Trek, Milford

Sunday was Father's Day. We had Stake Conference and Tyler and Penny were in the choir so there was no sleeping in for Tyler, he had to get there early to practice. After church, Ben made Tyler some scrambled eggs. And then for dinner we had steak- which he cooked himself because he is particular about his steak. His gifts this year were an "on air" sign so he can let us know when he's in a meeting, cotton candy and a mountain dew shirt from Ben.

Monday morning it was rainy which was actually a tender mercy. It meant Lucy's archery was cancelled so I didn't have to rush to pick her up from it and then try to get David and Steven to Trek on time. Drop off from Trek was an hour away and that was made a little longer with picking up David. Once there, parking was a bit of a mess. In attempt to not jam things up, they basically jammed things up. So I took a quick picture, helped Steven find his wagon and then got my car out of the way. I didn't even say goodbye to him properly, that's one of the side affects of high stress situations, I lose proper social skills. 

Since Melissa and her husband were on trek, we watched their middle child, AJ for them. The oldest was on trek as well and the youngest stayed with Grace. I realize how easily I get annoyed with other people's kids, I'm not proud of that fact but I *think* I masked my annoyance well. I think. The thing that bugged me the most was that his mom had apparently told him he had to do chores and help while he was here so he was constantly asking me for chores and asking what he could do to help. Even after I told him his chore was to hang out with Ben, he still kept asking. I don't like to be pestered. I like my peace.

Tuesday archery was back on so I dropped Lucy off at her archery class and the rest of us hung out in Milford. We played at the park, walked back to the creek and played there and got cookies at the Milford Bakery. We even picked up a mustache cookie for Lucy.

Tuesday afternoon we met Grace's family at our beach. The kids only lasted an hour, they were pretty lame, but at least it got us out of the house for a bit. Later, AJ was complaining that he was having an allergic reaction to the beach and couldn't breath. His mom has told me he's allergic to the beach but he was breathing just fine. I think he's a tad dramatic but I gave him some Benadryl because I couldn't have him dying on me.

Wednesday they had a church activity at the beach and AJ insisted he wanted to get in the water again and once again he came back complaining. This time he said he was covered in hives and he said the Bendryl didn't help. From what I could see, I think he had a light rash? I guess we're horrible hosts. Also Wednesday, we had Peter stay the night because Caroline had to take Lizzie to the ER for a ear infection gone wrong. He pretty much just blended in with all the other kids and was super easy...until Thursday morning...

Thursday morning I had to take Peter to his Summer Camp. Right before leaving Lucy knocked into me and a bowl 3/4 full of milk (that I was cleaning up from the table) spilled everywhere. By the time I cleaned that up, we really needed to leave but then Peter lost one of his shoes. My patience was thin at this point and I about exploded on Peter. I ended up giving him Ben's crocks and rushing out the door. Later we found his shoe on the side of the road. Apparently he had dropped it on the way back from the beach.

Lucy had her last day of archery Thursday and got a score of 25. After struggling to shoot that first day, that was some good progress. By the time I took her home from archery, AJ had been picked up and Steven had been dropped off. Caroline had orginally been the one who was going to pick up Steven since I had to get Lucy to archery and back but obviously couldn't with sick Lizzie so thankfully, after texting 4 people, the RS Pres was able to get her. I felt so grateful to her. Especially since I am way out of the way from her and gas is so expensive.

Steven seemed to have enjoyed Trek. He said it was miserable hot and he never felt dry due to sweat, humidity and crossing a river, but he made some new friends and did some fun things. Here are a few pics his Ma and Pa (Bro and Sis Kelly) sent me:

Thursday night, I was happy to have just my own kids at home so we celebrated with a bike ride to seven-eleven (with Tyler!) and got some treats. Then we came back and all watched "Jurassic Park" which probably traumatized the girls, although I realize I had watched it when I was Penny's age.

