Mid Winter Break

We had snow Sunday morning so they decided to cancel church. I spent the morning working on my memory books for the kids (which I finished!), Lucy and Penny hid upstairs playing with their stuffies and the boys were up in their room being lazy. I think this made Ruby feel neglected because she started getting pretty fussy. Tyler decided to take her to Lowe's right before her nap time, just so she could get out of the house. Ruby enjoyed getting into things at Lowe's and apparently even set off an alarm a tool had. She is such a  toddler. That afternoon the kids all got outside and played in the snow. I decided to send Ruby out with them but she only lasted 5 minutes before she wanted back in. She doesn't like to put on gloves so she ended up with just one on and her one mittenless hand got super cold.

 This past week was mid winter break so no homeschool and the boys were home from high school- Steven still had his college classes though. I have been low energy these days and trying not to spend monies so we didn't do too much. It was a very low key week. Monday our only outing was to Five and Below so the kids could spend the Valentine's money that Grams had sent them. Steven didn't come because he just wanted the cash. He's so lame these days. Ben was very decisive- he knew he wanted candy. Ruby was less decisive. She picked a ball, then a horse, then a baby shark coloing book, then she was back to the ball and in the end she decided on a giant orange rubber duckie. I think that's the last time for a bit that I allow her to choose. Penny of course chose something Stitch themed and Lucy took almost as long as Ruby to choose but ended up getting candy. 

Tuesday I ended up taking all the kids (except Steven) to Chuck-E-Cheese in the morning since we still have our passes until March. We had been away for long enough that it wasn't awful to be there. Ruby was less focused on the same 3 rides and actually wandered around quite a bit trying to "boop" the card on different things. She was actually really into skee ball for part of our visit- she liked to roll the ball and then I would get a turn and throw it for her. Near the end we realized we were close to 2000 tickets (which is what the better prizes cost) so Ben who is the best at earning tickets focused on getting us to our goal. The "Monster Smasher" game was his top ticket earner and we achieved our goal. They ended up getting a stuffie that looked like a bag of animal crackers. They got it for Ruby but also because the girls thought it would be fun for the "games" they play with their stuffies.

Tuesday evening I took the middle 3 to see "Dogman". I really did not want to see this movie and the kids fighting on the way there did not help my attitude. The kids ended up disappointed with the movie because it was different from the books and I was not super entertained by it so it was a bit of a bust for all of us.

Wednesday the girls still had their classes at Renaissance and after I dropped them off I picked up some stuff the girls were buying from Facebook Marketplace for their dolls. One of the things was a doll jeep and it did not dawn on me until I saw it in person how big it was. It takes up so much space but I was letting the girls lead the way on this. They shoveled snow to gather the money, searched the FB Marketplace listing for what they wanted, added up the costs and then I just made the contact and picked up. After we got back from picking up the stuff, Ben, Ruby and I ended up making another trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Ruby got super excited when we pulled up and walked in- lots of squealing. Ben earned some more tickets for Ruby and got her a ball and he got lollipops for both of them. It was a really nice outing with just the 3 of us.

Wednesday night I went over to Grace's, just me, to hang out. She knows my favorite snacks and we had a good chat. She told me her 15 year old daughter wants a tattoo because her friends are all getting them. Of course Grace is not going to let her get one but what is wrong with all these parents? Letting your 15 year old make a permanent decision like that? Nope.

Thursday morning I took the girls to the library and struck up a conversation with this lady that had twins Ruby's age. I really wanted to be weird and ask her for her number because I could see us doing toddler playdates together- we just got along so well- but I chickened out and didn't. Ugh, making mom friends with kids Ruby's age is going to be so tricky. I don't know what is acceptable behavior when it comes to making new friends, lol.

Thursday afternoon Lucy's friend Jenna came over for a sleepover and her mom, Stacey, stayed and chatted with me for a couple hours before leaving. I enjoy our chats but think we have very different tastes in movies so I should probably never give her recommendations, ha. After she left, I took the girls to the Dollar Tree to get some crafts and treats and Ruby ended up getting a little chick toy, a Steve Minecraft figure (she has become obsessed with Minecraft Minifigures lately) and a Daniel Tiger book. She is spoiled. Then that night they watched "Stargirl" because the girls had listened to the book but, once again, the movie didn't really align with the book and the kids were disappointed. I also think Lucy found it cringey because the main character was awkward and didn't care about being herself BUT that was the point of the book as well so she should have known that theme would be in there.

Friday, Jenna was here until lunchtime and her and Lucy made cookies. Lucy is a little hopeless with cooking sometimes and I think added too much flour but they were alright. That evening the older 3 went and did baptisms at the temple.

