Things

Sunday I was in charge of teaching my primary class and they were insane. I thought it would be fun to have them do a skit with a partner on how to use spiritual gifts to help others. It was a disaster and I don't think they got anything from the lesson. Some lessons just go like that...

Tuesday Julie came over with her boys. Her triplets play so nicely with our Lego's that I hardly know they are there. Asher and Ruby don't really play together yet but it is good for her to have another baby in the house playing with her toys. Julie and I had a good chat about homeschool and things. I wish I had raised my kids more like hers...they have never done video games or computer games or anything. She is just now thinking of introducing them to Minecraft. Her kids are way less screen obsessed than mine and they seem to love being outside. I am jealous. 

Also Tuesday I had the idea to do some Lego art so I started rooting through the kids Lego's and sorting small pieces by color in Easter baskets. This became my obsession for the rest of the week, sorting colors and creating art. I love that I can take it apart and start again but I also now have a couple pieces that I am not sure I want to take apart. I have definitely unlocked a fun new hobby. I just have to use what I have or it could get very expensive.

Tuesday and Wednesday were long days for homeschool, both the girls had math reviews for homeschool and that was a long ordeal. Penny had to learn some of the things she had missed by cheating. Thankfully, I think she now knows how to do the things, she just needs more practice with the concepts. Lucy, who I know doesn't cheat was still struggling. It felt like most of these concepts were brand new to her, even though I had taught them to her before. It was frustrating for both of us. 

Thursday morning, after homeschool, Ruby was in the bath tub and I was scrolling my phone on the stool when something plopped in front of me. Poop, it was poop. Apparently she had pooped and she did not want to leave that in the tub with her- smart girl but also so gross. 

As I was doing laundry Thursday I discovered that Penny's jeans had a hole in the butt. I keep hoping that the warm will stick so that she doesn't need jeans any more but we just don't seem to be having that kind of luck so I caved and we went to Target to look for a new pair. Lucy had Claire over so they both came with us as well. While we were looking for jeans Claire and Lucy went off on their own. Once Penny found a pair of pink joggers that she liked- because the jeans all fit weird- we tried to find Claire and Lucy but did not see them after circling the store. So then I sent a text to Claire's watch and they didn't respond. I called and got voicemail. Urgh. So we circled the store again and this time found them. I was very frustrated at this point and Lucy did not help my frustration when she said they wanted to look at candy. Why hadn't they already done that? Instead I offered to buy her some candy by the check out (mostly to be nice to her friend) and I let Penny pick out something too. Then Lucy got mad that Penny got her own candy and she had to share hers with Claire. Why must my kids act so spoiled. It was so infuriating.

Friday I just had to go over some answers that Lucy missed on her math test and then we were done with our homeschool curriculum. Now I have to figure out some sort of review for the girls in the summer because they definitely need more practice with the concepts. The boys still have a couple more weeks of school. Bummer for them.

After we finished homeschool, I took the girls to the Outlet Mall because I wanted to go to the Lego Store and the Skecher store and I thought the girls could use something to do since they had lost their screen time because of fighting (so many mean comments to each other lately). We didn't have much look for what I was looking for at each store but it was good to get everyone out. The girls decided to walk the entire mall so good exercise for all. 

When we got back I put Ruby down for a nap, and then cleaned the house (so I could enjoy my weekend). After the house cleaning we had a quick zoom meeting with a member of the stake presidency. He released Tyler from seminary and called him to the high council. Bishop had asked Tyler to stay in seminary a couple months earlier so that was a bit of a surprise. I partially wonder if they released him  because I complained about him still having that calling to the stake president's wife at Bunco....but no, I am sure they were just inspired to call him to the high council. I feel relieved but also worried about who his replacement will be. We have a lot of crazies in our ward that I would not feel comfortable having them teach my kids. 

