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.
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