Year 7, February 7th-13th, 2022: Abishai's 7th Birthday Week!

 Monday - First Day of Prep

- Today I figured out the schedule for the rest of the week, which is a big accomplishment because yesterday, I was very overwhelmed and just could not think it through at all. That is very typical of me and ADHD. Thankfully, I didn't panic. I've learned to let it flow and I know I can get it done and what I don't get done, I don't get done. And today was a good example of that.

- We started off our day as a pretty normal Monday. Breakfast, gathering our school books, reading aloud, Mommy falling asleep while she read aloud, Abishai getting hangry for lunch and not wanting to do his writing papers, Mommy realizing she's running out of time for lunch before picking up Justin, and getting to her appointment, etc. So, what did I have to do? I had 90 minutes left before picking up Justin. I prioritized our history lesson and what was bothering me the most: the living room.

- I could not stand that living room one more minute. I was beyond over it. I couldn't walk around the Lego table. I couldn't get to the couch. I couldn't get to where Abishai wanted to do his homework. The Hot Wheels huge garage hadn't been really been played with since it arrived here two years ago. I was sick of the visual clutter. This was not what I wanted people to see when they walked into my house. I was done kicking things. I couldn't handle it one more minute. I was going to have a meltdown. And since I had finalized when I was going to get each part of the party prep done, I knew I had no other time to put this part in. It had to be today. So, that meant, Abishai's seat work did not get done today. Oh well. I just didn't have the energy to fight him on it or help him focus. I just needed to let him go do whatever and spend an hour jumpstarting on the living room. And so I did. I knew I couldn't do it all before I left, but I could do a lot and then finish it after supper. And that's what we did.

- It was a frustrating job because every time I moved something, something else was out of whack. I moved the TV tray table, and there were a bunch of nasty crumbs under it. I moved a couple of books on the floor and tried to put them on the shelves only to discover somebody hadn't put the books away correctly so I had to fix that. When we went to tackle the car garage, I found dog hair and dust, as well as chip crumbs and Nerf bullets. I ended up rearranging the games and puzzles a bit because there were things that have been completely ignored that I want Abishai to play with. But finally, we have our living room back to where it was after I first got the Lego table. I can breathe again! 

- However, now the Hot Wheel branded cars are in a box in the boys room. I want a real tote for those instead of a cardboard box, so I need to purchase that. The car garage is behind my desk because I don't know what to do with it yet. Maybe go to the shed? Maybe keep it in the sunroom if we take other things to the shed? That's a project for another day or another week. Just not this one. And now I have to tackle the leftover things that were moved to the sunroom and get Justin or Jared to undo the Christmas tree that's in the way to do that. But a big part of my visual and mental clutter is done. I can work on these little things as I keep going on the actual cleaning.

- I also did a little bit of tidying in other rooms in preparing for the birthday party. Things like moving bottles of stuff off the bathroom counter and the kitchen counters. And moving stuff off of the kitchen table. I started wiping down surfaces as well. Just things that I neglect because it doesn't matter in the long run but I know it might bother others. And then doing this all reminds me that this is how our house really should look all the time. But then when I'm done cleaning, I'm exhausted and remember why I can't do this all the time either. Sigh. What's the difference between wiping one week's worth of dust and 1 month's worth of dust anyway? Nothing. It's not any harder to do a month's worth. So I just hold off as long as I can. And a lot of the time, that method works. Sometimes it doesn't. 

- So, I'm tired. I just hope I don't crash too quickly here. I'd like to enjoy some time to myself first.

- Justin went to work today in Justin's green XL sized coat and a black beanie hat. When he walked out, he looked like a hobo! The hat squished his hair down flat, and the tips were peaking out from the hat! And of course the coat was too big. Oh my word! Get that kid a coat! I fail so much as a mom sometimes! But I laugh this kind of stuff off instead of being embarrassed. I just honestly don't think ahead about these things. I don't have a routine established for them and no one really talks about buying your 16 yr old an adult sized coat that they will have forever. It's just not a part of mom conversations like some of those "firsts" are when they are babies. And each kid is so very different at this stage. With Benaiah, he got a nice coat from CFA, so I didn't have to worry about it. Plus, he just borrowed from Jared all the time or wore hoodies. Eventually, I think he bought his own coat. So, I didn't think that Justin needed one I guess. Whenever we've gone sledding he just wears a hoodie. We haven't been in below zero temps since he was little. The amount of times he has actually needed a regular coat after being his current size is next to nil. So, the need wasn't there, so I didn't buy him a coat yet. Just add that to the list. In the meantime, he has to make do with what we have. But I did wash his hoodie and he can wear it tomorrow because it will be warmer anyways. He survived. As a hobo child. Bwahahahaha. Love it! Justin was also kidnapped by Kellie at 4pm and taken to their house to spend time with Kya until 8pm. So, he's got some homework to catch up on. Fun times!

- And I had Spider-Man visit. He has been officially signed up for the big kid class at karate. He starts a week from Wednesday! And little girl, got her puppy for most of the day in her bed, so they are both content.

Sigh. You know you have boys when,....

Oh no, not another growth! This one is flat and flappy. No, I'm not calling the vet yet on these. I've been watching a lot of videos from the Bondi Vet channel on Facebook so I've gotten used to hearing what is and what isn't a concern. This is on Socks' elbow and is protected by a ton of fur and that's why I hadn't found it before. It's hard to brush his fur in that area, so there were several knots of hair, too. I just want to go in there and use scissors and cut it off myself, but of course that's not sterile nor appropriate, but it's hanging on with just a bit of skin. This does make me even more wanting to make an appointment early to check his heart and go over these lumps and bumps again. But that's me. Sigh. Poor puppy. I did take some close up photos, but I will spare you those details. It's not inflamed or red. Just pink and dry skin.

I told you that our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man came to visit today. I have a love/hate relationship with this bar/stool/trampoline set up. It's totally in my way because it's a high traffic area, but it keeps Abishai occupied right now. Sigh.

After Jared used twine to keep Abishai's pants up yesterday at church (I had not clue of this until lunchtime), I bit the bullet and bought belts. I found 4 belts for less than $20 on Amazon. They came a day early, too! They have 3 holes in front in the leather (faux) so they look nice, but the magic is in the elastic band and adjustable part on the side. I think these will last for several years. See, I don't know why I've procrastinated on getting something like these!

Today our history lesson was on Stonehenge. So the activity was to build your own ancient Stonehenge. Abishai loved it! Once we found the rocks in our stash, he went to town building a few different towers of rocks. Cool!

So many cool rocks we've collected over the last 20 years! The bottom rock I think is actually sandstone from PEI.

Cutie!

Then he made the formation into 5 piles of rock. He said he just wanted to try it. He wasn't intending to make one pile for each of the 5 of us.

This has become a very addictive game for some people, so Dr. Hallowell decided to use it's concept and spell out a message for the ADHD brain. I was just talking to a mom today who had a rambunctious 9 yr old and told her to maybe look into seeing if the boy has ADHD. It's more common than you think to have it. And told her how to get diagnosed and all that. Hopefully that helped. She also wanted help with curriculum. So I gave her ideas for that as well. Actually, she didn't want that part of things, because she emphasized the CURRICULUM part of it in her answer to me. So I hope I was helpful but maybe not. It's been a long day.  Good night.

