Year 6, April 5th-8th, 2021: Does This Need a Title? Another Week of School

 Monday! Again! And it was a crazy one! Abishai (because he was awake) and I had to drop Jared off for his steroid injection at 8:30 am but I couldn't go in, so we didn't stay. Abishai is so chatty asking about lots of things all the time while we drive, it's hilarious! We went to McDonald's for a big breakfast for him, that ended up taking the whole day for him to eat, lol. Then it was time to pick Daddy up again. He went to Community East this time, which was a mere 15 minutes away. It was the same outpatient surgery center we went to for both of his broken arm procedures. It's on the same street our condo was on, but several miles down the road, so I was familiar enough with the roads. After we came home, Jared went to work and said he didn't feel groggy. Ok dokey, off you go. Abishai quickly did school, and then lunch, and then read alouds. The other two kiddos did NOT do their assignments over the weekend so I had to play the mean mom and teacher and had them work on things after dinner as well as all afternoon. Whoops.

After read alouds, I helped out a fellow mom with some resources for dyscalculia (when someone has trouble with math like someone who has dyslexia). And I finished checking my email. Then Jared agreed to drive us downtown to see the big NCAA bracket on the building of the J.W. Marriott. It was a lot of fun! We went during rush hour, but it could have been way worse. I was less stressed because he led the charge. It was just the boys and us, because Keturah had seen it on their way downtown during the serve week. We had a blast! It was quick park in the mall parking off of Washingtin St, walk two blocks past the government buildings, and voila! Gorgeous day! Perfect sunlight! Eek! I wanted to get a photo of the NCAA bracket for March Madness filled out in honor of my dad. I wore my UNC-Chapel Hill Tarheels shirt. The sidewalks were busier. The restaurants were open. There was a preacher on one corner of an intersection. It was good to see it! Although we won't watch the championship tonight, it would have meant something to my Dad so I did it in honor of him. I think Abishai loved going down town and wore himself out. Justin just wanted to go home and start working on other things, namely a paper. It was so gorgeous outside that it made the walk go faster. Ah, this is our city. Pretty decent in my opinion and easy to navigate.

Then it was home for supper of leftovers (again) and then Abishai and Jared went outside for a bit. Then some video games and then bedtime. Abishai was exhausted. He had been and out of the house playing in the backyard, too. We learned that you can't do that in Alaska as my friend says there's bear tracks in the snow in the back yard. Eek! 

Massive bed head today! He doesn't like though.

When I asked him how he learned to cut with the knife between the tines, he said he just watched other people cut their food. I think Jared showed him how to do it once. It's not how I cut food so I was befuddled. Great job, buddy!

Yes, I know, another photo from overseas, but good night it's gorgeous! And the romance this post talks about was one very intense interesting one based on what happened to the characters before their relationship began. I actually started Poldark on season 5 by accident when this relationship started, so I didn't find out their backgrounds until I went backwards. I finished about 2/3 of that season before realizing my mistake and started Poldark from the beginning and then everything makes sense!

One of Justin's Easter gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Straight from New Orleans!

So cool! I know we've hosted the Final Four before, but we've never hosted the whole entire tournament before. It was a massive effort to keep the teams separate and safe and to the several venues they used around town. Of course they only allowed a few spectators in the actual games and all the games were televised. But I'm sure this was a huge boost to our downtown sector.

Awwwwwww. I'll never get tired of taking photos like this!

In honor of my Dad, who loves his UNC-Chapel Hill Tarheels (I don't think they made the tournament this year) and loved watching March Madness every year.

They updated the bracket after every set of games. How on earth they climbed up there to do that, I don't know.

Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington) vs. Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Two of our friends went there! Molly Matthews (homeschooling friend) and Greg Jackson from Jared's small group!

Time to play in an open space in the warm sunshine!

Around and around he goes!

We studied this in our history lessons! Cool! No matter where you go, stop and read these signs. People and organizations put effort in putting them up. You can always learn more!

So cool! I love the Arts Garden!

Don't let the little guy see that sign!

A 3 wheel vehicle, again! We have one that lives in Franklin Township I think.

Finally, the pro of Daylight Savings Time is more playtime outside after dinner, especially in the summer when it's slightly cooler. And Daddy can get up there and jump, too!

Gorgeous sunset!

Abishai's made friends with Lloyd, our neighbor to the north, and Lloyd gave him a couple of trucks today! So cool! We need to write out a thank you note for him.

