Carving Pumpkins and Ward Trunk or Treat

Sunday was another long day with meetings before and after church. But the highlight was the Primary Program. The kids all do good saying their parts. Good old Ben said his real fast and turned red- in my opinion it was real cute. Penny was up in front and it was fun to see her very expression filled face as she sang each song. Steven got to ring hand bells during one of the songs and he did real good. Lucy read some extra parts and was real proud of herself for being so extra. My favorite song they sang was "Gethsemane"- got me teary eyed. It was nice that for the first time in a loooong time I was able to just be a spectator and watch the program- I had no involvement whatsoever.

Steven had his last cross country meet on Monday and it was cold and rainy and super miserable. He was probably less whiny about it than me. He ended up running a 7 minute and 55 second mile- not his best but still way faster than I have ever run. He said he had some snags with muddy puddles and someone slipping in front of him so I think with that in mind he did pretty good with his time.

The only pics I got were of him standing in the rain with his buddies before it started.

Monday night Tyler came back from his drive across the country safe and sound and now we have a third, more reliable car. I am so grateful for that.

Tuesday I did my usual volunteering for the kids school library. The lady who is usually in there with me was gone but somehow I still got things done in the same amount of time. I was real proud of myself but I kind of think there were probably just less books than there usually are. Afterwards I ran some errands to get some stuff for all the various things that were coming up in my life- Halloween, Trunk-or-Treat, Lucy's Birthday. Then I spent the rest of my afternoon gluing pipe cleaners to a green shirt so I would have a super amazing cactus costume.

Tuesday night I went to Milford and went for a walk with Stefanie. With Fall here and the nights getting dark we had a couple creepy moments- one where we were so focused on some Halloween decorations that we did not notice the man coming in our direction until he was right by us. Another where I heard some rustling in a tall bush I was walking by and I pretty much jumped behind Stefanie. I am such a chicken. We laughed pretty good about those moments and it was really just a fun walk with her.

Wednesday Ben had a dr's appointment around lunchtime. I was disappointed that the dr didn't have any original advice about him wetting the bed- she didn't seem concerned. I am concerned and so frustrated that he has regressed so much. He didn't freak out too bad when he got his finger pricked and his flu shot but he did whimper with the finger prick and boy were the tears streaming down his face. Afterwards I took him to lunch at Wendy's and that seemed to make things better. One of the perks of having all the kids at school is that I can turn appointments into dates. It was real fun to just hang and chat with him at Wendy's. 

Wednesday night for our Youth Activity we carved pumpkins. It was real small turn out with only 4 girls there. We had some sick and lots who are busy with extracurricular activities. I think trying to get more girls to Wednesday night activities is always going to be a source of frustration. During the activity I snapped a little when I felt a girl was trying to weasel out of her responsibility and a leader jumped in trying to take over. This became a source of so much drama later in the week.

Thursday Ben had another appointment- this time the orthodontist. He got his expander off and they fixed his broken bracket. No lunch for him this time but instead I met Tyler for lunch after dropping Ben back off at school. Another perk of having all the kids in school.

Thursday after dinner the kids carved pumpkins- after seeing all my Youth do it Wednesday night they really wanted to do it too. I bought dollar store scoops and carvers and they seriously were amazing. They made scooping so much easier and the kids were actually able to carve themselves.

Thursday night I had a meeting with my Presidency and while mostly it was fine there was that moment where my snapping Wednesday night made for some drama. The leader that I had snapped at to not take over for the girl expressed to me that I really hurt her feelings and then started to cry. I apologized for hurting her feelings but it was real uncomfortable. I know her intentions were good but I feel strongly that the girls need to learn how to ask for help and not just expect us to take over.

Friday I subbed and it was a real rough class and on top of that I had more church drama. First I had one of the moms of my yw call while my class was at music. She told me that rain was expected during trunk or treat and she tried to advice me on how to handle that- I already had that under control. Then she told me how she heard there weren't very many yw at the last activity and she told me not to take that personally. Well I hadn't been. Then she proceeded to tell me things I already knew about why girls hadn't been there. After that I had someone who was supposed to make a game for the trunk or treat act really confused when I checked in on her. Apparently she thought we were going to already have the game, even though I had text her and told her she needed to create the game. And that wasn't it for the fun. Then the girl from Wednesday night who had tried to weasel out of an activity miscommunicated some things and that led for some real frustrating texts with her dad (who is also the Bishop). The text conversation ended with me feeling like he is not quite on the same page as me with how this new Youth Program should look. He thinks the burden of the kids responsibilities will fall on parents. I disagree with that strongly. In a nutshell it was a real frustrating day.

That evening I brought Tyler and the kids with me to go watch one of my YW cheer at a football game. It was cold but at least it wasn't rainy. And I was squished in the middle of everyone and had a blanket so I stayed pretty warm. It was fun to watch her cheer and chat with her mom and everyone else seemed to enjoy watching to football game- even though the team we were cheering on got crushed.

