Subbing, Apple Picking, Princess Party

On Monday I had my first sub job of the year. It was at the boy's old school so it was challenging logistically. I ended up having a friend meet me at the bus stop and she stayed with the big kids until they left and then she took Penny back to her house. Then after schools she picked them up and met me back at my house. It was literally just a 10 minute window before and after that I needed her for and I hated having to inconvenience her for just that little bit of time. The job itself was good though. The class was pretty well behaved and included a lot of Ben's old friends so that was fun. It was a good start for the school year.

Tuesday morning I volunteered in Ben's class for the first time and I had these high expectations for myself- I was going to totally wow Ben's teacher and he was going to want me to sub for him and get out my name to all the other teachers. It didn't go as planned. I was helping out during writer's workshop and I was not super impressive. First I okayed someone for the final copy and then the teacher met with the same kid shortly after and un-okayed him. I felt silly. Then I also made a grammatical mistake (in red pen) on a kid's rough draft. Not huge deals but I just had these high expectations for myself that I didn't meet. He didn't seem super impressed with me.

Tuesday evening we went to Spicer's Orchard and picked some apples. It had been raining most of the day but cleared up later afternoon so we decided we would go ahead and go. I am glad we did. It was not busy at all, the kids had fun getting lifted up into the branches to get the better looking apples and it was some much needed family time. At the end we got some doughnuts and cider which is really the tastiest part of apple picking, ha ha! The only crappy part came when we told Steven he wouldn't be able to have a doughnut unless he let us pull his tooth. I know it's a weird consequence, but he has this tooth that is super loose and the gums around it are looking really awful and there's a tooth under it and it really just needs to go. Well he has built it up in his brain to be a really scary thing so he refused (and he is still refusing). That meant no doughnuts for him so he was super upset as we were leaving the Orchard. Up until that moment we had a lot of fun though.

The hay ride to the apple trees was really bumpy and Penny got a little nervous. I love this picture of Ben holding onto her, keeping her safe.

Wednesday, after running some errands and having a good nap, we had a talented friend over who braided Penny's hair. And if one day of cute hair wasn't enough. Thursday I ended up subbing and my other friend that was watching her, also braided her hair. I wish I had that talent- she looks so stinking cute with her hair all fancy. 

My Thursday sub job was actually for Ben's teacher. He didn't ask me but it popped up in the system so I decided to take it. I figured it was my shot at redemption. I feel like it went really well. His class was so well behaved and we got through everything on the plans. The only hiccup I had was when I couldn't find something we needed for the science experiment but we substituted it for something else- hopefully he won't be upset about that. I figure I will find out what his thoughts were when I go to volunteer in his room this week- I am a little nervous. I know, I have issues. But I would gladly sub for his class again- they were so easy!

Friday we babysat for a friend and we walked down to the park. It was a good choice- it was the perfect morning for the park. I think my friend's kid had fun and so did Penny. She was super proud of herself (in the picture below) for standing on these without holding on to the ropes.

Friday night I started painting the bottom cabinet boxes and I actually finished them by the end of Saturday. I always feel good making progress on this never ending project. I am hopeful that I can paint the top boxes this week and then it will just be retouching the top cabinets that I goofed on. The end is closer!

I finally  made a friend in the neighborhood, Stacey, and I mustered the courage to ask for her number so we could set up a play date with her kids. Her daughter, Jenna, is in Lucy's class and her son, Evan, is in Steven's class. Both Lucy and Steven have been requesting play dates so they were super ecstatic to go over to Jenna and Evan's house Saturday morning. I had a good chat with Stacey but there's always that awkward I don't drink coffee or alcohol or watch rated R movies talk, ha ha! I am so inexperienced at being friends with nonmembers, especially with ones who don't know anything about the church. Hopefully I didn't scare her away with my uniqueness because our kids got along so well. I ended up leaving with Lucy because her and Penny had a party but Steven was there for a few more hours. I am so glad we are all making friends!

After leaving Stacey's house I did a quick coat of cabinet paint and then it was off to the Princess Party. The girls had a blast- it was a truly Pinterest inspired party with themed food, marshmallow snowmen building, pretend snow to play with, necklace making....So much fun. A picture of the princesses below- Penny matched the birthday girl, Eliza. I feel like that's a no no (similar to wearing white to a wedding) but Eliza didn't seem to upset, ha ha!

