Year 3, December 10th-13th, 2018: Who? What? When? Where?

Today was a very lethargic day for me, and it was very hard to get moving.  But I had an appointment to go to and errands to run, like buying dog food since we ran out of dry dog food the day before and he was getting canned dog food we had purchased months ago.  Whoops.  The cold weather and change in medication isn't helping me.  Therefore, we didn't do anything terrible exciting on Monday, but hope to make up for it on Tuesday.  The kids did a litle bit of schoolwork and played with Everly and Nora over at Grandma's house while I was away.  Quiet evening at home, all snug and cozy.  I have a long of "could do's" but nothing terribly pressing so I'm unmotivated.  I'm just as emotionally, no, scratch that, I'm not "just as" but I am a bit emotionally run down like Shauna and family but for very different reasons.  But that's the season we are in right now, and no, not the Christmas season, although occasionally I feel that way around Christmastime.  Our Christmastimes aren't nearly as busy as others because we have less holiday parties to go, less people to buy for, and I try to plan ahead.  I have my "must do every year" and "most likely do most years" and "wouldn't it be fun if we could try doing this this year?" lists.  I'm just not quite in the mood to celebrate Christmas this year, or put forth much effort since it will just be Gary, Leah and us, and we are together all the time anyway, so it's not much different.  It's just been hard to get into the holiday spirit, despite trying to do all the fun things with the girls.  And now that time has come to an end, and I'm grieving the things we didn't do instead of what we did get to do.  Weird?  Maybe, and I'm sure I will be glad for the routine of things again.  And I'm sure God wanted the kids and I to have this interruption because otherwise, I tend to be the mean teacher that doesn't give many breaks.  I think we'll stay pretty low key and get our footing back in the next few weeks, and then start back into almost full school the day after Christmas.  We won't have anything else to do anyway.  But first, my brain has to unfog itself so I can think straight and that won't happen until I get my meds sorted out again.  So, lots of emotions, lots of people time, lots of exhaustion, and lots of "out of routine" moments.  But it's nearly over and we'll all recover soon enough.  Sigh.

Abishai asked Nora if she would play with her, and she refused to because they were going to be play Minecraft.  We brought the PS4 to Grandma's house for that purpose.  Then Abishai asked Everly to play, but she only played for a few minutes.  He eventually joined them on Minecraft and laughed menacingly when he started carving out a path and destroying stuff way off in the corner of their map/world.  Oi!

Bwahahahahahaha!

Justin came home with a headache, and then asked for Socks to come give him a hug in the bathroom.  Socks doesn't normally go in the bathroom so we had to coax him in.  But yes, he will guard you if you are in a place you normally aren't.  Like when I lay down on the couch today to rest, he came right over and laid down on the floor next to him.  Justin likes to be in the bathroom near the toilet in case he pukes because of his headache/migraine.  Keturah also had a headache today.  My headache was very tiny and on the sides of my head, instead of my typical tension eyebrow headache I've had lately.  Stress, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, poor hydration, weird schedules, and change in weather all contributed to these.

Tuesday I didn't take my Zoloft because I wanted to have a bit more energy to tackle the holiday baking.  Holiday baking for me is just cherry winks and cranberry bread.  Some years I've done more, but for me, those are our staples.  The kids were very excited about making the cherry winks today, showing Everly and Nora how to do it.  And when I pulled out the last half loaf of cranberry bread from last year, they gobbled it up!  That makes my heart happy because these are Howell traditions that I have done for years and years.  I had to push aside any notion of school or other projects so we could do these today with the girls before they head home to New Orleans probably this weekend.  The cookies went together quickly because I had so much help!  Yeah!  I made the cranberry bread by myself, but that's not as labor intensive overall.  You still have to cut up the cranberries, which took some time, but I caught up and watched YouTube videos while I cut them.  I'll explain the process of the cherry wink cookies in the pictures below.

We had lunch together, they played Minecraft, and then Aaron and Shauna picked up the girls so they could get ready for the visitation tonight.   We also went to the visitation for about an hour and then I taught my Tuesday piano lesson.  Leftovers for supper and bedtime.  I'm still adjusting to the medication and it's been rough in ways I didn't expect.  But Jared and I talked about it, I cried, and then felt better.  Getting through the baking today, difficult as it was, gave me a boost of confidence.  I was a bit dizzy and exhausted afterwards though.  I also finished our application for Obamacare and hopefully got that situated for next year.  So I had two major accomplishments for the day.  School will wait until the girls go home.  Nancy's funeral is tomorrow, and then we have a crap ton of places to be in the evening. Three socially active kids means 3 different places to be at almost the same exact times!  Craziness!  It's a good thing all the activities are less than a mile away, too!  Phew!  Onward and upward!

Bwahahahaha!

Cherry wink making time!

We love cherries!  And thankfully, he put more cherries on the cookies than in his mouth!