Saturday I had a Ministering Interview around lunch time. We drove to the house of one of the ladies in the presidency and then they came out with a treat (cinnamon roll and hot chocolate) and chatted in the car with me- asking about the sisters I minister to and about me. It's always nice to chat with grown ups and get a treat. That evening we babysat for the Jones family. They mostly watched Ben and Andrea play Minecraft and watched a little bit of Octonauts. Ruby was a big bully and hit Maverick before I could stop her. I told her to be nice and had her hug him. While hugging him, she stole his toy. Ugh. She is such trouble but on the other hand, she was really cute with Wesley and belly laughing at things he did. The next day (Sunday) the Jones came over again and Ruby immediately "petted" Maverick and said "nice". Maybe she is learning? 

One of Ruby's favorite activities this week was putting her barbies in the holes on her little xylophone toy. She is so weird

Valentines

Monday was Steven's actual 17th birthday. In the morning he had no gifts to open from us because he just wanted $$. He did get a card and gift card from Grams and Poppy Brady to open and a few days later some silver coins from his other grandparents. We let him ditch his high school classes that day but he still had to go in for his college classes. That evening I made Steven his favorite chicken alfredo and then the Jones family came over for cup cakes and ice cream.

After we celebrated Steven, we all went to Lucy's volleyball game. The game did not go well. Lucy's team lost 2 out of the 3 matches. It was not their night. And poor Maverick fell backwards off the bleacher seat during the game so it wasn't his night either. 

Wednesday while the girls were at their classes I went through the stuff in the basement and took a load to Salvation Army. It always feels good to get stuff out of the house. After we dropped off the load, I took Ruby to the library. I was just going to do a quick stop to pick up a book and let her play for a minute because I was not looking my best, but we ran into the other mom from the ward that has a girl Ruby's age. I ended up staying longer then planned, chatting with her and another mom friend of hers (this time she didn't cut me out of the conversation, like the last time I saw her at the library). It was nice but I wish I had actually done my hair before going out. 

Wednesday night we were supposed to get a lot of snow so all activites were cancelled that night and schools decided to preemptively cancel for Thursday as well. It ended up not being much a storm, just a few inches of snow. I really think they could have still had school and that the weatherman is maybe just a high schooler that just doesn't want to have school. The kids were happy to all have a day off. We had a lazy day in. 

Thursday night we had a Valentine's get together with the girls friends: Claire, Mimi, and Geli and Luna (who came an hour late). We started with crafts- little pizza boxes(you have a pizza of my heart), shrinky dinks (that ended up not shriking well in the oven because the girls put a few on the pan upside down) and they water colored a heart. After the crafts Geli and Luna showed up so we played some minute to win it games- older girls (unicorns) versus the youngers (team pink). We matched and stacked conversation hearts, tried to slide rubber ducks onto hearts, used straws to take marshmallows from one side of the table to the other, and they shook cups to determine which has more conversation hearts. The older girls ended up winning by just one point. Our last activity was decorating (and eating) cookies. Then they had about 20 minutes just to hang out before parents came to pick up. I know my girls love these crafts and activities so I am happy to host this for them and their friends.

Friday was Valentine's Day and I gave each of the kids their love gifts and cards. The boys were off early in the morning so they didn't get theirs until after school and I didn't snap a picture of them....but Steven got $$, Ben got a Goomba Lego set, Lucy and Penny got Beanie Boos and Ruby got a Police Duplo set.

Friday morning Tyler and I went to the Village of Milford to turn in our passport applications. It was a quick and easy process and now we are one step closer to our Englad trip. I have been spending lots of time looking up things because it has been so cold and icy here and it helps to dream of traveling to far off pretty places...even if we won't be going there for another a year.

That evening Lucy had another school dance with her friends. This time her Aunt Mariah came over and did her hair and make up. She looked really fancy and way to pretty to be at a place where boys were. She said that she did not dance with any boys, just hung with her friends the whole time.

 

Also that night my friend Corinne came into town. We went to Arby's and then hung out at my house. Shes stayed over until 1am which was way past my bedtime. She is the same bubbly enthusiastic and slightly judgy friend, lol. 

Saturday morning was nice and chill. I have been working on the books I make for the kids for Easter so it was nice to have some time for that. That afternoon I watched Corinne's 3 kids while her and her husband went to the temple. Lucie and Penny were awkward at first but it didn't take long before they were back to being good friends. Della and Joel were really chill kids and mostly just played with toys. I was worried her kids were going to be tricky (because they were when she used to live here) but honestly it was just my kid- Ruby- that was tricky. Ruby did not love sharing her toys or me with these other kids. She has a lot of only child behaviors as the major baby of this family. When their parents came back from the temple, we all hung for a bit and then they headed out to go visit another family. Honestly I had had some trepidation about Corinne's visit being a little overwhelming but it was just the right amount. 

