Is it Really Spring?

Saturday night Ruby was up off and on and I wasn't able to get much sleep. I ended up sleeping in later than I usually do Sunday morning and I had to rush to get everyone ready for church. I might have considered skipping church, but Ben had a talk, it was a Relief Society Sunday and I had a meeting after church. 

Ben did well with his talk- he told a funny story about how he thought he was doing service for me by coloring on things in the bathroom-with sharpie. Then I spent most of Relief Society busy- talking with a sister who rarely comes, taking attendance, printing out a new sheet for the missionary calendar and then passing the missionary calendar around. After church we had training by the stake rs presidency. It was a useful meeting and I feel like we have a better understanding of  what our roles are. I think we have some room for improvement. After the meeting I had no other plans so it made for a nice Sunday. We video chatted with my parents, I made homemade toffee, and we played some of our favorite games.

Monday was busy. I spent the morning cleaning and then Penny's friend, Claire, came over around lunchtime. This was our first time having her over and I think they had a good time. I took them thrifting so they could find a purple shirt for color day at their school. They ended up finding a pretty cool 80's/90's outfit and they each took a piece of it- Penny got the pants and Claire got the jacket. The outfit was honestly more neon green than purple but they liked the idea of matching and then wearing some purple accents. I could not convince them otherwise. I told Penny she was going to have to wear that outfit with confidence- and she did!

That night there was Senior Academic Excellence Night but Steven had no desire to go. I was honestly grateful he didn't want to go because it was supposed to be 2 hours long and that felt like that would be really awful with a toddler. My friend Stacey went and said it was super boring and all of the same kids won awards. Does not sound like we missed anything. 

Instead of going to that, we went to Costco and Home Depot. At Home Depot we picked out flooring. I can't wait until we replace our gross flooring and have something a bit nicer. Although I am not excited about the upkeep. Carpet may be gross but vacuuming is easier than cleaning vinyl flooring. Ruby's favorite thing to do at Home Depot these days is to pet all the carpet samples. It is quite funny.

Tuesday we skipped library time because Ruby had a pretty gross runny nose and sounded pretty congested. Instead I spent most of the moring working on the newsletter for relief society and posting relief society events on the facebook page. It really wasn't that much but somehow it consumned my morning. 

Tuesday after I got back from picking up the girls, Ruby decided she just wanted to hang out in my car. We literally spent an hour in there with her playing and me reading. At one point our bug guy came and I wondered what he thought of me sitting in the car for so long.

After dinner we went on a walk with Julie and Asher. Ruby and Asher spent a long time jumping of the dock (it wasn't out in the water yet). They would jump off and we would catch them. Another family that Julie knows came to play on it too and gratefully, their dad caught Ruby when she jumped before I could get there. She is far too brave.

Wednesday morning was full of lots of math, a work out, a little baking, and I took Penny to her orthodontist. Her orthodontist told her she has to turn the key on her expander 12 more times. She doesn't love that, but at least the end is in sight.

Wednesday evening I took Penny to soccer practice. It was raining in the beginning so I left Ruby at home with Tyler. It was really nice to just sit in my car, watch a show and draw my day. 

Thursday had a rough beginning. I went to start the car so it could warm up before I took the girls to school and realized Ruby's car seat was not there. It was in Tyler's car and he was already at work. I panicked. I couldn't take Ruby that far (and back) without a car seat. I thought of Julie and asked if I could borrow Asher's car seat but she didn't get back to me. I ended up calling Sharon and asking her if she could watch Ruby. She was so nice and said "yes". I feel so grateful to her and her willingness to help. She read with Ruby, let her pick a tulip from her yard, had her play with her dogs, colored with her and gave her a giant mug full of juice, lol. She had a great time and the girls were able to get off to color day at their school.

