Father's Day, FSY, Cedar Point

Sunday was Father's Day so the kids and I did a group effort to make breakfast for Tyler and his dad that morning. I made the bacon, Lucy and Penny did the pancakes and Ben made the eggs- of course they all needed some help but they mostly did it themselves. After a big breakfast Tyler opened his things- he got a dumb shirt from me, a Harry Potter Lego set from Ben, oatmeal cream pies and some candy from Penny and Lucy made him a card. Notice that Steven did not do anything for him *sigh*. Tyler's dad also brought Tyler some ties. I felt bad because I hadn't realized Tyler's dad would be here on Father's day so I had just mailed him a card with Lego Darth Vadar keychain and did not have any gifts for him. Hopefully the breakfast was a nice enough gesture.

At church the primary kids sang "This Little Light of Mine" which was really cute but I am not sure what it had to do with fathers...Then the RS went all out with a Superman Theme for the dads and meatball subs. Tyler's dad said this was the most recongnized he has been on a Father's Day Sunday in ages. I think he really appreciated it.

Also, Tyler got ordained and set apart as a high priest during church. This was the whole reason his parents came out, so his dad could ordain him. It was our whole family (minus Ruby) and the stake president, Pres Day. I think it was a real special experience for Tyler.

When we got home we had some chips and dips to snack on, watched Veggie Tales (which Tyler's dad thought was hilarious), laid down to rest for a minute and then Tyler had to take his parents back to the airport. It really was a short visit with them.

Monday morning the boys headed out to FSY. I was lucky to have people from church giving them rides so I didn't have to- it was at a university in ohio so a 4 hour drive round trip. That morning Steven was being particularly rude and Ben was being particularly pesky so to be honest, I was more than happy to send them on their way. Shortly after dropping them off with their ride, Ashlee brought her girls over for me to watch while her house got packed by movers. Her girls, Wynn and June, are really sweet and easy to watch. They played with toys, we walked to the beach and they tried (and failed) to catch minnows in the shallow water (meanwhile Ruby just sat in the water fully clothed), we colored pictures, we played games on our tablet, they played with Legos...it was a good day and I am going to miss them.

Monday evening I went to Walmart and grabbed a couple things to drop off at Melissa's house since apparently she was still having a lot of pain from the ankle surgery. She couldn't come to the door but thanked me from their Ring doorbell which threw me off and made me awkward. I shouted back at the Ring doorbell, like she couldn't hear me. I am such a goober.

Tuesday Lucy had her babysitting gig and I ran a couple errands with Ruby and Penny. I made the mistake of not putting Ruby in a cart at 5 and Below, she is not ready for that freedom and I had to carry her out of the store crying. Toddlers. That evening I took Lucy shopping for a new church dress, she's not loving rompers anymore, and that was a challenge. She is really wanting to fit in which means she was looking at lots of dresses that are not super modest. This is a whole new phase that I am probably not handling right. I tried to talk to her about what modesty means and I also told her that she should wear things because she likes them and feels good in them- not because of what other people say. I don't know that anything sunk in. She ended up getting a dress that will need a shirt under it and it barely covers her bum. Of course she looks pretty in it but that is just because she is pretty and looks good in anything. I think these next few years are going to be super tough.

Wednesday was the day that Penny finally got her cast on! She was so excited...until they started cutting off the wrapping that was on her and she started freaking out. She said she didn't like seeing her arm with all the stitches and there was a lot of crying and me having to calm her down. I thought this was supposed to be the easy part and I really did not expect so much drama. Of course there was a lot of waiting and that just made it harder. BUT luckily they had pink and she was able to get a hot pink cast which totally made up for everything. She was so excited to finally have a cast that her friends could sign. We had to go to Mimi's shortly after so Mimi could sign the cast before her family leaves on vacation. It turns out she will only have this cast for 3 weeks and then she can move on to wearing a brace. She might actually get to do some lake swimming this summer.

