Year 6, May 10th-13th, 2021: Not What You Expected

 Oh wow, bad Monday, at least on my end of things. I woke up with a bad tension headache and no medication would touch it. Plus heartburn, my favorite. So, it was a "put one foot in front of the other and just survive" kind of day. Kids did ok, and we managed to do our read alouds, screen time, chores, etc. Abishai played his famous "my hand hurts" card and at first didn't want to tackle school, but he eventually did. I kept up with Monday emails and such. I didn't have any major projects to work on today, and I haven't done my Bible study yet, but I want to write this first before my brain gets worse. Benaiah and I had a row (British for argument), but we resolved it within 2 hrs. He's a great kid. And I appreciate his ability to work things out now. It was about being there when he and Ava drive off to her prom and how she wants to keep things low key, so I wasn't invited to be part of it. I can respect that, but there is also loads of feelings around this one. One step at a time. But now I'm exhausted from that. I had my counseling session right after that, so we worked on this particular issue, which was extremely helpful. Sometimes I feel like I don't get any help from counseling, but then things come up and I'm able to work on them right then and there. We have a busy week so I can't dwell on it any longer.

I'm just really tired. I tried taking 6mg of melatonin last night, but it made me sleep so deeply that I got the headache. I'll try 3mg tonight. I only stayed asleep from 1am to 6am. I wasn't as restless as the night before and I did snooze a bit more. I'm not sure what's up with all of that. I didn't even have coffee in the late afternoon. And today, I only had 1/2 caffeine. My stomach has been all tied up in knots and out of sorts. Praying for that appointment with the osteopath on Friday. May this be THE one to help with this next step. Please, God, please? 

Aw, Abishai lied to Daddy about being a good guy and then when he lost, he said, "I hate you!" Daddy was not pleased at all and told him he was going to bed and no more video games tonight. It was only 7:30pm. I don't know if Abishai was more upset about not playing the video game or about hurting Daddy's feelings. He was balling! I had him apologize to Daddy and then he hugged Daddy and nuzzled up under Daddy's chin and stroked his arm. Heart melter. He was upset and told me he wasn't sleepy enough for bed. Daddy relented and they played cars together very nicely for a little while. My poor sensitive kid learned his lesson. We don't say those kinds of things. And now, I really, really, really have to go through his tablet and take off some videos. Yikes! He also fought with Keturah a lot today. She provoked him and he kept hitting her. Not a good day for those two.

Hopefully the rest of the week will go better.

Abishai said Grogu wanted to play video games but he was just going to pretend and not turn on the tablet. Ok then.

Well, this was a rare moment where all three were getting along watching a video.

Happy 34th birthday, Paul-Mikael! He's my brother and my youngest sibling. He lives in Fishers, about 40 minutes from me.

This was in New Orleans! Shauna said they saw 3 dead ones on their way to and from something on their normal route out of their parish! Yikes! Another reason NOT to live in New Orleans!

Abishai did his math test mostly by himself, including writing in most of the numbers! And he got 100%! He loves my smiley face for 100% and is motivated to get it! He also used the red pencil to "correct" his math once I told him it was right.

He said, "Oh yeah, I can't wait to get to the story one!" I guess he likes word problems. Which would make sense because it's about people. And he makes up theses kinds of problems on his own. "Abishai has three pieces of cantaloupe. Then he ate one. How many pieces does he have left? Two!"

"Rab" became "Bisk" today which is the name of an Transformers Autobot or something.

Abishai set this teaching clock to what the clock should say when it's screen time all by himself! Yes, he can read an analog clock.

I enjoy interacting and teaching new homeschoolers, so I was sharing off what books I like for the Charlotte Mason and Classical methods. Here's just one of them.

 When I titled this blog yesterday, I picked the perfect one. What a day! Again! I am so mentally done and overwhelmed and I just told Jared I just need some space to think through all of what just happened in the last 36 hrs.. Oh my word. Benaiah, Abishai, IAHE. Phew. Breathe in, breathe out.

