Henry Ford Museum

Monday was MLK Day and the Henry Ford Museum was offering free admission for the holiday so we ended up meeting Mariah's family there. The museum was crowded since it was FREE and also it was one digit temps outside but I still think it was a good outing for the day. The kids had fun seeing all the things with their cousins and I only lost Ruby once for 30 seconds- we didn't bring a stroller and she can move very fast. Lucy said her favorite part was the 90's stuff and Penny enjoyed the 90's music in that section- so preppy ;)

Tuesday school ended up being cancelled for the boys because of negative temps. I gave the girls the day off from homeschool as well- they get to have the same schedule as the boys. It really was a cold day but we still got out. In the morning I took the girls to the library. Penny and I had fun making a zoo out of the Duplo's for Ruby to play with. The girls also insisted on doing a snowman scavenger hunt at the library because they really wanted prize. They had done it before so I am pretty sure them doing it again was frowned upon.

Later Tuesday, after Ruby's nap, I took the younger 4 to Chuck-E-Cheese. They may not be tired of it yet but boy am I tired of it. Ruby rides on like the same 3 rides over and over again. One of the rides plays this police song by pinkfong and I managed to find it on youtube and it makes Ruby so happy when I play it. One day she kept gesturing to Alexa when it ended so we ended up listening to it like 4 times in a row. 

Wednesday the second semester of classes at Renaissance finally started for the girls. It was a super cold day again and high school was cancelled for the boys but they did not cancel school for the girls since no one at Renaissance rides the bus and runs the risk of freezing to death at a bus stop. The girls had a good day back. Penny had lots of new drama to share with me and is very excited to have theater again. She is currently working hard on her audition part which is a sort of "vote for me as school president" part. Lucy insists on being anti social and refused an invite to sit with some people at lunch and instead sat by herself. She is excited by her script writing class and mock trials class though. I just wish she would make friends. While the girls were all at school I took Ben, and his friend AJ to Chuck-E, along with Ruby. I was going to get the boys a crappy pizza since it was lunchtime but AJ said pizza makes him sick so I ended up getting wings that turned out to be even more crappy than the pizza there. They cost me $12 ( with a $5 off coupon) and there were only like 8 little nuggets that were burnt. They also took forever to be done- just like the pizza. Sorry Chuck-E, not impressed. 

All activities were cancelled Wednesday night because of the weather so instead we stayed home and watched "American Tail". A super fun classic. Now the kids will know what I am singing when I sing "there are no cats in America and the streets are paved with cheese!!"

Thursday the boys were back in school, thank goodness, and it was back to homeschooling for the girls. Penny was feeling extra dramatic that day and got upset that Lucy started her school work before she did but she also did not want to start school when Lucy started. These girls are exhausting. Friday was more homeschooling and this time Lucy chose drama. Math can really infuriate her (and me). 

Friday, during Ruby's nap, I took the girls to the mall to see if we could find Lucy the jeans we loved for her (that she ripped) because they weren't selling them online. Unfortunately, they were not selling them in store either, so that was a bust. She did try some junior jeans on from a couple other stores but her waist is just like one size under their smallest size. 

Friday evening I went to Grace's. It was just me and her and we had a really nice chat about all the things in our lives. We were talking about books and then she got stuck on a word to describe the book I had read and it took her awhile until it finally came to her "wholesome"! lol. Anyways she also offered to cut me some bangs Saturday so I took her up on it. So Saturday I spent the morning at Grace's salon because I ended up coloring my hair too. I am adjusting to the new color and bangs! But I think I love them?

Saturday afternoon I took Lucy and her friend to Salvation Army and managed to find Lucy a cute hoodie and me a couple sweaters. Then we picked up Penny and Ruby and went to Chuck-E. Boo for me. Penny complained the whole time because Lucy and Claire weren't playing with her. I don't know why she expected them to. It was also WAY more busy than it ever is on weekday and I hated that. I really am grateful for the passes but it is just not a fun place for me. 

Also Saturday, Ben and Steven had an archery tournament in Okemos and it went well. Ben's score went up a smidge and he got a 224 and Steven stayed around his average 253.

