Bronner's

It was another busy Sunday last week with meetings galore and our younger class presidency meeting was such a mess- unprepared girls and lots of technology problems. It would have been so much better if we could have met in person but alas, Covid is a forever issue. Thankfully today (Sunday) I literally only had one thing to do- watch our area broadcast. It has been so nice to have a relaxing, rejuvenating Sunday.

Monday was not a great day. The kids were rough for homeschooling and my patience was short. Then Tyler's lunch got lodged in his throat(he could still breathe but was in lots of pain). After hours of pain and constant gagging, I dropped him off at the ER. While he was at the ER, Lucy slipped (while brushing her teeth in the bathtub) and pulled down the shower curtain while trying to save herself. She did not save herself and got a pretty good bruise. I took a picture because amidst the frustration, I realized that it looked like kind of like a Christmas tree. How's that for being positive? 

After hours at the ER Tyler pretty much threw up the blockage so they just prescribed him some meds that will hopefully help in the future. I am hoping this was the push he needed to get this throat problem fixed but he still hasn't set an appointment *sigh*

The rest of the week was a little bit better homeschooling wise. I think really I was just better at being patient. We even did some experimenting with hydrogen peroxide- Steven seemed to enjoy it and sat and watched it until it stopped oozing. 

Thursday the weather was so lovely that we had to get out and enjoy it. I picked up my friend's kids and took them out to Proud Lake for another hike. I got some interesting looks being out there alone with 7 kids- someone said "at least the weather is nice." As if going out with 7 kids is so terrible. Really they all get along great so I just walked behind them and enjoyed the beauty of nature while they had fun with their friends. Their favorite part was probably throwing big sticks into the lake to try and crack the thin ice. Steven walking down to the lake literally got his shoe stuck in the mud and had to pull his foot out and then dig out the shoe. Ugh.

Thursday night we were prepping for our annual trip to Bronner's by taking out ornaments they have bought in the past. This way they didn't accidentally pick out repeats. The kids had fun taking out their ornaments and remembering when they got them. We also came to the crazy realization that we have been doing this since 2014 so this will be our 7th year of the tradition. Ben is the only one to still have all 6 of his ornaments. Lucy and Steven both broke one of theirs and Penny didn't get to start the tradition until she was a little older.

Tyler took off work Friday so we could go to Bronner's but one of my friends was in desperate need for someone to watch her kids early afternoon so we got there when it opened and then didn't linger too long. Thankfully the kids didn't struggle too hard to pick out their ornaments- Lucy took the longest but only because the unicorn section was further away. It really is nice to have older kids that we can go into a store with lots of breakable things and not worry about them breaking things.  

When we got home we took pictures of the kids with their ornaments. Penny got a s'more one making a gingerbread house. Ben got a marshmallow chef, Lucy got a unicorn cat and Steven got a guinea pig (does it look real!?). 

After Bronner's I watched my friend's boys while they did virtual school. That was interesting. It is definitely hard for them to focus. She was at an ultrasound. She is my second close friend that I have found out is pregnant and I would be lying if I said that doesn't phase me. It's hard to not feel a little envious and sad. I was on Amazon this week and saw these Lord of the Rings Fisher Price toys and immediately wished I had a little boy to buy them for. At Bronner's I mourned the fact that I wasn't buying a Baby's First Christmas ornament. I know it doesn't do any good to dwell in what can't be changed but sometimes I just feel sad.

On a positive note the kids seem to be doing well working on their projects with our neighbor, Sharon. Here's a pic of them with Sharon's dog. I am grateful she gets them out of the house and is teaching them something creative.

With homeschooling during the week, Saturdays have really turned into my errand running, productive day. I clean the house, dropped off a Thanksgiving gift to YW, ran to Target for some things and then that afternoon we watched my friends kids. The house was crazy loud with 3 extra kids but by the end of the evening we turned on "Home Alone 2" and I did some crafts while they watched it. It was a nice way to end a busy day.

Walk, Toledo Zoo

This past Sunday I gave a talk on gratitude. While I was not grateful for all the anxiety it gave me, I was grateful for writing it. It was  good reminder to keep an eternal perspective and look at the positive in life. Following Sacrament I went home to do YW's, Relief Society, Ward Council, Bishop's Youth Council and an Older Girl's Class Presidency Meeting. Second Sundays are seriously so busy but I won't change it because I like to get a bulk of my meetings done at once. 

Monday and Tuesday the warm weather stayed for a little longer. I really wanted to go out and enjoy it with a fun field trip Monday but the odds were against me. We got through our school work and were going to go to the Zoo and then I remembered that it's not open Mondays and Tuesdays. Boo. Then we thought about going to Sprout City again but that is closed until Spring. Finally we decided just to do a walk across the street- the one that leads to the cemetery. The kids really have a weird obsession with the cemetery. So much so that they wanted to hop over to the cemetery on the other side of the road too. After all our cemetery walks, we went home. All the kids behaved pretty well, and so did the guinea pig that Steven brought along, so it was a good walk.