Benaiah was yesterday, and that ended well, and I've processed what I could with my counselor soon after it happened and I'm at peace with it for this week. Today started out normal, actually, I started out with doing two days of Bible study because I was behind. That was fine. Abishai's schoolwork was fine. Lunch. And read alouds. Everything got done. Well, Justin did a lot of reading and not enough of his writing, so I'll have to get on him for that, but now he has been tasked to mow tomorrow. That's one frustrating thing. Keturah is on her phone more because she *thinks* she has free rein when she doesn't and I can't always catch her. And Abishai is just so loud in the morning that no one can think well. 

After read alouds, I took the boys to get eye exams. I knew that there was maybe a slim possibility that Abishai was having trouble reading because even close up he was having a little bit of trouble distinguishing between h and n. I didn't think through that possibility and just assumed he didn't. When he was told we were going to the eye doctor, his first reaction was, "No, I'm afraid I'm going to get glasses." He didn't throw a huge fit, but he was very concerned. So, I told him that we would stop at the dollar store on the way home and he can get an edible treat (vs. a toy that will be in the house forever). That helped him get dressed and out the door. And I let him bring his tablet since it was screen time. The eye doctor's office isn't far away, so we were on time. When the tech took us back to get his eyes measured and photos taken of the inside of his eyes, he didn't hesitate. He listened very well and was extremely obedient. He stood perfectly still and hopped right up on the other chair when it was time. I was like, "Who is this kid? Surely not my extra wiggly Abisahi?" I was super impressed by his attentiveness. He behaved the same way in the exam room, chatting to the tech about his Transformers show. He wasn't shy at all. He concentrated on what he needed to do, like recognize numbers for the color blindness test and which animal was jumping at him for the depth perception test. He didn't hesitate much on distinguishing the blocky pictures of things on the wall that they used at first instead of letters. He was confident without being cocky. Justin muddled through when it was his turn and put up with it all thanks to having his phone in his face the rest of the time.

Then the doctor came in. She checked a couple of things and when he was asking him to tell her if the letters were more or less blurry as she changed the lenses on the machine, she started talking to me that he is a bit far sighted and his left eye is not as good as his left eye. Abishai needs glasses! He has almost the same prescription as me! Wait, what?! My little guy? I have to go through this again? I won't be able to see his perfect little blue eyes anymore. I didn't actually have much of a reaction and held it together just fine, maybe because I was watching out for his reaction, making sure he didn't get too upset. Justin was fine and has 20/20 vision. And both boys' eye health was perfect, so no worries there. But wait a minute, I have to go spend another $300 or whatever on glasses? I have to go through that process of getting him to wear them all the time? Well, I did think quickly at how maybe we can just have him wear them during school time but if it's supposed to help his left eye get stronger, he does need to wear them as much as possible. Crap! And how is this extremely active kid going to keep glasses on his face and not break them all the time? 

Well, we paid for the exams and said we would be back with Daddy in tow to help pick them out. So I delayed the decision for a few days. And the shock for Abishai and I. I texted family and didn't get a whole lot of response. Actually, only Stefanie said anything. The Johnsons wanted to talk about flowers and Gary and Leah's trip to Alaska this week. They skipped right over our new news. But whatever. Then I had to move on and go to the dollar store like I promised and back home in time to start dinner, which was leftovers, again, because Grandma brought over stuff late last night that Benaiah wouldn't eat while they were gone. And she brought her flowers for me to enjoy as well. And then I remembered I had an IAHE Rep call tonight. Crud. No rest for the weary. I have to keep my thinking brain on. I did NOT want to join the Zoom call, but then I remembered that I had started a conversation about support groups and co ops in everyone's area, so I better be on the call if that comes up.