Tuesday - More Birthday Prep

- It was empty the bank account day. We went to Party City and spent enough to get free balloon delivery! Ok, it's actually only two big balloons, but it will save me time and thought energy. Abishai and I let Keturah come along and it made for a very pleasant outing. We even planned to eat at McDonald's afterwards. The store was quiet and there was no arguing between those two. Abishai decided Baby Grogu was good enough, he agreed to pick two expensive things and knew he wanted this and that and not this or that, and then we went and got the slightly cheaper colored plates instead of all of them being themed. We ate the McDonald's on Washington St. where you have to ask for a key to use the bathroom. Yes, a key! For the inside bathroom! Granted, there's quite a few homeless people that sit at the intersections and beg and it's considered a higher crime area, too. But the McDonald's itself was clean and the food was fast and good. I can't remember the last time I had to use a key to open a bathroom! We used to do that for bathrooms of gas stations where the doors were on the outside of the buildings back in New Hampshire. I don't think they make gas stations like that anymore. Even when we traveled in New England to PEI they weren't that way anymore. Anyway, interesting. And then we got some party food plus a few extras at Aldis. Again, no fussing but we were ready to get home.

- We got everything put away and then it was time to pick up Justin. So basically, no official school work for mini man birthday boy today. Again. But hey, it's birthday week. And he learned life skills today. He had to make decisions because of prices. He read the "Party City" sign all by himself. He almost asked for a fork all by himself from the cashier at the McDonald's. He made decisions about food at Aldis. And of course he had plenty of PE time on his chin up bar. It all counts as school. So we are good. I'll do some paper work school tomorrow during ASL. And then we are going sledding. We didn't go today because I figured Justin needed to do some school today and he would be tired from work. But the snow did melt a lot today so we have to go tomorrow. We don't have any other time this week.

- The house looks and feels so much better after yesterday's decluttering of the living room. I can't believe the difference that 90 minutes made. I'm so glad I just went ahead and did it. That's how that room was supposed to feel like. Now, what am I supposed to do with all these toys that removed from there? They are all in the bedroom and backroom? It's not enough to remove them from one space. They have to be actually removed from our lives somehow. But I don't know how. That's where I get stuck. How do you get rid of things that were purchased for you or your kids? Or that you purchased? That technically, your kids still play with or collect? I have a collector's mentality. That's my problem. And I've kind of given that to my kids. I've tried to stem the tide by saying no more often, but it still keeps coming in. I'm hoping some day they just take it with them, but I'm not sure how that's going to work either. I do know that I'm not buying new toys for the grandkids. I'm going to start by wrapping up the toys that belonged to their parents. Or maybe just gifting those toys to their parents each Christmas and birthday if they don't immediately take them when they settle down in their own home. I will give them until they are in a permanent location after their schooling or marriage or something. I won't hold onto their stuff forever, but at the same time, if they are moving every 6 months to a year, there's no need to move their memorabilia that often either. I brought all my stuff with me the first time I moved away to college because I had the opportunity. And then I left many storage tubs at Gary and Leah's house when I moved into the dorm. And then after that, we were married so the tubs were mine to move. I have of course received the rest of the Howell stuff to move over and over again, and I'm take pride in being the owner and keeper of that legacy. It's safe. And it's not lost. And besides my mom's dolls that were already pretty gross, it's been stored properly, out of the sun, in temperature controlled, dry conditions, waiting for me to circle back round to it after I raise my kids. No need for me to worry about it until then. 

- Anyway, I spent two hours on my puzzle because I had done my birthday task for today. Then tacos for supper and an IAHE Rep mtg tonight. One of Abishai's friends called to say they were coming, so I'll call them back tomorrow. It's a girl, so that's fun! I have a few odds and ends to clean up in my email box and then off to bed after a quick episode or two. Not 3 that I watched last night that I certainly regretted by this morning. Oi! I have no idea what's so fascinating staying up so late! Why do I fight it so hard? Why the FOMO? Nothing happens at 1, 2 or 3 am! There's no email, no new game, no new video that goes live. NOTHING. It's just plain stupid. Self sabotage is stupid. It's like I do it so I purposefully am not as strong or smart the next day. I just don't get it. And all the counseling in the world hasn't helped me conquer it. Nor have all the tips and tricks of automatically turning off the internet or shutting of my phone with an external device. Nope. An external motivator has to be found. I just don't know what that is. And no, Jared usually isn't it because he consistently goes to be way before I'm ready. I don't even begin to watch my shows until he's in bed. 

- Ok, I'm done here. More prep tomorrow.

Ok, maybe, sometimes. I hope I'm not that bad. Because I try really hard not to be. I mean I am confronted often with Scriptures that contradict what I'm doing, so I stop what I'm doing. And I stand there and wrestle with that conflict. But there are times when I am doing the right thing(s), too. So, maybe I think this is a little extreme? Or am I fooling myself?

And Facebook's throwback photo was Justin 9 years ago. Aka, when he was 7 1/2 years old. Back to the time when Jared gave him the ultra buzz cut and he really, really hated it. You can see the similarities between him and Abishai, can't you? Yup.

Keturah is dipping fries into blue raspberry frozen fanta drink. Ew!!!

Birthday boy eating his cinnamon roll. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to rack up a bill of $21 for 3 people at McDonald's today. What?! Abishai had a 6pc Happy Meal and cinnamon roll. Keturah had fries, McDouble and Fanta drink. I had Mcdouble, no bun, fries and large mocha. $21! Good grief!

And here comes that 16 yr old Justin in his too large for him coat and hobo beanie hat, complete with the ends of his hair sticking out underneath him. Cracks me up, this one. And when his hair is smashed down because of the hat, the ends now flip up and it totally reminds me of the '90's hairstyles of the Johnathan Taylor Thomas and the Jonas Brothers. The heartthrobs. And I know teasing him drives him crazy but it cracks me up! It's totally cute in my book! I really don't know what look he's going for. I guess he's not going for, "A look only a mother could love." But still, I love all of my boys' hairstyles, and my daughter's, ok. I don't love the bald man look. We've had this discussion before. So I'm enjoying that my boys are handsome young men. And that they are all grown up. And that I get to pick him up most days from work looking like this, wearing his Daddy's coat. And yet, this time, this child, doesn't look at all like his Daddy. When, if it was the oldest, I would be saying, you look just like your Daddy. So, with Justin in that coat, it just looks plain wrong because he doesn't fill it out like Jared and Benaiah do. And it makes me smile. And smiling is a good thing. I'm enjoying the precious moments of life. The precious moments in the mundane. From the toothless grin of a 7 yr old above with no hair at all to the hair down below his ears standing way taller than me and picking him from work, 9 short years later. This is my life. These kids. I know you aren't supposed to put all your efforts into just raising kids. You should develop yourself, too. Or you'll have nothing to do when they've left the nest. But is that really how it is? I don't think so? I mean, yes, I get it. Put God first, husband second, kids third. But does a career have to be fourth? Can you just stop at kids? Oh yes you can. Kids can be your everything. Being a stay at home mom, homeschooling or not, can be your full time job. And it can be fulfilling. You don't need anything else. I don't want anything else. Everything I do is related to them and is because of them. They are the reason I get up. These are my babies. My 4 very unique and very different kids that I taught to read and write and do math. That I taught how to think and taught them about Jesus. I taught them habits and how to cook and clean. And I don't regret one single moment of being here for all of it. I said no to a full time lucrative accounting job with Simon Property Group when Benaiah was 1 yrs old and I had just graduated from college. But I stayed choose home. And home is where I will always be. Because by the time I'm a Gramma, I will still have Abishai at home. There will be no empty nest. And I'm gonna be so glad for it. I'll always be busy. Give me all the babies. Someone else can do the deep cleaning. I have babies to rock and teach. And babies, they don't keep.

