Year 6, August 2nd-5th, 2021: Quiet Week At Last - Sort Of - Clydesdales!

 Finally, a week with no appointments! Just two playgroups! One on Tuesday and one on Friday! And Jared's Bible study on Thursday night and Friday morning! That's IT! I don't have to go grocery shopping or do any errands either! Finally! We can BREATHE! Well, sort of. The air quality isn't so great thanks to drought on the west coast. Yes, it's making it's way over the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest. How? I have no idea. But that's what they say.

We had a great Monday. I dream of having these kinds of days where I can just relax and let the day flow. I can play and then work a little, and then play again. I read Abishai's books to him for over an hour. I got to snuggle with him and interact with him. I got to go outside with him twice and giggle with him. I got to sit on the grass with him and stop his ball from making a goal. I got to tell him that if he kicks the ball into the tree, that it hurts the tree and the tree says ouch! And so does the boo boo on my knee when he kicks it into my knee! And hey, stop farting in my bed! All the things and all the banter that he and I love to have. The other two munchkins got to rest. Keturah used her rollerblades around the block three times and now her abs hurt like crazy and she is really tired. Those rollerblades are 25 years old and belonged to a kid a babysat who outgrew them but fit me and I used throughout high school, college, and yes, up until now. Crazy! And Justin has been snuggling in his bed doing nothing but listening to music, reading a book, and staring at the ceiling I suppose. Tomorrow and Wednesday he needs to get the lawns done. It was a pleasant 75 degrees today with a breeze and it will be slightly warmer tomorrow but not bad at all. Then Keturah will need to trim.

I was also very productive with all the things. Socks got the full spa treatment with trimmed toe nails, ear cleaning, and full brush down by me. And, we found some big knots on his underside near his backend so I flipped him on his back, cut those out and found some nice fluff under there. Surprisingly, it was very white and clean and his skin looked healthy and clean as well. I've never really thought to keep an eye on things down there but God must have created animals like him with ways to keep themselves from getting infections and such. And after I pulled all the fluff, by hands felt like I had been playing in sheep's wool. So much natural oils, so I know Socks is very, very healthy. This is why I never bathe him. And I feed him the best food. I let him stay as natural as possible, the way God made him. I trim only when necessary. He's not a show dog. There's a reason why he has the amount of hair he does. I like to groom out the under layer of fur in the summer because he doesn't belong in this hot climate. Otherwise, Socks is happy and healthy. And I only nicked one toenail today! Yeah!

I also condensed some boxes in our bedroom after Jared confessed that he felt our bedroom was a closet. And it was. At least three boxes ended up in there that don't belong. He said he wants to get rid of his cardboard boxes of stuff, so we'll see when he tackles that. The other totes were meant to stay because it's scrapbooking stuff. Yes, eventually I'd like to cut it down after I'm down with the kids' baby albums, but, that's not a priority. The other cardboard box belongs in the bathroom but we all know how that project is going. I have a plan to just buy the storage unit I want for the bathroom and get my part of that project done, move over the stuff, clean out the bottom of the sink, and find a place for the laundry basket. And then when Jared is ready to paint or hire someone to paint, I'll move stuff again. Whatever. And then I have to figure out my clothes problem. Which is something I need to tackle sooner rather than later, but it wasn't today's project.

I also did get to the kids' schoolbooks as I promised myself. Their current year's piles are ready on the table. But I do have several stacks to finish that have been condensed to the mantle of the fireplace. There's nothing left behind my desk or in front of their table or in Abishai's area or behind the couch or in front of the bookcase. It's all right in front of the bookcase ready for me to go through tomorrow or Weds or Thursday and purge or finalize. Then we can get cracking on their first assignments very soon. I'm optimistic that I can finalize everything this week barring a crisis. And then I can get into Justin's transcript and trying out the new IAHE transcript service and all that, the last project of the summer. See, I know it's going to all happen. It's just a matter of time and as long as I'm not sleep deprived. 

 We also got a load of laundry done and the kids pitched in to help make salad, corn on the cob, and hamburgers for dinner since my back was hurting a lot form bending over doing all that hard work today. I teased Jared and asked if I get a gold star for the day and he said, no. And then I said, oh yeah, you don't give out gold stars, you give out gold rings. He just glared at me, lol. But I know I earned wifey points today. My back says I did. I tried. I'm tired. I have to rewatch the TV episode I watched last night because I missed a huge chunk of it and have no idea what it was about. I was so out of it. 

