Beach Fun

Sunday I didn't have to teach my primary class, my partner did, but the kids were irreverent again. There's one in particular who wants to make everything a joke and does not understand when it is appropriate and when it is not. He is frustrating. After church Ben had his very last soccer game. It was against a team they had lost to before- the only team they have lost to this season. Unfortunately they did not win. They were winning but in the last 10 minutes the other team scored two goals and they ended up with a tie- 3 to 3. It was a warm day and I had my own struggles with the kids. First off Lucy accidentally kicked Penny's Gatorade and it spilled all over Penny. Penny was an emotional wreck over this but we did the best we could with wipies. Then Steven decided to tip too far back in the camper chair with Ruby and it completely tipped over. He did not save Ruby and she managed to literally eat dirt. A nice man next to Steven,jumped over to help him up. Ruby, thankfully, was not emotional and so we just had to work hard to clean the dirt out of her mouth and face. And to top off the fun, it started thundering so Lucy started panicking and curled up in fetal position crying. The lightening was super far off, it wasn't even raining where we were. We have got to work on this irrational fear of hers. In conclusion... it was definitely not the most delightful game we've been to...

This week the kids all finished their school work. Ben and Penny finished it pretty early in the week and Lucy was done by Friday. It is a relief to have the work done but I realized that that means they now all have a lot of time on their hands. We don't have much going on until the end of June so hopefully I won't get complaints of boredom already. Monday evening Ben had his parents vs kids soccer game to finish up the season. They went to ice cream after and Tyler got to listen to the other parents judge a kid that left after getting his ice cream- they really frowned upon that. There was one year that we had to do that because we had other things going on and it makes me wonder what they said about us. This might be the last season with this team since Ben will be in high school in the Fall and hopefully on the soccer team there.

Tuesday when picking up groceries we saw someone getting a little baby pool loaded into their car so we decided we needed to run in and get one too. Ruby enjoyed her outside bath with Lucy. She also enjoys just playing in it when it is filled up with various toys. It sure is nice for trapping her for a little bit but of course she already knows how to get in and out of it.

Tuesday is also the cheap day at the theater so Tyler and I went to see the new Planet of the Apes movie while the kids babysat. The graphics were pretty amazing and the plot was entertaining enough that it was a good escape. The kids did really good watching Ruby too so that was nice since we ususally don't go out for that long.

Wednesday we met Mimi and her mom at our beach. The weather was perfect for a beach day and the kids all had a good time. The girls had fun together and Ben was really good and entertained Ruby for most of the outing. He built sandcastles all around Ruby while she chewed on her shovel and ate more sand than she should. He also pushed her on the swing for awhile. We didn't have a swim diaper yet so I didn't let him take her in the water. Meanwhile, Penny gave Mimi a mermaid fin.

Wednesday afternoon/early evening Steven went to celebrate his friend's birthday and then they went to church activities together.

Steven being at the party, meant I had to drive the rest of the kids to the church for activities that night. I hung out in the car while they had their activities but Grace called me while I was in the car. She was worried that Melissa was angry at her. It was interesting that just before she called I had read a post about not making assumptions and it felt like that was the best advice I could give her. I think everything will be ok if they can just ignore their teenage daughters who seem to want to stir the pot.

Thursday I let Steven stay home from school since most 10th graders were at a Cedar Point field trip that he didn't want to go on (he says when he rides on a roller coaster he cannot breath). I told him if he was going to stay home he couldn't cause problems with his siblings and his top priority would be to help me with Ruby. He actually did really well and it was really nice to have him home from once. He watched her while I went to the Dr's for my annual check up. Everyone at my doctor's office is so nice and I tend to overshare and just generally talk too much but they don't seem to mind too much. I am grateful I found this office.

