Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

Today ended up being a MUCH busier day than I expected! I thought I'd chill out, play some vids, then take Ruby to her friend's bday party, then take Clemi to her sleepover. Instead, I drank my tea, went to the AT&T store, got phones for the kids, took Ruby to her party, took the other kids to the pool, worked on setting up phones for 3 hours (urgh urgh urgh!!!), then took Clem over to her friend's house for the sleepover, THEN went on a date with Jonas!  I should not complain. I'm just in this spot right now where all I want is comfort. I'm going to blame it on my cycle! My period should be coming in the next couple of days, and this is always my 'I'm a crappy person' week of the month. Anyway, Ruby ended up having an awesome time at this party. I'm so very glad she got invited! She had so much fun. Jonas and Clem are more than grateful for their new phones too. I have a lot of work to do, setting parental controls to the levels at which I want ...

Today was a BIG DAY! I took Ollie to get her ears pierced! Okay, let me back up. I took Jonas and Ruby over to camp for their last, extra long, day, relaxed a little, then brought Ollie and Clem to the mall to get Ollie's ears pierced! We go to the piercing place there that uses the needles because I had so many bad experiences with the piercing guns. I kept giving my little girl outs, but she's been begging for a long time now and she was READY. They ask her to verbally consent to having her ears pierced and she determinedly said, "YES!", so they took her back and did it! It's wild.  After the ear piercing, we wandered around the mall for a bit and spent some more money I didn't plan on spending. :) Bath & Body Works was having a huge sale, so we got a ton of yummy smelling stuff from there, then we went to the pretzel place for the girls and Cinnabon for me. Man, Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon, both, have gone up in price so much! The girls each got a pr...

Jonas's attitude towards camp is finally getting better. He seems to keep getting hurt, but he was excited to go today! Praise God for answered prayers!! My Lord just keeps showing up and giving me peace and grace and abundant blessings. I'm so grateful.  Clem and I got to go on a date tonight. We went to Once Upon a Child to get her some more clothes. As she gets older, it's harder to keep track of what fits her, what she's wearing, etc. She has her own style now, so she might just kind of phase something out and I thought she was all set, but she won't even wear stuff like that anymore! Life with a pre-teen girl. :) We found some good options, she tried them all on, and we got solid summer wardrobes for all three girls while we were there!  After the store, we went to Rita's for water ice and ice cream, and I made it a point to talk about some Bible verses. We also discussed some topics she might want to dig deeper into on future dates. She only wants to talk ...

The beginning of the day was pretty good! I dropped Ruby and Jonas off at camp, me and the girls relaxed, I played some video games, the girls did chores, and then I took Ollie out for a Mommy Daughter date to Starbucks and Giant Eagle. We had fun! I brought up John 3:16 for us to dissect together. She had all the explanations! They weren't all right 😅 but she was 100% confident about it. Ben decided to come home early today and that's when shit hit the fan. I don't know what was going on with him, but he was very...irritable, maybe? Combative, maybe? We argued and he yelled at the kids and it was a mess.  I left shortly after our argument to get Jonas and Ruby. I called Brit and asked for prayer and texted Rachel asking her for prayer too and guess what. God answered! I was totally calm and content by the time I got to the camp to pick the kids up. I was able to have good convos with them on the way home and then get dinner prepped for everyone with no trace of the unrest...

I took Jonas and Ruby to Great Exchange Ministries camp this morning - Jonas as a counselor and Ruby as a camper. They both loved it last year, so I thought they'd both love it again this year! I guess Jonas feels differently because he begged me for a half hour last night to let him stay home...as if he's not a planned counselor for a group of kids! I obviously said no and didn't let him quit but all day today he punished me for it. I got the silent treatment and sullen attitude for every minute that he was awake. Good freaking times with a 13-year-old. I seriously want to take every single thing away from him and see how much he likes staying home, sitting on his butt at home without any of the privileges he is afforded on a daily basis.  Aside from this, we didn't do much. Me and the girls mostly stayed home today, and I made dinner. I decided to not go to HC since I had promised the kids we'd go to the pool but I didn't want to deal with the crowds. It's...

I covered for Sarah at CT this morning and it went great. It felt good to be back! There was some discomfort when discussing with people why I'm still here and what my new role is, but it's ok. Plenty of reminders to stay humble. I talked to Gonzo a bit about his counseling job. I still think it's something I'd really like to do. I need to just keep praying about it. I'm sure God will tell me when it's the right time! We basically had to turn around and go back out when we got home. Talulah's birthday party was at a roller skating rink in Grove City and it was nearly deserted! My favorite way for places to be. :) Not great for the business! But great for my dislike of crowds. It was pretty miserable at first, but eventually the girls got into their skating groove and I busted out my Kindle. Not bad! Clem and Jonas had middle school group just a few minutes after we got back from the party and me, Ben, and the girls just chilled at home. I feel like we often ...

