Lights, Field Trip, Toledo Zoo

Sunday was busy with a meeting before church, one after and then the Stake Christmas Program. We don't usually go to the stake Christmas program but my friend Caroline was in charge of the music so we went to support her. I also sat by her family so I could help with their littlest when her husband was up accompanying a song. The music was nice, one of the numbers was "Mary's Lullaby" and that is my all time favorite. It was a good program just really hard to keep the kids contained since they had been sitting all day.

Tyler had saved up some time off so he was able to have this whole week off. On Monday we took advantage of him being off work and the kids at school and we went out to breakfast. Afterwards we ran a couple quick errands and then I had the exciting task of cleaning the house while he did some online Christmas shopping. That evening we took the kids (plus Jacob) to the Wayne County Lightfest. There was a bit of a line of cars to get in but the wait was only about 15 mins so not too bad. There were several new lights out and ones that had not all been working in the past were all fixed up. It was real nice. The kids also enjoyed their traditional doughnuts and juice as they checked out the lights. I enjoy this tradition because it's inside a nice warm car!

Tuesday morning I volunteered as per usual while Tyler enjoyed a LONG trip to the SOS to get the suburban registered for Michigan at long last. After volunteering I went for a run in the ridiculous cold. It was probably the fastest I've run because I was freezing and just wanted to get back into the warmth. I don't know how people run frequently in the cold. I absolutely hate it. After my run I took Corinne and little Lucie to Arby's as a thank you for all the frames she made for the YW's themes. Then she came back to my house and we worked on a puzzle. I love her to death but she has no concept of how long is an appropriate to stay over. All my kids came home from school and she knew I had the temple to go to that night and still she stayed. I decided just to make dinner and still she stayed. Finally when I finished cooking dinner she left but I felt awkward, like maybe I should invite her for dinner. 

As stated before I had the temple that night. I went with a friend who doesn't have the best temple attendance record so I was surprised when she invited me to go. I am proud of her for getting there more and it is always good to spend time in the temple.

Tuesday we also had this fun llama craft as part of our countdown to Christmas and per tradition the kids received the ornaments Aunt Ragena had made in the mail.

Wednesday, after getting some things done around the house, Tyler and I went out to an early lunch and then strolled Barnes and Noble. We rarely buy anything there but I sure love wandering the store. We ran a couple errands after that and then time for the kids to be home.

That night for the youth activity we were all combined so we went as a family. We were caroling at a senior center. The young woman in charge didn't work too hard on prepping the music so were not very organized but gratefully she put Tyler in charge and for the most part it turned out ok- just some noisy moments between songs figuring out what to sing next. Also, I ended up having to accompany because her accompanist fell through so that was slightly disastrous but thank goodness everyone sang loud enough to cover my mistakes. Afterward I attempted to make conversation with some of the seniors there- it was kind of awkward at moments but I tried.

Thursday morning I went to the eye doctor because I have had floaters in my vision. It was a painful visit. They dilated my eyes and did a lot of bright lights and then they sent me outside with no sunglasses. I about ran into a car because I was so blinded by the sun. The verdict from all that torture is that my retina has not detached...yet. Floaters happen with age and extreme nearsightedness so she doesn't think it's a big deal and she thinks my brain should adapt to them BUT she wants me back in a month just to make sure my retina is still attached. Comforting.

Thursday afternoon I got to substitute teach with my "owl" eyes as Tyler called them. I told the kids and they were nice and didn't mind me dimming the lights. The kids were also full of a lot of drama- there is so much tattling and meanness, it makes me crazy. But I survived the afternoon with only a mild headache.

Friday I got to go with Penny on her field trip to the Marquis Theater. The bus ride was long and her friend (in the pic below) was very clingy but we survived. The play, "Beauty and the Beast" was just the right amount of time for the little ones attention spans and Penny was only mildly scared by the beast. All in all, it was a good show.

Friday night Lucy made this super fun and only a bit creepy panda mask and insisted on wearing it while she ate dinner.

For Christmas Tyler's parent gifted us a membership to the Toledo Zoo. Since it started Dec 1st we decided to go ahead and use it today. Tyler had a Court of Honor to be to in the afternoon so we didn't get to stay too long but we still had a good time. Although we saw some fun animals- I think the kids had more fun posing with all the "photo props" and playing at a little outside play area. There was practically no one at the zoo so it was kind of nice to just have it to ourselves.

Also this Friday we got to take home Penny's class pet- 2 guinea pigs- to watch for Winter Break. They are very skittish and this one was shaking the whole time the kids held her but so far they are super easy. We just have to make sure they are fed and watered.