Another day of keeping the fires under everyone's rears, including mine. I haven't been sleeping well for many reasons, including this horrible seasonal allergy thing. And we've opened the windows again tonight at least for a little while, to cool the house down to keep costs down. It was nearly 80 degrees today! I forgot Justin had to mow, so he started that tonight and will finish in the morning tomorrow before rain comes in the afternoon. Keturah overwatered both the new big cypress tree out front and the bamboo in the back, and I'm just hoping that the flood near the bamboo soaked in quickly. Both kids have critiques to finish still, although they did get up a little earlier today. I kicked them off electronics early, too, because of it. They need to understand the consequences of being lazy all weekend. Ok, we were busy, but they did have some time. Keturah sat at my computer for over an hour and typed up maybe 5 sentences because she refused to outline. Well, she now has to outline her critique first thing tomorrow morning before getting on my computer. And kids, you can use my computer anytime before 3pm. After that, it's mine. So prioritize. And I'm talking about my new one since they can't seem to get my old one to stay working right, which I think is ridiculous. Oh, I know! I'll set it up on Benaiah's old computer desk and just leave it plugged in like I used to. Then they can just but it on sleep but not turn it all the way off. Boom! No more excusses kiddos!

Oh, and Keturah was using the internet to answer the questions on her history worksheet/test. It's an open book test, but they have to use the BOOK which has an index and they know how to use an index. Sigh. Maybe Abishai will be  hustler when he's their age. I hope so!

Abishai was outside a good portion of the day and I can tell his face got a lot of sun. Before supper Keturah ran the sprinkler under the trampoline and he got all wet again, so I guess we can count that as a half bath.But I wasn't expecting it, so I told her to play mom and keep an eye on him. She didn't. He came around to the front door for whatever reason shivering and without a towel. I was trying to hurry up and cook dinner. I literally have zero time for preparing big meals every day and exercising and having the right foods to choose and this is why I'm fat. I really think it is. So, I didn't have time for the kids' antics either. You make the mess, you pick it up. I made pork, roasted veggies and fried veggies. But veggies take prep time. I hate prepping veggies and both kids were engrossed on their few minutes of electronics I let them do today.

I'm just tired. Really tired. And I need to listen to several videos and Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington and I can't do those with kids buzzing around and actually pay attention. That's the ADHD thing kicking in and it's annoying I don't want to miss anything but starting and stopping a video or audiobook is very disruptive to my brain. Once I'm in, I want to stay in. I didn't call for mulch, again, but I did finish the IAHE newsletter that is 2 days over due. And I kept up with email. There's just so much information out there that I'm interested in and it's hard to keep up. I had to finish listening to a seminar on high school transcripts and college entry before the link expired. I think I'm involved in too many things that require daily logging, checking in, or watching. From the very expensive Noom weight loos app, to Bible study, to Biblical Citizenship, to Doctors Under Fire, to general news, I need more time! I DO listen and exercise for the 5 minutes that I do on the bike. Or while I'm folding laundry. I didn't do it during supper prep, but could have at least listened to my Bible. Whoops. So, I spent some time laying down in my bed while Abishai and Daddy finished playing video games and Keturah was using my computer. I want to finish early and catch up on sleep. Another full day of school tomorrow, then I see the chiropractor, and then Bible study. We aren't starting our new book until next week. BUT, I bought some books for the other women that I need to tie up with a cute ribbon. Eek! Too much to do!

 I watched the last few minutes of the championship game last night between Baylor University and Gonzaga University. It was obvious that Baylor University was going to win, but it was interesting to watch since I haven't watched in a really long time. Honestly, I was looking to see how closely the young men looked in maturity compared to Benaiah, since some of these young men are his age or only a couple of years older. It was hard to tell.

Baylor won! Both teams were #1 and #2 seed when starting out this March Madness championship run. That hasn't happened in a really long time, like 30 years. It was cool to see the hugs and the tears.

This is what I found in the hallway before I went to bed. Jared explained later the next day that he had done that and left it for Justin to see just how much isn't getting brushed off the dog. I need to add brushing the dog to my list, but I can easily get that stuff out. Sigh.

The man faces and Aidan Turner as a young Leonardo Da Vinci. The makeup artists do a great job of aging him as the show goes one, finishing with really long hair and bread. I'm pretty sure this cut is Aidan's own hair. Then they put a wig on him later in the show.

We finished "reading" this book yesterday, it's a fun way to work on pronunciation. I had the kids repeat the phrases after me.