Friday morning the kids all helped our neighbor Sharon with some yard work. Then in the afternoon we met some friends from Renassiance at the beach. This finally felt like a true beach day because we actually stayed there until dinner time. It was really nice. Except for the fact that I misheard a story one of the moms was telling me and basically asked her a question that she had just answered in the story. I felt like a dummy. Then I tripped in front of her car as we were leaving. Ugh. This is why I don't make new friends easily. 

Saturday we had zero plans which is highly unusual but ended up being so nice. We did a Costco run, I took the girls to the beach for a little bit, I did some baking while Tyler took the kids to play tennis in the wicked heat (90's again) and then Tyler and I went out to dinner. It was a nice and chill day. Next weekend will be in Missouri and I am praying we don't have another car breakdown. My car is struggling to start each time we fill it up at the gas station. Tyler thinks it'll be fine. I think my luck says otherwise. We would take the Suburban but that's more expensive with gas and not much more reliable.

Also this week I finished my first 2000 piece puzzle. Ben was supposed to help but he didn't so much...

Things

 This week my friend, Corinne, who had moved to Indiana was in town. She came over Sunday night for a girl's night. I made the mistake of telling her that I didn't have a bedtime because it was summer. I just said it because she was coming over around 9pm and I didn't want her to feel like that was too late, I figured she would stay until midnight. Nope. She stayed until 2am and I am just not a night owl. My eyes were burning and I was sooo tired and the conversation was just not worth being up that late. She's a good lady and we had a good friendship while she was here but I am just not feeling that friendship. I know she is still settling into Indiana, it takes time to settle in a new place, and I hope she can find some good friends there.

Monday I felt off from being up late the night before. Thankfully I didn't have too much going on. I got the house cleaned and then Steven and I had eye appointments. My prescription stayed the same but Steven's worsened slightly. My boring teen picked literally the same frames he has now but blue. They do seem to be really durable so I guess it's fine. I found the appointment a little annoying because they dialated my eyes, let them sit a bit and then did the eye test. When the eye dr was asking me better 1, better 2, I felt like both options were blurry and he seemed to be frustrated with me. He basically kept repeating that I needed to just focus on the top line and pick one. Ugh.

Tuesday I watched Caroline's kids for most of the day. I don't mind watching her kids because they get along so well with mine. In the afternoon I took her kids to the beach and met a few of my friends there as well, including Corinne. It was nice beach outing, however we just don't stay as long as we used to. I remember last summer we would be at the beach until dinnertime and now the kids are done a couple hours before. Maybe they're growing out of it? Afterwards, Corinne and her family came over to rinse off and change and then they headed back to Indiana. That evening Tyler took the girls to go see "Bad Guys" because they were jealous that the boys got to go to a movie last week and they didn't. The boys and I stayed home and watched "Come Play". This was a scary movie that they had seen at a friend's house before. I am not a fan. A little too dark for me and the monster was super creepy.

Wednesday after lunch I took the girls over to Grace's house. While they played, I did a puzzle with Grace and we chatted. I may have overshared some things but it felt nice to have a good vent. The girls had a lot of fun doing classic summer things while over there, like jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers on and throwing water balloons. It was a hot day, the temps were in the 90's and the humidity was high. 

That evening the boys had activities at the church and Bishop pulled me into his office to ask how many seminary students we can fit in our house, I guess that means we are teaching next year. I am happy to do it, I honestly think it's easier than being in a presidency because you don't have to deal with lots of meeting and annoying people- eveyone essentially leaves you be. But also, to be honest, I feel like I am still recovering from teaching seminary. I sleep a lot and still don't feel quite rested. I also feel like when I go to teach lessons to my kids from the Come Follow Me for the week, I just cannot get my brain to focus and teach. It's like my brain got overloaded from doing daily lessons and just can't do it anymore. 

