Thanksgiving

This week for homeschooling the girls I decided to do just math Monday, just English Tuesday and then take the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. It was a good choice. This is the flexibility I really love about homeschooling. Monday was nice and chill overall. That night Lucy had volleyball practice so I dropped her off and then took Penny and Ruby to the library because there was a book the girls wanted. We were just going to run in real quick but shockingly it was empty so we decided to stay and play. Penny was able to build a fort with the tiles and we even got Ruby to go inside (but only because I went in too).

Tuesday Tyler was off work so after the girls finished English, Tyler, Ruby and me ran a couple of errands for Christmas presents. Then that afternoon Steven had his last dentist appointment for cavity fillings. As I mentioned before none of these cavity fillings have been covered by insurance thanks to his wisdom teeth taking all the money,so in the end we've paid almost $700 for his stupid teeth. This is probably just karma for all the money my parents spent on my teeth. On a happier note, that night Mariah, Penny, Lucy and I went to see "Wicked". I had high expectations for this movie and it didn't let me down. It turned out really well. My only complaint was it was long and I have been old and achy lately so it was hard for me to sit that long. Near the end I really wanted to get up and go for a walk but I also did not want to miss the movie. 

Wednesday I got an early Christmas present, Tyler took me to get my ears pierced. I went to a piercing/tattoo place because they are much more reliable but man was that place full of booby pictures that people could tattoo on themselves. SO many boobies. We had a bit of a wait because there were 2 people before me and the lady does a really thorough job of cleaning between people (which is a good thing). But the wait made me feel pretty anxious. I know I have had 4 c sections but still a piercing made me nervous. Mostly because it felt like an unknown quanity. When it was my turn she had a look at my ears and said the holes were totally still there from when I was a child and she could just stretch them out like she would with a gauge piercing. I was not confident that she would be able to do it without repiercing them but she did and with almost no pain, I had earrings! So since that ended up only being $30 I decided to go ahead and get my nose pierced. It has been something I have wanted for awhile but haven't really had the courage to do. It felt spontaneous and when she was asking me which nostril and about placement I really wasn't sure but now it's done and I am loving it. It's my little midlife crisis piercing and my small sparkly rebellion. My eyes watered when she pierced it and it was pretty sore the first night but it hasn't really bothered me since. I would definintely take the girls there to get their ears fixed/done.

Also on Wednesday Steven got his Oculus/VR headset that he had ordered and spent his hard earned money on. He had never bought something that expensive before and he was sure that there was no way they would just leave it on his doorstep. He was convinced he would need to sign for it. He was constantly tracking it from the moment he ordered it so he could make sure he was home. He of course did not actually have to sign for it but he was indeed home when it came. He was also convinced that having it shipped to him would mean that it would be in better condition than one that was at a store. He feels too many people handle the ones at the stores. He had all these silly, worried thoughts about his Oculus. Lucky for him his Oculus came with no issues and he has been enjoying it since.

That night Andrea was over so Ben, Lucy, Andrea and I did our classic movie night and I decided to have them watch "Disturbia". That was a poor choice. The first two thirds of the movie have lots of inappropriate stuff and the scary/action stuff doesn't really happen until the end. It felt mostly awkward to watch with them.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Tyler was insistent that we just do Thanksgiving with his sister's family this year so it was pretty low key. I took Ruby out in the cold snow in the morning while Tyler was prepping the turkey. Then I decorated the tables because I enjoy doing that but it is very time consuming. Then I started on my make ahead mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. While I was working on them Mariah's family came over. The kids watched "Wizard of Oz" (inspired by watching "Wicked") and not too long after it finished (but long enough that everyone was starving and I wished I had put out some snacks) it was time for dinner. We had the turkey, Tyler's special punch, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes and sweet potates. Mariah brought crescent rolls, some other veggies and crescent rolls, and then she made stuffing and cooked some bacon wrapped green beans just before it was all ready. It was a good meal. After dinner the kids watched the Veggie Tale version of "The Wizard of Oz" while we cleaned up and then it was pie time. I had been worried that it was going to be a stressful day but honestly, it ended up pretty low key. It was a good holiday and Ruby really took to Mariah that night and kept asking to be on her lap, it was cute. I also thought it was super interesting that Steven put on his thankful list that he was thankful for his job. Who would have thought?

Friday I had a chill morning. I took Ruby out to walk in the cold snow again and did some after Thanksgiving clean up and then it was time to start decorating for Christmas. Lucy was so pushy all morning about doing it...she reminds me of myself sometimes. We watched "While You Were Sleeping" while we decorated. This year I was going for a more whimsy, colorful tree. I think it turned out pretty fun

Friday night Tyler and I took Ruby grocery shopping at Walmart. I was worried about doing order pick up with it being black Friday. I had a really bad experience last year ordering grocery pick up on Cyber Monday that I did not want to repeat. The store was fairly empty and the lines weren't bad, but it definitely was more work for me than pick up. I have become lazy.

Saturday was another low key day. Mostly just checking things off my To Do list. That night Andrea was over again and Ben, Lucy, Andrea and I watched a movie from the 1960's, "The Birds". It was definitely an old movie, with a very slow beginning and weird ending and I am thinking I should not be allowed to pick out movies anymore. Ruby and Andrea are really becoming buddies though. At church today, Ruby would not go to anyone who was not family except for Andrea.

Ruby has not been the best sleeper this week. I think she is getting teeth in. The weather has also gotten super cold so maybe the temperature change is messing with her. Who knows? I still try to get outside with her everyday because I like to pretend that helps but I do not love the cold. Here are some silly pics of my cute baby.