Saturday was busy with getting ready for the trunk or treat and in the midst of it a friend asked me to move furniture. I was overwhelmed with life but remembered the lesson I had just taught my yw about serving when you are busy so I helped her. I was glad I did. I had a good vent about the church drama and everything that I needed to get done that day still got done, with time to spare. Tender mercy.

The Ward Halloween Party went pretty smoothly. I was a stress cadet but that is just my persona. There was more then enough food. The games got played and stayed in order and didn't seem chaotic like they often do. The Bishop was adamant there was a costume parade and as stressful as it was to get all the kids together it turned out well. Then prizes for chili and costumes were handed out (Steven won scariest costume with his cereal killer costume). After that the kids went trick-or-treating in the halls (thanks to the never ending rain we were stuck indoors). Overall it went well and I am so happy it's all done.

Things

I went to download pictures for this week and realized I hadn't taken any. It's just been one of those weeks that's been busy but nothing to cute and fun to document. On Sunday I had my first experience with meetings before and after church and the kids getting to come along for the ride. It was such a long day and the kids do alright all things considered but I am not sure how I am going to do this week after week.  

On Monday I had my first experience visiting an investigator with the missionaries. Is it sad that I have been a member of this church since birth and this was my first time doing that (at least the I can remember)? It was a really good experience. Her name is Ashley, she is 25, she lives just across the road from me and she is married and has a step daughter that she watches on the weekends. She seems genuinely interested in the church and has been reading the Book of Mormon. When we visited her again Thursday we learned that she had been sharing her feelings and things that she has been learning with her cousin and now her cousin is interested in getting a Book of Mormon too. It's been good for me to be there and have a chance to share my own feelings and thoughts- it helps strengthen my own testimony.

Tuesday I was able to volunteer in the library. I really love volunteering there because I leave feeling like I was productive- books were checked in and books were shelved. After the library I went to Lucy's class to help out. Her class is a little bit chaotic and I am not sure I did much help with writing but rather did more helping wrangle kids. It felt a lot like subbing and it wasn't my favorite. BUT I really do like getting in my kids classroom and seeing how their teachers teach and meeting their classmates.

Wednesday I was Penny's guest teacher again and I'm not I can keep doing that. Her class is fantastic and so easy with the aide there but Penny was a huge stinker to me. I was trying to talk to the class once and she pulled up a chair next to me and started distracting her friends. Then in the afternoon during rest time she kept bugging someone and didn't stop when I asked her to. And she spent the last hour of the day whining to me about how hungry she was and at one point she went into my bag and took my snack and started eating it. We had a big talk about all this but ugh.

Wednesday evening for mutual we helped set up for the winter clothing drive at our church. This was actually a pretty enjoyable activity for the most part. I got to sort boots by size and I really do like organizing. The only hitch was when the kids got in to a bit of flirting fest with one of the boys and started chucking boots at him and totally ruining my organization system. I had to pull out my teacher voice and explain to them why that was not ok. It is so weird being the grown up in charge at these things. Sometimes it feels like it wasn't that long ago that I was them. 

Thursday I kept busy sending a thousand texts for yw's and for organizing the Halloween party that's next weekend. I feel like I've been on my phone so much with my calling, I kind of hate it. But I did take a minute Thursday morning to cut 3 inches off my hair which is completely unnoticeable to everyone else but feels real good to me. I didn't realize how straggly my ends had gotten after more than a year of not cutting it. I also got an earful about the hair dresser's drama with her oldest child. I mean she divulged it ALL.

Thursday afternoon I went to a choir performance that one of my young women (Lauren) was in. It was early afternoon at a Jewish Temple and I was most definitely the youngest person there-I was surrounded by fluffs of white hair but that was kind of fun in itself. I love watching choir performances, I just love music and I was really impressed with Lauren. It is fun getting to see my yw share their talents.

Friday I subbed for a kindergarten class and it was a fairly easy day. The other teachers really do not like the teacher I was subbing for though- there was a lot of animosity expressed, sometimes a bit awkward. 

Saturday morning I woke up superbly early and took Tyler to the airport so he can fly to AZ and then drive his parents suburban back here for keeps. It will be so nice to have a vehicle that is much more reliable than his truck. After that early morning, the kids had Primary Program Practice. A few of my YW were their with siblings and I had some good chats with them. Talking with them I am realizing these kids need some guidance on how to teach lessons and I've got to figure out the best way to do this- whether we do classes on it, activities on it or pair them with a mentor? After the practice we ran a few errands, hit up the library and enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening. 

And here are ALL the school pictures. I feel likes it fun to see them all together. Can't believe how big they're all getting.

