Thanksgiving Week

This week sped by which was a good thing because being so far away from home on Thanksgiving was really bumming me out. It felt a lot harder being away this year than last year and I am not sure how I am going to handle next year without them. I think social media makes it even harder because all my friends were posting their big happy family Thanksgiving pictures and it just made me even more sad. I know I am so blessed that Tyler has a good job and that we are having all sorts of fun adventures out here and that we have so many good friends. But all that great stuff still does not make up for being far away from all your family. I think the weather being cold and gray really didn't help with my gloomy mood either.

Anyways I spent Wednesday and Thursday cooking like a fool. Wednesday I did the crescent rolls and pumpkin pie. The rolls I have done before and they turned out good again, they are just time consuming because they need lots of time to rise. I had never made pumpkin pie before and while the filling was easy to make, I had a fail with the crust. I hate regular crust so I did a graham cracker crust and I totally burnt it, black all over. So I did a redo with no crust and honestly the filling was less firm and not as yummy as my first pie. You live and learn though.

Thursday I made the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. I tried a new slow cooker recipe for the sweet potatoes and it was a huge success. So stinking yummy! So go me! Around 4 our friends, the May family, came over and we had a nice meal together. All the food was so good and we really enjoyed their company, the kids especially had a blast together. It was chaotic Thanksgiving which is exactly to be expected with 7 kids.

That night Benny FINALLY got brave and let Tyler pull his loose tooth that had been hanging on a VERY tight thread for the last few weeks. The tooth below it was already major growing so it was good we got it out. The Tooth Fairy was less on top of things and forgot to give him his money so he had to wait another night before she came. However, Steven doesn't think she forgot, he thinks that she just doesn't work Holidays. Wish we had thought of that!

Friday was a busy day! We hit some stores in the morning and got some good Black Friday deals (I got both the girls a Barbie in a Barbie car for only $10, they are going to love it!). I was actually really mad at myself for shopping so far in advance because a lot of the Christmas gifts I have already gotten for the kids were on sale for some really good prices, fail! 

Friday afternoon we put up the Christmas decorations. Last year we had bought a much needed new Christmas tree and new ornaments on clearance after Christmas so it was fun to finally get to put it up and see what it looks like. It was also nice to have a Christmas tree with all matchy ornaments for once. 

The boys got to put up our very sad looking old Christmas tree in their room (only 2/3 of the lights work). They also got to decorate it with all the sentimental ornaments. They had so much fun doing this and were so excited that they got their very own tree in their room.

So as to not leave the girls out, we let them put up our miniature tree in their room and decorate it. Lucy was so excited and I love how she clumped the ornaments together, ha ha! Also, I am not sure why she is showing the "Loser" sign in this picture. Oh that girl.

Friday morning we braved the cold weather and went down to Main St to watch the Milford Christmas Parade. Our friends from church were there as well and had a perfect spot saved so we sat with them. Though Lucy looks super cranky, she really wasn't. She loved waving at all the people in the parade and her and Penny were super excited to pick up all the candy that was being thrown (even the candy that landed in dirty puddles, blech). The boys also enjoyed the candy aspect and they enjoyed hanging out with their buddy, Gavin.

After the parade we went home and warmed back up and then me and Lucy headed out to do some more shopping. She was actually a pretty good shopping companion, minus the fact that she expected me to buy something for her at every shop we stopped at- me thinks that girl is a little spoiled. But it was still fun having her tag along. I really hate shopping alone so it was nice to have such adorable company. And getting good deals always makes me feel a little bit better so there was that. And also, now I can say that I have all gotten all our Christmas gifts. Only thing left is candy for stockings and then I am done!

The Milford Reveal & First Sub Jobs

On Monday Lucy had her 4 year check up. To celebrate turning 4 she had to get 4 shots. She was not happy about that and since they made me hold her hands down while she got the shots she felt that I was responsible for her pain. Afterwards she asked, "Why you hurt me mom?" She also became unable to do many tasks like getting in and out of the car, she was pretty good at milking these shots for all they were worth.