Saturday was truly busy. After another coat of paint on my cabinets we were off to another shin dig. We were invited over to the Cody's home for chili and s'mores. As background information, Sister Cody threw a fit of sorts when she found out I had a birthday party and she wasn't invited. The silly thing is we don't hang out and I only invited a handful of people. Tyler trying to smooth things over told I hate being left out too (which is true) so she told me she would never leave me out of anything. Honestly I feel like she's trying to force a friendship so that maybe I will invite her to my next party? I don't know. It wasn't a bad time- the chili was good, s'mores were yummy and conversation wasn't bad but it all just sort of feels forced.

Today, Sunday, we were invited over to the Perriton's house to break our fast. They said they are trying to better at having people over and we lived close by- I feel super special, ha ha! But we did have a lot of fun. Once again yummy food and then the kids had fun with all their "toys." They had some bows and arrows so the kids got to practice some of their skills they are learning. Ben is really doing well at aiming- he just needs to work on force. The arrows kept bouncing off the target. After that they let Tyler take our kids on rides on their child sized dirt bike. They really enjoyed that! Steven and Ben both attempted to ride it themselves- I wish I had recorded it. Steven decided to twist the throttle when attempting to get off. That didn't go so well. No cuts or bruises but it scared him quite a bit(and wounded his pride). He refused to try again which was silly because he did really good up until the stopping point. Ben did not do so amazing. He attempted to run into two trees which is pretty amazing because their yard is not covered in trees. Thankfully he really just bumped into the trees so no cuts or bruises for him either. He said he would be up for trying it again if he is ever given another opportunity. I even tried once and was not so good at going at a consistent speed but at least I didn't crash. 

Museum, Babysitting, Class Pictures

Sunday me and the girls skipped out on Stake Conference. I was still suffering from congestion and they had been coughing. While home I read the General Conference talk that we were supposed to read to prepare for Stake Conference. It was on Family History so I decided to get into some bins from the basement so I could find and read some old scrapbook/journals about my grandparents/parents. I really enjoyed reading about both my Grandmas and reading some things about my mom's youth. I'm grateful for all this documentation that has been done and I hope someday my kids will appreciate all these blog posts.

In process of finding the journals/scrapbooks I found some old clothes of mine that the girls had fun trying on. I also found an old scrapbook of mine that Lucy loved looking through. She thought it was so fun to see pictures I had made and stories I had written when I was little like her.

Monday was busy cleaning up from the weekend. The boys also had their first archery class. Since Tyler took them, I have no pictures but I think they enjoyed it. Ben said he didn't even hit the target once but that's why he's taking a class, ha ha! Steven claims he already knows how to shoot and the parts where they try to teach him are boring. Ugh. According to Tyler, Steven missed quite a bit so it would seem he definitely needs the instruction.

Tuesday the kids had a half day of school. My friend was hosting Bunco that night so I offered to watch her kids that afternoon so she could prepare. Really I selfishly offered to watch them so my kids would have friends to play with. I ended taking all of them to our beach that afternoon. It was a good choice. It was possibly our last beach day of the season- today is in the 60's and the coming week looks like temperatures won't get higher than mid 70's. I am glad we all had one last hurrah at the beach- the kids usually play so well there and it makes my job easy. I'm going to miss our beach days!

The only hiccup during our beach time was that my friend had sent her kids with a clear garbage bag of sand toys. I decided just to bring their toys (not ours) but imagine the confusion when suddenly there were 2 clear bags of toys at the beach. Apparently someone had left a bag at the beach and I had a heck of a time trying to figure out which were my friends toys and which were what someone had left. Ugh- I felt like I was losing my mind. 

Tuesday night I had Bunco and I had a lot of luck- 2 Bunco's and 9 baby bunco's. I ended up winning a super soft blanket and thick slipper socks- perfect for the upcoming cold weather. After a summer without Bunco it was nice to be back in gear. I love the opportunity it gives me to get out and eat yummy stuff and hang with friends. 

Wednesday the kids had no school (Jewish holiday- next week will be their first full week of school. I wonder how they'll handle having 5 days in a row!) I made the wise choice to get out of the house and took them to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. It was 3/4 of a good time- the other quarter the kids spent fighting over exhibits and I spent fighting with Penny (she has been in such a difficult mood lately). But mostly it took up a majority of the day and kept me from going crazy with them cooped up in the house. We hadn't packed a lunch- I really didn't expect to last too long- but they did. We didn't get home until 2 and they were all starving so they chowed down and then vegged out in front of a screen. 

Lucy was disgusted by how much sugar is in the mountain dew's her dad drinks. And Ben and I had fun making it look like we were coming out of a wall.

