Year 4, July 12th-14th, 2019: Finally, MY Birthday weekend!

Finally! It's MY turn for birthday fun.  I'm #5 in line out of the 6 of us for birthdays, so I kind of feel like it takes forever to get here.  But this year feels, well strange.  Last week's celebration was rushed.  I don't have siblings nearby to celebrate with.  I definitely didn't want to go out and do much because I had already TWO full days (yes, 4 hrs is a "full" day for me) doing errands.  So, I just tried to do what I wanted to do instead of what I had to do.  It was a gorgeous day in the low 80's so I made everyone go outside.  Abishai and I played on the deck.  We went to the splash pad in the afternoon.  Everything was fine until I laid down and developed a raging headache after being in the sun.  I didn't feel too bad while I was there and I did protect myself, but I didn't drink enough water.  Maybe the new supplement has some withdrawal effects or cleansing effects.  Who knows, but I've taken everything I know of and it's still awful. Grrr.  But it was a good day overall.

Abishai woke me up by singing Happy Birthday and using my real name!  One of my sisters called and sang.  My brother called, but I think he forgot and I wasn't in the mood to remind him, so I just quickly listened to the new developments in his life's saga.  I opened a gift Aaron and Shauna left for me.  We attended an open house and I got to spew some of my own crud on a couple of friends who love me.  Don't worry, they actually asked and I was happy to answer and be heard.  I listened to their stories, too, don't worry.  I try not to be one sided in any conversation.  I know better than that.  I wish I had gotten a nap in today.  The van got fixed up enough to use for vacation, but now I have to rob Peter to pay Paul and I HATE HATE HATE doing that.  The IRS just needs to figure out what they are doing and send me my money! Anyway, I ate what a wanted, which included nutella on toast.  I might defrost a gf donut for dessert here in a little bit.  I'm a little disappointed that Jared hasn't done much for me today.  In fact, I didn't ask him to do dishes but he didn't take the initiative either.  But that's how it's always been.

Ah, I feel so disjointed because of this tension headache!  As far as birthdays go, it wasn't bad and it wasn't great.  It was good enough.  And this will be just "good enough" on pictures.  If I have more time, I might rearrange them better chronologically, but hopefully you can follow along ok.

No one answered me question except my sister Stefanie who teasingly said 25.  Nope! 38!

So cute at the open house!

Aaron and Shauna have done their preparations and Aaron is "on call" and ready to go and help.  Ugh.  I still don't like how this happens nearly every year down there.

I'll explain this a bit later, but this is the bigger of the two baby bunnies, and the one we've been taking the most pictures of.

This is exactly how I feel.  My relationship with God, my relationship with my husband, then my children, then my friends, and finally ministry. Ministry can take priority sometimes but not permanently and not without mutual agreement, aka Gary having two full time jobs for the last two years. Now it's time to focus on family again.

This guy is so much bigger than his or her sibling.

I'm so sad.

It's still really small, and I have no idea how long it's been there.  Justin saw Socks mouthing it.  But we didn't see any external injuries as we urged it along into the neighbor's yard.  It hopped into their wood pile ok.  But I think it died.

So many families we know so we all hang out at our kids' open houses.  This is a newer season for us.  Abishai was sad that Thornton couldn't come home with us to play tag with.

The smaller bunny earlier today hopping into the wood pile.

At least someone will take a selfie with me.

Splash pad time.  Justin played with Abishai and Keturah spent most of the time in the car with the windows down.  She refused to get in her bathing suit.

So many cackling giggles!

Not sure what I would do if I didn't have Justin around to play with Abishai.  It will be hard when it's time for Justin to leave the nest.

Dump bucket time!  Abishai avoided it but wasn't deathly afraid of it.

He's tall enough to hit this one and dump it out.  He couldn't do that last year.

Party pooper.

Some of the play equipment was very hot, but Justin didn't mind it for a little bit because he was so wet.

When you are skinny, you can fit just about anywhere.

My spiderman climbing up the spider web faster than I can dig out my phone to take pictures.  No fear!

