stay a shorter time for now and go back later with just the older ones or something to read everything. And I can't do all these outdoor things anymore. Hiking was fun to a point. But, my body tenses up in the pain. I just can't. Thanks for ruining my life, Fear. And stupid virus, Covid. Will life ever be the same? Fools. We are all just fools. Because we are uneducated. And been programmed not to think for ourselves. Go read the Constitution and see just how much the government is allowed to govern us. It's not much. It's very limited. And yet we've allowed this to happen. Fools. All of you.

There. I'm done with my PMS ranting for the month.

Exactly!

Sunrise! I upgraded my phone because of the camera so,....I need to learn how to use it! There's a ton of new to me features!

First selfie with this beauty! Getting used the bigger size was actually pretty easy! I feel like everything is zoomed, but at least I can see everything now!

Well, at least one child made himself comfortable during read aloud time. He was pretty quiet until the very end.

The End