Year 4, May 28th-31st, 2019: Back to Routine

Gah! I just don't want to wade through the weekend's photos and try to put together words! So, I'm procrastinating and starting with today's blog post first.  My brain is mushy because of changes in medication and a major fibro flare because of being away for the Memorial Day weekend, so I do have a legitmate excuse.  But often it helps to just start with the here and now and then work on the back log, so here goes.

Tuesday, back to routine. Like I said, it was a very rough reentry today.  I had a massive headache all day that required more pain medication than usual.  My restless legs were bad from lack of water, and I was just overly tired and unmotivated.  I was also sore from trying to sleep in the car.  The car is actually more comfortable than the van to sleep in, but it is still not my normal position.  Plus, my gut health balance was way, way off.  I don't know if it's the new medication or the fact we don't eat many vegetables on these trips or what.  I did try to rest, but I had some goals to reach today as well.  Like setting up the pool for the kid(s).  I say kid(s) because Justin and Keturah were not at all interested in getting in but Abishai had a blast.  Unfortunately, the water spigot on the outside of the house is not filtered, so the water already looks brown.  I have no way to really fix that but I may had some light chemicals after I get a cover or tarp for it.  I don't want the dog to be drinking out of it however, so we'll see.  It's a pool that you can't really dump very often.  But so far, so good.  We'll have to put in new rules about not being outside if Mommy isn't around, but that's kind of already in place as it is.  So, I at least got that done today.  The rest of the unpacking and laundry was done today, although I saved the dishes I needed to scrub until tomorrow.

We also had dinner with Gary and Leah to celebrate Keturah's birthday early because they are leaving soon for a little vacation time.  I waited to go grocery shopping because I'm sure that we'll need to go clean out their fridge (and maybe their freezer?) a bit first.  So at least I didn't have to cook today.  I will have to come up with some meals that include bread, bagels and hot dog buns though! I have some ideas like pizza bagels and overnight french toast.  We'll see! I just spent most of the day focusing on resting and feeling better.  I have made a list of things for various stores and gone through papers on my desk, so that helps to put my mind straight on what I need to focus on next.  I haven't switched over my wardrobe yet, so on top of my weekly bookshelf clean out, I'll try to get that done this week as well.  We don't have any other appointments this week, but Bryce is coming over on Thursday and maybe we'll go to park day on Friday.  Justin has mowing to do, and we all have chores to do at our house and the folks' house.  So, we'll keep chipping away at these projects.

But as I entered the boys' room to put something away, I was once again frustrated at the amount of disorganization in there.  It's not their fault, I haven't been able to help them or teach them.  And every time I do any kind of clean out and feel like I've gotten rid of some things, another birthday or Christmas comes around and here comes more stuff.  Sigh.  As a person with very limited energy, it can be quite frustrating.  I wish I could have more of a minimalistic house but it's just not going to be that way for quite some time yet.  I was telling Leah once again how I'm going through the categories I didn't do in detail when we moved 3 years ago.  Then I'll go through the other categories again in their turn.  But we have to live and have fun, too, because babies don't keep.  There's a balance and I just have to approach it differently than others.  I'm getting better at letting go, but it's still pretty hard at times.  I don't have to wait as long anymore to be "in the mood" and there are times where I can be ruthless or at least think I can be ruthless and actually do throw things away.  It's all a work in progress, but you can't see it because more stuff comes in every day.  I again reminded the grandparents that we appreciate consumable goods vs. trinkets as souvenirs.  We got mugs and goodies from the church we atteneded over the weekend, and I kept all the consummable goods, and one mug to remember to pray for them.  The other mug, which I tried to leave behind at the cottage, needs to go to the office or to the give away pile.  So, that's progress because I would usually just keep it!  I also gave away a nice tumbler that Jared got as a teacher gift this year.  Once you have the in flow under control, you can get to the deeper layers a bit faster.  I just need to remember, babies don't keep and I cannot exhaust myself and not enjoy life.  Somebody will deal with the stuff someday, whether it's me or my children.  Hopefully me so that they don't have to.  Hopefully.  They know that I'm trying.  But I want them to know that I also wanted to focus on them and not just the stuff around them.  I'm grateful that Benaiah hasn't been super embarrassed with having his girlfriend and friends over.  And to be honest, if they don't like it, they can all go to their bigger homes with healthy parents that both work and be content with their own stuff.  We live there 24/7 and it will always be a work in progress.