Hi there!

Justin! Justin! Justin! Play with me! You play drums, I play pwano (piano).

Play on the wiggly ride with me!

I can do this myself Mommy!

Cheater!  He didn't start by hanging fully from the bar.

Interesting observation.  The arm on the left is the arm that was broken last year.  Check out that intend.  Maybe he lost some muscles or tendons.

Right arm.  No indentation.  So weird!

Monkey see, monkey do.

Trolling Benaiah while he's with his friends.  Conner got him good.  He was late coming home from work today because he nearly got into an altercation with someone for tailgating.  He also said he had been approached by a guy in the mall parking lot.  Say what?! These are the important things to tell your mother.  Sigh.

You got tickled!

Hi, bye!

Abishai played with Wolf a lot, too.. Being the kids brother means you get to be friends with lots of  "older" people.

My loot!  A presigned poster and alnyard from Ever;y form WinterJam.

Camping out into I bring the dog in so it can eat in peace.

Ok, hopefully you survived yesterday's disjointedness.  I was as careful as I could be with myself today, so although I still have a headache, it's not killing me this time.  I did look up the ingredients one by one of the new supplements I'm taking to see if there were some withdrawal affects or maybe the headaches is from a detoxing element of them or the nutmeg I'm diffusing and couldn't find anything very specific. I am stopping the one that the naturopath said to just finish the bottle and not continue after that because I think it might be negatively affecting my stomach.  And after looking at the ingredients, which includes licorice, and knowing that that can be pretty potent, I'm going to just stop.  Now, if I continue to have headaches for the next week on the NeuroCalm, I will get more concerned about it.  Anyway, I did drink water and while we were at our nursery team cookout which was mostly outside, I stayed in the shade, drank my water and went inside multiple times to stay out of the heat.  Earlier today, I guzzled a ton of water right after taking my vitamins, so it was sort of on an empty stomach and that really upset my tummy.  I ate a plain hamburger and then took a nap because the pain was so bad.  Thankfully, when I woke up, everything had calm down and we had just enough time to get and prep the veggies and fruit that I had left over at Gary and Leah's for today.  Well, Jared and Justin prepped them for me.  I was supposed to make gluten free brownies, but remembered that I did have a decent sized container in the freezer, so I just brought that.  There was surprisingly very little dessert at our cookout.  I'm glad we are a healthy bunch who brought tons of fruit and veggies including the bacon broccoli salad I love and coleslaw.  We had a blast at the cookout with our friends, who have become our small group.

Yes, we love these families a lot!  And even the kids interacted with each other more, which was sweet to see.  The summer cookout is for the whole family of the volunteer and then are Christmas party (due to having it in someone's home with no room to spread out), is just the volunteers.  We have a few of us who volunteers at couples, so there's guys there that Jared has gotten to know, like our hosts, the Hornungs.  Actually, we've known them for 27 or more years because they've been at the Creek that long and their son was in our college small group with us called 24/7.  And Mr. Jeff became Abishai's favorite volunteer when he was in Nursery C.  And let me tell you, Mr. Jeff has some really cool toys at his house for his grandkids!  They are just one of those couples that have lived in the same well maintained ranch home for 30 years like Gary and Leah.  Lots of improvements, additions, etc. but definitely smart living. They live in the country and have a beautiful small garden.  Just lovely.  The weather was pretty warm today, but manageable if you were in the shade.  The cookout was towards the early evening from 4-7pm so the sun wasn't directly on us.  They have lots of big umbrellas and trees to hide under.  And I will tell you the rest with the pictures below.