This little series of readers is really cute. I love Biscuit!

You have to read all the words first before putting them in sentences to make the story. There's a few sounds we haven't gone over, but it's not too bad. I teach the special sounds as we go when that happens.

Here's the inside of that other book. Fun stuff!

I guess I won't be replacing our Jell-O mold then. One of the eggs wasn't fully closed and half of the liquid spilled out. Whoops. I'll just try to tape it shut next time.

An acquaintance on Facebook sent me this photo with Baylor logo on it. Sweet!

Abishai strapped the strolelr to his bike and tried to take Grogu for a ride.

When that didn't work, we rigged it up so Grogu and Abishai could run around.

Someone need a saying about books. I always share this one.

This looked like a cool listing of the all the sounds of North America birds that I save and will be using to identify the numerous species who are around our nieghborhood.

Fresh bread to bake I ordered in our MisFits box.

Low carb supper. Prok chop with salt and pepper and seasoning salt. Salt and pepper in both veggie mixtures. I sauteed the greens and roasted the others.

Wednesday we woke up to no water! Again! So Jared went to the grocery store to get some water and called our friendly all around handyman or does he just do plumbing, I don't know. But he knows his stuff. About 20 minutes later, Mr. Rick May shows up and diagnoses the problem in just a few minutes. The switch is broken and there's a hole in the "bladder" and there's water where air should be in the water pressure tank. Oi! So he drained the water and put air back into the unit. It may last a few days or it may be ok for 6 months. Since we have the cash now, and the water pressure tank is old, we've decided to have it replaced as soon as possible. So, we are now on Mr. May's work schedule for about 4 weeks from now. Sigh. $400 for the tank plus labor. We have to move the work table (we know we would have to eventually) and Mr. May will replace the faucet and such in the big bathroom tub at the same time, so I have to half empty the boys' closet. I'm glad it's a few weeks out, and I'm glad it's going to be done. Thankfully, Mr. May got the water flowing again in less than an hour. Yippee! I didn't get my shower, but at least we could flush toilets again! So, that was fun!

Actually, it was most fun for the extra extrovert who was carefully allowed in the back of the working truck, and climbed in and out of it like 20 times in rapid succession! And then he chatting Mr. May up with all kinds of stories and show and tell of what we have in the garage. This kid can't get enough people time! I stayed with him until he understood not to touch anything and he voluntarily said, "Yes, I have my boots on so I won't get hurt, too." So I left to go back inside to drink my morning tea and try to find some breakfast. I didn't finish my last bite of breakfast until 11am. It was that kind of morning. After Mr. May left, Abishai and I did school on the step from the house into the garage because why not? He went pretty quickly through his work because he wanted to play and demonstrate how he can now ride a scooter. It was hard to tell him to come inside for lunch and read alouds. We did have a bit of rain this afternoon, so that helped.

Meanwhile, Justin had to finish mowing after Rick left. So, his schooling got a bit interrupted and he was grumpy about it. But he got it all done and is now working on some of his papers even this evening. He developed a headache around dinner time and decided not to go to his small group at church. There were several women that were going to be missing tonight at Bible study, and we haven't started our new study yet, so we decided to just skip this week. Yeah! That meant I could potentially be productive and listen to "Up From Slavery" but did I? Nope. I spent an hour looking at "Dodo" videos on Facebook about animals needing rescued. Oh my heart, I love those! They are only 3 minutes long videos but tell fantastic heart warming stories. I often skip through them a bit to get to the end to see the animal freed from the barbed wire or that they are now all healthy and in their forever home. But, I did rest on the couch for that hour and it brought me joy and peace. I call that a win. The kids aren't done with their critiques from the last book we read, so I still have time to "read" ahead. No big deal.

And now I've just spent too much time watching the little videos and reading articles that I save in my email inbox during the day to review whenever I have some real downtime. I'm not finished because there's some longer videos to view, but I'll get there.

After dinner of leftovers (again, because we don't waste food here!), I suggested that Abishai ask Daddy to play Uno instead of video games. Well, I decided to jump in to the game, too! Daddy was rolling his eyes and sighing heavily. Jared doesn't like board or card games. So, to rope him into doing it is a struggle. But when little man has Daddy wrapped around his little finger, Daddy hesitantly says yes. And who one? Abishai! And then me! And we played ruthlessly! Abishai knows the tricks of the trade with Uno and how you can get people to pick up more cards and then change the color to what you need. He's so smart! I purposefully did NOT take a photo of it because Jared doesn't think every fun moment should be photographed. And I wanted to be all present in this very special moment, lol. 