Tyler was nice and brought the car seat home. He arrived shortly before I got home so that Ruby and I were still able to go to the Preschool Co-op. She still had a bit of a runny nose but I decided to go anyways. Hopefully she didn't disease everyone. It ended up just being a play date. The ladies got to chatting so much that there wasn't time for any singing or lessons. One of the ladies in the Ward (that I don't think likes me much) got on a tangent about why she essentially doesn't like our ward- it doesn't feel like a family, there are not enough ward activities. The thing is, she has made friends with most of the young families in the ward and does things with them so I am not sure what she thinks she is missing out on. Our ward as a whole is a bit of a dysfunctional family in my opinion (and I am ok with not hanging out with them often). Anyways she tried to arrange a Ward Memorial Day BBQ at my beach, even contacted the Bishop, but it didn't take. However, it sounds like I will be hosting these ladies and their family at my beach for Memorial Day. Not sure how I feel about that.

After that fun, Ruby and I went to the girls school for Lucy's ukulele recital. First we got to watch a dance recital, and that can feel awkward to watch. Then came the ukuleles. Lucy played a lot of fun songs "Row Row Row Your Boat" "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" "Jeopardy" "You are my Sunshine" "Jurrasic Park" "Island in the Sun" "Riptide".  She seemed to do well but it was hard for all the kids to stay together on songs. Ruby wasn't too crazy during it, but she did make it challenging for me to record the songs.

After school we took Penny's friend, Mia, home with us. Julie happened to be walking by when we pulled in our driveway so I ended up inviting her and Asher in- it was cold outside. Ruby and Asher have strated to interact more. Ruby did Asher's makeup (and then he did hers) and then they took "naps" on the couch. They also had a gigglefest over opening and shutting the toilet. They are cute.

After dinner Penny and her friend played outside. For some reason it felt a little warmer than when we had gotten home from school. Mia and Penny had fun giving each other wagon rides and then painting their faces with side walk chalk.

Friday was a pretty chill day. We did schoolwork and then I took the girls to Walmart. Ruby thought it was funny to put her baby doll's pacifier in her mouth on the way home.

Then I baked some cookies as a thank you for Sharon and we had pizza for dinner. That night Tyler and I watched Black Phone 2. It was very disappointing. It was too much about gore and special affects and not enough about plot.

Saturday morning Penny had a soccer game. It was another cold game- 40 degrees. It didn't feel too bad when the sun was out and the wind wasn't blowing, but when the opposite happened it was cold. Ruby made a friend while we watched the game, her name is Alice. Ruby really insterted herself but Alice seemed more than happy to welcome her. They had a fun time running around in circles. Penny's team ended up tying one to one. 

Sketch A Day

Last week a got a book called "Draw Your Day" and decided to try that out so I will include my amateur daily drawings along with my blog this week.

Sunday the weather went cold again but despite the chill, I could see the beginning a tulip blooming in our yard- it gave me hope for warmer days. At church we had a good discussion about the 10 Plagues in Sunday School. I really enjoy church when it doesn't feel like a lecture but instead it feels like I get to hear insights from a variety of people. 

After church I had a Relief Society Presidency Meeting. It was long. We spent a lot of time talking about activities and lessons but somtimes I think we miss out because we don't usually have time to talk about the individual needs of sisters in our ward. Sometimes I get the impression that the presidency doesn't see that as their job but I always thought that was something the RS presidency was heavily involved in. 

After our meeting, Ben had a soccer game. It was at a soccer field nearby this time. Ruby, Tyler and I went and it was so cold and miserable- it even snowed a bit. Ruby wouldn't put on her jacket as we were loading the car, so she was just holding it, and it ended up not making it into the car with us. So Ruby and I huddled under my jacket for the game Near the end of the game, I couldn't take the cold anymore so Ruby and I went into the car to warm up. Ben's team ended up losing 3 to 2- it was a close game.

Ben had a dentist appointment Monday afternoon. It was his last one at our pediatric dentist. It was a smooth appointment- no cavities! I like that office and wish we could all go there forever- the dentists are all really nice and patient.