It was a longer call than other months but there was a lot to go over. Several people are stepping down, most of which are the ones that are my connections and go to people in the organization. That sent another shock wave through my system. I hate finally being settled and then people that I've spent time getting to know leaves. Now I, the introvert ADHD person, have to get to know new people. And with all the new leaders and groups in my area, I can't keep up. This is going to suck on my end. But I'll have to put it aside until June. May is just way too busy to fuss right now. But it was so unexpected that I wanted to cry. It's been a crappy two days. When I got off the call, I reminded myself that maybe they were just meant to get me settled and now that I'm 2 years into officially serving the organization, and I do feel mostly settled in my role, I can handle a new challenge of getting to know new people. And then on of the women who are leaving reminded us about our regions, that God placed each of us in each of those specific regions to serve that region in very unique ways. No one is going to serve their region in the exact way someone else does. And that's the point. IAHE gives the ideas and outlines of the job description, but we have all the power and ability to flesh it out in our own unique ways and with our own unique abilities.

That means for me, that it's ok if I mostly focus on these new FB groups, that are mostly support/play groups. It's ok if I haven't been really in contact with any of the official co ops that do weekly classes. I still probably should try again, but if that's not something I'm great at, it's ok. Same with working with the libraries. I could try contacting them again, but I don't have to pursue those avenues that hard. I have plenty of work to do with these other groups popping up everywhere. When I listed out all the FB groups that weren't co ops, I came up with 2 dozen groups! Mostly regions of 3 counties, so a vast amount of land area, have maybe one co op and one play group per county! No wonder I'm going insane trying to keep track! And I already told myself that I will figure this out starting in June when the school year is over. I will come up with a new routine, a new spreadsheet, to keep track of them myself vs. the big master spreadsheet. I'll find my rhythm and routine. But I have to create it when my attention and energy isn't divided with these other things. Same with Justin's transcript. Those are my major summer projects, not physical projects. And weight loss. The big three. Anyway,....

But still, if I slow down, even a little right now, I'm going to start getting emotional. But I don't have time to stay there until maybe the weekend? I am taking Keturah to a tween/teen meet and greet tomorrow in Greenfield 30 minutes away, then I have Bible study. Thursday, Jared, Abishai and I are meeting with Mrs. Alison about Abishai's baptism that we are trying to put together for next Tuesday, Jared's birthday, which is difficult because we don't know Benaiah's schedule and Jared has jury duty, so that plan might be scrapped or it will be a miracle and it will all work out. Then I have the osteopath on Friday and park day, but I haven't printed off the documents for the osteopath yet. Saturday we have our first open house to attend and I don't have a gift yet. I want it to be more than a gift card, but we'll have to see. Sunday is normal full with also Keturah having worship team practice and there's senior night at Crave and an annual meeting for the church, which we may or may not attend because we didn't officially sign off on that agreement. We haven't talked about that agreement at all since it was presented. Jared says he won't sign it without me and I don't want to sign it, so, we are stuck. So, we might just not be part of that meeting this time around. It's a requirement by the law of Indiana to have an annual meeting to approve of the elders and the budget. It's not really a vote because it is already decided by other leaders, but it's really just a sharing of who the elders are and what the budget looks like. Maybe we could go and just not "affirm" it? I don't know. It's not that important to me either way. Then comes next week with maybe Abishai's baptism, Jared's jury duty, normal park day and there's a Mom's Night out and Bible study nights and karate. Jared's birthday on Tuesday, I need a baby shower gift for Justin's leader on Wednesday, the biggest used homeschool book sale is on Thursday. And there's a bridal shower that Saturday. 

And on top of all of this, I'm not sleeping well at all. I tried less melatonin last night and I didn't get a headache, but I still couldn't sleep more than 5 hrs. I need to try to get more gabapentin and see if that helps any of the restless feeling. It's not just my legs, not in the neuropathy way. I wake up sweaty, even with just wearing shorts and using a sheet. I can't fall back asleep at all. I just want to lay there and stretch everything.  And sleep deprivation is a huge problem for me and ADHD. I get headaches, then I use too much coffee until I hit the mental wall, and then I can't sleep because I drink caffeine too late, etc. etc. I did do half caff coffee yesterday and I drank half of a 20 oz bottle of full sugar cherry coke this afternoon, stopping it about 5pm. I like having that extra boost of alertness after 5pm, so I can be coherent for the blog, but I'm going to have to figure something else out. I also like the idea of something warm in a mug while it's still cool out and I don't want to do tea. So maybe decaf coffee would be an option. And my sister reminded me to check on the ADHD medication and it's side affects. So I'll have to remember that for Friday's appointment on top of other things. 

