Day 144 Steady on.

Everyone had a very non eventful day.  I packed.  Jared watched Abishai.  Benaiah did his homework and played video games.  Justin and Keturah did their schoolwork, went to Grandma's crochet group, watched TV, and then went back outside to play with the neighbors.  Among my packing, I repacked some baby blankets from the kids and went through the stuffed animals with Keturah via Facetime.  She did let go of some.  I held onto a few different ones that were Benaiah's or mine.  Justin didn't get too many I guess when he was born.  But seeing the blankets, which also included some my mom made for me, made me cry.  This journey can certainly be an emotional roller coaster and today was no exception to that.  Our moving date is probably about 3 weeks away.  Gotta keep plugging away.

I love how they play together.

Perfect hidey hole with his favorite John Deere (complete with lights that light up!) and his tea(?) Yes, he likes to drink from Daddy's cups.

Abishai also started making the sound of the guns when he plays PS4 with Daddy, made complete with popcorn and water of course!

Justin playing with his gift from his friend Micah.  It's a balloon launcher!

A different kind of launcher plus ducks in the background there.

Day 143 Block parties and home parties.

We all had full, fun filled days.  I'm just going to show the pictures today, because it explains a ton.

The kids got to see Angry Birds with G'ma and G'pa and liked it.  Jared and Benaiah still want to go.  I'm don't usually care about seeing animated movies in the theater because I don't think they need the big sound to get the point across like you need for the big action sequences of the movies I like ;-)

The kids got to see llama's at an open house today! Beautiful! (The ladies are beautiful, too!)

Friend time at the block party they got to go to!

Skateboarding with his new friend, who is actually older than him! Justin finally isn't the shortest guy his age anymore!

We started the day out right with a big box of Tim's!  Actually, there were about 10 left from yesterday. 

This is about all the partying Benaiah does.

Best parties are done in your underwear, right?!

Ok, so I had an AMAZING photo shoot with this guy today!  I still need to get him to sit with some dandelions, but THIS is why I got an expensive camera!

We see his smile so much, but I hardly every get it capture right on the camera.

This is him, ALL DAY LONG!

These were Benaiah's when he was little.

Always having fun in the empty cupboard, even at Daddy's feet.

This one is for a sweet young person, Hannah, who handed this to me today.  She adores our family (and the rest of her family loves ours and vice versa!)  I just happened to put them in our bulletin today and they started to flatten out.  So, I'm going to keep them there, and "press" them as a reminder of our friends here on PEI.  Today's sermon was incredible!  It was on the topic of forgiveness and it was preached in such a way that I've never heard before.  I needed to hear that so much.  It is a big party this weekend as it's Victoria Day tomorrow.  Canada celebrates Victoria Day instead of Memorial Day.  But, essentially, the festivities are the same with BBQ's and firepits and games, etc.  We just don't have the Indy 500 and such to watch, lol.  Short and sweet tonight.  Enjoy!

P.S. THIS is the story I forgot! I was Facetiming Leah this afternoon to tell her I found sandals for Justin in one of the boxes and instead of Leah, I saw my friend Ginny's face! They were both at the same graduation open house (with the llamas).  How FUN!  It's great to see old friends, but I'll also miss my newer friends.  I can't wait to hug everyone here and there!  Bring on the hugs! (Ok, I guess I am Olaf now, i.e. I'm melting in this "heat" of 70 degrees AND I like warm hugs.  Maybe I've liked the north a little too much, lol).

Day 142 Books, Dinosaurs, and a fire?

You are probably wondering what those three things have in common.  Nothing besides they were all part of our day, so let me explain.  I and Benaiah were at a homeschool conference most of the day, an the main speaker was someone from Answers in Genesis, the Ken Ham organization and part of the Creation Museum group.  So, one of the sessions was on dinosaurs vs. dragons in the Bible! Just so you know, you won't find the word "dinosaur" in the Bible because it wasn't invented until 1841.  Instead, you will find behemoth in Job and dragons, because the writers of the Bible knew those words.  And the way that the behemoth is described in Job sounds just like a brontosaurus!  Editor's note: apparently, a brontosaurus never existed.  I guess it was a pieced together animal from several other animals.  But the brachiosaurus still exists I think.  Who knew!  I grew up with brontosaurus.  Science theory and truths continue to change as new things are discovered.  Creation Science has been part of my life for a long time because my mom LOVED the subject!  So we have some of the original books about dinosaurs and creation from 25 years ago!  I think she would have enjoyed getting to see the full scale model of the Ark at the Creation Museum, that opens this July 7th!  It's kind of expensive, but I'm sure it's worth every penny!  Definitely put it on your bucket list!

I was in charge of the used curriculum and book sale, and there were plenty to choose from.  Benaiah helped me with that.  And the fire? Well, we went to an annual opening of the firepit party tonight with some great friends.  So, not related to homeschooling, but I met a woman there that knew a lot of my homeschooling friends in Summerside.  Here's what the middles did today!

Keturah keeping her arms strong for gymnastics.