Other than that, Jared got a phone call at 8:03 am or something with the guy on the other side saying "don't we have a breakfast appointment today?"  Whoops! So he jumped out of bed and was out the door in 5 minutes.  I was bummed because Saturday mornings are our usually quiet, slow mornings.  Benaiah nearly did the same thing but at 1:03pm when he realized he had a meeting before work.  Boys! USE the CALENDAR feature on your phone!  You can set up reminders!  Sheesh!  I have 6 other apps and email systems linked to my phone calendar and when doctor offices ask if I need an appointment card, I say no because I put the appointment in my phone with reminders right then and there.  And my calendar is always backed up onto my iCloud, which I leave up syncing all the time in case something happens to the phone again like last year when it was stolen.  And if the doctor's office has email or text alerts or both, I always say yes to those.  And in the last five years, I've only failed to a) write down an appointment a couple of times and b) totally missed an appointment maybe twice.  When you are micro managing 6 people's lives, you gotta do what you gotta do.  But Jared, Benaiah, and Leah refuse to use their iCalenders and it drives me nuts!  I even write things in advance like "look for such and such event" like touch a truck or Christmas light spotting or IndyCar events in order for me to look up something a couple of months before hand so I can add them to the calendar.  Oh, like knowing when the Paw Patrol exhibit was opened or when to call Lutheran High School to sign Justin up for the PSAT.  Every day on my calendar has at least 6 things on it because I have Benaiah's work schedule on it (synced with an app), everyone's (except for Jared's) church volunteering things (again, through an app!), now the high school youth ministry is automatically updated on my phone as well, and anything with the homeschool group we meet with on the east side (it goes through the shutterfly group app).  Crazy, eh?  I'm not sure how my mom kept it all straight back in the day, but I do think she kept a mini calendar in her purse, and I carried one around for a long time, too, until we got smart phones in Canada I believe.

Anyway, the only other thing I can think of for today was that a) the baby bunny that I thought had died was gone so either something carried it away or the home owners moved it or it was just resting and b) Ava asked to come over and surprise Benaiah.  And surprise him she did! He was half awake and since all of my kids sleep with pjs or gym shorts and t-shirts on, I had no problem letting her wake him up.  She said, "Hey, sweetie!" Oh my word!  They are like a real couple!  Oh wait, they ARE a real couple!  I think Benaiah was a little embarrassed by his crazy hair, but he was happy she was there. She had asked if he was going to shower before work because she didn't want to get in the way and make him late.  He usually doesn't, so, well, man stink is ok I guess, right?  I know they had been texted for probably an hour beforehand, too, but I was happy to oblige and let her sneak into the house through the back door to surprise him.  She caught him wrestling Justin into a headlock position, too.  Oh yeah, he had showered last night before the open house, so he wasn't too smelly after all!  Yeah!  Anyway, fun times!  This was after I was bemoaning on Facebook how I'm not ready for Benaiah to be a senior in high school yet.  How are we here in life already?  And how there is so much more I wanted to do as a family.  So many regrets.  But what can I feasible do between now and next year, and thankfully, throughout the next year because he plans to spend a year at home before going to college?  Go to the apple orchard one more time as a family of 6 this fall. Get those family pictures DONE as SOON as IRS money arrives.  And finally take a vacation on our own, fully funded by ourselves, to New Hampshire to see where I grew up.  Also going to Niagra Falls and maybe Lancaster County and Philadelphia.  Instead of driving straight through like we are next week, to actually stop and take detours.  So, I came up with a plan to save money: every time I buy something at Aldi's or Meijer, withdraw $20 extra cash and then immediately put it somewhere safe at home.  I really won't think much about the extra.  And I can be even more careful about spending, too, in order to compensate.  Then, I can work on reaching out to friends and contacts and see if we can stay somewhere free for a few days in New Hampshire at least.  Oh, and I'd go at peak foliage season, so this would be October/November 2020.  I know which sites I would want to go see like hike where the Old Man in the Mountain used to be, go tour the Candia Congregational Church, obviously Manchester Christian Church, the playgrounds and ball fields and schools in our town of Hooksett, Candia, Deerfield, etc. I'm sure there's lots more as well.  Maybe visit my aunt and cousins in Massachusetts and the house that my Grandmother lived in (my cousin lives in it now). Visit Shaw's, Walmart, Dunkins, the old ice cream place, show them where we got out to walk with Lamar Alexander in 1996 presidential primaries, maybe even go to the duckpin bowling place that Jared and his crew from Lincoln Christian College went to with us youth group people when they came out for week of E.  I still have the bowling score sheet (this was before the computers were popular) somewhere in our stuff.  Oh, and of course the NH State Capitol building with it's original senate and house of representative chambers.  ANYWAY, I have dreams, and I NEED to make them happen.  Most of this is just driving around and if we go in the fall, it won't be hot.