I'm just overwhelmed and I don't want to deal with any of it. It's too much. There's no way we are going to have a big deal to do over the last day of school at this rate, which is next Friday. That's kind of typical though. May is a busy month. And I have extra stuff going on this year. So I'll do what I usually do and go hang out with my TV friends. Maybe I'll make some new plans to get it all worked out. Maybe not. Sometimes being the person who is detailed oriented can be very overwhelming because you see all the little things that need to get done to pull something off and then you realize you don't have enough energy to do it like everyone else can. And it sucks.

So, what a start to the week. I'm going to take Keturah to that meet and greet so I can just sit and drink a coffee at this coffee bar/board game place. Some familiar faces will be there, so that's good and helpful. I don't have to throw myself out there. This is for Keturah to connect without the boys around. 

And praise God for leftovers so I don't have to think about cooking massive dinners. Yippee!

Aw, Daddy snuggles before he leaves for work.

Dog was barking, too.

Get Daddy's head with the tennis ball.

Waiting for Daddy to unlock the van so he can pretend to go to work with Daddy.

I currently have 54 roses in my house right now courtesy Benaiah and Jared. Benaiah bought a dozen roses for each Grandma and I, Jared bought the 18 peachy colored roses because it reminded him of Shauna's favorite color, so on behalf of his brother and him for Leah, and then Jared bought me the dozen of lighter pink roses you see on the table in the back. Good grief!

Yup, kids, go to bed!

It opened!!!!!!

Gorgeous!

1st or 2nd time ever at the eye doctor's office. I think he pretended to see things when he was 1 year's old at one of Keturah's appointments on PEI. He did SO WELL standing and sitting still and listening. He was confident and conversant but not cocky. And, Abishai needs glasses! His prescription will be very similar to mine!

They take photos of inside your eyeballs to check the health of your eyes. The long thin lines are shadows from his eyelashes. Otherwise, he's got perfectly healthy eyes and so does Justin!

I opened up the bathroom closet to put away some bandaids and lo and behold, a silly Nerf bullet must have gotten into the bathroom and rolled under the door. Good grief!

I told them to go do chores or go outside. Keturah choose a bit of basketball practice.

Abishai choose the trampoline with his new gun he got from the dollar store. Justin brushed the dog and then had a headache so he went inside.

Tickle fun before bedtime, WHILE I'm on a Zoom call. It's a good thing I'm always on mute! The dog was barking, too. So we started the day with this and we end the day in the same way. Love it!

Wednesday brought a bit more unexpectedness to the day as well. Justin wanted to go to the tween/teen thing, too, so we all packed up and went. We brought a few of our own games just in case the coffee and board game cafe, Hitherto in Greenfield, didn't have theirs available. They weren't available when we had Mom's Night Out here in the fall. Again, I'm always more willing to take the kids to places I've been to before so I know the lay of the land. The staff were very friendly and didn't seem to mind and the kids all behaved so well! We were a loud group, but not obnoxious or all over the place. No one knocked over a display or touched every game and no drinks were spilled. Score 1 for the homeschool crowd! I gave Abishai some travel medication before we left because of how he threw up the last time we were in Greenfield (last week), and he actually fell asleep for a bit on the way home. We saw a couple of kids we knew and then we met several new families, including a dad! I wish I could have talked to him more but he seemed to understand and was pretty outgoing given that it was very hard to hear in there. He was also soft spoken and was in a wheelchair because of his health. His son has ADHD, so I try to talk about that. Maybe they will come to a park day or something and we can chat more. At least he has made a few connections now and won't feel so alone. Another mom who obviously grew up in another country, but I think has homeschooled for awhile, came up to me and recognized me by my photo and said I was wise. I love being told that, especially after having such a hard start to the week. It means my words have made a difference and it fuels me to keep going. 