Thursday was another hot day. The 3 youngest attended a sport's camp that morning that was ran by a member of our ward, he was nice to invite them. I think they had fun but after 2 hours in the sun, they came home a bit cranky. Apparently Ben had also been helping lead soccer and Penny didn't appreciate him telling her what to do during it. While they were at camp, Steven and I went to his high school to pick up his summer homework. Because he doesn't have a email with the school yet we couldn't access it so they made us come to the school to get it. It felt like they should've just given us access but oh well. Then he ran a few errands with me. I always appreciate having one on one time with the kids. 

Thursday afternoon I took Penny, Lucy and Ben to the orthodontist. They ended up recommending that we pull 3 of Penny's baby teeth, and they recommended Ben get braces and rubberbands but they said Lucy can wait. Penny and Ben are not happy about the recommendations. I can't say I am either. I know Penny will not have a good experience with getting teeth pulled and it'll cost $5600 to do braces for Ben. That will really hit our savings hard, it would basically take a fourth of it out. It's hard because we still have our trip to Missouri and driver's ed for Steven coming up plus all the sports the kids do and Christmas. Essentially our savings will be pretty zapped by the end of this year and with the prices of everything rising it's scary to not have a big cushion.

Thursday night the weather had cooled and I sat outside making comic strips with Ben and Penny while Tyler attempted to play tennis in the backyard with Steven and Lucy. It was one of those summer nights that I just love. Everyone outside enjoying family time.

Friday after lunch we did another beach day with friends. It was alright. Penny is kind of struggling because none of my friend's have a girl her age and she is not so into hanging out with boys anymore or the younger girls. Apparently I need to branch out and invite some new people. I had a hard time because when my friends were talking about what a great diverse group of friends we are, they listed Caroline as the super talented one, Melissa as the great cleaner and helper, Grace as the stylish decorator, and me as....good at watching kids? Thanks? It made me feel not so great.

Friday night Tyler and I went out on a much needed date. We ended up in Ann Arbor and it was a good time. We strolled a book store, and then grabbed dinner at Taq. I ended up getting a taco that I didn't love but we shared a nacho appetizer that was REALLY yummy. I guess chips with good dip/toppings are really my favorite thing. Afterwards we grabbed some cookies at Detroit Cookie Co. Then we hit another bookstore on the way home so he could get a couple classic books he wanted for Father's Day. It's funny that he never reads books (he listens to them) but he wants these books. I guess for when electronics fails us and all we have our physical books...He is a doomsday guy through and through. 

Saturday I went to our seminary student, Alyssa's, graduation party while Tyler took Steven to his soccer team's party. I think I got the better end of the deal. He said the soccer team parents all knew each other and it was rather exhausting trying to chime in and make conversation. Sounds like my personal nightmare. Ben had a great time though. And I enjoyed chatting a bit with Alyssa's mom and I also met a couple from the other Ward that is going to be Steven's trek ma and pa. I'm glad I got to meet the people who are going to be in charge of my son for a few days, they seem like they'll take good care of him.

Summer Days

 Sunday was Seminary Graduation. The Stake was in charge so we got to just come and watch, we dragged our kids along too. Thankfully the speakers, being both youth and seminary teachers, knew the value of keeping things short and entertaining. It went quickly and there were only about 20 teens graduating so the handing out of certificates wasn't wicked long either. We had two of our students graduating, Alyssa and Jake. Jake had his high school graduation right before and managed to scrape in right when they read his name. Afterwards their was cake so the kids were glad they came.

Tuesday I had to drive out to Oxford so Steven could turn in his school computer. It was a long drive and with gas being so expensive I felt like we needed to build in a fun stop nearby. I ended up taking everyone to the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets after we dropped off the computer. We checked out the Lego Store, got some hair flowers for Penny's baptism pictures at Claire's and of course, got pretzels. Our last stop was at Bass Pro Shop where I decided to finally use a giftcard we had for a camping chair with a canopy. I am excited for my permanent shade.

After we got home from it, I got the birds out and they did really good and sat on my hands. It's so hit or miss with them but I really do love having them.

