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 ;)