Monday
- social calls
- Abishai eager to go to Kelly and Kya's house because he, "likes Kya 1,000x more than Justin does." So we had to have a chat about that sort of jealous that is talked about as sin in the 10 commandments on the drive home. Left Justin with them for he evening. Keturah babysat Abishai.
- Lovely turkey dinner with the e2 gang at one of their homes for e2 Christmas party.
- Bible charades with Gary at the helm, loads of laughs and eye rolls (from myself). I was a bit embarrassed. I'm glad I know everyone already, even the new people. Some are new to each other. Let's just say Gary is ridiculously competitive in every kind of game known to man.
- All employees got themed gifts. Jared got hat, gloves, a new shirt and a back brace. We got home around 9pm.
Tuesday
- Everyone tired today.
- Justin spent the whole day with Wolf Wagar and friends for Wolf's birthday. They went to Top Golf to hit golf balls off tees, went to Wolf's grandparents house, and played Risk.
- Justin's had three extroverted days so he needs a lot of alone time to rest.
- Jared helped transport Justin for me, so Keturah and Abishai and I had a stay at home day.
- We finished the living room clean up so Santa can bring more toys.
- Keturah and I wrapped most of the extended family's gifts and a couple of our family's gifts. We hope to do more tomorrow in between some appointments.
- Both Keturah and Abishai had some not so fun moments that got them sent to their rooms but Mommy relented and let them have their screens.
- The massage therapist called back and I have an appointment in two weeks with one that Jared saw at St. Francis. My upper back is completely whacked out. When I didn't get my full therapies at the chiropractor and now I have to wait extra to see him again, and because I had some weird sleeping positions lately, and because of extra stress, something has really gone crazy in my right shoulder. And I cannot undo it myself. Jared worked on it two nights ago and released a tiny bit. And I'm going to have him work on it again every time we sit down to watch a show. But he's often heavy handed, too. And it's right down my scapula, all the way down my spine and over to my sides. It's knots and full muscles, the whole works. It's going to take many, many sessions to undo this mess. It's not good at all. I was doing ok but then something just screwed it up royally. And then on my left side, I laid on my left arm for 10-15 minutes and when I got up, my left hand was numb and tingling for 15 minutes straight without any signs of letting up. Usually when your hand or foot falls asleep the tingly goes away after 1 minute. Not this time. It really scared me and put me in a panic. Chronic pain makes me weep when it's new or extra prolonged or when I haven't had time to work it out back to baseline. Once I know where the pain is coming from and why, I'm ok. But I just don't know what nerves and knots are doing what so I don't know what to work on first. And how much pressure to do and if I'm going to be bruised afterwards. Jared thinks I should do wet heat while I'm on my stomach. Well, it hurts my neck to lay on my stomach for more than a few minutes. It doesn't matter if I'm propped up on a pillow or I'm all the way down. I can only do it if I'm on a massage table with my head through the hole. I don't have that kind of range of motion. So, I can only do something like that on my back if I'm on my back. Maybe. Otherwise, I'm just going to tense up. Anyway, it will still be two weeks. I'm so glad we aren't traveling for Christmas this year. I'd love to just stay home every single year. It makes me so much happier. Everybody can come visit me. Come home for Christmas. Isn't that the way the song goes? Yup, I'm ready for that to be the reality now.
- 3 more days until Christmas Eve!
Wednesday
- I almost forgot that I needed to fill out a financial aid application for the doctor, but it was a simple one. Phew!
- I ended up postponing the doctor appointment anyway because my back hurt a ton again today. I'll just be ready for next time.
- Abishai wanted the big Christmas train out and remembered we had the small wooden Christmas trains.
- I felt like my mom when I did some sewing repairs while Justin was supporting his friend at the friend's grandfather's funeral wake today. I stayed in the car and Justin went in by himself. He wouldn't let me take a photo but he looked very handsome in well fitted button up shirt and his nice jogging pants.
- I wrapped gifts while kids did their screen time.
- It's hard to keep house decluttered for Christmas when Abishai wants to keep getting toys out.
- Kids are bored.
- I'm getting some side projects done. And I don't feel rushed or stressed.
- We hope to finish wrapping tonight if the kids stop wandering and get themselves to bed.
- I'm wondering when teen siblings stop fighting because I don't remember fighting this hard with my siblings. Then again, the one sister I fought with the most was home when I was gone and was gone when I was gone during our high school years. We haven't spoken in almost 12 years. The fighting is making it difficult to enjoy being home with them. It's also making it difficult to want to give them Christmas gifts because I feel it gives them a sense of entitlement. I never felt entitled. I thought we were always poor growing up. But we actually weren't. I always worked hard to earn my keep and earn privileges at the barn and take care of the things I owned and followed the rules. I just don't understand the way rebellion and disobedience works. I even tried it a few years ago and I couldn't quite do it. So, I just can't understand how someone can lie or cheat or steal or disobey, it's not in my nature to do these things. Sigh.
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Cap'n Happy on a sled!
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See!!! I told him he could do it! Jared drew Scrat, his favorite character in Ice Age! The one who chases after the acorns!!!! So cute!
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Sheep and a cow, too!
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Mrs. Christina needed some photos for the social media pages so I guess Jared dug some really old ones. This is Keturah when we were in Canada! So, she was probably 6 yrs old? So most likely 7 yrs ago? Similar size to Abishai, I know!