So, besides a quick trip to the chiropractor for me, we had an all day at home day! And tomorrow is the same! Woot! Woot! I was looking ahead to next week because of scheduling the water pressure tank repair and it looks like I don't have any big appointments next week either. Yeah! I need to plug in some dates to see when we can do a mini trip to some historical places between here and Dayton, OH, but other than that, things are "slow." Oh, and I did order mulch today all by myself and it will be delivered tomorrow! We'll mulch over the weekend! Exciting! I'm so proud of my flower beds! Seriously, 4 years of tending to live plants like I've never done before. I keep learning and thankfully, haven't made any major mistakes. I'm finally to the stage of only minor maintenance instead of major stuff. I may or may not mulch again next year, but I knew I would have to this year because last year's mulching barely covered what I wanted it, too. Plus, it degrades over time so it becomes thinner. Exciting!

When you wait a couple of days to do laundry and all the toe socks are in the wash! I have to turn them right side out and it just takes longer than other socks to get all the toes right side out and then you have to be careful to match them up because one is for the right foot and one is for the left foot.

Abishai in heaven! Well, actually, he noticed the tool chest way back near the passenger seat in the working truck and compared it to the tool chests in race car garages. I asked him if he wanted to be a working truck guy and he said no, he wants to be a race car driver. Or at least a fancy car driver. He was very careful not to touch anything as he got in and out 20 times and always wore his boots to protect his feet. He was thinking ahead! So cute, thought, to see him have an extra person to talk to and tell stories and play show and tell. Mr. Rick May was very kind to answer him back, too, and obviously to let him in the truck.

Then Abishai thought it was cold (although he had been out all morning and it was already pretty warm). So this was his going out outfit.

Then he came in and said he needed sunglasses. What a goof!

We did school on the step in the garage leading into the house. It worked out fine and we were done quickly!

I tried out the coffee pods again to see if they would explode at me. And guess what? I've used the coffee maker enough that the temperature doesn't get as hot I guess and both times I used the pods today, they didn't explode! Yippie!

So many monster trucks!

Peeps on a stick. That's all it was this Instagrammer said.

I think you were supposed to wait to plant the Easter lilies until all the blooms had come and gone, but oh well, what's done is done.

Here it is with the other greenery in the flower beds. Three of those green bushes don't have flowers. The two irises that Jared got me three years ago are back there near the yellow bush and are now multiplying rapidly as they should.

Dandelion season has arrived! I wonder if I could harvest my own dandelion greens? We don't put a lot of chemicals down, so who knows. But it's spring!

And spring means loads of pollen on my car. No wonder my throat and glands hurt and are swollen!

Yuck!

I posted this to our IAHE Discussion page because it's so true. Not everyone can or needs to do these things to successfully homeschool. The flexibility of homeschooling allows even the parents to express who they are. And if they aren't crafty, then so be it!

I screen shotted this particular video because the last baby duck kept falling behind and it reminded me of Justin. Justin, when he was younger, would always be the one in the back, distracted by the world, and then had to scramble to catch back up. And now we know it's because he has ADHD, which makes total sense. But that little ducky was having such a hard time keeping up. Poor thing. The video was actually pretty cool. This mama (and dada) duck has her babies in a school's completely enclosed courtyard. Since the babies can't fly yet, there's no way they can go anywhere to get to water. So, the teachers and admin of the school, help the ducks get through the school buidling hallways safely, in order to get to a creek just beyond the school building. It's so adorable and admirable that they care that much to do that! I LOVE it! But all I could think of when we got to this part in the video is just how going on a field trip with homeschoolers, that usually have large families, seems to go. Mama duck walks for a bit, and then hesitates to let baby ducks catch up. Baby ducks try to stay close to Mama duck. So cute!

Oh what a day! I got a shower, but then Abishai, who said he was going to play Need for Speed, played Battlefront 2 for 1 1/2 hrs before I realized it was a campaign that never ends. That's ok, we ate an early lunch and then did his schoolwork before the other kids were done with their schoolwork and lunch. We did a little bit of read alouds, too. I got a phone call that my glasses were in, so I immediately made an appointment to pick them up this afternoon! Yippee! Let's hope this solves most of my headache problems! Everything does seem a bit closer and clearer, but not completely. The blue light filter kind of makes everything pop a little bit or separates out the color waves so it's a little bit like looking at a 3D movie without the 3D glasses. I haven't noticed much of the change in the "pre bi focal" part of it, so we'll see how that goes. I already a slight headache before then, so today isn't a good day to say it works yet. Plus, it always takes time for the eyes to adjust to a new prescription. I'll check back in next week about them. 

