Year 2, Day 66: New Adventures!

We didn't make any progress in the house hunting adventure, but we did have some fun at a Lego store event and at the Castleton Mall!  Normal day otherwise with school, some groaning, some learning about Egypt, a little food, and lots of goofing off.

Making his special markers that only color on special paper line up all neat in a row.

I think Keturah showed him how, but Abishai thought it was hilarious to play the piano with his rear today.  Keturah was laghing hysterically.

Lego Mini Build (which I didn't take a picture of what they built which was a platypus!) was pretty neat.  We had to register ahead of time, but I think it was fun and worth it.  We spent tons of time looking at different Lego sets.  There was a Lego store employee putting together a big Lego set for display.  They have lots of different events like talks about Technic and minifigure swaps.  The kids even got little passport booklets to keep track of what events they went to and if they go to other stores.  I almost bought this Lego Batman mask because I'm pretty sure Abishai might have used it.  It's awesome!

We made note of all our favorite sets for future birthdays and Christmases.  Like this amusement park set that has some track pieces for a roller coaster!

Can you make out the words?  Yes! It's "Knight Rider" from the 80's!  The car that talks and drives by itself called K.I.T.T.!  I loved that show and MacGyver!  Neat!  This is for the special Lego Dimensions game we have.  They also had a whole other huge set to replace some of the big parts of the game for a Lego Batman movie story line.

Even the youngest loves to build!

Justin and Keturah building their platypuses.

This Duplo train matches the Duplo game I have on the tablet perfectly!  Maybe for Abishai someday!

No way!  Yes way!  They had a Duplo Batman set!  So cool!

Benaiah's turn being Batman.

Let's touch all the Lego bins full of germs.  Ah!  Abishai did put his hand in each bin going down the row though.

Keturah's turn!  And we also went to a Think Geek store and geeked out!  It's the brick and mortar version of an online store that I've actually bought stuff from.  It was AWESOME!

A special build of a Lego kitty!

Here's a vroom!  And here's a vroom! And there's a vroom!  Everywhere there's a vroom!

I'm assuming Jared built this tower when he was playing with Abishai at the Duplo table.

Looking at the Duplo sets.

The Castleton Square Mall has a nice food court with this indoor playground.  We stayed and played there for over an hour!  Justin even made a friend, lol!  Keturah, the pretty one, just sitting on a log here.

"I sit! I sit!"  Abishai took possession of this airplane and would not get out of it to save his life!  It was his and no one was going to take over.  I guess when you are the baby you have to push your way to the front and to get what you want and once you get it, you have to fight to keep it.

Mine!

"Is anyone out there? Just checking! It's still all mine!"

At the Think Geek store they had these huge life size mannequins that cost $1,200 for sale.  No thank you, but they looked cool!

Brothers playing with little guy.

Keturah just sitting on the log, again.

And she's sitting on the log again!

This time Abishai and Justin were playing with the log, but Keturah is still on top.

Cute baby in a log.

Benaiah wanted to make sure he had time with the Play Station 4 over the spring break so I asked him to put reminders in my phone as an "event."  This is what he came up with: "Blanaba (Benaiah) ps4 (play station 4) rental (time with the ps4) Meme house (Grandpa's house)."

And this one: "Blanuble (Benaiah) station of the play edition 4.  PREACH (preacher's house?)"  And check out those times!  They don't really have any meaning.   I told him that he better not put an alarm on these events that go off at 4:10 am or something.  Point is, never hand your teenager your phone unless you are willing to deal with their "brains are uploading (stuck at 50%)" crazy talk and actions.  I have heard that kids' brains get rewired during puberty and I don't think all the connections are remade until well into their 20's.  So, that's why I say Benaiah's brain is only 50% re established, lol.  Although he didn't notice how people were acting in the mall and he recognized that some of it was wrong.   So, maybe it's like 75% reloaded, lol.  And poor Justin exclaimed today, "Being a preteen is the worst feeling/time of my life!"  He is trying to be a good boy, but he's got all these new feelings and thoughts and has no clue how to deal with him.  He is so sensitive that yes, he does cry about it.  I say that not to embarrass him but to compliment him.  He's so smart and he recognizes what Benaiah has already gone through and wants to do his best not to repeat Benaiah's mistakes but doesn't know how, poor thing.

Anyway, both Justin and Keturah lost teeth today.  Hopefully this is Justin's last baby tooth.  We have to keep an eye on Keturah's gums and new tooth because the baby tooth she lost came out in pieces.  And now I can't find the pieces.  She put them on my keyboard and in my hurry this afternoon, I think I knocked them off somewhere.  We looked all over my desk area and can't find them.  So, on that front, pray that all the pieces did come out that needed to come out, came out and that what we do see is her new tooth emerging.  If not, we will definitely be calling the dentist in the next day or two.

