Feels Like Fall

Sunday morning was nice. I was able to enjoy a slow morning and even go on a walk before Conference started. Some moms are big into baking special things on conference sundays but I really enjoy the slow pace of the day.  The General Conference talks Sunday felt like they were more what I needed and other Michiganders might have needed. I felt like this time around there were some good talks about finding joy and healing in challenges. After Conference we had some amazing chicken kabobs that Tyler had made. He often cooks on Sunday and it always something time consuming and delicious. My only complaint is he cooked the chicken on my griddle stove top and totally ruined it with the grease. He ended up scraping off some of the black coating on the griddle and now I am hesitant to use it for pancakes and french toast.

Monday after we finished our homeschool work, I finally was able to join the Commerce Ward Playgroup with the girls at Clara Miller Park. It is probably mostly a me problem but I felt like such a misfit. These moms are late 20's and early 30's with families full of littles. I am also the only weirdo that homeschools so I was the only one there with older kids (Lucy and Penny came to play pickleball at the courts). I was able to join in some conversation but I just feel like I bring a different and maybe not appreciated vibe/viewpoint. Mostly though, I spent the time chasing Ruby around because she really didn't have any desire to hang with the other toddlers. It wasn't a great morning out.

Monday night Ben had his last soccer game. It was in Howell so only Tyler went. It was probably a good thing because he did not get any play time which is a big bummer for a last game. At least his team won.

Tuesday while the girls were at school I decided to wash everyone's bedding. It ended up turning into a horror story when I found crumbs on Steven's bed and then bugs on his mattress. I was terrified they were bed bugs, but after googling and using an AI bug identifier I found out they were carpet beetles (I think in the larvae stage). Still horrifying. The discovery led to a massive cleaning of their room. I made Steven clean out the guinea pig cage, and there was vacumming and scrubbing down furniture. Thankfully the only other place I found them in their room was in Steven's trash can. And thankfully there were none in any of the other upstairs rooms, but I will still be extra cautious for awhile (checking mattresses) and extra dilligent with vacumming and washing. Boys are gross. And what's worse is Steven could care less that he had bugs in his bed. He thinks they are no big deal because they only eat carpet and fabric. So dumb. 

Wednesday after we finished homeschool, Poppy took us girls out to Burger King for lunch. The girls really love their trips to Burger King with Poppy and Ruby gobbles down all the food with no complaints which is nice.

After Burger King we grabbed Grams and went to Target. The girls wanted to look at some things and I needed a couple things. Target was having a lot of deals this week and with all my spending I did, I managed to get Target Circle for free. Tyler told me it was probably a scam and after only a few days I might agree, lol. They gave me a $10 off a $10 or more purchase of Halloween decorations so I ordered a 3 foot skeleton for $10 off. Wouldn't you know that it went on sale the next day for only $1 more than I paid (and you can't use the coupon on top of sales anyways). I feel like the coupon was not that great. Lame.

Wednesday evening the kids all went to the church to set up for the coat drive. Tyler went with them because the leaders wanted extra adults at the building to help the kids feel more safe. I was happy to just stay at home with Ruby. When they all came back Tyler and I talked about our anniversary trip and recently I had been looking at destinations other than England and was falling in love with the idea of Rome. We ended up buying plane tickets for 2 weeks in Rome in February (off season and a little cold but still 20 degrees warmer than Michigan). A total change in plans but the prices were decent and tickets fully refundable. I feel excited and also guilty for spending money on plane tickets when I should be getting my kids braces or other important things. But also, I know this trip is going to be an amazing experience. Now I just have to figure out an itinerary and decide where in Italy we will go besides Rome. It's intimidating.

Thursday morning, after I dropped the kids off at school, Julie came over with her boys. Asher and Ruby have a love hate relationship but I am glad that she has a friend to practice sharing with and that I have a friend that can relate with being old with a toddler, lol. After she left I cleaned the house- I feel like that's all I do lately. That night I went to take my mom on some errands and the girls wanted to come with. Penny decided to run down the stairs because for some reason she always thinks I am going to leave her, and she slipped and rolled most of the way down the stairs. I was so scared that she broke her arm again but thankfully she hadn't. Unfortunately though, she landed on her back and got winded. She was very emotional the rest of the night. I think she was slightly traumatized by the whole thing. 

