Things

Monday morning Penny had her appointment to get her expander out. She was super thrilled to be done with it so she can talk more clearly and eat sticky things! She just has to wear a retainer at night now until all her teeth are lost and grown- then we can do braces. She bought herself some gum shortly after to celebrate :) After her appointment I called my doctor to find out if I needed some medical care for my super heavy menstrual bleeding. I was on the phone for ages between hold times and transfers, and in the end, I had a last min appt with my obgyn. I literally had 15 mins to get there so thank goodness the kids and Tyler were all home to watch Ruby. 

At the office, the dr did a check and acknowledged it was a lot of bleeding, then he prescribed me some medicine, and told me to schedule an ultrasound and get blood work done. The blood work all came back ok so I wasn't deficient in anything so that's good but my condition is still perplexing. It didn't let up until Saturday so it was just over a week of awfulness. I have the ultrasound scheduled for when I come back and hopefully I'll get some answers.

Tuesday Steven and I were supposed to go to the eye dr but they canceled on us- Dr's always seem to cancel on Steven. That was OK because I also had a dental appt that day so it was nice to only have one appt. The lady who cleans my teeth is always very chatty ( and I guess I am too) so it always takes a bit longer.  This time we talked about the weather we have to deal with when watching our kids' sports. 

Wednesday we met up with the Eakins and the Mays at our beach. The weather was just a touch on the cool side but the kids still had fun in the water. They are tougher than me.  The teens also took a walk to seven eleven at some point. I brought Ruby's little blue pool and filled it with beach water and that helped entertain her some and keep her out of trouble. I'm glad we've had more beach days this year, they help pass time. 

Thursday morning Steven went and got his physical. I ended up bringing Ruby with me and she did pretty well. The hardest thing is that she wants to crawl around (and those floors look gross) but she is usually content if I help her walk around. She honestly does pretty well as long as she can wiggle and eat. Steven had to get two shots and thankfully the doctor was young and pretty so he didn't cry about them.

Thurday afternoon the boys went and did archery at the library. It was too bad it wasn't a contest because they said they would have won if it was ;). I am just always glad when the teens (especially Steven) get out the house and hang with friends. Steven is on his computer way too much and it drives me bonkers. 

Friday evening we went to a graduation party. It was nice to get a free dinner for our family, lol. It was for the teen who cut himself while trying to sell me knives. We gave him bandaids and a $20 ;)

Saturday I got started with packing for our trip to Tennessee and other misc things related to the trip. That evening Grace watched Ruby and Penny while the rest of us met the Mays at MJR to watch "The Quiet Place: Day One". The movie itself was pretty good- they are always entertaining enough- I just feel like there are some inconsistencies in the franchise. 

Youth Conference

Sunday was Father's Day. In the morning we made Tyler scrambled eggs for breakfast and spoiled him with gifts. He got a new bug assault gun from me (the widow maker), Lucy got him cotton candy soda, Ben got him a minecraft shirt and Penny got him a Lego Dumbledore Keychain.  At church Penny gave her first ever talk in sacrament. With her expander and nerves (that caused her to rush) she was a little difficult to understand but since I helped her write her talk,  I would say it was a good one. She talked about how her dad and Heavenly Father show her they love her by teaching her things (like how to scare her family ;) ). The rest of the day was naps and a delicious dinner of shepherds pie (something that won't choke him). Ruby was looking silly during dinner.

Monday the boys left super early to Youth Conference. They didn't come back until Friday evening. For Youth Conference they got to see church history sights in Ohio and New York. They stayed in cabins in upstate New York. Both boys seemed to have a good time. The Bishop stayed in a cabin with them which apparently led to push up competitions and a rock climbing race and other competitive things.  The weather was pretty hot and they had no a/c but surprisingly neither one complained too much about it and they both said the food was decent. Steven's favorite part was doing baptisms at the Palmyra temple and walking its grounds. He thought it was cool to see the chandelier in the Celestial room through a window. Ben's favorite part was visiting the Sacred Grove. He felt like it was a nice calming experience. They also had some cool ruins to explore near their cabins. Some of the pics from the week.

On Monday I had one of the youth from the Ward come and try to sell me Cutco knives. Really he was just practicing and I was very upfront that they were out of my budget. It was only slightly awkward and maybe even more awkward when he accidentally cut himself with one of the knives and started bleeding. He tried to fake that he was ok but eventually relented to me having Penny get him a bandaid. 

