January Things

Sunday we ditched church, just in case we were still contagious. I also felt like I just didn't have the energy for it. It was a very quiet day in. I worked some on seminary lessons, baked cookie bars, took a nap...nothing too exciting. Around midnight Tyler and Ben finally made it back to Michigan. Of course I couldn't expect Tyler to wake up and do seminary after a 32 hour drive with minimal sleep so I was on my own for seminary Monday morning. Honestly it was a super hard wake up for me and I felt super groggy that whole day. The lesson itself was a bit of a flop. It was focused on Satan's role in the premortal life and during the Fall. I had made a Kahoot for the lesson and half the kids forgot to bring devices. They are teens, aren't they supposed to be attached to their phones!? Then I had some of my students implying that God had been too harsh on Satan and that God was against freedom of speech. Ugh. Teens.

Sickness has also been running rampant out here. We ended up having only 3 days of seminary this week because we were missing so many kids due to sickness. I'm hoping they will all rest up with a 5 day weekend (there's no school Monday) and come back to us healthy. I have such a love/hate relationship with seminary. I was SOOOO tired those 3 days we had it but I also love that it gets me up and going, I fit more in the day. And I also love starting my day talking about the Gospel- even if teens can be "sassy".

My kids' school is still "virtual" this week which means they have a list of things they have to accomplish for each subject. It was a rough week school wise and it reminded me why we stopped straight up homeschool. Lots of whining, complaining, frustrations when they didn't understand how to do things...I miss them having teachers twice a week to help them understand things. I also miss getting a break from them twice a week. Next week will be the last week of virtual school and then we can get back to normal.

Tuesday night I had Bunco...which maybe we shouldn't have because 2 people from Bunco now have Covid...like I said sickness is running rampant here. I did have a lot of fun at Bunco though, even if most of the fun is because I am such a weirdo. I ended up getting the lowest score by a longshot so I won the loser prize. Go me! 

Wednesday afternoon I took Penny,Ben, Steven and Jacob to the mall. I wanted to get some Lego minifigure keychains for something and of course they all wanted to go to the Lego Store too. I also had a couple other stores to hit so I allowed Ben, Steven and Jacob to wander the mall without me and then we met up at the Lego Store. It feels weird letting them be independent. I know it's good for them but I worry. Anyways I think they enjoyed their independence and Jacob bought them ice cream at Dairy Queen so that was nice. 

Wednesday night all my kids had activities! Both girls are now in Activity Days, Ben is now a Deacon so he at last will have weekly activities (the Activity Boy leaders were terrible and only held activities like twice a year) and Steven is now a Teacher. Jacob also came with us and is planning on coming weekly with Ben. Apparently he was offering to lead activities and LESSONS. That neighbor of mine is quick to volunteer but I am not so sure about the follow through.

Friday my friend had surgery on her foot so I had her kids over for a bit. Her teen daughter came over too. Steven and Ben were over at Jacob's house for his birthday party so she had no one her age to hang out with. She did play Mario Kart for a bit with the littles but she's not very good at it so she never lasts long. I ended up taking her with me to get the pizza and decided to stop at 7-11 and get slushies too (just to kill more time). I felt like I was back in YW's for a bit and it was kind of nice. I do miss my YW that I don't see in Seminary. Eating dinner was loud- my friend's one kiddo is so wild and does not just sit and eat. After they left the girls and I had a girl's night and watched "Enchanted." They got grossed out on all the kissing scenes, lol.

This week I also got a Samsung Galaxy Watch from Tyler as a late anniversary gift. It's pretty neat to be able to get and respond to text messages on it and I was really nerded out when I was able to take a phone call on it (when I was at the mall and Jacob called to tell me where they were at). Man technology has come a long way! It also monitors my sleep which is interesting. I usually get a sleep rating in the low 70's. I think mostly I am not getting enough deep sleep and REM sleep. I sure feel like I am not getting enough sleep.