This Week in January

This week Tyler is up North, hopefully it should be his only week up North. He is up there training his replacement and should be coming back today, hopefully! The bridge back is closed currently due to falling ice which does not make me happy. It has been a pretty long week with him away and I just want him back!

Monday was a very long day of organizing and cleaning. Now that we have an upstairs that consists of all our bedroom the kids seem to feel more obligated to lug all their toys up to their rooms- it drives me crazy. So Monday I was trying to lug everything back down and reorganize. They are also constantly mucking up all the craft/art supplies in the guest room. I love them being able to access everything when they want to use it, I just wish they would put things away properly when they were done *sigh* 

I did take a break from all the cleaning and organizing to take a walk with Penny since it was an extra warm winter day. She had a ton of fun splashing in all the melted snow puddles. We also did some swinging in the backyard- I am really loving having swings in our yard!

Monday night both Penny and Benny woke up crying because they were scared. Apparently when dad leaves the house it becomes very scary. Benny had the hardest time being calmed down, I think he might have had a bad dream. It was a rough night.

Tuesday I had a sub job in the afternoon. It was the class I sub for a lot and it was a super easy afternoon. Those are always nice. Then after dinner and hw it was off to the church to drop Steven off at Scouts. He finished his doorstop this past weekend (for the Baloo the Builder Requirement) so he is finally ready to be a Weeblo, just in time for his birthday! I can't believe that kid will be turning double digits in just a couple weeks. Where does time go? He sure has the attitude of a teenager already though, his biggest complaint these days is that he is so tired because his sisters always wake him up. The earliest they ever get up is 7am so I am pretty sure this kid is in trouble for when early morning seminary begins.

Wednesday I subbed again for the same teacher. This time it was not so easy of a day. There were a couple kids that just couldn't get along that day and others who just seemed hyper. I was pooped by the time the day was through but after picking Penny up we had to rush Lucy to karate. She is so timid about everything but I know she is enjoying it because as soon as it was done she was already counting down the days until she goes again. We might just have to keep going there after this 6 week class, especially since Tyler bought her the $35 karate uniform. I can't believe how much that thing cost! He got in trouble so the boys didn't get one and won't unless we decide to stick with it.

Thursday and Friday I was supposed to help babysit for friends- which I like to do because then I feel less guilty about always asking people to watch my kids while I am subbing. Unfortunately Lucy came down with a fever early Thursday morning so no babysitting for me. She has had a fever on and off since then. It turns out that basically here whole class is passing around this virus, only 5 people came to her class yesterday! Luckily she seems ok besides the fever and being tired (and being a little bit dramatic "my feet hurt, I can't walk"). She is still eating and keeping down liquids so that's good. I just hope this fever breaks soon and that it doesn't spread to the rest of my kidlings because I've got another busy week next week. Here are some fun pics of me snuggling with sick Lucy.

The boys had Karate Thursday night and since Tyler was out of town I had to tote sick Lucy there with us (go me for spreading the virus further). The boys got to use nunchucks which was a little terrifying. I was pretty sure they were going to whack themselves (or someone else) in the face but somehow everyone remained unscathed. However, they didn't quite master the skills of twirling them. Really though, what is the point of numchucks with kids?

Also this week when I was preoccupied with taking care of a sick Lucy, Penny entertained herself with a box of band aides. I don't know if you can see in the picture but apparently all her babies had owies that needed band aides. It was pretty cute (and just a tid bit wasteful). Also please note that she was crying before the first pic and then she chucked her banana and that apparently made her really happy. She has been some serious bipolar this week.

Karate Starts

So I love our new house, I do, but I would really appreciate if it would stop causing problems. First we had the roof leak which Tyler seems to have fixed (it didn't leak after the last big melt so that's positive). After that we had a "leak" in the basement which turned out to be a hose that just needed to be tied down in the basement sink so it didn't squirt everywhere. Tyler realized that was the problem after buying a new sump pump *sigh*. And now we have plugged pipes upstairs that are rendering the shower useless. Tyler hasn't had time to fix that one yet but is hoping that his small snake will be enough that we don't have to call a rooter. These things are annoying but I am grateful that so far we hadn't had any super expensive problems. I hope that if we must keep having problems that they will at least stay small.

