School Starts

Sunday was my first time hanging with the Young Women. It just so happened to be a lesson on chastity too- super fun. Actually the YW who gave the lesson did an amazing job and I was really impressed at her teaching skills. Unfortunately I was little less impressed by some of the grown ups comments and contributions to the lesson. I can tell I am going to struggle a little bit with the other leaders. One is a very happy rebel and also seemed to be trying to "be cool." She brought up her steady boyfriend and how the fact that she didn't want to marry him kept her chaste. She also brought up Jello shots. For reals. The other leader kept harping on "purity" but forgot to mention that the atonement can help us to be pure. I felt a little bit like the middle road. We'll see how things go when the new YW's president gets back from her trip. I think she'll be a good mediator too.

Monday was the last day of summer vacation for the oldest 3. In the morning we lent our oven to a friend so she could make cinnamon rolls (she had had a fire in her oven but thankfully had an extinguisher nearby). The perk of lending the oven was that we got some super yummy cinnamon rolls. It also meant that my friend could watch the other kids while I took Steven back to the Middle School for one more practice with his locker. He still had it figured out!

After they were done using our oven we went with them to the park in Milford (Steven got dropped off for an end of summer party with his friend Gavin). It was a perfect day for the park and the kids enjoyed getting outside and playing. We had to cut our fun short though because all the kids had a dentist appointment that afternoon. I picked Steven back up from the party on our way, only to find out that he had stayed inside playing video games while all his other friends were having a Nerf war, so lame. I worry about his need to play video games constantly.

The dentist appointment went amazingly well- no cavities for any of them. Shocking. But it ran kind of late so we had to rush from there to Meet the Teacher at Commerce Elem. I hate how crowded and peopley those things are- parking is always a mess. But the kids teachers all seemed nice enough and I am hoping it'll be a good year for them. Even though Penny will not be going to Commerce, she wanted in on the picture.

Tuesday was the older 3 kid's first day of school (Penny does not start until next week). The morning went nice and smoothly and I think the school day went smoothly for everyone. Steven's only middle school hiccup was that he accidentally threw away his schedule at lunchtime. Thankfully a lunch attendant saw him searching for it and sent him to the office to print off a new one- no big deal. He is still excited about middle school and is really loving his electives- World Language and Band- and I hope that excitement lasts and doesn't fade as soon as he starts getting homework. We also are hoping he can do Cross Country but unfortunately there still is not a coach for it so it might not happen :(

While all the big kids were in school I did a major cleaning of the house and then Penny and I took a bike ride to the park. She does alright on her bike except when she hits the dirt path and then she needs lots of little pushes to keep her going. While at the park we also got to see the new park they have been building next to it. It's an all inclusive playground that is made so that kids with disabilities can enjoy it as well. It looks pretty amazing and we can't wait for it to finally open.

On Wednesday, my friend Corinne took us to Arby's for a lunch date as a late birthday gift. Since we have been doing our Arby's date there has always been this strange, awkward cashier but he was no longer there. And unfortunately this new cashier was having a lot of troubles, it took forever to order. Also some how we ended up with double everything. Extra kids meal and sandwiches- she told us just to keep it all so that was a fun surprise. When Penny and her friend Lucie started getting too wiggly we took them to a park and enjoyed some nice weather and chats. 

Later that afternoon Penny had her Meet the Teacher. She has the same teacher that Lucy had in Jr Kinder so I think she's pretty happy about that. She also discovered Shopkins and Hatchimals in the classroom so she's pretty excited about that as well. I was happy to learn that there will only be 14 kids in Penny's class. That is way smaller than Lucy's class had been and that makes me happier about choosing Jr Kinder. I think it'll be worth the commute just for her to have a smaller class size.

Wednesday night I went to my first YW's activity. The girls went with me and the boys went to Tyler's scout activity. The girls did really well and the activity itself went smoothly. It was a get to know you activity and involved guessing whose baby picture was whose and playing the game "never have I ever." It was nice getting to know some of the girls a little better.