Thursday we did another story time at the library. It was pouring rain so I did the outside book drop first so I wouldn't have to drag the books out in the pouring rain. After, when I went to gather my things I couldn't find my phone. I had two thoughts- either it was lost in the car or I had put it in the book drop. I didn't think I was crazy enough to the do the latter but then again...As I was leaving the library I decided to ask if they found a phone in the book drop just in case- because I would hate to have to come back and ask later. The man looked at me like I was crazy- it was super embarrassing. It wasn't there and I ended up finding it stuck between the console and the chair later. All that embarrassment for nothing.

Friday I got to babysit for a friend's baby. She was so stinking cute and Penny just loved her. Penny, who had been evil all week, was so good for the day. She pushed Adelaide in her stroller, fed Adelaide her snacks and baby food. She also sang her to sleep for her nap and consoled her with songs when she was crying. Her songs had original lyrics like "Little baby go to sleep" and "No more cry." It was all amazingly adorable. 

She also thought Adelaide's extra happy face looked angry so she took an "angry" selfie with her.

On Friday I got the kid's school pictures. When I asked Lucy why her smile was less than genuine she said that somebody should have said "poop" instead of "cheese" because that would've made her laugh. 

Lucy also came home from school pretty bummed Friday. She immediately told me, "I didn't get to be the happy camper!" Apparently that's her teacher's term for star student. I looked at her grumpy demeanor and said, "Well don't you need to be happy?" She moaned,"But I was!!" Poor thing. 

Another funny from Lucy. Friday is treat day and when she was deciding what treat to have after dinner she asked me, "Can you get my brain not crumbled?" I looked at her strange and she said, "Just slap it." So I tapped her head and she said, "Great! Now my thinking cap is on." So glad I was able to help her make that tough treat decision.

Last thing that I think I forgot to share from last week. My friend Caroline told me that Ben still plays a role in the recess games at his old school, Kurtz. Apparently at first he was away on a never ending field trip. Then later the kids started playing that they had super powers and Ben's was that he was invisible. Whenever Andrea (his bf from church and school) was in trouble, Ben would come and rescue her. I love how loved he was at his old school and that they still think of him. I hope he is able to develop those strong friendships here at his new school. His new teacher did say that Ben doesn't seem like a new kid at all- he fits right it. That was a comforting thing to hear.

This and That

On Sunday I was in the bathroom and noticed that somebody had smeared my make up (foundation)on the wall. When I came downstairs I asked the girls which one of them had done it because they had been playing in the bathroom earlier. Penny said "No" and then Lucy looked at me with a very guilty look. I asked her specifically if she had done it and she shouted "But you can't be mad at me because I told the truth!" It was very apparent that she had a lesson on truth in primary that day, ha ha!

On Monday the kids were off school for the billionth time- apparently it was a Jewish Holiday. I spent the morning cleaning the house (which always feels pointless when the kids are home) and then we rented "Sherlock Gnomes" and got some candy and junked out for the afternoon. I had thought about taking them out somewhere but wasn't feeling well (I had-and still have- a cold) and am glad I chose to stay in. The movie was not that great but it was nice to just cuddle with the kids on the couch.

Tuesday I had one of those miracle of tithing moments. I was balancing the budget and realized with the in laws in town and other fun things I had went over budget for that 2 week pay period. I had this silly thought that it would be so great if I could just randomly get a check in my mailbox for that amount. Well that is exactly what happened. When I got the mail that day there was a reimbursement check from the dentist in almost that exact amount (just a few dollars off). Definitely a tender mercy that shows the benefits of paying tithing.

Wednesday I was going to watch a friend's toddler since she has a newborn but didn't want to risk sharing my cold with her family so that got cancelled. Instead I did my favorite thing, some Goodwill shopping to try and find some clothes for family pictures. I found some good tops for the boys and only spent a few dollars- can't beat that! Then that afternoon another friend who didn't mind me sharing germs had me watch her daughter. Her daughter usually drives me a little nuts so I said lots of prayers for patience and kindness and it actually went really well. Another tender mercy.

Wednesday night was Kindergarten Orientation which was super unexciting but I ended up sitting next to one of the mom's from the bus stop (Katie) and chatting with her. I found out later (through Facebook) that she was friends with Jenny Chappell (our friend in Virginia). It was super fun to chat with her the next morning about Jenny C. It's nice starting to get to know other moms but I still struggle with being at a new school and not knowing the staff like I did at Kurtz. Everything still feels unfamiliar. I am hoping to start volunteering in the classrooms and maybe that will help me to start getting sub jobs at their new school. I did get asked to sub at Kurtz this week (the boys' old school) but it was too last minute for me to make it work. I'm still not sure if I can make it work unless Tyler is able to work from home in the mornings.

