Connor Price Concert

Monday I took Lucy and Andrea to go get their hair trimmed at Grace's salon- they are both trying to grow out their pixie cuts. Grace did a slight touch up with Lucy's hair but her hair still has some more growing to do before she can really even out the layers. It was nice that I got to chat with Grace for a bit though.

Tuesday Penny had her first soccer practice of the season. Ruby had to try on Penny's soccer gear...

I decided to take Ruby with me to Penny's practice so she could get out of the house for a bit. It was cold outside though so we ended up hanging out at the Milford library which is probably the least exciting of libraries. It did not have much that entertained her so she started wandering the library which was not ideal.

Wednesday was a very rainy day and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to run a few errands with Ruby while the girls were at school. That was a poor choice because we got pretty soggy. Fun fact though, at all 3 places that we stopped at, Ruby got complimented by someone for her big eyes. After our soggy errands I had no desire to leave the house again but unfortunately the girls still needed to get picked up from school.

For dinner Wednesday we did our traditional April Fool's dinner- we were a day late since Steven has a night class Tuesday and we wanted him to participate. Everyone had a pretty fun first round. Steven got a bowl, fork and broccoli. Ben got a fork, spoon and a drink. Lucy got ice cream, a spoon and parmesan. Penny got ice cream, a fork and spaghetti. Dad got a drink, spaghetti and parmesan. The kids love this tradition but my brain struggles to get their orders right all 3 rounds with the code (like this year Elsa was ice cream, Ariel was a drink, Rapunzel was a bread stick...). 

Thursday morning the girls had a dentist appointment. We didn't get the chatty hygenist this time which was honestly ok. Ruby has a gray spot on one of her front teether to and I probably should have asked about it while I was there but it stresses me out since it is probably a cavity which means pain and $$$. Instead I just set up a dentist appointment for Ruby with her sisters in 6 months. I know, procrastination for this is probably a bad idea but it is going to be torture for so many reasons. Also Thursday the sun came out and the weather was beautiful so after lunch I sent a text to Julie to see if she wanted to get the toddlers together. She ended up coming by so Ruby and Asher got to hang out for a little bit. It's cute how they follow each other around but don't really play with each other.

Thursday night I had the joy of helping Steven with a big project on earthquakes for his college class that he saved until the last minute. He had written an essay but it needed quite a bit of editing. He also had to make a poster which he of course needed some guidance with. I really hate how he saves things for the last minute and then I feel like they become my problem. I wish I could just let go and let him fail but I really don't want him to fail.

Friday Ben had his friends birthday party. There was a lot of drama leading up to it because the 3 friends Ben had invited decided to invite people that he is not really friends with to his party. I thought it was super rude of them but at least they didn't expect me to buy these extra invitees tickets to the movie. Anyways, they went and saw "A Minecraft Movie" (Steven drove) and then came back to our house for pizza and cupcakes. After that they all worked together on their seperate devices to defeat an Ender Dragon on Minecraft- the dragon fight was honestly the reason for the extra invitees. It's funny that I had put some things from the living room into the guest room to get them out of the way and then all the kids ended up hanging out in the guest room at the end because that is where David had had to put his "device"- he had to bring his whole computer. 

Saturday was a low key day for me. I cleaned the house in the morning and then watched Conference in the afternoon. I liked the last talk by Uchtdorf that really focused on how the people in the church are imperfect but the message of Christ's love is what is most important.  There was also a beautiful message on the sanctity of life which made it pretty clear where we stand on abortion as a church. You can tell Steven was really spiritually uplifted by all the talks ;)

Saturday evening the 4 oldest kids and Tyler got to go to a Connor Price. We paid for the tickets with money Grams and Poppy gave us for Christmas. They all had a really good time and I think have developed a love for live music. Tyler took a fun video of them all singing and grooving along to a song. They also spent more total on merch than all their tickets cost so they will forever remember it. After the concert Tyler further spoiled them and bought them special Minecraft meals at McDonalds.

While they were rocking out at the concert, I was back at home with a whiney toddler who couldn't decide if she wanted to stay in the bath tub or not. Note in the picture she is trying to hold all the Barbies. This is her new thing to grab as many toys/dolls as she can when she leaves somewhere. Usually when I pick her up from her naps she will be holding at least 4 dolls, if not more.

