Day 327: Michigan

Slow and steady, and we made it to Michigan easily!  I personally still don't feel great and have lost my voice, which makes it really hard to get people moving along for the day.  I'm writing this the day after we traveled, because, well, we traveled for one night so there was no need to bring our laptops.  Except, Mr. AAA personality (aka Gary) brought his, because, well, he admitted he's a workaholic.  He's not actually that bad of a workaholic, and I don't blame him for making the most of his time in the car.  I even tried to get some reading and cross stitch time in, but alas, moms don't get breaks.  And I'm sick, so I'm sleepy, and I slept both going to Michigan and coming home.  Sigh.

Justin was working heavily on a dragon all morning before we left.

Johnson hotel tradition: find a cupboard and get in it!

He would not settle until Keturah came in  to snuggle him first.  Then we got him transferred to the pack and play.

At one point I found these two in that empty cupboard playing/watching the video game.

Playing the "bored" game in Grandma and Grandpa's room.  Yes, it's called the "bored" game and is a twist on Sorry! using a deck of cards.

Watching TV, typical teenager.  Also typical: buying Starbucks drinks at the gas station and the caffeine intake doesn't affect him.

Sissy's earphones and leappad, yeah!

Day 328: Thanksgiving 2016

Of course, we have so many things to be thankful for today, but most of all, we are thankful for family.  Our biological families and our church families.  So many loving people to do live with!!  I could try to enumerate our thankfulness, but I think that pretty much sums it up as I reflect on the last year.  If you've been with me for this daily blog post all year, you'll understand why.  It's been one crazy year, and there are some things that I may not be very thankful for on the surface, but God does work in and around and with and despite our bad moments for His purposes.  I am thankful that we got to live on PEI.  I am thankful we were able to settle in quickly back in Indiana (the kids and Jared more than I.)  I'm thankful for relative healthiness and for finances that pay for when we aren't.  I'm thankful for people who helped us pack up and load the truck and for those who helped unload and unpack on the other side.  I'm thankful for the mentors in Jared and I's lives who pour themselves into us and walk alongside us.

Grandma Cook and Grandpa Cook

I could go on and on.  But I think I'll just show you a bit of who I am thankful for, Grandma and Grandpa Cook, Jared's grandparents, who "got this party started" so to speak.  They have 4 kids, 3 of whom got married and had a total of 5 kids.  Those 5 kids are all married and have a total of 12 kids.  That's 29 people connected/alive because of two people who have loved each other for over 60 years.  That's so cool!  Your family might be bigger or smaller, but to me, 29 people is a decent size.  And out of those relationships, only one has had some trouble keeping a stable relationship.  Divorce is not something we are familiar with, praise God!  Again, it's incredible!  Faithfulness towards God and faithfulness to each other.  I LOVE it!

Vroom! As always! Abishai, the mountain goat, climbing up to see the cars out the window.

Being a good boy with a cup of yogurt and using a stirring straw as a spoon.  Abishai likes to stay clean, so he's pretty obedient about getting wiped up.

The balls were the biggest hit with the kids today!  They could throw them into the basketball hoop game or throw them at each other.  Balls!

Loads of balls!  We meet at the church the grandparents and Uncle Ed attend, so it's pretty simple.

Justin found another hidey hole to play his DS in.

Playing the bored game with Jared's cousin Charles and his wife Gabby.

Zion on the right is the oldest cousin in my kids' generation. Benaiah and Zion get along very well when they see each other.  They are playig blockus.

Abishai playing on Grandma's Nook before dinner.

The folks (Grandma and Grandpa) have arrived!  We can eat!

Uncle Ed, Abishai and Jared talking.

The feast!  I made sugar free jello-o cranberry salad, sweet potatoes, and GF "dressing" aka stuffing.

The littlest 2nd cousins ages 2-8 years old.

The preteen/teen table, ages 11-15 years old.

Grandparents plus Gary and Leah's generation.

The grandchildren and/or original cousins generation.

