Year 3, January 1-2, 2018: New Things

Happy New Year!  Time to change things up a bit here on the blog!  I will type up this post as normal to finish up our trip to New Orleans, but after that, I'm going to try to come up with a way to still tell stories without it being so burdensome when I take 300 pictures of a single event, lol.  I know I didn't post every day last year, and I often combined the days.  I'm not going to label them by day number, but by date, so I can keep track more easily.  I know I can't just do one picture a day or something like others do, but it's time to simplify.

That being said, let's talk about New Year's Day. We had planned to leave at 9, but some of us slept in a little bit longer than we had planned.  So, we left about 10:15 am from New Orleans (central time) and drove into our driveway at around 2 am (our time).  Yes, we did it in 13 hrs including a longer stop for lunch and dinner!  Sweet!  It was hard on me physically, and I'm still recovering, but I'm glad we did it all in one day.  No one got sick this time.  But we were all freezing, especially those in the way back.  The temperatures were dropping the further north we went, and the heat was lukewarm before it got to the back.  The windchill was below zero when we stepped out of the van when we got home.  I am thankful I got the bench seat with Abishai right behind the front captain chairs because it let me lay down a little bit, plus I could comfort Abishai when he was restless.  He was quite the trooper.  He didn't have any electronics and not really any toys to play with either.  He took a nap both in the morning and in the afternoon because this little guy stayed up until 1 am for New Year's Eve!  Yes, my almost 3 years old stayed up to see the New Year when his big sister crashed about 10:30pm!  He also went back to sleep approximately the same time as he would have at home from the night.  Everybody else napped off and on, too.

I listened to podcasts and played my phone games and slept and tried to read a bit.  But the light faded fast at about 5 pm.  We stopped at Chick Fil A in Alabama for lunch and Cracker Barrel in Tennessee for a late dinner.  When we got home, I had a second burst of energy and it took a lot of will power to stop me from putting everything away right then and there.  But I didn't because it was 2:30am when we all got to sleep.  We slept in the next day until after 9.  I busted a move to get everything put away and everyone pitched in to help.  Jared had to clear the driveway a bit before he could get out to go to work.  I tried taking it slow, but you know me, once I start something, I want to keep going, so I did.  But my energy tanked by Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 2nd.  I wanted to nap, but didn't because the rooms at the end of the house are freezing!  The furnace is working over time, but with temps in the single digits, it's hard to keep an older house heated.  Abishai napped fine though.

Oh my goodness, that reminds me.  Abishai was sad to say good bye to his Nora, but just a few minutes down the road he started talking about seeing his Socks.  Everything is "my" whateverness, like he owns it all.  I know it's not a selfish thing, but just him associating and finding comfort in the people, animals, and things that near and dear to him.  He was super excited to have "his" doggy sleep in his bed with him and keep him warm.  Socks was of course excited to have his family home, too.  I managed to cook a decent supper of BBQ chicken and baked potatoes.  I had stocked up just enough before leaving that I wouldn't have to go to the store right when we got home.  Gary and Leah went out to the store, so they bought us some milk and bananas so we wouldn't have to drive on the snow covered side streets and/or be out in the bitter cold. Jared went to work, like I said, we don't have to go out until Wednesday for gymnastics and Bible Bowl when our schedule starts to look more like normal.

The US is in a polar vortex, so the further north we went, the colder it got.  This temperature doesn't seem so bad, but I'm sure the Missippians think it's the polar ice cap.

Uh oh, we are going to freeze!  I don't have my extra woolies with me, but I'll be fine once I get home.

Prince Edward Island was relatively warmer than Indiana!

Morning nap time!

Sleepy men.

Sleepy kids.  Well, not Keturah because she didn't stay up until midnight last night.

Bright green car for Justin!

Have we been to this Chick Fil A in Mississippi before?  Maybe!  Maybe on the way to the condo in Florida?  Or on the way home from there?  I think we did go over to NOLA after that vacation in 2011/2012 now that I think about it.  Not sure though and if we did, we didn't stay there long.

Yeah, Chick Fil A!  Where I can get a gluten free bun for an extra $1 and actually eat a sandwhich and not have to eat the sandwhich in pieces.  Yum! I always get the grilled chicken with honey roasted mustard sauce.

How weird can I look for the camera? - Keturah thought.

I think he's comfortable.  He didn't want more blankets and since we were closer to the front, he seemed warm enough.

The supermoon!

Beautiful!

Not worth $30, but this could easily be a present for Justin, who loves pancakes (and did order them tonight) and smiley faces!

I haven't been in Cracker Barrel since we moved back from Canada.  I can't eat the meatloaf or gravy or pancakes, so why bother?  So, Abishai hadn't been there yet.  But the service was great and the food came out quick (it was 7pm).  We stopped in Tennessee.

Real fire in the background!

Dorkfest!

Not feeling so great.  He didn't eat much and we almost thought he might throw up.  I"m so glad he didn't!

I try to eat new things when I'm eating out, and since I knew I couldn't eat much on the menu, this is what I tried.  It was cooked beans, collard greens with ham, an onion to add, and some pickle relish (not sweet pickle relish like you put on hot dogs and hamburgers).  Weird combination but since it was on the menu, it must be a thing people in the south eat.  And yes, once I put it altogether, it was super yummy!  On their own, beans and collard greens are pretty plain, but add just a couple of other things, and bam, YUM!

