Year 4, March 18th-21nd, 2019: Randomness

Pretty mundane start to the week.  I was feeling moody, but I won't share the details here, but I also don't have much to say either.  I'm trying to rest for convention as well.  School is going better.  It's been weird having Benaiah home and I think my days are off.  They've played on the trampoline despite the cooler temps again and I weeded the area off the back deck.  And we weren't totally out of food, but Tuesday was the only free night to get groceries for the week, so we did.  Now I have to go play around with a full iCloud and a DVD that doesn't want to open pictures.  Fun times!

Now it's Thursday, and I'm still behind.  And I'm still dumb for staying up too late.  So, here's the highlight reel of the week.  I don't have anything philosophical to say.  I need to save my mental energy for this home education conference this weekend.  I can't wait to just sit and think without kids around for half a minute! Ah! On ward!

Benaiah ordered himself food, again! His money literally burns holes in pockets I think!  The funny thing is, we had orange juice in the fridge, hamburger patties in the freezer, along with hash browns, and frozen egg/sausage muffins in the freezer as well.  I think he doesn't like our food or something.  Sigh. Or he just feels like a big guy because he can pay for his own food.  It does help our budget, HOWEVER, I do make sure there's enough food for him to have every meal at home.  It might be just peanut butter and jelly, but there's plenty of food.

Oi!

I want a bath mom.  And can I have my crayons? Oh, and a washcloth makes a great blanket so I don't get cold when I stay in too long and the water cools off!

Watching big brother watch other people play video games.  Abishai defeated level 5 of a game all by himself yesterday. He's also got snacks to watch with.

I love how Abishai is cradling the fries container while being entertained with Benaiah's entertainment.

Watching big brother eat his sandwhich.  I commented how big it was and Keturah came over to see (she's so easily distracted) to watch him eat it.

You can't video games with your toes! Lol!

Love the crossed legs.

I think Abishai said that during snuggle time with Daddy at night.  The next night, Abishai was super tired, but didn't want to go to his own bed and then Jared finally gave in and let him fall asleep in our bed.  He just didn't want to let Daddy go.

Another day, another neighbor having a tree removed.  Thankfully, these things take about an hour to do.

"I want to walk around, Mom!"  And then he spun around until he literally was dizzy.

Star Wars chess pieces make great figurines to play with!

Raising the next generation of eSports fanatics? Eek!

It's cute and all, but I'd rather they bond over reading, board games, crafts, or playing outside. At least they do wrestle together.

Grandma brought home a new ping pong based game from New Orleans.  Everly and Nora have the same one, too.

Happy 36th birthday, Grandpa? Grandpa thought he would be funny and put the numbers on backwards!  Mrs. Ellen made the cake because Grandma just came home today.  We also went out to lunch at Steak and Shake with Grandpa, and then he took Grandma to a new restaurant for dinner.  Then we reconvened at the house for dessert after Justin's Bible Bowl.

When Grandpa dishes out the cake and ice cream, he gives out big pieces and big scoops.  Oi! Not only did they all have shakes at Steak and Shake at lunch, now they all got big portions of more sugar close to bedtime!  Just what Grandpa loves to do: spoil them!

Wow!

Then Abishai wanted my cherry sorbet so he just slipped up onto my lap without warning.  Goofy boy!

I won't show the funny "outtake" picture that Jared had made into a big picture canvas, but it will bring many laughs for many years to come.  But this smaller one is perfect for the office.  This was taken in India.  Sweet!

Gary turned 63 on Wednesday, the 20th.  Yup. 63. And in the words of Benaiah which he had to say in a musical at age 10, "My grandpa has cufflinks, and he's old!"  (the scene was in a jewelry store).  Bwahahaha!

Going out this morning to see some working vehicles clean up a tree that they cut down earlier this week.

Keturah put the Usborne (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Usborne!) "My First Drawing" books to good use! She's really not had a chance to improve her skills and I haven't given her much direction.  But, she knew Justin likes pirates and so she drew them just for him!  That's sweet, especially when those two bicker like all the time.  Their love/hate relationship is a strong bond.

Her other drawings!

I LOVE the banana telephone game!  Classic!

He wanted to carry it around the house and I wouldn't let him because I didn't want it bruised up.

Wow! Bad storm clouds around lunch time over the field west of the church.

I asked the kids to make shadowboxes of ONE room of a castle as one of their last "big" projects for the school year.  I want tons of different materials used and lots of details to distinguish the rooms from other time periods.  Justin choose a dungeon and Keturah choose a stable.  Really? Throne room? Bed room? Kitchen? Something with more color and spunk? Oh well.  Justin has just started his and Abishai decided it was a great place to play with the Star Wars chess pieces.  This is the good guy ship!