Tuesday Lucy hung out with Claire and Penny hung out with Reggie. At church this past Sunday I caught Penny writing a note that said  I heart Reggie.  She got super embarrassed when I brought it up so I won't tease her about it but I would also rather they just be friends. They have a lot of fun hanging out together and play really well together- no drama. Tuesday afternoon I took the girls to see "Inside Out 2". With the new emotion anxiety introduced, it felt pretty relatable. It was a good one. 

Wednesday we met the Eakins and Mays at our beach. Julie was there as well. We were going to go to the zoo but had decided it was much too hot for a zoo day. Tyler was off of work for Juneteenth so he stayed home since Ruby was still napping and he fed her lunch before bringing her to join us. It was really nice to just sit and chat with friends for a bit and not have to worry about a baby. Once she came she was crawling around and trying to eat literally everything she could find- rocks, trash, sticks...It became a little less fun for me. 

Thursday we met Mimi and her mom at the libray. For once Mimi's mom had actually text me with an invite and that was really nice. It is hard to always be the one reaching out. They didn't get quite as crazy as the last time we were there but Ruby was very active and required following. Honestly needing to follow her around, relieved me from making small talk with Mimi's mom. Her mom is super nice but I am not sure she would approve of my total weirdo, negative self so I have to try harder to be a normal person when talking to her, lol. Afterwards Penny went over to Reggie's for another hang out and the rest of us chilled at home. 

Friday Lucy hung with Claire and was lucky enough to sleep over at her house. This will be their last hang out for a bit because Claire is going on a mission trip and then we will have our Tennessee trip. This is very sad for Lucy. Also Friday, Penny, Ruby and I did some second hand shopping to try and find clothes for when we take pictures in Arizona. I don't want to spend a ton of money on new clothes but also it's hard to get a matching color scheme for 7 people with just what we have. It's an ordeal and I still think new clothes- for me- are in order.

Saturday we went to a baptism in the morning. It was a bit longer than I like- they had a slideshow of pics of the girl growing up. I don't know why this is such a thing. I feel like it is super cute but also irrelevant to the ordinance.  Although Penny was happy that she was featured with her friend in one of the pics. After the baptism I went to a puzzle competition at the library with Caroline and Grace. I was surprised by how many people were there and the variety of ages (kids to the elderly). Everyone was given the same 1000 piece puzzle (it had lots of different people reading books) and there were teams of 3 or 4 people. We did not win and I was not a fan of the team that did win. They were high enery people that were all matching and wearing green visors. They were not your typical puzzle people and I feel like they were a little too enthusiastic about their win. The librarian was also a little too high energy for me. My negative attitude was probably influenced by the fact that I am having a particularly bad menstruation cycle. It's been very very heavy and I probably will be calling the doctor this week about it.

Some cute pics of Ruby enjoying the outside this week and Ruby staring adoringly at Mariah the guinea pig.

Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary

Sunday we had Stake Conference. I actually don't mind Stake Conference because Tyler gets to sit with us (he usually mans the zoom feed in our ward). We sat by Mariah's family so we were a big and busy group. I spent some of the time in the halls getting Ruby to nap and then sitting in a cozy arm chair while she napped. Then I sat with everyone. Dad took Ruby and I ended up watching Wesley for a bit. There were some good talks- I especially enjoyed the ones by the missionary presidents. They had some good stories about people being in the right place at the right time because of promptings. The stories also showed that real life isn't always happily ever after. I told Tyler later that that might be us someday- I don't know why, just a random feeling. Then he told me all the public speaking that involved and I said hard pass ;)  After Conference, Mariah's family came over and hung out- one last time before they head to Arizona for 6 weeks. I made cookies because I lost a Scrabble game against Ben and promised him cookies if I lost. All in all it was a good Sabbath and Ruby was looking particularly cute so I had to take some pictures. Plus one weirdo picture of me.

On Monday Ben got to start his soccer conditioning at Northern. They took it easy on him for the first day but it got progressively more difficult for him. He still has a good attitude about it but he is usually pretty exhausted afterwards and doesn't want to do too much. With soccer Ben realized his tennis shoes needed to be replaced so we went on an outing to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall- they have good outlet stores there. Lucy's friend Claire joined us. The kids had fun window shopping (in which they were confused by the term because I didn't buy any windows) and we got Ben some new shoes, a couple things for Father's Day and ended the outing with a cone from Dairy Queen. 