So, after having a difficult conversation with Benaiah on Monday, and then the shock of Abishai needing glasses yesterday, and the shock of three people I've become super friendly with at IAHE stepping down, and not sleeping well at all, and having a borderline migraine for three days, we had a fun afternoon. And I spent all my day's worth of calories on a mocha frappicino because I was so hot! I shouldn't have worn the turtleneck, but it's so comfy! And then, when we got home, Benaiah texted to say that he had was sorry, embarrassed and ashamed, but he had gotten his first speeding ticket. He was going 77mph in 55mph zone in the Veloster. First of all, he had permission to drive the Veloster. Second of all, he does very little highway driving so how is he supposed to really know the speeds feel. He was going with the flow of traffic. Second, 55mph feels VERY slow on 465. I easily get to 70 when I'm driving it. And he's almost 19. I think he gets a gold star for making it this far without a ticket. I was just glad he wasn't in an accident. But I felt so bad for him. I remember when I got my first speeding ticket, one day before my 17th birthday. I was driving home from picking up my brother from summer camp all by myself that was 2 hrs away. There was a car race in the area that day, and the cops were out ready for the speeders after the race let out. Well, they got me instead going 80 in a 55 I think. It was over 20mph over the speed limit. Back then, I not only had to pay the almost $100 ticket, but I had to give up my license for 30 days and pay $50 to get it back. I was shaking like a leaf! And I went 45mph for a long time after we left where we pulled over. It was 2 lane each direction high way in northern NH, a very quiet stretch of highway in the mountains. And then, I remember when I got stopped on 465 doing about the same speed Benaiah did. This was before Keturah was born. I also got in trouble for cutting off a truck because I was trying to get all the way over to the right side of the highway over 4 lanes of traffic and on a curve near exits. On our highway, there's a big breakdown lane on the left perfect for when the police catch speeders and I should have gone to the left, but I wasn't use to that. So, I know how I felt, I can't imagine what Benaiah felt. He was on his way to Avon way over on the west side near the airport to pick up his suit for prom tomorrow. Poor guy. But, he was safe, he got his suit, and then he went out shooting guns with Ethan and David and had a grand time. So, it's all over and we can move on. Now he knows how to handle both a traffic accident and a speeding ticket and he passed with flying colors. I can now relax a bit knowing he did well. And he's safe.

After that, I talked with my sister a bit and then laid down on the couch and rested until dinner time. Justin mowed at Grandpa's house and Keturah and Abishai had screen time. Justin got back just in time to eat and then go to small group, and I had Bible study of course. And that's that. Oh, yeah, Jared doesn't understand my stress level at the moment and how the next 10 days are incredibly busy with events that I'm not going to have time to really breathe. And it's already 11:15 and I'm exhausted, but not falling asleep yet. And tomorrow is the big day where Jared, Abishai and I talk to Mrs. Alison about Abishai's baptism. Either everything will be in perfect alignment and it will happen Tuesday, or a new plan will need to be hatched. Jared has jury duty next week, we don't know Benaiah's schedule, we didn't ask Abishai if he wanted other friends to be there, but he was just adamant about it being on Daddy's birthday. So, we'll see. The church doesn't keep the heater on for the baptismal, so they would have to turn it on for us on a Tuesday. At least it doesn't have to be specifically filled for that day like other churches do. We have baptisms nearly every week. And it's placement in the sanctuary was done on purpose so it was very obvious that it's used often and often done during the service on purpose. I remember when plans for the sanctuary were underway and they were discussing it and explaining it. They did just recently take away the table, plate and cup that we've had up there for about 10-15 years though and replaced it with a wooden cross. I don't think I like that they did that. If baptism and communion are the two things we are adamant about doing, I would think that those symbols should be up there. I don't know. I'm not in charge. I shake my head and move on. Whatever. I can't be that picky, and there are bigger fish to fry. Onward to tomorrow's meeting and I have to go shopping for gifts for all these parties! Go me!

One of Keturah's favorite games comes in different versions! Here is the vintage Care Bears version.

Waterproof?!

Harry Potter!