After Ruby's bath, my friend Caroline came over and Ruby decided she did not want to go to sleep. She started saying "mama" pretty pathetically so I decided to go get her and she just laid on my lap while Caroline and I chatted. I wonder if she was just missing the noise of all her siblings.

Spring Break

This week the kids had Spring Break. I decided to not only take the week off from homeschooling but also take the week off from working out. You would think my mornings would be less busy but I just filled them with other things. Monday morning I left Ruby with all the kids and ran quick errands to Ikea and Best Buy. Errands are so much faster when it is just me. At Ikea I grabbed a shower curtain that I had seen there at a previous visit and at Best Buys I got giftcards for Ben. I think the new shower curtain was a quick and easy way to "make over" the bathroom. Lucy took the picture so she did not hide the toys and fix the rug so this is a very real picture of our bathroom ;)

While I was at Ikea I looked at their fancy loft beds with desks under them again and decided that they really would be great for the girls room. I looked on Facebook Marketplace and managed to find 2. One was more than I wanted to spend so I figured if they would take my lower offer than we would pull the trigger and get them both. They took it! We ended up paying a total of $500 for both beds (and both looked brand new) and since one costs $800 new, I think we did good. 

Monday afternoon the kids had friends over- Mimi, Claire, and AJ- so that allowed me the time to do all the Facebook Marketplace messaging... Then that evening Tyler and I went to pick up the first loft bed. It was a lot heavier and bulkier than Tyler had expected. We also had a very involved seller. He spent about 20 minutes showing Tyler how all the pieces fit together- only he had a hard time remembering- and then when Tyler went to put in the trailer he was very opinionated on what should go in first and how to put things in. It was rather annoying but Tyler was very patient. 

Tuesday Lucy and Penny went to the Henry Ford Museum with Geli and Luna. and Ben had Andrea over. While they were all busy, Ruby and I went to Grace's home. Actually, we met Grace at the library first but that was kind of a bust- it was super busy- so we went to her home. I was worried about Ruby destroying her very not child proof and pretty house but Ruby actually did really well. It was a good time. Here are some pics from the girls outing. They always get spoiled by Geli and Luna's grandparents- they took them there, bought them lunch and bought them mood bracelets.

Tuesday night Tyler had to pick up the second loft bed so I took Ruby with me to hang with me in Novi while Ben had driver's class. This time we went and bought Penny her very fancy new water bottle (why are water bottles such a "trendy" thing right now?) and then we went and got ice cream at Chick-Fil-A. They have a little indoor play place. The play place itself didn't have much that excited Ruby but there were 3 kids there that she enjoyed watching. She just loves older kids. While Ruby people watched I chatted with the kids' grandma and uncle. It turns out the grandma has 4 kids and 2 of them are named Jennifer and Michael. Lol, it's fun to find random similarities. We had a good chat about big families and how fun they are.

Tuesday Ruby's nose had started to run and that night she came down with a fever. Thankfully the fever made her sleepy and even though she woke up once, she fell asleep again really quickly.

Wednesday I went to Grace's again- this time with all the girls. She was nice to have me over despite Ruby being sick. Meanwhile Ben went to AJ's house- he had lots of friend time this break. The girls played the Switch with Reggie and jumped on the trampoline. I had brought lunch since she had fed me Tuesday. I just brought frozen pizzas since I was feeling lazy. Unfortunately her kids didn't like that pizza so that was not a winner. Other than that fail, it was a good time. 

That night I took Ruby with me again to Novi while Ben was in driver's class so she wouldn't be bugging Tyler while he moved out all the girls old furniture and moved in the new loft beds (I ended up getting rid of the bunk beds,dressers and small desk on Facebook marketplace, some for money, some not and that was an ordeal in itself) While in Novi Ruby and I ended up hanging out at the library there which we probably should have went to sooner. She really liked it there. It has different areas- doll house, cars, kitchen, blocks...It was kind of nice because there weren't many kids and they would all play in one area and then kind of switch so there was minimal fighting. She actually has a pretty good attention span these days and we passed the 2 hours easily. 

When we got back Tyler was still working on their room- it was big project. I tried to lie down with Ruby in my room and get her to sleep since he was still working on it past Ruby's bed time but she was not cooperative. He finally finished in their room around 9pm so I put her down in her bed but she still refused to sleep. She did not go down until 10pm. She can be such a stinker.