Can't wait for a new day tomorrow! Beautiful sunshine and Abishai and I are headed to the park with friends again! This time, it's the one behind the post office so it does have a splash pad if he wants to try it. We'll see!

Awww, my gift to Gary and Leah looks good on their kitchen island. Sweet!

See, we are almost ready.....no more books in front of the table. Abishai's stuff is condensed and ready. Just have some piles to tackle on the fireplace. No more boxes in front of bookcase or on bench either. And I moved the "freebie" box to behind my desk to catch more stuff until I have the opportunity to have a table or sale.

A little bit wider path. Just now need to get ride of green box and what's on top, as well as crate and what's on top of it. The blue boxes and red box stay because it's scrapbooking supplies and photos.

Well, THAT was an interesting day. Phew! We started the day off with a park day that threatened to fall flat. Only one person came, but it worked out just fine. She was a new person to me, and her daughter need the social time anyway. Abishai was not used to playing with girls, so he shied away from her, unfortunately, but her mom was outgoing enough to keep trying with him and she wasn't offended. The daughter is the youngest of many and is the only one currently being homeschooled. Some of the other kids are grown and actually lived in New Orleans, so we had several things in common. We had fun chatting about all that. The other mom and I showed Abishai how to go up and down a climbing part of the playground and then he mastered it lickity split! Sweet! See the video below! So both the little girl and Abishai kept learning how to not hide behind mama's "skirts" and we moms learned more about each other. And then when that mom left, I fell into conversation with a total stranger because her 4 yr old boy started playing with Abishai. She was super chatty and about 7 months pregnant. Her daughter started Kindergarten this week but she had hoped to homeschool. She was just so unsure of it. After talking with her for awhile, it sounded like she would make the best over achieving homeschool mom ever. I was able to just listen to her and I gave her one of the homeschool books I needed to give away and my IAHE info and told her to look me up on FB. I told it's ok she put her daughter in Kindergarten this year, but she wanted to homeschool, here's the info to help her get started and to look us up. I didn't push for her name and info because I always feel strange doing that, especially to a complete stranger. She was clearly lonely, too. And I feel like since she is a Type A person, she will do the research when she's ready. She clearly is very smart. So, although I didn't get together with a bunch of families this morning, it was a very productive morning. You just don't know how it's going to go when you meet people at the park. I love one on one conversation. Or in these cases, I just basically listened to these two kind of lonely mammas. One that was a bit older than me who has a 28 yr old (and she has grandchildren) and one that was obviously much younger than me. But it's thrilling to be that connecting resource, to "close the sale" almost, like I was doing my home based businesses, only I'm much more passionate than I ever was with scrapbooking supplies, or hair clips, or essential oils. I know it's a Bible verse, but the field are so ripe for home education. So ripe. Parents are so fed up with the public education system. And I get to be a part of this new homeschooling movement. My parents came into homeschooling just after the dark ages when it was illegal but still a tad scary. Now, it's like booming like never before. Ah!

So, Abishai and I came home and had lunch and tried to settle back in. I tried to catch up on email, do a little this and that, etc. Actually, I came home to an empty house. Justin had gone to mow at the grandparents house and then Keturah had gone out to roller blade but had forgotten to lock the front door. Uh, guys, lock at least 2 of the three entrances, please and thanks. Anyway, after lunch, I pushed Abishai on the swing a little bit and then oh, it's 3pm already. I better do something productive. So they went on their screens and I made a phone call in response to a notice about needing more paperwork for a financial aid packet I had sent out in January. Yes. in January. It's now August. I didn't even know we still had an outstanding bill at St. Francis. I hadn't gotten any collection notices. This file must have gotten buried on this poor lady's desk. Whoops. Anyway, I needed to talk to her because I have to explain why there's several different account numbers within our account and how they are actually Gary's and Benaiah's and e2's accounts, but all from the same bank, lol. Anyway, I left her a message. And then I worked on a couple of sorting projects for school stuff. 