That evening, Tyler built a fire to burn some wood in the yard. Ruby and him enjoyed some bonding time clinking drinks on the deck and then throwing things into the fire.

I felt a bit run down Tuesday. Ruby had woken up at 4am Sunday morning wanting to read books with her flashlight and cuddle. I felt like I hadn't yet recovered from that and it was really hitting me Tuesday. Ruby and I went to storytime at the library but I decided not to be social and it seems if I don't engage, neither do other people so I wallowed in my loneliness. Then when we came home I laid on the couch and ended up falling asleep for a bit while Ruby played with her kinetic sand at the table. I never nap long and when I opened my eyes moments later- Ruby told me to close my eyes again and go back to sleep. You might think she was up to something naughty but she really wasn't.

The rest of Tuesday was pretty chill. I changed sheets, did some dusting, took a load to Salvation Army and made a new recipe for dinner (sausages and noodles). Later that afternoon, I picked Lucy and her friend Mila up from a birthday party in Milford. 3 of the party goers went to volleyball practice together after the party. I wish they had told me about the volleyball league so I could have gotten Lucy on the team too. She would have loved that. I feel like my inability to branch out and make friends with these moms means that Lucy gets left out of things. I hate that.

That night I was planning to go to Grace's but Tyler had a neighborhood meeting and Lucy's friend Mila was still at our house. I don't know her family well enough to leave their daughter at my house with no parents so I ended up being an hour late to Grace's. I know these are just laid back hang outs and it's ok to be late but I had really been looking for it and I hate being late to things. It left me feeling frustrated but I am glad I was still able to get out and have a nice night anyways.

Wednesday I stayed busy doing home school with the girls and I did lots of baking/cooking. Last week I had the revelation that Lucy was packing really terrible lunches for school so I helped make some things for her to pack on Thursday- Salsibury Steak and homemade mashed potatoes. I think that's a slight step up from the loaf of french bread she brought last week. I also made pumpkin muffins for both the girls to snack on and take to school. But that wasn't all I made. I needed snacks for Craft Club the next day so I made salsa and snickerdoodles. It was a lot of cooking and dishes.

Wednesday night I dropped Penny off at soccer. Ruby has not been napping during quiet time lately, so she fell asleep on the way to soccer. I ended up just letting her sleep for a bit before I woke her up to go play at Central Park in Milford. It was really beautiful weather for a park day and Ruby had a good time. She made a friend at the end ("wanna slide together") and the friend's little brother told me how Ruby was just like his sister. Than the mom told me all about how girls and boys are so different- she must of assumed that Ruby was my only child. 

Thursday was so so busy. We ended up going to the church preschool co-op group in the morning. Ruby was such a bully for the majority of the time. She did not want to share and she would scream anytime another toddler came near her and then she would quickly grab the toys away. She also had no interest in the circle time- they sang a greeting song I had never heard of, they did the calendar and counting and then another song. I apologized for Ruby a lot and asked if she was like this in nursery and they basically said yes. Maybe that's why we were never re invited when the day changed. It was rough but I did have some nice chats with a few of the moms- one was really interested in our hybrid homeschooling. There is just one mom from the ward that seems very un interested in conversing with me. Her children are so quiet and docile, so maybe I am being judged by my aggressive child.

After the preschool Ruby and I went for a walk with Kara. We walked from my house to the small park by the library. Unlike last week, we had a really good chat this time. We talked about her mom going back to school (I want to do that!), we talked about her mission and some of the difficulties she had being single afterwards. It was a very engaging conversation and restorative walk.

We got home from the walk just in time to go pick up the girls from school. Ruby took another car nap. When we got home,she woke up and we met Asher and Julie at the beach. This time Ruby was not that interested in the water and instead just wanted to play on the swings. The swings squeaked and made a tooting sound and they both thought it was so funny. Asher kept shouting that he had farted and then they would giggle uncontrollably. It was really cute.