Ok, enough ranting.  I'm just frustrated with my health this week and I'm praying that I recover quickly so I can keep taking those baby steps forward.  I've resigned myself that there is no perfect order of priority and sometimes, something that maybe lower on the list gets done first and that's ok.  It will all get done.  I promised I would get the pool up when we got home and that's what I did today, despite feeling so awful (the sun and heat are doing a number on me these days).  And you know what? Abishai randomly and without prompting said, "Thank you for putting up the pool for me!" And THAT, ladies and gentlement, is what I live for.  Every little kid needs to have a backyard pool.  Not a mommy slaving inside going through books and clothes.  We've always had some kind of water element in the backyard and I'm glad we can give Abishai the same experience that the older kids had.  That's important to me, not to overlook the simple days of little kids for the busyness of older kids.  Bubbles and pools.  Sidewalk chalk and slip and slides.  Swings and slides.  Ah, the stuff every kid should have access, too.  That's my goal and I achieved it today.  That's what I'll remember.

Oooo, my rose bush bloomed!  Actually, there's two of them!  The other one is behind a bush, so I'll need to move it eventually and trim the bushes.  I'm just not sure when I good time to do that is.

Not your typical rose, but pretty all the same!

Patiently/impatiently waiting for the pool to be filled.  I had to keep making sure the bottom was out as far as it would go.  Unfortunately, the water is still brown once you get all of it in there because the hose is untreated water.  Bummers!

Is it ready now, Mom?  Come on!

"Check out my new diving gear!"  And he thanked me for it and the new pool.  Cutie!

In and out, in and out.  The tarp looks to be a great addition to cut down on dirt and grass.  I might remove the bricks though.  I just had them there to initially spread out the tarp.  And the tarp is just an extra layer protecting the pool bottom.  I did rake and check for stones and sticks before putting it down of course.  But I did notice that the material is much thicker and stronger than other pools we've had before.

"I took a dive...." reminds me of a song by DCTalk on their Supernatural record.  Again, I'm so glad he gets to experience what the other kids did.

He put his new diving rings around his legs.

He came with us to drop off Benaiah at CFA for work, and immediately fell asleep.  One hour in the sun in the pool will tucker you out!  He also immediately put on pj's after taking off his swim gear.  I transferred him from the car to the chair, where he stirred and went back to sleep for 2 hrs.

We also had a F2 tornado go through a town just 45 northeast of us.  Eeek! I'm sorry, Pendleton, for your losses!

Abishai is in charge of getting Grandpa's mail while they are on vacation soon.  He will earn $1 a day to do it.  And Abishai was very serious when he told us what he had to do.

11 yr old's birthday cake!  That's a lot of candles!

She asked for an ice cream cake and I and she probably assumed she was asking for a Dairy Queen cake.  Well, Grandma had other ideas and she got a homemade vanilla pudding/vanilla ice cream cake with graham cracker crust of some sort.  Keturah was grateful and enjoyed her cake regardless.  The dinner menu was fried cabbage, pink stuff, cheesy potatoes, and cheesy brats.  My little big girl is very unique that way.  She also earned money from book reports and Grandpa gave her some money to spend at CIY, which is her real birthday present.  Yeah for no physical gifts!  Just experiences!  She'll also earn some money watering their plants while they are gone and Justin will mow as usual to earn money.  My kids are going to bankrupt Grandma and Grandpa at this rate! Lol!

"I have flippers, and they have flippers, and it's flippin' useless!" - Penguins of Madagascar movie

Always in pj's and always fighting.  Hopefully God will turn that fighting spirit into something good for the Kingdom.

Jared got reintroduced to Angry Birds because Abishai found it on Grandma's Nook over the weekend and learned how to play it.  And when Jared was trying to get Abishai passed a level, he sat there a little longer than he should have because he did really like playing the game on his phone.  He doesn't have games on his phone anymore, but he'd play 1 or 2 at a time.  So we bought this Angry Birds card game for Jared one Christmas and it comes out occasionally.  Well, Abishai has learned how to sort of play it according to the rules as well.  Yeah!  Bonding time!  And yes, that's a toilet paper roll next to Jared.  Why? Because toilet paper makes the best kleenix and Jared's allergies are off the charts because of the change of the season, the change of location from MI back to IN and the change in weather.  He's miserable.