Friday morning we had our homeschool co-op. They had picture day and I decided to get pictures but only for the older 2 girls. The lady was nice and offered to take Ruby's picture for no charge but Ruby refused to cooperate so she took a picture of me and the girls with Ruby instead. That was frustrating because I would love a nice updated picture of just Ruby. What's funny is later someone else came to take Ruby's picture for her ID badge and she gave them a big fat smile, no problem. Such a stinker. Our toddler class itself went ok. There was a lot of cleaning up after kids (we had popcorn kernels in a sensory bin and those things really pop) and a lot of breaking up fights over things because sharing is hard, but I think that's all just to be expected. Mostly I think they had a good time doing all the things (reading stories, singing songs, playing with toys and sensory bine and making crafts). I love this class for Ruby but the older girls are still not enjoying their classes. They think the classes are boring and that's probably because they still haven't made friends. I feel like we need to drop out next semester but I feel bad doing that to Julie.

Friday afternoon the boys had a dentist appointment. It feels so silly to take my teenage boys to a pediatric dentist but it's also easier than changing dentists. However, Steven turns 18 next year so this was his last visit there. He has at long last graduated from their services. The visit was fine. No cavities but some starts of one. With my luck, they will both need fillings next year. I always feel guilty at the dentist for not having fixed Ben's crooked teeth. I wish it wasn't such an expensive service here.

After the dentist, I made the boys stop at Costco with me so we could get pizza. Steven griped the whole time and was rude to me and Ben. It's funny because at the dentist he was chatty and kind to the hygentist. Why is he so mean to us?

Friday Ruby met her best friend- Chad Jr. The skeleton I had ordered from Target had arrived and she loves him. She tried to feed it pizza, asked if it wanted to go outside and swing, then put socks on it and pushed it on the swing. At one point she even told Chad Jr that she loved him. So so funny.

Friday night Lucy had her middle school dance at Renaissance. The dance was Western themed. She was saucy to me when I commented her dress might be too short (she had shorts on underneath and the dress didn't quite cover them in the back. Then she was saucy when she wanted me to do her hair but didn't like the way I did it. She can be exhausting but also we had a nice conversation to and from the dance where she talked to me about friends and things. I appreciate when she opens up to me. I think she had a blast with her friends that night as well. I am glad she has good friends at Renaissance.

 

Saturday morning Penny had another early morning soccer game. It was cold but both Tyler and Grams still made it out to watch her (and of course, Ruby and I came). Once again they won 2 to 1. If they win next weeks game they will end the season undefeated. I truly think her coach is awesome. He doesn't get nearly as intense as the other coaches, and he gives everyone a chance to play and he takes time to teach the kids. It's been another good season.

After the game I had to endure going through clothes with Ben and then writing a Young Women's lesson with Lucy. Both are tasks they hate to do so both were painful. 

Also that day I went out to lunch with Tyler, did some clothes shopping for the kids with Grams, Penny took Chad Jr and Ruby for a walk, and we checked on our pumpkin that is growing in our yard. The amazing thing about that pumpkin is I have done absolutely nothing to help it grow. We left our pumpkin to rot their last year and now we have this. It's a miracle!

Shopping, Soccer, Conference

Monday night Ben had an away game. I did not go but Tyler did. It was not a good game. They lost 1 to 6 and unfortunately Ben was responsible for one of the 6 goals- he was trying to kick it out of their goal but kicked it in. He came home really sad and defeated, it was heartbreaking as a mom to see him look so down. Thankfully most of his team was not mean to him about it.

While he was having his awful soccer game, all us girls went to Target (including Grams). I was looking for a couple Halloween pillows and I managed to find some cute ghost pillows that now reside on our couch. I also found some Crayola mess free marker packs for 70% off which made my day because Ruby loves to color but is so untrustworthy with regular crayons and markers. Our table, chairs and her own body are all a testament to that. 

