Half Way There

January is over which means 4 weeks down and only 4 weeks left of Tyler being away for Winter Testing. It also means we have a lot of good things coming our way: family coming to visit, a birthday and a baptism. My outlook is bright!

Some happenings from this week:

*Miss Penny has always been eyeing candy filled fans that are right at her level in the checkout aisle in Walmart. This week she decided to crack not just one, but TWO open and spill candy everywhere. She now owns two of these lovely toys. I'm pretty sure she knew exactly what was going to happen when she broke them. Trouble.

*Miss Penny has also discovered the joys of brushing her teeth this week...sort of. She used to completely scream and clamp her mouth closed but now she is persuaded to open it for a few moments thanks to a super annoying, I mean fun app called "Aquafresh Brush Time." She even dances a long to the Nurdle Durdle song on it sometimes. 

*Lucy remains her wild self, constantly torn between being a pretty princess and wrestling with the boys. I had to take a picture of her in the outfit she chose to wear Thursday: a princess jacket, a feather dress and polk dotted leggings. I will add that she wore rain boots with this cute outfit when we went out that day. 

*I recently purchased some measuring cups and spoons and other such things for the girls. I then give them a plastic container filled with somethings for them to scoop and play with. It is currently filled with poms poms, before that it was filled with beans. It is super messy but it entertains them for a good chunk of time so I've decided it's worth the mess.

*Steven is a Minecraft Lego maker extraordinaire! The Minecraft Crafting Box that we got him was probably the best Lego set we ever got him. He is constantly building new Minecraft things with that set and it's always fun to see his new creations.

*Steven and Ben are in now in a Math Club where they get to play math games after school one day a week. They really seem to like it. They also started Garden Club this week which meets once a month during recess. Ben was having a melt down because he thought the club would be too hard. Oh Ben. Thankfully all they had to do this week was draw a picture of what they wanted to do in the club. Not too overwhelming ;)

*For the most part Ben doesn't have any problems with going to school anymore, no more tears. He is having a hard time with reading so we've created a word wall at home for him to practice. He does really well reading the words and letters at home but unfortunately, seems to forget everything when he gets to school. It's frustrating and makes me wonder if he might have some problems with taking tests like his dad.

*Also this week I finally got a check up at the dentist and discovered that in addition to 3 cavities, I also was in need of a root canal. But good news people, when I went to get the root canal done, they decided to just do a filling! There is still a 50% chance that I may have to go back for a root canal but I'm feeling optimistic. I felt that I needed to get in quick to get that root canal and I'm hoping the reason I felt that way was to actually prevent the need for a root canal on that tooth. Fingers crossed!

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Better

This week was a definite improvement from last week. I think it was better for several reasons: 

#1: Tyler had part of Monday off work for MLK day so he was home in the morning and didn't leave to go up North until that afternoon. This meant I got to do my grocery shopping AND go to Target child free. It was beautiful. 

#2: I was very unproductive this week which meant I was not stressed out over children screaming at me while I was trying to get things done. The most productive thing I did was finish coloring this picture:

#3: 3 out of the 5 days were spent socializing with others: I went visiting teaching, I had a couple friends over and I met with a friend to "plan" Laci's Baby Shower (we did a lot more chatting than planning). Socializing seems to make me a happier person, take note.

#4: I got brave and decided to give the library another chance. Penny was a little crazy still but the rest of the kids were quiet little readers. It was perfection:

#6: The girls were better behaved than last week and Lucy gave me a few couple funny moments to share: On Tuesday she started off the day wearing a sweater dress because she had to be a pretty princess. But half way through the day she ripped off the dress and disappeared into Benny's room. When she came back out she was wearing his neon green Batman swim shirt and was saying she was Batman and she was insisting that we got to the beach. I tried to explain to her that it was too cold and even opened the door to give her a sample but she would not be persuaded. "The beach is warm!" she insisted. Apparently beaches have their own climate zone.

Second funny moment was when she arranged her carrots as seen below and told us they were a snowman: 

Penny had her own fun moment when I said "Say cheese!" and she totally posed for the camera:

#7: This week was a slight bit warmer and there was no snow shoveling, no de-icing and that always makes me happy.

So there we have it, 7 reasons why this week was better than last!

And to end the post on a creepy note... Thursday night I was in the midst of brushing Lucy's teeth when Steven comes into the bathroom and asks me, "Is there a bad guy in the house?" I had a minor panic attack and then asked "Why!?" (like seriously, why would you ask this while Tyler's away!?) and then he says, "Because sometimes I hear one at night." I know it was his crazy imagination talking but I couldn't help but freak out a bit. I definitely did not sleep well that night.

Week 2

I am grateful that week 2 of Winter Testing is over. This week was certainly harder than the last and has left me worn to the bone. Winter showed it's ugly face here in Michigan this week, leaving us with bitter cold temperatures, snow to be shoveled and a van to be cleared of ice and snow each morning. The girls also both came down with something and were super temperamental during the day and terrible sleepers at night. Don't be fooled by the adorable pictures below, they were truly naughty this week:

Mr. Steven is turning the big 8 next month which I am finding hard to comprehend. To help him look the part of the baptized 8 year old he is about to be, we got him a suit. My lovely friend is going to take some pictures of him soon where he will hopefully look much more civilized then this:

And since obviously we must celebrate this momentous occasion, I have begun getting things ready for his Minecraft Birthday party. Yes I know I am a month early, but that is just how I roll- always way ahead of the game :) Despite my crazy girls, I was super productive this week and got a ton done. We have pin the tail on the pig, Creeper bean bag toss, Cardboard squares & square paper to make Minecraft faces with, a banner, the invitations, Minecraft food labels, and Minecraft treat bag toppers. People you should be SO impressed with me!  