And then, and THEN, I was trying to scroll through some FB stuff and I saw a friend had posted on her personal page or on a group, something about the Budweiser Clydesdale horses being at OUR Kroger grocery store, 2 miles up the road! Say what?! Wait a minute! What?! And then I clicked a way to do something and couldn't find the post! So I went back to the Franklin Township chat to see if anyone else had posted anything  and there they were! So I dropped everything and grabbed Keturah, and we were off! Ok, first we had to deal with a messy box of produce we had accidentally left too long on the front porch, but then she and I went down there to see them. We left the boys at home to finish their screen time, and Jared came and got them later to bring down to see the horses. And I'm glad he did because Abishai was enthralled with them. 

Actually, Jared had noticed the sign that they were going to be there but FORGOT TO TELL ME! DUDE! TEXT ME these things RIGHT away! Then I will put them in MY calendar with reminders. Don't wait until later and then try to remember. It never happens. You never remember. Such a dork. 

But Keturah and I loved it. We talked and took our time noticing every bit of detail. And the crowd wasn't bad at all. And the crowd behaved themselves very, very well. The handlers were very kind and answered questions. I got some great photos and videos. Justin wasn't happy that Jared dragged them down there to join us. But Abishai was thrilled to be up close. He is just at that age where isn't not as afraid to be close to things, but everything is interesting. He wanted to ask questions and just stand there. I was super happy that Jared brought them and kept him interested. But what was really cool was how I had just watched that 30 minute video two weeks ago on how they unhitch the horses and store everything after an event, so I knew exactly how many semis they had and the mechanics to look for. And I knew they were at the Indiana State Fair this year. I didn't know they were only there this week though until I looked it up when I came home. So I'm super grateful we saw them today or we would have missed them. I hadn't planned on going to the fair this week. I was kind of waiting until next week when more kids would be in school and I had had a quiet week under my belt. 

And it's a good thing I had put pork ribs in the crockpot this morning and we had leftover corn and salad from the night before. I didn't have to worry about dinner when Keturah and I had taken off. Yeah for spontaneity! I hadn't planned to do much with the school books this afternoon anyway, but yes, the procrastination was nice, too. And I got to be outside more, on this gorgeous day. Although, I could feel the sun coming through to the tops of my feet in my new crocs giving me a sunburn or making my feet super hot or something. So weird.

And that was our day. The last bit of great news for the day was that the dermatologist called and left a message. She said that the biopsied mole was not cancer and nothing further is needed to be done with the spot. Just let it heal up like the others. Woot! Woot! My budget let out the biggest sigh of relief, and then my knee joint, and then my skin, etc. Now I just need to figure out when I can start leaving the bandaids off because whatever is in the bandaids or the adhesive in the bandaids is leaving my skin very irritated. But as soon as I leave it off for a few hours and put lavender essential oil, I get relief and the skin is nearly back to normal around the open wound. Healing time is typically 2-4 weeks. I might just leave the bandaids off for longer periods of time if I'm at home. I'm not sure. But 20 hrs is too long. Now I just have to keep an eye on any other weird mole or spot myself and check in with the new dermatologist in 6 months, aka February! Wahoo! Praise the Lord!

Another mom and I helped Abishai through these rings the first time, but then he remembered how to navigate them and mastered them all by himself within the 2nd try! Way to go!

His technique is hands reach first on the way up.

Then switch to feet reach out first on the way down.

Awww, Socks likes to lay down near us when we are just lounging. Or when I get up in the middle of the night and have to sleep on the couch with my head elevated because of heartburn. He always keeps us company.

Wow! I had no idea that this was happening! WIBC, Indy's main news radio station shut down for the last time today. That's a pretty big deal. Not that many were listening anymore though. And yes, Gary had listened to it for years and years and yes, you could hear it through the bathroom door. And Leah would have it blasting from a radio on top of the fridge. Gary did switch to using his phone or something a few years ago I think. Radio is kind of a thing of the past when you have on demand podcasting. Same with TV shows and news that is broadcast a certain time of the day. I'm surprised it's actually still going on at their specified times like it does. I never listen or watch something at a certain time. It's always on my time.

I was trying to use portrait mode, but should have looked better at where the focal point was. I think his head looks a bit blurry. But look at that handsome old man. Mr. Socks enjoying the nice weather in the shade.