You can borrow any of these games and play them at the cafe'. There wasn't a whole lot for the little guy, but we managed with a couple. I just didn't have time to read and explain rules because I was trying to talk to the adults. But the older kids tried a couple of them.

Care Bears Monopoly?! Sweet!

Keturah lasted about an hour and then she hid in the corner. She did try though!

We took up half of the store. The employees didn't seem to mind though. I thanked them for their patience and told them I hope we spent enough to compensate for the extra noise. The kids were extremely well behaved and even the littlest ones didn't cause any problems. Way to go you unsocialized homeschoolers!

Care Bears dice! My sister likes Care Bears and we grew up with Care Bears, so it was neat to see these products.

A Bob Roos Rubiks Cube! Cool!

Abishai did his best and then I let him have his tablet for a bit since it was an event meant for the older kids.

Oh my stars, I don't think it shows up in the pics but the flowers were glistening like they had sugar crystals on them being reflected by the sun! These guys are huge and gorgeous! I can't wait to transplant some of them after they are done blooming.

Wow!

Look at how thick this stalk is! The patch I had them in in Beech Grove was tiny, so I'm not sure they ever got this tall. I can't wait for them to divide and grow all over! I'll be moving the white ones over to this patch and the other patch to mix them up a bit I think. We'll see.

After complaining about how Jared has hacked away at the rose bush over the last few years, look at it this year! It's much, much thicker! Yes, all of that growth is the rose bush itself, no weeds!

Ok, there's some weed type flowers down here, but they are cute, so I'm leaving them.

Jared wants to fill this in more with his ground covering bushes. Um, no, first of all, they would take over the garden and second, I like seeing the red and green.

These tiny little things are place very randomly here and down below. I'm glad they made it through all the mulch though.

This whole patch came from 2 or 3 bulbs Jared planted. These things grow and grow!

Wow! I feel like I just took out the old stalks and here they grow again! I'm not sure of the placement of this tree that Jared put here. I'm not sure it really needs to be here to be honest. I didn't really approve of it and I don't think it's wise to put a tree like that near the sidewalk. Maybe it should go in the grass patch closer to the house?

This tree is doing wonderfully this year.

Keturah's tree seems to be struggling.

Do you like the placement of the tree in this photo covering up our house number? Lol. Beautiful day!

Thursday, it was our meeting with Mrs. Alison about Abishai's baptism! Woot! Woot! I had to get up earlier than normal and wake little Mr., but he takes less than a minute to be fully awake. We drove separately to church so that Daddy could stay and I could bring Abishai home. They did stop at McDonald's for something for Daddy, but nothing for Abishai since Daddy had made him eggy toast. Abishai was, again, a saint. For all his antics and busyness at home, he was able to control himself pretty well. We talked for a long time and Mrs. Alison had Abishai fill out a sheet with some answers from Scripture. I didn't have the heart to tell her that he would protest or that he barely knows how to write yet, BUT, I also wanted to stretch him, I think, and see how he would do. And you know what? He managed to stay in it until the very end. I was so proud of him! I hadn't coached him at all on how to stay attentive and talk directly to Mrs. Alison, but he seemed to know what he was doing and answered most questions appropriately and with little guidance. Man, Abishai acts so much older than he is. And although there were times he wasn't paying attention, Mrs. Alison knows we are right there and will follow up. No problem. Easy peasy. No questions asked.  Mrs. Alison suggested to take a video of Abishai saying that he believes and wants to be baptized and all that so that when he grows up and questions whether or not he really believed and if he was really sincere, he can see that he was. What a great idea!

After our talk, we walked back to the baptistry area so Abishai would know what it looked like. They've redone the dressing rooms back there and so it was neat to see what had changed. So very organized and ready to go. Each person who gets baptized gets a t-shirt they can wear in the water or afterwards and it's black and says, "transformed," like one of the Creek's mottos, "Transforming lives, one at a time." Abishai will get one, too. He got to touch the water and he was excited that it was warm! I was surprised, but I guess it would take more energy to heat it up every week than to just keep it at a consistent temperature. Mrs. Alison suggested bringing a stool for him to stand on, too, since the water is deep. And then we got to peek at the stage where Miah sits on the drums and the big strings of lights we have now that Miah helped to design. The curtains were closed though because there was a funeral today. Yes, we do have real curtains and they do really close. Not often, but they do.