Friday we did another beach day. This time Luna and Geli came, in addition to Mimi and her mom. Luna and Geli's mom had a dead battery so she had to get that jumpstarted and go get a new one while we were at the beach. Also, this time, I had a swim diaper for Ruby so she got to go into the water with Ben. I wish she would wear a hat since she can't wear sunscreen but she immediately pulls it off- even when I cinch it on. She hates things on her head. The kids all had a good time. Lucy and Geli even took our kids' kayaks out in the water so they could float around and chat. 

Saturday Ben had his first caddie job of the season and he went with Andrea- they got to be on the same loop. He made $58, not bad for a 14 year old. Steven went to Max's for the day and was all worried about driving their without Google maps since Ben had the phone. I printed him off some directions-old school- and he got there just fine. After Ruby woke up from her first nap, the girls and I went to Ikea to get some sand shovels. I know most people go there for furniture but they have the best shovels and they are only 99cents. We have never had one break- instead my kids have slowly lost the ones we had to the lake. Now we have a new stash and the girls and I had a good time strolling the store and getting a little treat at the end.

That night I went and got ice cream with my friends. The drama between Grace and Melissa was truly non-existent- it was just their girls making drama. The conversation was mostly us venting about kids. I also finally found out what happened to our Traverse's taillight. I happened to mention it and Melissa said that her neighbor across the street had their mailbox hit and there was a broken taillight next to it after Steven had picked up AJ. I wish she had made the connection sooner but whatever. We had to have a big conversation with Steven about getting out of the car when you hit something and taking responsibility. I swear this kid will be the death of me. I also learned that Caroline subbed for the twins of the guy that sold us a car. It was funny that the second she mentioned these twins I knew they were the same one. What a small world.

This week Ruby still had some issues sleeping and I am exhausted. I wish I knew what causes her not to sleep. She also mastered using her walker and it is really cute to watch her pushing it around. 

 

Picnic

Sunday was Mother's Day and I had to give a talk in Sacrament. A terrible mother's day gift. I was super anxious as usual plus I was feeling extra emotional. I wasn't a lot of fun that morning but the kids were still nice to me and gave me their gifts and Tyler was nice and made me crepes. My gifts were- a candy bar and fake flower bouquet from Penny, a candle from Ben, a card from Lucy, and Tyler got me lego sunflowers, red vines and a real bouquet. Tyler gave me a blessing before we left to church and I think that helped. 2 primary kiddos spoke before me. They both talked about the mothers of the stripling warriors. I had thought about talking about them too but I am glad I ended up not putting them in my talk. I wasn't too shakey and I managed to have enough jokes to keep me calm throughout. My last minute Eminem quote in the beginning was a big hit, lol- "his palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy." His lyrics describe how I felt so well. Afterwards I got a few "good jobs" but I feel like I could do an awful job and people would still say that.

The rest of my mother's day consisted of breakfast and chatting for Relief Society, a nap after church, Tyler making more crepes for dinner (I'm not sure why he thought I wanted crepes for every meal, that's a bit much), Just Dance dancing with the kids and a nice phone call with my mom. 

Tuesday I took the kids to Scarlet's Park so Lucy could try out her roller skates outside. It was a good outing. Ben and Penny played with Ruby, and Lucy slowly skated around. She is looking slighty more confident and less like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time. Seriously this girl of mine has the longest legs, she has gotten so tall!

Tuesday night I had Bunco and I think I'm done with Bunco. I have been in this Bunco group for probably about 10 years. Lots of people have come and gone and the dynamics have changed. There are some people that I really love and will miss seeing once a month but there are also some that I don't mesh with that well. The game can be fun but only if the people I am playing with are being fun, ha. And the prizes tend to be all of the same things each month. I just think it's time to leave and now is probably the time so that they have the summer to find someone to take my place. 