Hanging out with his puppy.

And Keturah and I made it to see the Budweiser Clydesdales just as they had finished tacking up and doing their first loop around the parking lot.

Zoomed out mode because it's really hard to get all 8 horses and the wagon all in one shot.

The lead horses and I take a selfie.

Ah, there ya go, the long line of power. The tallest and strongest in the back. The shortest in the front.

Fake flowers in their mane. Eagle up top there.

Pretty gear, but very practical gear, too, of course.

Awww, raring to go.

They are saying, "We just want to work! Why do we need to stand here all day!"

"Don't fart, George." "George, I said, don't fart!"

Lots of gear to keep track of.

Empty boxes, but imagine if they were full. Huge load.

They made a few laps around the parking lot to keep the horses happier because once they are hitches up, they want to be on the move.

Aww, sleepy dalmatian.He didn't want to walk down to the seat because it was hot. And he was tired. Why do I have to wear all this bling? - Doggy says.

Abishai wanted to take a photo with the horses, yeah!

All three semitrucks were there, just like they were in that video I had watched. We didn't stay to watch them be ungeared and loaded up because I can just show the kids the same video I watched two weeks ago if they were curious. But how cool!

Daddy made a hole in Abishai's bed because the cord was super short for this little USB powered mini fan we bought at Aldi's. So now mini man has his own personal cooling system. Spoiled last kid.

Justin has to be careful not to bump into it. I guess Abisahi and Justin will share the iPhone cube. Abishai is not in the room during the day, so it should work out just fine to share the same cube.

 

Personalized comfort.

Wednesday, was NOT quiet. Dudes, I am NOT going out on Thursday, let's put it that way. And I'm so tired of teenagers NOT getting their butts in gear and delaying my day. That's it. If they are not upright by 9am, I'm taking their phones until 3pm. Let them be bored. I don't care anymore. This is ridiculous. We can't start school until they are better listeners. And Justin has to get used to waking up at a certain time and getting his school or chores done so he can go to work in the afternoon and evening. Something. I'm tired of being their alarm clock. And if they think that setting their phone alarms are going to help, think again. I will take them away at night, too and force them to use their regular clocks that woke their Dad and I up for years. Let's see.

I took Justin to fill the gas can at 11. At 11:20, I thought he was in the bathroom with the fan on. Come to find out, he was just laying in bed completely oblivious to the fact that we gotten gas so he could mow. Meanwhile, Keturah was still in bed at 11 and I had kind of volunteered her to go to Renae's house to do a few things and hang out while I went to do another errand. That left Abishai home to play Need for Speed, only when I came home, he was playing Battlefront because Justin was outside mowing by then. Justin mowed the front yard but it took 90 minutes and he complained it was too hot. And then we had a back and forth texting war with Jared about it. Meanwhile, the person from St. Francis financial aid called and I had to talk to her right then so I could find out what she needed. Justin was left in the lurch and instead of trying to come find me, he was banging on the bathroom wall and I couldn't hear him while I was on the phone (he had already been ready to take his shower after mowing). Good grief! By this time, I'm now hangry and I haven't looked at any schoolbooks yet. In fact, I didn't end up looking at them at all. And I missed my shower today, again. So tomorrow, I'm showering and doing one child's books in the morning and then the other child's books in the afternoon. Then they can all have my attention again. 

Next week looks a little busy with plans to go to the state fair on Thursday, and several meetings in the evenings. I think we'll start working into a routine as well, so we can start the following week. I'm just not completely sure at this point though. We still have a water park to visit, too. And one day that week we have haircuts. Ugh. No time to rest. And I'm so tired. And so thirsty. And so greasy. And my ear sinuses are feeling clogged which means there's a good chance that vertigo is on it's way. Not good. 