Keturah said it was a car but I said it looks like a tugboat! Well done!  She also rearranged her room again.  I'm thinking her next extracurricular activity needs to be some art classes.  Her therapist actually reminded me that she likes to be creative and likes to play outside so we'll try to work with that.  Otherwise the appointment was a great starting point to see what's going on in her head and what we can do to help steer her in the right direction.  And our HSA paid for it, which is a blessing.

the end

Year 4: March 15th-17th, 2019, "Keep it together, (Wo)man!"

First: quote that movie! It's from Monsters, Inc. in 2001.  After a long few weeks of illnesses, and now another long week of extra transportation and logistics, I began to fall apart on Saturday.  But let's back up.  Friday was fine.  We went to our last gym day of this school year.  Technically there's one more, but the homeschooling convention is next Friday.  I had a good chat with a friend who has slightly older girls and gained some perspective on Keturah's attitude.  Then I picked up Benaiah from work, he quickly showered, and we were off again to pick up Ava for another movie.  Benaiah, Ava, and a couple of friends went to see Captain Marvel again at a different expensive movie theater and I took Keturah, who had completed 95% of her work for the week, to Aquaman at the cheap theater a block away.  The timing was perfect because we got out before they did.  And for the price I paid last week for 1 movie ticket, a refillable tub of popcorn (we always get refillable and bring it home), and a pop, I paid the same for 2 movie tickets, tub of popcorn and two drinks at the cheap theater.  Patience pays off sometimes.  But I'm done getting popcorn and pop for a weekend movie.  I'll get them again on $2 Tuesdays or something.  I was just craving movies and popcorn lately.  Aquaman was decent, but way too much CGI and fight scenes.  It felt a little bit like a video game.  I let Benaiah drive both to and from the movie theater and we had fun with that.  He even had to pump gas and embarrass himself when he had to clarify what to do.  "facepalm"   Ava's a good sport though.  I think they need to do something else besides movies, too.  Like bowling, or mini golf when it gets warmer.  Hm,...not my dating life, I know.

Saturday was a local homeschool used book sale that I prepared for and it was a good thing, too.  There were about 35 vendors and I was able to pick up a bunch of novels I will need for Justin's literature classes.  I did get overwhelmed though because the only high school science I could find was very textbook style, either Apologia, which I have the older editions of, Abeka or Bob Jones.  Blech.  I just don't feel like we're ready for so much material all at once!  So I left there a bit discouraged and confused.  I'll do a little more digging this week before convention and hopefully have some conversations there about it with some of their vendors.  I pulled out the Apologia Physical Science (not Physics) book and it actually is more readable than I thought.  I just want to make sure Justin doesn't get too overwhlemed and/or stuck in it.  My other options are to wait until he can go to a local college or do online classes.  I did my science credits a bit later and did them at a local college.  I also have to remember that I'm not teaching it. He's self teaching and/or he can get some help from Dad or the internet.  That's what I did.  I love science and can understand it and I got a B+ in college level physics without understanding all the math as a senior in high school.  I got a A- I think in biochemistry as a freshman in college.  But, my brain isn't as academic as it once was and while I wish I had the time to go over the material and relearn it, I know I can't.   So I need to take my own advice and chill.  This isn't my education.  It's not me doing the learning and taking tests, it's their education.  I just spread the feast.  And rely on others when I need to.

So, I was mentally exhausted, and physically from walking around and not sleeping well this week, after the book sale, so I came home and vegged on the couch for 2 hrs before tackling the clutter and mess around the house from a week of being out and about every day.  I even took a little nap.  I just feel unsettled because I haven't been at home in my controlled environment, I haven't planned meals, I feel rushed, and haven't rested.  I haven't slept well because I gave up a medication that had the side effect of sleepiness.  I have alternatives, but until I find a good combo, it's been hard to fall asleep.  My nerves are a bit erratic, but once I'm asleep, it's ok.  Definitely not like they were before the medication and switching from Zoloft to Cymbalta.  And now I have that dry cough that keeps you up all night and cough medication upsets my stomach.  So, not a great combo for the mood and exhaustion.

Sunday was fine.  We didn't take the middles early, but made sure that Justin was on time to serve in his classroom.  He then went over to Bryce's Grandma's house for the rest of the day.  Bryce had been over at our house all day on Saturday, too.  Yeah! Benaiah went home with Ava's family for a few hours before he had to be back to church.  Ava's backyard butts up to the property line of the church, so he can just walk to the church from there and back again, how convenient! He had a grand time walking around the neighborhood with her, picking on her younger brother, and (not) talking to her dad, who is the silent, laid back type.  So, he had his #meettheparents moment today, sharing a meal with them.  Woot! Woot!  Since I've had so much people time this week, I didn't mind having a break from the boys.  It was definitely quieter at home.  I rested again, and then Keturah and I went to church.  I volunteered in nursery, where we had 3 volunteers and 3 crying babies.  We needed Miss Leah to calm them down!  Keturah had her drama rehearsal, although she didn't have KP worship, she came early with me to save a ride.  Then Jared went back to get her.  I came home with Benaiah at 6.  Jared made supper (I love that I can get him to cook for me, but then I have to do the clean up, which, I don't have energy to tackle tonight).  Finally, everyone was home and ready for bed by 8:30 because mama needs her quiet time, thanks.

I need my personal space because I found out that Aaron and Shauna aren't coming for Easter, Gary's last sermon, or for the open house that they announced today that will be on April 27th, the day before Gary's last day.  So, we'll be alone celebrating that.  Well, not alone, alone, but no other close family.  And it makes me so mad and frustrated and sad.  Cancer sucks.  Satan sucks. And I'm selfish and just wanted them there, despite whatever they're going through.  But, I usually don't get what I want, so I'll just have to get over it, again.  But at least we can now plan which Easter service we'll go to and all that.  I'm just sick of these things getting in the way of life.  Tell me again how any of this is a blessing or what good can come of these things? Sigh.  But that's my struggle to wrestle with.

Time for another week.  It's not too full, but I'll need to rest and prepare for the two days of convention.  We just finished Day 145 out of 180 days of school, but we aren't planning to take a break until my jury duty, which is the same week as Leah's, so Jared's going to have to take time off for it.  Again, that sucks.  So many logistics.  Whatever.  If we continued straight through, we'd be done with school during the first week of May!  Yeah!  I'm glad I counted all those days where we did light work.  So, we're almost there!

I don't want to get out of bed, Mommy.  I snuggle myself!

Justin played a lot of gaga ball at gym day, while Abishai wandered around watching him.

Yes, I let him be cute and wear his candy cane jammies.

Keturah did a little bit of schoolwork and then heading off to play for her last gym day.  They also ate all the snacks we brought, including the ones that were mine!  Whoops!  Thank goodness I have a secret stash in my purse!

It was "Ollie's" birthday today!  How cute!  Ollie is the owl that are on the lesson videos at church.

Abishai found his little nook to have his screen time.

Bad selfie.  I'll try again next time.

Really, dog?  You think you own the place?  But isn't he so cute!?

Bad guys win!

It's a good thing these teens are skinny!

We woke up on Sunday morning to these humongous flakes of snow!  The temperature was right at the freezing point and there most have been a lot of moisture in the air to make them that big!

That's not snow on the tree, that's the snowflakes coming down!

Individual snowfalkes!

They are huge!  The wetter the air, the bigger the snowflakes (and the more that falls).  The drier the air, the less snow you have.

I should take more pictures through the boys' windows more often!  I forgot that one of them doesn't have a screen!  A nice white surprise!

Just maybe an hour worth of snow and it melted halfway within an hour afterwards.

Poor flowers.

Come on Daffodils!

Cutie in his vest like Grandpa.  He also told us about classmates, Tyson and Sarah, and what they played with today!  Yeah! Making friends!

Yes, child, we know you can handle just about anything that stands in your way.  He got through 5 stages/levels of a Star Wars Battlefront game all by himself while Daddy was cooking supper.

Big one and little one, the only two that were home for supper tonight.

Massive hands surrounding little guy hands.  Abishai wore an outfit today that was Benaiah's at some point.

Big toes, little toes.

Yup.

This was neat to find! Do YOU know the true story of St. Patricks?  Go look it up!

This is what I think of when I think of green for St. Patrick's Day and the red hair of Irishmen.  I don't think that Anne was Irish though.  Oh how I miss the Island.  And the other night I was coming through Instagram and/or FB and saw someone post about our old church in Candia, NH, and I went down a rabbit trail to find more info.  Then I dreamed about that church. Next time I go back to NH for more than 30 minutes, I'm going to contact the church and show my kids around.  I loved that 250 year old church!  But for now, here is Green Gables and all the green I want to think about today.

The End