Tuesday morning we hit some insane traffic on the way to the girls' school. It took us an extra 15 minutes to get there and we never even hit an accident or construction so who knows why it took so long. Thankfully we left early enough that we were not late. While they were at school I ran a few errands with my parents. They had some things they needed and I was looking for a Halloween blanket. I managed to find one for 40% off at Kohl's. I really love a good deal. 

Tuesday, after dinner, I finally met up with Rudi and her 2yo daugher Rosie (they live in our neighborhood but I met her through a facebook post). We went on a short walk and then did some sidewalk chalk at my parent's house. Rudi was nice and Rosie and Ruby are cute together. Rosie is also super strong and pulled Ruby in the wagon for a good stretch of the walk. Rudi is a decade younger than me though and she is renting and living with her boyfriend (so probably not here forever) and one of her past jobs was at a weed dispensary so though nice, we are very different and I don't forsee us being besties or anything but at least our daughters can maybe be friends.

Tuesday night Lucy and I went to pick up some $5 boots from someone on fb marketplace. She had a country themed church activity she was going to with Claire and then she has a country themed dance next weekend for school so the boots were needed but I didn't want to spend too much on something she would only wear twice. After we got the boots we happened to be driving by a Salvation Army so I decided to stop to see if they had a cowboy hat for her. It was kind of fun shopping with her for once- often she gets bored thrifting with me but she actually seemed interested in browsing. We didn't find a cowboy hat but we did find a kid size picnic table for my parent's house so Ruby doesn't have to sit on their tall bar stools to color anymore. It was a good night.

Wednesday, after we finished homeschool, we walked to the library with Poppy. I am grateful we live close enough to do this and that the weather has been nice lately. Wednesday evening I took Penny to soccer practice and then Ruby, Grams and I hung out in Milford. Ruby played at the park (Ruby is still obsessed with the swings) and then we went to Kroger's because I needed some cashback for a mini trampoline for Ruby. I finally found one on facebook marketplace in good shape, for a good price. After Penny's practice we went and picked up the trampoline. At that point it was very dark and I could not see the house numbers and it was tricky to find the house but we found it and were lucky enough that the trampoline fit in our trunk. Ruby loves bouncing on it but she also loves laying on it and eating on it and trying to color on it...she really has been a lot lately.

Thursday I ordered some fun things from Amazon for my friend's family that had been in the church shooting and sent them anonymously. I will be honest, I like getting recognized for doing things so I was trying to do something without that benefit for once. Unfortunately I was not sneaky enough I guess because she immediately messaged me when she got it and asked "Did you send the Legos?" I turned to Google AI for what to do and ended up responding "That's so thoughtful of someone! I'm glad you got it!" I did not say yes and I did not lie so I still feel good about myself, lol.

Thursday morning I went to Julie's to plan for our next co-op group. She is always very ambitious and wants to do lots of crafts which I am not quite sure they are old enough for yet, but I will let her take charge of the. My goal was just to make sure we have lots of different stations for the toddlers to play at. It should be fun. While we were hanging out Asher was having a bit of a difficult time with sharing and things and she blamed it on other kids he had been hanging around. I wonder if she realizes Ruby is one of those kids that has been a bad influence, lol. Honestly, though, he's just exhibiting normal toddler behavior... 

After our hang out with Asher, Ben was off school (Steven was too but he was working) so we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch with the grandparents. Ben had a giftcard from seminary that he had never used so he helped pay. It was nice to have lunch with him and Ruby. He's a good kid and really sweet to Ruby, even when she is super obnoxious to him.

Thursday night I went and picked up some dr pepper for Caroline and dropped by her house because she was having a rough week. Her car had broken down permanently, Lizzie has to get daily hormone injections because she is not growing properly, and her city had been under a boil water advisory. I am glad I dropped by- we had a good chat and I felt like I helped cheer her up some.