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After Abishai dropped off his gifts to the women of e2, he came home with his own loot. A new horse stuffed animal he calls, Stuffy, another McDonald's toy, a car, some squishy things, and Sprite of course.
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I guess these troopers are having a conversation.
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These teens on break got up at 11am after their last youth group of the year.
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And within 30 minutes, they were back in bed with their phones. Why he's in a fetal position, I don't know. Maybe he's cold? These introverts really like their caves, aka, their beds, though. It's never bothered them to have these little spaces. I bet they would survive just fine in an RV, too.
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Ok, ok, yes, I did take some pics during our game of Bible charades. But Mrs. Christina was taking them, too. I'll link to the videos as well. But pause the videos before the teams guess what they are. My kids actually were able to guess because they know the Bible stories pretty well. I have a feeling we might end of playing this next week while Aaron and Shauna are here.
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Bible Charades Part 1
Bible Charades Part 2
Bible Charades Part 3
Bible Charades Part 4
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Quick Science lesson for today!
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Woah, what number is this?! Uh, maybe it's all those skipped meals because I'm too busy? I asked Jared if putting in a new battery last week changed the accuracy on the scale and he said no. We both ate a huge meal last night and I still felt super full that morning and all that day. I can't remember how low I went with Covid, but just in the last couple of weeks, if this is accurate, I've lost 4 lbs. What? Weird. Lots of coffee. Not much time to snack or make a full lunch. Easy on the complex carbs. Not always snacking at night either. And otherwise just going with how I feel. Sometimes I'll wait to eat until late morning to eat something, basically prolonging the overnight fasting time. I don't feel lighter at all. I don't look it either because I carry any extra weight all up front just like my mother did. But hey, I'll take this number. Pre-covid, so basically October 1st, I was sitting at like 165-168lbs. So, 150lbs, without purposefully following any diet and zero exercise makes me super happy.
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I finally got out the Christmas candy. Just the MM's. The kids just didn't deserve to have access to all the sugar. And I didn't need the temptation. You know why? Because I stood there and proceeded to scarf down a ton of these today. So, I had to put the whole jar into the garage fridge to make myself stop. I also heard Keturah reach into the jar several times. This tree is one of a set of two (my sister has the other one) that my parents would fill with MM's and Hershey kisses at Christmas time and the sound of the lid clinking immediately takes me back to my childhood home. I keep it in my bedroom year round because sometimes I've had other seasonal MM's in it. I hesitate to use it though because I don't want it broken. I actually had to both bags of MM's in it because the first one barely filled the bottom.
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Jared shared this tweet with me. Bwahahahaha. Gotta love the Matrix memes.
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Good old Asimov. I really only know his name because my Dad subscribed to his sci fi magazine for years and years but still. From what I understand, he was a genius, creative, writer.
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Jared also sent this tweet to me. They've done stunts like this in the past. This is an in flight pattern. A small plane literally goes up in the air and zig zags to create this pattern. Crazy, eh? How sick to your stomach would you be from doing all those quick turn arounds? Oh my word!
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Mean squirrel! Our squirrel literally sat on the top of the deck railing and stared at Socks and teased him before taking off up the tree. What a meannie! Oh, and this one has literally chattered away AT Socks before, too. Awful thing!
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Well, I kept her off her phone for several hours today. I had to reveal one of her items to her because it's a themed gift that's going to several others as well and it's not really one of her big gifts, but she didn't seem to mind. We actually had a fun time working together today. Mother/daughter bonding time! She wrote most of the tags, too. Yes, she wears the Santa hat all day long every day for the month of December. Yes, she wears pjs every day all day. Yes, she never wears her hair up. She's actually getting better at wrapping, but neither she nor I are "gifted" nor are we patient in this area. Oh, and we did vacuum before we started, but I guarantee you there will still be Socks' dog hair in each and every gift. It's inevitable.
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First load of our gifts are done.
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All gifts for extended family are wrapped except two of them. Wahoo! Now to finish the rest of ours. It won't be to hard to do. We are well organized. And Keturah and I like to pick one kind of wrapping paper per person so all the presents match for that person. She even remembers which one she had last year! But now, Jared needs to get involved and redistribute all the purchases he has made this year. I'm so not used to his help. It makes me nervous and I don't work that well with others unless I'm the boss, so, we'll see! He usually just wraps what I tell him to wrap. He usually doesn't get to pick what is bought. It should be interesting.
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| Bwahahahaha |
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King Herod, the one who wanted all the babies killed that were 2 yrs old and younger. The one that the wise men asked for directions to the King of Kings, aka, Jesus.
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Warrior Angels telling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to avoid King Herod.
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Random snowball fight!
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Check out this new candy dish blend I found at Aldi's a few weeks back1 It's PERFECT for this household! I don't mind Rolos but I love the others. One and done!
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However, within 15 minutes of the bowl being out, I had to put it in the fridge because the kids had zero self discipline and Keturah wanted to rearrange it and Abishai wanted to make snowmen out of them and they were fighting. Ugh.
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Abishai literally told me that I was going to be the one to bring him snacks. Um, no, nice try though, conductor.
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Why kind of position is this, dog? What a goof!
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Yuppers! Well, I'd rather do a project by myself than on a team, but I do work better with a team because I hyper focus on my task. Just assign me my task and leave me alone. I'll have it done for you on time.
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Feeling like my mom. I dropped Justin off to do something and while I waited in the car, I'm fixing some things. She always had an on the go project with her at all times.