Saturday the boy's had a birthday party. Meanwhile I enjoyed a chill morning making cookies for my primary class and picking up the groceries. I also took a walk with Ruby and we ended up hanging out with Julie for a bit. It was fun until both Asher and Ruby wanted to sit in the Cozy Coupe Car and Ruby had a melt down when it wasn't her turn anymore. She seriously has issues with sharing. At lunch time I was feeding Ruby corn and she decided to stick 4 kernels up her nostril. It was a challenge getting them all out and I hope this does not become a habit. After the birthday party Steven had an interview for a job at Taco Bell. I am so excited he has finally had an interview and I am really hoping it pans out. While he was at his interview Tyler had Ben drive him to Bass Pro Shop so Tyler could buy himself a camping stove as an early Father's Day/ birthday gift. Our BBQ grill had kicked the bucket and this was the replacement he has been wanting for awhile. He plans to try it out Memorial Day.

End of Year Picnic, High School Musical

Sunday was Mother's Day. Tyler made me his amazing crepes and spoiled me- I got 2 pairs of jean shorts and linen pants(yes I picked them out and bought them with his money), the Up House Lego set, a bamboo Lego set, and 2 candles. The kids had a card for me. At church the primary kids did a cute song and gave us flowers made with cupcake liners. Then all the Sisters got to skip out on their second hour callings and listen to the Bishop tell us how amazing we are and eat food. I ended up at a table with just Caroline and me. I guess no one wanted to sit by us. The food was nothing special but I guess it was nice to not have to teach and just socialize with Caroline. She told me about her trip to the UK when she was a teenager and gave me some ideas for when I travel there. After church I got my nap and Tyler made dinner. When we finished eating, I made everyone go on a walk with me through the neighborhood. They bickered and annoyed each other (and me) but it was nice to have some family time. I wish we did stuff like that more often.

Monday after we finished our school work, we went to Skyzone with Mimi. We had the whole place to our selves which makes me feel a little awkward. While there Mimi's mom was telling me that her mother in law was coming in to town and so I asked her if they have a good relationship. I thought her response was funny- she said that it's good because they both mostly contribute one another's faults/quirks to the fact that they are from different countries (Mimi's mom is Japanese and her mil is American). The workers were all clearing out a foam pit while we were there and didn't notice a customer come in so I yelled at them that someone was at the register. That was awkward. By the time we finished jumping Ruby was very ready for a nap, but the girls had to get a picture together by the photo booth before we left since I wouldn't pay $10 for them to buy a picture from the booth.

Tuesday I made a poor choice and subbed for someone for Bunco. It was at Nancy's and it was a hot mess. Only 8 out of the 12 people showed up. We didn't eat for almost an hour after we got there because they were waiting for 2 more people to show up. But those people didn't show up until even later. One of them came super late because Nancy text them telling them that they had to come, even though they forgot and at that point the night was close to done. Nancy has issues and so do her kids. One of her sons was having a melt down (he has autism) and one point I saw him on the upstairs balcony flipping everyone off. Awkward. Nancy made us play all the rounds and there were some people who were tired and wanted to go home so they cheated to make the rounds finish faster (they pretended to roll a Bunco at the head table). Then after all that, there was dessert and she insisted on taking multiple pictures. She also gave everyone prizes- bracelets and earrings- that weren't really my style. The night did not end until 9:30. It was a LONG night.

Wednesday was a bit of a rough morning with homeschooling. I discovered that Penny had been copying from the answer key for her math work for months. There had been some things that made me suspicious over the last few weeks but I kind of ignored the suspicions because I did not want it to be true. But Wednesday when Penny was showing no work for a multiplication problem that clearly needed work and when she told me she just did it in her head but then could not show me how she did that---she was busted. She was really upset and kept calling herself stupid so I had to tell her she was not stupid, she just made a bad choice. It really was a bad choice for both of us because now I will have to be teaching math and she will have to be learning math in the summer.