Today was THE BEST. I did some laundry and a little cleaning and a little making food for kids, but for the most part I just sat on my butt! I read my book, I played video games, I watched TV. It was amazing. Ben was gone for a lot of the day, which allowed me to just do whatever the heck I wanted (aside from spending a couple of hours at the pool in the heat). No complaints!

The VBS week is finally over! It has been so, incredibly long and exhausting...and I didn't even volunteer! I'm proud of Jonas and Clem for serving our church's kids over the last couple of months. They did make friends and have fun, but it was also a sacrifice and a commitment.  I felt bad leaving Erin, Patrick, and Tommy to fend for themselves today, but I didn't really have much choice. Ben was just so grateful that they were willing to come out that he didn't argue about the dates! We really just spent the day at home, aside from me having to drive around back and forth to Main Campus and then Forest Park over and over. We grilled out for dinner, and everything turned out really good! Aside from my asparagus, which turned out kind of...weird. The kids played so nicely together, and they all seemed to have a great time. Kind of looking forward to having the house to myself tomorrow! Not that they've been here for long at all, but just because I'm so ready...

The Boettchers arrived this afternoon! I took the kids to VBS in the morning and came home after drop off to finish up cleaning and prepping for their visit. When I got back from picking three of the kids up, they were here! Ben is SO thrilled to have Patrick here. Erin and I got to talk for a long time, which was nice, and she came with me to pick Ruby up, which thrilled her! She and Tommy just love hanging out with each other. She RACED inside to be with him when we got home and they played together for hours. It was pizza and a movie night and we watched Snow White . It wasn't nearly as bad as the internet said it was! 

Hump day! It definitely feels like it should be Friday by now. Alas, two and a half more days until the week is done. I stopped by to hang out with some Torelli's this morning and got to celebrate this little girl's birthday with her for a bit. ONE YEAR OLD!! Crazy. She's such a sweet, relational babe. I got lots of hugs and snuggles while I was there. I felt so loved!  Aside from this visit, I didn't do much besides drop off and pick up kids. I emailed the camp leader for Jonas and Ruby's camp next week and asked if I could take them out of it because I'm so darn burnt out already. He was very kind, and very persuasive, in his response. He said he will take them off the roster and refund me if I need him to, but he's been praying for them by name since we signed up months ago. He has prayerfully put them in the groups that he's felt led to create and he would be very sad for them to not go...especially since he's so short on male counselors. *face p...

I've just got this overwhelming urge to scream! Every day is so full, and I'm so done with it all. And Patrick, Erin, and Tommy are coming on Thursday, which should be a good thing, but has become a bad thing because of how crazy life has been for the last couple of weeks. The one highlight of the day was visiting with Brit for a little while this morning. Aside from that, my entire day was spent driving or performing mundane tasks like cleaning and errands. I am really grateful that I don't have anywhere else to be tonight. I cannot wait to just feel relaxed! BUT. Since I've barely been home in the last couple of days, the house is a filthy disaster and I'm having company in two days so I'm going to have to get the entire thing cleaned. *sigh* I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to do it all tomorrow! Maybe I'll go home in the morning after VBS drop off and clean? It's just a lot of trips back and forth across the city. I don't think I want to...

Today was the first day of VBS/TNT and I think it was a success! All four kids had a fantastic time. I got to catch up with Ellen for a few minutes before drop off and then hung out with Leslie for a little over an hour at her house. She wanted to pick my brain about homeschooling, but, of course, we probably only talked about homeschooling for a total of 20 minutes. :) I went back to Main Campus in time to watch music and the skit, and to talk to a few more friends.  I got a whole two hours at home in the afternoon while waiting for Ruby to finish up with TNT. I've gotta say, I'm getting pretty tired of all the back and forth! It's just a LOT. Like, super cool that the kids get to do this and I really do enjoy seeing so many people, but damn. I NEED A BREAK. 

Happy Father's Day to my handsome hubby! I was so thrown off by him coming home early that I felt entirely unprepared to spoil him today. Nothing was wrapped and I had no food to feed him anything special. We went to CT at a different location today and dealt with some Clemi drama that made Ben angry for a couple of hours. But, all-in-all, I think that he had a good day and felt celebrated! 

I woke up to several texts from Ben, spiraling into panic because he couldn't fall asleep at Patrick's and then devolving into him just abruptly leaving to drive back home. I'm glad to have him come home, but I feel really sad that he made that whole drive for nothing. I'm also sure he'll get some backlash from siblings who will feel like he's overreacting and will be frustrated with him. He ended up getting home around noon today. In the meantime, the kids and I walked around the neighborhood yard sailing today! We found lots of junk to take home. It's so hard to not buy things! I got a big, oval mirror for the girls' room. I'm going to sand and paint it to match the hall closet. Each of the kids got a few things. Most notable were Jonas's picks though: 100% camel hair tan trench coat from the 50's and a handmade unicorn, stained glass window. :) Once we got back from a couple of hours of wandering around checking out yard sales, we headed t...