Ok, enough about that.  That's my dream, and it's not going to be a daydream any longer.  We need to update our passports, too, before then.  Benaiah can now get one that will be good for 10 years, Justin will get a 5 year one and will have to renew it when he turns 18 or whenever.  Keturah will get a kid one for the 5 years and then she can get an adult one when she's 16/17.  And Abishai doesn't have a USA one at all, so he will need to start from scratch.  Right now, all 4 kids don't have passports because they expired in 2017.  Mine is good until 2022, and Jared had to renew his 3 years ago before he went to Austria and now to India.  So, I have goals, we are going to do this and do this soon!  Benaiah is grown up and there's no time left before a) he goes off to college or b) he gets married.

Ok, alrighty, pictures.

Mr. Jeff and Mrs. Jennie have some very cool outdoor vehicles to drive and ride!  Not one, but TWO power wheeled type tractors with trailers. So much fun!  Plus a wagon and tricycles, UTV, cornhole, ladder ball toss, swings, basketball hoop, etc.

Here's the whole gang with our families!  Well, not the whole gang, but it was great to catch up with so many of them!

Mrs. Joanna caught this shot of Jessica and I talking and Jared, Daniel and Justin talking.

We love pitch ins!  Especially when there's another gluten free person there who brings peanut butter cookies that were incredible!  My tummy hurts a little bit from the cookie and from some ranch dip.  Too much dairy!

Basketball!

Justin with some other friends.

By far, the UTV was the most fun "toy" to ride in! Mr. Jeff drove more cautiously, but Jared gave the kids a run for their money.  So much so that he braked hard and one of the kids hit her head pretty hard and was crying.  Whoops!  But later, when 18 month old Carter was sitting next to Jared, Jared went slower and Carter came back with a huge smile on his face.

Aw, sweet kids!

The dog went ballistic this morning because big bunny was hitting his breakfast under the patio table.

Keturah was using her paint set to paint her Russian dolls.  It's actual powdered water based paints, not watercolor paints like in the states.  So instead of getting a bottle of paint premixed at the store, it's the pressed powder and you add water to it.  So cool!

Very nice!

This is the scene Ava walked into.  Gotta love the brother love headlock going on!

Good (morning) afternoon!  Nice hair!

Pro gamer in training.  He actually changed headphones to Justin's expensive ones with a microphone because he "wanted to talk to Tyson (his friend from church)" while he played.  Oh my word...

Justin made his own breakfast!  Protein filled waffle with yummy additions!

Sweet!

I won't be surprised if Abishai adds one of these to his Christmas wishlist.  I've always been against them because the batteries run down quickly plus I think kids can use their own two feet to power things.  However, this little tractor would be handy in the backyard.  Hm,....

He seemed to know exactly how to handle it from watching lots of YouTube videos where kids were playing with things like this.  It had two speeds and goes in reverse.  And the batteries lasted the whole time we were there.

A little two big for the big wheels from the '80's!

Again, too big, and yet so funny!

Still very much kids.

Baby Chewbecca!  Yes, it's the one that makes noise when you open it's mouth.  And yes it's the one that made that funny Christian comedian lady an overnight sensation, Candace Payne.  I follow her on Instagram and she's such a humble, funny, and yet serious about having joy in your life kind of person.  Justin used the mask later and thoroughly scared Carter and Rosie.

Hm,....Keturah is hanging out with a boy......this is a new development.   Actually, I think the boy was hanging out with her because they are in the same grade and she was a familiar face.  But she wasn't shy either.  She said they talked about horses and food.  I'm not trying to make this a big deal, but I've never really seen her talk to  boy that wasn't a direct friend of her brothers.  Very normal and very healthy.  It's a very positive thing.