Longs Farm, Color Run, Field Trip with Penny

Monday, after a busy day of errands and cleaning, we went to Longs Farm as a family to get more of my beloved Fall donuts. I am of the opinion that Longs makes some of the best donuts. We ended up getting 2 dozen and I spent a better part of the week eating them.

On Tuesday I ended up skipping out on volunteering and instead I subbed for Penny's teacher, Mrs. Richter. It was one of the easiest jobs I've had in awhile. She only has 16 kids in her class and in the morning there is an aide that pretty much took charge- which I don't mind at all. She's got a couple stinkers in her class but overall it's a good bunch so a good day. In the afternoon we had the Color Run and that's was my first time going to a school Color Run (and my kids have had them for the last few years). I guess they just had to make me work to get me there. The kids basically just ran a bunch of laps and got color thrown at them and then afterwards blew bubbles and jumped rope. Penny seemed to have a lot of fun.

Wednesday the older 3 didn't have school but Penny did and I had a sub job for the morning. Tyler was nice and stayed home to watch the ones with no school while I subbed. When I got back I took the older ones on a bike ride to the library. On the ride I realized just how tall Ben and Lucy have gotten- they definitely need a new bike for Christmas. The weather was cool and it was good bike ride- even if Lucy was riding sooooo slowly. She can be such a pokey puppy.

Wednesday night for our youth activity, I taught the young women how to hand letter and do some fun fingerprint art. I was worried it was going to fall short in time or not peak the girl's interest but for the most part they all seemed to have a good time. It was fun sharing my hobby with them and it was fun seeing them enjoy it.

Thursday I delivered a girl's night basket (it had spa stuff and a Redbox giftcard) to a young woman who's mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. We thought this might help them to have some good bonding time together. The mom sent me a text that night telling me how grateful she was for the gesture. I am glad she liked it because I had been struggling about what we could do to show them we are thinking of them. I am so glad that I did good.

For lunch that day I picked up Tyler and we had Subway at Milford park again. I'm going to be sad when the weather gets to cold for our picnic lunches. There is something about sitting out in beautiful weather that makes the date all the sweeter. And a tender mercy was that a man was there to mow but saw a friend and got talking with him and didn't end up mowing until after we finished up our lunch. Much easier to chat without a running lawnmower. 

Thursday afternoon Steven had his third Cross Country Meet. Once again he was racing against a kid at church that I feel a bit competitive towards. Unfortunately he did not get even close to beating him this time. That kid totally left him in the dust. He got the same exact place as last time, 18th, only this time he was only racing against the boys (not the girls too) so I'm not sure if that means he did worse. I will be interested to see what his time was when they email them out. Last time he got 7 min 40 secs for a mile.

Thursday night I had a Stake Leadership Training Meeting. They talked a lot about how we are only to be mentors and be there as a help but from now on the girls are in charge of planning and carrying out Sundays and Wednesday night activities. The girls were already being assigned to take charge of activities so I don't feel like this is too much of a change and we were already discussing things along this line at our Presidency meeting so I'm not super worried about this. My Secretary just drove me a little crazy asking a question I had already given her an answer too while we were there *sigh*

Friday I was able to go with Penny on her class field trip to Mitchell's Farm in Holly. The bus ride was loooong and bumpy and I thought I was going to fall out of my seat at every turn but we survived. She insisted on sitting with her buddies so I sat on the seat across from her with another girl in our group. When we got there we got to "climb into a pumpkin" and then we went on a hayride to go pick pumpkins. Penny wasn't too picky about her pumpkin but one of the girls in my group insisted that she had to get a small one and she didn't want it to be dirty. It took her awhile to find the specific one she had in mind. Afterwards we watched them make kettle corn and ate lunch. The last thing they did was play! There was a room full of corn, a room with bouncy things, one with slides and then a fun play area outside. Penny's favorite thing was climbing on the giant, rolled hay bales outside. She could've climbed all day. Thankfully it was time to go, just before the rain started coming down.

Saturday morning I saw "Downton Abbey" with friend Stacie. It was a good movie minus the part where they had to have the gay butler go to an underground gay club- ugh. Even my friend felt like it was just thrown in and didn't mesh with the rest of the movie. Afterwards I got the tour Stacie's new house and then we had a good chat. We talked about lots of things, including prophets and missions. It's always nice to talk to people about our church, she seems mostly just curious but I don't mind the opportunity to share our beliefs. Then that afternoon/evening Steven and I went to watch one of my young women at her marching band competition. It was actually pretty fun to see a marching band competition in general and I think Steven enjoyed it. The only bummer was that it was FREEZING. We dropped from 60's to 40's and that was real rough. We had a blanket and I wasn't feeling too cold until we made the trek to the car. When I got in the car I was shivering so bad that Steven was worried I would be unable to drive. I was still able to drive and even took us to Wendy's for dinner. So it was a fun day overall, just not very productive. 