Friday night I went to Grace's so we could make our thrift store paintings spooky. Nahoko came as well. It was fun to get artsy (and a little intimidating because my painting was so big) but I felt like if I wasn't leading the conversation, no one was talking and maybe it was comfortable for them but it felt awkward to me. So that left me constantly searching my brain for topics we could all chat about. I think I am a little more filtered with Nahoko so that was some of the problem with coming up with conversations. I also think the group is a bit more fun with the husbands there or maybe with a game that keeps us chatting. It was still a nice night though. Here's the before and after:

Saturday morning I woke up and realized that I had down the time of Penny's soccer game wrong and it was at 9 and not 11:20. That meant I needed to get ready a lot more quickly than I had thought. Not the best way to wake up. So Ruby, Poppy and I went off to Penny's game that morning. It was another good game by her team. They won 3 to 0. She is really getting better at getting in there and defending the ball. It's fun to watch.

Right after her soccer game, we went to Ben's soccer game. While Penny's game was nice and cool, by the time we got to Ben's game the sun was shining hot and in our eyes. It was not comfortable and at half time I went to my car for sunglasses and an umbrella. The umbrella was a good help for my parents but Ruby would not have it. We spent a lot of the game under the bleachers where it was cool. Ben's team won 2 to 0 and he got 14 minutes of play time. He did some nice ball touches and I feel like he redeemed himself a bit from Mondays awful game.

After all the soccer crazy, it was time to settle down and watch General Conference. Ben went to the Bloomfields house for all of conference (they are his seminary teachers and hosted both sessions for their seminary students). Steven unfortunately had to work so he missed all of conference. Grams and Poppy came over and watched with us. Ruby was a monster for the first session- lots of tantrums. I think all the time in the sun from the soccer games had made her irritable. In between sessions she got a nap and was much better for the second session. Although she just wanted to hang out and color in the guest room (she is so obsessed with coloring!) for the second session so I ended up watching General Conference on my phone in the guest room with her. There were some good talks at conference and a lot of people talking about making sure we are welcoming to everyone who comes to church and making sure that we are peacemakers. That is a good thing but maybe not helpful for those who just experienced a traumtic shooting in a church building. I wish there had been a little bit more for those saints. I did however love the passion of Elder Brown when he talked about having a testimony. That was a very powerful talk.

Soccer, Ice Cream, Canceled Church

Monday was a rough morning. Both Ruby and Penny were having melt downs. It makes me want to melt down too. I had to take away screen time from Penny and that seemed to help her calm down for homeschooling the rest of the week. For those people who say they could never do homeschooling, I hope they know that just because I do it, it doesn't mean I am some sort of amazingly patient and good teacher with my kids. It's rough but I try to remember why I do it and hang in there.

Tuesday morning I went on a walk with Grace to the library. At the library when Ruby was playing near another toddler I told her to play nice and she patted the kid on his head. I guess that's better than stealing a toy from him or hitting him. After the library I went with Grams to Kohl's to return a wifi booster thing that Tyler had been trying to use so Grams and Poppy could better use our internet. Unfortunately it only worked for Poppy's computer and for some reason made the wifi inaccessible for Grams and Tyler. Technology is weird. 

After returning it, I got a Kohl's coupon, so I took Penny and Lucy to Kohl's the next day to look for jeans but they had hardly any. I don't know what is going on with the fall/winter clothing stock but I am willing to spend my money and they are not giving me any of the things I need to buy. Lucy ended up using the coupon to buy herself a Snoopy sweatshirt. It's funy to me that she thinks Snoopy is cool because I totally had a Snoopy shirt when I was a teen.

Wednesday night Penny had soccer practice in Milford and Ben had a game. Tyler took Ben to his game and me, Ruby and Grams went with Penny to Milford. I had thought about going to Ben's game after dropping Penny off but there was a chance of rain so the coach told us to stay close. Instead we played at the park and the library. I think that Ruby quite enjoys her time at the park because later in the week when we were taking Penny to her soccer game Ruby started talking about going to the park to play. She was very disappointed that we actually had to stay and watch Penny play soccer.