Jared got to drive the "big boy toy."

I didn't get to ride it, but that's ok.  I had some great conversations while the kids where occupied.

Mr. Jeff even had an obstacle course set up.

So much fun!  And one can afford such a fun toy when you live in the same very modest house for 30 years.

Jessica's turn to pull Abishai and Carter.

Aww, Abishai likes Carter because he's a baby and it makes Abishai feel like an even bigger boy.  He'd make a wonderful big brother, but alas, that's not the plan.

Now, he's not falling out but he was kicking his legs hard and twisting himself up.

Maddie was upset that Abishai would pull Carter around because Carter is HER little brother.  She's a little bossy and possessive.  Abishai took off his shoes when he went in the house, and the never put them back on.  He hurt his foot somehow, so I took off his sock to look at it and then we went to do the group photo.  Well, he didn't want the sock back on, so he spent the rest of the night, outside, with no socks on and only one sock on.  Country living.

Abishai loved pulling Carter around.

Some of our littles.  Carter, Rosie, and Abishai.

The pre teens found Mrs. Jeannie's very expensive massage chair and couldn't stop giggling about the parts it massaged or how it squeezed your arms and legs.  They even took videos of each other.  Justin did spend some time with Jasmine and Brianna this evening, which I hadn't really seen him do before.  I think the kids are forming some kind of friendship after seeing each other a lot the last few weeks.

Riding home from Grandpa's house with the sunroof open.  It's a sweet place to be.

He even asked if we were going to be on the big/regular street or just our streets.  He knows the difference of what we can and cannot do on either one.

Sunday was a blast! It started off with a two part sermon on marriage with both Dan and Keren Hamel speaking, so that was a first!  You would NEVER find Leah preaching with Gary, that's for sure! Keren is well spoken though, so although I'm sure she was nervous, she did well.  Then I treated myself to a performance of Newsies (by Disney) put on by a group based at a Catholic church in Greenwood.  There's many homeschoolers in this particular group, but I only knew one actress.  They had delayed the performance though because they forgot to tell the high school that they performed at to turn on the air conditioning.  They managed to get the a/c on for the stage and behind the stage, but the auditorium was ridiculously hot.  Oh well, we survived.  And it was FANTASTIC.  Ok, it was definitely not broadway, but I love Newsies and it was the first musical I fell in love with.  And now I know why.  It was made in 1992.  Everything I remember and cherish from childhood was made in 1992 or 1993 when I was 11/12 years old.  I was baptized then, I started listening to Michael W. Smith and the CCM artists around then.  I remember so many things from those middle school years at the Candia Congregational Church like VBS, Country Girls, puppeteering, playing special music in church, learning piano and cello, still doing ballet, starting to love horses and really get into riding, etc. etc.  Those were some great years.  And now, Keturah is is on those years.  Wow.  So whatever her interests are now and whatever experiences she has now will really impact her going forward.  Yikes!  And that leads me into the next part of my day at least.

Back up a second.  I was the only one who went to the musical because Benaiah had tech duty, Keturah at KP Worship duty, Jared had nursery duty, and Justin needed to attend church service.  And of course Abishai tagged along.  Then Jared made sure the three oldest sat with friends while they waited on me to arrive.  I was a few minutes late, but we all enjoyed the CIY Celebration night (Jared and Abishai came home).  And the Newsies musical and the Celebratin night went hand in hand.  One of the last lines of the musical was said by Governor Roosevelt and basically it was saying that when the current generation is at it's peak, it should be investing in the younger generation. Woah.  What a great message. Of course there's other great messages in the Newsies, but how perfect leading into watching kids talk about their experiences at CIY and enjoying worshiping with them and witnessing baptisms.  Even one of Benaiah's childhood friends rededicated her life to God.  Apparently we had no clue what was going on in her life, but it wasn't good.  Not the fault of the parents at all, but sometimes kids go rough times.  Anyway, it was awesome to see that baptism and her younger brother also got baptized.  Yeah!  I know their mom and dad ware super happy about it.  Their older sister was previously baptized, too.  Worship was great, and just remembering how blessed we are to be where we are right now in this stage of parenthood.  It's where we need to be right now.  It really is.  I can't raise my kids without the help of the volunteers in the youth ministry that come alongside us and help us.  I can't always reach my kids with my words and actions and it's good to have others be that voice for them.