This week was not super exciting- just busy. Monday was MLK Day and we spent the morning running errands and getting the girl's hair cut. That afternoon I took Steven with me to watch "The Greatest Showman." He is a good sport to come with me so I don't have to go alone. About halfway through he started complaining that he was tired so I am pretty sure the movie was not his cup of tea but I really loved it. The music, the dancing, the good moral message- it was a hit in my books! The only things I really didn't love Steven seeing- the previews before (one about a boy coming out and another a love story with a skinny dipping clip), the massive amount of cleavage from the bearded lady, some kissing (Steven hates kissing) and a lady who kisses a married man- besides those things it was a pretty kid friendly movie. I am now constantly listening to the soundtrack- it's good stuff.

Tuesday I cleaned house and also had a Primary Meeting. I really love the people in the presidency so I guess my calling isn't the worst. I just get tired/lazy of having to redo the same things each year (new birthday gifts, new spotlights, doing the baptism preview, reminders, newsletters...)Yeah, mostly just lazy.

Tuesday night we had an exciting Michigan event, a meteor zoomed overhead. Ben saw the flash of it when he was walking into Lucy's room and told me that he just saw lightening. I totally didn't believe him because it's winter, you don't get lightening on a cold, non rainy, winter day. Moments later we heard a rumble but I was still skeptical, I thought maybe it was a really loud truck or someone putting away their garbage bin. Then a bit later I was on FB and it was all over that a meteor had landed in Taylor, Michigan and there had been sightings all over the place. Lucky Ben was the only one in our family who got to see it's awesome flash! 

Wednesday I subbed for Ben's class. I had subbed for them before and really enjoyed it but I did not enjoy it this time. They were super hyper and it was an exhausting day, my voice was tired. Afterwards I had to rush Lucy to Karate. 5pm is not the greatest time for it, especially when I have to pick up Penny and Lucy after subbing, but we made it right on time. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to make it there early and were all rearing to go and in uniforms no less, it felt awkward. It turns out they join their regular class with us newcomers who signed up the Walled Lake Rec. That explained why most of these kids looked like pros. Lucy is definitely in need of lots more lessons but she sure was cute doing it and she had lots of fun!

I had Bunco that night and had the best laugh when I rolled the die with some crazy flair and still got a Bunco. I may not have actually won any prizes that night but it was such a blast.

Thursday the boys had karate. I did not go because I was watching a friend's daughter but Tyler said they are about as coordinated as Lucy (and me). I really am happy about the prospect of them getting more coordinated and confident. If the next 5 weeks go well, I might consider doing karate long term- we'll see.

Friday I had another sub day. This one is for a teacher who uses me lots- she keeps me employed seeing how she is absent almost once a week, ha ha! I typically love that class but was worried with my luck they would have gone evil, but they didn't. It was actually a really good day. I don't know if maybe it just seemed so good because the last one was so hard but I'll take it.

And that was our week in a nutshell, and I'll end with a cute pic of Benny and his best friend, Andrea, at school:

Cub-anapolis and Things

Penny had her first Sunday as a Sunbeam and she seemed super nervous about the whole thing so she sat very still and quiet. It will be interesting to see how she behaves as she gets a little more comfortable. We had our previous Primary Chorister subbing that Sunday and she had all the cute Sunbeams come up and sing their song wearing little sunbeamed faces, that was probably the only time we got a smile out of her.

Ben got to come up for the song "We are a Happy Family" during singing time. He was the brother. I miss this Primary Chorister, she did such fun things.

Lucy is a CTR 5 now and her teacher sent us this picture of her cute class. They all got CTR necklaces which she proudly wore to school one day. She told me she told all her friends what CTR stood for, a little missionary already! 

Another change with church is that we now have 9am church instead of 1pm. Honestly I love having morning church because it really frees up the day. I had a whole afternoon to do things I enjoy- I spent that Sunday afternoon addressing cards with my fancy lettering for the Primary Baptism Preview.