Thursday while the kids were at school I was supposed to meet in person a toddler mom in our neighborhood that I had connected with on Facebook. I had seen her walk by our home before with her daughter and then she had posted on facebook looking for walking buddies for her and her 2 year old daughter. I responded to the post and then had anxious regrets (especially when I saw her at the library a few days later and decided it was too awkward to say hello) but still, I really do want to make more friends for Ruby. It was disappointing that she canceled. Instead of meeting her, I had a melt down about the gnats in our house and then went on an intense cleaning spree. That was way less fun. My gnat melt down sprung Tyler into gear though and he changed out pipes and bought more things to kill them with. We also had an ac guy come and clean things out and I don't know what really did it- Tyler's work, my cleaning, the ac guy...- but since all these things there have been way less gnats around. I am really hoping they are on their way out permanently. 

Friday after doing our homeschool work, we took Poppy to the library. When we were done at the library it was lunchtime and Poppy was nice and took us to Burger King. Ruby really loves their chicken nuggets and apple juice and now the kids have collected all of the Scooby Doo toys ;)

Friday after Ruby's nap Asher came over to play. They didn't do a whole lot of playing together, mostly fighting over toys or playing in separate areas. Sometimes I think I am not "crunchy" enough for Julie. My kids are definitely exposed to a lot more tv things and teenage trends. She was making a comment how she was a little shocked that her young niece was so into "K Pop Demon Hunters" and she didn't think it was super appropriate and I was like...well Ruby likes the music a lot...I mostly enjoy hanging out with her and Asher but I also sometimes feel a little judged by her.

Friday evening Ben had a soccer game. His team won 3-2. Ben ended up playing for the first 14 minutes which was a bit of a bummer because I got there 5 minutes late. I did like that he played in the beginning though, because then I didn't have to stress about if he would get to play or not. I had bought a reusable sticker book for Ruby because I am constantly looking for ways to entertain during games and church and it seemed to be a hit. She played with it until the very end of the game when she decided to wander over to the gate and drop it onto the field. I was very lucky that I nice lady (I think the teams physical therapist?) was there and picked it up for me. 

Saturday Penny had a soccer game in the morning. I have mixed feelings about early morning games. I don't love having to get up early on a Saturday but it's also nice to get the game done so I can move on with the day after. Penny's team won again- 8 to 2. Her team is mostly just older kids(10-11), whereas the other teams are usually more of a fair mix between 8-11 year olds. I sometimes wonder how they would do if all the teams they played were older like them. However, I do think they have an advantage of having played together for a long time and they really work well together.

Saturday was our last day to get ice cream at Dairy Twist before it closes for the season so of course we had to go. Unfortunately, even with having a kid that works there, we ended up coming before it opened. Rookie mistake. But no need to worry, we went back later when it was open and boy was it busy. We waited at least 30 minutes before getting our ice cream. It was worth the wait though. Ruby enjoyed sitting on the table and stealing bites from everyone's ice cream.

Normally I save Sundays recap for the next week but this has been a particularly tough Sunday. Today was supposed to be the Primary Program. I had practicing the piano religiously for the last week- I was super nervous but so ready to be done. The girls had invited their friends Geli and Luna and Mimi's family. They had all arrived and I had explained to Mimi's family how our church services work and we were basically ready to get this show in the road. Then Tyler comes to me and says church is canceled and I thought he was just joking because he knows how nervous I get about playing the piano, but then it wasn't a joke. The Bishop was canceling church and telling us all to go home. There was a shooting at the Grand Blanc building- less than an hour away from us. They wanted to be extra catious so they sent us all home. I had to call Geli and Luna's mom and tell her what happened. She came back to get them. We said goodbye to everyone and then left and it was just awful and scary. Steven has friends from that building that he has met at multistake dances. He checked in with them. Thankfully they had attended church at another building that day. The details are coming out slowly but apparently the man drove his car into the building and then shot at least 10 people and lit the building on fire. They think they will find more victims now that the fire is out. Is completely insane. I know I don't personally know anyone there but I feel so heartbroken about it- it was just way too close to home. I keep telling my kids we can't live in fear but I also just desperately want to bubble wrap them and have them never leave the house again.