Benaiah said he got an A- on his English test!  And he's not so fond of his geography teacher and how she gives him not grace on his assignments or tests.  I keep reminding him that even when he doesn't like how an adult is handling a situation or class, that a) you have to shut up and put up a lot of the time and b) you will encounter many more people you don't agree with in college and the workplace.  No school or job or group of friends will fit you perfectly.

So, we had a great time together at the mall especially, something we haven't done in years!  And we ate there, but cheaply thanks to some "have one on us" Chick Fil A coupons.  Score!

Year 2, Day 65: Back to Normal?

Not quite back to normal, but it was a very full day at homeschool co op.  3 families were out today, so I had to pick up two extra classes today, plus watch Abishai all day since Leah wasn't available to babysit and Jared had an all day meeting and work to do.  I am exhausted!  And so are the kids!  But Abishai loved being with the older kids today following them around, copying what they did, and doing his own thing, too.  I bet when he starts really talking in full sentences, he will talk, talk, talk about all his adventures.  There's something to be said about being the youngest kid and looking up to those big siblings.  The pictures will reflect that.  And now we are on our "spring break" i.e. we won't have co op for the next two Mondays, and we won't be doing much for school the week of March 20th because Justin will be busy with a local missions week.  But we will work this week and next as normal.  I need to get in as much as I can before we move, because I doubt we will do anything afterwards, which means, our year will be a bit shorter than normal.  I make sure we get the right number of instruction days/hrs in, but to be honest, no one has ever checked our records in our 10 years of homeschooling.  (Only 10? It seems like I've been homeschooling forever!)

Anyway, there's a lot on my plate, and I seem to keep being side tracked on many rabbit trails or have just chosen to be lazy instead of doing the next right thing.  I'm sure it's partly a spiritual battle.  Unfortunately, life was just as intense almost a year ago as it is now.  We all need patience and perseverance to get through the next couple of months.  Then, I hope we will really settle down and start really living again.  I'm so glad that my parents didn't/weren't able to move after they moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire when I was in Kindergarten until my brother graduated high school 18 years later.  I don't think I would have handled moving around as a kid very well.  Jared and I have only had 4 homes total, including the current one, in our 15 1/2 years of marriage.  So, I'm praying that when we do find a house, it will be a permanent thing for at least 4-10 years, if not longer.  That's one of the reasons finding a house is so stressful for me.  It's not a stepping stone to something else this time.  It's permanent and we are going in debt for it after living debt free for the last 3 years.  So, I want the kids to know when they read this that we take a) going into debt for a house very, very seriously and b) we want it to fit us well and last us through lots of different life stages.  Our house is out there, we just have to wait and see.

Abishai's set up at church on Sunday nights when siblings are at their activities.  This time he had a fruit snack, his water, and a robot train tv show to watch.  If you can see the kids in the background of this picture, they are the middle school students going from their teaching time to their worship time.  Justin is very good at saying, "Hi, Mom!" as he passes with his friends.

Ga ga ball!  Abishai wanted to join in, so the students were kind enough to let him stand inside the ball pit.  Abishai just stood there with his hands behind his back taking it all in.

Then they started letting him throw the ball to start the round. He loved that!

1, 2, 3, Go!  The point of ga ga ball is to not get your legs hit by the ball, but you can use the rest of your body to keep it away from the legs.  He also had a fun time rolling around on the floor waiting for Benaiah's friend Ethan to tickle him!

Abishai took his blankie on a walk around the gym during co op today.  He even stopped, walked around the stroller to the front, and checked on blankie to make sure everything was ok.  He ran up and down the courts, desperately trying to keep up with those big kids and for the most part, he did keep up! 

Abishai did his first "dot dot" painting today!  My sister got these dot painting things for Benaiah a long time ago,  so I wrote them today just for fun.  We talked about the real meaning behind St. Patrick's Day, and I wanted the kids to be able to paint their 3 leaf clovers representing the trinity, but they came up with some betrer ideas.

One of the girls took a dot to dot page and lined the outline in glue and then carefully added the glitter.  And then she free hand drew the heart.  Both girls were very careful with the glitter and listened well today!

A free hand drawn egg and an origami duck.

"Dot dot" paint is common in areas where Bingo halls are common.  I used to see a ton of these paints in the dollar stores in Canada.  I'm so glad they have lasted until now!

St. Patrick was kidnapped from his home in England, sold as a slave in Ireland, and worked for a cruel master tending his sheep.  He eventually escaped back to England, only to be called back to Ireland to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He suffered a lot of persecution there, but lived a long life.  I explained to the girls that I don't focus on rainbows and leprechauns during St. Patrick's Day.

The heat in student building was not working so we were all frozen for a good part of the morning.  So snack time was done in our coats and hats!