Wednesday the middle 3 had their end of the year picnic. I was worried about going because I didn't think any of my friends would be there but Cherish ended up coming and Mimi's mom hung with us too. It was nice hanging in the shade with them (and Ruby) while the kids all played with their friends. Of course the girls had to visit frequently to show off their baby sister. There were some teen girls at a table near us and I wasn't impressed with their conversation. Lots of drama and gossip. It makes me a bit nervous to have Lucy on Wednesdays with older kids- they group middle school and high schoolers together on that day. The picnic really reminded me what good friends my kids have made during their hybird school these last few years. I hope our day change only means that they end up with even more good friends.

 

Friday afternoon we met some friends at the park. One of the friends was Julie. Julie has a baby just a few months older than Ruby and it was fun to watch them both interact. Ruby was very smiley around Asher and followed him a bit. She also used him to help her stand up, lol. While at the park Julie noticed that Asher had a weird looking rash- probably from a bug bite. She immediately panicked and called the doctor- such a different reaction than I would have had. I would have Googled it first, tried some Benadryl and then MAYBE called the doctor if it seemed like it was bugging Ruby. Julie also told me how she fed Asher a frozen taquito from Costco once- like it was a scandalous thing. I have fed my baby frozen meatballs, ravioli and fish sticks already- which Ruby is actually starting to be interested in and eat solid food now! Mimi was their as well and her mom was much more cautious with Ruby- she got very nervous when Lucy and Penny held Ruby. I guess, compared to some, I am a bit too relaxed of a mom.

Friday night the girls had their soccer practice. I brought them and sat outside under a shaddy tree, trying not to get burnt. After practice Mariah and Jessie came over for a girl's night. We painted nails, played MASH, put on a face mask, ate lots of junk food and watched "Princess Diaries". Mariah is a good mom and a good Aunt to my kids, 

Saturday morning the girls had a soccer game. They did not win- they lost 1 to 2. I felt like their team did really well defending overall but struggled with getting close to making their own goals. After the game Penny had a birthday party and Lucy babysat for the second time. Lucy admits she does not love babysitting but the money is enough of a motivator that she will keep doing it. I wish we could motivate Steven with money...he still just has his fake job. No contact from anyone from Jimmy John's about coming in.

That afternoon Ben had his soccer game and I let Tyler take him because one of the Bishopric members, who is also Tyler's friend, came to watch. It was a super hot day so I was not sad about missing it. So funny how last week it was freezing and this week we are in the 80's. Michigan weather is crazy. Anyways Ben's team won 5 to 1. They have one more game tomorrow and it is against the only team they have lost to this season. I hope they can win!

Ruby had a tough week- several nights she was awake for hours during the night, refusing to sleep. A couple of the nights she was happy and wanting to play and another night she was sad and inconsolable. The sad night came after the happy ones and I was just so tired and could not deal with another night of interrupted sleep. I ended up waking up Tyler and having him take her because I was going to lose it. I am grateful he took her, despite the fact that he had to teach early morning seminary. Thankfully she has slept through the last couple of nights but there is no telling when she will have a bad night again. It could have been teething, or the weather change or maybe because she took really long day naps? All I know is babies are hard and unpredictable but super cute. 

Northern Lights

Sunday I taught my primary class and they were not in a very focused mood. It was a rough. I tried to talk to them about taking Christ's name upon them and how that should affect their behavior but they just acted like ruffians instead. I am looking forward to the break we will get from teaching next week for mother's day. That evening Mariah came over with her family to hang out. It was a nice day so we sat out on the porch. She gave us on update on how things are going with Tyler's sister who is living at home and it's not going well. The husband is doing a lot of crappy things and it looks like Tyler's parents might be kicking him out soon. 

Monday was busy- we had school work, cleaning house, picking up groceries, Lucy had her friend over and Ben had his annual check up. Ben was happy that he didn't have to get any shots but he did have to have her check is privates and that was awkward for him.