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Well, check out that nice handiwork of mine, today! I sewed a nice, neat whip stitch and then went back over it, two stitches at a time. My mom would be proud of my even stitching this time. Sometimes I'm very sloppy and sometimes I'm extra neat. I just wanted to be extra careful because this fabric is very silky and slippery and can tear through quite easily. There's no need to throw things away. Always repair them first. Save the earth! Save the landfill! Minimize trash!
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Thursday
- Took the morning very slow because everyone seemed tired and I was not feeling my best.
- Abishai very bored and into everything. I talked to Jared via text about changing Abishai over to gluten free but he said he just needs more exercise. I don't agree with him. We'll talk more about it later.
- Justin slept until noon because he's still so tired from all of his social excursions.
- Kelly and Kya came over to make cookies. We made Cherry Winks and baked up the rest of the sugar cookies from dough Kelly brought. Pretty low key. We cleaned up as we went.
- Abishai got to use the PS4 for screen time because Justin was busy with us and hanging out with Kya.
- Kya stayed with us for the rest of the evening.
- Jared had Bible study, so he didn't eat with us.
- Justin made tuna for dinner so I could rest since I was on my feet for 3 hours. I'm exhausted.
- Keturah is now grounded from her phone until Christmas Day (maybe longer) because she yelled at me and eye rolled in front of Kya. She also criticized Justin's tuna melt making.
- I'm so exhausted. I'm glad I don't have to stay up. But I also don't have any more time left for free time to rest before Christmas Day. This is it. Tomorrow I might have some rest time in the morning if Jared watches Abishai. But I have to shower and then everyone leaves for church by 1:30pm. We won't get back until 6:30pm. We'll all be hangry. And we'll have Aaron, Shauna, Everly and Nora coming right after us hungry as well. And then it will be bedtime for all. So I only have the morning to do any last minute Christmas thing and resting. If Tom, Kelly, and Kya don't come to service, I'm going to bring Justin and Abishai home perhaps. I don't know. We'll see.
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A large Cap'n Happy showed up on the board today!! I love Cap'n Happy! Unfortunately, the real Cap'n Happy didn't come home so happy. He was a little rushed finishing things up at the office. Jared won't be back in the office officially until the first week of the New Year. I don't think the building is even open next week.
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Keturah! Don't leave your garbage all over the house! God's house is not your bedroom!
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That's a unique way to block your sister from coming out of her bedroom. Socks did burst through it to get to her though. Oh well. It kept him occupied for a few minutes.
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Socks has been playing with his squeaky toys a little bit lately. I've always been insisting that the teens come out of their rooms without their phones to play with little guy, too. So far, we haven't had much success yet.
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Twinkle light doggy!
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I borrowed this book from the library because I thought Keturah might like it because it has real recipes in it plus it's a history book with lots of factoids. But this page caught my eye with it's 7 food groups. It's quite interesting how things have changed and shifted over the years. My question is, when did recipe books come into being? When did women go from just knowing how to make basic food, knowing the "recipe" in their head, to all these intricate recipes that needed cookbooks? I don't use cookbooks for everyday use. I only use them once a year for the cherry winks I made today, or for making pancakes, because I never remember the ratio (I don't make pancakes that often), or for other sweets. But basic vegetables and meets, I always eyeball it. I didn't recognize any o the recipes in this book though. I just thought it was interesting how the foods were broken up in this book.
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Having Kelly there helped the kids stick with making the cookies for longer. Otherwise Abishai would have only put one cherry on and then would have ran off.
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Keturah helped me roll about 1/2 of the cookies. We made about 5 1/2 dozen GF cherry winks. We sent some home with Kelly and Kya of course.
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Even Kya got to put some cherries on.
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Roll out sugar cookies! Even Justin got into it for a little bit!
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Keturah put sprinkles on them before they went in the oven and they melted! They came out perfect it looks like! I can't taste them though because they are made with gluten.
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I melted the butter too much and used too much almond flour and got pretty flat cookies this year. But the cherry winks looks and tastes the same, so I'm not complaining. We got it done. And I got to have company over while I did it. That was a new thing this year. And it felt good and right for this year. Low key and helped make it a peaceful afternoon. Yeah! 2021 Cherry Winks baking is in the books!
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Friday - CHRISTMAS EVE
- PERFECTION!
- 3 Services
- 1st service, Tom, Kelly, and Kya came!!!!! So, Justin got to sit next to Kya! And we got to sit with Gary and Leah as well. We took up two rows right near the front!
- No photos and videos of Benaiah by me, but Gary took a few photos. I totally fangirled when Benaiah had his drum solo though. His hair was flying! And when he was throwing his hands out to the side to hit the cymbals on "Joy to the World, " oh my goodness, it was incredible!
- Dan spoke for a few minutes, but then showed 10-15 minutes of the Christmas episode of "The Chosen," a new TV series about the life of Jesus, that was amazing. Very dramatic, very little spoken word, but the points were made by the actions and expressions. Right down to the point of a crippled shepherd being healed as he ran to the stable. It was referencing a passage in Isaiah that talks about Jesus healing the blind and lame. Abishai was amazed by that.