They are going to release doves tomorrow at Nancy's funeral, 3 represent the trinity and 1 represents Nancy for a total of 4.  Very sweet.

Jared's been getting teacher gifts at school.  So today was the "sixth day" and the teacher's all got their favorite drinks.  Except this is sweet tea and Jared only drinks unsweetened tea.  He's also gotten a candle and wrapping paper!  He hasn't brought all his goodies home, so I don't know what else he's gotten for the other 3 days.  But how thoughtful!

Wednesday, funeral day.

The kid play room at the funeral home was awesome!  What a great idea!  And there was a door with glass windows, so you could still see in but keep the noise from escaping.  Justin ended up staying in the room with Abishai during the funeral.  The girls sang with their older cousin, Shauna, and her two sisters, and Keturah wanted to hear that, so she stayed with me.  No, I didn't get the kids super dressed up, I just didn't want to take the time to find a dress for Keturah.  It just wasn't worth the fight.  I had one of my better Sunday outfits on though.  And halfway through the Celebration of Life service, I looked over and saw Keturah wearing her Santa hat.  Whoops!  That girl puts that Santa on when we get it out of the box and wears it everywhere during December.  I think Nancy would have laughed at it.  I'm no longer embarrassed about these kinds of things.  I do my best and move on.

They had a bunch of fisher price toys in the playroom including this awesome race track that tranforms!  Here it is in one position.

And with the flick of a button, it's a different structure!  How cool! 

Here are the girls singing.  I did get it their song on video.  It was Nancy's favorite hymn.  Stasia led it and what a strong voice she has!  The service was pretty basic with some words shared from those who couldn't be there, a few words by family members, and Gary's sermon that I've heard a couple of other times this year.  I told him that he should prerecord it for his funeral because no one says it like he does, his whole "surrounded by family and friends" and "surrendered to Jesus."  And as typical for this family, they didn't start on time because Shauna's sister Satora had a wardrobe malfunction.  These guys are just a little slower or late than the rest of us, which isn't wrong, but it's just a characteristic we have to work with.  It's still hard to believe that Shauna's mom is gone.  From cancer diagnosis to death was 5 weeks.  Wow.  And there was always a relative with her the whole time.  They didn't leave her side.  That says something about their family.  Beautiful.

Girls Singing at Funeral

Then we went back to the church for the funeral dinner while they went to the graveside.  I ended up going to the school to pick up Benaiah and bringing him back to church just as the dinner was finishing.  I left Grandma in charge of the kids because Jared was following me in his car so he could teach.  Meanwhile, Abishai helped fix Grandpa's desk. 

Run, run, run!  Just don't be too loud! We did got home for a little bit before we had to take Keturah to basketball and then bring Justin back to church for Bible Bowl. Benaiah stayed at church the whole time.  Phew! Big day!

Abishai was playing the "lava" game where the carpet was lava and he had to jump from table to table to chair to couch and not touch the lava.  Oh boy!  As I took this picture, he had literally jumped from the piano bench to the coffee table.  Eek!

Don't touch the floor!

Don't Touch the Lava!

Hi, cutie!

Cuteness!

Thursday Ballet Day

On Thursday, we middles, Bailey, and I went to see the Anderson Young Ballet preform the Nutcracker!  We went with our homeschool field trip group during the school performance so tickets were only $5!  Anderson is about 50 minutes north of where we are on the southeast side of Indianapolis, so it was a longer drive than normal. Abishai stayed with Grandma and the girls.  The drive was easy and I was very excited.  Bailey slept over because we had to leave at 8 am to get there on time.  It was only my second time in Anderson, too.

Old city theater!  The Paramount!  Woot! Woot!

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!  They have restored/kept this theater in incredible condition!  Thoughtful and gorgeous!  Words can't describe how awesome it is!  These lights were in the bathroom!

Downstairs hallway!

Ceiling at the entrance!

I'm so grateful these pictures came out!  I thought it looked too dark on my phone.  The whole auditorium looked like this, a cross between Roman and Medieval architecture.  I don't think that actors use these different areas, but gorgeous!  The ceiling was rounded and looked like the sky!  And the lights came out of the wall like Medieval torches!

The ceiling sloped down and then there is this huge trellis towards the front.  We ended up on the far right side, surrounded by public school kids who talked the whole entire two hours!  But the kids were good sports, sat still, tried to enjoy it, and got what they could from it.  Yes, they performed the WHOLE 2 hr ballet!  I was even getting ancy by the end.  And the theater was very, very hot and I think Keturah almost passed out.  I had to put some peppermint oil on her neck to cool her off.  Poor thing.  We had some great discussions on the way home, partly thanks to some educational guides the ballet provided.  Prior to going, the kids had no idea what the Nutcracker was about! I almost failed as a mom who loves ballet!  Whoops!  These are the kinds of experiences I yearn for!  I love introducing the kids to the traditional cultural arts!