This week Ruby has been getting some teeth in so there were a couple early wake ups with her- Tyler was a big help thankfully. Ruby is very much a toddler and does not like to have her diaper changed or go down for a nap- she often runs from me. We are also constantly telling her "feet on the seat" because she wants to climb onto the table instead of just stand on the chair. She loves to play with her Barbies and try to put them on their horses. She also plays with her Fisher Price Little People quite a bit. I am honestly quite impressed with how well she independently plays at this age. This week she has been doing better at signing "all done" when she is officially done eating (she seems to lose words and signs and then come back to them) and she has been very excited about all the "snow" outside- even though I don't take her out in it. It has been sooooo cold. 

Steven 17th Birthday

 Monday I took Lucy and Penny to Chuck-E while Ruby napped. It was really nice to not have the baby with me so I could just hang with the older girls and play games with them. I didn't hate Chuck-E quite as much as I had our last couple of visits. Monday night Lucy had her first volleyball game (with Tyler as coach) and they won all 3 matches. It was close on the last one but here's hoping for another good season.

Tuesday our excitement of the day was a trip to the library. Ruby gravitated towards the area where they have a bunch of tunnels and ramps attached to a wall that you can make a little course to put balls through. I think she likes that area because she usually gets it to herself. We got Ruby a bunch of "Baby Shark" and "Daniel Tiger" books, her current obsessions. At dinner time, Ruby really hammed it and was having fun making everyone laugh with her silly faces. That night, while the boys were at archery, the girls and I watched "Gilmore Girls" because all of Lucy's friends are watching it. The first season is pretty tame so I think we might just watch that season.

Wednesday the older girls had their classes at Renaissance. Penny had her theater auditions which she was super nervous about but she came home saying she did good, she just talked a litle fast. Her friends cheered for her when she finished. Lucy told me that she joined in with a group for script writing and exchanged contact information with her group members. Maybe she will finally make some Wednesday friends. While they were in class Ruby and I ran a few errands. She is not the best errand runner. She does not love being in a cart these days. 

Thursday the kids all got a snow day because of icy roads. I ended up running a few more errands and the roads were just fine. Dang kids get out of school too much. 

Friday Ruby had her 18 month check up. As much as I love the nurse who usually does all her stats (she is super nice), we had different one and he was much more efficient and much better at helping her stay calm. He took my temp first to show her it was ok, had the head measure thing all set up so he only had to put it on her for a sec and measured her length last because he knew that would upset her to be away from me. The rest of the check up went well until she got her shots BUT I was prepared and after the shots I gave her a lollipop (they never give her one there) and played her favorite song "Police Car" on my phone. She calmed down pretty quickly and happily walked out of the office.

Friday evening Tyler and I went to Leo's because I was desperately craving chilli cheese fries. They hit the spot and we had a fun time out. 

Saturday morning the boys went and helped their friend David pass out flyers for his Eagle Scout Project. Apparently Ben and his friends were looking pretty suspicious and someone called the cops on them- I mean the boys were in black and messing around people's doors. Ben had a cop pull up to him and see what he was doing. Thankfully he articulated things well and the cop realized he was not a threat, ha.

Saturday afternoon Steven had his 17th birthday party. He invited Max, Renee, David and Noah (a friend from school). Noah had never been here before and so I wasn't surprised when his dad came to the door. However, I was surprised when his dad took off his shoes and jacket and came inside too. Noah's dad stayed all 3 hours of the party- he said it wasn't worth it to go home, even though there home is near the high school and not super far. Thankfully he wasn't awkward and was easy to make conversation with but I still hadn't been expecting to have to be so present. It was a bummer though that Tyler was at an archery tournament with Ben for most of the time so it was just me and the dad. The boys played video games most of the time- they had a little tournament where Max and David won. I made some pasta and mozzarella sticks and had out Zebra cakes. Steven's friends are weird and didn't eat much. At the end we did the traditional happy birthday with cake. I think it was a success. After the party Steven and Max and Ben went to a stake dance. Steven said the dance was super lame. Ben said he danced with a girl because some in the ward told him to, ha.

Saturday evening I had the Caroline, Grace and Melissa over. It was pretty fun, the conversations were light and silly. I ate a lot of junk and after they left I started to feel queasy. I attempted to sleep but 2 hours later I woke up and spent the rest of the night throwing up. It was miserable. Throwing up was painful and gross and did not make me feel much better. I alternated between toilet, bathroom floor and couch- I went downstairs because that bathroom is not so gross. It was a long night. Sunday after 6am I did not throw up anymore but instead suffered from diarrhea. Needless to say, I did not go to church. I am hoping this was from something I ate and does not get spread to the rest of the family. Tyler was nice and taught my primary lesson and let me rest in bed most of the day.