Wednesday Ruby had her annual check up and she hasn't gained much weight since her last visit. She is just 21 pounds. I think she is finally slowing down in her weight gain. Since Ruby has been congested and fussy at times, I had the doctor check her ears. The doctor said they were red but not to worry about antibiotics unless she gets a fever, gets more fussy or has puss coming out of her ears. I guess they don't prescribe antibiotics as easily as they used to and I am not sure how I feel about that. Other than that Ruby is doing just great. She's  a crawling machine and starting to pull up on things- Ben found her standing up in her bassinet the other day which is not safe. As far as food, she still mostly likes purees but did eat a meatball I gave her this past week and some of a cooked potato.

Wednesday evening we had to be in 3 places at once so having the extra car really came in handy. Tyler took Lucy to soccer practice, I took Penny to a chuch activity and Steven picked up Ben from his soccer practice. Everyone got where they needed to be!

Thursday was the older 3's last day of in person classes at Renaissance. They did an award's ceremony- Penny got a good citizen award- and then they did a little ceremony for the eighth graders. Hard to believe I will have 2 kids in high school next year! After the ceremony they had an indoor field day (due to rain) so I wandered around watching the kids at their various activities. It totally took up my whole social battery making small talk with all the various parents I know, but it was nice that I finally know some more parents. It makes me a bit sad that we won't be in the hybrid program next year, but I am hoping we will be happier with doing our own language arts and Math programs next year because we have not been so happy with the their curriculum.

Thursday night we went to Mariah's house to celebrate Jessie's birthday. The cake and ice cream were really good. They brought out the Wii game "Just Dance" and made me dance which is not really my thing...the things I do to fit in with his family.

Friday the kids went to the temple. It is really nice when Steven will drive with no complaint. That meant that the rest of us got to go to Culvers for dinner and run a quick errand at Target. Here's my older 3 at the temple.

Later that night the coolest thing happened. I had seen on the internet that you might be able to see the Northern lights all over Michigan but I thought it probably wasn't very likely...until someone in Commerce posted some pics. We went outside and thought we saw a faint change in the sky but upon further research discovered that they are hard to see with the naked eye but a camera with an open shutter could catch them. I put my phone camera on night mode and got some really amazing pics. Some shots from by our beach and some from our backyard. 

Saturday morning we had games in two places at once. Tyler took the girls to their game in Milford (they lost 1-3) and I took Ben to his game. Ruby also went to Ben's game with me and Mariah and her kids met us there. It turned out to be much colder than we expected. I had brought an extra blanket and warmer coat for Ruby but thought it wasn't so bad out and left them in the car. I regretted that because we were parked super far away so we just had to do without that extra warmth. Ben had a really good soccer day. They won 8 to 0- the coach on the other team was not happy. You could hear him yelling and he made his team run laps after. Funny enough, the seminary president from our area had a kid on the other team. It felt random seeing him there. Having Mariah there with her kids was interesting- everyone was super friendly to her. These parents that haven't talked to me for all the years I have been going to Ben's games, were chatting it up with her and suddenly really cheering on Ben. It was so weird. I guess they just like people who cheer loudly like them. Maybe I make them uncomfortable because I am quiet? On our way home from the game I threw a banana peel out the window and someone who passed by yelled that I was an a**hole. That was offensive. I threw it straight down so it didn't hit them and the peel is biodegradable so I'm not sure why they had to call me that. Rude. I sort of wished their car had slipped on it.

After all the games Tyler took Steven to the Jimmy John's he supposedly got hired at, just so he could scope it out. Tyler says Steven seems less anxious about working there, now having seen it, but still no word on when he will actually set foot into the store to work. All the paperwork is in and the lady said she would check with the area manager on when he might start but he still hasn't heard back from her. It's annoying to me because I can't exactly make him keep looking for a job but he doesn't really have a job either.