- Abishai. Wow. He sat still for both 1st and 2nd services. He put his arm around both Jared and I during 1st service and wouldn't let go. He sang the songs when he knew them. He told everyone that the drummer was HIS brother. He kept tapping Kya's shoulder just so she would know he was there. He got to hold a glow stick instead of a candle during 1st service. He wanted to sit in the front row, and had a major meltdown, complete with huge tears because we said no. Grandma had him get a lollipop from an usher to break the spell of his fit. It was a bad meltdown. But we got through it and he was an angel after that.
- Second service, we said good-bye to our friends and we all split up. Jared went to the nursery, Keturah went to do KP worship, Justin helped at KP sign in desk, I'm not sure what Leah did, Gary helped greet at the Christmas trees in the foyer, and Abishai and I hung around until it was time to find a seat for 2nd service.
- Abishai and I ended up on the front row on the floor like he wanted for 2nd service. It was the perfect spot to get photos and videos of Benaiah. I'm not sure how good they turned out because I was shaking. I didn't feel great from the moment I woke up. I think I was just so nervous about everything that was going to happen today, from who was going to be where doing what for services, to ASEN arriving and pulling the surprise, to when our friends were coming, to making sure I had our regular ducks in a row for our regular Christmas the next day. I just kept feeling like I was forgetting something. So my stomach was all tied up in knots and my head was spinning. So forgive me if what I post below doesn't seem right. I tried to share the Facebook link for friends to see and if they didn't catch it, well, it was their loss big time.
- Abishai did amazing 2nd service, too. I was afraid that with Daddy NOT there, Abishai was going to act up on me, but he didn't. He sat very still and kept putting his little arm around me. And he stood up when we sang and only shifted a little bit. He was an angel child! What a Christmas miracle! I was super nervous about him because he's always crazy in the pews. But he turned on his self control and was super focused. So now I know he CAN do it. That gives me a ton of peace and comfort right now. I need to know my kids can behave in public when it's super important. It was very sweet and helped me concentrate on what I was doing. I apologized later to Benaiah that we were right in the center in the front row taking videos and blamed it on Abishai for making that choice.
- After 2nd service, Jared, Justin, and Abishai went home. Keturah had KP worship again. Leah and Gary did their things. I hung out around the trees waiting for ASEN. Gary, I think, was a little confused as to what I was doing, but quickly moved around to do his thing. I finally connected with ASEN as they and Leah came down the hall from the KP area. We stood there while Gary's back was turned as he was in deep conversation with a couple. While we waited, ASEN snuck around him in a wide arc and around other guests to grab the candles for service. Gary never saw them! Finally, Leah decided to interrupt and strong arm him to turn him around to face us. Gary was stunned! He had no idea that ASEN was coming early!!! Yeah! We got him!! Usually he suspects something! Not this time! Maybe his little bit of aloofness lately is going to pay off when we want to surprise him again, lol. He was so excited! I got it all on video, too! It worked out so perfectly!!!
- We all sat down for 3rd service, Gary and I sitting down exactly where Abishai and I sat for 2nd service, this time next to the Strunk kids. ASEN sat next to Mr. and Mrs. Strunk. And I got to watch Benaiah for a 3rd time. This time, no videos and photos. Just worshiping again. One of my favorite songs was when on of the lead males (he's a professional singer and had been in Nashville for a bit), actually led, "O Holy Night" and hit the high notes instead of a woman. It was gorgeous! And then they did an acoustic set at the end of the night with a regular piano, not keyboard, and some fog and the 5 singers for the candlelight part. At second service with Abishai he asked, "Mom, am I old enough to hold the candle?" I said, "Of course!" He is almost 7. Of course he's old enough. He held it for most of the time, but was still a little scared of it. He liked blowing it out.
- During third service, Leah sat a few rows back with a friend, so she brought communion up to Gary and I. Then Gary prayed for us three. Well, he got choked up first. He was so happy all 12 of us were in the same building together for Christmas Eve. And he prayed for Leah's brother Ed and Grandma Cook, and that generation after generation after generation follow Jesus, the one we are celebrating Christmas for and the one we celebrate at Easter, and the one we celebrate every day. I don't blame him. Every time Benaiah is on stage, I think back to our family crisis 6 years ago and praise God for what He has done to bring us to today, reconciled. Because without God, there wouldn't have been reconciliation. We would have been split. Totally split down the middle. We would have had so many difference perspectives on the situation. So much more pain and hurt. But we looked at the situation through God's eyes, and how to love on one another, and forgive one another. And look at where we are now. And where Benaiah is now. It's a miracle. A lot of hard work, too, but without God right there in the darkest of moments, we wouldn't have come back up. But to see our child, up there, behind that drumset, give his all, for Jesus, to the point of hurting himself actually, and singing the lyrics when there was a lull, just makes me the most joy filled mom, Christian, fan girl, wide smiled woman there is. Too much pride probably. Not in our ability to get to these moments. Absolutely not. And not so much pride in his talent and ability on the instrument itself. No, it's more about the joy and pride in who my son is. His character, his integrity, his grit, his ability to learn, his ability to love on his girlfriend the way he does, his financial stability, and how he pulled himself out of a pit, bit by bit, and listened to all the adults around him, rather than his peers. He's a package deal. Even when I whine about the bits he still has to work on, I'm just so proud of him. We all are. And I know Gary and Leah are proud of all of us, and want us near. That's all they want for Christmas. So surprising Gary is one of the best gifts we can ever give him.