Abishai thoroughly enjoying Grandma Leah's pumpkin/cream cheese/ whipped cream pie.  He was "mmmmmm'ing".

Full bellies,  ready to play again.

The Cook clan, except for Aaron/Shauna/Nora/Everly.

Day 326: Kid Dates

It's one of those weeks where we've got lots to do in a short amount of time.  I started prepping food for Thursday, because we have to take it with us tomorrow up to Michigan.  The kids puttered and played video games or watched videos.  Then I took Keturah to her appointment, and although she was bundled up in a heavy coat and snowboats, she still wanted a shake from Steak and Shake afterwards.  She choose MM's this time.  And she still wants this stuffed animal from there which looks like thing of fries, or "fry girl."  Silly girl!  Oh and she watched the "Popples" show on YouTube today because of finding my Popples yesterday.  Go '80's!

Then I took Benaiah out for some errands and the movie, Hankshaw Ridge.  I wanted to get some Christmas gifts while we were in Meijer, and was already in line when we realized that we just couldn't afford it today.  He and I learned how to reduce our basketload to just what we really needed and thanking the cashier for taking care of putting the items we didn't need back on the shelf.  For the record, we aren't poor, but money is tight, and I'm having to really catch myself and pull back on spending on non necessities.  The kids know that we have to be extra careful, so it's a lesson we are all learning.  Bills are being paid, though, so we are surviving.  Plus, our neighbor Judy picked up more groceries for us at the food pantry.  I kind of feel bad that she does that for us and she uses her limited energy to bring them into the building.  She's the sweetest older lady.  Abishai let her hold him today, too.  Anyway, she picked up things like potatoes, a big chicken, bread and snacks for us.  I graciously accept the gifts because it does help us and I know it makes her feel good about helping us.  God is providing, one day at a time.

So, Hankshaw Ridge.  Oh my goodness.  It was full of blood and gore, as I expected, but I found myself wishing it to be over.  The swearing was minimal, and so was the nudity.  But I was scared and jumped out of my seat several times.  I almost cried at the end (although it is a happy ending).  I never cry at movies.  It is very well done, and has given me perspective on how these soldiers must feel after being a part of all that.  PTSD to the max, poor soldiers.  The movie was full of Scripture, great morals, standing by your faith and principals, strong family and friendships, etc.  I'm blown away by how well this movie is made.  I hope it wins a ton of awards.  But it definitely is gross, just as war is gross.  Most of you probably don't want to see it.  Benaiah and I had some good discussion about it on the way home.  So, I had a "date" with Keturah since I got her milkshake and I got my diet cherry coke.  And I had a "date" with  Benaiah, too.  I'll have to find time to take Justin and Abishai somewhere soon.

Well, we'll be heading to Michigan tomorrow and getting home late Thanksgiving Day, so I won't be blogging until Friday.  I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share and maybe some fun stories.  The Cook family is always a joy to be around because we are all conservative Christians and with Christ at the center of all our lives, we just enjoy each other and not have to worry about difference of opinions in life or politics.  And I'm looking forward to getting out of my house for a couple of days.  I just need a change of scenery.  So, I'll talk to you on Friday!

Abishai took the rest of the groceries out of the box so he could get in it and drive it around, lol.

That's Benaiah throwing Abishai up in the air, not Jared.  Crazy that both of these kids are mine and yet they are such different sizes.  Abishai loves saying "Baba, baba, baba..." and pulls Benaiah over to something he wants to show him.  Lots of sibling love here.

I'm going to go ahead and remind you all that I am a stylist for Lilla Rose.  And this weekend is the biggest sale of the year.  The details are in the graphic below.  I will be around this weekend if you are interested and I can answer your questions.  I will also be participating with a booth at the Christmas in Wanamaker event on December 3rd from 10am to 4 pm.  I will have inventory to sell and you can come and try on a few things and find out what your size is.  There's a ton of vendors there, so come join us!  Thanks! Here's my website: www.lillarose.biz/melindaj

Day 325: It's starting to look like Christmas!

Today we had a great stay at home day, although I was moving slow because of a sore throat/runny nose combo.  I was able to get a couple of things taken care of medical insurance wise (still have a couple more questions).  We did some of the activities (with lots of groaning, boo!) to go with the last bit of history.  Now we just have to finish the timeline, do the mapwork, and orally take the big review test.  Justin and Keturah actually don't mind the big tests (I hate tests, but it's an easy thing to see what they did know and to have them hear the names we studied again) and will "compete" to see who knows more!  Justin only got 1 more right than Keturah last time!  It will have to wait until next week, though, because this week is completely full.  I also wanted to start reading some more entertaining books, that weren't directly connected to history, so I found this book that I think was my great grandmother's, Katherine Howell.  Printed sometime after 1938, but copyrighted in 1909, it's a little school reader kind of like the Abeka book readers of today, complete with questions and notes in the back.  It's published by the Houghton Mifflin Company, famous for their textbooks.  I'll share a picture below.

Then I cleaned up the porch and living room, readying them for all the boxes we'll be bringing in with the Christmas stuff.  We were able to go out to the farm we are storing some of our stuff, and get the Christmas tree itself, the big choo choo set, and hats/mittens/coats.  Then Jared picked up a load of wood from a friend.  We're finally ready for winter!  We'll go back to the farm, probably on Friday, to get another load of Christmas decorations like the lights and ornaments.  I won't be putting out a ton this year because I don't have space for it all and I don't want Abishai knocking the tree down and breaking all the precious ornaments.  Plus the tree is so much smaller, too!  I'll have to doublestack some of the ornaments or use all the branches like Gary and Leah do.

But boy oh boy was Abishai excited about the big choo choo.  And it still works!  We hadn't gotten it out in over 5 years, but with fresh(er) batteries, we were able to test it, and everything works.  But we'll have to get some brand new batteries so it will run for than a minute.  He didn't care about the tree though, lol.  I also saw that he knows how to push his long sleeves up and down now! These kind of things excite me because I remember that Justin was able to qualify for speech therapy because he hadn't learned how to dress himself yet, nor talk.  We didn't do any physical therapy because it was just a qualifier, but yes, one of my biggest talkers wouldn't talk until he was 3.  I think he would have talked on his own without therapy, but I think having some one on one time with another adult was helpful and he enjoyed it.  Anyway, oh! Abishai also got to see a big tractor in motion when we went to the barn!  It was dark, but they were moving it or working on it or something, so it was running and had it's lights on and all kinds of things.  I took the boys to a "touch a truck" event when they were little, so I hope to do that with Abishai.  Even when he's tired, he gets OCD about his cars lining up.  It's like it's a comfort to him.  Silly boy and his vehicles.

Speaking of Justin and Abishai, Justin said something like, "I need my Abishai fix" yesterday.  He had stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and then Abishai was taking a nap when he got home, so he hadn't seen the little guy for over 24 hrs.  And that's the first thing he wanted to do when Abishai woke up, cuddle him and tell him how cute he is, etc.  We say he's "addicted" to Abishai, but I think we all are.  Everyone likes to chime in and try to figure out what's wrong if Abishai is upset, and finally I have to say, "Please, just let me parent my own child for once!" Too many helpers!

Abishai can always find a way to get closer to "buttons" (keys) and the screen.  He's watching real airplanes fly/land/take off.  Jared likes to use that noise as his background noise.  Yes, kids running around the room isn't enough noise for him, lol.  I'm just teasing.  Whatever works, eh?

Ah yes, I remember when Benaiah was the one sitting in Jared's lap watching the train go round and round.

The tree was in a super large rolling tote that also contains my childhood stuffed animals.  Keturah couldn't help herself but pick a few to hang out with.  Yes, those are Popples and Rainbow Brite's horse (we left Rainbow Brite in the tote).  I'm a child of the 80's and 90's thanks.

Just one of the many gifts from a family friend.  I'm so grateful it still runs!  We brought it to Canada, never got it out, and brought it back.  Wahoo!

Not fully fluffed or decorated, but we are getting started on Christmas decorating by golly!