That night I had the first Craft Club for our ward. It was a small turn out. There were 4 other people there and 2 of them lived there. Everyone had a little art/craft project to work on and we chatted and ate snacks. I learned about everyone's health issues, lol and also some interesting stories from these ladies past. One had decided not join a union for her job and chose not to participate in a strike so she just drove slowly through a crowd of picketing people so she could go to work that day. Near the end they all insisted that there were other people that wanted to come but couldn't make it and that we should try again next month. I don't know, I feel like I am forcing something that isn't needed but maybe for those who were there, it was a social that they needed.  

Friday I tried to make social plans for Lucy and Penny since I was feeling bad about Lucy not being invited onto the volleyball team. But in trying to make plans I was reminded why I don't. Trying to figure out pick ups and drop offs and aligning schedules is so challenging. All the new people they want to hang out with seem so busy. And somehow Penny's friend and Lucy's friend are both only available on the same day and around the same time which means that day will be crazy for me. 

That afternoon I took Lucy short shopping at Target. I ended up spending way more money than I normally do on 2 pairs of shorts for her. She is getting so picky with what clothing she will wear and she drags her feet about going shopping so I didn't feel it was worth the pain it would have been to shop around for something cheaper and she really needed new shorts. 

No drawing for Saturday- we were out that night and I didn't get a chance to draw my day...

Saturday morning Ben and Penny had soccer games at the same time. Tyler went to Penny's with Ruby. I took Ben out to his game in Canton (about 35 minutes away). I think I got the better deal- a break from the toddler and some time with Ben. It was freezing cold again but it was a good game to watch. Ben's team played really hard and ended up winning 2 to 1. Ben is really showing a lot of improvement and he recognizes that he is doing better. Afterwards Ben and I got lunch at Wendy's and had a nice chat about things. I wish Steven would talk to me about his life the way Ben does. Talking with Ben makes me realize how little I know about Steven.

That evening we went over to Grace's home for a "Dark Pot Luck". Everyone brought a dish that was something a little different but potentially very good. Nahoko and Eric Townes were there as usual and Grace had invited Carli and Josh Jones. Tyler brought his Taco Salad (renamed Trailer Park Salad that night which most people gave a 6 out of 10) and I brought cookie crackers (they were actually quite tasty and got eaten up). Most of the food was pretty good. The Jones brought Cellar Soup (it really was just a normal soup), the Eakins made Tomato Soup Cake (tasted like a spice cake), and the Townes brought Asian Sweet Potatoes (yum!), tofu rice rolls (the rice was fine but the deep fried tofu was blech) and dried persimmons (the texture was really gross to me). There were a lot of laughs and good times but I tend to shrink inside myself in bigger groups. I just didn't have a big enough personality to be seen in that group of people and I felt like everyone is just much cooler and funnier than me. Mostly just got inside my head about the whole night but it was a cool idea, the dark pot luck.

Rain Rain Go Away

Church was church. A friend's kids gave a testimony which started with "my parents are having problems with their body parts-" and then he paused before explaining it was a hurt foot. It was super awkward. We have a new family in the ward- they have 4 kids 11 and under- and that feels big since our ward is so small. I heard the mom homeschools. That will be really cool if that ends up being true. I am tired of being the only weirdo in our ward. Caroline came to Relief Society for once. We chatted after and I get the feeling that she feels the distance too and I don't feel like she is going to make efforts to change that. That makes me sad. 

After church Ben had a soccer game. Tyler was in charge of dinner so he stayed home with the rest of the kids and I went with Ben. It was a long drive (about 50 minutes away) but that meant the Ben and I were able to have some good chats about life- mostly about friends. He is also feeling the distance with his friend and sad about it too. Anyways his team lost terribly- I stopped keeping track after the other team scored like 5 points. In the end Ben's team did get one point so that was nice. Ben got a lot of play time and is doing better at being aggressive. Hopefully this was just the hardest team they will play and it will get better from here. After the game, I chatted for a minute with some parents of a friend of Ben's that is on the team this year. Nice people. Maybe I will actually make friends with other soccer parents this season? We shall see.