 

Tuesday evening I had Bunco and I actually did really well, I was only 10 points behind the winner but I still won a prize for most Bunco's. I got water ballons and a picnic blanket, perfect summer things. Here I am with Fancy Nancy, Debbie, and Grace.

Wednesday I decided it was time to go through all our Lego's and fix up our own minifigures, we like to use Lego's in seminary and our minifigures are such a mess- missing hands, hair, pants...It was a long project but I do love organizing and it's fun that we now have a bunch of good minifigs. I wonder how long they will stay put together. Hopefully until seminary starts.

Also on Wednesday, the girls finished their paintings they had been working on. They turned out really nice.

Thursday I had to go in to get my permanent crown. I was dreading it so much because the dentist's assistant had been so awkward last time but apparently telling him I had 4 kids eased the awkwardness. The crown still feels slightly uncomfortable but I feel like it always does. That evening I took Penny to get baptism pictures at the temple. Caroline was taking the pictures and Melissa was going to do Penny's hair but Melissa ended up getting sick so I attempted to do her hair myself. It was ok. We also picked up Melissa's kid, Jesse, so he could get his pictures done as well. When we got there, the weather took a turn and it got cloudy and windy. And not too much later it started sprinkling. We left just as it downpoured. I swear it rains everytime I get pictures taken. God doesn't want me to be too vain maybe? I think Caroline was able to get some good shots. I had bought a golden 8 balloon and that was sort of a waste. She only got one picture with it and Penny was holding it weird. Oh, well. On the way back, just as we got home, the sun came out and it was beautiful. Apparently we had the worst timing. I took a picture of Penny with her balloon, just to document the balloon and the sun.

I had also colored on some Book of Mormon's for the photo shoot. They turned out nice. I did one for Penny and one for Jesse.

Friday morning I took the boys to see the latest Jurrasic World movie. It was not the best in the series but I still thought it was fun and had some good nods to the past. The boys seemed to really enjoy it too. They should probably call it a wrap on that serious though, they tend to just repeat ideas. After the movie I had a thrilling discussion with Steven on what treat we should get for him to bring to his friend's house. Apparently it was a life altering decision and he just couldn't make it. I know I am an indecisive person but woof, he puts me to shame. We ended up getting Oreo's and then I dropped him off at his friend's house. The rest of us went to our beach's neighborhood party. They had bounce houses and food. Besides the outburst of rain and hail, it was a good time. Thankfully the outburst was short lived and I had my amazing new chair with a canopy. 

Saturday morning I took the girls to a primary party. I think they had a blast but I felt like it was too long. Way too many activities that they had to organize the kids for before they finally got to the pizza and ice cream. It was really tough on the younger kids to have to wait for the anticipated treats. They also did a game where they were supposed to stomp on each other's balloons and that left 4 young kids crying. A bit of a disaster.

School's Out

 Sunday I had to give a talk in church and I about died of nerves. About halfway through my talk I started to panic and feel like I was going to have to run from the pulpit but somehow I managed to pass it off as emotion and I got through. I tried to ad lib a couple times during my talk because a seminary student had spoken before me and had said some similar things to me but the ad libbing didn't go well. I will not try to do that again. Better just to repeat information. Afterwards, looking at my watch, I saw the my heart rate had pretty much sky rocketed for the hour before and during the talk. Got a work out I suppose. SO glad it's over.

Monday was Memorial Day. In the morning I went to see the new "Downton Abby" movie with my friend Stacie. Afterwards she invited me over to chat for a bit. It was a nice visit. I feel like we align on our political stances more than I do with most of my other friends. I don't feel like I have to walk on egg shells when talking with her about my opinions. She is usually anti social though so we only get together like twice a year. When I got home, I cleaned the house, super exciting, and then that evening we had a BBQ at the Bloomfield's house. The kids went crazy with the hose and trampoline outside (it was a hot day) and the adults hid inside eating and socializing. 