Sunday we also had a miracle- Penny, the anti bread girl, ate a biscuit and loved it. She is so weird about bread, I really wish she wouldn't be because it would be so nice to be able to make her sandwiches. For now I will just document the rare times when she eats bread products.

On Monday the kids went back to school and I got a sub job for that day- it was kind of a rough way to get back into the swing of things. The class I subbed for was a new one for me and they were absolutely crazy. I don't know if they were just struggling to get back into the swing of things too but oi, I was very exhausted at the end of that day and my voice was literally hoarse.

Tuesday I had another sub job and I was dreading it because this class is normally crazy. I thought for sure that would be the end of my voice. Thankfully they were actually abnormally amazing, it was such a blessing and exactly what I needed after Monday's tough job.

Tuesday night Steven had his Cub-Anapolis. Tyler had procrastinated making a box car with Steven so I gave up on him and attempted to help Steven make one. When Tyler got home and saw it, he was not impressed so he finally got into action. They googled ideas and ended up making this amazing mail truck. Ben ended up using the box I had helped make in the sibling race. 

Steven did not win the race, his super speedy friend Colton did. Mostly he didn't win because it was a bulky car and hard to run in PLUS we had a huge struggle with "changing his tires" (his socks). Afterwards he told me it was my fault he lost because I didn't change his socks fast enough. We had big discussion about it (ok...me yelling at him...) as we were driving home. Later on in the drive he apologized to me, it was a big moment and I was super proud of him. Now I need to work on apologizing more for my mommy tantrums.

Wednesday the weather started to warm a bit and it made for really good packing snow. I told the kids they should go make a snowman instead of rotting their brains like they usually do after school while I make dinner. Only Ben made the good choice and went out and built a snowman with Tyler. It turned out really awesome and all the other kids seemed to regret not going out. 

They especially regretted it because the next day the weather was in the 50's and all the snow melted away by the end of the day. Penny and I did enjoy getting on in the warm weather though. We did some swinging, she got to play with her Christmas gift and then she pushed her baby in it's stroller around the block. It was REALLY nice to get back outside again and breathe in some fresh air.

I also taught Penny how to write the letter "P". She picked it up so quickly and was so proud of herself. The next day I tried to teach her to write an "E." She wrote it once and then she only wanted to write P's. She's a silly little booger.

Friday the weather was gross and the roads were extra gross. I immediately regretted driving the kids to school that day but somehow we made it to both schools safely. It made me grateful for my SUV and it's AWD. Those roads would have been a lot harder to maneuver in my old mini van.

Saturday we finally got to use the gift from Tyler's parents and go to Splash Universe. This indoor water park is about an hour away and while it is less impressive than Great Wolf Lodge, the kids still  had a blast and are already anxious to go again. The girls pretty much stayed in the Lazy River most of the time- we must have done 50 laps around that thing. I don't blame them because it was still kind of cold in there so it was better just to stay in the water then to get out and shiver. Also, with the help of her swim vest and the current, Penny was able to "swim" on her own and so she never wanted to leave. The boys didn't seem to mind the cold too much though, they spent a majority of their time on the slides. 

And this week I babysat for a few friends and the beauty of that is that Penny had a playmate so that meant I had some time to work on my hobbies. I am seriously so glad I started up hand lettering last year, it is so relaxing and enjoyable. I am also now attempting to take up wood burning due to my Christmas gift from Tyler. I am not fantastic at wood burning yet but I am improving- at least the words I made are recognizable now!

A New Year

This Sunday was Penny's last Sunday in Nursery. I am a little in denial that my youngest just graduated from Nursery- my littlest is not so little anymore! To commemorate her graduation, they gave her a certificate with this cute picture on it. I love how she is the silliest of the bunch!  

She also got to visit Primary on Sunday and though she was being pretty reverent, Ben kept shouting to her "Look Penny, there's mom!" and other super helpful things. It was too bad they left before my sharing time. I got to sub in sharing time for the president and though it's been years since I have taught sharing time, I felt like it went really well. I really miss teaching the youth. I'm tired of secretary stuff, handing out folders (putting together folders), taking attendance, sending out talk reminders, etc- none of that stuff is very fun, nor is it very spiritual.