Wednesday I woke up with still a slight headache but feeling a bit better overall.  Not 100% yet, but better.  Finished off chores, took a shower, and was ready for my friend and her kids to come for a playdate at 1pm.  Justin and Keturah didn't get out of bed until 9:30 and Benaiah, who said he couldn't sleep until 5am, got out of bed at 12:45pm.  Meanwhile, Abishai was up early to see Daddy off to work and I literally had to hold him while he kicked and screamed and wanted to chase after Daddy's car down the driveway and onto the street.  Big, big crocodile tears.  I never get that kind of send off! Gee whiz, kid!  Thankfully, he calms down quickly, but it's still sad to see him so sad.  Abishai is sneaky and tries to get in the car when Jared is loading up his bag and what not, and then he gives that little "Tee he he" giggle, like "Look what I can do!" We laugh and shake our heads, and then calmly get him out and pin him down.  What a scene!

Meanwhile, Justin did some mowing, Keturah attempted some math, and Benaiah got his truck keys back at 4pm and he was off on his first solo unchaperoned date with Ava to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and the new live action Disney remake of their original Aladdin movie.  Grandpa Johnson actually gave him gift cards to use, so that was good.  Grandpa Johnson is also worried about Benaiah's driving, but that's nothing new.  He used to fret about Jared and Aaron's, too.  We aren't that worried though.  It's just the next step in his life and it is what it is.  He'll be home soon and I'm sure it was fine.  Abishai had some great one on one with Jared this evening and I caught up on some emails and videos.  Ok, and my phone game as well.

Ah! Where was I?! This whole thing where teens stay up late and want to talk to you about gaming headsets or dates or anything is quite annoying when you've been with them all day and need some peace and quiet!  The other blog posts aren't even started yet!  Grrrr!!!!  Tomorrow Bryce comes over, so I'm going to try to get on my computer and hash out those blog posts.  THEN I'll get to switching out my clothes and looking through a bookshelf for books to get rid of.  Eeek!  Bring on the pictures.....

I do it myself, Mom!

"Hehehehehe, Mom, I got your phone and took pictures!"  (Giggle giggle, tee he he!) Oi, boy! I'm going to get you!

Do you need your mama to show you have your Dad used to style his hair since you have the same texture and curls? Eeek!  Going on his first solo date!

Be careful, men, it's going to pour rain, again!

I texted these pictures to Benaiah because why not? First solo date, and "A Whole New World for you and me!"

This is THE ORIGINAL song sheet that my sister Kristina played daily for probably years and memorized.  Aladdin, along with the Lion King, were her favorite Disney movies, as the Little Mermaid was mine and Beauty and the Beast was my sister Stefanie's favorite.  I still have the original VHS tapes of these movies that we mostly wore out still in my personal collection.  I think Disney is trying to capitalize on my generation my remaking all these movies into live action versions so that we'll get all nostalgic and take our kids to see them.  Actually, they've done an incredible job with Maleifcient, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast so far.  I've had really great things about Aladdin as well.  Will Smith plays the genie and he's talked about how he's not trying to upstage Robin Williams or try to go all weird about the character, but play the role with great respect to him.  Robin William committed suicide a couple of years ago because he was depressed although he never showed that in his comedy acts.  I don't know if he was nominated or won any awards for his role as Genie, but I do know his performance has been talked about a lot.  I think it had to do with his ability to ad lib.  I think Will Smith will do a great job portraying this character without downplaying Robin Williams' performance.  But yes, I can definitely sing a lot of the songs from any of these movies or at least hum all the tunes.  Thank you 1990's childhood! Lol

On Thursday, Benaiah didn't have to work again, but he hadn't pulled all the way into the driveway correctly, so he had to go out and fix it around 9:30am.  Then he went back to bed for a few hours, imagine!  He ended up going to Kroger for lunch and a flower to surprise Ava with.  He didn't stay at Ava's but came home for an hour and then went to Ethan's for 4 hrs.  And yes, they WALKED to Wendy's instead of driving.  It was a beautiful day to walk anyway.  He hadn't spent time with Ethan in weeks.  Then he and the rest of the family picked up new to us patio furniture while I taught piano lesson.  I cannot WAIT to set it all up tomorrow!  I just need to pick up an umbrella for it.  I might get an umbrella for the front, too, where I'm going to set up a couple of chairs.  Or, I might end up setting up the whole thing up front.  We'll see.  Anyway, it will be nice to have more than camping chairs to sit in.