- Then, the four of us grown kids, took charge again, and had planned for at least ASEN to come over for a snackish supper, so I opened my mouth and directly invited Gary and Leah to join us, too. Benaiah had gotten mixed signals about ASEN's arrival because Grandma had told him yes, I had confirmed it, Aaron had said no, then we confirmed it again yesterday with Aaron's schedule. I reassured him that his plans with Ava were fine, go and be, and that's exactly what you need to do. The kids need to go to bed anyway. Come to find out, Jared actually didn't know the plan either. He didn't know until I had sent him Aaron's driving plan yesterday. I thought when he and Aaron had talked last week that that's what they had talked about. Whoops. I guess not! And of course the other kids did not know the plan either. So, I took the girls to our house first to surprise our kids. Keturah got to see them at church and was very happy! And then Abishai went ballistic at home. Socks didn't know what to do with himself. Justin was in the bathroom so he said, "Of course, when I decide to go to the bathroom, something fun happens!" Soon after, Aaron and Shauna come walking in. Then the folks. Benaiah went home and showered first. Plus I think Ava arrived at his house, too.
- So, for the first time ever, we had a little after Christmas Eve service get together at OUR house! How about that! Hospitality! Jared did all the prep work while I got to play fan girl momma at church. I was really exhausted by Thursday evening and when I woke up today I just knew I couldn't physically do any standing up and decision making. I just wanted to focus on Benaiah and making the surprise happen. So I delegated food to Jared with a few suggestions and then just let it go. Peace and truce/waving the white flag. I can't handle it anymore, so whatever you can do, go for it. And he did. Thankfully we back to trusting each other and everything went fine. Benaiah and Ava were there for about 20 minutes. ASEN stayed for 2 hrs. The kids went outside in the backyard and played on the trampoline in the dark! It was 50 degrees out! But they had a grand time and it allowed the four of us grown children to have a few moments to set up our minds for the week and talk about a couple of things. It was extremely helpful, especially for me, because I wasn't aware of some conversations that had taken place. And you all know how I like to be in the know.
- Christmas Eve was the most perfect Christmas Eve I've ever known. Jared and I both, separately and together, have prayed all month for today, this weekend, and next week, to go smoothly. Manly for me to have peace, to not be triggered, for me to hold my tongue, etc. I need to have patience. I need to change. I need to bear with others. I need to have love. I'm not asking for others to bend for me. I'm trying to ask for me to be graceful again towards others. Or at least to not be triggered so hard and be angered. There were a few moments that were not so nice. Things like Gary calling Benaiah his son. But I was right there and said firmly, "No, he's my son." and Aaron echoed, "He's your tenant, or because he doesn't pay rent, what is he?" And we were all able to leave it at that. So hopefully those moments were come and go just like that the rest of the week instead of fester and spoil my mood like they have done in the past. That's the goal at least. I'm grateful we have some downtime in between Christmas Eve and our big family Christmas, too. It will help us to rest up. And I'm glad we did all our wrapping beforehand so we could be hospitable last night. That was well done. Praise the Lord!
- We were so exhausted that we were in bed well before 1am.
Christmas Eve 2021 Playlist
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Gotta start Christmas Eve right with a good breakfast of Eggy Toast!
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Jared had started to clean the doors of the fireplace but we had ran out of window cleaner. So he finished the job this morning and go the fireplace ready for a fire this evening or maybe for Christmas Day. However, it was way too warm outside to need a fire at either time! Abishai actually picked up our history textbook to look at while Jared was working. You could caption this one,"Read aloud time during chores!"
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Jared filled the fireplace with cardboard and whoosh! it went up high and fast! It also burned out hot and fast.
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Loads of heat!
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Wait for it...wait for it...and a few minutes later, it collapsed into nothingness.
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After Abishai dropped off goodies to the women at the office, he got this sweet note from one of them.
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He also got this sweet note from his Sunday school leaders.
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Daddy made him a quick domino train track track completely with a bridge!
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That's a unique thing to do with the dominoes!
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Way too warm for Christmas Eve!
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Gotta love having tracking on our phones. They were a lot closer than this first indicated. However, the kids and Grandpa didn't know they were coming sooner than we had told them. Surprise!
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Set list and program for the evening. Note the Drum Instrumental!
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There's my boy! And his section is all lit up! So cool!
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You can see him!
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Tonight's crew lighting up the stage!
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"Mommy, am I old enough?" Yes, sweeties, you are plenty old enough. Go ahead. He was very proud of himself for doing it, too.
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Acoustic end of the service, complete with stage fog again. Very beautiful!
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Shauna's family stopped by Gary and Leah's house first and Jared, Justin, and Absiahi hadn't left church left it.
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And then a couple of of minutes later, they switched!
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So up came Grandma with the J4 gang from the KP doors to find Grandpa in deep conversation with a couple. We didn't know what to do with ourselves!
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So they decided to sneak around people and pick up their candles. Well, Grandpa never once looked up and glanced in their direction.
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Grandma finally had had enough and pulled Grandpa out of conversation and pushed him towards us. Ta da! Big surprise! Aaron's family came EARLY!
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Our kids didn't know either, so after 3rd service, we brought them to our house and surprised them! Keturah saw them first at church and then the boys saw them at the house. The cousins loved it!
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Socks, let Shauna in the house!
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Final contributions to the Christmas drawing! Baby Jesus and....
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...presents under the Christmas tree!!
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Everly isn't that far behind Justin in height. Good grief!
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Jared had everything set up for a little post service meal to share with the whole J12! Sweet treats!