Thursday Penny and I went to storytime at the Library. She loved it so much last week and was dying to go again. I was hesitant to go because of my cold and Penny has been coughing too but we were rude and went and shared our germs. She had so much fun! She loves the part where they hide a mouse behind a house and they have to figure out which house he is behind. It's pretty cute! Afterwards we hung out at a nearby park with some friends who didn't mind our germs. It was a good day.

Friday night we had a sweet young women in the ward who watched our kids for us so we could go to the temple. This was the first time any yw has babysat our kids for free so it was so nice. She is only 12 and this was her first time babysitting and she was a bit nervous but she did just fine. My girls love her and are already asking for her to come again. And Tyler and I really needed a night out together away from the kids. It was a win win situation all around!

This week I also started back up working on the kitchen cabinets. I took off the lower cabinets and I am almost done with them. I just need to put a protective coat on the back. I really took my time with them, I taped the edges to prevent dripping and they turned out a MILLION times better than the upper cabinets. Now that I have something good to compare them with, the upper cabinets look really awful. Tyler is currently sanding off the drops of paint on the edges and hopefully this week I can work on fixing them. It is the project that just never ends. I like quick results but I have learned the hard way that this is a project that can't be rushed.

Tyler's truck is still a work in progress as well. As he goes he keeps realizing he need new parts, or a new tool or something. It's been nice that he has been able to borrow his Tahoe from work but I will sure be glad when his truck is fixed.

Rest of the Week

Thursday was spent rooting through junk and collecting things to give away to Salvation Army. When all was done and said I threw at least 5 garbage bags worth of stuff into the car to give away. It felt so good to unload it all at Salvation Army later that day. I was super proud of myself until I came back home and realized I should probably throw out another 5 bags of stuff. It's crazy how much junk you can accumulate in a family of 6.

Friday Penny and I worked on her ABC's in the morning. We've only been working on A-F and she did pretty good at identifying the capitals but she really struggled with the lowercase letters. I am hoping I can continue to make time to work on this stuff with Penny so that she has somewhat of a foundation when she starts Kinder next year. My only problem is that I am usually good at making time for this at first but then life gets busy and teaching Penny usually becomes the first thing to go. 

At noon time I got a cavity filled with Penny tagging along and since she did so good and since I felt like I have neglected her a lot lately we had a fun date at the mall afterwards. She got to pick out some fun headbands and hairbows for her and Lucy at Claires, we smelled candles at Bath and Body Works (and I got to watch her wrinkle her nose at like every smell), we rode elevators and escalators, got a yummy pretzel and played in the play area. We had so much fun and I wish we were able to do things like that more often.

Today Target had another event, adopt a pup for your doll (for free!). Since the girls both have "Our Generation" dolls, I thought they would love this but I was worried it might be crazy. I was so wrong. There was only one family in front of us and I maybe saw a couple other ones come later while we were looking at toys. The boys tagged along and were excited when the lady said they could have one too (they thought they had to have an "our generation" doll to get a puppy). EVeryone came home with their own puppy so it was an exciting day for them!

Labor Day Weekend

So it was kind of a strange first week of school since they only went Tuesday through Thursday and then they had Friday through Monday off for the Labor Day holiday. We had a great Labor Day Holiday though because Tyler's parents came to visit us. 

Friday was a pretty lazy day and then that evening Tyler's parents arrived and we enjoyed eating pizza and chatting about life with them. They also decided we had to go out for ice cream that night and gifted each of the kids a little toy which totally made their day.

On Saturday we headed to Tawas as soon as we were all up and ready. Our plan was to see the lighthouse there, play at the beach and maybe do some nature walks. The first part of our plan went well. We were able to do a tour of the lighthouse which I had thought we had done last time we saw this lighthouse but apparently we hadn't. It was neat to see the living quarters and go up to the top of the tower. I would love to live in a lighthouse someday- just not an active one because we learned from the tour how much work that is. Steven did not make it to the top of the tower- he got freaked out and made his Poppy go down with him. He has some real issues with heights. 

While we were visiting the tower their was also this author there signing and selling books. They had a contest to win one of their books and Steven ended up winning it- his book came in the mail yesterday. He always seems to win contests! However, I think there were a very limited amount of people that had entered. The books were well written but the pictures- not so well done.

After the lighthouse tour we went to the beach and had about 30 minutes of fun beach time before the weather turned uncooperative and started raining on us. They really squeezed in a lot of fun for that small period of time. Especially Lucy who continues to be brave and charge at waves.