And I got a phone call that the mulch was ready to be delivered! Yeah, again! And then I got a surprise gift from my sister, too, and she got her Winnie the Pooh Lego! It was a great day all around! It did pour rain for a bit, too, while I was out. I stopped at the Dollar General store to pick up milk (which was still almost $3 even there! vs. $2 at Aldi), and got the kids and Jared all a little something to celebrate my new glasses and mulch and a good week of school work. Jared even said he liked my glasses and patted me on the head, which is a far cry from his usual indifferent meh face. Yeah! 

Just Michael W. Smith talking about his book that he wrote about his dad and how he was on a baseball field remembering how he and his dad would play catch every single day. Remember, he wanted to be a professional baseball player before "music took over." Crazy!

Also crazy that guy is old enough and big enough and strong enough to carry Daddy's backpack around! We can remember when he was so little that it dragged on the ground and he couldn't move. He was an imp from the get go today. He was trying to stop Daddy from leaving.

It reminds us of a turtle shell, so he's our little turtle when he puts the backpack on.

You're supposed to wake Justin up, not yell at him to go back to sleep!

Weird things happened to the eggs as they dried in the fridge. I was afraid to eat this one yet because I'm sure the dye is all over the egg itself and I didn't want to stain my mouth.

So, Justin's CIY MOVE event has changed locations!

Bye, bye Lemonjello's and hello Tim Horton's! I told him he better bring us back some! Yummy!

I'm so stoked that we split the cost of this so my sister Stefanie could get it as soon as it was released. It's GORGEOUS set with ALL the main characters. She was the biggest Winnie the Pooh fan in our house, but we all loved it! I told her to FaceTime us during one of her probably many sessions it will take for her to build it. She could also time herself. And, if she starts now, she could finish it up on our mom's death date anniversary. How sweet!

And then, a few minutes later, I discovered this package on the front doorstep. It felt light and it was from someone I didn't know. Weird packaging, so it was probably eBay but I was racking my brain as to what it was. I've only been buying heavy things lately. Well, it was a gift from Stefanie, just because! Strawberry Shortcake was one of MY favorite characters growing up. So much fun! And the game has all it's pieces, too. It was very, very nicely wrapped with tissue paper and bubble wrap. You don't see that at all from other eBay sellers. This woman took great care of such a vintage item. Sweet!

Mulch day! Now, will the rain hold off so we can put on the flower beds this weekend? And I realized, just today, why I like the red mulch. It's because the contrast between the red mulch and the green plants reminds me of PEI's green potato fields and the red dirt roads. Duh! Plus, we know from Christmas decor, red and green are opposite on the color wheel and coordinate well. Yippee!

My new glasses! A bit bigger on the lenses so you can hoepfully see my eyes better. I have such a round face now because of the extra weight and bloating, blech. These are rose gold and more decorate on the side.

I tweeted them and said, "What's wrong with a little mud?" It's like we are cocooning our kids or something. Good grief!

Jared got special Doritos as his mini gift from the Dollar General.

Abishai got some "croc's" that fit his feet a bit better than the brown ones he stole that are my size. And Peeps whose bottoms are covered with chocolate! Great for smores!

Justin got some different flavors of Kickstart Mountain Dew and Keturah got some pens with furry things on the side and tops (but she already had taken them to her room).

Besides some very high in sugar coffee drink and candy for later, I bought some facial scrub/masks things so I wouldn't buy the one that's being advertised on Instagram that's like $30, and some of these different kind of hair ties, that look like phone cords from the 90's. Keturah says her friends say these are hard to take out. We'll see. My hair is always slipping in a ponytail, even with the Lilla Rose clips. It's just that fine and slippery.

I sent the kids outside while dinner was cooking. They argued, but at least they were out. Justin tried making baskets with the little basketball and far away and Abishai, well, he got many baskets with the big basketball up close! I didn't know he could do that now! Woot! Woot! I caught it on video as well!

Look at the little guy go!

It might have cost a few dollars at Wal-Mart or whatever, but this was my mom's watering can that I used to water the plants we had in the house. We only had two, but they were cuttings from my Grandma's plant as well. You can even see the teeth marks from my beagles on the spout, lol. Still works well and is the perfect amount of water.

The End