Sunday evening was New Years Eve. We had a dance party with Netflix countdowns. The kids insisted on doing all 9 of the countdowns that Netflix had so we danced and counted down 9 times. It was fun to watch the kids show off all their silly dance moves. When I took a video they were all anxious to get on camera, Penny being the worst and shoving in front "my turn!" Camera hog!

They also got to toast sparkling cider in fancy glasses 9 times and take sips. Surprisingly with all that toasting there was only one spillage. That was done by Penny who actually isn't much of a fan of sparkling cider so it kept sloshing around.

I enjoyed watching my silly kids toast and dance so I would call it a good New Years Eve.

On New Years Day I took the boys to see "Wonder." I had read the book and really wanted to see the movie so I just made the boys go with me. It may have been a little too "deep" for the kids. And it wasn't really their kind of movie. There wasn't a lot of funny and when there was funny it kind of went over their heads. And there was definitely no action so they both seemed a bit bored. Ben seemed the most bored, he kept lying flat down in his recliner and rolling around. However the movie did have some good messages about how we should treat others so I don't really regret bringing them and I am glad that I finally got to see it.

Selfies before the movie... 

That evening we had the Hansen's over for a game night. It was a definite success! The boys had so much fun playing games that the Hansen's had brought. Ben now wants the game "Sushi go!" for his birthday. And the boys along with Lydia and Colton, now have their own version of how to play "Clue." They apparently are no good at rules. It really was a fun night and it makes me want to be better at playing games as a family. It's just a fun way to spend time together.

Tuesday Lucy finally had her 5 year check up. With everyone off school I got to take all the kids with. They actually behaved pretty good, minus their freaking her out over getting her blood drawn and a shot. Mostly just Steven freaking her out by telling her it'll probably hurt and other reassuring things. She actually did pretty good for the finger prick but when they went to give her the flu shot, she looked at the wrong time and totally freaked out. I always feel like the worst mama when I have to hold her down. Afterwards she needed help getting in the car because her leg hurt from the shot- she's such a diva. She also said, in near tears, "Why did they take my blood from me? I didn't tell them they could take it?" Very traumatizing!

Wednesday I watched the oldest 3 May kids all day. The kids actually all played super well together so it made for a really easy day for me. I had time to write thank you cards, practice the piano, even read a bit- it was a nice day.

Thursday Lucy woke up saying the Penny gave her, her germs and she was sick. She sat by the toilet for a bit and then asked for some cold water (yes she specified that it had to be cold). Once she drank the water she was miraculously all better. I was just grateful it wasn't really the stomach bug. That afternoon I had xrays and a cleaning at the dentist. They want to replace a crown I just got a few years back (that was the traumatizing one where they rinsed out my sinuses instead of the tooth root). I don't think insurance will cover it, so I don't think it's going to happen. Gosh I hate the dentist.

Friday I thought about taking the kids somewhere but this whole week has been so so bitterly cold that I just couldn't do it. I think the real feel was in the negatives that day so we basically just hung at home. With the cold weather keeping us indoors it's actually been a relaxing week but I am sure the kids are looking forward to going back to school Monday so they can actually leave the house again.

Saturday Tyler and I had a belated celebration of our anniversary. We went to Dave & Buster's where we had lunch and played lots of fun arcade games. I pretty much stink at every arcade game out there but it was still lots of fun. I did have one fluke round of milk bottle bowling though where I got my ball in the 1000 bottle THREE times! I earned us a bazillion tickets so that definitely was my one shinning moment. So after $40 spent on tokens, we earned 975 tickets which bought us two shot glasses (the kids love drinking from these little glasses, ha ha) and some candy. Those places are so expensive but so fun. Afterwards we went to Home Depot and did some dreaming. There are so many things we would like to get or redo in our home. Most especially I would love a gas stove (I did not like it at first in Milford but now I miss it!) and we are in need of a new front door. The front door is actually something we will probably get when things warm up here so it was fun to look at those with the intention of actually buying one this year. And that was our exciting celebration of 12 years of marriage :)