On another note, Lucy used the money she made babysitting and power washing to buy herself some rollerskates and pads. They came Friday evening and she has been rollerskating in the kitchen sense. The weather has been bad but hopefully next week we can get her outside skating. It's probably best for her to start out inside though, she looks like a baby deer trying to walk ;)

Hello May

On Sunday Lucy taught her first lesson in Young Women's. She had me teach with her so I ditched my primary class so I could be with her. We worked on the lesson together beforehand. I basically came up with the topic, questions and way to go through things and then she turned it into a power point presentation- she even added in hand drawn pictures, she is a really good artist.  During the lesson she talked some but I talked more. It was good I did because we still ended 10 minutes early. The rest of our Sunday was low key and relaxing which is really what my soul needed. I am glad Ben decided he didn't want to go to his soccer game that day.

Tuesday Penny was real excited for me to drive her to school in the new car. She could not wait to tell everyone that we got a new car. I am pretty sure she is more excited about it than me. I haven't had much going on lately so it was a pretty chill day while they were at school. Just working out, taking a shower and making some egg muffins for Tyler and the baby. It has been really nice not being massively busy.

Tuesday after school Steven had a phone interview with Jimmy John's and he was hired... I guess. It was sort of weird. The lady said she would move him on to the next step which I assumed would be an in person interview but then he got a text and email with paperwork and it also welcomed him to the team. So he has filled out all the tax stuff and turned in the work permit but still no talk of when he will actually go in. We shall see how this all goes.

Wednesday we made some tissue paper flowers and got some candy for teacher appreciation week. Penny claimed I had bought too much candy (they all have multiple teachers and some overlap so it can tricky to count correctly) so Lucy ripped "the extra" bag of candy open to eat. Well Penny had miscounted and I was really irritated with Lucy for opening that one without asking. I then had to make another trip to the store to get another bag of candy. I have been extra hormonal this week so I raged pretty hard over that.

Wednedsay night Ben had a soccer game in the evening. It was out in Canton and somehow we hit every single light red and I got lost so instead of getting there 30 minutes early, we just barely arrived on time. It was a bit of a frustrating drive but the game itself was good. Ben's team won 3 to 1. 

Thursday the kids all had color day at the school and Lucy borrowed a purple shirt from me because even though it's her fav color, she doesn't own a purple short sleeve shirt. I wonder if her borrowing my clothes will be a thing. 

While the kids were at school Thursday, Grace came over and we went for a walk. Ruby slept for the whole walk which was nice. When we had finished walking our loop, we sat in my front yard (in a shady spot) and chatted some more (while Ruby tried to eat grass and weeds).  Grace is struggling with Melissa's behavior. Melissa is saying the Grace's daughter is the reason her daughter is pulling away from the church and that Grace's daughter is a bad influence on hers. I do not not think that that is entirely accurate and I can see why that comment would be hurtful. Grace had a good vent and wants to just put it behind them. 

Thursday evening the girls had soccer and I sat in my car trying to work on my talk for Mother's Day. In classic Jenny fashion I have overthought everything and am struggling to write it. I just want it to be something that feels related to mother's day but doesn't leave out those who aren't mothers (because in sacrament everyone has to listen- fathers, children, single women, etc...). And I want it to uplift and not make you feel like you fall short and I just have all sorts of expectations I have put on myself so yeah, it's not flowing well. Hopefully I can figure it out in the next week.

Friday evening Tyler and I were both craving Panda Express so we went on a little date- with Ruby. It's always nice when we are able to get out and spend time together.

Saturday morning the girls had a soccer game. At first it looked like they were going to creamed but they ended up tying 2 to 2. Lucy hasn't been big into soccer this season so this might be her last season. She was saying that she would like to focus on volleyball. Ruby came with me to watch and she was a good kid- she took a nap for half of it in the stroller. That afternoon Ben had a soccer game and of course I couldn't find my hat and didn't wear sunscreen so I ended up sunburned. Ben's team won 6-4. It was a good game, they were well matched.

This week Ruby started to crawl a bit more. She still mixes it up with the army crawl but you can tell she's figuring it out. She also caught a cold this week and has had some pretty sad moments and not some great nights. I forgot how hard it is when little ones are sick. She also loves to be outside and will crawl to the window and slap it until I take her out. I'm glad the weather is warming up.