Tuesday was a crummy day. Lucy was in a mood and threw an epic tantrum over yogurt while we drove the boys to school. Then we went to Salvation Army and Penny broke probably one of the nicest cups you could find there, thankfully they said we didn't have to pay for it. After that I thought I would help bag some leaves and my wedding rings fell off into one of the bags. I didn't realize they were missing until I was closing the bag and bringing it out to the curb. I had to then dump out the whole bag (the one I had JUST filled) to find them. It was literally like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so painful. Thankfully I found them though. Then that night when I was taking Steven to Scouts Penny had a meltdown because she wanted to go with him and Ben had a meltdown because he was scared of ghosts. It was a LONG day.

I didn't end up going to Bunco on Wednesday because I tried to be helpful. Someone was asking for a sub for Bunco so I asked Laci if she could sub for her. She had had a bad day (because us moms do from time to time) and so she was more than happy to sub and excited to go and get out of the house. Well, when I told this person I had a sub for her she said she didn't need a sub anymore because she was able to come after all. I felt so terrible leaving Laci high and dry, especially after she had had such a bad day so I got a sub for me and then Laci and I went out to The Cheesecake Factory instead. It was such a fun night! But apparently I worried everyone by not coming to Bunco and got a lot of texts from people asking me if everything was Ok. I feel so loved, ha ha!

Thursday I had my first substitute job at the boy's school. It was an afternoon half day and I thought it was going to be super easy because it was for the resource teacher. I figured a half day running small group instruction, piece of cake! It was not at all what I was expecting. I subbed for a class at each grade level in the 3.5 hours that I was there. I would watch a teacher's class while they went and met with the resource teacher to discuss students. I was in these classrooms anywhere from 20 minutes to 50 minutes. It wasn't enough time to lay down rules or establish any kind of authority. 

Some of the classes were really well behaved and the teacher had good stuff for me to do with them but others not so much. I had a second grade classroom where the teacher wasn't even there when I got there and the teacher next door told me to just go over the next pages in their math workbook. No guideline on how to do that or on the kids prior knowledge. It was horrible and the class was crazy and when the teacher came back she seemed peeved with me. Ugh. Then there was a Kinder class with a student who had some severe issues. He got upset over a pencil and jabbed a little girl with it and then threw over some chairs, curled up into a ball and started sobbing. Like I said, some rough classes but at least I ended the day in a class where two teachers team taught so the other teacher basically took over and I got to just be a warm body in the room. Now that's a class I could sub for again :)

Thursday night we went to the Downtown Milford Big Reveal. This is where the kids get to rip wrapping paper off the windows to reveal the fun holiday displays the shops have. Steven insisted on staying by his friend Max but it was a really crowded spot so I let Tyler & Penny stay with them and I took Lucy and Ben down to an empty spot. They had plenty of wrapping paper to rip off and they had a blast doing it. Behind the wrapping paper was basically a bunch of immodest teenager holiday dresses so no pictures of that. After ripping our paper we took a stroll to see the other displays. The kids favorite display is always Clothing Cove because it has real people in it. One window had a girl making cookies and the other window had a group of teenagers in old fashioned Christmas attire. They also liked another store window that had a little boy in it writing down names on Santa's good list. The best part of the night was that it was in the 60's so we were all plenty warm!

Friday I had another afternoon half day sub job, this time for a second grade classroom at another school. It was another rough experience. The class had so many tough personalities, there was a girl that was always crying because someone was mean to her, there was a boy who felt that everyone was out to get him, there was a very hyper girl who could not sit still or be quiet for the life of her and all the kids seemed to have to pee constantly and most of them would start crying if I didn't let them go. Everyone survived, there were no injuries and we did everything in the lesson plan so despite the craziness of it all, I guess I can count that as a success right? I am beginning to wonder what I used to see in subbing *sigh*

Hopefully my next sub job is good to me and makes it feel like this is a good way to make some extra cash and for now I will just be grateful that those tough experiences are over and that this long week is over and that I can stuff my face with Thanksgiving food next week!