Monday evening all us girls went with Tyler to Target, Home Depot and Costco. We finally got the girls a new fan for their room. Their fan has been broken for awhile now and with warmer temperatures a new one was needed. It gets so hot upstairs. I thought it was fun that all the girls and Tyler were wearing blue so I had to snap a picture of them walking down the aisle.

Tuesday was storytime at the library and for some reason I was feeling social and struck about random conversations with new people who were sitting near me. I felt this need to share that I didn't just have one kid and all about my age gap kids with everyone I spoke to (whether they asked or not)- I don't know why I overshare so much. But one of the moms shared that she was 5 weeks pregnant to me, a pretty random stranger, so I guess I am not the only one who shares too much. After story time, I saw a mom I had talked to the week before and she came in for a hug. Maybe talking to people is a poor choice. I do not like hugs with people I don't know well. It felt so awkward.

Wednesday was busy. The girls had a dentist appointment in the morning. It went really smoothly. Ruby was a little wiggly but still very cooperative and none of the girls had cavities so that was great. Also that day I picked up a balance bike for Ruby and a bike for Lucy. Both were finds from Facebook marketplace. Ruby's bike was in good condition but I probably should not have gotten Lucy's. The paint on Lucy's is a mess (rubbing off, it turned my hands black) and it is squeaky. She just wanted a bike so bad and it was emo (black) with a basket which she thought was very cool and we had driven out 20 minutes to get it. So even though I kind of could tell it was a mess when we got there, I still got it. But Lucy is really happy to have a bike. When it hasn't been raining this week, she has been out riding it and listening to music on headphones. 

Anyways between the dentist appointments and picking up bikes, we still had to squeeze in school work so that was a bit stressful. I was grateful when Penny's soccer practice got canceled that night due to rain. It meant I didn't have to hang out with Ruby in Milford for 2 hours. Instead Ruby and I went on an outing with Tyler. He dropped us off at the pets store while he went to Home Depot. Ruby had a good time giving the cats toys through their bars at the pet store. We also met one of Tyler's old co-workers while we were there. Tyler went out of his way to say hello. If it was me seeing a co-worker I probably would have hid, lol.

Thursday morning I got some things done around the house and then Ruby and I met Kara at the mall for a walk. It wasn't a great walk this time. The conversation felt a litle awkward at times, not sure why. I also learned that the preschool co-op that someone in the ward had started had moved to Thursdays, a day of the week that we could actually attend. I had told the lady leading it that we could do Tuesdays and Thursdays but they had decided on Mondays and Wednesday which didn't work with me since I homeschool the girls on those days. I was disappointed that she hadn't thought to update me on the change. It also probably hit harder because the facebook page I started for Relief Society has been a total flop. No one ever responds to anything. I had made a post about book recommendations for a book club and literally no responses. I just feel silly and left out and a bunch of trashy feelings. So I left the walk feeling down and I had a hard time shaking that feeling- especially because it was a gloomy, rainy day.

Friday after we finished school work we went outside and ended up joining Julie and her boys for a walk. Asher was super fussy, as toddlers can be, and she kept saying it was because he had to take Benadryl that day. I think it's funny that she always has a reason for why he is having a hard day- honestly he was just being a toddler and that's ok. 

Friday night I introduced the kids to the movie "Arrival". It's a slow movie with lots of feelings so I am not sure if they liked it but it is still one of my favorites. It always makes me cry,

Saturday morning Penny was supposed to have a game but they cancelled due to wet fields and more rain. It meant for a pretty chill day. I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese in the morning. It was super busy and loud. Chuck E made several appearances and Ruby is apparently obsessed with him. She joined in with his little dance parties (even one that was meant for a birthday party group) and her dance moves were pretty cute to watch. 