She didn't want to take a picture.  And that's her Santa hat again!

Two acts, the party and the dream.  Pretty straight forward.  I think I saw a few mistakes and a few spins that were a bit off, but it's a live performance and the ballerinas are not quite professionals.  Although, even the 10 years old were in pointe shoes!  That's impressive!  Watching a story unfold without dialogue is quite interesting and something the kids aren't used to.  But I think they understood it.  I kept remembering all the ballet classes I took and the moves I used to be able to do.  I didn't continue to dance because of weak ankles, bowed legs, and dizziness when I spun.  But I certainly think ballet is beautiful!

They did have intermission to clean up the "snow" they used and they used that time to engage with the students in the crowd.  They recognized some local teachers and quizzed the students.  I loved that!  We didn't participate, but I think it was a very unique way for the producer and Claire, the main character, to make sure the kids were paying attention.  Sweet!

Keturah's favorite part were all the candy dances!  Sugar plums!

"Oriental" dancers.

One lady got in this oversized costume where the younger kids came out from underneath it.  Sweet!

Very nice!

Lots of fairies!  Lots of different ages, too!  Mostly white people, but there was one black ballerina!  And plenty of older adults doing some fun adult dances.

Lots and lots of lifts by guys in tights! Lol!  All the students appreciated that and clapped.  I reminded our kids how the moves are similar to ice skaters and gymnasts.

Upper hallway of the theater.  Small but gorgeous!

Mood lighting!  Stepping back in time!

Stairwell!

Nutcracker selfie!

This girl had to write a 250 word story about how God loves us and how we love people.  She read to me what she had so far and I had to ask her if she copied it from another book because it was THAT good!  Well, after asking her questions to help her finish the story, I don't think she copied it from somewhere.  She's been reading a lot of books and I'm guessing that is influencing her writing.  She's just getting better and better in her studies now that she's a bit older and life has settled into more of a routine.  Ok, this month has been strange and different, but, I'm talking about moving, not sure where we fit in at church, Jared's job, extracurricular activities, etc.  That stuff is fairly stable now.  We are proud of her!

The girls ended up coming over from mid afternoon until bedtime and guess what they did? Minecraft of course!  They are obsessed!

"I want to go outside in the dark and drizzle and dig!"  Yes, that's what he wanted to do in his pj's, no socks, his sister's winter boots, no coat.  Oi!

Yes, he DID jump with those big boots on!

Benaiah is so exhausted from everything, he decided to lay on the floor while his computer decided to fix itself (the laptop actually sits under his desk) instead of getting back up in his chair.  Poor baby.

These are foam pattern blocks my parents got the kids.  They make great stencils for homemade puzzles the girls were making and great pieces to stuff into the back of the truck to be transported elsewhere.  Fun!

Socks has been quite lonely the last couple of days.  He couldn't get enough attention as we were trying to finish up the 1967 tv movie version of Richard Harris' Camelot.  Pretty old doggy.

Those pitiful eyes!

Ah, can't resist that face!

Give me attention!

Finally relaxed!

If you couldn't tell by their profile, these kdis are related.  They definitely look a bit alike!

During one scene of the Camelot movie, a horse and rider charges into the palace and the horse slides and ends up "sitting" on his behind for a second.  The kids erupted in laughter!  And then Justin kept rewinding that scene and replaying it at different speed for even more laughs.  We were all in stitches with tears running down our face.  Keturah was more concerned about the horse being ok than with laughing about it.  I think we were all a little stir crazy from the last few days, so we had to stop the video after that scene.  At least none of theme were making fun at the actual cinematography.  In fact, Nora wanted to finish the movie!  I know some adults who would make fun of the actors and creepy this or that or weird music.  The kids took it all in and respectfully asked questions about who the characters were and what was going on.

One scene later, they all were distracted by this video Benaiah was watching about "marshmallow man," which is some YouTube channel thing.  Benaiah didn't realize they were watching his video with him.  THEN Benaiah announces that I need to look at a picture of Dad on his instagram picture.  Apparently a fellow student was taking a panaromic photo of the wipeboard and Jared was trying to step out of the way.  The end result was hilarious!  And it reminded me of the Sontarans on Doctor Who, aka "Potato head."  And seeing that undid us.  We couldn't compose ourselves to finish the video.  Abishai was fast asleep and I had to keep reminding us to quiet down.  Thankfully, he never woke up.  It was just the medicine we all needed: laughter!

Jared's mom didn't find it funny.  Oh well.  Maybe we all just a little tired and stir crazy and anything will make us laugh.  But look at how this picture compares to the picture below it.  Similar, eh?

A Sontaran from the newer series' of Doctor Who.  That's all I could think of when I saw Jared's picture!  Btw, he knows that it's on social media and smiled about it.  Comic relief is great!

It's been a long week, can you tell?