After that homeschool fun, we picked up Claire and her 2 brothers and went to the the Renaissance end of school year picnic. The drive was awkward because Claire's older brother was in the front seat and I do not know him. I hate making small talk so I attempted for a little bit but it didn't last long so we sat in silence most of the way. At the picnic I hung out with Mimi's mom and another parent/teacher for a bit in the beginning. This mom/teacher has 5 kids spread out so her oldest is in his 20's and the youngest is Penny's age so it was fun to converse with her about the challenges of having kids in different stages of life. We chatted until Ruby got bored of the small toddler playground and wanted to go on the big playground so I had to go follow Ruby. Then later I chatted with one of Penny's friends moms- Penny has been desperate for us to meet so she can hang with this friend outside of school. This mom has a husband that is a pastor and I am not sure she loves the fact that we are Mormons so we will see if the girls end up getting together this summer. And then it was time to go home, which meant another awkward drive with Claire's brother in the front seat.

Thursday was warm so after homeschool Ruby, Penny and me went to the beach for a little bit (while Lucy stayed home and shaved her legs for the first time- my girl is turning into a teen). Ruby loves the water and also had fun climbing to the top of the giant pile of sand that was there.

Thursday night we had the missionaires over for dinner. It has been ages since we had them over, I figured it was time to do something good. I made chicken ranch enchiladas, bean salsa, cut up some fruit and did brownies and ice cream for dessert. The missionaries were alright with making conversation but they really are just babies- although the one said he's 23. After they left...they came back again and had Steven join in on one of their phone calls with an investigator. Ruby also wanted to join in with them, so I took her on a really long walk.

Friday was another warm day so I decided to take the girls to 7-11. Bribing them with candy seems to be the only way I can get them to take a walk these days. There was a cool wind so it didn't feel too hot. Ruby mostly sat in her stroller but she did walk on the trail through the woods. The last narrow stretch to 7-11, when you are right by the road, is not ideal with a stroller (the ground is slanted and the strollet gets stuck in the dirt) but we survived. On our way back from 7-11 we stopped at the library for a bit of a break and then headed home. Overall it was a good outing.

Friday night I took Penny, Lucy and Claire to go see "High School Musical" by the Renaissance Players. Lucy's friend, Geli, was in it. Mimi's family came too. I ended up sitting by Mimi's parents and then the kids all sat together. The high schoolers were a lot of fun to watch and they seemed to really enjoy themselves but they were not super talented singers. Some of them were very flat and the harmonies were not so harmonious. It was a little rough at moments. Afterwards the girls got some of the people from the show to sign their programs- it was cute.

Saturday the weather cooled off and Ruby and I got pretty cold at Penny's soccer game in the morning. There was a very cold wind blowing. Penny's team did fantastic as usual and won 3 to 1. After her game I came home for a little bit and fed Ruby and tried to get some house cleaning done and then it was off to Ben's soccer game. It was in Livonia and he drove. He didn't scare me too much on the drive, he's doing better. The wind persisted during his game and I got rained on at times. I wanted to go back to my car when it rained but the field was gated, the shoulder was narrow and I would have had to walk past many people with my camping chair to get out so I stayed and shivered. Ben's team did not fare as well as Penny's- they lost 2 to 4.

After all the soccer games, I finished cleaning the house and then we went to the Davie's house for Luke's mission farewell get together (Tyler and I taught him seminary). They had a nacho bar, some fruit and delicious Tres Leche Cake but I didn't get to eat too much of anything because I had a busy toddler to manage. Kellie Davies was nice and let Ruby go see their dog for a bit. It was a little one and Ruby actually gave it some love. Then I sat at a table with Melissa Witt and caught up with her while Ruby crushed some Mexican candy all over me and the table. Then Ruby played, or rather kept stealing toys from, the Davies grand daughter. She is the same age as Ruby but definitely a little better at sharing. I really need to work on that with Ruby. The little girl had two stuffies and would share one with Ruby but then Ruby would try to take the other stuffie too. *sigh* The little girl's mom was super nice- she is from Argentina and they are teaching their daughter Spanish only. 

My last stop of the day was Grace's where I got to unload from a long week with her. I also found out she had been in a minor car accident the day before- such a bummer for her!

And some misc pictures...as you can see Steven survived his first week without the computer. Still no job but he did spend a little more time with his siblings.