Tuesday I decided to go running with Ben and that was not a great idea. It's been years since I have ran. I barely made it a half a mile before I needed to walk for a bit. My lungs also did not enjoy the run and I had a pretty yucky cough for the next 24 hours. I think I will stick to lifting weights from now on. No more running for me.

Wednesday we met my usual group (Eakins, Mays, Bloomfields) at our beach- school is finally out for everyone. The Mays were a little late and it felt like the kids were all awkward and not really playing with each other until they got there. I guess they were the glue in the friendships. With Ruby needing a nap, we only stayed a couple hours. Gone are our days of spending all afternoon at the beach but it was still a good time. 

Thursday we met Mimi and her mom at the libray for a bit. That was probably not a great idea because Penny and Mimi were both were a little bit too rowdy for the library. Ruby also decided she wanted to stand up when I put her down but then she tipped over and hit her head on something and that was very sad. She scream cried for quite a bit. We certainly disrupted that library.

Thursday afternoon we met Stacy, Jenna and Marin at our beach (and Claire came with us as well). I hadn't seen Stacey since Christmas so it was nice to catch up with her in person. Ruby was not feeling well and spent most of the time needing hugs from me and wasn't super social with them. Not sure what was up with Ruby but she had a rough next day (and night) too. I was bummed she wasn't her fun usual self for them but it was still a good time. It's hard to believe that Marin graduated and will be starting college and that Jenna (and Lucy) will be in middle school. I think Stacey views me as an oddity with my big family and strange religious beliefs but that's ok, at least she is interested in the things I say, lol. 

Thursday night Lucy finally convinced me to let Claire spend the night. It turned out to be pretty low key. We had dinner, went to Kroger's for some treats, they watched a movie and then they went outside in the dark and made a scary movie with Claire's camera. They had me watch it and I am reminded how not good I am at faking reactions. It was just a goofy kid video that was really only funny for the kids that made it. Lucy asked me what I would rate it and me being generous gave it 8 out of 10 stars. That was not generous enough apparently. She asked "What about the other 2 stars!?" Awkward.

Friday was a chill day. I ran an errand to get the boys a few things for Youth Conference and that was my only outing for the day. That everning the oldest 3 had baptisms at the temple with our ward. I am glad our Ward is good at setting up a monthly temple date for the youth. They all seem to enjoy it (especially getting a treat at Culver's afterwards).

Saturday we had no plans so I made my family come to the Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary in Athens with me. I had been wanting to go for awhile and there happened to be a groupon for it. No one is quite into the adventures like I am and they were all especially grumbly about the drive (2 hours). Ruby seems to have outgrown falling asleep easily in the car but she did take a cat nap on the way there so the drive went fairly smoothly. Once there we had a person come up and ask if we wanted a tour and we said sure. What started out as just us and one other family grew after the first stop. That was a bit of a bummer since I am not a fan of lots of people but I am still glad we said yes. She had lots of interesting facts about the tortoises and alligators and she had some back stories on some of them too. The alligator below that looks like it is smiling has a short snout because they kept him in a tub and he didn't have the room to grow. Most of their animals there are rescues. People aren't so smart about taking on alligators as pets apparently. Near the end of the tour, we had sort of had enough of alligators so we sat and had lunch. While eating we saw a family doing the small alligator encounter and I decided we should do it too. We will probably never come back so we might as well enjoy it to the fullest. It was a good choice. The kids all were pretty excited about holding the alligator and we even got a smile from Steven (who was saying he wanted to go home the whole time). Although I didn't capture the smile- booo. After our fun adventure we stopped at Horrock's Market for some treats and then headed home, where Ruby once again took a cat nap in the car.

We ended the fun day with the kids watching Ruby so Tyler and I could go eat the Filling Station. Their burgers are sooooo good and it's a small, not well known place so it's never crowded and the service is always quick. Unfortunately that means it may not stay in business long but I do hope it does. I really like the food.

Summertime

Sunday was testimony meeting and Penny, unprompted by me, went up and bore her testimony. Ruby started getting fussy and the lady before her talked too much so I ended up having to step out during it. That was frustrating but from what I heard in the halls, it was nice, simple testimony. Primary was....loud...the kids are seriously wiggly these days. Summer has definitely arrived. Even Penny was not super obedient. After church Mariah and her family came over. I watched the kids so they could do DND and then we had a BBQ to break the fast. It is nice having family here so we can do Sunday dinners sometimes.

Monday I cleaned and then the kids had friends over. It was a little frustrating to see all my hard work cleaning so quickly be erased. 