For example, Keturah sat with friends and now wants to volunteer in a KP room with them.  She's a crowd follower so we just have to make sure she's hanging out with the right crowd.  She doesn't know the "church clap" song they learned at Mix, but at least she was down in the front surrounded by friends.  Benaiah was with Ava and friends and Justin was sitting with his small group.  And of course it's always neat to see the kids Benaiah's age almost fully grown and to know who they've become like Faith Jackson.  We've know her since she was 2 year old.  Her sister Grace, who is a year younger than her, is Benaiah's age and we were in small groups with their parents for years.  We are still friends with them.  Awesome family!  And to see their kids bloom one by one is awesome! The girls have an older brother who graduated last year and is in Bible college.  And they have an "oops" kid as well.  He's slightly younger than Keturah.  Anyway, yes, we are where we are supposed to be.

And I'll just give you a hint, but we (mostly I) have been asked to serve in an organization in a leadership position.  We are in a decent spot in our lives to handle it, but it would be a challenge because it's a pretty big responsibility.  It would be mostly me doing it, and I think I can do it, but I have to know it's right for both of us.  I hope to discuss it at length with Jared on our drive to Delaware next week. Ugh, yes, there's lots to do and fit in this week.  Hopefully, things will go smoothly.  I'm feeling better emotionally, especially after being filled up by church, musical, and church again.  Just seeing those youth worship Jesus and talk about Jesus fills my heart.  It's my life purpose to pour into young people.  I just know it.  But from a distance.  I'm the one over here praying and sending little notes on FB and such.  Going on trips or meetng weekly isn't something I'm ready for.  Maybe someday.  Oh, one more thing.  Benaiah was told by someone that they like how he always has a plan and he does execute that plan (sometimes).  So, we are doing something right.

Ok, I'm tired, I need a better sleeping routine so I can get rid of this headache and work faster this week.  I've got a touch a truck event tomorrow, taco tuesday, counseling, children's museum, and then packing day.  Lots to do!  Yeah!  And they still have to eat and sleep and have clean clothes.  I don't think the house is going to be thoroughly picked up this time.  Oh well.  I'll do what I can.  But that's IF I get enough sleep.....

Long hair don't care.  I haven't washed it since Thursday and I think it was slightly damp when I put it up.  And if I'm careful not make my ponytail too tight at night, I can keep the waves for a little bit.  No teasing, no product, no curling iron.  Just a flexi clip.

What a good Daddy for getting in the pool with little guy today.

Franklin Central drum line performed the intro for us, complete with a white sheet that dropped during the first song.  Nice!  They had light up sticks, too!  Now I know what to get Benaiah for Christmas!

Even the lyrics were on the sheet!  Yeah!  This was the only special element of the evening.  No confetti or bubbles this time!

Worship time.

Testimony time.  We knew one of the adults, Brittney Webb and on of the kids, Faith Jackson.

And Miss Sydney Brake share an announcement about the church's all night prayer vigil on Friday night ( we will miss it beccause we will be on vacation.)  Her brother Stephen had his high school open house this past Friday that we attended.  We've kown Stephen and Sydney since they were toddlers.  To see how awesome these young people have become is amazing and a miracle!

Doing this church clap song they learned at CIY Mix.  Even Luke Green was up there trying and he's not a dancer.  Cool.

Mrs. Mallory Anness.  I'm sorry she has struggled but I'm glad she's rededicated her life to Jesus.  Benaiah tried to reach out to her this week but no response.  This is the Mallory Benaiah had a crush on every since they were in MOPS. He even told his current best friends about it.  I might have to explore that topic a little further with him.

Great job, guys!  How fun!

The End