Thursday morning we watched Mariah's kids while she was at a dr's appointment finding out her baby's gender (spoil alert- she is having another boy). Ben was playing Zelda so mostly they just hung out with him and watched him play. We also had a Lego contest for a little bit where we came up with different themes- make a face, a monster, a car...- and then Ben judged our creations. That was pretty fun. That afternoon Penny went to Mimi's new house. They live over by our church so it's a bit of a drive now. I wish they still lived closer. I ended up picking Penny up after I dropped Ben off at his class. Then Penny and I went to Walmart to try to find bins to organize their stuff with. After that I treated her to ice cream at Chick-Fil-A. We sat by the window next to the drive-thru and enjoyed being awkward and people watching. There was a man that came through the drive thru with a car full of fast food bags and trash. He made me feel better that although my car is messy, it could be much worse...

Friday the boys had dentist appointments. We had the super chatty lady again. She just loves our big family and loves to chat. She is also super understanding about Ben not getting braces (even if I have to give her the same story every time). Both boys have possible cavities starting because neither is apparently flossing appropriately. These teens of mine. That afternoon I took Lucy to a skating rink. We met Jenna and Stacey. Stacey and I hung out while the girls skated in circles. They were exhausted after two hours but both want to go back. 

Saturday Ben turned 15! He's doing his party next week so he can go see "A Minecraft Movie" with his friends. Therefore today was just a family day. He started his day by opening his gifts- I totally failed to take pictures but he got 2 Lego sets (one set was from the Brady grandparents), gaming headphones, STEAM giftcards and silver coins (coins from the Hatch grandparents).After breakfast, we went to Dave and Busters. We still had the giftcards that was got for Christmas. Dave and Busters is sooo expensive. We used $150 from our giftcards and it only lasted the kids about an hour and a half but to be fair we have a lot of kids. Each game ranges from like 6-10 play points and they each had 165 game points.I think Chuck E is a way better bargain BUT the older kids love Dave and Busters a lot more. It's more their jam. They had a doll claw machine there and the middle 3 kids all won stuffies from it. They gave the stuffies to Ruby- 4 total- and Ruby could barely hold them all. It was pretty cute to watch her toddle around trying to carry them. We figured Ruby was spoiled enough so the kids all ended up splitting their tickets evenly between the 4 of them. The boys used their tickets for candy, Lucy got a squishy and Penny got Skittles chapstick. 

After that we got Subway for lunch and then Ben spent the afternoon playing his new STEAM game with Steven. This was the most Steven has been out and around us for a long while, it was nice. I spent the afternoon cleaning and Tyler spent the afternoon sword making. Then for dinner Mariah and her family came over. We had pizza, cake and ice cream and it was a nice ending to the day. Since we have to do a nice cake for Ben's party, I decided to just have fun with Ben's cake for today and made a very wonky Steve face. Steve looks a little derpy but he will do. 

Here's a couple pics Lucy took of their new loft beds. I am really happy with how their room turned out because both girls feel like they finally have their own space. 

Zoo

Monday was St.Patrick's day. The only St.Patrick's thing we did was wear green and eat Lucky Charms. It's not one of my favorite holidays. That morning we skipped homeschool because we were watching Mariah's oldest 3 kids. We watched them so her and Jeff could figure out what residencies he should apply to. (Spoiler alert- he has ended up taking a family medicine residency in West Virginia) Watching their kids went really smoothly. They played with Legos for a long time and then watched an ambulance, fire truck and police car that came to Christy's house across from us (apparently she thought she smelt a fire but thankfully everything was ok). We did lunch, colored and then watched a little bit of "Frozen". It helps when my full focus is on just entertaining them all and I don't have other tasks to accomplish.

That afternoon Ruby refused to fall asleep for her nap. She spent the whole time- just about 2 hours- playing in her crib so I let her be since she wasn't crying. I tried to sneak a picture of her playing when I finally came in to get her but she caught me. I don't know why she didn't sleep- Mimi and Claire were over so maybe she thought everyone was having fun without her? Or maybe daylight savings or maybe sleep regression or maybe...?

Here are Ruby and me decked out in our green outfits....

Tuesday at nap time Ruby played in her crib again. This time she played for almost an hour and a half and then fell asleep for a half hour. When I came in to get her, this is how her room looked... She was apparently messing with her pictures.