Meanwhile, Bryce came over for the day so he, Justin, and Abishai were on and off electronics, and in and out the doors all day.  They walked, they biked, they threw water at each other, they threw balls at each other, they laughed at memes, they played Fortnite, all the fun stuff.  Abishai does make a great sidekick though and most, if not all, of the other kids' friends thinks he's cute and lets him tag along.  He gets his need to be with people filled and he gets exhausted from keeping up with everybody.  The dog was also exhausted with the in and out of the boys today.  It's a win-win! I was slow to move again today, although I haven't taken any pain medication today, yeah!  I did have a nap though.  And I walked to both stop signs and back, which equals about 1,000 steps.  I learned over the weekend that I really need to focus on veggies and fruits when I'm away from home and/or get up and get moving or my insides get all crazy.  I used to drink smoothies or get salads when I traveled on by airplane.  I felt a little sore still, but at least more awake by doing that.

We had the a/c off most of the day and used the house fan early this morning to cool the house down to 74.  We did finally put it on around supper time because it had climbed to 78 in the house.  Otherwise, it was a very pleasant day.  I worked on the weekend blog and helped Abishai in and out of his bathing suit a couple of times.  These are the days of summer for doing just about nothing and letting kids come and go and relax.  Lots of visitors is a great thing!  But I need to stay on task, too.  I still haven't touched a bookshelf yet this week.  But the blog needed done, and I still have two more days to get both tasks done, so here I go.

Abishai likes to insert himself right into the middle of anything that's going on.

Parenting win or parenting fail? He does look pretty cute as a gamer though.  And he's been listening to Justin and watching Justin when he plays, so he's picked up all the language/sayings of a gamer, and can tell other players what to do.  He was playing with Justin's friend Lucas, who we know from gymnastics last year, and Lucas was kind enough to stay on and play with Abishai despite Abishai not having all the right skills.  But, Abishai said, "Don't worry, I've got this."  And he said, "Let's find some buildings with guns but no people."  Hilarious!  He also pulled the mic closer to his mouth like a helicopter pilot might so he could speak into it better.  Oi!

Throwing balls at one another while I protected the lamps.

Abishai Video Gaming - Long Video

Pouring water on each other.  Boys!

No bathing suits so we got them dry clothes when they were done.  The water looks dirty because it's the tannins in the water.  Still bummed about that.  I might find a way to hook up the water differently next time I fill it.

Abishai joined in, too.  And they broke my green cleaning bucket that I've had for probably 15 years! Grrrrrr

Get 'em!

Watching the kids can get very tiresome.  He went inside to rest and get cooled off.

The #1 reason I wouldn't let Jared give the truck away was because of this.  Even small trucks are handy for trucking things!  And Benaiah go to drive it back and forth, too, while Jared was in the van with the rest of the chairs.  Yeah!  Now we just need an umbrella and maybe some outdoor pillows.  I still have a few from our previous sets.  But Aldi's had some nice ones, too.

On Friday,  I set up the new to us patio furniture and was quite pleased with it!  I might add some pillows and umbrellas and outdoor rugs, but it's the first time in a very long time that we have outdoor furniture besides camping chairs!  Yeah!  Abishai was excited, too, and couldn't wait to eat on it for dinner tonight! It's kind of hard on Jared's nose though, so we'll see.  Jared and Benaiah both went to work early and got home early.  Benaiah then went out to the soft launch of a friend's coffee house, the Mocha Nut, which happens to be on the route to his school.  He claims that he's going to stop in there every day.  I claim he's going to go broke.  He met up with Ava there, and then they both drove themselves back to our house.  They had to stay outside, visible to the world because we were out and about, which I'll explain in a minute.