 

Spicer Orchard

Time is flying by! Sunday I got called and set apart as Young Women's President so now it's all official *gulp* I ended up with a pretty good group of counselors and advisers- although I still don't have a Mia Maid Adviser. People kept telling me congratulations and I kind of found that irking. I haven't done anything yet to warrant congratulations- condolences would have been more appropriate. 

On Monday Penny had school but the other kids were off for a Jewish Holiday (Walled Lake School District has a high Jewish population). It wasn't that big of a deal until it was time to take Penny to school and nobody wanted to come with her. That broke her heart. We ended up having Andrea and Peter over for the morning and that was nice. It kept the kids entertained and I was able to clean the house. After Penny was done with school we all went on our traditional visit to Spicer Orchard to pick apples and eat donuts. Pretty much the kids would have been fine to bypass the hayride and apple picking and just eaten donuts but I have really been enjoying eating fresh apples this week. They just taste better than the ones from the store.

That night Lucy's last front tooth was dangling by a thread and she finally submitted to having Tyler pull it. She wasn't too traumatized and she was extra excited to finally be able to sing "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth. I seriously love her new smile! I think she's the first of our kids to actually be missing both front teeth at the same time.

Tuesday I did my usual volunteering and then I had my annual check up at the obgyn. It was tough to go there and be surrounded by pregnant women and not be pregnant myself. In my plans for myself, I thought I would be one of those pregnant women by now. I had Dr. Herman (she was the one that delivered Penny) and honestly she was exactly who I needed. She didn't discount my crazy emotional feelings and she basically told me I need to calm down and be patient (sounds a lot like what I keep hearing from Heavenly Father. Ironically enough the song "Calm Down" by Taylor Swift was playing when I got in the car after my appointment. 

Funny/embarrassing story..Tuesday night I had my phone open to a group text to parents reminding them about mutual the next night. Unfortunately my girls got to my phone (not sure if purposefully or accidentally) and they sent 16 gifs of a cat filing it's nails and one of Judge Judy rolling her eyes. It was a real good beginning to my start as YW's president. I was so embarrassed.

Wednesday was my first day in a long time with no set plans. I did a good long work out, took my time getting ready for the day, ran a couple errands and binged watched some Netflix while getting things done around the house. It was a good day that went far too quickly. 

Steven had a cross country meet that afternoon and the weather was awful- 60's and raining. Luckily Tyler was able to make it so I skipped that one. This time he got 18th place so huge improvement. A friend that used to be in our ward, Dalin was racing against him and Dalin got 17th place. I am always a bit competitive when it comes to that family so I was a little annoyed that he missed beating him by seconds but like I said he improved for him so that was a bonus.

Wednesday night we had a Spa Night for mutual at my house. It was the first night with me being in charge and it was a bit awkward- I don't quite feel responsible enough to be the head honcho. I tried to interact with the girls and think of questions to ask them to help me get to know them. I did good mostly, but sometimes my mind blanked. My leaders on the other hand mostly socialized with each other and then one of them kept trying to turn the spa night into a planning meeting...ugh.

Thursday afternoon I had a sub job for someone at the boy's old school. She warned me that the sub that she had yesterday had left her a 2 page note about how awful her class was. I got a bit nervous but honestly, it wasn't so bad. It was an easy afternoon with lunch, computer time, recess, etc and the kids were a tad dramatic but I have had worse, ha ha! 

Friday I got called by the office at Commerce, telling me to pick Lucy up because her tummy hurt. Well by the end of the day- after she ate all her meals and never threw up and didn't have a fever- she finally admitted that she really wasn't sick, she just wanted to play hooky. It was frustrating and we had a long talk and hopefully she'll be more honest in the future.

I also had a YW Presidency meeting Friday and it was like 3 hours long, we had soooo much to cover. But I think it went well. Chalsea was actually more on board with me wanting to get the girls to plan and lead things then I expected. And it was actually my counselor that kept driving me a little nuts. She kept trying to complicate things and then I also found out she spent $45 on cheesecake for the Marriage Panel. What the What!? Anyways this will be a fun learning curve for all of us and we shall see how it goes.

Friday night my friend Caroline came over and we did a puzzle and had a real good chat. It had been a long exhausting week and it was good to vent it all to her. She is a real good friend. 

Saturday morning I got my new washing maching which is miraculous! It is so quiet and it doesn't jump around- I hope it continues to be a winner. After it was delivered we had breakfast with the YM and YW at the Bishop's house. Once again I tried to make conversation with the girls, super fun. All this socializing is really wearing me down. Then it was General Conference, where once again big changes were made- no more YM's Presidency. I almost thought I was a goner too which was a mix of emotions but no such luck. Tonight we'll find out what changes are in store for YW's. Hopefully they don't erase all our planning we did.

And here's Penny's cute Jr Kinder Picture: