Hot & Humid in Houston: Machetes, Weedwackers, and Dance Parties

This week Josiah served with the student ministry for their mission project. When we lived in a covid-free world, the different grade levels (6th-12th) would each go to a different city to serve. The youngest grades would stay in Texas and all others traveled out of state for the week. Last summer, in the height of covid quarantines, all service projects were cancelled. So, to combat that, they decided to have all grade levels work in a local neighborhood. They did power washing and painting of houses, tons of weeding and mowing and mulching, some laid sod and gravel. One group put on a VBS for the kids in the neighborhood. Josiah was in a group of nine 6th grade boys. When we picked him up the first day, he walked out with a big smile on his face. The first words out of his mouth were, "I got to use a machete." Oh?! Tell me more. He happily told us how he used a machete to clear out thick weeds in one yard. After that, he manned the weedwacker for an hour. He worked really hard and had a great time. They worked from 8:30 a.m. til noon. Then they ate lunch together before heading home. They had their afternoons free, but there were evening activities. Monday evening he was told to wear something that could get wet. We dropped him off at church and saw a waterslide and obstacle course inflatables. At pick-up, he said he wasn't feeling too great. He had downed three hot dogs and countless snow cones, but he was quick to point out he only ate the tops because of his braces. He'd eat a top, toss the bottom in the trash, and go back for another. He came home, showered, and went to bed. But he didn't stay in bed. At midnight he said he wasn't feeling well and promptly threw-up all three hot dogs and countless snow cones. We didn't think he was sick with a virus. He was just sick from overeating and then bouncing around for two hours. He felt better in the morning.

So day 2, he went back to work. This day was not nearly as fun because he didn't get to use any of the fun equipment. He basically weeded all day. He was hoping to use the lawn mower. By the time we picked him up, he got in the car very wiped out. But that didn't stop him from the evening activities. I kept asking him if he felt up to it and he was adamant he wanted to go. When I picked him up two hours later, I walked in the building and saw a teenage girl I knew. She said, "Are you looking for Josiah?" Yes. "Well, he was outside, but I think he's back on stage leading the dance party." Ok then! I met up with one of the pastor's wives and she said Josiah was up on stage dancing for almost the whole time. He had a blast showing off all his dance moves. This night they had pulled pork sandwiches, with sauce on the side. Josiah happily ate his dry.

Day 3. There were those on his crew that got to paint on Day 2. Josiah was hoping he would have an opportunity to paint and today was his day. He spent all 3 1/2 hours staining a fence. At pick-up he was covered in stain splatters. He said he didn't want to paint ever again. There were no evening activities that day, so he showered, went to the library, and relaxed.

Day 4. The last day. Josiah was assigned to do more yardwork, but this time it was a bit more fun. They laid gravel and smashed it down with tampers. They filled a big hole with dirt and they did more weeding. When we drove home that afternoon, Josiah was quiet. I asked him if anything was wrong. He yawned and said he was just tired. We were really proud of him working so hard all week. He told us we had to get to church early on Sunday so we wouldn't miss the compilation video they would show of the KSM mission week. They captured Josiah's weedwacking and his painting. He was happy! These are stills from the video:

At the beginning of the week, we had some friends who were in the middle of their Staycation. The mom was planning a surprise Road Trip Day to visit friends' houses. The idea was, they would stay for only 30 minutes before heading off to the next house. We were tasked to teach them about something or show them something. Anything really. I was very worried we'd be the lame house, because I could not think of anything to do. Enter jiu-jitsu. I asked the kids if they would give a demonstration of the moves they knew and they were totally game. Caroline started it out by showing them how to tie their belts so they do not come undone. Then Henry showed them triangle chokes and arm bars. They demonstrated flips with Josiah always the one being flipped. We had a really good time and were laughing hard. The dad knows MMA so he was explaining all the moves they were doing. It was fun.

Also, last week, Josiah earned his second stripe at jiu-jitsu. Yay!

After our road trip back to Texas, I made the kids have a few media-free days. They complained they were bored, and were delighted with my response, "It's okay to be bored." But they always found something to do. This time they decided they'd give each other piggy back rides. They did this a lot. At one point, Henry had Josiah on his back and he told him that he could pat his pecs to tell him which direction to turn. Right pec pat, turn right. Left pec pat, turn left. It was such a Henry thing to say. When he was done with that, he spent a little time trying to do a pec pop, but he doesn't have pecs yet, so there is nothing to 'pop.'

Nana sent the kids back with little lights that they have each strung up in their rooms. Josiah named his, "lying under the Christmas tree."

Henry's is entitled, "lying under the stars."

And Caroline made a 'C' followed by a rectangular space for her favorite picture, and then carried the lights over to her work space. She loves it.

We had a rough weekend with Benson. It seemed like he had caught a cold once we got him home from his Pet Ranch. His nose seemed a bit runny. After a few days, I thought he was turning around, getting more energy. Until yesterday. He woke up at 5 a.m. and started vomiting. That turned into vomiting and heaving All. Day. Long. It would happen every few minutes. He would try to drink water, but he'd start heaving minutes later. It was horrible. Every time he laid down, he'd heave then puke. Todd sat outside with him nearly all day because he couldn't stay inside in that condition. Both were miserable. Finally, when it was getting no better, Todd took him to a 24-hr vet. We couldn't imagine having to get through the night with him constantly heaving. Todd left at 4:30 p.m. He got there and there was one other person in the waiting room. They told him it would be 4-5 hours. Todd said he looked around the waiting room and said, Really? It ended up taking 5 hours. He said Benson vomited so many times in the exam room that it reeked. They determined he had kennel cough and a respiratory infection. We were surprised it was kennel cough because, for one, he'd been vaccinated against it. And, two, we never heard a cough. However, now that he's had medicine in him for 24 hours we can hear the cough. It was masked by the heaving on Saturday. They gave him two injections that night to control his vomiting and when he came home he just collapsed on the floor. The poor dog. He had been awake all day and he is used to taking a lot of naps. He was up again at 2:37 a.m. coughing. I let him outside in case he threw-up, but never did see any action. Just coughing. He stayed outside for the next three hours to the minute. After that, he has spent a lot of the day catching up on his sleep, eating, drinking, and resting. He's had some coughing fits, but no more vomiting. But now he's in quarantine for two weeks because he's probably contagious.

While Benson was having his rough day outside with Todd, I took the kids to a birthday party at Urban Air. This was our first time there and they had a lot of trampolines and Ninja Warrior type obstacles. The kids had a lot of fun. Then they came home and promptly got their swimsuits on to swim at the birthday boy's pool. We were all wiped out that night.