This is the book I mentioned above.  Riverside Literature Series, Number 231  Stickeen:The Story of a Dog by John Muir. 

Katharine (something) Howell

Ah, I can't read all of this! It says something like "Note the period of the Expedition (something) in Stickeen.  (Something) the date with your own life.  What was the occasion or cause of this expedition?"

There's even some notes in the text!  Notes like, "particulars and details" and "a specific instance."

I didn't take a picture of the inside of the cover, but I can see prices of these little books ranging from $.20 to $1 BRAND NEW.  Yup, it's old, it's neat, and it's a keeper!  I'll try to remember to let you know if the story is any good.  I'm guessing it's a 4th grade book. (I was right, I looked it up!) And apparently there's an exhibit somewhere about this author.  I LOVE old books!  My mom was addicted to them, too, lol.

Day 324: Me, me, me.

Ok, I know, the blog has been Melinda focused lately, and I apologize.  I will try to come up with some better writing about everyone this week, although I'm sure a few posts will be late due to Thanksgiving.  It's going to be an exciting week though!  First, we aren't doing school, so I'm going to work on a couple of projects and prep for Thanksgiving.  I'm also going to take Benaiah to Hacksaw Ridge.  Rated R, yes, but for war violence and foul language, both of which is real.  And I try not to shelter the kids too much in that area, i.e. letting them see pictures from 9/11 and talking about abortion (I haven't described the actual process much though).  Anyway, I haven't seen a movie since TMNT in June, so it should be fun.  Then we are going to Michigan for Thanksgiving to be Leah's family, yeah!

Then we get to dig out hats/coats/mittens and the Christmas decorations for next weekend!  I can't wait for little man to see the lights and play with the big Christmas train we never got out in Charlottetown.  We'll be using the tree that we used for our first couple of Christmases, because we gave away our big tree before moving back.  It was getting a little ratty, and it was one more easy thing to give away.  My parents used the current tree when they moved out here and we got the taller one.  Anyway, there's that.  AND of course Lilla Rose is having a huge 4-day sale this next weekend to coincide with Black Friday.  I need to do some more Christmas shopping and planning so everything gets done without a fuss.  Don't worry, I really don't have much we do every year, and I try to make one special treat a week, and we do simple chocolate advent calendars and just a few decorations.  (I wonder if Jared will let me put lights outside our door and on the balcony? Probably not.) And I'm going to try out a new "reverse advent calendar" thing where the kids and I have to put one thing in the giveaway box every day.  That doesn't include trash or recyclable items.

Cranberry bread, cherry winks, rye bread, (made at least GF if not sugar free) and MUENSTER cheese and ham!  Yes, MUENSTER, that I eat every week now because we didn't have it in Canada.  Yum!  Something sweet for Christmas morning, like doughnuts.  And the lights of Christmas, are my favorite because I hate darkness.  I love putting them up in kids' rooms and down the hallways in the wintertime.  Seasonal depression is a real thing you know.  Ah, Christmastime is here, not for getting, but for being thankful.  I think it goes hand in hand with Thanksgiving, because you are celebrating the gift of family and friends, of good food and of having plenty of "stuff."  Can't wait!

Jared had an aha moment today: let's measure how long Abishai is by how many foo-foo's (trains) it takes!  Yup, exactly 9 train cars.

All of our windows face north, so we don't see sunrise or sunset, and I was kind of bummed about that today.  So, I took this pic to remind myself that we do have some pretty trees to look at.

Ah!  Grandpa started early this year on decorating and beat me to it!  He did save some ornaments for everyone to put on the tree.  Fun stuff!

Wow, she seems taller than the last time they helped put up Grandpa's tree.  I can't remember if they helped last year or not, but otherwise, it would have been 5 years ago and she would have been 3.

Anne of Green Gables

Benaiah got a set of drums and a guitar and a whole new set up with Rockband so he can learn how to drum better (or so he says, lol).  Anyway, it's staying at Grandma's house because we don't have room for it.