Easter

Sunday was Easter. Lucy was really nice and wrote all the Easter Bunny notes since I was out the night before. She even wrote her own but I went in and changed it. I didn't want her to already know where her basket was hidden. She hid Ruby's in the bathroom since we talk about potty training Ruby(although I have made zero efforts to do so). Penny's was hidden by the couch where she is always reading. Ben's was hidden behind the dining room bench where he is always gaming. Steven's was hidden by the cereal since he only leaves his room for snacks and meals. 

For Easter Ruby got a Jesus Tonie (I painted a creative tonie and added some christian kids music on it), a couple books and dvds I had thrifted, and magnetic tiles.

For Easter Penny got a lanyard for her temple recommend, a Christian shirt ("let your light shine"), a small rabbit lego set, a house for her fairy garden, a cheesy mormon movie and "Lilo and Stitch" dvd.

For Easter Ben got more cards for our Dixit Game, a new card game, a small chick lego set, a Christian shirt (Bacon is another reason I know Jesus loves me) and the "Sons of Provo" DVD (the one I bought last year didn't work and this one also didn't work, I quit!)

For Easter Lucy got an Easter Lego set, houses for her fairy garden, a Christian shirt (Jesus Math), a cheesy Mormon movie and Zootopia.

For Easter Steven got a funny shirt (Jesus took naps, be like Jesus), an Easter Lego set, a fancy pencil and various treats.

For Easter I got 2 lego sets (an Italy postcard and a cactus), a drawing book, and various treats.

For Easter Tlyer got a Harry Potter Sorting Hat Lego Set, a DND book, an extended dvd of the 2nd Lord of the Rings movie and some treats.

For breakfast I made bacon and monkey bread. The monkey bread was a hit for everyone but Penny. The minute she heard bread in the title she decided she was unwilling to try it. It's silly because she eats things very similary to it.

We had a pretty relaxed Easter Sunday. The kids watched their new Mormon movies and we watched Conference. We had our traditional Easter meal for dinner- pita bread, ground turkey, fish sticks, fruit and grape juice. I did forget the fig newtons though and Steven was sad about that- he is probably my only kid that likes them. I don't love when we have conference on Easter Sunday because conference falls during dinner time so it makes cooking a special easter meal awkward in timing. I ended up cooking it during the first half of conference and then we paused conference so we could eat. The food hit the spot though and made for good leftovers the rest of the week.

Monday I took Ruby to Grace's salon for a little trim. Ruby is always so cooperative for her. Grace definitely does a better job of shaping Ruby's hair than I do. It looks good. It was fun to watch Ruby clip clop in her little heels through the salon. She got a lot of admiring looks.

Tuesday Ruby and I went to storytime.  We happened to sit by friendly people again. I learned that the lady on one side of me is the nanny. I always thought she was the grandma because of how much she seems to love the little girl she watches. The mom on the other side of me was a young mom of two. Her little boy was very sweet and gave me lots of smiles. We talked about my kids age gap and how she has a sister who is much younger than her and is her best friend. Then I met a grandma, she was next to the young mom. She seemed genuinely interested in learning about me. Nice people. I know I will see the nanny again because she is pretty much always there but who knows if I will see the other 2.

Tuesday night I went to Grace's. It was one of those nights where neither of us had much to say so it was a quieter night. I notice that we just have those kinds of nights sometimes and that's ok.

Wednesday morning I took Penny in to get her braces. Originally she was really excited to get them, but every time she expressed her enthusiasm to others, they felt it was their job to tell her how much it would hurt to have braces. People can be frustrating. So instead of being excited, she went in nervous. The process was long so I left for an hour and when I came back, they were finishing up. They did things weird. She has brackets on all her teeth, but only wires in the bottom teeth because they put an expander on the Roof of her mouth. I don't know why they couldn't have done the expander first and then put brackets on afterwards. I probably should have asked more questions about their exact process because this way seems unefficient and makes her top teeth look really awkward. It's going to be a lot of awkward pictures for the next few years for sure. 