Okay, I could have spent time being super productive this morning, but I worked on an art project instead. And I'm glad I did! It's pretty and I'm excited to hang it on the wall. Aside from devoting my entire morning to making things pretty, I also got to have lunch with Kaitlyn today! It was really good. We had a great time talking and catching up. She offered to come hang out more often and I'm excited about it.  I eventually got home, and we headed to the parent's night for the VBS drama team. They ran through the whole thing and they did so well! I'm so proud of my big kids. They've worked so hard over the last couple of months. We went out to Dairy Queen to celebrate! Ben is in DE now and will be for the weekend. I'm happy he made it there...like, physically and emotionally. It was touch and go for a little while! Just really tough to make the decision to go out of town on Father's Day weekend and even just to do that trip alone. He said the dri...

It was a really fun day! We went to the Highbanks creek this morning with HC ladies and kiddos, which was really great for me. It's just been so long since I've had the freedom to get together outside of HC or cell with people and it's just a much different way of getting to build in. I tried to encourage everyone to go to the smaller creek so that our friends with little ones would have an easier time, but I got there late and Emily didn't know where the smaller creek was. By the time I got there, they were already down by the river! *sigh* I just remember how sweaty and frustrated I'd be when I had to carry a baby and keep my toddlers/little kids on track for long, hot walks. Maybe we can get over there for the next one!  We got back from creeking a little before 1, got everyone fed, and headed to the library. Everyone had earned prizes, so they were all very excited to get to go! We also had some overdue books that needed to be returned. We headed straight to VBS...

We went to the pool and had some fun for a couple of hours before going to VBS drama practice. I just ready my book, but the kids had a blast! And after I dropped the kids off, I met Kamola for dinner. We had a great time catching up. I have noticed that I never get her jokes though! She will say something and laugh for a long time, and I'll just feel kind of confused and try to join in. 😅 Despite that, it's been nice getting closer with her and making hangouts with her a priority. 

Well, today is ending with some extreme anxiety for us. Clem has been complaining about a "new bone" growing in her chest for a little over a week. I kept dismissing it because she exaggerates so often and her description made absolutely no sense. I had told her that if her discomfort persisted, we'd go to the doctor. She told me a few days ago that it wasn't bothering her anymore. This evening, she told me that it was bothering her again. I asked her if I could feel what she was talking about and when I did, it was a lump. Like a 1/2" round lump under her left nipple. Instantly, my whole body was filled with alarm. My brain shot to cancer and images of my sweet girl laying in a hospital bed flooded my brain. Thoughts of her not getting to live her full life here on earth, never having her first kiss, bald and sick and trying to hang on to her natural excited demeanor. Oh my gosh. I can't stop thinking the worst! I hope it's nothing, but my brain is my wo...

I had in my mind that this was going to be a day spent mostly relaxing at home, but that is not the way it turned out, somehow! I spent the morning doing productive things and took the kids to Home Depot after lunch to get a few things I needed to finish up the hallway. Haha I know I celebrated being done yesterday, but I still had a couple of tiny things!  I dropped Jonas and Clem off at drama at 3:30, but the rain was SO CRAZY. I mean, 270 was FLOODED and we were driving 10mph crazy. It took us 40 minutes to drive home, it was storming so bad. I went back and grabbed them at 6:30, but I had to miss HC because they both happened at the same time. Ben was the one to go since I have cell this week, and a mom's hangout, and I'm getting together regularly with Jenny. He said he had a great time! And my time was fine, just doing laundry and getting kids to bed. Tomorrow is looking like a busy day!

It was my first day back serving in Oasis. I think I might have been struggling with some spiritual attack last night because I was super irritated and snapping at everyone. But the morning went well! I had to explain to a few people that I am, in fact, still here and no, I am not back in my old role. Just a volunteer this time! It always stings my pride just a bit to have to talk about it...even after a year! But it's good to be back. When we got home, I actually got the hallway almost completely finished!!!! I am so very happy to have finally completed those last couple of little projects. I always put off the wall trim because I hate it so much, but now it is (nearly completely) done and I can move on to the fun, decorating part of the hallway and the heavy-duty, hard work of the girls' room. I have got to start doing better with before and after pictures though. The girls really want me to make a YouTube video for their room, so I might try to do that. I feel like it'll...

Today COULD have been a crazy day, but I ended up cancelling most of my plans, so it wasn't. The thing is, I had double booked myself...a thing that I do occasionally. Months ago, I said that I'd spend the day with the Wild & Free ladies that were camping this weekend, but didn't put it into my planner. A couple weeks ago, I scheduled a hike with Kylienne for this morning! I rescheduled with Kylienne first, but then REALLY didn't want to drive the 45 minutes to the campground this morning, so I cancelled that last minute. I hate to cancel things, but I am very happy I didn't end up doing either of those things! I spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry. Not bad! In the afternoon, we went to Ellie's birthday party at a trampoline park. It felt like the longest birthday party of all time! 😅 But all the kids got to go and they had a blast. It was also pretty much deserted, aside from the kids who were there for the party, which I loved. It was just boring...