Renaissance Ends

 Monday after I homeschooled the girls I took a quick trip to Target with Lucy and Ruby. I brought Lucy along thinking that she could help with Ruby while I tried on clothes but she was more interested in taking selfies. At least I found some long jean shorts that actually covered my garments. 

After my shopping excursion Penny had her friend Mimi over and Lucy had her first day of her online graphic design class. Lucy ended up being the only one to enroll so she ended up getting a private class which was pretty cool. The only issue is her inability to focus... She told me afterwards that she forgot she was supposed to be listening at one point. Oh well, she had fun making collages on Canva after the class.

That night after I dropped Ben off at soccer practice I ran some errands. On my errands I got Ruby this fancy Hello Kitty cup because she was constantly stealing Penny's fake Stanley cup. Of course Ruby still steals Penny's cup, but now she has added this one her rotation. 

Tuesday we had a lot of rain and so both Ben's soccer game and Penny's soccer practice were cancelled that night- the fields were too wet. It was relieving to not have to be in two places at once. Instead Tyler took all the kids out to buy me mother's day gifts. I asked for a candle from Bath and Body Works and a Lego set. Apparently they only went to Walmart so I guess I wasn't explicit enough on my requests.

Wednesday the girls had their last day of elective classes. After I dropped them off I went on a walk with Grace to the library. The weather was surprisingly warm after all the rainy days. It was nice to be able to talk with Grace about the challenges I encountered when my in laws were in town. She in turn told me about a challenging client who went home and started doing all sorts of stupid things to her hair after Grace had just fixed it. I feel like sometimes I do stupid things when I am in the period of adjusting to new hair too but I can see how that can be frustrating for the hair dresser who just did your hair.

After the walk it was time to go see Penny's play and Ruby had a poopy diaper so we got off late. Then to make matters worse they had closed a lane at the freeway exit so traffic was a mess. I ended up pulling in to the school right when the play was to start and there was no parking. I had to park in the neighborhood and rush over to their school but I was late, and the doors were locked. It was relief when I finally sat down and realized I had just missed a few minutes of the play and I had not missed Penny. But I had made Penny nervous, she didn't see me come in late and thought I was missing it. At least her friend Mimi had come to see her and Lucy came in too. The play was about people doing a play- "The Wizard of Oz"- and everything going wrong. It was actually really funny and well done. Penny did a good job with her part as the building manager who accidentally sets off the fire alarm.

When the play was done, I had an hour to burn before Lucy's mock trial and I did not want to be late again. I ended up driving to what I thought was an indoor farmer's market but was actually a grocery store. That was a bust. So instead I went to Tropical Smoothie and got a smoothie for me and Ruby. Then we went back to the school, parked in the parking lot and drank the smoothie while we waited for it to be time to go in. When we went in we waited some more and this time they were running behind so us being early was totally pointless and made my nap-less baby even more crazy. She was really into shouting my name "Mama!". It did not get any better when it was time for the Mock Trial. It was held in a small room and she was the only baby in there. She just kept shouting and was too loud. I kept having to step out and then when I was out in the halls, the staff did not appreciate that. It was a disaster. We went in when it was Lucy's turn to be a witness on the stand and with Ruby's loudness I think we were more of a distraction to Lucy than a support. We left as soon as Lucy left the stand and I was not able to get any pictures. Having a toddler is hard.

Thursday and Friday I decided to do some redecorating. Our mantel has been feeling bare without any upcoming holidays to decorate for and our bookshelves have been overcrowded so I put all of our chatbooks under the TV, added some pretty teapots and Lego flowers. I also bought some dollar tree frames and drew some flower pictures to put by the TV. I need to draw 2 more for the otherside of the TV and then it will be complete.

Also, our Lego shelves in our room were getting overcrowded with Tyler's Harry Potter Lego set so I decided to redecorate the top of our lockers with a Harry Potter theme. The 2 sets I put on top of the lockers relieved some shelf space in our room so I don't have to stop buying Harry Potter Lego sets for Tyler ;)

Thursday night Penny had her make up soccer practice and I got to go by myself and hang out in my car reading and watching shows. It was so nice to have a break. 