Things

Monday was back to homeschool life and it was not a good week for homeschool. Lots of drama, mostly from Lucy who was getting really frustrated with math. I realized I wasn't being the best teacher, and needed to make comments that were more positive like "you are smart and I know you can do this!" than comments that were like, "you should have this already!". It is really hard to teach your own children.

Tuesday morning, Tyler and I attempted to go turn in our passport paperwork to a post office that said on their website that they had walk in hours, but when we got there we were informed they are understaffed and they don't do that anymore. That was really frustrating. As much as I hate phone calls, I decided we couldn't waste another trip so I called another place on the list while we were driving home. Their first appointment wasn't until Valentine's Day so it looks like we will be spending our Valentine's morning applying for passports. Very romantical.

Wednesday I dropped off the girls at school and then I attempted to clean out the guest room but was hindered by a toddler tornado. Thankfully Steven had a half day (off his already half day which means he gets home super early)  and he ended up watching Ruby for a bit so I could finish cleaning up the room (mostly because he wanted to get on his computer in the guest room but not with me there). It feels a little better now but Ruby was getting fussy with Steven so I had to rush. After the cleaning, Ruby was an emotional disaster so we ended up going a walk. It had been a long time since we did our loop. The roads were still snowy and icy and I thought it was super ironic that a couple hours after our walk, a snow plow came through the neighborhood and cleared the roads. That evening Lucy had volleyball and it turns out they didn't have a coach for her yet so Tyler decided to volunteer. He is now coaching archery and volleyball which means he has something 4 nights a week to coach,lucky duck.

Thursday I was feeling spazzy about my bangs, they just didn't feel quite right, and Grace was nice and made time for me to come in to her salon and get them adjusted. She cut them slightly shorter and added in some side bangs. I feel much better about them and am grateful she puts up with me. I knew she wouldn't let me pay her (she sends me money back on Venmo when I try to) so I brought her a jar of pickles. It looked pretty funny when I pulled it out of my little purse.

Thursday Tyler also had his annual review with his boss. He was really worried because some of his friends, that he felt were personable and good employees had gotten laid off, but thankfully he did not get laid off. Instead he got raving reviews that came with a big raise and a good bonus. I know inflation and expensive kids will take most of that money but he is also hoping to pay a little more on our loans (student debt and equinox) . And as for the bonus, hopefully we can remodel our upstairs bathroom at long last and save some for our 20th anniversary trip next year.

Thursday, after dinner, Julie came over to drop off my canner that she had borrowed ages ago. She also brought Asher so we let the toddlers have a play date. Asher is talking a lot more than Ruby but he is a few months older. I was worried with Ruby not being a great sharer that it might be rough to have another toddler in her space but she did fine for the most part. She even "fetched" the balls that Asher threw, lol. I enjoy hanging out with Julie because she is the one mom that I know that is in a similar situation- older mom with a large gap between her youngest and her other kids. It is nice to have someone who can relate with the unique challenges that brings. 

Friday, during Ruby's nap, I went to Stefanie's. She had some books she was wanting to pass on to someone else but really that was just an excuse for us to get together and catch up. It was a really nice outing talking about all the things in our lives- particularly our children growing up and travel wishes. Getting some new books to read was just an added bonus. For dinner Tyler and I went to Costco to pick up pizza and while we were there it snowed a lot and we had a very slippery drive back home. It was scary and was very grateful that it was Tyler driving, not me. That night the kids were all home so we watched "Flight of the Navigator". I thought it was a pretty fun old movie.

Saturday was fairly uneventful. Steven had work and Ben went to another archery tournament. This tournament Ben got 223, so 3 points higher than the last. It's fun seeing how he's improving. That evening we babysat Mariah's kids. I was having them play on the tablet and Jessie tripped over the cord and knocked it off the table. It scared me and I shouted her name. The tablet was just fine, but apparently, even though I told her a dozen times I wasn't mad at her and I knew it was an accident, I traumatized her by shouting her name. She got in the car and told her mom that I was mad at her and didn't love her anymore. Mariah said Jessie's never had an Aunt yell at her before, way to make me feel crappy. They ended up coming back so Mariah could show her I was not mad at her. It was a lot of hullabaloo about nothing.

Ruby this week seemed to either wake up early (like 6:30) or wake up during the night and need to snuggle for an hour before going back to her bed. She is getting more teeth in so I would like to blame this for the bad sleep but who knows. Ruby has also picked up some new words, like "ball" and "snow". I wish she would learn more specific words that just "food" though. I am tired of her just saying "food" when she wants to eat but not knowing what food she actually wants. This week Ruby discovered the joy of stacking play-doh containers and obsessed over stacking them and knocking them down and then repeating that for ages. She also still is obsessed with listening to the "Police Car Song" by Pink Fong.

And random pics because when I get new hair I tend to take lots of selfies to come to terms with my new face, lol.