Cleaning off "helicopters" from the soft maple trees from the roof and deck.

A gift from our friends from PEI who now live in Ohio.  Small world!  Justin and their son Micah were best friends while they lived on PEI.

Making new friends in the neighborhood.

Daddy was in charge of little man for 9 hrs today!  So, he took him on a very long walk around the neighborhood and through the woods, to places Jared hadn't gone before (but I had).  The story of the sand is that there were these piles of sand that Abishai had a blast scrunching his fingers up in and putting the sand back on the ground.

This is the view from our friends' house.  They've got a great view of the harbor in Charlottetown and can get out on the water straight from home!

Jared enjoying some time with friends.

This guy! He's plays the crowd all day long!  He took two long naps today so he was raring to go!  Here he is playing with an empty coke can for like 15 minutes!  He loved our friend's fancy camera, got licked by some little dogs, and babbled with everyone.

Straight across this part of the water is a park that we often go to near our house.

Abishai made himself at home and kept eating all the cheesy popcorn out of people's bowls and plates!  I don't think our friends minded that much.

Sharing with our friend Megan.

Ah, this screenshot had Benaiah and I laughing today.  This will be our new address! And from where we were today at the conference, it is approximately 1,234 miles to Indianapolis! Yes, that's a super long drive!

The picture on the left was a mummified dinosaur!  The speaker was explaining how Creation was approximately 6,000 years ago and that dinosaurs lived then . Mummies can't last longer than that!

My helper today.

Day 141 Beautiful day - both places!

Grandma took lots of pictures today, so I thought I'd share them all!

Keturah and her homework.

Justin brought his favorite blanket with them.  This was my Dad's as a kid! It's pretty thin, thus the reason Justin likes it because he gets so hot at night, but Grandma Leah patched it up on one of her trips to see us on PEI.

Gotta have the Legos.

Little and big baby feet (see picture below of the other big and little people feet).

Grandma immediately took the kids to the library so they would have books to read and be part of the summer reading program.  School finishes up there Indiana this week.  Our kids will continue a bit longer because of the PEI schedule and b/c of taking time off to pack.

Today was a great gardening day! Those Grandparents definitely know how to put the kids to work!

She looks so much older, doesn't she?  We left Indiana when she was 4, and now she's almost 8.  Crazy!

I don't think Justin has taken off that shirt in 3 days again . Of the 3 dozen t-shirts this kid owns, he rotates only a few at at ime.  

A generous friend brought a "welcome back to Indy" gift for the kids.

Man-child, husband, and baby child.

I got tired of Mr. playing in the plastic cups and bowls and plates, so I boxed them up (I had already purged them.  Now he has the best hiding spot a kid could ever have!  A Christmas Story anyone?

This was my family's I believe.  Hopefully we'll get to make some more memories with it when we get to spend time time with my brother's kids.

Jared is on dog brushing duty, one of the least favorite chores in the house, and this is why!  It's never ending!

Baby blue eyes going stir crazy before bed after a long day of playing outside!

Day 140 Outdoor time!

Another full day.  Made some progress, although my shoulder hurts so much from walking the dog while pushing the stroller around the block.  Whoops!  So, the day started slow for me.  But I did get rid of some dated jewelry and perfume.  And we finalized what we were taking from the shed.  Lots of stuff to giveaway this weekend.  We also got to play at the park, which is always cool to see the "bookends" playing together.  14 year olds are a lot like 15 month olds.  It's very sweet!

It was a bit dusty, but Abishai loved playing in the magazine rack I got out to pack up.

Nothing like eating freezer jam from last June!

Teenage Mutant Ninja COWS! From Cows Creamery.

Benaiah got to spend some gift money recently on a drone, which is like a mini helicopter you can fly.

I got in the picture this time!

Never too old to swing!

Never too young to swing!

Bookends!

Benaiah is now bigger than the dog!

We've had this chair and table set for many years, but need to throw it away before we move.  But Abishai will get to enjoy it while we are still here.

I pulled this beauty out from under my bed today.  My very generous in laws had my wedding dress preserved for me.  I am very grateful because my mom did the beadwork on it, while a friend did the sewing of the main parts.  I asked Keturah if she'd like to wear it someday and she said no! Well, we'll see.

My doughnut and I'm NOT sharing!

Grandma Leah couldn't get any pictures of the middles adventures today, so I'll try to describe them.  Keturah did some homework at the island where she sat on not one, but TWO cushions like a queen! And Justin did his homework at the tall table, complete with a coaster I had made of him peeking out of a pumpkin house and he had his tea on it.  They got to play with the neighbor girl today, who has one of those motorized kid jeeps.  They also washed Grandma's car and went to a new playground.  When I talked with Justin tonight, he said he was using his creativity to make up a new comic book.  Grandma and Grandpa are certainly keeping them busy!  And that's awesome.  I couldn't do that with them here, and I knew they were bored.  I'm glad they are having tons of fun.  But the house is just a tad too quiet without them and Abishai really, really misses them.  Just a few short weeks left, and we'll be reunited again.