Ready, set, go! Run from one side of the entrance to the other!

The church we meet at is getting a new playground built in May, so they are asking the kids of the church for input on what they should include.  Our fearless gym teacher attends this church, so she asked if her gym students could also participate.  And they were fine with that.  See Abishai in the middle of things?  Just the way he likes it!

I need to design and color, too!

Week 2, Day 63-64: Too Much

I'm not actually going to post much tonight.  It's been a wild ride this weekend, and we have homeschool co op tomorrow.  Once I recover from that, I'll fill you in on some things.  House hunting is difficult and taking a lot of emotional and physical toll on us, for one, on top of normal living.  I haven't felt in the mood to take pictures or make memories.  The rest of this week is thankfully much less busy.  Just be praying for us, because the housing market is FIERCE in the price range and area we want/need to have.  Multiple showings and bids on just one home within 24 hrs of it being posted on Mibor kind of fierce.  We have a few fun things planned as well for the month.  Just tons going on and no change in energy or health for me except taking away my favorite protein sources like dairy and eggs, which has left me scrambling to find food for myself and stock up on easy meals.  I'm pretty much left with meat, nuts vegetables/fruit, and grains if I don't want to do strict paleo/low carb.  And I've had to not worry about the sugar content of everything just so I can make a meal for myself (think tomato sauce, ketchup, jelly, hot dogs, etc).  Yeah, it's been a bit rough for me, which affects everyone.  So, please send up some extra prayers during this next transition season for us, including my anxiety and pain levels, which are like tripled right now.  I'm going to be so glad when it's all said and done by June and we can regroup and resettle wherever we end up.  I'm willing to privately share details of what kind of house/price range we are looking for if you want to contact me.  Thanks and good night.

Year 2, Day 62: Another Average Day

Ah, another stay at home day to stay on top of everything without feeling stressed out!  Woot! Woot!  Kids were feeling a little cooped up and giving me some grief with "why do we need to learn this?" and then not accepting the answer.  Oi!  But we got through the day just fine.  I was able to work on the taxes a bit today, and as I feared, I'm second guessing different things I'm writing down, which makes the process longer.  It's just not fun anymore to fill out tax forms for this accountant.  Sigh.  Tomorrow I spend the day with Justin and Benaiah at their Bible Bowl competition which means...more cross stitching time!  Wahoo!

Having the hallway closet full of board games has helped the middles actual pull them out to play!  I'll have to come up with a similar solution in the new house, whatever that is.

It's "throw lots of things in a pot and hope it all tastes right in the end" night!  Leftover chicken added to canned chicken noodle soup (which I can't eat so I ate something else) plus leftover veggies and two cans of canned potatoes, plus a few spices and viola! dinner!

"I want to do what my siblings do!" - Abishai.  At least he's got some made fine motor skills!

Oh wait, his big motor skills work fine, to.  He can nearly climb over the gate and gets frustrated when his siblings don't include him.

Abishai kept saying, "Me, me!" and could have either been meaning "It's my turn!" or "Mean, mean, you are mean!"  Poor little guy, always being left out....NOT!

Delay fish playing with the fishy plastic Easter Eggs.  We don't do Easter baskets, but we have had this particular basket since Benaiah was Aishai's age to play with for the season.  Each egg became a family member of course.  And Daddy was the biggest T-rex one!  Oh, and Abishai can hide really well under our bed blankets without being afraid of the dark!  Wow!  And he thinks we can't find him when he just puts his hands over his face.  So cute!

Year 2, Day 61: Did We Find "The One?"

House hunting day!  And it was a whirlwind trip with 5 properties seen all over the southeast side of Indianapolis in 5 hours!  Thank goodness Abishai went to see Grandma for the morning and Benaiah was in school.  I loved having the middles with us, but if I had any more voices and opinions being thrown around, well, it wouldn't have been pretty.  Actually, it was a very pleasant experience!  We prayed for clarity, and our prayers were answered!  We need to act fast on whatever property we do choose, because the housing market here is ridiculously fast!  I mean, houses are listed one day and sold the next!  And that's not just the ones we prefer, but ones also in the subdivisions as well, that would be in our price range.  We do have a lower income and a lower price range than most, and we are very ok with that.  So our choices are limited.  Do we get one that is big but needs a lot of cosmetic work?  Or do we get one that looks pretty and is solid, but is small?  Or do we get the one that may or may not have structural issues but has a playground and playhouse in the backyard (and an awesome mudroom!)  Or do we get the one that is average all around?  Well, we aren't 100% committed to anything just yet, so just keep praying for all the next steps.

But I'm having the kids work on paint colors and I think I'll let Miss Interior Design work her magic on her room as to how she wants to set it up.  We will hopefully be putting Abishai in the boys' room with this move.  That will keep their minds busy for awhile while we make the necessary decisions and paperwork.