At 5pm there was a combined YM and YW activity for the youth who were too young for FSY. They met at a park and then walked down to Dairy Twist for ice cream. The time was earlier because of impending storms. I took Lucy, and Penny and Ruby tagged along. We hung out with Caroline and Lizzie at the park. I am starting to feel a bit disconnected with Caroline. No bad feelings or anything, just like we aren't as close as we used to be. While the ym and yw walked to Dairy Twist, I hopped in the car with Ruby and Penny and met them there. The ice cream proportions there are absurd. I bought 1 scoop for me and Ruby to share and 1 scoop for Penny but 1 scoop apparently equals like 4. It was a lot of ice cream and Penny had a hard time eating it one handed because it's not soft serve. Caroline was nice and at one point tied Penny's hair back so it wouldn't get in her ice cream. It was a messy outing for sure.

Tyler had the day off Thursday for Juneteenth. We all had a really lazy morning and then Lucy went off to her friend Claire's house. While she was there, Tyler, Ruby, Penny and me went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Ruby was terrified of the tube slide there but also loved it once she went down it. After we ate we stopped at Kohl's so I could find a shirt for Steven for his senior pictures. Tyler was annoyed at my indecisiveness but I appreciated having his help to pick something. Unfortunately every one decided to go shopping that day and the line was huge. Tyler was nice and took Ruby and Penny to the car to wait so I didn't have to deal with a toddler in line.

Friday morning Ruby and I went to Asher's home. They played outside at the water table and in buckets of water until a storm rolled in. Then we went inside. Julie told me she had been having stomach pain all week and unfortunately it returned while I was there and she was in bad shape. She decided she should probably go to the dr's and I felt bad just leaving her while she was not feeling well, but her husband was coming home and I think she was not comfortable with me being there. 

Friday afternoon Geli and Luna came over. Last time they got together they all seemed to get bored so I decided to take them all to Target while Ruby napped (Tyler was working from home). I thought it would be a good outing and it was mostly, but it led to more modesty struggles with Lucy. She was really wanting a tank top and I don't have a thing against tank tops but the once she chose is very low cut, tight and barely covers her belly. She ended up buying it with her own babysitting money and putting it on when she got back to the house. But I noticed her tugging it down a lot, despite telling me she feels comfortable and cute in it. I hear so many conflicting things about modesty and about the issues you can create by making a big deal out of things but as a parent where do you draw the line? What battles are worth fighting and what battles will only cause more rebellion?

Anyways, after Target we came back home and Penny and Luna struggled to find something they wanted to do together. Lucy and Geli do fine together but I feel like Penny and Luna are growing apart. Penny is still happy to do kids things and Luna is trying to be more like a teenager. Geli and Luna will be going to different school next year so I am not sure how much longer this friendship will last.

Saturday morning the boys came back from FSY and Steven was immediately angered at me because I was washing bedding and he needed the washer. So nice to have him back. Ben was better and told me all about his adventures. It sounded like it was a really good time for them. Ben ended up in a good group and made lots of friends and came home to 600 text messages from a group chat they had made (he had not brought his phone to FSY because Lucy needed it for babysitting). Ben also got a phone call from one of the girls in his group when he got home- he is not interested in her and she is only interested in talking about another boy she likes, lol, so I guess that's ok. Here are some pictures from their adventures.

After they got home, Penny, Ruby and me went for a walk to the library. I like our walks but it was a little toasty on the walk back, we are going through a heat wave. That was pretty much our only adventure for the day since Lucy and Tyler had taken the only car with a/c to Cedar Point. Lucy had used her own money to buy a ticket for Cedar Point so Tyler took her (she is feeling flushed with cash). It was obviously a hot day for them as well but they seemed to have a good time. They went on 8 roller coasters- the Gate Keeper was Lucy's favorite coaster. 

A story I forgot to document last week, maybe because it is not a proud parent moment... I was making dinner and in the "cooking zone" when Lucy asked me if Ruby was outside. Someone had went out the front door and hadn't shut it all the way and Ruby had escaped. Lucy had noticed the open door, thank heavens. We ran outside and Ruby was pushing her car we take on walks and was just about to enter the road. It was epic timing and I am so grateful nothing bad had happened.

