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.