Then we went back to the office and Alison went down to KP to work. We saw two of the guys working on a new display talking about the kids' summer camps. Cool! We stayed a bit longer at the office talking to Mrs. Ellen, who had a drawer full of goodies, some just for Abishai including new Hot Wheels! Mrs. Ellen! I think because her boys are so much older, and are about to become high school seniors next year, that she's having fun spoiling Abishai when he comes in. And he's such a friendly dude, it's hard not spoil him. Then I and Ellen go to talking (remember, we used to be in MOPS together so I've known her boys since they were little), so Daddy took Abishai out to the main room to play. Abishai didn't want to go home at first of course, but Daddy is editing a book right now and it's very tedious and time consuming. So home we went. I decided that Abishai had done enough writing for the day that he was at least going to get out of doing handwriting practice. Well, because he was also having to spell out words, I just let him off the hook entirely. I was trying to put myself together and work around what Justin needed to do, so, no paper work for Abishai today. That's fine. He did enough. 

Justin mowed the lawn and watched some of his IEW DVD. I told him he needs to finish the last 3 hrs before Monday and then BOTH papers are technically do on Friday. I really needed him to hustle so I would have time to edit those papers, SO, if he doesn't stay on top of it, he will have to finish them up the next week after we close our 180 days. Oh well, dude, stop being distracted by your phone! It took him 3 hrs to mow today. What?! Where was your hustle, dude? And so, we ended up not having time to do read aloud because it was fast approaching 3pm. Instead, we did some of our read aloud this evening while Jared was at Bible study. That actually worked out ok. The kids had been outside enough to be a bit tired. And I was awake enough to still read. But then, I was done. I didn't want to deal with any people anymore. No more kids with attitudes and the ability to lie with a straight face. When Abishai and I came home from the church this morning, Justin told me that he found Keturah on the tablet. I didn't get a chance to look until this evening and sure enough, she had been on Disney Plus for 15 minutes and researching something else on Google for another 45 minutes. Yup, you are grounded, Missy. Especially after you tell me you don't know how that got there on the tracker. Oh man, so busted. At least she hasn't attempted to take the tracker off yet, which is rather very simple to do. Yikes, girl! I wish she wasn't that way. I have one opportunity to raise a daughter and she and I just clash so much sometimes. And I don't understand her flippant non caring attitude. I'm so glad she has small group leaders and now Renae to be an influence to her because I'm about done. I've said what I can say. I've demonstrated what I can demonstrate. It's someone else's turn.

Meanwhile, right on cue, around 5pm, Ava texted me some photos from their pre prom photo shoot. Oh my goodness, they are to die for! Her dress is gorgeous and intricate! And his suit his smashing! Oh my stars! And she's letting me post the photos here and on social media. I've already shared it with the family and the Bible study ladies. Oh how I wish my parents were here for these things! I wanted to text them today and show them Abishai and his baptism paper and Benaiah in his suit. It's hard not having them around for these things. But, the photos made me super happy and satisfied. Praise the Lord. I'm praying them home tonight because I assume it's almost over. I'm sure they were safe and smart. I know they probably had great chaperones at the prom as well. I never have to worry about that. But wow oh wow. Just look!

And how I've stayed awake today, is a miracle, because I really blew my bedtime out of the water last night and got like 2 hrs of sleep. I'm praying I can hustle and get to my appointment tomorrow and say what I want to say and then make it to park day and back in one piece. I didn't go out shopping today as planned which made for a more relaxing afternoon and dinner time, which is what I really needed to do. I'll stop at the store on my way home tomorrow to pick up some gift cards and such. And I bought one gift online. I wanted to peruse the stores but I just don't have time or energy. But the gifts still come from the heart and that's what matters.