Sidewalk Art

Sunday I took Lucy to her friend's brother's graduation party (Claire's brother). It was awkward since I only know Claire's mom so I talked with her for a minute and then sat for a little with Lucy and her friends. Lucy got tired of me being there very quickly so I didn't stay long. Lucy stayed but that is an awkward situation because Lucy is constantly competing with Brielle (who was also there) on who is Claire's bestest friend. It is a lose lose situation for both of them. 

Monday Ruby, Penny and I walked down to Dodge Park so we could make some sidewalk chalk art (Lucy was mowing the lawn, she loves making money). I did not expect Ruby to have much of an attention span with it but she was surprisingly entertained for a long while. Penny and I had fun too. I made a little sidewalk chalk obstacle course- walk the vine, spin in a circle, hop the lily pads hop scotch- and Penny helped me decorate it. Making art always makes me happy.

Tuesday afternoon both the girls had friends over- Mimi and Claire. Claire came over first and they thought it would be funny to be doing a pretend funeral for Claire when Mimi came over...They buried Claire under blankets, put on dark clothes and eye shadow and played the funeral march on the Alexa. They are weirdos but it always nice when Mimi and Claire come over, there is very little drama and lots of silly play.

Wednesday morning me and all the girls went to Dodge park and did some more sidewalk chalk art. Lucy and Penny made a sunset that was really pretty and pretty much used up all of our sidewalk chalk. I am glad they got so in to it though. It's nice when I can get them distracted from screen time. While they were coloring their masterpiece, Ruby played on the playground.

Wednesday evening the young men and young women had a combined activity at our neighborhood beach. The lake had just been treated the day before with chemicals so we probably all shortened our life span by playing in the water. I came because Tyler had a daddy daughter activity at the church with Penny at the church and I felt like one of us should be there since they were at our beach, but I probably did not need to be there. In the beginning it was just Ruby and me at the beach while everyone else ate under the ramada. Then Bishop and his couselor came over to the beach when the youth came in to swim but it is awkward with them. They want to talk about sports and how to "bulk up" and other boring men things. The young women leaders finally came down near the end but they were very cliquey so it was a pretty blah evening for me. The bright spot in the blah was when one of the yw, Renee, went out in the lake with Ruby and kept her entertained for a good while. I was really grateful for her help and a little break from Ruby.

 

Thursday morning I dropped off Lucy at her new babysitting job and Ben off at soccer conditioning and then I took Penny and Ruby to Scarlet's Park. Penny made me nervous going down slides with her broken arm and Ruby on her nap but thankfully no more injuries. 

Friday morning I went on a walk with Ruby, Penny, Lucy and Ben to seven eleven. We walked a different route and we happened to walk past a house with pet ducks in their front lawn. They had a sign with the ducks names and everything. Now my kids all want pet ducks. They were pretty cute. This time I did not get a slushee so Ruby did not have to get angry about sharing. I was smart and brought her a lollipop from home. Her sisters picked her some pretty flowers and she carried them around for a bit.

When we got back from the walk, I got a text from Grace letting me know she had a cancelation so if I wanted, I could bring my girls in to her salon. The timing was perfect, so I brought them in. Lucy got a little trim- trying to even up some layers as she grows out her pixie cut- and Penny got off a couple inches and got some good layering too. Grace was nice and even styled their hair, Penny loved the curls she gave her.

Friday night- after cleaning the house and doing a Costco run- I went with Lucy and Ben to the temple for baptism. Steven had to work at Taco Bell so he wasn't able to drive them but I was happy to be able to go because I hadn't been to the temple for ages. Also, since I was there, Ben got to drive so it was good for him to be able to accumulate some more hours. It is always peaceful at the temple and I love how calm I feel. After baptisms the youth always go out for ice cream at Culvers. I feel weird having them get me ice cream since I am not a youth so I didn't get any but then I felt sad that I didn't have anything.

Saturday Tyler's parents came in town. They had wanted to take everyone to dinner but Lucy had to babysit and Steven had to work so I thought we could do a late lunch instead. I made sure the kids did their screen time early- dealt with fights with Steven over computers- let them starve themselves and not eat lunch...only for Tyler to pick them up from the airport and take them out to lunch by himself. 