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See, small homes can be just as hospitable as big homes. You just take more turns to get everybody through the line.
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No joke! The best or really the only gluten free "rye" bread I've ever had! First of all, Schar is my ultimate favorite gluten free bread brand of all time. Crackers, too. And it's primarily sold at Meijer. Second, rye bread is the Howell Christmas Eve tradition and is served with muenster cheese, ham, and dijon mustard. I didn't have the right mustard, but CFA honey roasted BBQ sauce substituted quite nicely. Yummy! Only 6 slices in this package but worth whatever price it was. Best bread ever!
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Hungry hippos and then they played outside on the trampoline for at least an hour in the dark with a flashlight while the adults talked. Benaiah and Ava even stopped by. Because I had Jared be in charge of food, and be in charge of clean up, it allowed me to stay at church and enjoy everything with Benaiah and the surprise and I was able to also have the mental energy to have everyone over in the evening as well. Win-win!
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Milk (not egg-nog this time!) and cookies for Santa, carrots for reindeer.
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Santa's getting really close to Indy!
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He'll loop back down to the United States and do us our house next. Yippie! And pre wrapping before Christmas Eve was the smartest move we could have ever done!
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What's left after Santa came and went. I didn't have any mental energy to write out notes this year.
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Humble but priceless. I take these photos at the end of my day on Christmas Eve because the kids are known to scope it out and move things around. So I get my photo just in case. Then off to bed I go.
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Abishai slept in the living room waiting for Santa of course!
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Saturday - CHRISTMAS DAY!!!
- We woke up at 7:30am to a very quiet house. When I walked out of our bedroom, the stockings were still hanging up so I thought the kids had actually slept through the night. But later I found out, that was not true.
- Keturah got up at 2:20, but tried to go back to sleep. At 4am, she woke up Abishai and they opened up their stockings. They made their little Lego sets and watched Captain America: Civil War together on I'm guessing her phone or the tablet. Then they went back to their beds at 6 to try to fool us that they hadn't been awake. And fooled us they did.
- Justin didn't wake up until 9:15, right before Benaiah came over at 9:30.
- We put a duck in the crockpot for lunch/dinner, and then made some hodge podge breakfast/brunch food waiting on everyone to get up or arrive. Abishai wouldn't quit wandering/hovering. I was wandering and nibbling, too. Jared finished his breakfast just as Benaiah walked in the door. Keturah was so anxious that she got Benaiah's stocking for him. But thankfully no rudeness followed. Justin got cranberry bread for breakfast.
- We started about 10am and finished an hour later. No one argued. There was a couple of "try to be a little nicer" moments, but nothing like it has been in the past. Everybody had their self control turned on, even Keturah. It was BEAUTIFUL. If I had any energy left, I could have cried. I was not going to take many photos and videos, but did anyway. I'll make a playlist of videos after they load up but the internet is super slow. Everybody was pretty happy with their gifts. Benaiah brought over some of his gifts as well for the kids. He gave Keturah a turquoise big squishamal pillow and she LOVES it! Oh my goodness, like praise God, again, reconciliation. If only the people on PEI could see how brother and sister interact now. Reconciliation is so possible! Anyway, Justin got Benaiah Nintendo switch lite. And Abishai got some hot wheel cars. We'll get our gifts on Monday. He loved the GoPro, dehydrator, and Legos of course.
- You'll see the rest of the gifts in the photos but basically everyone got Legos. Yes, I got Legos. Jared thought he had bought me two Classic Lego sets, one because I'm a "Classic Lady" and one to say I'm a "Classy Lady" but a) he accidentally wrapped one of the other Star Wars sets in brown paper and mislabeled it and then wrapped it up this week, whoops and b) now he can't find the other classic set, so I really only got one of the sets. HOWEVER, he bought me 40 roses with 1 white rose in the middle! He had ordered them a month ago! Wow! That's amazing! So I can't complain. My other gift was just my fan girl MWS set from the Worship Again album. I didn't wrap up the movies and book I bought myself because I didn't think I needed to. So, I got three gifts.
- Jared thought I was upset when I went to lay down after Benaiah left, but I'm just so exhausted. The whirlwind is over. The excitement and anticipation is over. Everything went perfectly smoothly. But I have nothing left. I'm typing this Christmas Day afternoon, but only because I'm running on my afternoon coffee high. I don't care try to do it in the evening. It's been a steady week of doing the next thing in preparation for yesterday afternoon and this morning. We still have my brother's house to go to and a full day at Gary and Leah's on Monday. So I'm trying to lay low today. But my body is wrecked, ya'll. From the back ache, to the knees, to the nerves running up and down, I'm done. I just need to sit still and have everyone else make dinner and clean up. I did my bit. My sleeping habits have been ok. I just have been more active this week than normal. I don't have the endurance for weeks like this. I wasn't going full tilt, like 8 hrs at the Children's museum, but the effect was cumulative. And all I want now is to sleep. To be still. Not really to be left alone, but yeah, if I'm going to sleep, then I need to be alone. I think I might try that now. Photos and videos are taking ages to upload. But hey, the journaling is done here, praise the Lord.