Arizona and Home

Sunday it was Brennen's missionary farewell so I went to that in the morning. The only Hatch family that knew I was in town was Steve and Leslie so when I came in to the church building Tara was surprised to see me. I hope it was a good surprise and wasn't offensive that I was in town for my mom and not specifically Brennen. I chatted for a bit with Bryson, Brennen and Tara and then went and sat down by myself because Tyler's family is always late and Tara was busy greeting everyone. Leslie and Steve came shortly after and then Tyler's Aunt Jackie and Aunt Cricket and Uncle Doug came. I made a comment about how good Aunt Jackie looked and she said "for my age?" and I told her she didn't look like she had aged at all since I last saw her- I meant it. But then she awkwardly said "well you look alright too". It didn't feel like she meant so I feel slightly offended. 

Jezerea and her kids came to sit by me after we had taken sacrament. Jezerea had to go nurse her baby so I pulled out my coloring book that I had brought and gel pens (yes I am a child) and did my best to entertain her other 2 kids. Her daughter is super energetic and was not acquainted with whispering. 2 missionaries spoke, then Brennen played a nice piano solo and spoke. He talked about the time his parents left him accidentally and the power of prayer, he talked about how he was kind to someone and the difference it made to them and him and he talked about how he doesn't have a complete testimony yet but knows his mission will help that. He seems like a good, self aware kid. When it was all over I said hello and goodbye to everyone in the foyer and then I went Mike and Mecca's house. I felt guilty not going to the luncheon at Tara's house but the idea of so many people and no husband or kids for me to lean on seemed very anxiety provoking.

I spent the rest of Sunday at my brother's house chatting with Mike and Mecca and playing with their kids (they really liked looking at videos and pictures of Ruby on the phone and then making their own videos). Oliver also introduced me to some of his favorite 21 Pilots songs. My parents came over as well and we all had yummy food. It was her belated New Years Eve spread- veggies, sandwiches, chips and salsa...

Monday morning Poppy took me to Deseret Book because I always have to go there when I am in town. They have some good stuff but always expensive. Tyler wanted cool posters for the seminary walls but they really had nothing for that and I am not sure how I would have got them home anyways. I ended up just getting a cute embroidery thing for Lucy but who knows if she will figure out how to make it. If she doesn't, I think I would like to try. After Deseret we met Mike at Mi Amigo's for lunch. It was so yummy as always. 

I made potatoe soup for Grams for dinner Monday night and then Mike came over with Lillian and we rented "Wicked" since she really wanted to see it and I thought Grams might enjoy it. It was a really nice last evening in Arizona. I think everyone enjoyed the movie and Grams was especially glad that we could watch it in the comfort of her home.

Tuesday my flight wasn't until 4:30 so Poppy took me thrift store shopping in the morning. I ended up finding some books for the kids that were in really great shape and a few shirts for me. I found too much stuff really because my suitcase was already stuffed! But thankfully with my extra large purse I had brought, I was able to make everything fit. For lunch Grams went through the Chick-fil-A drive thru with me because their chicken sandwhiches are usually a safe bet for my tummy on travel days. Around 2 Mike came to chauffeur me to the airport. I almost left my wallet at my parents like a dummy but realized my mistake when I hopped in Mike's car. Everything went smoothly through security and even though I got stuck behind a hot mess family, I was on an aisle seat and there was no one in the middle seat and it was a good flight home. I had downloaded "Shrinking" and binge watched it the whole way home. That show makes me laugh and cry and feel all the feels.

When I landed, the hot mess family was, of course, a hot mess getting out of the plane and the lady in the window seat by me was not very nice and said some mean things about them. That made me uncomfortable because even if I felt similar feelings, I wasn't going to voice those feelings loudly. Once out I had to wait a bit on Tyler because of some miscommunication but man it was good to see him, even if the weather here was bitter cold.

Wednesday morning I was super excited to see Ruby but she gave me a very meh reaction. Hurtful. For the day I had decided I was going to just have a fun with the girls since they had been cooped up while I was gone. First we went to the library since we had some books we needed to pick up. This family from our ward was there- they always seem to be there when we go. She made a comment about us being there all the time and I wanted to be sassy and be like, uh so are you! Apparently she was meeting someone else from the Ward too because when that mom came, they kind of huddled in and cut me out. That was kind of a bummer because this other mom has the only other baby Ruby's age in our ward and I would love to get Ruby a friend her age. Ruby is not great with other babies. She gives them dirty looks and struggles to share. However, she loves random stranger adults and goes up to them and asks them to read to her...