Tuesday we had to return all our books to Renaissance. I took Claire's family's books too so I was loaded down with two very heavy laundry baskets full of books. I ended up bringing the books back while Ruby was napping so that Ben could watch her and I didn't have to tote her too. That was a good choice. We were originally going to go to a park with some friends after book drop off but a couple of friends backed out and it was such a hot day, so we canceled. I was honestly really glad it didn't work out. Instead of the park, the kids had 2 friends come over. That was more low key for me and helped keep Ruby on schedule. 

Tuesday night we went to Ryah's graduation party (she was in our seminary class for a year and her mom was in Bunco with me for awhile).  I usually don't love these sort of things but it ended up being super chill and there were actually a couple of people there that I know and got to catch up with. Ryah is always so kind and did a good job of making us feel welcome. And Ruby was a hit with the teens. She isn't as smiley these days but her big eyes and dark lashes draw everyone in. They even had a shaved ice truck there when we arrived and I was going to grab some on our way out. Of course when we left, the truck was gone. That was the only bummer for the night. 

Wednesday afternoon I watched Mariah's kids so her and Jeff could go on an anniversary date.  I have to be really forceful to get her to let me watch her kids. I wish she would let me help more.  I was a little worried about having Maverick but it actually went super smoothly.  I assigned each of my kids, one of her kids and had them make sure they are their lunch. Then I put the babies down for a nap. Maverick slept in Ruby's unused crib. While they were napping, Steven listened out for them, and the rest of us went for a walk. After the walk they played Candy Land and then we all drew a picture together. Then we turned on Octonauts for the tail end. Smooth sailing.  

While the Jones' kids were over it started pouring and Lucy actually went out and played in it. We had done a book about overcoming worries and it feels like it worked. She used to hate rain because to her that equated to tornadoes. Not sure if it was the strategies it taught or if she just needed extra love and attention to get her less scared...

Thursday Ben, Ruby, and Penny drove with me out to Oxford to return Ben's computer. The lady had us fill out some stuff on a computer and then disappeared in the back with her coworkers before we finished.  I had to awkwardly call back for her so she could actually take our computer. Super fun. 

That evening the kids had over their Renassiance friends to burn old school work- Geli, Luna, Aiden, Brielle, Andrea and Claire. They had pizza, played video games, burned their work (without starting any yard fires thankfully), made s'mores (got sticky marshmallows everywhere- the deck, the driveway, the camping chairs) and ended the night playing Nuke 'Em at our beach. It was actually a really chill, really nice party. It's fun watching these crazy kids grow up. 

Friday our neighborhood was going to have their end of the school year beach party so my kids invited some friends to go to it.  But then they canceled the party because of wind so we ended up hosting friends again. Even though it was windy and cool they all decided they still wanted to go to the beach so we did. They played Nuke 'Em for a bit and then actually got in the water. They are much braver than me. After playing in the water, we tried to dig heart shaped holes and take pics from inside them (it's a social media trend) but we failed to get them the right size. Then it was back to our house for gaming and some orange chicken. 

Friday night Tyler and I had Lauren Cody's (not sure her new last name) Michigan open house to go to ( I had her in young women's and we're friends with her parents). It looks like Lauren married a good man, he really seemed genuine and kind.  The venue was small and cramped and the food was not great but we had a couple good people to chat with before we removed ourselves from the peopley place. Ben was nice and watched Ruby so we could go (no kids were allowed). He did really good getting her to bed. He said she started crying so he picked her up and rocked her and whispered to her calming things and then she went to bed. He's a good kid. 

The girls had a party at Grace's that night while we were at the open house, so I hung out with Grace and Caroline for a bit when I went to pick up Lucy and Penny. I like hanging out with my friends individually but then when I do, I just have to hear everything repeated when we're all together. Sigh. 

Saturday morning, we realized Tyler had forgotten to leave the card at the open house. I sent a text to Lauren's mom and she ended up coming over to pick up. She's super chatty so she came inside and talked about her busy life for a bit. The rest of my day was fairly uneventful. The girls had a birthday party at an art place and some of the moms were going to go get coffee while the kids partied. I was not in the mood to be social with moms I don't know well so I was rude and said I needed some quiet time. Hopefully I didn't offend them too much but I just really didn't have the energy for it.

Ruby this week has officially mastered going up stairs- although not very safely. And she has discovered that she likes to growl. It is a very cute growl.