Meanwhile, it was a gorgeous day, so we did go to park day at Southeastway near us.  Keturah didn't want to go, but ended up having a blast.  Abishai did very big boy things! We stayed for nearly 2 hrs! And we'll be back tomorrow for an open house, so we'll get to show Daddy all the fun stuff we learned.  Then it was a quick run to the library, then home to get overnight stuff for Justin, and then take Justin to Bryce's aunt's house.  Come to find out, his Grandma Carolyn is actually moving into his mom's house in Bloomington this week because of health sisters.  Carolyn and her twin sister were called the Kelso twins and sang all kind of beautiful songs for Indian Creek years and years ago.  It's really sad to hear of Carolyn needing more hands on care.  Her sister died about 10 years ago, give or take.  I don't know if that means that Bryce will be up here visiting less, but I'm glad his mom can take care of her mom and Bryce was able to help with packing.  Anyway, Justin is spending the night with Bryce tonight.

And that left Jared, Keturah, Abishai and I to go out on a "hot date" to Home Depot to exchange a garden hose.  We looked for playground equipment but couldn't find any.  However, we did find something that fits Jared's actual love language, a tree for half off!  You know the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, right? Well, all you have to do is buy Jared a tree and he's happy!  Lol! Let's just say it was fun trying to get it home! Anyway, I didn't get quite enough done today, so it's early to bed and early to rise, maybe.  We'll see.  I had to finally up my iCloud storage again because I'm just way behind and I'm never going to catch up with them all.  I'll try to really clean it up this time and get back down to the lower price of monthly storage, but a few extra dollars a month for some peace of mind this week is worth it.  Sigh.  Speaking of which, if we could just keep the teenager home for more than a few minutes at a time, I would have a better peace of mind, too.  Eek! He's got this freedom now, so he's finding every excuse to go shopping and seeing friends.  He's going to go broke with gas and food and spending! Ah!  He'll learn in time, I hope!

Abishai and I were super excited about setting up the new to us patio furniture!  He was adamant about the footstool being his and being right there.  He couldn't wait to show Daddy and have dinner outside!

I added a couple of pillows from the old adult free standing swing we had from the Beech Grove house.  I miss that swing a ton! I think I got it when I was pregnant with Keturah and I had asked for a 3 person swing because I wanted to be able to lay down on it.  I'm hoping that Aldi's still has some other pretty accent outdoor pillows I can pick up.  I did switch out the tables just so the front porch has a more uniform look.

Front porch! This picture was taken mid morning, so there is full sun here.  But by the late afternoon, there's zero sun on the chairs.  It would be great to add an umbrella so it wouldn't be as bright in the morning, but it's also not a huge necessity right now.

The placement of this table is going to be tricky because the ground slopes a lot.  For now, I have it close to the a/c unit and partially on the sidewalk because it's the most level area.  We'll see if we move it around the yard a bit.

Look at me, Mom!

Meanwhile I had left the sunroom door open and this poor creature got in.

Luckily, we do have a butterfly net!  It was hard to scoop it, so I was glad that it just hung onto the edge.  It was on there for a minute resting before it took off so Keturah and Abishai got to see all of it's details.  Cool!

We added the indoor/outdoor bright tablecloth I got at Aldi's a couple of weeks ago and a citronella candle.  The tablecloth is a heavy cloth versus the vinyl ones I get from the dollar store.  We probably won't use it all the time, but it does make things look pretty!  We do have our citronella plants now, but you always need more bug repellent.

Then it was off to the playground where this dude climbed so many more big boy elements than I thought he could.  He's got some skills!  I kept teasing him to stop growing up and he just giggled and said, "I'm a big boy, Mom!"

Keturah is the one about halfway up on the left side.

The playground was a bit slippery because of all the mud from the rain we had last night.  It had stormed and stormed!  But, Abishai was still able to scamper up rock climbing walls without even a hint of slipping.  AND he also came down them without any fear!  Ah!

Abishai wanted me to be close by him all afternoon, so we played peek a boo with the play tube.