Tuesday would have been a great outdoor fieldtrip day too but I ended up making dinner for my friend Caroline and that took up most of the afternoon. Her daughter had just go hip surgery so I was glad to be able to help, just bummed to be inside while the weather was so good. That evening I had Bunco and I won a prize- a Fall wreath for my door! I got it for getting the most Bunco's- I had got those 2 Bunco's in a row and it was all because I willed it, lol ;). I had this awesome pattern that night of Winning a round and then Losing one- it went on for like 11 rounds. So I joked with those at my table that I HAD to win the round because of the pattern and sure enough-2 Bunco's. It was so funny. After that the pattern died though. Can only be lucky for so long, apparently.

Tyler had off Wednesday so after we finished our school work (which included a fun interview of Poppy for Veteran's Day) we finally did our field trip to the Toledo Zoo. Too bad the weather wasn't as fantastic but it wasn't terrible- it was in the 50's. We did the aquarium first where we saw someone cleaning one of the tanks and watched as the sea turtle kept swimming in his way- it was pretty funny. Then we saw both a baby orangutan and a baby gorilla. Monkeys are my favorite. Our last stops were the farm and the aviary and then we headed home. I really like the Toledo Zoo.

Wednesday night I was with the older girls for young women's. We wrote on hearts and then delivered them with cinnamon rolls to a couple ladies from the Ward. It was like a heart attack without being sneaky, I prefer this. The older girls were all in good moods that night and it ended up being a really nice activity. Both the ladies that we delivered the gifts to were really appreciative. I like activities that leave you feeling good.

Thursday and Friday were not super eventful. Just homeschool and some errand running. I'm trying to use my hand lettering for Christmas gifts for my neighbors/friends this year and so I bought some bowls, and plant pots to write on. We'll see how that goes. I also did a Salvation Army run where I found church pants for both boys for dirt cheap. That makes me happy.

Lucy is still enjoying hanging out with our neighbor Sharon. She really would be happy just taking Sharon's dogs for walks but Sharon is determined to teach Lucy something. She decided chess wasn't going well so now she is having her do some needlepoint of sorts. This will take a lot of time so we'll see how that goes.

I also think I've determined that some of my worst days homeschooling are when I am on my period. Monday and Tuesday I was really unhappy with homeschooling and wanted to quit- and I was also on my period. I must keep track of such things to see if it really is affecting my schooling. If it is, I might just have to talk those days off homeschool each month. Maybe I can get a substitute teacher ;)

Apples, Milford, Walk, Party

We had Monday morning with Tyler's parents, they flew back to Arizona that afternoon. And of course that morning was the coldest morning ever. With Covid and freezing weather that really limited our options to do anything fun. We ended up taking them to the market at Spicers and we bought some apples and doughnuts. We had thought about doing the corn maze but with temperatures in the 20's it did not feel like a good idea. So we ate our doughnuts (while shivering) and then headed out. While at the market Lucy used her money to buy herself and her sister a stuffie. That was very nice of her. Ben also used his money to buy stick candy (as if he didn't already have tons of candy from trick or treating :/.

On our way home we stopped at Milford and Leslie and I and all 4 kids went into some of the shops. The kids actually did fairly good at not touching all the things. We didn't buy anything but I did find some fun things that I would not mind getting for Christmas. We also had to take a picture by the giant pumpkin that Palate always has.

For lunch we went to Culver's. Michigan has a new law that you have to give contact information to places you are at to track people who get Covid. I don't love that but I am too honest and gave them all my correct information. Other than that we had a nice meal.

We spent the last couple hours with them chatting around the kitchen table. Tyler and his dad spent time talking about Tyler's grand ambitions for renovating the bathroom upstairs. This led to some contention between Tyler and I, mostly because there are other things that I would rather have done around the house and I was a pretty bad dream killer. Also, while visiting around the table, Tyler's dad had a heart to heart with the guinea pigs. The kids thought that was hilarious so I did my best to document it.

Sadly it was back to Arizona for his parents Monday afternoon and back to real life for us. This meant catching up on all the things I had been slacking off on the previous few days.

The rest of the week was more of the same old same old. Homeschooling everyday. Still going pretty well. Young Women's meeting at the Bishop's house Tuesday night. I dropped off a smoothie for my friend Jessica Wednesday for lunch- conversation felt a little stilted, not sure why. Then that night a young women's activity at the church building- which felt a little weird since we haven't had an activity there in sooo long. We wrote letters to missionaries and the girls shared their favorite scriptures- it was a nice chill activity.