Grams Turns Wiser

Sunday was our first primary program practice. Besides my less than perfect piano playing, the practice went really well. Tana was the president for last years program as well and she has really gotten the system down. I love how she buddies up the younger kids with the older kids and has the older buddy help the younger with their part at the microphone. That is so much better than an adult up there helping. They also finally called a primary teacher to replace me so I guess I am just a counselor in the primary presidency and a primary piano sub. It's a relief but I am still not enthused by being in the presidency.

Monday morning we did homeschool and then I had to take Penny to a reading assessment at her school (Lucy had one to do as well but it was online). Penny came back to the car very proud of herself because the teacher had told her she had done so well. She is definitely my reader- she constantly has her nose buried in a book. Afterwards we dropped by Costco to pick up a few things. It was still crazy in the parking lot- I am so over them having half the spaces closed off for construction. Thankfully it wasn't too busy inside though. I ended up getting lunch for the girls as well because who can resist their cheap prices?

Monday afternoon, we had an orthodontist appointment for Penny. I wanted to try out another place to see if the price at the other place was fair. They were very nice there but they left my head spinning. This doctor wants to charge the same price as the other place but he doesn't simply want to do braces- he thinks she needs an expander again and that some of her teeth will need filing down to make more room. SO basically he would give us more for the same price but does she need the more? I feel like now I need to visit at least one more place before making a decision.

Tuesday after I dropped the girls off at school, Grace and I went to Salvation Army. Grace found me a cute stripey dress that I ended up buying. I also found a basic brown stripey shirt for me and a book for Ruby. I swear the last bazillion things I have bought for myself have been striped- I really like stripes. It was fun thrifting but by the end Ruby was done sitting in the cart and I feel like we barely made it out the door without Ruby suffering a melt down.

Wednesday was Grams birthday. To start off her birthday celebrations all of us girls plus Poppy, went to breakfast at Lena's Kitchen. Some of us had dessert for breakfast- Penny got s'more pancakes (and even though they were off the kids menus they gave her a massive portion) and I got crepes. Everyone else had more healthy things that involved eggs. Ruby is not the best to take out these days. She was not in to sitting in her high chair and spent a majority of the time sitting in my lap, driving me crazy. I have got to find something that keeps her entertained better because she is not into the normal toys I have been bringing and I really don't want to use my phone.

After breakfast we went back home to let the food settle. I also did some schoolwork with the girls. Then we made the drive to Cherry Republic in Ann Arbor so I could buy Grams some cherry flavored birthday gifts. The parking garage was a bit narrow and scary to drive in but we survived. Then we had a short walk to the Cherry Republic where everyone enjoyed a large amount of samples- the girls definitely ate more than they should.  I got Grams some cherry salsa and cherry chocoalte covered pretzels. I got the girls some cherry candy and Tyler a cherry soda. I resisted buying anything else because they are so expensive. Afterwards, we went to a couple of nearby bookstores. One of them was not very toddler friendly- they put the kids books at the top of a very steep staircase. They were also kind of sassy in letting us know we could have used the entrance that didn't have a step (we had lifted the stroller up the step). They implied most people already know that. Kind of rude to a new customer... Then it was back home so I could finish up school work with the girls and Ruby (and Poppy) could get a nap.

Wednesday  afternoon/evening was busy with soccer and church activities so we did an early dinner for Grams. I made her tortellini soup (her request) and then we sang to her so she could eat some of her strawberry bundt cake that I had made her.