Tuesday evening Ben had his driving class and driving lesson so I just dropped him off. He did much better driving this time and the instructor's only complaint was that he needed to slow down at train tracks and listen for trains. That night I went to Grace's house. We had lots of good conversations- about faith, trials, and even trivial things like what I could do with the extra space in the boys room. She helped me finally make some decisions for their room.

Wednesday while the girls were at school, I took Ruby to the Detroit Zoo. Not my favorite zoo but with just the two of us it was a pretty good time. I brought her car stroller so she was happy to be in it and also it was easy to get her in and out of it but it also created jealousy. There was one little boy who ran up to us and followed us for quite a bit before his Grandpa pulled him away. He really wanted a ride in it. Since I didn't have any other kids to complain about walking too much we managed to see most of the zoo. She spent a long while by the camels eating her sandwich but I think that she was more fascinated by the geese that were in the pen with the camels. The snakes were less exciting because they were all well camouflaged. She seemed to be fascinated by the monkeys, gorillas and giraffes. She loved the random peacocks and ducks that crossed her path. After we saw all the animals we played a the playground and then headed out to pick up the girls. Ruby got a little car nap on our way there.

Wednesday night Ruby, Penny and I hung out in Novi during Ben's class. We stopped by at a couple stores and then went to the mall and played in the play area. I think we are all bored of the mall. I am so gratefull there is only one more week of driving classes.

Thursday morning Ruby decided to hop in the shower before I got her undressed. She is such a booger. For her nap she played for a half an hour and slept for the rest. This was her pattern for the rest of the week- even when I tried putting her down later to see if that would help. She just really likes to play in her crib. I wonder if I need to take the dolls out.

Thursday while Ben was at drivers school I got some time to myself. I strolled a couple stores and enjoyed the quiet time. After driving school we had to meet Steven, Tyler and Ruby at the boys' archery banquet. We were about an hour late. We missed the eating part but came just in time for the awards. The boys both won academic archer awards and Steven got the best scores in 3D and Bullseye for 11th grade boys....because he was the only boy in 11th grade on the team. He still does well for himself. Tyler got recognized for being a super funny and dedicated coach (as did all the other volunteer coaches). They gave him a $30 giftcard to Krogers. A bit random but we will take it.

Friday Tyler and I had a super exciting date to Costco where we spent a lot of money on really boring stuff like water bottles and chicken nuggets. That night the kids and I watched "Superman Returns". Apparently the dvd was all scratched up because it kept pausing and made a really long movie, even longer. Ben got super frustrated but insisted we keep watching it.

Saturday morning Ruby, Penny and I went to Lizzie's baptism. I have knowm that girl her whole life which is honestly a bit crazy to think about. She was super bouncy and happy and everything went real nice. Ruby was pretty squirmy but made lots of friends with the older people around her. She loved giving them her books and having them read with her. Penny got a bloody nose which was a bummer because she was wearing a white dress. Only a few spots got on it though. I think I made a poor choice in wearing a bright red sweater though because in the pics Caroline took I stuck out like a sore thumb;)

While we were at the baptism, Ben had a drive with an instructor and continues to improve. I am happy to see him feeling more confident. That evening I watched the "The Hundred Foot Journey" which was a little slow for the kids but it's a good one. This seems to be a pretty consistent theme, kids are just used to more faster paced movies than the movies and shows we grew up on. 

Also I have gotten back into puzzling and am enjoying having that back in my life. I finished this fun Lego Succulent puzzle. It was tricky so it took a long while to finish.

Outside

Sunday the clocks moved ahead an hour which means we lost an hour during the night. Since we don't have church until 11am, this just meant that we all woke up at 8 instead of our usual 7. With homeschool the next couple days for the girls it took them a few days to get back to our usual times. The boys had to adjust quickly with seminary. 

Monday the weather was amazing. Julie sent me a text asking about dropping by with Asher to play outside. Ruby was taking a bath but I am always wanting to socialize Ruby so I quickly got her out of the tub so she could hang with Asher. They hung out in our yard for a bit. Mostly they played nice but Ruby yelled at him when he tried to get in the wagon with her *sigh* When Julie had to head home, we walked back with her part of the way. It is nice having a friend in the neighborhood. The only problem is Julie is friends with everyone so she is harder to make plans with. I think she rotates through us. Anyways there was lots of outside time for us Monday. Ruby thought it was fun to get on her belly in the sand box- so messy!