After the library we came home and picked up Ben who had a short day because of finals and went to Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids played and I even ordered pizza. The pizza took 40 minutes and it was not that fancy for taking so long. I was not impressed. Ruby is getting more and more into the "rides" there and really loves the police car ride and she enjoys the mini carousel.

After Chuck-E-Cheese we picked up Lucy's friend Claire and brought her to our house for the afternoon. I think I did a good job of making the day fun for the girls but they were still pretty sassy and made me crazy. Such is motherhood.

Thursday we got back into homeschool for the girls and it was rough. Lucy was fine but Penny was full of emotions and it was exhausting. After we got our work done I took the girls to look for pants and that was more exhausting drama. I really wish a company would come out and sell pants specifically for my tall and thin girls. It is so rough finding them jeans that fit and even more tough with a wiggly toddler. When we got done with that we had Mimi over. I hated rewarding dramatic Penny with friend time BUT it was also really nice that they were all entertained for the afternoon. That evening we went to Mariah's to celebrate Wesley's birthday. The kids had fun, the homemade ice cream was delicious and Mariah had a good vent about her friends' visit. 

Friday we did homeschool, and at lunchtime I went to the piercing place to see about changing out my nose stud for a shorter pole- I want it to fit more snug. I made the mistake of telling her that my baby had bumped my piercing during the night (which she had and it hurt lots) and the piercer said it looked like it might be swelling so she didn't end up changing it out. Now I have to try again later. Boo. That afternoon we went on another visit to Chuck-E and then Lucy had a sleepover at Claire's. That night Ben, and I watched "The Fugitive". Penny had started to watch it with us but decided it was too violent for her. She is very sensitive. 

Saturday morning we went to the Dollar Tree and I found a "magic" sink for Ruby. It was oviously not great quality but she has had lots of fun washing dishes with it. That afternoon Tyler and I went out to get our passport photos. Our anniversary gift for this year is passports so we can go travel somewhere amazing next year for our 20th. Now we have the photos (Tyler's looks like a mug shot) and we filled out the paperwork later that night so sometime this coming week we will go turn it all in. I have to say that getting a passport is way easier than registering my children for school or any of the other things I have to sign them up for. After getting our photos we tried a new place for dinner and were very unimpressed. We were literally the only customers there and the service was terrible and the food was over priced. This is why we usually stick to our favorite places.

Sunday the boys had an archery tournament. Ben did his best yet- 220 and Steven did alright-249. I am proud of Ben for improving. Steven, I know he can do better *sigh*. They still managed to make it for most of church which was good since I was teaching. During sacrament Ruby did mostly good until the end when she decided to squeeze a fruit pouch all over her pretty dress.

Arizona

 Monday and Tuesday we started back up with homeschooling since the boys were back at school. I was worried that after the long break it would be rough to get back into it but the girls did suprisingly well. After the girls did their work Monday, I had a dentist appointment. There is a tooth that has been bothering me but I never say anything anymore because I figure if there is something wrong it should show up in the xray and I really don't want to pay for more dental work...The lady who cleaned my teeth commented that the gums were puffy by that tooth and she showed it to the dentist but he didn't seem worried. He just told me to get a water pik/flosser and that would help. I guess I should get one to see if that does help. Monday evening we did another visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids are still obsessed. We will see how much longer the obsession lasts, but at this point I think we have definitely gotten our moneys worth on the passes.

Wednesday I had an extra early flight to Arizona. Ruby had woken up in the night and after I got her back to sleep, I checked to make sure my alarm was on. While checking my alarm I somehow turned it off like a dummy and so it did not go off at 4:30am. Luckily my body woke me up just before 5 and I almost shouted to Tyler "We slept in" (I do like "Home Alone"). He still got me to the airport in plenty of time and I had an hour to sit and read while I waited for my flight. On my flight I got really lucky and had no one sitting by me on my row and no one behind me either. I read a chic lit for part of the flight and then watched the show "Shrinking". My friend had told me about it so I was excited they had it. Unfortunately they only had the first 3 episodes so they hooked me in and then left me high and dry. So rude. 

It was still morning when I made it to Arizona which made the day feel very long and tiring. Mike was nice and picked me up from the airport and brought me to my parent's house. We chatted for awhile and then he had to get back to work. I was hungry at that point so Grams and Poppy took me to Zuppas to eat. After Zuppas Grams and I meal planned and then went grocery shopping. We are super exciting ;)That night I introduced her to the show "The Middle" and we enjoyed watching that in the evening while I was there.