Election Day, Concoctions, Leaves & Primary Program

Tuesday was Election Day and Tyler got the day off which was great. We took the kids and walked down to our polling place in the morning. It was a beautiful day for a walk and we lucked out and had a very short line to wait in before voting. The only reason for the line was because the computers for checking people in weren't working. After about 10 min's or so they were functioning again and the short line moved quickly and we were able to vote. I have to say I wasn't feeling super happy about voting since neither of the candidates were lovely people but I am grateful we live in a country where we are allowed to vote.

After voting, we took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese to have some fun and eat some lunch. It was nice to be there with Tyler for once, we each took a girl and the boys just kind of did their own thing. No documentation of the boys but here are some cute pics of the girls.

This week I found out I was hired on as a substitute which is awesome! I decided that I would feel more comfortable being a sub again if I went into the boys' classes and observed for a day. I also figured that would be a good networking opportunity so I spent Thursday at the boys' school. I am definitely glad I did that. It was good to get acquainted with their school and reacquainted with teaching. It was also fun to see the boys at school. I was so impressed with Ben's teacher, she is amazing! And she was so nice to me, she told me she would give my contact info to other teachers and that their was a definite need for good subs at their school.

Steven's teacher, on the other hand, popped my joyous bubble by telling me she didn't think I would be able to sub at just their school 3 or 4 times a month. She told me that the boys' school already has their regular subs and that people don't take off work much. It was a very awkward conversation. Honestly, I find her pretty awkward in general and Steven's class was kind of just a crazy mess. Their was a lot of political talk from 8 year olds that I didn't deem appropriate. Ugh.

So now I am not sure what to expect. I am just hoping I can get at least 2 sub jobs this year so that I can pay off the money that I spent to become a sub. Boo.

On Friday I decided to be a fun mom and about died inside from the awful mess it created. Steven had a book he got from the library with different concoctions he could make and so we did the only one we had the ingredients for: cornstarch and water. The boys had a blast with it, and Tyler had a great time talking to them about why it went from liquid to solid feeling. I just kept panicking about the messes. I am so not fun. 

Saturday afternoon we decided to tackle the massive amount of leaves we have in our backyard and we quickly discovered that there was not nearly enough daylight left in the day to make a dent in them. Tyler used his leaf blower to blow them all against the fence and we got about 10 bags full (we have previously filled 10 other bags from leaves from the front and side yard). Tyler estimates that we probably have another 20 bags to go. Best to do them this week before temperatures drop back down in the 40's *sigh*

Can you find 3 kids hiding in the leaves? 

At least Penny is a fan of the leaves...

Today we had our Primary Program and I am SOOOO glad today is over. Our Primary President had to go out of town last minute because her father had a stroke. She put me in charge. I am just the secretary, I don't need that kind of pressure! I was already in charge of all the after program fun stuff. Anyways it was a busy weekend getting everything hammered out and ready and I was really nervous the day of but it went pretty well (minus two kids who almost took a nose dive off the foot stool and the Sunbeams who could not stop wiggling and giggling for the life of them). After the program we all gathered in the gym for a picture, and if you can't tell by the picture, it was complete chaos...

But once we got them all divided up and in their classrooms, things went well and I feel like I did pretty good planning it all. Go me!

And because I forgot to post them before, here are the boys school pictures. Steven will be getting retakes since he has a lovely fat lip in his picture. I think we will just have to deal with Ben's less then nice hair.

Lucy's Very Pony Birthday!

On Tuesday Miss Lucy turned 4 and I let her take charge of her special day. Her first request was to open presents when she woke up. It was a good request because she loved all her fun gifts and they kept her entertained for most of the day!

Her next request was a PB&J for breakfast and later on in the day a walk down to the park. We were watching her friend Peter, so he got join us on our park expedition! It was the perfect park day with the temps in the 70's!

After park fun it was back home for another PB&J and more playing with her new things. Below she is sporting her new umbrella (which she held like a Princess while I pulled her in a wagon around our sunny yard) and she is sporting her new Rainbow Dash jacket (which Steven described Rainbow Dash to his friend Max as a pony that "kind of acts like a boy").

For dinner Lucy requested chicken nuggets and her brothers kindly translated that to mean McDonald's. The kids had a blast junking out on McDonald's food and playing in the play place.

