Time is such a thief as it cruises by so quickly! On Tuesday I picked Penny up early from school so she could celebrate her friend, little Lucie's, birthday. Little Lucie is not in school yet and had requested to go bowling (in costumes) with Penny. And since Penny is in what I call fake Kindergarten, I allowed it. Even with bumpers Penny's bowling skills were not super but I think she enjoyed it- even wiggling her butt occasionally before tossing the bowling ball down the lane (and I do me tossing). Afterwards we went to Long's Farm for doughnuts and hot cocoa. It was ridiculously cold so they didn't last too long there (especially since Penny hadn't worn her coat). It was fun afternoon playing hooky for Penny.
Wednesday evening we had cancelled activities so me and Chalsea went to visit the mom of one of our young women. This mom had just got a mastectomy last week and found out that the cancer had spread and she will need chemotherapy. Chalsea was planning to visit her and I asked to tag along so I could get to know her better. It was a good idea. In visiting with her and getting to know her better, I feel like I can better serve the family as they go through this crummy time. Plus she is a really good lady and even though at times the conversation was tough and sad, I really enjoyed spending time with her.
Thursday was Halloween and for the first time in awhile, I was not in charge of a single class party! So what did I do!? I ditched all their class parties. Lucy and Ben's stuff was at the same time as Penny's and with them being at different schools I would miss someone's things either way. So rather then deciding who would get me and who wouldn't, I did't go to any. Instead I let Steven miss school since he didn't have any parties and we went and saw "The Addams Family." It was a really dumb movie but it was nice for us to have an outing and it helped alleviate some of the mom guilt I experienced for missing all the other things.
That afternoon Steven got to go to his friend Max's house because now he's all grown up and celebrating holidays with friends and not me :( I made him take pictures before he could go and he was not super happy about that. It was weird not having him around with trick or treating that night but I think he had fun with his friends- even if all he would tell us about that night was that his hands were cold. Such a complainer.
I got a few pictures of the rest of the kids before it started raining harder. I made Tyler take the kids out trick or treating in the lovely downpour that followed. However, Ben ditched Tyler and went trick or treating with his friend Jacob instead. It appears that both my boys are growing up. It was so cold and rainy so I was more than happy to stay home and pass out candy. Unfortunately we got very few trick or treaters due to the crummy weather and so we have a ton of leftover candy. I do not need all this candy in my house. Not at all.
To deal with the rain we gave them all ponchos so they came back not too soaking wet but definitely still cold. Halloween in Michigan is not great. Down below is the picture we got at Trunk or Treat that weekend- not my basically closed eyes. Ugh- they just can't seem to stay open for pictures.
Friday was Lucy's 7th birthday! I was a lame mom and had to work that day so I didn't get to pick her up from school or anything special but I did send in a unicorn book for her to give to her class and a special lunchable. She did guilt me by telling me that her favorite thing about her birthday is that I come visit her at school. Uggghhh. So after that guilt trip I told her we could go out to dinner after school. That helped some.
As per usual we opened up presents first thing in the morning. She got American Girl Accessories from Grams and Poppy Brady, a mermaid tail blanket from Grams and Poppy Hatch and a Lego set and camera from us. Unfortunately the camera had a broken SD Card so it was a bust. We sent it back to Amazon and are hoping they send us one that is not broken,
After school we went to dinner as promised. On the drive over we heard multiple times about how it was her birthday and certain sibling should be nicer to her because of that. Oh dear, quite the diva. For dinner she decided on Steak and Shake which is not our favorite after the last time we went and had such poor service. They lived up to the memory. Once again the service was real bad. They all just stood in the back and you literally had to beckon them over if you needed anything. The kids love their shakes but it's such a drive and the service is so crummy, I am not sure I would be up to going there again. But it sure did make Lucy happy so there is that.
That night they were all playing with her new Lego set so nicely together and I had to take a picture because it's a rare moment.
Saturday was a busy day. I played the piano at a baptism in the morning and it wasn't the best. I haven't practiced much lately and it showed. They had me play some interlude while the girl was drying off and changing and I fumbled through it. Oh well, I learned next time I need to practice more.
After the baptism was Lucy's birthday party. She had 4 friends come: Eris, Emery, Jenna and Peter. We had pizza, played BINGO, decorated the mane on a unicorn, decorated a unicorn horn (upside down ice cream cone)- so many sprinkles on this one, did a Unicorn Horn ring Toss and played pin the Horn on the Unicorn. The kids had a lot of fun decorating the horn and spent the most time on that. They had less fun with pinning on the horn. But all in all I would call the party a success. My only hang up was that Lucy kept asking to open presents and was so focused on them. I wish she could have focused on just having fun with her friends instead.
Saturday evening I had the real special experience of attending a Youth Leadership Training with Elder Ballard. I was in the front row so I was super close and it was real cool to make eye contact with him as he spoke. He was such a down to Earth guy and he was funny too. He joked about how we might think we have it hard but he has to convert the world. He also gave us all an air handshake and said we could count that as our handshake. Elder DeVries spoke too, our area authority, and had a really good story about keeping our eyes on the edge of the sail- or in other words our focus on Christ. It was good meeting. I was looking for some confirmation that I was on the right track with the new YW's Program- especially because there have been disagreements with Bishop, parents, and one of my counselors. And at the very end I felt that confirmation when Elder Ballard said we are preparing our Youth to take over our responsibilities. I know I am on the right track but as they also said at the meeting, the adults are the hardest ones to get on board with the changes and I am finding that to be so true. Today I met with Bishop and had to end with agreeing to not quite agree and trying to figure out how to compromise without sacrificing the integrity of what needs to be done. This calling is going to be a struggle and it's only just begun.
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