Thursday I had started my period and was feeling kind of miserable and down about it all but we had planned to go to the zoo with a friend so we went. Penny was really griping about walking and I was wishing we hadn't gone but then she decided she wanted to see the butterflies again and suddenly the walking did not bother her so much. She can be so challenging. At one point I accidentally left my phone in a bathroom stall. Thankfully I realized it wasn't in my pocket shortly after I left and thankfully it was still there when I went back.

There was no school on Friday and it was a nice break from what felt like a long week. I had my annual check up at the Doctor's that morning and Steven babysat so I didn't have to bring everyone. My blood work all came out normal and I am no longer pre-diabetic. Maybe it was just that one fruit loop I ate accidentally when I was supposed to be fasting the last time? After I got back from that I watched Caroline's 3 oldest kids because her youngest was getting ear tubes. After lunch we went down to beach and met some friends. It was a nice beach day- a little chilly but always fun to be with friends. Lucy got a hold of my phone at one point and her and little Lucie had some fun taking pictures.

And a couple Penny funnies 
1)When she saw someone smoking she said "They must not love Jesus." I had to do some explaining after that comment.
2) When we were at the beach she needed to pee and someone was already in the porta potty. I partially jokingly said to her to just go in the lake. She responds, "I already did that twice!"

Penny Turns 5

So Saturday night I received a new calling. I am now the Laurel Adviser. I have been in primary FOREVER so this is way out of my comfort zone but I'm hoping I won't be too awkward and weird to work with these girls. I'll go to my first yw's activity this Wednesday so we'll see how it goes.  Everyone keeps telling me I'll be great but...I think they're all just trying to boost my confidence. 

Monday I took Steven to go get a Physical at a Minute Clinic.  I had tried to get him in at a nearby doctor's but the wait time was too long. I'm hoping that he'll be able to join Cross Country this fall so these was reason for the physical. I still haven't heard much info on cross country yet but that's probably because they haven't found a coach for it. I'm super hoping they don't cancel it- I think it would be good for Steven. 

Anyways the girls came with us to the Physical (Ben was at a friend's house) and it went smoothly. Me and the doctor exchanged life stories during the appt- I'm getting more and more like my dad- and I felt like she was someone I could be friends with. I think I had her as our doctor when we'd been there before for an ear infection. At one point Penny told me to stop laughing- apparently doctor appointments shouldn't be fun.  At the end Steven declared that he passed his physical- so proud ;)

Monday night I was pooped from life so we went to Chili's for dinner.  It is always nice to not have to cook and do dishes. The kids also inhaled two rounds of chips and salsa. 

Tuesday was Penny's fifth birthday!  She loves the color pink, cats, smoothies and playing with her sister (and her older brothers' friends 😬). She also loves all the things and wants every toy she sees. She still refuses to eat sliced bread (but loves garlic bread and banana bread 🤷‍♀️). She can be so ridiculously stubborn but she really gives the best hugs and kisses and I'm going to miss my little buddy when she starts school this fall.

The first thing she did after getting up on her birthday was open her presents. She got a Lego set and sword from her Hatch grandparents. From her Brady grandparents she got a train bank and planes. From us she got a breakfast playset and a Pretty Pretty Princess game. 

After breakfast I had to take a pause from celebrating Penny and go to the open house for Steven's Middle School. Tyler had stayed home to watch the other kids so they didn't have to tag along. It started out real smoothly- no lines as we got his schedule, picture, ID card and book. Unfortunately when it came time to try and open his locker, things got real stressful. The combination didn't work and we had to find someone to come and reset it. But then it still was finicky about working. Steven got really frustrated and whined that he wanted to be home schooled because he couldn't figure it out 🙄 Things got pretty tense so we ended up leaving and taking a break from it.

After a big talk/lecture about not being a quitter from Tyler and me we went back and tried it again. Tyler recommended doing an extra spin to reset the lock and that worked! When Steven spun it around 3 times in the beginning, then it opened easily. We were able to leave with him feeling much more confident about his locker. 

After that Middle School drama it was back to celebrating Penny. She wanted to see "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" so we obliged. It was a really fun movie- I enjoyed the jabs at the cartoon from my younger life and the kids liked the action and silly moments. 

Before her party started I got some good pictures of her with her cake. She was actually the one who had found the Hello Kitty Cake Pan at Goodwill but she had found it after her birthday so Lucy had gotten to use it first. Lucy's had a purple bow but Penny wanted a pink bow for hers. Also, I am learning that Penny really likes cat things- this is her second cat themed birthday cake.

At dinner time we had her fifth birthday party at our beach with some of her friends- Eliza, Lucie, Peter, Jesse, Graham and Reed. The weather forecast had been flip flopping back and forth between rain and no rain and really stressing me out but as the party approached it had settled on only a 15% chance. I thought we were golden and it started out well. The kids arrived and we were having fun but our first hiccup came 20 minutes in when Tyler called to say that after he got the pizza his truck wouldn't start and he needed me to pick him up. So some friends held down the fort while I picked Tyler and the pizza up. As we were driving back the sky started to cloud over and after we had ate pizza and served cake, a storm was definitely approaching. We ended up rushing through the presents and calling it quits on the party. I was bummed to have to call it quits early and rush everyone out. 

I had one friend that had arrived an hour late and my bleeding heart felt bad just sending her home a short while later so I invited her and one other friend back to my house (even though I was super exhausted). I had some backup games planned at my house (in case of rain) so we played them. We colored a bow and pinned it on Hello Kitty (Penny's didn't even make it on the poster board). Then we fed the cat fish (they had to balance goldfish on a spoon and feed it to a friend). And their last task was throwing stuffed cats into their sand buckets- I was trying to get creative here. They kids had fun and then ran off and played with all the new things. I think overall Penny had a good time, even if I found it all super stressful.

On Wednesday we had a relaxing morning and then spent the afternoon at the beach with my friend Stacey and her kids. It is really nice how well my kids get along with hers.

On Thursday I watched my friend's daughter, Piper. It was funny to overhear her conversation with my boys about crazy cousins and uncles and such family matters- they kept trying to one up each other (well my cousin kept trying to run me over with her quad...). After lunch we went to the Detroit Zoo. I had promised Penny she could see the butterflies so we did those first. Then it was on to the birds and penguins. 

Afterwards the May family arrived so we met them by the fountain. At this point my kids + Piper were already complaining about being exhausted and ready to go home. I really hate the layout of that zoo because with the long walk from the one side to the other is very conducive to whining. But we still had a neat experience seeing the Polar Bears swimming about and we walked on the red panda bridge (where we actually saw a red panda in the trees) and we visited the reptilian house (and saw a snake with 'x' eyes).

Friday I attempted to run an errand to get some school supplies for Steven with all the kids. It was not so fun. Walmart was so cleared out and the boys were being so annoying (he touched me, he looked at me weird) it was frustrating. I hate that my older kids tend to be my hardest. Then that afternoon we had a lot of church friends over at our beach for a last hurrah. It was a little chilly at times when the clouds would cover the sun but the kids didn't seem to mind. They played in the water still and built many sandcastles. We ended up staying at the beach for 4 hours because everyone was so well entertained. This beach has definitely been a good benefit of this house.

Saturday we had two end of summer parties to attend. The first was thrown by the Primary. It had food, chalk to decorate the parking lot with, a "car wash" for kids to go through, squirt guns with paint to make pictures with, and boats to float in rain gutters. It was good fun. I left my phone at home so no documentation by me.

Our second party was thrown by my friend's Virginia and Ranell. They were super organized and I was real impressed- the had the kids divided in groups and then they rotated stations. They did a craft, did some science, had a sport's class and went on a giant slip and slide. At the end they all got to launch a rocket and have some yummy root beer floats. It was a lot of fun for the kids and I exhausted my own arms holding a baby  for a friend (babies always show me how weak I really am).

Lost, Flat Tires and Cub Scout Camp

On Sunday I decided we should take Grams out on a walk. It was nice weather and she loves walks so it felt like a good thing to do. We decided to do the little trail by our house (it's just on the other side of Commerce). It was going pretty well until we started walking back. Steven and Penny decided to go down a parallel trail that met back up with ours and should have been fine. The only problem is the rest of us got off on the wrong trail so we did not meet back up with them. It took us awhile to figure out that we had gotten on the wrong trail and then even longer to find Steven and Penny. It really got us all nervous- even Ben got emotional. When we got back on the trail we were supposed to be on, I ended up running down it shouting for Steven. Meanwhile Tyler went the opposite direction, just in case they had gotten worried and started looking for us. I found Steven and Penny at the end of the trail, patiently waiting for us. It was such a relief. Steven was so confused  by all the fuss, he kept telling me "I told you I knew the right way." Well clearly he did but we sure didn't. It was quite the adventure and I would rather not repeat it.

Monday was Grams last day with us and I feel bad because it was not an exciting day for her. While she packed her suitcases, I cleaned house. While she checked in for her flight, I picked up groceries...We did go out for ice cream after dinner though because she knew Poppy would insist if he was here. We all chinked our ice cream cups together for Poppy. He is the King of Ice Cream and all things sweet.

Tuesday Ben had his first day of Cub Scout Day Camp. My friend Caroline was a leader at the camps so she took Ben there and back and I watched her youngest, Elizabeth. This meant that I didn't discover that I had a flat tire until I hopped in the car to take my mom to the airport. I had already loaded up the suitcases and all the kids when I turned on the car and saw that my tire pressure was 1 and when I went out to look, sure enough, completely flat. This was really stressful as I tried to think of who could bail us out quickly. Tyler didn't answer his phone and plus he was kind of far to get us there on time. So next I called friends who lived nearby. I called Corinne and she didn't answer but Melissa did. Melissa was the one who forgot to pick up for the airport when we left to AZ but ironically she was the one to save us from our flat tire problem and get us there. Miraculously we only got to the airport 15 minutes later than my mom had hoped to get there. So thankfully she made her flight, despite the obstacles. 

Wednesday was Day 2 of Cub Scout Camp and babysitting Elizabeth. Day 1 with Elizabeth had been easy because we were driving to the airport and then she took a nap. Day 2 was more of a struggle. In the morning she spent quite a bit of time in our time out chair because she kept hitting my girls. She was super naughty. Then in the afternoon I met up with Stacey and her kids at our beach. We also had Steven's friend Max come to the beach with us. Before Stacey got to the beach Elizabeth was really stressing me out. She would dive head on into the water and then float off farther than I was comfortable with. I was constantly dragging her back. When Stacey finally came her older daughter Marin really helped me out with watching Elizabeth. I was so grateful for that. That meant I got to sit and chat with Stacey. I struggle a bit with Stacey- we are so different and sometimes it's hard to find common ground and sometimes I feel a bit judged by her. But we can end up having some really nice chats too- it's a mixed bag. My other struggle at the beach was Max and Steven. They kept complaining that they were bored and wanted to go back to our house. After their complaints they would always end up finding something fun to do but it was frustrating that they would keep complaining anyways. 

Thursday was the last day of camp and my last day babysitting. I had a dentist appt at noon and I had previously planned on having Steven just watch Elizabeth and the girls but I realized that she was probably more than he could handle. Melissa ended up rescuing me again and I had her watch Elizabeth and my girls while I went to the dentist- Steven came with me. This was my first every dentist appt where I got complimented and told I had good dental hygiene- ususally they tell me I need to floss which annoys me because I do! So I enjoyed the compliments- hopefully they weren't just because she was a newbie and she didn't know any better. Afterwards I ran to Target with Steven and we picked out some middle school supplies- he chose a 5 subject notebook which took me back to my school days. Then I went back to Melissa's and chatted with her for awhile before I headed back home with all the kids.

Here are some pictures from Ben's Cub Scout Camp. His BF friend Andrea is in Scouts so they got lots of bonding time.

That night I was going to go to Enrichment because Caroline really wanted me to but Tyler now has Bishopric meetings on Thursday nights so I couldn't go (since he's the secretary). I don't mind the Sunday meetings but I am not happy about these Thursday night meetings. Now he's going to be gone 2 nights a week as if he's not already busy enough as it is. That's going to make it harder for me to get out during the week or harder if we get the kids involved in any sports. I wish I could be more selfless and feel happy that he is able to serve but I really struggle with that.

Friday morning I took the girls to get haircuts. Lucy likes her hair short because she hates getting it combed. Penny is trying to have Rapunzel hair so she just got a trim.

Then that afternoon I went to Kohl's and tried to pick out some shirts for Steven since he has decided that Minecraft shirts might not be cool enough for Middle School and Minecraft shirts make up 95% of his current wardrobe. However he didn't want to go shopping with me so I was own my own to figure out what might be cool enough. He makes me so crazy.

Friday night we went to the Ormond's backyard for an ice cream and movie party. The kids had a blast and I checked out their beehive even though I am really not a fan of bees. It's cool but I would never want one of my one because, bees. This was the first time we were actually able to stay for the whole movie- my kids are growing up.

Birthday Adventures

Monday started off with boring things such as house cleaning and grocery shopping but that night I had an early birthday celebration with my friends that was a lot of fun. At first I was nervous about it because my friend that was hosting took it upon herself to add a handful of people to the guest list that I wasn't super good friends with and I had really wanted to keep the party small and with close friends- I do better in little groups. But out of those extras only one came and so it turned out fine in the end. The friends that came were: Chalsea, Corinne, Caroline, Melissa, Bethany and Amy D. There was so much good food- stawberry shortcake, mini bundt cakes from my fav place, a banana cream pie... And we ended up staying up until 12:30am finishing a puzzle. We all got a little loopy as it got later and I laughed so hard that I was in tears several times. It was honestly my best birthday bash with friends in a long time. 

Tuesday was a rainy day which spoiled our plans a little. Grams had orange cranberry muffins to pick up from the Milford Bakery at 3pm so we had thought we could go to Kensington early afternoon and hike around there until it was time to get the muffins but with the rain, a hike was not going to work. Instead we decided to go to the indoor playground, The Commons, since the Bakery was also on the way home from that. The kids were happy with the change of plans and had a lot of fun until the end. They enjoyed going up and down the big slide over and over and they also enjoyed the soccer field. I personally didn't enjoy the soccer field too much but that was because Ben wanted me to kick a ball to him and Penny wanted me to throw a ball to her and it was quite challenging to do both things at the same time. Near the end the kids all got "bored" (their favorite word) and wanted to go home but we still had another half hour before we could get the muffins so I started making them run laps around the field. Sort of helped with the boredom and really tuckered them out.

When it was finally time to pick up the muffins we headed out. Grams spoiled them all by buying them each a cookie at the Bakery since they aren't fans of the muffins. Ben and Steven got shark ones, Lucy got an emoji with heart eyes and Penny got a butterfly. We did our best to find a dry bench and enjoyed them outside, we only got a bit sprinkled on by the rain. The kids also insisted on taking money out of the nearby water fountain and throwing it back in- they are pretty embarrassing.

Wednesday the rain had gone away and since Grams really wanted to go for a walk at Kensignton, we obliged. It really was a beautiful day for a walk and apparently the Sandhill Cranes there felt the same way. We had one that insisted on following us for a bit and Lucy did not appreciate it, it really freaked her out. I finally gave it a talking to and told it that it needed to stay by a bench and take a break and it surprisingly stopped following us. Was it a funny coincidence or did it actually understand me...??

On the walk my kids were destructive and snapped off their own "corn dogs" (also known as cattails). They are super obsessed with them. The girls also collected some acorns and left them on a tree stump for the chipmunks to get.

Thursday was my birthday and since I typically get moody and depressed on my birthday I decided that Grams and I needed to go on a little get away to distract me. Steven and Ben gave me a lot of grief about going because they are always so worried about missing their screen time. It was really frustrating and upsetting but eventually we got out the door. Ben's attitude improved as we hit all our adventures but Steven still did a lot of grumbling.

Our first stop was in Cass City, Michigan at the Sanilac Petroglyphs. It was in the middle of nowhere but it ended up being a really interesting stop- we learned about the meaning of 3 of the glyphs. There was the underwater panther (who makes rain), the thunder bird (who obviously makes thunder and is apparently the panther's rival) and then we learned about the man with the arrow that shoots knowledge. Afterwards we took a very short walk around the park- it was super green and leafy and pretty- and super buggy! The bug spray kept us from getting eaten alive thankfully and we ended up seeing a really neat tree that was apparently super old.

After the petroglyphs we went to see the Port Sanilac lighthouse. This one is privately owned and is literally my dream house. I am jealous of the owner although I wonder how much they love random people like me taking pictures of their home.

After taking my pics of the lighthouse we tried to figure out lunch. I had packed food for myself and the kids but Grams had planned on buying food and there was nothing around. We ended up seeing a sub shop and quickly pulling in so she could get something. She was gone in there a long while ordering so I pulled out our food and we all ate in the car while we waited. 

After we all had our lunch we went to Lexington State Harbor and the kids got some beach time. Ben enjoyed making a sand castle, Lucy loved scaring me by venturing far in the deep water, Penny was my rock collector and Steven just kind of chilled in the water. I love the beach and was happy to just sit and watch all my crazy kids have a good time. Grams, on the other hand, is not a fan of sitting in the sun so she was in the car for a bit and then she sat in a nearby park in the shade.

Our last stop was the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. I think that was the first ever lighthouse that we saw and the one that started my addiction. We took the tour so we could go up in it- Grams was not impressed by the tour but I thought we learned a few cool things. Penny, Lucy and Ben had no problems climbing to the top but Steven did not make it. His fear of heights has really grown and he got so close to the top but then really freaked out and ended up going back down with Grams. I sort of wish I had too. We went to the top which was fun for a minute or two but we were the first ones out so we had to wait for everyone else to get up there and have their moment. After awhile standing up there got real nerve racking- especially when Benny and Penny decided to push each other. I thought we were all going to die.

After the lighthouse we went back home and Tyler had picked up some dinner from Tropical Smoothie Cafe for the grownups and he made hot dog mac for the kids. Then I had a delicious strawberry covered birthday cake and opened gifts. I got 2 Home Depot gift cards from my parents (I've got so many home projects on my list) and a set of pots from Tyler. It was a real nice 34th birthday.  

Friday we went to Milford Memories. We got there early so parking wasn't too awful and played at the playground until all the booths opened. Then we walked down the street, checking out all the things. Our friends that live in an apt above the shops saw us out the window and came and joined us. We had a funny moment when we saw their youngest in just a diaper dancing in the window. We also had a funny moment when there was some awkward art (of a butt) and Ben declared he wanted that for our bathroom. That kid. After we finished seeing all the fun things for sale, we went to the Kids Tent so all the kids could do some crafts and games. Then I picked up some pretzels and we went back to the playground where they played for a long time. I saw  several people at Milford Memories, Ben's kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Hess) I saw my neighbor from Milford (Sarah) and we also saw Steven's friends (Max and Gavin). Steven ended up going off with his friends so that was fun for him. Overall it was a really good time and I even turned in to my dad and start chatting with the strangers that now live in Stefanie's old house. Gosh I miss Milford!

Saturday my mom and I went out for breakfast and I had some amazing crepes, that were basically dessert. Then we did some shopping and now we are just recuperating from a long and really fun week.