- The biggest takeaway I want to remember from this Christmas 2021 is that Jared and I prayed alone and together that my anxiety would be kept at bay and that my joy of the season would be restored and that I would have time with Benaiah and that it would go well. And in the last 24 hrs, those prayers were fulfilled in ways beyond what we could have dreamed or imagined or hoped for. God did this. Only God could have done this. Not medications or supplements. Not my will power. Only God. God held my heart, my hormones, my emotions. God was in the words I spoke. God calmed Abishai's spirit and helped him to behave and be sweet. God gave Benaiah the patience and kindness with his siblings. God gave Keturah self control as well. God prompted Tom, Kelly, and Kya to make the effort to join us. God made sure ASEN got to church on time. And each and every little thing as well, God's hands were in it. All of this, is my Christmas miracle, and this is all I wanted this year. The best Christmas EVER.
- Christmas nap ran late, so Christmas supper didn't happen until 7pm! Whoops! That meant that kids had extra screen time. They didn't get any yesterday, so that's totally ok. And tomorrow we'll also be busy. Meanwhile, back to Lego building.
- It's hard to share the WiFi when kids get a new device and want to use it plus the whole neighborhood is home. AND I have large video to load! Eeek! Come on.......need to journal my photos before I get sleepy again! It's a good thing I got a 2 hr nap!
- Hangry for dinner. Back to old self. But managed to get everybody back into routine and off to bed. Tomorrow is a normal Sunday morning. Gotta keep up the routine.
Christmas Day 2021 Playlist
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Abishai insisted that these Nerf guns that he and Daddy bought over a month ago were for Christmas Day. They weren't actual presents, but he wanted me to wrap them. I told them what's the point then? So I didn't wrap them. He wanted to shot them during present unwrapping. We told him now. But he did have a blast playing with them throughout the day. They shoot little Nerf balls that are soft to the touch but really do hurt. And, spoiler alert, he got more of these types of guns from Grandpa and Benaiah on Monday and they actually fit together to make a massive gun!
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Gotta have a special gingerbread gluten bread donut for my Christmas Day breakfast. Thanks, Aldis!
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And the other Howell tradition, cranberry bread. I make mine gluten free! And I didn't have to make any this year because I still had a loaf in the freezer from last year. I took some of this and some cherry winks up to my brother on Sunday and he was so happy!
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Insert glare face. This is NOT Christmas Day weather for this New England girl. This is like Florida weather or something. Gross.
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Hey, Abishai, what's this clue? Need for Speed video game! Sweet!
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Ready to shoot Benaiah with the new Nerf gun as soon as he walks in the door.
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Abishai showing off his new Nerf gun to 'Miah.
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Baby Jesus first. But here's my crew. Nice and quiet.
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Justin was Santa this year and Abishai started us off with opening up some Hot Wheels from Benaiah. Then Keturah opened up a set of misc. gifts from us that included headphones, a Ramon Noodle cookbook, and a gift card because I had forgotten to buy her a third large gift.
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Hm, I wonder what this Nintendo power cord from Benaiah belongs to.
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It's a set of Lego Corvettes Daddy bought for himself!
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One of Abishai's cars from Benaiah.
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Lots of Legos from Mom and Dad. A whole "herd" of dogs. Aka a whole PACK of dogs.
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Hm,...a giftcard for Nintendo....from Benaiah....
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Knockoff Legos for Benaiah
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Aww, a squishamal from Benaiah to Keturah in Keturah's favorite color. This gift almost made me cry, too. Jesus makes the difference in reconciliation y'all. There is 100% reconciliation but it's only made possible through Jesus Christ. Only.
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She absolutely LOVES it!
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(note that Keturah is hugging that squishamal tight) Hm,...what could it be? Something else related to Nintendo?
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It's a Nintendo case! For a Nintendo switch! Benaiah couldn't get his hands on a PS5 for the family so he passed down his Nintendo Switch lite to Justin instead. Justin hasn't put it down much the rest of the weekend either. That was very kind of Benaiah, too.
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Now Benaiah has a toy (Lego). And a practical adult gift, a dehydrator. He's very excited by this. He's the most mature 19 yr old I know asking for very adult items on his wishlist like this, things for his car, things for his someday kitchen, and then Legos, too.
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"Yeah, it's just what I wanted! Mandolarion armor!" He even helped pick it out. And he's been begging for it. It's somewhat cheap, but it will do for how he plays dress up.
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Can you help me, Miah?
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Justin opening his gift from Dad.
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It's a replacement "chicken" walker. Abishai messed with his orginal walker and then Justin had to make it into a "junk" walker. That's why I was asking Justin for his instructions to it, but we couldn't find them. Instead, Jared printed out the instructions from online from Lego's archives. Justin can't wait to try it out.
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More Legos!
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In line skates that grow with you and light up!
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Ooooo, let me guess... is it.....socks?
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Legos! Again! Bad Batch..a spin off of Star Wars Clone Wars
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A body pillow so there can be a wall between us when I don't want any touchies.
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And finally, Benaiah's GoPro 10. I upgraded him to the 10 because it was the same price and included all the accessories if I bought it on the website vs. Amazon. I can't wait to see what he does with it. It's mostly for him to record himself playing drums. He needs to buy a special attachment so he can put it on the drum kit itself. It cost beyond the usual price point and I was going to just take it out of our Howell education fund, but I'll take it from our IRS refund next year if there's enough. Either way, it's still basically a reward for a job well done this year with his finances, job, adulting, etc.
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Jared bought me 40 red roses and 1 white rose as my main Christmas gift. I also gifted myself some of my Michael W. Smith merch. And Jared got me some Legos you'll see below that he says are "Classic for a 'classic' lady." Ok, I see what you did there. He ordered the flowers a month ago, so he earns a ton of brownie points for that.