It's hard to set up electronic gadgets when there's a button loving toddler around.

Abishai's turn to put ornaments on.  He didn't actually pay attention to the tree much.  He like Baba's buttons more.  And I think that's Socks fluffiness in the right hand lower corner.

Abishai did find a foo foo or two that he wanted though.  And yes, he got to go to Grandma's house in his superman pj's an yes, they do have a cape to attach to the shirt, but I forgot to bring it.  Little man has had a cough all day, so he didn't go anywhere else today.

I want to see outside!  But there's really not anything to see kid, it's dark by 5:30 pm!

Day 323: First Snowflakes!

It's late, and well, not much to report, oh wait, we saw SNOWFLAKES today!  And the wind was bitter blowing through my jeans tonight on the way into church.  It reminded me of all those bitter winds on PEI, which actually makes me sad.  I changed my profile picture on Facebook to a picture of our van half buried under snow.  Why? Because I could and it's time for winter!  So, besides that, not much happened out of the unusual that pictures can't explain.

We dropped off our two boxes for Operation Christmas Child today.  This was the picture Keturah included in her box.  I also printed off a picture of our family to include.

Justin's note for his box.  I love how he showed where we live in the world.

Oh my goodness, what do I see in this current weather app?  SNOW IN VIEW! and LIGHT SNOW!

That's right, there were snowflakes seen in the area.  I texted the family because that's what we've done the last 5 years when we would see the first snowflakes.  I'm not trying to skip Thanksgiving, but I'm excited for Christmas.  I don't know why, maybe because Abishai is older?  Hopefully we'll get the Christmas boxes out of storage next weekend.

I think this has to do with putting me into the Christmas mood.  One week from tonight, I'll be taking in a Michael W. Smith Christmas concert, complete with orchestra and Amy Grant and some other artist from American Idol or something.  Anyway, it's not all about me, but I am blessed to be able to enjoy a little me time once in awhile.

Abishai grabbed my phone off my desk, and Keturah decided to use it to snap a couple of pictures with it.

Foo-foo's!

Twins!  Ok, not totally, but the shirts match, and they are the same size.  That dimple of Benaiah's is from my family though ;-)  And the derp face? Well, that's all Benaiah.

So is this derp face that looks like Beaker from the Muppets.  He loves to put his brother in a headlock and Justin loves it too!

Troll!  Keturah was showing off this really neat turkey oreo treat she got in Sunday School and Justin decided to "ruin" the picture.  Hilarious!

Very neat treat!

Other moments from the day includes Abishai enjoying some Barbie time with Keturah.

And hiding in the ice chests outside, when it was near freezing temps.  They came in within minutes.

Apparently it was a Keturah/Abishai day.  Abishai loved sharing a snack with her before church.

Close up of the turkey!

Even the feet are detailed!

The back of Mr. Turkey, which was then promptly gobbled up!

Our venus fly trap did open up again when it realized that it couldn't eat dirt.

Look, Mom!  Tongs make great armor!  He likes to use them as weapons, too.

The remnants of the oreo turkey on baby's cheeks!

Our stickers from dropping off our boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

On a serious note, we finished reading our history book today!  We'll do the rest of the activities in it next week.  But before we did, I had the kids watch a vhs tape showing some raw footage of the first 24 hrs after the 9/11 attacks.  It wasn't quite showing all the famous images we who lived through it know, so I ended up bringing up a Michael W. Smith song, "There She Stands," that he wrote soon after the tragedy about our flag on YouTube knowing that some version just might contain the pictures I was looking for.  I was looking for the ones where the men raised the flag and people fleeing down the street as the towers fell.  I think the kids did get the somber message after seeing the video of the song and pictures.  Watching the video almost brought me to tears and those kinds of videos don't usually do that.  It was a powerful moment for me.  So much has changed in 15 years, and it's weird to think my kids don't have those haunting images in their minds as we do.  I'm going to include the video link here.  It's an incredible song, too, and not just because Michael W. Smith wrote it.  Enjoy.

There She Stands by Michael W. Smith