Friday Ben had his physical- it always nice to get that out of the way before summer hits because getting an appointment in the summer can be tricky. The doctor was much more in depth than past doctors. She would ask questions about his diet, exercise, friends, schooling, screen time and then talk about why things he were doing were good or on what things he should be doing better and why. She made me go out at one point so she could talk to him about drugs  and sex which I think is stupid. Do you really think he is going to be more comfortable talking to a female stranger about these things than his parents. I could hear the whole conversation from the hall anyways.

After the visit we went to Kroger's to get Andrea a gift for her upcoming birthday and then we picked up Ruby, Lucy and Claire and went to Costco to get pizza and things. Ben drove on all these errands, he is doing pretty good these days but of course, I am still an anxious mess. 

Friday night I met Caroline, Melissa and Grace at Culver's. My friends have some issues but we also can have some pretty good laughs. Probably because we all have the minds of 12 year old boys and when the subject of the rigidity of a deep fried pickle comes up, we all burst out laughing. We also planned a girls trip for the end of July. This year it will just be one night and we are going to see a cool book store in Ohio. I am excited for the change. 

Saturday morning Penny had a soccer game. I went with Ruby and the weather was so perfect and soccer games are an easy place to watch Ruby so it was a good way to spend the morning. Penny's team is good and they won 3 to 0. Sometimes I see Penny do amazing things and other times I watch her let the ball go right towards her teams goal. She's hit and miss for sure.

After the game I cleaned the house and then Tyler and I went to the Filing Station for my early Mother's Day dinner. Their food is just so good. That night we started watching the newest season of "The Amazing Race". I love bonding with my kids over that show. They have also started watching "Modern Family" and I am not sure I should keep letting them watch it. It is so funny but also can be super inappropriate. 

And here are some cute pics from the week...

The Jones Family Moves

This week felt soooo long. On Sunday we had Tara's family staying with us. We are very different when it comes to how we operate so that can be challenging for me. Tara and her girls didn't get ready until a half an hour before church started. They still had showers to take. It's good we normally get to church 15 minutes early because that gave us enough a buffer that we were only 5 minutes late. I don't love waiting on people though.

We decided to leave church after sacrament. I was lucky to find someone to sub for my primary class last minute. We went home and had lunch and then waited on Mariah's family. She said she'd be ready at 2pm but she was not ready until 3pm. So at 3pm we all headed out to Oak Park in Grand Ledge for a nature hike. I had Tara, Ruby and Lucy in my car. Ben drove the other car with Tyler, Steven, Penny, Saylor, Navi and Broden. I was glad to not be in the other car because the Traverse currently doesn't have ac. But it was also a little awkward to ride with Tara. We are not super close or anything. She talked most of the ride. It was mostly about her and every once in awhile I chimed in. She talked a lot about how she is upset because they won't let her individualize Navi's baptism and she feels like it is more an assembly line baptism then something personal. I get that frustration but I also understant that with so many baptisms they can't make them super personal. But I did not say that. I just listened. 

Our nature walk was nice. The kids did a lot of climbing and throwing things in the water and they all seemed to have a good time together. There were a lot of people rock climbing so we had  to walk around them and they probably weren't too thrilled with our noisy group. At the end, as we were walking to our cars, I heard Mariah apologize for Tara having to stay with us and Tara telling her it wasn't that bad. Just the way they spoke made it very clear that Tara was not here to see us. It didn't make me feel great.

After the walk we went the Horrocks Market in Lansing. We have been to the one Battle Creek but not this one in Lansing. We ended up ordering pizza, strolling the market while the pizza cooked, and then we went out to the Beer Garden to eat the pizza. Of course we ended up at our own table and Tara sat with Mariah's family. Ruby was obsessed with the fountain in the picture below and kept trying to get in it and drink from it. She was a disaster. Tara and Mariah chatted for a LONG time and I get it, Tara was here all the way from Arizona to see Mariah. But I have a very busy toddler and it was getting late and I was not looking forward to having to drive in the dark- I have terrible night vision. All those things combined made me very anxious to leave but I tried to be cool and not make a deal of it. Eventually we managed to steer them out and I was grateful to get my toddler strapped in a carseat and be heading home.