Thursday morning I helped my mom put together her new Swiffer mop and then decided I needed to clean her floors. I'm not sure I did a great job since my socks still got dirty while I was there but I tried real hard. That afternoon Mike and Mecca took me out to a fancy convenience store called "Air Guitar" and ate some very fancy cotton candy burritos. They were delicious! We also spotteed luxury apartments that were named very appropriately "The Tyler"!

When we finished our delicious treat, Mike was nice and took me to a Lego store that resales Lego's. I loved it and spent more money that I should but also less money than I wanted to. I finally got a minifigure for Ruby, new hair for Ruby, a glasses face for Penny and a new Tyler. I also got a few other random minifigures. Our updated family is pictured below on a cool stand that Mike gave me. 

Friday I met my mother in law for lunch at Kneaders. I thought it might be awkwared because sometimes she is not so chatty but it actually ended up not awkward and really nice. We had a good chat about all the things- my kids, her kids, and a lot about Jezerea and her crummy husband. We chatted for 2 hours. Steve gave Leslie cash for the lunch so that was nice. She decided to get a treat and I was a people pleaser and pretended I liked the brownie she got. Brownies usually upset my stomach so I am not a fan. 

After lunch I took Grams to her dr's appointment. I was mostly just a chauffeur,  I don't think I offered much other than that but I was glad to be there and keep her company. Her doctor was in and out very quickly but the guy who checks her pace maker stayed around longer and helped answer her questions.

Later that day, I went and saw "Gladiator 2" with Mike and Poppy. Only 2 other people were in the theater besides us, it had been out for awhile. I really loved the first one so I was hoping this would be good but it was mostly a cash grab. Weird AI animals, shallow characters and lots of repeated story lines. It was still entertaining I suppose but not quite what I was hoping for. 

Saturday morning I went on a hike with Mike, Lillian, and Matilda. It was cold so I had to borrow my moms winter jacket since I hadn't packed mine. I am a baby, even in Arizona. We did "The Ranch" hike which we have done before and is a good one. Nothing strenuous but it's pretty and quiet. We came across some frozen water at one point aned the girls had fun throwing rocks at it and breaking the ice. Unfortunuately breaking the ice revealed the stinky algae underneath. Lillian talked to me about Harry Potter which she loves and she also talked about the boring stories she has to read in school. Matilda found the walk tiring but she was a trooper and made it through. We also walked by a family that had a couple dogs and one was eating horse poop so that was gross.

After the hike we ate at Cost Vida and then went back to my mom's house where Lillian and Matilda helped me make cookies for a bit before they headed off. I was surprised Gram's super ancient mixer was able to mix the dough. It did less great with the cookies I made Monday though... The rest of the day was mostly me cooking- I made a banana pie too and then dinner. However, I did take a break from cooking to go shoe shopping. I helped Poppy find some shoes and we got Ruby a cute pair of shoes because hers were getting tight. 

New Year!

On Sunday Tyler and Ruby stayed home from church. I wasn't feeling well but I had to play piano (I was subbing for the primary pianist) and I had to teach a primary lesson so I still went. I was feeling really crummy (runny nose, headache and a bit of nausea) and probably should have stayed home too but alas I went and shared my germs with everyone instead. 

On Monday Ruby and I still weren't feeling great and Tyler had joined the sick club. For Christmas Tyler's parents had gifted us a Chuck-E-Cheese pass and the middle three were desperate to use it so I ended up taking them, despite not feeling great. The middle three had a lot of fun so it was probably worth going. Ruby was not in to riding any of the moving cars or playing any of the games, she was still fussy. She spent most of the time wandering around the place and staring at the bright lights and things. Sometimes she joined in games with her siblings. I do feel like the pass his parents got us for Christmas is such a good deal because we have the ability to play 100 games every day for 2 months. It take the kids about an hour to go through 100 games so it entertains them for a good amount of time and is an easy outing.

Tuesday was New Years Eve. That morning I went out to breakfast with Caroline and Grace to celebrate Caroline's birthday (it was on Monday). It was a nice outing but the food wasn't quite as good as I remembered and I probably talked too much.

After Ruby's nap, Penny's glasses were ready for pick up- that was fast! She was so excited that we ended up going to pick them up immediately. She does look pretty cute in them.

