The J6 Journey: Year 6, July 16th-18th, 2021: Catching Up? Maybe.

Friday it was supposed to rain hard all day, so instead of going to the park with a splash pad near our old condo, we ended up going to Hitherto Coffee and Board Games in Greenfield again. It was the usual suspects, Brenda, Molly, us, Angie, and then Kimberly got to come because she was able to take the day off. I think we had about 10 kids. That was enough. We got there about 10:30 and all the tables were taken. It was after the morning rush, thankfully, and some kind people were able to give us some tables. One guy said he had already been there for 4 hrs and really needed an excuse to get up and get moving with his day. Phew! We tried to keep the kids quieter than in times past because there were still quite a few other people working and having conversations. The employees were quiet busy taking orders all morning, too. It was good to see the place so busy. We all did our part ordering coffees and sweets here and there. I got a sweet for Abishai, although Justin finished it, and I got a peach white tea because it was way too early for coffee for me and I've ordered way too many fancy coffees in the last two weeks. And we actually got out of there without buying a game this time, woot! Woot! The kids did a really good job at keeping quieter, too, thanks to Justin being seated next to the two loudest kids, lol. I was thoroughly impressed. No one had to come over and sush them at all. At one point, I did have to stop Abishai from running around the games, but he actually had to use the bathroom, lol. Even Abishai did a good job of behaving, really.

At first I didn't want to go because I had things to do at home, but I'm glad I did. I decided then, to not go back out for Mom's Night Out, which was also in Greenfield. Instead, I will go to the other Mom's Night Out tomorrow night. This allows me to stay home and try to get these blog posts caught up on. After we left the coffee shop, we went a couple of parking lots over to the Greenfield Aldi's to pick up a few things. There was a specific bed pillow I wanted to get Keturah, one of those you use to sit up with and study and it was the same color as her bedding. And you know with Aldi's things, if you don't go the day or two after it's advertised, than most likely it won't be there. So, it was just perfect timing. Justin stayed in the car, and Abishai went in with me. He immediately saw the box of pillows and pointed them out. They were all the way across the store. I told him that we were going to go up and down the aisles as usual because I had other things to buy. But at least he remembered that that's the real reason we were there and he was thinking about his sister. We did find a few other things but that Aldi's is laid out way different than any other Aldi's I've ever seen, so I got really confused. But thankfully, yes, they had the pillow and in the right color. We made it out of there with a little over $100 in groceries. Keturah will have to wait until Monday though because she got into huge trouble about something that it too gross to reveal on a blog post but involved lying multiple times and something that is a no go zone for me. I told Jared it's a molehill I'm willing to die on. There are lots of things I can give grace on, but this is NOT one of them. She had quite a few punishments to carry out today like folding t-shirts, washing the bathroom floor, and now she has to behave herself (no sassiness) until Monday and then she can get her new pillow. Yup, you don't cross Mama when she's got PMS and it's one of the no go zones and you lie to me about it. Nope. You crossed the lines. You have to pay up.

We finally got home around 2pm. After settling down and getting some coffee, it was time for screen time. I started watching the Rep call meeting from Tuesday night and wanted to write a post in response, so I finished watching it while I was at my computer. Then I worked on a few things there. Oh wow, then it was 5pm and I almost forgot that Abishai had karate! Leftovers again, but I think we ate enough to start something new tomorrow. Tomorrow is a home day, but it will be a good day to fully catch up on Monday and Tuesday's blog from whatever I don't catch up with tonight and putter around the house if need be and save up enough energy for another social event. And then, on Monday, I'm digging back into the school books and preparing for school. That's right. We need to do that, we need to Keturah's birthday with her friends, and any other playdates before school starts. Pools close in two weeks. I've got to cram that stuff in. So, tomorrow we wrap up everything else and plan the next two weeks full of the fun stuff. That's the goal at least.

Little guy playing with the big guys at our "park" day. It was rainy today so we opted to play at Hitherto Coffee and Board game shop again. The kids did very well and kept calmer than normal. I'm very proud of them. The way Abishai pointed and smiled in this photo reminds of how Gary sometimes does that. Lol.

Our kid crew today. About 10 of them. Justin thankfully sat between the two loudest ones and was able to keep sushing them. They played so well together and stayed in their seats for most of the two hours they were their. Again, I'm so proud of them. They let us adults have actual conversations. No discipline was needed.

Leah mentioned that cherries were on sale at Kroger for $2.99 so she bought a couple of extra bags. Usually they are $3.99 or higher. Well, I just scored them for $1.99 at Aldis. Aldis wins, every single time. This is why I never really price check. Even when there's no sale, Aldis is the same price or cheaper. And there's always way more food sensitive products there to choose from. I hardly ever find gluten free and dairy free products at Kroger. Today at Aldi's they even had coconut milk ice cream on sale. They now regularly stock almondmilk coffee creamer. And they always have fresh gluten free pizza, as well as the frozen. And their gluten free breads are still better than a lot of other gluten free brands. I still have trouble find the frozen kinds at Kroger. Anyway, Aldis or bust!

Sit up, lay down, sit up, lay down. Couch, to laptop, back to couch, back to laptop. Ugh. Once a month. But it's Saturday. So at least the kids were taken care of. And trying to use a heating pad because it's that once a month thing but it's the middle of summer and you're already having hot flashes because you're 40 sucks. Ok? Ok.