After we ate, I had to take Penny to soccer practice. Grams, Lucy, and Ruby came with us. We dropped Penny off at her field and then went to Central Park. We didn't play at the playground for too long before Lucy and Grams seemed bored so we strolled the trails. Lucy saw a friend from school which is always a little awkward I guess. They waved at each other but did not talk to each other even though they totally were close enough that they could have. Then I took Lucy to her activity (that was also in Milford) and then we picked up Penny. And that was the end of my mom's very exciting birthday ;)

Thursday while the girls were at school I managed to do a very thorough cleaning of the house- I haven't done that good of a clean for a long time. I even dusted the lego shelves in my room and the boys' room. It felt good to have everything so clean but unfortunately we are still having a horrible problem with drain gnats and they are getting worse. They are spreading out into more rooms and we have tried so many tactics to get rid of them to no avail- traps, cleaning the pipes, putting stuff down the pipes, blocking the drains during the night... I hate that no matter how clean my house is, I have these awful gnats swirling around. It makes it feel so unclean.

Thursday evening I took my parents out to run some errands while Tyler was home to watch Ruby. We went to Home Depot, Michael's, Target and Costco and I think we checked most of the things off their list. We went to Costco to get mine and my mom's fav snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich treat only to find they were no longer selling them. We we so sad and we were just about ready to make a road trip to Iowa since they are from there...only for me to discover that Meijer's sells them. We went and stocked up there and I am hoping they also don't go out of stock their because they are the perfect treat at the end of the day. 

Friday morning the girls were back to giving me drama while we did our schoolwork. This makes me sad. We had such a good honeymoon period. That evening Mimi came over and Tyler and I had a triple date night at Grace's- with Grace& Jason, and Nahoko& Eric. Tyler ended up having to meet me there slightly late because he got pulled into a work call. We did an "Escape the Crate" game once he got there, we had gotten the game from my in-laws. It was actually a lot of fun even if I had to be a cheater and keep using the hints. Even with the hints, it still took us 2 hours to finish only half of the mystery. We decided to end at the half way point and maybe we will get together another time to finish the second half? I really enjoyed hanging out with these two couples. They are really genuine, nice people and they have a good sense of humor. It was a good night.

Saturday morning Penny had a soccer game. Grams, Poppy and Ruby came along with me to watch. Penny's team was pretty well matched with the other one but Penny's team still won- 3 to 1. Penny was pretty fun to watch as she played defense. She is getting better at being a little more aggressive. That evening Tyler, Ruby and me went to Taco Bell to get some food from Steven. It is always fun to see him at work. Some girl (apparently a co-worker who was just hanging out after a shift) went and asked him what elementary school he went to- she seemed a little flirty. I asked him about it later and he said she was sooo annyoing. Ha. 

Doughnuts!

 Monday morning my Ward had their first preschool play group. Unfortunately I just don't think I am going to be able to make it to the play groups because I feel like it would ruin our calm mornings. We do so much better when we can do our homeschool first thing in the morning and then I like to do my workout when we finish- otherwise I usually get to lazy to do a workout later. I feel sad that I am missing out on meeting the other moms of little ones at church and Ruby is missing out on making friends but life is different as a homeschool mom. I wish I wasn't the only homeschool mom in my Ward.

That afternoon we went on the hunt for fall/winter church shoes for Ruby and Penny. It was harder to find some than I thought it would be because Penny really wanted boots and they didn't seem to have them in stock yet at places. We finally ended up finding her some at Kohl's. Ruby also got some cute white shoes that had a little heel and insisted on wearing them everywhere for the next couple of days. I think she loved the way the heels sound on the ground. She has already scuffed them up so they will not look super nice when she finally wears them to church. 

Tuesday while the girls were at school Grace and I (plus Ruby) hit up some thrift stores. We were looking for paintings that we can spookify- it's a cute Tik Tok trend. I didn't end up finding anything I wanted to buy but she found something. I did find a cute clear backpack full of little dinosaur and animal figurines for Ruby though. She has really had a lot of fun with the dinosaurs. 

That afternoon I had to go in to get my permanent filling on the tooth I had gotten a root canal on. I thought this would be my last visit and I could be done with that place but apparently I actually need to get a crown. The dentist just knew I wouldn't have insurance for it because of paying for the root canal so he wanted to save that cost for the new year. I guess that's nice but I just want to be done with this tooth. At least the visit itself was pretty painless and the tooth isn't hurting anymore.