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Time to play with our new Christmas toys! Lego building comes first of course! Abishai had all his sets built by the end of the day of course!
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Gotta try out those new skates! First a quick back and forth in the house before being shooed outside.
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And she's off, despite the wet roads. And there was no time to fetch a helmet.
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Good bye!
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She wanted to go around the block. She ended up to stopping at Grandma's house to say hi to the girls. She came home after they left for Shauna's relatives' house. I'm glad she was super excited about these!
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Uh, I was supposed to get two boxes of "classics for a classy lady" Legos but Jared mislabeled his brown paper packaged sets. Oh well, maybe I'll get a real Lego themed set for my birthday or next year. OR, if we get a big enough IRS refund, I'm going to buy myself the Lego piano set that cost almost $400. Because I really, really, really, want it and I should have just put it in my list, regardless of what everybody else thought.
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Abishai's 501st set. Yes, it's exactly like Justin's other 2 (3?) 501st sets, but now Abishai has his own. Yeah!
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Justin, you don't have to play this all day. Really. And yet, he did. Because, Mario Kart! Which you can't play on Play Station. Nintendo and Play Station are two different video game companies. And this device only belongs to Justin, not the family's. But I am allowed to turn off the wifi to it when necessary, as usual. My house, my rules.
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Sunday
- Normal for us morning.
- Jared and Abishai went to first hour. Justin was picked up by Grandma and/or Grandpa? Keturah went with me because there was no student programming for middle and high school.
- Pajama jam today because it was the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's.
- Abishai's class was combined with Kindergarten so he had Ava as a leader in 1st hour and Esther as a leader in 2nd hr.
- Very light attendance because people traveling for holidays. Excellent message by Tom Harrigan, my personal favorite. Acoustic worship was great (sat behind Ava!)
- Benaiah worked at Shelby St. and then ran errands. We ate lunch at home.
- ASEN slept in and didn't attend church.
- Spent the afternoon with my brother, Paul-Mikael, his kids, Rosie and Eli, his fiance', Kaylin, and her daughter, Alexis. It was a very pleasant visit spent hanging out with their mastiff/great dane 5 week old puppies, 15 in all. The mom and dad dogs, Skylar and Hank, are gorgeous and well behaved. Kaylin and Alexis are sweet and perfect. Eli, who is 8 months older than Abishai, was shy at first, but then had a blast playing with nerf guns and such with Abishai and Justin. Rosie, was extremely shy and timid and hid from us most of the time we were there. She did show me a drawing that she did though. I'm trying to remember the last time I actually saw the kids and I don't think we've seen them since we moved back. I know that I had made my brother collages of his stuffed animals and t-shirts but I can't remember if I gave them to him when the kids were around or not, or if his ex was around or not even. Woah, I can't remember! I know I've visited him once to bring back home the photo boxes I lent him though. But again, the timeline alludes me. But in all honesty, I've only seen my niece and nephew a total of like 4 times in 11 years. And we only live 30 minutes from my brother's house and 10 minutes from his ex's house! I know! It's so silly! But we had a great first visit and hope to do it again soon now that things seem to have settled down for my brother again and the kids have been reintroduced. My niece and nephew have also had some health issues over the years, which haven't completely gone away, but have been stabilized to the point that they can go to public school and don't have extra equipment and can handle visitors coming into their house, etc. So, that helps us all out as well. My brother and I have always gotten along. We just never planned anything. I always go away around Christmas time. He always had to deal with his ex-wife's non sense. So, today was an exciting day to get things restarted! There were some things that hit me though as I was leaving, that had nothing to do with PM (that's what I call him) or Kaylin themselves, that I have to work through. But, it's part of being in this world with Satan ruling it and ruining it. And the only way to fight that battle is through prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. That's all I can do from here. Prayer. Just like I always do. I just need to triple up on them now. Happy afternoon, that's for sure.
- End of this blog post. Tomorrow starts this week's post with Christmas with the Johnsons and our stay-catation!
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Lots of lovings from the mastiff/great dane puppies! They are the sweetest things! And they are already 5 weeks old!
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On the way home Abishai said, "I can't wait to see MY puppy! I miss MY Socks!"
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15 5-wk-old puppies! We stood there watching each one of them drift off to sleep. They were all playing an then off they went. Most have homes already!
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He'd make a a good pup sitter!
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We CAN wait for our senior pup to live out his whole life, but I also can't wait to see how Abishai reacts to and grows up with a new pup of his own, too. But check out that face! This pups have the cutest faces!
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Justin, too, loved the puppies! Keturah was absolutely in Heaven! But I forgot to take a photo of her! I should have looked back through the photos before we left to make sure I had gotten one, but didn't. She was glowing because of much she loved holding this little girl puppy.
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Best math pun of the day!
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Fortnite dance! Except no one is supposed to be on the PS4 first thing on Sunday morning, Justin! Turn it off!
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Excuse me? Are we in winter or spring mode over here?
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I was too tired yesterday to get good pictures of my 40 roses and 1 white rose, but here they are. I didn't want a photo with a bunch of junk in the background, thus, they are on the floor. They are so tall!
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Christmas roses from Jared, that he ordered a month ago for me. Plus all the Christmas drawings he did. And a mostly cleaned off dining room table. Abishai is not very happy when I move his Legos off the table though.
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The End