Monday morning each of the girls did one subject for homeschool and Tara's family got up around the time they finished. Around lunchtime Mariah dropped off her 3 oldest kids with me and then took Tara to her house to help her clean out the pantry. I had 6 extra kids with me for the next 5 hours so that was fun. Tara's boy, Broden was a big help and so were my girls so it really wasn't too bad. They played pretty well until Ruby's nap time and then I put in a movie and then they played some more after the movie.

Around 5, Mariah and Tara came back with Jeff, and Tyler had picked up his parents from the airport and we all went to the Kickstand Brewing Company for dinner. Ruby was scared of Tyler's parents and refused to even look at them on the drive over to the restaurant. Silly girl. Anyways, the food was good and Poppy was generous and bought dinner for everyone. The kids were a bit chaotic but not too terrible. They all sat at one half of the long table and the adults were on the other. Lucy's friend's older brother works there and happened to serve us food so that was a nice surprise. He was nice and said "hello" to Lucy. I couldn't place him at first so I did not say hi,  I felt bad. I got to listen to Tara rant some more about Navi's baptism, but this time to her parents. After dinner Tyler's parents came home with us and Tara went to stay at Mariah's house.

Tuesday morning I just homeschooled one subject with the girls again and then we went on a walk with Poppy and Grams. We went to the beach to let Ruby play on the swingset but I saw Julie and while we were chatting with her, Ruby decided to go into the lake. She loves the water. After the walk it was decided that I would bring Leslie and Steve to Mariah's house. Originally Mariah was going to bring her kids here but got lazy and decided we should come to her. Steven was home so he came with us to help. Lucy and Steven joined in with packing while I took all the kids over to a nearby playground. Penny came with me and was a big help. 

When we came back from the park, Mariah was apparently done packing at the moment and wanted to unload her fridge of food for lunch. We had some food and then I took everyone home so I could put Ruby down for a nap. After her nap Mariah requested that I bring my kids over to help with taking apart the beds so we started to head over when Tyler called me and said actually Tara and his dad were going to bring the kids to Skyzone to jump. This family and their poor communication skills. So we turned back around and waited for them to meet us at Skyzone.

I had told Tyler's dad that he didn't need to buy the kids passes because I was going to get them summer passes but he insisted on buying their summer passes. That was really generous of him. Ruby was a little weary of everything at first but eventually warmed up to the air pads and foam pits- she loved to lay on them- but she never did get into the trampolines. Since we got there at 5pm the kids started to get pretty hungry and whiney about an hour in so I'm glad we have passes so we can come back and properly enjoy it.

Tyler and Tara left early to get some groceries and start making some spaghetti for the kids. I was really grateful that they took care of everything and I didn't have to make the food. I always worry about cooking for other people. Tara was also really awesome and cleaned the dishes afterwards. 

Wednesday I took the girls to school and picked up groceries. While I was unloading groceries, Ruby started to warm up to her Grams but she was still a little weary of her Poppy Hatch. He sorted of helped his case by sharing some carrot bread with her. After I put away the groceries, we went over to Mariah's house to help. I ended up taking the kids to the playground again. This time Steve came with me which was nice. The kids played for about 1 hour and then I had to take Tara's family to the airport.

Tara had a big goodbye with Mariah's family. I took pictures of them all together, they all promised to see each other soon and then the Jones kids did their special good bye wave to the Bowmans. It made me feel like chopped liver because my kids did not get special goodbyes the night before- no group pictures or promises. At the airport I told Tara she should come back sometime and she said that maybe when her parents come back, she can come again. I don't know why she needs a buffer but whatever. It will probably be a long time before we see them again and it probably won't be here. As hard as having them here can be, I really do love seeing my kids with their cousins and want more cousin time for them.