Friday the weather warmed up significantly (from in the 10's to in the 30's) so we embraced the "warmth" and took a walk to the Bakery. Lucy is obsessed with making tracks in the snow and since I kept telling her no way it's much too cold, she was so glad to finally be given permission to do so. 

Saturday, Tyler had planned to be working on his truck and as much as I want him to get that thing fixed, I equally wanted to get out of the house and do something fun. So he procrastinated the truck and we all went to the Science Museum instead. It was a really nice outing with the kids and I don't regret the procrastinating...too much...

 

Grateful

Tyler started his Winter Testing up North this week and that makes me want to complain. So instead of doing what I want to do I'm going to try to make this a gratitude post instead. So here we go: 

#1: I am grateful that Penny got all her sick sleepless nights out while Tyler was home for Winter Break. She has been much better behaved this week and much more apt to smile.

#2: I am grateful that Lucy survived a fall ALL the way down the stairs. She didn't even have any bumps or bruises to show for it. I am also grateful that Lucy didn't do any serious harm to herself after playing with my razor in the shower- just one owie on her thumb. It's been a tough week for Lucy but she is still alive to tell the tales.

#3: I am grateful for a beautiful bouquet of pink roses that Tyler got me for our 10th Anniversary. Though he failed on the date planning part, he brought me home Qdoba and we watched Jurassic World when the kids went to bed, he did manage perfection on the roses. They had some of biggest, prettiest blooms I ever done did see and they sure brightened up our house this week.

#4: I am grateful that my boys love books. Benny is just starting to read and Steven is becoming quite an expert reader but they both love going to the library and love having new books to look through and read. This was a lifesaver this week! The afternoons and evenings were dragging and by the time Thursday was here, I wanted to do something to help make the time go by faster and the library was the perfect solution. The kids were seriously entertained and excited to get new books!

#5,#6,#7: I am grateful for having Tyler home on the weekends. I am grateful for friends that offered to watch our kids so we could have a date. And I am grateful for unseasonably warm Saturday so that we could have a fun day date outside, exploring Detroit. We got to see "the fist" of Detroit and "the spirit of Detroit", and the monuments at Hart Plaza.

Then we checked out the cars displayed in the GM Renaissance Center and caught a ride the People Mover (it's much higher then I would like).

After that we ate a Coney Dog at world famous Lafayette Coney Island. I don't usually like the Coney dogs here (mustard is always included)but these were actually quite good, Tyler also got super yummy slice of french silk pie there! 

Our last stop was at John K King Used & Rare Book Store. This place had 4 floors absolutely stuffed with books. I could have easily spent all day there, because I am a nerd like that but we couldn't leave our kids all day with our friends, that wouldn't be nice. Tyler ended up getting a nerdy, old math book and I ended up with some fun Christmas books for the kids.

#8: Last but not least I am grateful for friends that checked up on me this week and made me feel loved. I made it through his first week of Winter Testing and I know I can make it through the rest of it because I have such wonderful people to look out for me while my hubby is away! 

Winter Vacation Week 2

Our second week of Winter Vacation started off with some much needed productiveness- house cleaning, getting new tires for my van and grocery shopping. However, all this productiveness left me unfocused and when I went to make an easy mac for one of the boys, I forgot to add water. Friends, never forgot to add water. It led to burnt noodles that left our whole house smelling terrible.

The next day we needed to have some fun and since I was craving some Chick-fil-a we decided to take a trip out to the closest one which is in Toledo, Ohio. It seemed a little silly to drive the hour and a half just for some yummy food, so I decided we needed to do something else while we were in Toledo. The Toledo Museum of Art was free and only 10 minutes from Chick-fil-a so that was our second destination. But of course we ate plenty of food and enjoyed Chick-fil-a's play area to the fullest before heading to the museum... 

Toledo's Museum of Art was not the most child friendly place. It was quiet, there were lots of things that you could not touch and then there was the oodles of nude statues and paintings that Steven kept stopping to stare at.However, Lucy did love the Degas art exhibit with lots of ballerina paintings, costumes for ballets and a live Ballerina that was posing for people to draw *fully clothed thank heavens*. Lucy and Benny attempted to do their own ballerina poses (and I took pictures with a flash and got busted because no flashes are allowed, oooops!):

The sneaker exhibit was another hit with the kids. With a fun graffitied wall, pictures of sneakers for them to color and lots of cool (and hideous) sneakers on display, it was definitely the most child friendly exhibit:

As we made our way out of the museum Lucy decided to sit on a display chair and got in immediate trouble and we of course we immediately embarrassed and ready to go home but regardless, it was still nice to get away and eat yummy things and see new things.

On Thursday, New Years Eve, we took all the kids to see "The Good Dinosaur". Penny is definitely not movie ready so Tyler and I took turns walking the halls with her. The rest of the kids seemed to like it alright, although some parts were a little scary for Miss Lucy. After that we had to go rescue Tyler's truck that he had lent to someone. They burnt out his clutch in the process of borrowing it SOOOOO after getting AAA to tow it...we're down to one vehicle until we have the money for a new clutch and he has the time to fix it. Sweet. It also kind of killed our New Years Eve, the truck was about 45 minutes away so by the time I dropped Tyler off at it and got back home, the kids were asleep so there was no toasting to the New Year :( 

New Years Day was better though. It involved lots of laziness and a fun White Elephant party that night with friends. We totally scored two awesome gifts! Tyler got a Play&Shave Barbie and I (after stealing from someone else) got an awesome hip swinging bear that sings "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (Lucy has already listened to it about a thousand times)