And it was fun!  Jared even said with a very big smile on his face, "I'm nesting with you!"  Why, yes, you are! And then, oh my goodness, THEN, Justin goes up to one house and asks, "What's this? A TORCH HOLDER?"  Say what?! Are we in the Middle Ages?  Or do you just play too much Minecraft?  It was not a torch holder but a FLAG holder!!!!  What a goof!  And then we went to this one property that was obviously an old church, turned daycare, and we all had a great time discovering just how wrong it was for us.  It was very old and would need to be stripped to the studs.  I hope that some art gallery buys it or something.  Plus it was 30 minutes away from most of our activities and friends.  But it was a fun way to end the house hunting portion of the day.

We finished the day with some schoolwork, playtimes, and leftovers for dinner.  I'm so glad tomorrow is another home day before we head off to the Bible Bowl tournament on Saturday.  Phew!

"Bice!" hanging out on the windowsill at Grandma's house.

Everybody has their own parking spot!

Look!  I built a tower for my wa-we!  Ta-da!

"I sit!" "Nom nom!"  The King on his throne with his french fries.  He was NOT happy when we transferred him to his chair in the backseat.  Total meltdown, although he did calm down a little when we gave him his own fry box.

This was at the big, unusable "house" 30 minutes away.  It was hard to imagine it was safe enough for a daycare.  Justin is hiding under the stairwell, which does have an entrance on both sides.  There was another staircase just like it, but the underside was for storage.  But there was exposed wiring, no burners on the stove in the upstairs "apartment," exposed plumbing, very outdated and hanging off their hinges kitchen cabinet doors, random trash, a little stage complete with a screen for movies or overhead projectors, etc.  Not the "house" for us.  Lol.  But fun to run through, none the less.  Stay tuned as the house hunting progresses.

Year 2, Day 60: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

The sun didn't actually shine today, instead it was extremely windy like I have never seen it before here in Indiana.  I think it was the back half of the wicked storms that went through the midwest overnight that woke us up numerous times with thunder, lightning, and 45-55mph winds.  Thankfully it wasn't bitterly cold, but it sure sounded like it could have been and it would have been if we were still on the Island.  Eek!  Therefore, I only went out once today and it was for an appointment that was actually scheduled for tomorrow.  Whoops! At least I was a day early and not a day late! So I sent Justin with Jared this afternoon and the youngest two and I stayed home for the rest of the day.

Keturah bemoaned doing her schoolwork with me this afternoon while Abishai napped, but we got it done and she got her screentime.  I did skip Zumba this week because I woke up in horrible back pain (thanks, weather, I don't like you!)  The boys have a Bible Bowl competition this weekend (and I get to go watch them!) so they needed this practice tonight I'm sure.  And then it was off to bed quickly because four out of 6 of us are going house hunting tomorrow!  Woot! Woot!  Perry Township, Franklin Township, even out to Shelbyville (the town)! Eeek!  Pray that maybe one of these will be "the one" and that we can move quickly because house are going extremely fast right now.  It's both fun and frustrating at the same time.  So, pray, pray, pray!  And pray for patience for the middle kids coming with us.  I like to hear their perspective because it's so unique, especially when they are focused on something that isn't as "important" as us adults think it should be, like, ahem, having your own room or having an above ground pool, etc.  Fun stuff!

I think we have a left handed child!  My sister is left handed and Jared says his grandmother insisted he use his right hand, so maybe he would have been left handed, too.  It will be quite interesting if he is left handed because I can barely teach right handed kids how to write.  Oh boy! 

March 1st equals changing the seasonal tree! I think I've wanted to do this for years and I've finally done it!  Woot! Woot!  I do have a fake plant that has leaves that looks like four leaf clovers for St. Patrick's Day, plus books on the real story of St. Patrick.  Abishai is already having fun with the Easter basket and other eggs we have.  And that's about all we do with the Easter bunny/egg stuff.  Now, gotta figure our what we are doing for Lent devotions and such.

No joke.  Indiana had a Tornado Watch last night IN FEBRUARY! And there was a huge tornado in Illinois with deaths and lots of damage.

 

Nasty storms!

Yes, it was extremely hard to drive on the highway today.  I was a bit scared actually and did slow down because of i.t

Jared posted this on Twitter with the hashtag #work.  Yes, Abishai did his work of parking cars.  Not sure how much work Jared got done today.

And to follow suit, here's my work station, complete with it's own set of cars.  Abishai actually was walking around with the recorder trying to play it while music played from the Hello Kitty thing.  Future band member?  And a shout out to Justin for finding my earbuds I lost on Monday!  They were just hidden among the boots since Sunday.  Now I can put away those huge headphones you see there.  And now back to work!