Wednesday - ASL and Mudding

- Our morning was pretty normal with driving up to ASL and doing school work with Abishai. Abishai and I got through a good amount of his school work, except for Science and Reading. So Abishai read aloud a few pages to Daddy during his bedtime routine. I will try to make sure we do more of that first thing tomorrow. The science lesson seemed long and a little confusing, so I'm going to save that for another day. It was about fiber optic cables and I think I would like to read it, but Abishai might not be interested. I need to do more of the experiments with him because that was the whole point of using this series. Again, this author tends to be wordy and a little bit geared towards the older kids, so I'm trying to water it down a bit. Sometimes that hard to do. I'm grateful that it's thorough, though. 

- After ASL, we made a couple of pitstops to get lunch for Justin at Culver's since he missed out on yesterday's treat. I also stopped at Ollie's looking for a sled or cake mixes for Abishai's cake, but we couldn't find anything we needed. We walked out empty handed. Pretty frustarting. And when I tried stopping by the dollar store, it was closed too because it had moved across the street to the old Family Video stores was and I totally forgot. But kids were hungry so we went home for lunch. 

- After lunch, we tried to be quick and gather up our stuff for sledding. Socks was so excited and expected to go as well, so I decided to let him come. I'm glad I did. He did a good job staying with us, running up and down the hill, and exploring the woods listening for birds and squirrels. He certainly enjoyed the fresh air. He's built for the outdoors and didn't seem to struggle on even the slippery parts (unlike me, ha!) I didn't even have to call out after him. He would automatically circle back around to me to check in. Or when Keturah fell off her sled, he ran down the hill to make sure she was ok! Yes, family, trust your shepherding dog! His natural instincts are most definitely there, so stop panicky. The rest of the crew are so paranoid. Socks is smart. It's fine. Let the old dog stretch his legs on a beautiful hill and mountain pass.

- Well, the sledding was really mudding and it was a disappointing day for sledding. Justin did a couple of runs and went back to the van. Abishai usedf the sled but was impatient for his turn and would roll down the hill just because he could. And Keturah found another pathway through the trees from the top to the bottom of the wood.  They seem to have fun despite most of the snow being gone. Oh well, we did what we could. 

- Even Jared got to join us on the sledding hill! That was fun! Daddy and Mommy are speaking to each other once again, so that's better. After that, we went home to warm up a little, have screen time, and do chores before a pizza supper. That included a load of laundry and putting your dirty clothes in the wash. Oh wait I gotta move the previous loads of laundry though first. Yikes! What muddy outdoor where we brought home! It's a good thing we went through the garage again! It's so muddy when all you have is bare ground and warm temps.

- And now I'm really exhausted and can barely function. I am really going to go bed early and sleep this off. I am done before the party prep has barely begun.

Ain't that the truth. Jared says he didn't have a favorite because he played with a plain deck of cards. I always used the roses. I used to play most of the basic games and tried to beat my dad's scores. I'm not sure any of my siblings got into them. Solitaire, Minesweeper, Tetris were all my favorites. I didn't play Pinball that much.

For sure, especially when the toilet paper is stored in the same rack as the toilet paper is hanging from. It's in plain sight.There's no mystery to it.

#truth This is me all the way.

Breakfast of real champions.

Breakfast of champions? If you have stomach issues? Except wouldn't these two things give you stomach issues first thing in the morning? See, I have stomach issues. Therefore, I start with tea and beef collagen with something like toast or oatmeal. I drink coffee after a second meal. I don't want grease and lots of sugar. Regular fruit is fine. But no milk, very little cheese, minimal on the eggs, and any of my other sensitivities. But this girl refuses to start with the plain stuff. I think some of her problems are in her head. I know not all of them all are. And maybe this is hormonal related. But ghee whiz this is setting her up for bad habits. We've tried and tried. Trust me we've tried. She knows better. We can't force her. It has to be her decision. We've allowed her to pick the bread or the cereal. She can eat leftovers in the morning if she wants, which are usually more bland then this. She liked the bagels and strawberry cream cheese. But these choices is why she has so many zits on her face. She knows better. We remind her a lot. But we can't just take them from her and fight her. It's not worth it to me.

Sigh. Some days I think he loves planes more than us.

Smiley baby. Smiley almost 7 yr old. He's always been this happy. That's my Abishai.

And then Keturah will make herself a salad for lunch. And yes, add all the fats on top of it like ranch and croutons and cheese. So, I guess it all balances out in the end. At least she knows how to make a salad right? And to find food in the pantry. I can totally be grateful for that.

So, we waited too long to go sledding. We waited too long two years ago as well. I should have just pushed for it yesterday. I kicked myself for waiting. Sigh. But, the kids went up and tried anyway and got a few runs in. They didn't complain. They weren't mad at me. So we did our best.

And yes, we brought Socks, too. I wasn't going to because I didn't want to stress him out. I knew the hill was going to be very hard on his heart. But then I was like, what the heck, this might be your last winter, and we never take you anywhere. You only live once. And boy did he absolutely love being with his kids. He couldn't get over being out there today. He was such a good boy, too. I let him off the leash immediately because no one else was there. I loved giving him that freedom. And he didn't stray far at all. The kids all panicked about it. They don't trust that a dog is ok to wander to find a bird or squirrel and then come back. He wants to be his humans and that's what he did. He went up and down the hill, including through the trees, to get to them. When Keturah went down once and fell off the sled, he immediately bounded down to her to see if she was ok. Who knew he had that instinct?  But we've never really tested him on it. He kept checking in with me, too. It was lovely to be out with him.

I took him down the back path because I knew there would be more snow under the tree canopy. He just walked along listening to the birds and squirrels. His hearing is still so sharp. I could tell that he wanted to go after creatures but knew he shouldn't. Oh I wish we had a farm so he could roam more off of the leash!

One happy dog in the woods where he belongs, surrounded by snow. I'm glad I brought him today.

Keturah found a little hill in an unusual spot that was quite fast through a couple of trees. She almost knocked into a tree, but managed to bounce off of it. Abishai tried it, too, and it was ok.

Socks and I made it up to the top of the hill where it was quite cold and windy as always. It was much harder to make it up here in the mud vs. with the snow and ice. But, it's the same view.

The only place with any runs was off to the north side of the hill.

And look who came out to watch us! Daddy!

Socks also looked cold up here on the mountain. And he also got into the mud like I did trying to get up the mountain. Poor boy.

Uh oh, did we go sledding or mudding? There's mud on Abishia's face! It's a good thing everything is going straight to the washing machine when we get home. I'll open the garage door and everybody will come in that way. That's one advantage of having the washing machine in the garage. Most people do have their mudrooms right off their garages though, so that works as well.

Love it!

Yup.

No joke. It's safer to bring kids to this thing than to a lot of amusement parks! It won't be that way with demonstrations around the world though.

A selfie just because Jared and I are talking again because enough was enough. I'm sure my moodiness will creep in again soon though.