Now, if we could just find a time where everybody is available for Abishai's baptism! Between Benaiah working most of every day, 6 days a week and Gary gone on the other days to Hawaii, Alaska, and Florida, all in the same month, all for ministry, it's hard to do this! Originally it was supposed to be Tuesday, May 18th, Jared's birthday, but with jury duty and Beaniah's schedule, I started to think about doing it on Sunday. But oh wait a minute, Gary is gone every single weekend. So, who gets to miss out? Because it's nearly impossible for this to work. I talked to Abishai that Sunday would be a possibility if things don't work out for Tuesday and now he really wants to do it on Sunday and he wants to make sure Esther, his small group leader in the kindergarten class, is there.  She's got school, buddy! But at least he's flexible and we will make it work any which way and soon. I'm not pushing this out just because certain people aren't available. They can't help it now. But it's frustrating to me the pull of the worldly schedules on interrupting family life. I'll never be happy about it. But God made video cameras for a reason. So whoever is not there in person, will get to see it anyway. So exciting!

I had picked him up out of his bed and carried him to the doorway. When I put him down, he melted to the floor and laid like this for a minute. It only took a few minutes for him to wake up and be 110% as always. Poor little (big) sleepy guy.

Some cars came with us from Daddy's office to our meeting, of course. But I had to confiscate them so he would listen to Mrs. Alison.

Handwriting practice for today! Courtesy of a worksheet Mrs. Alison had him fill out as we talked through it.

This is why she's the children's director. She took the sheet that normally maybe a 2nd or 3rd grader would fill out and put down some of the words for Abishai so he just had to fill in the blanks. And then she patiently spelled the words out for him. He did such a great job! I'm sure this will be fun to try to read when he's older!

I just liked the green coming through the peachy roses. So many details in God's creation, how can one NOT believe in a Creator God. Incredible!

Speaking of incredible, check out these two! Oh my! So stunning! They clean up so well! I'm so proud of them for going and picking out Benaiah suit and everything. I don't know if Ava's mom went with them, but I don't think she did. They are both so grown up and mature. And much more handsome and pretty than Jared and I. That dress! Ah!

I think Benaiah is going to look back and say, "Oh, that haircut! That phase of swooping it out of my face all the time!" and then laugh.

Alisha had planted some of the irises from the Beech Grove house at the first house she owned in Acton, that I think Levi, her oldest son, bought from her. But look at how gorgeous these are! The cooler days must be the trick for these guys. These are the ones with the bit of white in them. Wow!

Sorry, I couldn't help it. I took this from Amy's, Ava's mom's, Facebook page. Show some teeth, son! He's got his Dad's smirk, that's for sure! And those yellow roses and yellow tie. Oh my! You two make me speechless! And I'm so happy Benaiah gets to go to prom one more time. I want to call it his "senior prom" but he was adamant that it was HER senior prom and it was all about HER and what SHE wanted. And rightly so. I hope that she has finished well and her graduation ceremony is perfect and awesome. I'm so proud of them!

Meanwhile, someone posted this on our homeschool FB group. This is the location of the airshows we used to attend and maybe, just maybe, some of the same planes will be there. Eek! We need to go and do this! I'm putting this on my calendar now!

Proof that Missy was lying. I didn't get home until 10:30. And Justin didn't take the tablet to use while he was mowing until after that. And he was reading his school book or whatever before that. So, there's only ONE person who did this and she's denying it was her. Busted! Grounded! Again! And she doesn't seem to mind that much! Well, we do because then you are lurking around all bored like. Go entertain yourself. Play a board game by yourself or build a puzzle. She did put up some notes about some goals though. I think they were goals. I don't honestly remember. Man, some days I can see so much maturity in Keturah and some days, she's still lying to me like this with a straight face. Drives me wonky! This is why we still have this app on the tablet, although the company isn't updating it anymore. Sigh. I never expect her to lie to me, for the 1,000th time, again. She and the rest of us are works in progress. And someday, maybe she will make the commitment to place her faith in Jesus. She knows all about it. But I think the stimulus will be from someone or something outside of our family like her small group or CIY. We can only keep planting seeds and praying.

The End