Wednesday evening Penny started soccer practice again. I decided to take Ruby along and we dropped off Penny and then went to Milford Central Park. We ended up spending the whole 2 hours there. It was a little on the cool side weather wise, but Ruby really loves being outside and climbing and playing on things. She was funny because she wasn't scared of climbing up tricky ladders but she was terrified of going down some of the bigger slides at first. Ruby also saw a grandma playing peekabo with her granddaughter and Ruby tried to join in and the grandma did not seem to love her butting in. It was awkward.

Thursday I did some really fun deep cleaning- under the fridge, oven, couches and I picked up things in our yard- and then at noon I meet Kara at the mall. Ruby was very opinionated and didn't want to walk much. We ended up spending a good chunk of time at the play area. We talked about all sorts of things but I feel like just as the conversation started to go a little deeper (into religion and things(, she needed to get Amelia home for a nap. It was too bad because I really do prefer deeper conversations. The timing was awkward because I really didn't have time to go home but I was too early to pick up the girls. I ended up taking a long drive hoping Ruby would nap in the car but she did not. So I finally stopped at a park and let her play for 10 minutes and then it was time to pick up the girls. 

After I got back from picking up the girls, Julie came by with Asher. We let the toddler play outside for a bit and then Ruby wanted to go on a walk so we did. Asher helped push Ruby for a good bit (he only pushed her into a parked car once).

Julie kind of dominated the conversation with things going on in her life but I didn't mind. Sometimes it's nice to not feel like you have to run a conversation. I was ok with mostly just listening. We ended up stopping at the dock and we let our toddlers play in the shallow water. Don't worry, she has shorts on under that dress. She did try to strip afterwards but I made her wear her wet clothes home. I am so mean.

As if I hadn't gotten enough steps in already Thursday, I decided to walk the girls to seven eleven after dinner. It was just such a nice day and that seems to be the only way I can get them outside. It was a nice walk and the kids all got fun red tongues from Ruby's slurpee. 

Friday night I watched a weird, creepy movie with Lucy and Ben, "The Boy". It was about a doll that seems to come to life but we find out later it's actually being moved by a person living in the walls. The twist has some flaws but Ben and Lucy seemed properly creeped out by the movie. They really love watching stuff like that. Should I be worried?

Saturday I made everyone (except Steven who could not be convinced) go with me to the Detroit Institute of Art. I promised they wouldn't have to stay long. I just really wanted to get out of the house and didn't want to go alone. We stayed about an hour and saw some cool things. There was a Rome exhibit and it was cool to see art that reminded of us our trip and we saw some paintings of places we had actually been too. The kids were slightly traumatized by the nude artwork but they also saw some things they were impressed by- like armor, swords, daggers and mummies. They even saw some things that reminded them of things they had learned about in their history class. It was a good outing and filled my itch to get out. The only hiccup was when Tyler accidentally went down the wrong way on a one way road on our way out of the parking garage. Of course their happened to be a cop right there. He was nice and didn't give Tyler a ticket but he also told Tyler he was welcome to donate to the Detroit police dept if he wanted too. Yeah, ok.

Later that afternoon I took the younger 4 to see the 2nd Super Mario Movie. This was Penny's first ever movie in the theater. She did great for the first half of the movie but got wiggly and a bit noisy for the second half. I pretty much had to keep feeding her candy to keep her quiet. I don't know if it was that the movie wasn't a great fit for her or if she is just not quite ready for theaters.

Ruby is getting quite talented and can now draw ghosts;). She also is going through a licking phase and I do not love it. She will literally try to lick my face and has been successful a couple times- blech. I tried to explain to her that we only lick ice cream, lollipops and popsicles but then that just makes her ask me relentlessly for all those things. I have also tried to explain that only cats and dogs lick but then she says she is a cat or dog. She is hopeless. I wonder if I need to introduce a bar of a soap?