This is the kid portion of pancakes.  Wow!  He didn't want a booster seat, and he now insists on using big forks and knives (Jared cut it up though).  Big boy!

Wow!  This is way cool!  Cracker Barrel is known not only for their home cooked comfort food, but their general store!  Not quite the soda shop in downtown Indy, but a very decent selection!

Downtown Nashville with the Bruce Wayne tower.

Um, you know it's super cold when the heat of your breathe freezes on the windows (or was it on the outside?).  Say what?!  Yes, super cold!

I've never seen this!  But I don't think I've traveled in a 15 passenger van in the dead of winter for 13 hrs.

The aftermath of traveling.  I had to pull myself away from putting it all away at 2am.

Midnight snack.  Abishai just wanted his animal crackers.  He hadn't had any all week long.  Plus he hadn't eaten much dinner.  2am snack, sorry, not midnight, lol.  And surprisingly, he didn't ask for or touch the candy (and still hasn't, several days later).

Owie! I was turning off the stove and put my arm right in the way of the open spout of the tea kettle when it was boiling.  It stung for a couple of hours.  But I immediately put some oils on it to calm down the pain the best I could.  And I can happily say 2 days later that 90% gone and it didn't blister. It still hurts a tiny bit if I bump into it or push my sleeve up or down.

Bitter cold, but glorious sunset bouncing off of the snow!  Snow over is so much better than dead grass!

Gorgeous!

Aww, my snow doggy is happy to be out and playing!  He keeps begging to go outside!  I am a little fearful to leave him out too long because a friend's older dog almost became immobile after 90 seconds.  Plus, it's against the law to leave them out too long when it's 20 degrees or below.  But I think my neighbors can all attest that we don't leave him out for more than 15-30 minutes during the warmer weather, and no more than 15 minutes in this cold.  And we never leave him out if we aren't home.  Happy doggy to have his people back, too!  And Abishai gladly shares his bed with Socks every night, and therefore, doesn't need any other blankets, even when those rooms can get down to 65 degrees.

Cooking up a pumpkin to have a fresh vegetable to eat.  Although, no one else but me eats it.  I put butter and pumpkin pie spice on it and it tastes a bit like a pumpkin pie!  I didn't puree it, but smashed it up a bit.  These pumpkins are still good and we bought them in October!

Back to New Year's Day and a few last pictures with the J4.  Keturah is admiring a pony set that Everly and Nora got from a family in Indiana.  Abishai found Everly's Barbie car.  Benaiah is lounging as usual.

Awww, Barbie car time!

One last time to hang out in Nora's bunk bed.  Justin slept all week on her bottom bunk.  She's usually not that comfortable with anyone sleeping in her room, but I think she allowed Justin because she knows him well.  And she knew that he keeps his things fairly neat.  Her room is immaculate!  Everly is messy like Keturah is messy - somewhat organized, but not really, so I'm glad they shared a room all week, too.  Prefect!

Time to chase the biggest cousin and pounce on him!

Nora in her unicorn suit going after Benaiah.

Last minute hugs!

Last minute whispers.

Prepping snacks for the road.  Abishai got the engine from the gingerbread train.

We love wrestling Benaiah because all he does is laugh!

Uncle Aaron getting in on the action.

Ugh! Way to go Nora!

Lol!  Benaiah easily picked up Nora!

Aw, hugs!

More hugs and last laughs.

Aww, last hugs with his Noree!

Not planned at all!  I have one, too, but didn't bring it.  Jared brought all his New Orleans t-shirts to wear.  Why doesn't he wear them all year?  Well, he could, but he has literally 3 dozen t-shirts and it's hard to rotate through them all.

Ready, set,....

Lol, say what?! Chest bumps!? Since when?! You know your boys are mature when...they get along like this after many, many years of fighting when they were kids.

This little girl waited outside in just her unicorn pj's while I got myself settled.

Then she chased the van down the road until she couldn't keep up.  So sweet!  I think the girls both did this when we came through here on the way to the airport after the cruise.

All set with his candy at hand.

Alabama

Yeah, Huntsville!

The Appalachian Mountains (or hills near them)!  Point is, evelations and valleys!

Watching my favorite bloggers that live in Huntsville while we pass through the town.  I burned some data doing it, but it made me feel like I connected with them.  Next time I do a solo trip (which is never) or a road trip where we stop at friends' houses, I am so meeting up with this sweet couple at their favorite shop, Honest Coffee!  Hey, Randy and Anna Anderson!

The girls that watch Socks got him a gift!  Check out these massive bowls!  I'm kind of glad they did this because he might not want to reach with his head so much as he gets older.  Plus that big lip around the bowls will keep the food that he drops from rolling across the floor.  Poor Socks has looser lips than he used to.  Or, he is spitting out the bits he doesn't like.  So, we are switching up his food this month to see if that's the case.

Snow!

Still recovering from sleep deprivation by watching Cars 3 together!  Cute show, great morals and themes, but as sequels go, it's not as good as the first one.  I'm sure it will grow on me though, and he's now asking to watch it everyday.