Tuesday after we finished school work we met some friends at the beach. This time it was good beach day where my friends actually stayed awhile and the kids got in some good playtime. It was a perfect beach day in that it was warm enough for the kids to enjoy the water but not so warm that the adults were roasting. There was a nice breeze that made me wish I had a hammock to nap in.

Wednesday, all the kids had their dentist appointment. No cavities but they are recommending ortho for 3 out of the 4 kids. The hygentist tried to push it for Steven too but I told her we weren't paying thousands to fix one crooked tooth. The dentist, surprisingly, agreed with me. We have Ben's appointment with the ortho soon and then I'll have to make some decisions. We could do all 3 if we had to but it would really wipe out our savings and with the inflated economy, I do not want to do that. Not to mention all the driving school and high school expenses that are coming up with Steven. We need that savings. It's funny what a first world country we live in that orthodontics are pushed at us so much. 

After their dentist appointment I rewarded the no cavities with some Crumbl Cookies- because that makes sense right? I heated mine up later that night and served it with ice cream and it was soooooo good. Oh how food makes me happy. Then that night Ben had his last soccer practice for the season and the kids all had activities at the church. None of my friends were there so I ended up just reading a book and it seemed like anyone who passed by was super interested to know about what I was reading. It was a bit of a trashy read so I am going to have to rethink the kind of books I bring to church if people are going to be so interested, lol.

Thursday we finished up our school work for the year and got it all ready to turn in. Felt so good! Then I took just Penny on a walk to 7-11 so she could have some one on one time. That girl talked the whole way there and back. Mostly about Minecraft and other games she has played or youtube videos she has watched. I tried real hard to act interested. It was fun just to have some one-on-one time with her though. I am trying to do better at giving my kids that time. That evening Steven had his last archery class for this session. We are trying to see if we can find him some better quality lessons.

Friday we turned in all the things to Renaissance. School is officially over!!!

After we turned in all the things we met some friends at a nearby playground. 2 families from Renaissance that the girls are good friends with and then the Mays came too. Steven stayed at home because his friend David wasn't coming and Ben was a bit of a jerk and said he wouldn't hang out with him. I wish the boys got along better. It was a good outing overall, I just failed to wear sunscreen and ended up getting super burnt. 

Friday evening I convinced Tyler to take the whole family kayaking. He hates doing things in the evenings and especially things that require a lot of effort-like loading up kayaks. We only have 5 kayaks so Penny rode with Tyler and then Jacob brought his own kayak and came with us. I was worried it was going to be a disaster and it honestly started out as one. Lucy, who had been begging to go kayaking, began the adventure by freaking out. Lots of whining and crying that she couldn't do it and she was going to fall in. Then my new hat flew off into the water and while trying to deal with her freaking out, I was trying to get it but totally failing. Once I got it and then had a long talk with Lucy about how she has a life vest and won't die if she falls in, things got much better and it ended up being a really nice outing. I would love to do family kayaking more often, if I could get Tyler on board.

Saturday, Tyler took Steven and Lucy to kid's day at Livingston Conservation and Sports in Brighton. It was an attempt to find a next step with archery but apparently it was not successful. Archery is a winter sport. Weird. Anyways, they seemed to still have fun and they both got a free fishing rod out of it so maybe we'll have to have a fishing adventure sometime. Meanwhile I dropped Ben off at a birthday party and then took Penny to Spun Sugar to get some cotton candy for Tyler for Father's Day. Of course, they gave her free cotton candy so she didn't mind the drive at all. I minded the drive a bit though, $5/gallon is painful. Later I picked up Ben and went to take him to his last soccer game but I went to the wrong place. For some reason I had it in my head that it was at the fields by our house but it was actually out in Novi. The party I had just picked him up from was literally near Novi. I was so mad at myself for the mistake but luckily Ben just missed warm ups and made it with a few minutes to spare before the game started. It was a great game for him. He tried hard and almost made 2 goals- so close. He was disappointed that he never scored a goal but his team still won, 4 to 1. It was a good team and a really good experience for him.