So, what did I do today? I picked up my order of a free standing over the toilet storage unit that maybe Jared will be ok with putting together this weekend and then I'll get to organize the bathroom stuff again. We'll see. It's my part of the project, but to be honest, I could go through a bunch of my stuff again and maybe toss some old make up or something or condense it better. I'm not sure. At least I could get rid of one more box in our room, that was the goal.  Anyway, I dropped off recycling. I signed the kids up for a somewhat expensive ASL class so it will count towards their high school foreign language credit. Every Wednesday at 11, 30 minutes away. We can do this.  We have to do this. No turning back now. Much more useful for us anyway. Oh, I answered several emails and FB messages between 7 and 8 am before even getting out of bed about homeschooling. Yup, that's how I roll some days. Abishai woke up early, so we got started early.  I talked to financial aid about that letter. The lawn got mowed and trimmed, because I got gas for the mower. Keturah got to and from her place of "work." I made myself a nice breakfast. I combine a few things on hand for a nice dinner. I partly figured out why several people were asking questions about changes on the IAHE Marketplace group and now know what to suggest to them. FB just wants to make more money by offering a shipping service. No. Finish your transaction off of FB. Message each other through FB and then go to PayPal and send funds. End of story. Go to the post office and have them weigh your package there and pay postage. You don't have to print at home for a fee. Convenience has it's price. I totally get it now. FB is greedy. End of story. And finally, I made hard boiled eggs because Abishai wanted some.

 And I played my video games because I had to wait on delay fish people. I guess that's enough for one day. And I am tired. But I'm also greasy and frustrated. And distractable. Ugh. And wanting chocolate. But then I get heartburn at night. Not so fun. Heading into PMS be like, yo, need chocolate. Let's go! Where's those cookies at? I didn't have carbs at dinner, ok? So maybe, I, too, need to raid the pantry like the teen just did. And the husband will do, too. Hm,....I just want to watch some TV, ok? And start over again tomorrow.

And tomorrow? I'm not going anywhere! No surprise errands. No surprise transportation of children. And no surprise visits of horses to the local grocery store. Mama has work to do. But she needs a clear head to do it. Time to watch and then sleep.

Well, the day wasn't all bad. Abishai decided to lay it on thick at the beginning of the day, trying to butter me up with his beautiful compliment. Heartthrob that he is. And yes, many, many moms have wanted to squeeze him and take him home. He's very popular.

It was this shirt.

I took a gamble on this cabinet. It was cheap and had 3 star reviews. I'm hoping I did ok. But I didn't notice the damaged box until I got home. So, here's hoping that the inside contents are ok. It's an over the toilet free standing storage unit.

I took a photo so I could go through the listing process on the IAHE Marketplace group. I did discover what changed and how you oculd go around it. I didn't mean to actually approve my post, but I did. So I had to go and delete it! Whoops!

Abishai is so strong that he can pull Jared across the floor while still sitting his chair!

Yes, as promised, I did not go anywhere today. I showered, and I finished picking out our core books for the school year. And for Justin, maybe for the rest of his high school, we shall see. I have to compare his to how many more credits he needs/wants, but I've got a rough estimate and some options. I just need to bring up his transcript and do some calculations. He's going to have plenty done and have plenty of time to volunteer or work or whatever. I could also push him harder though. We'll see. I want him to take those few classes at Ivy Tech next year, too, so that might through him for a loop. This year, we just need to get him transitioned into driving and a job. One step at a time. It's all good. And Keturah, well, I'm still not sure what her high school is going to look like because her middle school years have been pretty intensive for history and literature. We have to upgrade her science and math studies but we'll see. She and Justin both are going to take an ASL class that we are paying for and I'm counting as high school foreign language credit. They are all going to come away with such different experiences. Even as I pulled all my language arts curriculums off the shelf today to decide what to do with Keturah, I had some from my childhood, some I used with Benaiah over his middle school years, then different ones I used with Justin, then ones I hadn't used at all. But I did have one that I used and I've used with the boys that I'm make her use, too, Latin and Greek roots. Yuppers. It's good for ya. Hopefully some of them will stick and help them with reading and SAT tests. You're welcome. Great for spelling words, too. Oh, and this Abeka Books Oral Reading Exercises book that you dictate to the student and they have to choose which is the correct way to use words like lie/lay or sit/set. I love those, too. I used those as a kid, too. Simple grammar stuff that everyone still messes up. Just because a book is old, doesn't mean it can't be useful. I was reading a 1950's/60's book on oral speech and just the way it's phrased makes it so catchy and funny and maybe the reader will actually remember how to make a speech! The modern book that I purchased at a book sale actually wouldn't catch my attention. Who knew? 

And then I put what we weren't going to use away. So those books are done. I pulled off the last bit of history non fiction and fiction off the history shelves to be sorted into lessons and matched up with what I need to order from the library in the next week or so. That's not for a project for today. I have to buy ink so I can print off the attendance sheets and a tentative schedule/routine. I also have to update my 1988 or whatever President's game AGAIN for the 4th or 5th time to add on another president, lol. Small things like that. Oh, and I may or may not print "First day of First day" banners depending on what the chalkboard sign I bought says. We'll see. But I discovered we have some "Leap Year" papers we didn't print and fill out last year, which was a leap year, so we need to play catch up with those, too. Minor stuff I can finalize next week. We will start slow probably on the 16th. I have some meetings next week, plus the fair, plus a couple of appointments, and sometime we need to go to the water park. But the overwhelming tasks are done. Now back to boring household tasks like printing off more bank statements for financial aid documents. Sigh. That will be my Saturday.

Let's see, we did laundry, did a load of dishes, oh, changed Abishai's car seat in my car to a booster, helped someone figure out the new settings on selling things on FB, took care of the outside trash can, did the normal routine, Jared had Bible study, found out one friend went to the ER and another person with a chronic disease came down with Covid, and Justin did a special tournament on Fortnite for 2 hrs while I struggled to keep Abisahi out of the living room. Oh, and I told the middles that they had to be upright by 9am or I was taking their phones from them until 3pm. They were upright by 9. Gotcha! I found their motivation! Jesus/Grandma/church responsibilities has their motivations on Sunday morning. But neither Jared nor I can get them going any other day of the week. But the phone, aha, their phones! Got 'em! That's their "currency." I haven't decided on any rules, new or different from summer or last year, for the new school year yet, so we'll wait and see if it affects their actual school work. They both listen to music on their phones, so it's one of those things where it's hard to take it away. And both of them don't seem to be using it to cheat. And both can use calculators this year. I might have to insist on no phones during test taking for science and math maybe. It's hard to google answers for why a character did this or that in a story. And history is open book anyway. And grammar, well, you won't find those particular answers to those particular old books circulating on the web. So, tough luck kids on that. No cheating there. We'll see. I think I have a better handle on these two than on Benaiah who slept through his ACT and cheated his way through pre-algebra. These two don't get to have the teacher's book in their rooms. So yup, we learned our lessons. Benaiah learned his lessons, too. And he picked himself back up in the end. He knows when to apply himself when it counts. And when to conserve energy, too. Honestly, that's a great thing to know. Type A's like me, just go full throttle until we collapse. It ain't pretty, either. Right Abishai? Lol.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day. And I feel satisfied that I got it done. Goal accomplished. Always more to do. And other things get bumped to the next day. But the main goals were met on time. That's so satisfying. Now I can go to park day relaxed and happy. And I can go into the weekend knowing I can focus slow and steady on other things. Actually, one of the book sales I had been planning on representing IAHE at just popped up and is in two weeks, so I've got to scrape together some stuff pretty quickly and be prepared for it. So I can't procrastinate on updating some things anymore. So, I switch gears again, and that's ok because our homeschool plate is spinning now for a bit, and I'll go back to the IAHE one for a bit to keep it going. Actually, they are both at the same pace, nice and even and steady, ready to face the new school year. Right where they should be. Johnson Homeschool during the workweek, IAHE more on the weekends besides the daily checkins and saying no to the extras. Balancing the two is hard, but I've learned how to manage, for the most part. I just needed this week to calm down, refocus, breathe, do nothing, but also do something for my family. That's what I did. And now I feel better prepared with just these little loose ends to tie up. I can do this. This is our 15th year. I've successfully launched one kid. In two years, the next one will launch just fine. We've got this. Nothing to worry about. Just follow all the advice I tell everyone else and I'll be fine. Now execute on those plans. Oh wait, that means living in reality with the unknown part of the equation: human beings. Darn it. Those silly humans that tend to mess things up. Sigh. There's the challenge. The whole experiment is good until you actually go to do it and it crumbles and you have to start all over from scratch. One little variable was off. ok, one big variable, the human being. Either the Mom or the Kid. The hardest journey in the world, being a homeschool parent. Hardest, in my opinion. But more and more are choosing it. Which is crazy and good and making it busy and changing our corner of the world and community and driving us a little insane and making our head spin. Crazy! It's nuts!

Ok, Time for park day and the weekend. Nice quiet normal weekend we think.

When we got this carseat a few years ago from a friend, I recognized the brand name Britax as being the top of the line most expensive brand you could possibly get. This brand sells for something like $500 a carseat. It's the Cadillac of carseats. And by golly, it lives up that persona. Today proved it again. First of all, it's the heaviest carseat I've ever handled. We've always bought the lower line of carseats, typically Graco. And those are yes, the lightweights. But Britax weigh a ton! Almost as much as this child himself! Well, I watched a quick video on YouTube about how to convert this big carseat from a 5 point harness into a booster seat because I thought I was going to have to take all these parts off of it. Well, I was very wrong. The whole design of the thing has nooks in crannies so you can just store the bits and pieces comfortably away without having to loose them! Like the little piece that goes between their legs, you just pull up the fabric and voila, there's a nook down there to put it comfortably in! And you loosen the straps for the arms as far as they will go, and they get tucked up in the wider arm cushions! You don't take it apart at all! And then the head rest of course goes up so it exposes the slit where the regular seatbelt goes through. And all the main instructions are actually shown on the side of the carseat, too, with clear red markings for the seatbelt and attachments where it clicking safety straps go into the car and all that. And guys, for years, we had this super long strap that was part of the buckle that goes into the upper back part of the car seat to the upper part of the car behind the head rest and it was always in the way. Well, today, I discovered, that near the buckle, there was a nice stretchy loop there, that fit all the way around the extra strap if you just rolled it up! Duh! I"m telling you, Britax is the Cadillac of carseats! They think of everything! I could have changed this whole set up while it was buckled into the car, but I had to removed it to get something at the store yesterday, and I needed to a quick clean up of the carseat itself, so it was easier to do in the comfort of the a/c inside. And now, big boy Abishai has booster seats in both vehicles now. Wahoo!

Then big boy Justin took the last of the chicken "fries" except this double one. (The other two fries are actually fish sticks). He didn't even notice the double one. So when I went to get the fries for Abishai, I pulled out this weird one, held it up, and Justin goes, "What is that?!" "It's the only chicken fry you just left in the bag! Why did you even leave one fry left?" "I left one?" "Yes, you did." "It looks cursed!" "Justin, it's not cursed. And you, well, you need new eyes." Anyway, Abishai wanted chicken fries, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks. We had gotten the whole slew of "fried" fast food items this grocery trip because we had been out of them for so long.

Ta da! All core books are on the table and/or in the bins and/or next to my red chair. The fireplace mantle is empty again. The box next to the couches are the books going back to the bookshelves in the sunroom. And there's a small pile of books I needed Justin and Keturah to literally "sign off" on that they have read. It was just some books on inventors and inventions, specifically plants, boats, and trains, I had pulled from the science shelves when we did the Wright brothers, just to make sure we had covered them at least once. I wasn't sure if they had gotten to them since they were in a different spot than the Native American books over the summer. I'm pretty sure they had read them a previous year though. Maybe when we had done the Wright brothers 5 years ago. No biggie. And now, I can start actual lesson planning, print of attendance sheets (I need more ink!), order library books, etc. It took me a lot longer to do all this switching around because I'm just simple slower at everything and my time is so divided between more things. I needed a bigger chunk of concentrated time and that's hard to come by. And my mind is just not what it used to be. And I procrastinate. I started the summer with this book project and I'm ending it with it. In the middle was all about IAHE stuff. Little by little, getting things done, trying to have some fun, meeting lots of new people, learning lots, pressing on, Jared's surgery, yup, a very different summer this year. Not bad at all. Just different. Lessons learned, too. Still a bit more fun to be had before we transition into these books. But I think we are mentally more ready. And we are going to work on our routine in the next week or so, too, first. And THEN start academics. Even teens, especially teens, need to work on better habit training skills. They may be closing in on adulthood, but my job isn't done until they turn 18. And if they let me, beyond that. Onward, march!

The End