It was a good birthday for Miss Lucy!

On Saturday we had Lucy's birthday party. We invited 6 friends from church and 5 of them ended up coming. Tyler couldn't be at the party because he had signed up to teach at Scout Merit Badge University (and had forgotten until a couple days before the party, too late to reschedule). But Tyler still managed to make Lucy an amazing Pinkie Pie Birthday cake, she obviously loved it!

I feel like this was one of my favorite parties I have thrown. It was nothing fancy, it was totally simple (which means not stressful) and all the kids seemed to have a good time. 

One of the games we played was "Pin the Cutie Mark on Pinkie Pie." The boys were good sports and wore the masks and played too. My kids were total cheaters though, both Lucy and Steven looked under the mask and "managed" to pin the cutie mark right on Pinkie Pie's flank. Some kids didn't wear the mask and managed to get the balloons in exactly the wrong spot, ha ha! 

After pinning on Pinkie Pie's cutie mark, I let the kids get their own cutie marks. However, we didn't put their cutie marks on their flanks ;)

Our next activity was to find Rarity's jewels. I put out a bunch of colored glass globs on the front porch and let the kids go out and find them. Josie is the oldest and was by far the best finder. All the other kids would walk right past them and she would just walk behind them picking them up. She was a sweetie though and let me take some out so the other kids could get them.

 After jewel finding the kids played some more and then it was time to eat pizza and PB&J's. I kept things super easy for myself and just did a frozen pizza and Smucker's Uncrustables. The pizza turned out a little crispy but the kids didn't seem to mind, except for Lucy who didn't want to eat either one of her usual favorite things. But since she was the birthday girl I let her get out of eating lunch and she skipped right on to the cake

The cake was a big hit and, thankfully, pretty much devoured. Then Lucy got to open her presents and she got plenty of awesome pony things. Her sweet friend Josie, even made her a pony blanket. How awesome is that!?

This girl was seriously spoiled and had a pretty fabulous birthday week!

My Halloween Treats

Last Saturday night we had the Ward's Trunk or Treat party. Before we left we took some cute pictures of our kids all dressed up. While getting cute pictures of the girls was tricky, the boys were very cooperative and all about posing for the camera: 

Penny was really upset and did not want to take pictures outside so the boys did the posing for her:

The Trunk or Treat Party was not my favorite thing. The food was fine but afterwards they had games for the kids and Penny was in a super cranky mood (probably related to the dental work she had gotten done Friday). She was fussy and throwing tantrums and I struggled to take care of her and keep my eye on my other 3 (Tyler was busy chatting it up with friends). By the time we reached trunk or treat time I was ready to meltdown myself. Thankfully Penny did a full 180 as soon as she realized that people were actually just handing out candy FOR FREE, this sugar addict was all about that fun:

I made a pretty sad attempt to decorate our trunk. We merely collected all of the kids stuffed animals and put them in the trunk. We also put up some "bars" and the kids made a sign. At least I did something though ;)

We have a man in our Ward who takes pictures as a side business and he was nice enough to take pictures at the party. These were the gems he took for us:

Halloween was on a Monday this year. That meant that the boys got to have fun parties at school on the actual holiday and I got to come see them walk in their Halloween parade:

After school I had this awesome plan to get 50 cent corn dogs and slushies at Sonic for dinner but the kids decided they just couldn't get along on the drive there so I ended up turning the car around and just going home. It was a very long agonizing drive home. When we got home I decided to make them a dinner that reflected my emotions- an angry ghost:

After dinner I took the kids trick or treating while Tyler stayed home and passed candy. I discovered while I was out with the kids that mostly just dads take their kids trick or treating. I felt like the lone mom out there. I didn't realize I was such an anomaly but I really like watching my kids trick or treating. I especially found some entertainment in the fact the Penny was not scared of any of the creepy costumes or creepy decorations but she was terrified of any homes had a dog out.

After we did a couple streets with the girls, we walked them back home and then headed out to hit up another street. The girls seemed to enjoy passing out candy with Tyler:

And they boys sure enjoyed seeing more creepy decorations and getting more candy for me them