But, I did some typing done. I put the rest of the information in for the IAHE master group list, whether or not everybody wants to be on the website. Everybody was contacted at least and I have everyone's names. I listened to some medical podcasts. And I tried not to groan too much. Justin fixed some downspouts for Jared. Jared cleaned the pool and almost drained it by accident. So Justin had to add another barrier to keep it upright. Then Keturah put the hose back in it to refill it. Abishai and Jared played in it for a bit. Everybody had a little bit of lunch. Jared taught Keturah how to make bacon. I made Keturah clean the bacon pans later. Jared and Abishai played video games twice. Everybody had screen time. Jared made pizza for dinner. I opted for just salad and fruit because I had a late lunch. Now I'm hungry again. I decided not to drive 30 minutes into the dark rural streets of McCordsville to a Mom's Night Out Bonfire to meet strangers because I was feeling crappy. I laid down on my bed instead and watched a 20 minute video on how a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader becomes one. And it's not my first time I've watched a video like that either. Don't ask me why I find them fascinating. I guess because it gets me to totally switch my brain off from everything else. Now the house is quiet, Jared's at Jim's house. And I need to eat some of my birthday brownies before it's too late and I get heartburn and have issues tonight. Yup. That was pretty much our day. A tiny bit of progress. Hopefully, I'll finish up the Monday/Tuesday blog tomorrow as well as this one, and start fresh on Monday with the books and getting ready for the school year. That's the plan at least. I just hope I'm physically up to the task by then. We'll see.

Absolutely! The art of asking the right questions is called SCIENCE and PHILOSOPHY. Good grief!

Daddy's Grunt Worker.

Keeping the cute swimmer occupied while Daddy cleans the pool.

Look! I did it!

Sunday was fairly normal. My back still hurt like crazy, so I didn't dress up for church, sorry, Lord. I should have put on some of Jared's special back gel but all I wanted to do was rub my back the entire time. Unfortunately, some friends of ours sat behind us, so I couldn't do that. I did get to witness Jared telling them how impressed he was about a couple of things about the Michael W. Smith concert we attended this week. He was smiling and said the drumline song was fantastic! It made me smile for sure! We also talked to a piano friend of ours that said that the gremlins were at it again and they had an awful time tech wise all over the church for over an hour his morning and the drummer called in sick. Benaiah couldn't step in because he was video switcher. Grandma said it sounded fine. But I was like, nope, that first song NEEDED the drums for sure. I look forward to a certain part of the drumbeat even. And yes, someone was playing a real dulcimer and it sounded lovely but the whole set up sounded a bit hollow. I don't think they dared trying to play the drum sound track underneath everything through to the audience. A techie's nightmare this morning. Definitely an attack from Satan because oh my word, Dan spoke plainly and directly about ABORTION this morning. No ifs, ands or buts. You heard it straight from his mouth, life begins at conception and all life is precious, from birth to death. He hinted at those with disabilities to those that are elderly (so euthanasia is out of the question/assisted suicide). He shared a few scientific facts about life stages of a baby from conception to week 8 like when organs form and hair, skin, and nails, and when a heartbeat is detected. He didn't show any graphic pictures at all. He said awesome things like Jesus would be sitting at the front door of an abortion clinic telling the parents that he loves both of them and the baby in the womb and he would be sitting at the backdoor of an abortion clinic waiting to hug both parents after they've had an abortion. Dan addressed the mom (and dad) who doesn't think that they can carry a child to full term and take care of it and asked the congregation if they would draw alongside a mom if she needed help and every single person stood up, Jared being one of the first ones. Then we sat down again. Then he asked who would adopt a baby within a few days notice in such a situation, a dozen people stood up (we will be talking about how to support foster and adoptive parents better next week). And then he spoke to the parents who have gone through abortion about how we all will draw alongside them in their healing process and not judge them. There was a lot of great feedback on Facebook, too, about how we all needed to hear that again loud and clear from the pulpit. We can't be wishy washy. The elders and staff need to be absolutely clear about this topic. We are pro-life. God is pro-life. From conception to death. All lives matter. No matter the disability. Dan got teary eyed and choked up several eyes. I heard sniffles in the room. It was powerful. It was needed. A line in the sand.

And then we had pizza for lunch at Gary and Leah's and everything went fine over there. Gary had picked it up on his way home from preaching, so we ate salad and fruit while the pizza itself cooked. Fine conversation. We all discovered that Benaiah is babysitting Almond, Ava's little hamster girl. Awwww, he's not crazy excited about. But Leah did confess she went over and watched it for a little while. Yeah, Leah said ok to having a hamster cage in her house. Go figure. And she watched the creature for a few minutes. Yeah, I know. Crazy. Right? Maybe Miss Almond will soften Leah's heart about rodents by the end of the week. Who knows!

Then it was home for the usual screen time, rest time, quick bite to eat and chores, and then the kids had hang at church and pool party at Brakes. Jared took Abishai with him and did both the drop off and the pick up for me since I still wasn't feeling great. That gave me time to finalize the blog posts. Jared let Abishai pick out some new army men and a couple of Hot Wheels Top Gun airplanes. Whatever. He was going to pick up my meds for me but the pharmacy was closed. Bummers. I did feel a bit better after rest time because I used the massager to work on the knots in my legs and back and thighs. My muscles were twitching so badly when I laid down. By the time my Scripture listening for today was done, I had worked out most of the twitching at least. I thankfully have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow. That should help a bit. I just hope I feel better enough to get some errands done afterwards.

And now all is quiet. Yeah! Time to finish up and publish!