NO FEAR WHATSOEVER.  Ok, I freak out when kids get this close to the edge until they are at least 8 or 10 years old.  Well, this kid wanted to try the pole.  So, on the first run, I took this picture, then put my phone away and put my drink down and tried to reach up as high as I could so I could try to catch him if he didn't make it.  Well, he went slowly, and caught the pole limb by limb, and then every so slow, hand over hand, came down it all by himself on his first try! Wow!  He's only 4 1/2 yrs old!  So, then, he had some confidence and went around to do it again.  He wasn't as careful the second time, and barely got his hands on the pole, but didn't get his feet and legs properly wrapped so he half slid and half fell.  I wasn't as scared as I could have been because I was trying to film it, and it was only a half fall, not a full on fall.  It scared him enough though to not try it again.  So the video above is the 2nd attempt, not the first.  He didn't get hurt, but just a little dirty.  But really, a 4 yr old on an 8 ft fireman pole?  Crazy!

"I don't want to go to the park!" - Keturah, who then proceeded to play with friends for 1 1/2 hrs without saying "I'm bored." once!

Hiya, Justin!

Wait a minute, aren't the big kids supposed to be pushing the little kids? Thankfully once you get this tower moving, it's easy to get going.  That's Abishai in the green shirt in the middle.

Working so hard!

Climbing, climbing, up the slippery muddy ropes.

It looks like the park is about to mulch their playgrounds, but the mounds make great playing spaces, too.  It was like they were scrambling up the dunes from last Saturday.

Playing hide and go seek I assume.  The kind where you hid together or when you are caught, you have to find someone else to hide with?

Again, little kids pushing big kids.

Look, Dad! It's our new eating spot!  Except Dad's nose hates it.  I think Jared is just allergic to every single pollen there is no matter what time of year it is.  I'm only sensitive to a few kinds of pollen.

The new view from the front porch.

Late afternoon, so no more direct sunlight.

JUSTIN! He did brush the dog for 20 minutes, and I bet he was just seeking shade.  However, we don't want to be stepping in the dog hair and dragging it back inside.  And birds can only use so much of it.  Grrr....

Suppertime!

Taking a nap during supper.

The best part of having dinner outside is that you can take two bites and then go jump on the trampoline.  He attempted to get into the pool, too, fully clothed.

Last time we go through the Alrington/Edgewood intersection before it becomes a roundabout.  They loped off the top of the telephone polls after they moved the wires.

I'm sure Benaiah is glad that he didn't have to be the cow on this warm day.  CFA at Southport tweeted that they had 1 million dollars in sales for the month of May.  Way to go!

Daddy was proudly showing Keturah how the newer model(s) of his tools work. 

Just like I like to look at certain things every time I go shopping, Jared likes to look at the trees every time he goes to the hardward store.  And this time, they were all 50% off!  Instead of the traditional 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman, I think his love language is trees.  It's his major hobby, and obsessions, that's for sure.

Bwahahahaha!  We picked one to bring home!  It's a tall tree!

And it was hard to fit it under the roof of the checkout lane.

THERE...IS...A...TREE...IN...MY...CAR!!!!!  And where did Abishai go?  I think we left him in the jungle.  He helped "hold the tree" as we drove home.

There's a tree sticking out the back window of my van!

Hi, tree!  We had to go under the speed limit so that the limbs wouldn't get hurt as we drove.  Think about the 45-50 mph winds in a bad thunderstorm and that's what driving in a car feels like to a tree.

Came home to these two love birds who had been instructed to stay outside and visible so they would stay out of trouble.  I was hoping they would use the new chairs I set up for them and us to hang out together romantically.  Well, they enjoyed their sitting close time on the ground instead.  And they were putting grass in each other's hair.  *facepalm*  At least they enjoyed some time at the soft launch of the Mocha Nut and enjoyed some good coffee together.  Abishai also put grass in his hair to mimic them.  When we drove into the driveway he said, "Oh Ava! I like Ava!"  Awwww

Jared severely trimmed back the rose bush last year and it didn't bloom.  But now look at it!  I know it's not properly propped up and trimmed, but so many blooms!  And it looks like there's a baby bush behind the green bush.  We still have so much to learn and do with the garden, but we keep chipping away at it and learning.  I'm just afraid of pruning too much and pulling up useful flowers, so I hesitate doing much at a time.

Saying their good byes which were MUCH shorter than they were last night.  "No, you get off the phone."  "No, you get off the phone first, your going to get in trouble with your mom."  Aw, young love.

Purple flowers in the garden.  Most of what we have right now is just green, but I love how different flowers bloom at different times.  It's like a surprise that keeps on giving!

The End