After the airport drop off I went back to Mariah's home and I watched her kids outside along with Ruby. It was rough because Ruby just wanted to go to the playground while Mariah's kids wanted to climb a tree in front of their house. I was on my own this time so it was definitely a challenge not losing any kids. 

After about an hour of the juggling of kids, I had to go pick up my girls from school. I took the girls back home and picked up Steven (Ben had soccer practice) and then we went back to Mariah's. This time I also brought some Legos and toys and a blanket so we could have some stuff to do. It felt better to be better prepared. When I got there Lucy and Steven got to work taking boxes and setting them by the moving truck. I sat down with the kids in the grass and all the things I had brought. Not too long after I got there, one of Mariah's friends showed up. Apparently she was there to watch the kids so that was awkward. It didn't help that the friend seemed annoyed with me and was not a good conversationalist. Together we watched the kids for awhile and then I started to help with boxes because it was seriously awkward. Ruby basically followed me around and got in the way. Around 6pm her ward came to help out and not too long after that I left to pick up Ben from soccer. I knew he would want to say goodbye to the Jones kids.

As I was leaving the soccer practice I heard a weird noise that sounded like maybe my car had rubbed against another car, but looking behind me, there was no one and since I didn't feel a bump or anything, I just left. Later when I looked there was definitely a white scratch on the corner of my car but who did I bump? I will now forever dread soccer pick ups and wonder if there is someone out there upset with me. 

By the time I got to Mariah's house for the bazillionth time that day I was a wreck. I was so tired and now I was also anxious about my potential hit and run that I just wanted to go cry somewhere. Tyler and his dad were headed out to get some food so I let Ben and Lucy join them. Everyone was everywhere and I felt weird and emotional so I said some awkward goodbyes and took Steven, Penny and Ruby home with me. And that was the end of having family in Michigan.

Thursday was basically my recovery day from all the crazy and then that weekend the kids had their youth auction spaghetti dinner which we spent Friday and Saturday prepping for. The kids all had to make desserts to auction off which they did Friday. Lots of cookie making by the kids. Except Ben came down with whatever Mariah's kids had-in his words "the Jones kids have slain me"- so I had to make his cookies. Ben even went to seminary that morning thinking he could go to school but after 3 trips to the bathroom he realized he would not be going to school that day. He is so obsessed with not missing school that being gone was rough on him.

Saturday I made 2 batches of spaghetti sauce and we had two soccer games. I took Penny to her game. They had a tough opponent but they won 4 to 3 (that last point was earned in the last 20 seconds). Tyler took Ben to his soccer game and they also had a tough opponent. His team lost 1 to 3. Tyler had some frustration because he went to pick up Paulo, who is on Ben's team, but he wasn't home. He had gone to our house. So Tyler told them to stay at our house but when he went to pick them up, they hadn't listened and went back to their house. Ugh, it is no wonder that family is late to everything. 

The fundraiser was Saturday night and I was not really wanting to be there but of course I went. The spaghetti dinner upset my stomach and I ended up in the bathroom. Of course someone else was in there and heard all my awkward noises so that was embarrassing. After the dinner was the talent show. Ben and Lucy did a comedy skit. Ben was the host and Lucy was a water expert who tasted water blindfolded. There was sparkling water, pool water, mineral water, lake water and tap water. The pool water (chocolate milk) tasted like mud, the pool water (apple juice) tasted like urine but it was the tap water that Lucy spit out. Penny held up signs behind Lucy with what kind each water was so the audience would know if she was guessing correctly. I thought they did a good job. At the end Ben made a ward inside joke about AJ eating moldy cheese from the fridge- that got a really good laugh. My kids may not play instruments, sing or dance but at least they are funny ;). After the skit desserts were auctioned off and we paid $25 for one plate of cookies that Lucy made and $35 for doughnut that looked better than they tasted. I also found out that none of my spaghetti sauce was eaten because they saved mine for last so that was super frustrating.  And now I am just glad the week is over.