That afternoon we did our new tradition (started last year) of taste testing weird sodas. I did not pick well this year apparently. The kids were grossed out by most of them. I had gotten butterscotch beer, marshmallow and bubblegum (I will admit that those were both gross), kitty piddle, alien snot and cookies and cream. After our soda taste testing, Lucy went to Claire's house for a New Years Eve Sleepover.

That evening we had Mariah's family over and her friend's family over again. It seemed like as soon as they got here my eye started getting all boogery and blurry. Ruby had indeed had pink eye after all and had given it to me. Of course, for the whole night, all I could think about was that I had pink eye and they were all going to notice and hate me for contaminating them. So it wasn't exactly a very fun night for me. Mariah didn't seem to be feeling well either. Her friend asked her if she was feeling nauseous and she nodded her head yes- either sick or maybe pregnant? It's probably about time for her to be pregnant again. At 8 they all watched a countdown and toasted with grape juice and sparkling cider. I do not know why they brought grape juice- that was terrifying in the hands of children. Thankfully no one spilled. Then they left and I couldn't help but just feel relief. I was able to take out my contacts and wash my eye with a cloth. I stayed up for a little while longer and Tyler and I worked on our "escape the crate" gift that we had gotten for Christmas. He pretty much solved all the puzzles we worked on that night while I sat there with my goopy eye but I still enjoyed seeing how the puzzles got solved. Meanwhile Ben and Penny watched "Little Rascals". I attempted to go to sleep around the time the kids movie ended but I was unsuccessful. I might as well have stayed up with everyone instead of lying in bed awake.

Wednesday we paid another visit to Chuck-E-Cheese- this time everyone came. It was the only family outing I could convince Steven to go on. I was glad he came and hung out with Ruby. He didn't even complain too much. My eye was still yucky but at least I had my glasses to hide behind. With it being the New Years I didn't want to deal with trying to find a dr's place open so I had decided to see if my eye would clear up on its own. After Chuck-E-Cheese, we went and got lunch at Chick-Fil-A. It was a nice morning out as a family. 

Thursday morning my eye wasn't goopy just a little pink so I didn't feel like I needed to go spend the $100 to go to a doctor. That morning the girls and I went to the mall. Lucy had gotten a giftcard for Claire's that she wanted to spend. It took her quite awhile to decide how to spend it but she ended up getting some earrings and a couple necklaces. I am not sure why she is so in to buying jewlery. She rarely changes her earrings and I never see her wearing necklaces. After Claire's, Ruby played in the kids play area, we got a pretzel, we stopped at the dog store and then we headed home.

Thursday afternoon Ben had Andrea over and wanted to take her to Chuck-E-Cheese so we went yet again. Ruby was napping so we left her with Steven. Tyler was back at  work. Lucy was starting to feel sick so she probably should have stayed at home but she did take a really cute pic while there. Ben and Andrea had a really good time though...

Friday morning I woke up with goopy eyes again and so did Ruby so we ended up at a same day clinic that morning. The doctor confirmed that we both had pink eye and prescribed us some drops but she didn't seem too concerned about any of our other symptoms- just told us to come back if they got worse. Like I want to come back and pay another $100. I just really hate how bad our healthcare is and that is why I procrastinate going to the doctor so much. Ruby seems to be doing better but neither one of us is great. Lots of boogers and coughing.

Friday evening Tyler and I went out to celebrate our 19th anniversary. I had failed to get him a gift that day but he had wrote me a really nice note. We were going to get dinner at our favorite Chinese place but sadly we got there and found it had been closed due to a fire a couple months ago. This was disappointing. We ended up at Applebee's which is not a favorite but it was food and it was nice to have night out without any kids (the girls were watching Ruby). 

Saturday morning we went, yet again, to Chuck-E-Cheese. We are becoming regulars. The kids just really love it and it is an easy and free way to get out of the house on a cold day. Ruby and I played some games. She liked a space invaders game, a chicken game and grabbing all the balls when I was trying to play skee ball. I also introduced the kids to Deal or No Deal and they seemed to like that one. It's nice to be able to try out games because we know we can come back and play more. We are not spending our tickets in hopes that we can get something super awesome at the end of our membership. 

Saturday afternoon I went to go to the piercing place so I could get a shorter rod on my nose stud but it turns out the piercer is out of town for the next 2 weeks. Boo. The rest of our day was uneventful. I think Ruby is finally feeling better so hopefully she will be good for Tyler when I go to Arizona Wednesday. She had been so fussy during the week- needing to be held and waking at nights- it is good we have turned a corner.