The weather really warmed up after Monday so on Thursday we went on a nature walk at Proud Lake with the Mays. Seriously perfect weather and everyone had a good time hanging out with each other. Only hiccup was when Lucy got pretty high up on a fallen tree and began to panic about getting down. Probably some PTSD from when she fell into the little stream. Thankfully she figured it out and got down with no incidents. 

Saturday we did a little birthday party for Lucy- she only had Peter over but with 3 siblings to join in it still felt like a proper party. They started off pinning the Pizza on Robin from Teen Titans. I made the game myself and was pretty proud with how it turned out.

Afterwards they played Teen Titans Bingo and I gave away Halloween candy for Bingo prizes- the perk of having a birthday after Halloween.

The last activity was watching a you tube video on how to draw Robin. They didn't put a whole lot of effort into following the instructions but they seemed to have fun regardless. 

While I made pizza rolls they watched a Teen Titans Go episode. Then they ate their pizza and had some cupcakes. It was a real simple party but I think it was a success.

After the party I was able to go out and run some errands on my own. It's been awhile since I've ran kid free errands and it was honestly really nice. It's kind of terrible but I find shopping a bit therapeutic. Mostly terrible on our wallet.

That night Tyler and I went to dinner at Benihana, we had been given a gift card for there. We got to share our table with another couple- don't worry the table was long and they were 6 feet away. They were nice enough and it was their first time at this restaurant too so that helped us not to feel too dumb that we didn't know how things worked. It was fun to watch the food get made and the food was really good. Also, really expensive so thank goodness for a gift card.

Also this week was Election Day, Tyler and I were able to go out and vote together since he had the day off. According to the media Biden was determined the winner Saturday but things are still in the air due to some suspected voter fraud. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out and how people react. I'm trying to be hopeful but I definitely have concerns.

And this week Lucy has become very close with our neighbor Sharon. She is an older lady with 2 dogs (we had brought her and her husband cookies last week). Sharon has been letting Lucy walk the dogs with her and she just loves this. Sharon also wants to teach Lucy how to play Chess so that should be interesting. Sometimes it feels a little weird letting Lucy go over there so often (once a day the last few days) but I think it's a good thing.

Lucy's Birthday and Baptism

 Sunday was Lucy's birthday and as per usual we started the day with her unwrapping gifts. Actually we started the day with the kids getting one of their Hexbugs trapped under the dishwasher and it was making this super loud buzzing noise. Once Tyler removed the dishwasher and the bug, then it was Lucy's turn to open gifts. From us she got a watch, Teen Titans Go action Figures, a Raven doll, and a unicorn hairbrush. From Grams and Poppy Brady she got walkie talkies. And from Grams and Poppy Hatch she got binoculars. 

The rest of the day felt like we were just waiting for her baptism. We didn't have in person church and we were fasting so it sort of made the day seem longer. Plus I was feeling a bit anxious about everything and that also helps slow time down. We did do our own little sacrament meeting and that was nice. Both Grams and Poppy Hatch bore their testimonies and so did Ben. We also played Telestrations with Grams and Poppy Hatch and the kids enjoyed it (probably more than the grandparents ;) ) Lucy also got pen on her baptism dress that she insisted on wearing and I had a real stressful time trying to get it out. I was not super successful. 

Around 1pm Tyler and his dad left to fill the font and I took the girls to get their hair done by my friend Melissa. She made us all looks so good and I am so grateful she shares her talent with us. Then I came home and put some dinner in the crockpot and finally it was time to go to the church.

Everything went real smoothly. It was just us and Tyler's parents there and everyone else joined virtually via Google Meet. My amazing brother took care of streaming the opening and closing songs and church videos while Lucy got dressed. I was in charge of videotaping the speakers and I probably should've got a phone stand, it was a little uncomfortable holding the phone out properly to record it all. I did have one hiccup in the beginning when I accidentally lost the Google Meet screen and struggled to find it again but thankfully I figured it out. Tyler and his dad give talks and they both did a great job of catering their talks to Lucy. Tyler talked about how Lucy said she wanted to be baptized so that she could be a member of this church. She's such a good girl. The water was nice and toasty for Lucy and she told me that she felt awesome when it was all done. And at the end Lucy got to see everybody who was watching and they all said "hello" to her and I think she felt pretty special. People that I remember were tuned in on Google Meet: Brewer's, Kellog's, Jones, Bowman's, my parents and Mike's family, Melissa and Logan's family. Solomon's, Massey's, Brother Jensen (Bishopric member), Sister Schmidt (primary president), Schneider's, May's, and Barney's.

Afterwards we had some chili hotdogs to break our fast and then Lucy's Robin cake. The cake looks better in the pictures thankfully. In person the green frosting showed up under the face but I really did try my best on that cake. It was quite a fiasco because originally I had tried to make it red but failed, major. In my failure I made a purplish black frosting that can be found under that green frosting. Thankfully Lucy is not picky and loved the cake despite it's flaws.