 Thursday - Cleaning and Massage

- I'm writing this on Sunday after the birthday boy's party and actual birthday. I quite literally can't remember what happened on Thursday besides what I wrote, "Cleaning and Massage." No funny moments are coming to mind. I don't think Abishai did any schoolwork.  Oh yeah, I was counting his handwriting on the Valentines as homework. And his playing on his bar as gym class. I was doing all the vacuuming in the living room and the vacuum cleaner quit on me when I was in the kitchen. Then I had a massage in the afternoon. A couple of hours later I felt a lot of pain creeping in because she had really worked hard on me. I need to remember to tell her to be more gentle, although I do like it in the moment. I feel fine now though. Jared helped me put ice packs on my back right away and I think that helped tremendously. I had started supper and he helped to finish it. That was pretty much the whole day. I know he had to pick up Justin because of my massage and took him to cash his checks. Oh, and Kya came to visit. Kellie came in for a few minutes but then had to get back home to make their dinner. Jared drove Kya home and Justin drove back. Yup, that's about it. Oh and I baked Abishai's cake before sitting down to my computer so I could ice it on Friday. It was a full day. That's why I didn't write anything that day. That makes sense, right? Yup.

From a short person's perspective!

Another selfie!

Things that Abishai loves!

Abishai loves taking photos with other people's phones!

This tastes just like a Tim Horton's mocha with a raspberry shot! Oh my word! Another new favorite flavor from Kroger!

Cute babies! Nora age 2, Keturah age 3, Everly, close to age 5, Justin age 6. Yes, Keturah just texted that pink "infested" on her body. Whatever kid. Pink is a fine color on you. Get over it.

No joke! And did everyone get a 7.5% cost of living raise? No they did not! And did the maximum income level limit increase for benefits like Medicaid? Not that much I don't think. Sigh. What a nightmare!

When you can't have your typical week of homeschool, you get creative!

With a little bit of encouragement, Abishai actually did write his name about 30 times. And then we found out we needed about 25 more! So I had Keturah do the rest for him. Yikes! It's going to be quite the crowd tomorrow!

Handwriting practice today brought to you by Valentine's Day.

Absolutely true about me.

We make cute babies, don't we?

 

Friday - Shower, Cake, and Valentine's Day Party

- Finally! My turn to get clean! I've been working so hard this week, that I haven't had a chance to get myself clean! Shower day! I always feel more awake and ready to tackle the day after a shower! But I also feel chilled, so I put it off, too. Today was no exception. It took me the rest of the day to warm back up. In fact, I'm still cold and my hair is completely dry. It's a good thing I don't go rolling around in the mud in the winter and I don't sweat or stink or anything. If it wasn't for my hair that starts to feel greasy I wouldn't want to shower for a full week! But that's gross. And I'm not gross like my children who hate to bathe, so I showered. You're welcome.

- And, I was able to get that done in a timely manner, and despite feeling a bit shaky from eating too much sugar and forgetting to put collagen in my tea, I managed to frost all of Abishai's cake this morning with time to spare! Woot! Woot! I'm so glad I did because I was pretty tired when we got home from the Valentine's Day party. I did it in an unconventional way but it worked for the most part and Abishai was agreeable. Not my best creation, but I'm sure it will get eaten. I'm just glad I got it done.

- Then the boys and I left for our Valentine's Day party with what we thought was mostly going to be just our EYB gym day group. Boy were we wrong. Our lovely leaders had invited the whole county of homeschoolers! I literally didn't know 2/3 of the faces there! I overheard someone say that they had invited people from the other co op and from the Trail Life and American Heritage Girls troops and it had been posted to the Hancock County homeschoolers page. So everyone came out of the woodwork. I'm guessing because no other group in the area had decided to do a V-day party? I was sort of shocked because in Indianapolis, I had declined at least 3 other invites just so I could come to this one where our regular friends were at. I'm glad it was well attended for sure. And our fearless leader had gone all out and gotten balloons and tableclothes and crafts and coloring pages and had games ready and everything! So I made sure to tell her multiple times that I was grateful for her planning. But wowzers. It was crazy! And most of the kids were in the 5-10 yr old range. Perfect for Abishai!

- But it wasn't perfect for Abishai! He was incredibly overwhelmed! It was a newly built area of this church and there was absolutely NO carpet anywhere so everything echoed and the noise level was through the roof. We couldn't hear any conversations at all. We had a decent sized room and all for our crowd, but it was still close quarters. But even Kellie, yes that Kellie, was so overwhelmed that she went home! Abishai said that he is used to noise and crowds at church but it was too much for him today. I didn't even ask him if he was, he volunteered that information. He's such a smart kid telling me how he felt. He latched onto me and wouldn't let go. He wanted to leave immediately. He didn't want any of the sweets and didn't want to try any of the games. He barely talked to any of our regular friends. He got to give his friend Vincent the special card he saved him. And Abishai put his valentines into everyone's bags. We stayed for about 2 out of the 3 hours. I tried to walk around with him to the quieter spots. I even took him into the ladies' room with me for a little bit of relief. I tried hanging out in the food room with him but something stank like a dirty diaper and I was gagging. Someone thought it was some fried chicken. It was so gross. Justin said he didn't smell it.

- It looked like other kids were having fun though. So I guess the party was a success in some ways. I hope some of the families decide to join us at gym day now. But I have a suspicion that some of them east of Greenfield so Indianapolis would be a 45 minute drive for them and not worth it. Fun fact though: It was 5 years ago I think that we visited this group for the first time for their Valentine's Day event at the big church in Greenfield on New Rd. They would open up the group (for free, b/c at the time they were paying the church to rent the space) to outsiders for Valentine's Day. So we joined them. Then that summer, I think we did some park days. We did start going about every other week for gym day that winter. Then the following summer we made our 100% commitment. I think it was then that we switched over to the boys and girls club of Greenfield. We got through that winter just fine. And then the following winter was 2019-2020 and we got a few sessions in and Covid hit. So if it wasn't for the Valentine's Day event with EYB, we may or may not have joined up with them. So who knows, maybe some of these families will be permanent editions to our group! I hope so because our numbers have dwindled a lot lately. We need more people! Abishai needs new friends his age!

- We left the party early and it was raining a bit on the way home. But we were all glad to be home early to rest. Abishai had had his screen time earlier in the day because we didn't think he was going to have any time later. So I held him off a bit and then let him have one more additional hour of screen time so I could rest until dinner time. I had had too much caffeine, so I didn't attempt to fall asleep though. I just lay still and messed around on my phone. It was difficult to get everybody off their devices and to help with supper, again, but whatever. Then we cleaned up, went back to devices, and will try to rest up for tomorrow. Everybody showered today, including Abishai, so we are fresh and ready to decorate and throw the party.

- But first things first, the boys have Grandpa class in the morning. Fun, fun, fun!

Boyhood won't stop taking photos of mama sleeping! It's one way for him to get me to wake up quickly!

So, is this new American Convoy legit? We'll see. I joined the FB page. Jared found some things on Twitter that said it's a hoax. What he didn't know was that I was already following it from earlier in the day. And I was following it because it had been posted on the original Canadian Freedom Convoy so I figured I could trust it. Time will tell though. Americans are not as patient and friendly as Canadians. I think it will fail. I think we will have riots, just like we did with BLM two years ago. Canadians have set an incredible precedent. But I think the world won't be able to copy it because they are just not as kind as Canadians.

He insisted that he was only going to suck on his lollipop because it was in the shape of a heart. And he did! Otherwise, he just chews through them.

Well, using parchment paper did work. I was able to easily flip the cake onto my usual surface, the bigger cutting board wrapped in aluminum foil.

Partway through. I warmed up one can of frosting and drizzled that on top and it worked perfectly. Then I warmed up the second can of frosting a tad too long and it started to separate! The oils in it looked like oil or melted butter on top. It did taste fine though and I mixed it back in. It was a mess though. I had to scrap the extra off of the board before I did the borders with my piping bags and tip.

Abishai was very specific about wanting the alternating blue and white like a regular cake. However, when I opened the third can of icing, it must have had a bit of yellow dye in it because when I added the blue food coloring, it turned green! Whoops! I showed Abishai and he came to the conclusion it was ok because it matched the Grogu theme. So, not quite white and light blue, but close. Very much a handmade cake. But he's ok with it. He wanted Mommy to make it, so I did. I didn't slap it together, but I also didn't fuss too hard either. I used a pen with "edible" ink to write the words. I was so shaky from not eating well for breakfast that I had to hold my arm steady with my other hand. I left room for the candles that I have to dig out tomorrow.

Yeah for having the right kind of tip and still having new piping bags I bought in Charlottetown!

Abishai did a great job handing out his Valentine's in everyone's bags. There was quite the line up.

Oh yeah, and I got to purchase another round of Michael W. Smith tickets today. This time, it's closer than ever, just 40 mintues southwest over in Mooresville at one of our sister churches, Mt. Gilead. General admission, but I got gold circle VIP seats. I hope I got the code punched in right because they were still the normal high price. I'll be taking Kellie this time. It's not for another 3 months though. And this one is just Michael W. Smith at the piano, and maybe Jim Daneker. Lots of stories, lots of older songs. No band. Just an intimate evening with the artist. Pretty low key. I'm glad I had a reminder on my phone and I had the e-ticket place sending me a reminder because I almost forgot. Phew!

Saturday - Birthday Party Day!

- It started snowing as soon as the day got started! And I thought, oh no! Do I need to think about canceling? That's something I never had to think about with the other kids. Unless it's a thunderstorm, but even then, you just take the party inside. And I think one year, we did have to do gifts inside because it had started to sprinkle a little bit. But we always had decent weather for all the birthday parties. But, the snow did stop in time for the party. How fun that it snowed on Abishai's birthday party day!

- Birthday boy was very rambunctious today and would not sit still to save his life. It's a good thing he had to go to Grandpa's house for Bible class mid morning. I was going bananas watching him go crazy and then Socks would follow him around and then I would get confused as to what I was going to do next. Oi! Just stop it you all! I hadn't prepared a to do list because I really don't need one at this point, but I thought I might just need one because I was getting confused. I was able to take everything slowly and still had time to wait before guests arrived. So it all worked out in the end.

- As I was finishing up the tidying, I reminded myself that I wasn't just cleaning for other people, but for myself as well. I used the birthday parties as excuses to declutter and do a deeper clean so I can feel better about my house as a whole. I would love to have a clean house all the time. I know how it's done. I just can't do it all the time by myself. I even asked Jared today if he would ever get a cleaning service for me and he said no. When I asked why not, he wouldn't answer. I said, is it because you're embarrassed, and he wouldn't answer. Geez louise. I bet he is embarrassed. Better get over it. Because someday, I will get them to come in and do it for me. I'm the one who should be embarrassed. But I don't care. They only clean around the piles. I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished this week. And now I know I've touched on and cleaned a lot of different areas and hopefully things stay nice for a bit. But, I also know I just threw stuff into another room and didn't get rid of anything. I need to actually purge stuff this summer. It's time.

- Jared walked Abishai and Justin over to Grandpa's house for Bible class about 11. It was cold and snowing and I wished he would have just driven them over them, but whatever. He's the one who had to listen to them whine about it. I'm sure Grandpa gave them a ride back later.

- Everything was ready to go super early, so Abishai, Socks and I were pacing the floor and driving each other nuts. Finally the first guest arrived on time. The other two guests were a bit late.

- Abishai played the part of the host and showed them around. He had done that on these videos he had taken on Jared's phone where he had talked directly to the camera and at his friends, naming them by name! One of the videos was 8 minutes long! Now he led them around in person! In fact, one of the girls he has a crush on, so it was interesting to see if would treat her differently. He actually didn't. He played fair and everybody got along. Well, except for the two siblings that were there. They fought over a toy, but that's normal.

- Jared sat down and talked with one couple, and I had a conversation with the other mom that was there. We talked about Bible Bowl for a bit, as she is one of the coaches now. I got caught up to speed on who is in charge and who isn't anymore (let's just say the Henry's are not involved anymore, maybe because of Kenny's health and staying totally isolated). It sounded like they were homeschoolers, but they aren't. Bummers. The other couple have connections to church through other people we know, so that's why they looked familiar. It was an interesting couple of hours. To me, the conversations felt different than when I'm getting to know homeschoolers because the questions definitely are different, but I did my best.

- The kids got out some toys and played. Then we did gifts (see below). After that we sang Happy Birthday and did cake. Then it was time for the pinata and then that quickly turned into saying good bye because they all had to move onto other things. Oh wait, I forgot that they did get to spend a few minutes outside, too. Jared went with them. One set of parents switched out mom for the dad, and the dad is deaf, so of course, I couldn't communicate with him, and his daughter is shy. I felt awkward, but oh well. Again, we managed.

- And then, it was all over. Everybody had left by 4 pm. I had written on the invites 5pm. But they had things to do I guess. I wasn't disappointed by that, and neither was Abishai. That meant that he could play video games. And that meant I could clean up and have some downtime. So, that's what I did. It was an easy clean up. And as I told the kids the day before, I was officially off duty by 6pm. 

- Jared was in charge of feeding the kids and all that, and I went right on finishing the puzzle and listening to YouTube videos until 8pm. I did have to listen to Justin's nonsense on the PS4, so I was glad when I could move from the couch, but besides that. It was a quiet evening.

- Abishai seemed to have enjoyed his day well enough. I left up his decorations on the wall. And there's plenty of cake left over for breakfast the next few days. And fruit. And I put the chips back in their bags, too. Waste not, want not. Don't forget the oreos! And now we have plenty of lime green or rather e2 green napkins for another day or Star Wars themed party, lol. 

- One kid down, 3 to go for this year. Hopefully, I'll actually take Keturah and her friends somewhere. I never got around to it last year. Whoops. Next up for birthdays is Everly, then Grandpa, then Socks, then Jared. Keep them rollin'!

Filling the pinata and they managed to get ALL the candy in it. Yikes!

It started to snow!

Uh oh, Grogu's in jail!

Socks isn't sure what this creature is. What is Grogu? We still don't know his species! But this type of balloon is supposed to drag along the ground.

Woot! Woot! The sunroom looks great!

But don't be fooled, some of the toys ended up in here. And some ended up in the garage or behind my desk.

This is how the living room should always look!

Normal Saturday vibes. I wish I could be that little girl in that bed just chilling with the puppy.

Poor doggy, always having to pose for Keturah and I's funny photos. But he's so adorable!

You see, the problem with winter birthdays is that the weather is unpredictable! You can't just move the party inside. You might have to cancel it altogether if the snow is too much. Thankfully, it was just a dusting.

Meanwhile, in LA, California and perhaps other places other than Ottawa, there were Freedom Convoy rallies being held. This one kicked off a convoy that is going to head to Washington, D.C. by March. 6th. I sure do hope it's as peaceful as Canada's as been. But based on the last couple of years, I seriously doubt it will be. Americans are just too mean and violent.

The kids came and played and I talked with the adults. Three families came. Audrey, Gabriella, and Martine (boy). They had a very good time and they all go to Mrs. Leah's class at church. Abishai played the part of host and showed them where everything was. It was a pretty pleasant 2 hrs. They even got to go outside for a little bit.

Abishai got a Chick Fil A gift card, a bucket of Star Wars perler beads, and a City Lego set.

He's so big now that he can read his own birthday cards! What a difference a year makes!

Abishai opening Gifts

Time to blow out those candles that Daddy lit up with a blow torch!

It only took two blows this time!

Abishai had tortilla chips and dip, strawberries and grapes, veggie straws, and oreos for snacks this year. I convinced him to have juice pouches. He wanted A&W Root Beer for a drink but we forgot to get it out of the fridge. None of the adults ate the food. Oh well, more for us. They didn't even eat the cake, which I agree, Jared had portioned out way too big, like they were double what they should have been and the icing was way too thick. It was a slap job at best. My heart wasn't at it's best. I was very tired this year. Abishai didn't complain though.

Time for the pinata! Only a few people wanted to actually hit it. Abishai gave it a lot of great whacks. And then, Jared had him pull all the pull strings at once.

Boom! Then the candy grabbing frenzy began. I should have put the little toys in there, too. I did have some. Oh well. Some of the kids traded and it work out fine. I had leftover treat bags from years before.

Balloon Grogu and plush Grogu and Dinosaury joined Abishai on the couch after everybody left.

Abishai said, "I want to work on my Lego privately, Dad. I don't need your help." Oh really, you are all grown up now and can follow all the "constructions" yourself, eh? Well, actually, he can. He's a master builder! Plus, the set does say 7+ on it and he will be 7 tomorrow. Daddy did get to sit and watch though.

We got some simple decorations, but they are pretty cute and reusable.

You can switch out the number on the banner, so maybe we will have to bring this out for Daddy's birthday and put 43rd on it.

Does anyone else get very tired of listening to a teenager play video games? I was trying to finish my puzzle and man oh man, my IQ was dropping by the minute. I mean, the staccato sentences that are never finished, the repetitive names and phrases, the accusations, the cackling, the anger, I can't handle it! I was actually getting madder by the minute and I was getting cold because I had to stretch out my legs because they were hurting and I took off my blanket. I just wanted to finish the puzzle and move on. And it was upsetting me that I've tried so hard to bring up accomplished kids and this is the result I've gotten so far. Normal, average, dumb sounding teens. Grow up. Do something phenomenal. Care about something that 95% of other kids don't care about but is extremely mature of you to care about. Grow up and out of this dumbness. I don't tolerate dumbness like this very well. And I didn't tolerate it when I was a teen either. Jared wasn't this way when I met him. And his friends weren't really either. They were 18-19 by then, but still, they weren't this odd. It drives me insane. I hope he grows out of it. He takes speech next semester, hopefully from someone, so I hope that helps get him to where he needs to be. I hate for him to miss his potential because he's played too many video games. Sigh.

Teen Gaming Nonsense Part 1

Teen Gaming Nonsense Part 2

This is like two memes smashed into one. First, it's because police have been taking away gas cans from the truckers at the Freedom Convoy and second, I found out that gas is $7 a gallon in Canada. It takes $120 to fill a gas tank up there for a regular car or van. Ouch! Give Send Go is another organization like Go Fund Me, it's supposedly a Christian organization, but now it's been shut down, too. Ugh.

Over 20 years in the sport, and Shaun White has taken his last bow at an Olympics games. He's the red curly haired dude that took the half pipe of the X games from the '90's to the skiing slopes and somehow made it popular enough to make it an official Olympic sport. Mind you, no other X-game type sport is an Olympic sport. You won't hear about skateboarders doing their ollies and 540's and 1070's in the summer Olympics. But Shaun White has been in 5 Olympic Games and we have been witnesses to them all. His sports career has spanned our marriage. He's only a year or two older than Jared maybe. And he is by far one of the nicest athletes out there. No scandals, loves the sports, is married with kids now, gives back to the sport, cool hair, gives it his all even at this age, knew when his time was up and is ready for the young kids to pass him, etc. His name is still going to be splashed across the sport for the next 40 years training the next generations. He didn't quite have the best runs and landed in 4th. But he didn't grumble or pout. He stood in long lines talking to every reporter at length, telling the same stories over and over. And then he knelt in the snow and wept because he loves his sport and his fans, his successes and his failures. He went out with integrity and vulnerability. He didn't let ego get to him. He has this huge smile, too. He was always one of my favorites for the obvious reasons, x-games, curly hair, red hair, smile, long hair, usually white snow outfit, lots of hair, half pipe event, electrifying smile, oh yes, the hair. He is the father of snowboarding halfpipe. Sweet, sweet guy. Happy retirement, Shaun White!

Either these puzzles are too easy for me or I just have this strategy or something. Here's another one done in like 4 hrs maybe. Don't worry, I have some 1,000 piece ones I need to do. These do have a lot of colors and different hues that are easy to spot especially when you're using the box. I used my Grampa Koski's tray again. I need to put away this one and the one underneath now so I can start another one. I'm determined to keep working on them until we've opened up all the new ones. It keeps me off my phone games while I listen to podcasts or Bible or something. It helps to rest my eyes from the screen itself. It is soothing and connects me both to my Grampa that I never met and to my Gramma Koski who did puzzles during the week between our visits. This one is definitely a gorgeous one!

Jared's tweet about Abishai saying he needed to do his Lego set "privately."

Sunday - Abishai's 7th Birthday!!!!!

- He went to bed as a 6 yr old and woke up as a 7 yr old! Woot! Woot! And no, nobody set an alarm for 5:25am. At least I didn't. Daddy tried to wake up early enough to make bacon and eggy toast but he didn't get up quite on time and they were late to church! Whoops! I had to clean up the kitchen for them after they left. I turned on the first service and got to work.

- Yeah, the kitchen was a disaster with grease still on the utensils that were supposed to have been washed by the dishwasher and then someone put in a dirty dish and it dripped on the clean utensils. Ghee whiz! So I carried the church service playing on the tablet around with me as I cleaned up, got my breakfast, filled my pill tray, and got dressed. Pastor Dan preached a great, affirming sermon on using the resources God has given you for God's glory and the Kingdom's gain rather than your own. So, financial, intelligence, relational, whatever. Like determining what you need to live on, still working hard, and donating the rest. Or like for me, God's given me intelligence and my life experiences to be in the position of regional rep  and be the liaison and freedom fighter for homeschoolers. I'm using my resources just like someone else is using their financial resources to fund say a church building project or something else. That's why it is so demeaning to me for anyone to be against what I do. It's the first time in my that I feel like I'm finally fully giving back after 30 years of receiving and absorbing wisdom and encouragement from so many people, articles, blogs, emails, phone calls, and in person conversations. And the best part is that I don't have to go there and recruit people. They come to me, open and willing to listen. I don't have to market myself. I'm open and willing and they just come. I'm happy and content in God's will. Don't mess with it. The question is, if I was using my intelligence to be involved with an organization on a different topic in a different way, would I be seen as someone more acceptable by certain people? Perhaps. But I wasn't created by God for something else. This is my Esther moment. I know it in my core. Everything has lead to now. I can pinpoint every step. And I cannot let Satan working through other people get in the way of that.  I won't.

- Which brings me back to today, back to my world, back to my babies. And the end of this crazy week of cleaning and preaparing for a birthday party with new friends. People I don't know. People I might meet up with again. We'll see. But tomorrow, we are back on track with our homeschooling lifestyle. It's a very average week. I have a couple of zoom mtgs on Wednesday. Otherwise it's our normal activities. I can get back to just being the teacher of the great stuff. Imparting knowledge to my babies. Catching up with Keturah and Justin and seeing what they've been learning. I love how they can learn on their own. It's such a relief for me. But I'm also seriously jealous. I want to be learning what they are learning. I want to read the science textbooks by Dr. Jay Wile. I want to do Pre-Algebra and Algebra 2. I want to read books about Billy Graham and Creation. It would all bring me back to my high school days sitting in my bed in the peace and quiet and learning to my heart's content with my dogs taking a nap beside me. Ah, that was the lap of luxury without a care in the world. I just want to "play" like that again. Or craft or do puzzles like I did last night. So I look forward to this week where I can step back and breathe and be a hermit with them doing life with them. With my newly minted 7 yr old who really needed more of me last week than he got. With my 13 yr old who is listening more and more and trying to step in and help without being asked to. And with my 16 yr old who is itching for some independence but needs some basic skills before we can release him.

- Oh, and I will start really giving and throwing things away this week. It might be a slow start, but after just shoving things into the boys' room for the party, I felt bad. We have too much stuff. We don't need to move it from one room to the next to make our house look better. We need to actually get rid of it. So, I'm starting that process with the bathroom now that the shelves are in. I'm just doing under the sink and the box behind my desk. The closet was thoroughly done a few years ago and I am currently happy with it still. After the bathroom, I'm going to tackle the sunroom toys and extra toys in the boys room. I can do the garage yet because it's cold, but if it warms up, I'll at least put the Christmas stuff back properly. We will see what's next after that. My desk stuff properly. I haven't touched that since we moved.

- Ok, enough about me. What about Abishai's 7th birthday! Ok, since I didn't go to church, I spent my time journaling. Abishai said that 1st hr sang to him and both hours had tons of kids today. Then we had dinner at Grandma's as usual. I said I was going to Grandma's house and the dog immediately stood up straight and cocked his head so I said, ok, fine, you can go to. And Socks basically pranced until we left. I figured since we hadn't vacuumed the car since we went sledding, so what's a little more dog hair? I didn't even bring the leash. Socks ran straight out to the car, he was so excited. And when he got out at Grandma's house, he went straight up to the porch. No one was home yet, so I had to open the garage door. When I did, it had barely opened, and Socks squeezed himself under it like he had done it a million times before. Maybe he has, I don't know. It's so sweet that he really understands about Grandma's house and the routine. I'm glad he's not senile and hasn't lost any of his senses. What a beautiful thing that God has kept all of that together for us. I was afraid that we were going to have to deal with him losing those functions one by one. I much prefer it this way when he can still function normally. I've watched way too many dog videos of older dogs with bad teeth, loss of hearing or eyesight, or ability to control their bowels and bladders, and it's just not fun. But my puppy, he's all there in his right mind (most of the time, lol!). He just is slower to move a bit because of those old joints. And we have to watch his ticker. What a blessing financially that he hasn't had major issues, too. Another big worry of mine. I love having a happy, healthy dog!

- Lunch was brats, pork steak, bacon, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, some raw vegetables, and Texas sheet cake for dessert (which doubled as a dessert for Gary and Leah's Super Bowl party tonight). Everybody got back a little late from church, and then Gary and Justin had to be back at church for stuff at 2pm, so dinner felt a little rushed. Abishai got Star Wars Uno cards and City police Legos. Woot! Woot! More Legos!  And then, Gary told Benaiah to go to the garage because there was a special surprise in there that was a birthday present for all the kids for the year on top of paying for their summer camps. So we all put our shoes on and go outside.

- And out comes Benaiah, on Justin's motorbike! It was finally fixed! It was hilarious! 240lb Benaiah and this tiny motorbike! Zipping up and down the road! In the SNOW! Because it had started snowing again! Lol! Gary said Benaiah's been zipping that thing up and down the road when he needs to clear his head before doing his homework. Ok, well then. And then, I walked inside because I thought Benaiah was putting it back inside. Not a minute later, I heard Leah scream a little. Jared had taken the bike for a spin and well, I guess he had done a wheelie by accident and the bike flew out from under him and he fell on his back on top of snowbank. Sigh. Dude. You won't do certain things at home because you're afraid you are going to mess up your back because the doctor said no more twisting. And then on a whim you go out on a motorbike?! What were you thinking! Men! So, really, no one is supposed to be riding it without a helmet. And yes, it was snowing. And, I hope Grandpa doesn't think it's coming home with us right now because our garage is beyond full and spring cleaning can't happen until well, spring. Yup. Spring. Sorry. It's no way Jose'. Take the kids to get a helmet or two first or something. It's staying in your garage for now. Stop passing off stuff to us, especially since we just had Christmas and I still haven't found a place for all the new things. Don't complain about how full our house is when at least half of the stuff was yours or you gave it to us. And now you expect us to somehow get rid of it? Yeah, don't know how you expect me to do that. But anyway. I don't think Jared was able to get it into the van anyway, so I hope that how we left it for now. Sigh. So there's that.

- Gary took Justin to church because Justin's youth group time became a fun time with dodgeball and pizza because the Super Bowl is tonight. Yes, it's a week late. I have no idea why. But it shouldn't be the day before Valentine's Day. And, I get super annoyed when youth group gets interrupted by stupid American "traditions" like this. Studying God's word together shouldn't be trumped by this awful event where billions of dollars are spent watching grown men fighting over a ball. I really hate professional sports. As I get older, and I watch and read about the realities of the World, I get more and more upset about these things. How Americans can turn a blind eye to the atrocities of the rest of the world is astounding. I cannot stand around eating chips and dip while I know that my friends' boys that they are adopting are under threat of being conscripted into the Ukrainian army because Russians are about to invade their country. How athletes are competing at the Olympics and the Chinese are using tactics to disqualify other athletes, never mind the every day inhumane was the CCP treats their citizens. How truckers are sleeping in their cabs in Ottawa protesting mask and vaccine mandates. How in a couple of weeks, American truckers will make their way to Washington, D.C. and I just know in my heart of hearts that it won't be a peaceful protest like in Canada. I cannot and will not go to Super Bowl party ever again. I don't know if I can even go and watch a professional sports game again. I understand the reason behind the once a year or every 4 years original Olympic games in Greece. Or at an annual festival. It was a break from the hard labor of being a farmer or skilled worker in ancient or medieval times. Ok, maybe even in medieval times you had the jousts and all that. But the rest of the time, they had real jobs. It wasn't a whole industry. If we put all that money and talent into other industries, where would the world be today? How many more cancers could be cured? How many issues could have been resolved? Could education be overhauled by now? Could we have prevented the dumbing down of America? But the Devil has used things like pro sports (I'm not just picking on pro sports, there's so many other dumb hobbies out there), to distract us from what is right and good and what will advance God's Kingdom. I'm sorry. I just don't get it.

- I also cannot stand the inconsistency in the schedule of youth group and small groups. We are on for 3 weeks and then some thing comes up like a school break or the Super Bowl or a holiday and then we don't have it. I miss good old fashioned K-12 Sunday School. Something that met 52 weeks of the year. Our homeschool park day/gym day is more consistent than their youth group/small groups have been. We might change the time or location slightly, but it's rare that we call it off altogether and if we do, it's last minute. We don't care if it's only 2 people or 50 people. It shouldn't matter. If we talk about our small groups or life groups being so important, than we have to make them a priority. Why aren't we showing that to the kids? How can they make relationships if they aren't consistently meeting? Oh wait, these kids see each other at school. See, my kids don't see them at school. So this works for FC students only, excluding the rest of the us, again. Got it. My bad. Back to my hidey hole with my homeschool friends I go. Youth group will be what it is I guess. Maybe I should have Keturah try something different next year and see. I don't think she's getting enough and I think Justin is a bit lost in the shuffle. All his friends left right after the dodgeball tournament at 3:30. And he wasn't invited over to anyone's house. He says he's not bothered by it. I would be severely bothered by it. I don't think my friends care about football so I didn't expect an invite today. And we aren't in a small group, so no invite there. And I just found out that Jim invited us to their house like last year and I certainly don't want to do that because of reasons stated above. I'll enjoy my alone time to keep up. I would think about going to one of my friends' homes if they invited me. But really, it would be surprising if they did anything. So, moving on.

- Everybody is home, it started snowing again. Electronic time for some, napping for Jared as always. Although he didn't do much this week or weekend. I hope his back isn't going to be painful all week. I'm not in the mood to deal with him and that, especially when I'm not feeling very sympathetic. I have work to do. He can handle the kids the rest of the day. I need to set us up for the week. And find time to have a Kellie date. Oh yeah, and Abishai goes to the big boy karate class tomorrow night, so we'll do nothing for Valentine's Day. And honestly, again, I really, really don't care at this point. I need to just do my thing this week and don't bother me or disagree with me. I want to enjoy my 7 yr old and teach him. That's all I want for Valentine's Day. I have some treats to share. But I feel like we've had so much sugar lately, too. Well, they have. I can't eat Abishai's cake or the Texas sheet cake. So I need some chocolate. And some sleep. But first I work.

- Ok, it is Abishai's birthday. And I usually talk about him and his antics to everybody and on the blog and online all the time, so what can I say that is different?

Abishai is:

A - Adorable - I mean, have you seen his smile? those eyes? You can't say no to him!

B - A Beautiful Soul - He just knows what's going on deep down inside himself and others

I - Independent - He did his whole new Lego set by himself including the stickers in 1 hr

S - Sweet - with lots of hugs and kisses

H - Hungry - put very picky when it comes to food

A - Angry - his emotions can be very extreme at times

I - Intuitive - he puts concepts together very quickly; his brain is always working in overdrive

Bacon, eggy toast, and root beer for breakfast!

I found this button when I was getting the candles out yesterday, but he refused to wear it. I think I got it for Justin 10 years ago. I didn't get a button for them for every birthday, so I think I only have this one and maybe a generic one for Keturah, so I'm disappointed he didn't want to. But I think he didn't want the extra attention drawn to himself. But his tag at church did say it was his birthday today and they sang to him during the 1st hr. They didn't have time for it 2nd hr.

Biggest boy and his dog. Hard to believe that Benaiah was only 8 when we got Socks. Wait a minute! 8? Yeah, I did the math right. Benaiah was just one year older than Abishai. That's crazy talk! Granted Benaiah was a bit taller and bulkier. But still. 12 years ago, in this very kitchen, June 2010. Benaiah thought the dog was for his birthday. But in reality, it just happened to be the day after his birthday party. We didn't want to bring Socks home and then have a birthday party and scare the poor little dude or let him be a distraction away from Benaiah and his day. That's how I think. I want my kids to be the center of attention because I didn't get to be most of the time. Now I've got an almost 20 year old and an almost 12 year old geriatric dog. Crazy talk. Oh, and Benaiah and Ava did go to Winterjam for a bit. They only stayed for a few artists though.

Grandpa got out the candles and didn't count right! He had to add another one! And then he called him Benaiah. Um, wrong again. But that's what happens when you've got multiple grandkids and you're busy.

Wait a minute, what in the world is this? As Grandpa said, a maxi person on a mini bike! Justin's bike was finally finished so Grandpa gave it to the grandkids for all their birthdays. Benaiah's been riding it up and down the street to "clear his head" while studying his homework. Boy, are you sure the tires won't pop? Boy, where's your helmet? Boy, you're hilarious!

He's having the time of his life, can you tell? His dimples are showing! Cutie patootie! And then Jared got on it, too. But man, Benaiah and Jared are built way different now. I didn't get a photo, but Jared is a lot skinnier than he used to be. I mean, I guess there's a good 50 lbs difference between the two, but I didn't really think about it until now. Jared got on the bike and I could tell. Poor Jared did a wheelie by accident and the bike flew out in front of him. He landed on his back on a snowbank. Sigh. Men are dumb. He spent the afternoon sleeping under his heating pad to prevent the inflammation from getting too bad. But he's going to be really sore. I didn't see the accident thank goodness, but everyone said it was quite comical yet scary. Jared cracked a smile, too. I don't have room for this in the garage right now, so we left it at Gary and Leah's. Not supposed to ride in the snow anyway. I wonder if Justin is allowed to ride it to his place of work or not. Hm,...might come in handy in the summer! We need helmets though. Oh, and the real presents for the kids of course are summer camps. Registration opens this Wednesday.

Grandma and Grandpa got Abishai more Lego and some Star Wars Uno cards. Of course he started on the Lego right away. Daddy went to take a nap so he didn't get to help Abishai at all, not even on the stickers! Abishai completed his set in 1 hr! And put the stickers on all by himself! Yes, they are crooked, but who cares. He's a master builder! Oh and he brought out all those stuffed animals this morning so he could be surrounded by his friends. I propped them up to watch him build. Too sweet!

I guess I didn't put an alarm on this countdown or didn't see it go off. But I did have a countdown for Abishai's birthday time.

Grandpa took Justin with him to church because he had a Zoom call with church at the same time Justin had a youth group hang out time. They didn't have Crave because it was Super Bowl Sunday. It's kind of cool but also creepy that GPS can pinpoint where they are in the building. Earlier today, I saw that Justin was over in the KP wing.

Abishai's friends included Dinosaury, Doughnutty, Grogu, and Foxy.

It's snowing again!

Well, this was unexpected. Someone has organized a Freedom Convoy right here in Indiana! I hadn't thought about if I would attend one if it came close to me because we don't have a mask or vaccine mandate here in the state. We might have one for nurses and doctors still. And I don't know where we stand with schools, but I think it's up to the district, not a state wide thing. And I don't know if we are still in a state wide emergency. So, yeah, I don't know if I'd go to one if it was downtown. If I do, I'd go with a friend, no kids. I don't trust other American people to be peaceful. Evansville isn't far I guess. And I should put my body where my fingers are. Hm, I might have to rethink this. Hm,....

Daddy gave Abishai even MORE Legos. This time, it was Hot Wheels MegaStructs brand. Oh boy!

I actually feel like I remember this. Or I remember it because someone brings it up on social media every single year. I love the Peanuts gang though. Charlie Brown is my favorite. I identify with him a lot.

I actually don't watch his live videos because they were too long and too right wing for me, but I might go back to them since I've been watching more Fox News lately. But these are the same sentiments I've been feeling this afternoon. I'm glad I'm not alone.

The End