Monday evening I was mean and made the boys help make room for their new bookcase and I made Tyler make the bookcase. No one was happy about these things. They all wanted a relaxing evening and I ruined that. I am glad it got done though, and I think it looks nice. The only thing is the bookcase is already full so what are we going to do when they get new Legos? We really just need an entire room dedicated to Legos...

While Tyler was busy building the bookcase, I took Lucy, and Ruby to a park to meet Lucy's friend Claire. As the sun went down it got cooler than I would have liked but I can't object to my kids getting outside time.

Tuesday evening Ben was back at drivers ed so I was back to killing time in Novi. Lucy, Penny and Ruby all joined me. We made a stop at Five and Below so we could some gifts for birthday parties that the girls had. We also made a stop at Bob's Discount Furniture because I am still trying to figure out a couch/chair to put in the boys room. Bob's discount was not enough of a discount so I will probably continue searching on Facebook Marketplace. After the furniture store we went to Lakeshore Park. We had an hour left to kill and again it got cool as the sun set and we regretted going to the park. Lucy got bored pretty quickly and ended up in the car reading. Penny and me hung out with Ruby and followed her around. She just hops from thing to thing- she even tried a tall slide but she did not love it. We were all glad when the hour was up and it was time to get Ben.

After we got back home, I made the boys go through their bins that they had been keeping under their beds and now no longer fit under their low bunk bed. We got rid of stuff that was trash, packed away things that were sentimental and would probably not be touched for ages and put the things that they use every once in awhile in the cupboards in their bookcase. It felt good to dejunk but I was also exhausted by the time we were done.

Wednesday the girls had a dress like your future career day. Lucy dressed like an author and Penny dressed as a homeschool mom so basically they looked normal, lol.

While the girls were at school I ended up just having a chill day at home with Ruby. That evening I was actually able to leave Ruby at home with Tyler while I took Ben to his class. That meant it was just me hanging out in Novi. I ended up going to a piercing place in the mall and getting my nose stud replaced with one with a shorter pole and gold plating. It was a nice place and not too expensive. Hopefully I can just leave this one in for a long time. Then I sat in my car and watched a show until Ben got out. It was a much needed chill evening.

Thursday Ben had his first drive with the instructor. He was super nervous and it showed. His instructor's comment online was "You need to find a way to relax and try to stay a little calmer." Easier said than done. Hopefully now that he knows what to expect, he will be able to feel a little calmer next time. Since he had his drive and then went straight to his class (a total of 4 hours) I did not hang out in Novi but went back home. This week was much better with the driving school since I did not have to be stuck in Novi with Ruby 3 times. It also helped that because of daylight savings, the sun was still out when we drove home so no driving blind.

Friday was another great weather day. Claire came over after the girls finished school and all us girls went to Scarlet's Playground. Ruby loves to wander and play on all the things. Penny followed her and Lucy and Claire mostly just talked and played with their volleyball. That afternoon I took Penny to Salvation Army to help her find cute jammies for her sleepover that night. She ended up with a Barbie shirt and black and pink star pants. She was very excited with her thrift store finds. That night everyone had things except Ruby and me. Penny had Laura's birthday sleepover, the middle three went to the temple for Baptisms and Tyler had to coach volleyball (without Lucy since she had baptisms). While it was just us, Ruby played outside and then I introduced her to "Tangled". After she went to bed I watched a chick flick until the kids all came home.

Saturday everyone was busy with things again. The boys all went to the state archery tournament in the morning in Lansing. Steven got a 258 and Ben got a 243. Steven has kind of plateaued with archey since he won't put in more effort and Ben got better with each tournament- this was his personal best. While they had archery, Lucy and Penny went to Luna's birthday party at Skyzone. Lucy seemed to have more fun than Penny. I don't think Penny does well when her friends are in large groups- she prefers one on one hang outs. But so do I... The day ended with the boys helping Mimi's family move and Mimi hanging out at our house. 

Ruby still struggled some nights and ended up sleeping in our bed. She is not great to share a bed with- she loves to either kick or push her face in yours. I wonder if she will ever grow out of needing us at night. She is lucky that she is adorable.