Since it was raining, no nature walks were going to happen so we headed into town and let Tyler's mom do a little bit of tourist shopping before going back home. Once home we stopped by Dickey's BBQ where we chowed down and watched video clips of people doing awesome things and stupid things. I think the kids (and the husbands) could have stayed there all night watching the videos but I finally peeled them away from the TVs so we could get to bed at a decent hour.

After our busy Saturday we let Sunday be a proper day of rest. We went to church in the morning and did a whole lot of nothing until after dinner time. This was good because Poppy Hatch was not feeling well (he had a cold) so he needed some R&R. After dinner, which Tyler's mom graciously made, we went to Proud Lake to go on a nature walk. This really seemed to make Grams Hatch's day. She really loves getting out in nature. It was a warm day but the path was so covered in shade from trees that it didn't seem too warm and it was a really nice outing.

Funny story from Sunday. Lucy was getting worried about rain for the billionth time because it is still giving her anxiety and so Penny said to her, "Why you not like rain? Rain not lightening. Rain not thunder." Penny's getting it- I wish Lucy would too! Also from Sunday I asked Lucy who gave her such blue eyes since I don't have blue eyes. Her response, "Jesus!" Good answer :)

On Monday, Leslie and I got up before everyone and went kayaking at Kensington. It was perfect timing. There was hardly anyone there, the weather hadn't warmed up yet and the sun was just rising. We had a good time paddling around- even if we kept bumping into each other's kayaks- and we spotted an eagle, a swan and her family and even stopped on a little island and took a little walk. I enjoy spending one on one time with Tyler's mom. It's when we do the best talking.

After we got back from kayaking we went back home and grabbed everyone else and went out to breakfast. It was yummy and fun to spend time together. Poppy did some good bribery to get the boys to behave. He told them he would give them a quarter if they sat quietly and still for 5 minutes. They both earned their quarters :)

When we were done with breakfast we decided to go check out this fireworks shop nearby because Poppy Hatch is obsessed with fireworks. Unfortunately the shop was closed for the season so we decided we would drive to Frankenmuth to see the world's largest Christmas store (Bronner's)and maybe we would pass a random firework place on the way. Well we didn't pass a fireworks place on the way but I feel like Frankenmuth was a hit with Tyler's mom. She had fun shopping at the Christmas store and afterwards at the Cheese Haus. She bought this jalapeno cheese there that was to die for. I feel like I need to go back and buy me some there too. We also stopped at a fudge shop and I got myself some taffy. I'm not sure why fudge shops always sell taffy but I'm not complaining. On our way back to the car we got to listen to some live jazz music and watch an older couple swing dance to it. Poppy really seemed to enjoy the music. It was a good day in Frankenmuth.

 

On our way back from all the fun we went a different way and did run into a fireworks store. It was closed but had a sign with a phone number that said they could be there in 5 minutes. They also had this creepy two headed doll in the window that terrified the kids BUT Tyler called the number and had success. Him and his dad bought lots of fireworks while I waited in the car hoping they wouldn't be murdered in this run down looking shop with the creepy doll in the window.

When at last we were back home we had hamburgers and hot dogs and then a huge thunder and lightening storm hit. It started off pretty mild and then Poppy Hatch said something to the effect that Michigan can do better than this. You should never taunt mother nature. Shortly after we had some house shaking thunder and it came on and off for awhile. Grams and Poppy Hatch really enjoyed sitting on our deck under the overhang watching it come down. 

When at last the storm died down and the rain stopped the kids got to have fun with the fireworks. Their favorites were the Roman Candles and the red fire bombs. We had some whistle ones and chicken shaped ones that were kind of duds. They also enjoyed throwing the snap ones and holding the sparklers. It was the perfect way to end a fun day and spend our last moments with Tyler's parents. They went to bed shortly after that and left our house around 2am. His crazy mom had to get back in time to work that Tuesday. We are grateful for the sacrifices they made to spend time with us.

On Tuesday the kids headed back to school and I was excited to get back into the normal routine of life but thanks to Poppy's storm the servers were down at the schools. They ended up cancelling school Wednesday because the servers controlled the ac and it was supposed to be in the 90's that day. They decided it would be too hot for school. We don't even have school cancelled for hot days in AZ! It turned out ok though. We took that day off and spent over 4 hours at the beach with friends. The kids had a blast and Lucy got a good sunburn as a souvenir. A friend brought us her daughter's old dance clothes later that day so I was able to document the sunburn when Lucy and Penny tried on the fun clothes.