That night Ben had a soccer game at Northern and Tyler got to be the announcer. I actually managed to get both my parents to come and all my girls- probably because they were selling Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. Unfortunately we all turned out for Ben and he got zero play time. It was super frustrating. 

After the game I calmed myself down by finally finishing the puzzle I had gotten for my birthday. It was a fun one. Also, Chad (our skeleton) is back out and has been ending up in various places since.  

Wednesday after the girls finished thier homeschool work, we went with Grams and Poppy to get doughnuts at Longs Farm. They are seriously the best doughnuts.

Wednesday night Penny had her first soccer practice. While she was at practice Ruby and I went to Central Park in Milford. Ruby had a good time going down the slides and swinging. She is in a phase of talking about herself in third person- "Ruby go down the slide" "Ruby's turn". It's cute. Penny had to leave her soccer practice early to go to her church activity that night. When I picked her up, Penny was upset because she said everyone had friends but her. This seems to be a common complaint from her lately. The activity was kayaking. I stayed on shore while some leaders and the girls went kayaking. Ruby played in the shallow water and Caroline (who had brought Lizzie) was rude and encouraged Ruby to splash in it and get even more soaked- not cool. After the kayaking the girls had smores and thankfully, I managed to appease Ruby with just the graham crackers. I am sure her eating a smore would have been a bit of a disaster.

Thursday I had nothing on the agenda for when the girls were in school so after I took my parents to Home Depot, we all went for a walk at Proud Lake. Ruby was a bit of a pain. I brought the stroller but when I let her out to walk, she wanted me to carry her. Or if I didn't carry her she would just sit down and draw with sticks in the dirt. She did, however, have a lot of fun throwing rocks and acorns we had gathered into the lake. That was probably the best part of the whole outing.

It was lunch time when we finished up our walk, so we decided to go to McDonald's so Ruby could play for a little bit. Tyler was even able to meet us for lunch since it was in Milford. There was a very small slide there, but she absolutely loved it. She got a little territorial when she saw another little kid come in to the eating area by the play place but luckily we left before any fights arose ;) 

When Grams and Poppy got home for all our fun, Grams discovered a opossum in their cage they had put out. A bug guy had told them they had a raccoon living under their porch but apparently he was slightly wrong. Grams said the opossum looked sad and she felt bad for it but she remained strong and did not let it free. Instead she let Tyler drive it out to Proud Lake. It was a stinky critter and I feel bad for him having to be in a car with it.

That night I ended up picking up a painting I found on Facebook marketplace that I am going to spookify. It was much bigger than I expected but that should make it easier to add fun Halloween details. I am looking forward to that artsy night.

Friday was homeschool, house cleaning, a quick trip to a playground for Ruby to get her wiggles out, and a quiet night in. Ben had an away game that day but our family ticket pass only works on games at Walled Lake schools so we opted not to go. I seriously regret that because Ben ended up getting to play in the game for almost an hour. His team won 5-0. I am so bummed that the one game we didn't go to, he got a ton of play time. So frustrating but I am happy they gave him a chance.

Saturday morning Penny had her first soccer game of the season. Her league is made up of 8-11 year olds but her team is mostly on the older end since they have been together so long. The other team however, was mostly 8 year olds. Penny's team creamed them. I stopped counting after awhile but I think it was something like 10 to 0. I felt bad for those little ones they defeated. After the game, we went to the Milford Bakery and Grams bought treats for all my kids. They love the fancy cookies.

Saturday afternoon I went to see the newest Downton Abbey movie with my friend Stacie. It was a nice movie, with everything being wrapped up neatly. We had a very noisy audience that had lots of loud reactions to things happening so that was fun. Afterwards Stacie invited me in (I had driven her to the movie) and we chatted for a bit. I feel like I talked too much about myself and wasn't a great listener. But I also think she might prefer listening to me than talking because she thinks I am weird, lol. Who knows.