Also while waiting for them to get here I had a particularly frustrating conversation with Steven about senior things. He has senior photos this month and I wanted to know if I should just buy him something to wear or if he had opinions. After a lot of I don't knows, I think he agreed to let me dress him but I am sure that will back fire. Then I tried to talk to him about how he really wants to celebrate graduation and once more I got a lot of I don't knows. He thinks it's ridiculous that I am asking him so early but what he doesn't realize is all the planning that goes into something like this- especially because we need to figure out if we will have funds for what he wants or if we need to start saving a little each month. I hate that conversations about what should be good things, turn into fights.

Once Tyler's parents got here, they took us on a Costco run and treated all the kids to a box of their favorite treat/snack. Since I never buy fruit snacks, they pretty much all went for fruit snacks of some kind- hello cavities. Then his dad treated all the kids to Culvers- this time I got a treat so I didn't feel sad. The rest of our day wasn't too exciting. We hung out, went for a walk, I made a bean salad for a light dinner, and we watched "Day One Quiet Place"- even Penny watched it and didn't get too scared.

This week Ruby had a momentary obsession with the moon. Tyler had shown it to her when it was out during the day and she had asked about it another day so we explained it was high in the sky and ususally comes out at night time. So then she said "Moon high, moon sky, moon night, night"....over and over again. She is a pretty fun parrot.

Summer Begins

On Sunday, Penny wasn't feeling great, so I stayed home from church with her. Instead of going to church, I washed Penny's hair, painted her nails and played board games on the gaming tablet with her. I think that was just what she needed. That afternoon, her friends Geli and Luna dropped off a sweet care package for her that included a Stitch backpack, towel and doll. They are always spoiling her. It sure cheered her up and also made Lucy say she wished she could get gifts too- she just didn't want to break her arm to get them...

Monday felt like the girls first official day of summer. I know we didn't do any homeschooling last week but with the broken arm and all the appointments and things that came with it, it just didn't feel much like our summer had started. After a weekend recovering, I could tell that Penny needed someone besides me and the tv to entertain and since she seemed to be feeling better, we invited her friend Mimi over. It was really good to have her over and I think it helped Penny feel a little more normal.

Monday night Lucy babysat for a family in the Ward. They had asked her to babysit 2 of their kids 3 days a week for 4.5 hours each day while the mom works. These kids tend to be tricky kids so I told Lucy she needed to actually babysit for them first before she said yes. She said the youngest 2 fought a lot while she watched them that night but the youngest one will actually be at the day care where the mom is working so Lucy won't have her. Lucy felt like since the youngest won't be there, she can handle it and she took the job. I think it will be good for her to have something to do and to be able to earn money but I really hope she doesn't get totally burned out and she can survive the summer.

While Lucy was babysitting, I went to the library with Ruby, Penny and Benny. Ben had said he wanted to play with Ruby at the library but he started off by harassing her with a ladybug puppet and then ended up playing with the puppets all by himself. Sometimes he acts like a toddler.

Also Monday, we found out the guy across the street had accepted my parent's offer on his house. I don't know why I was surprised that he did but I was. It all happened fast and we are excited at the idea of having them so close to us for half the year. As we were leaving to the library I saw the guy who owns the home they're buying  talking to a man who also lives in the neighborhood. This man he was talking to had been at the open house as well, wanting the house for his son, and so I thought maybe they were talking about him not getting the house for his son. I awkwardly made eye contact and the other man started talking to me and I was all ready to apologize for my parents getting the house that he wanted but really they just were commenting on Ben being a new driver and how they better watch out. It caught me off guard and I reacted awkwardly. I was telling Ben how awkward I was and he told me that he is too but for some reason people still like him. I thought that was funny.

Tuesday Ruby and I went on a walk with Grace to the library and we caught up on all the things. She talked to me about how she likes to feel valuable to her family and that is part of why she started working again. I honestly really understand that, it is easy as a stay at home (especially when the kids are getting older) to start to feel like you aren't valuable. Sometimes I just have to go over in my head all the things I accomplished that day to try to feel better.

Tuesday afternoon the girls had Geli and Luna over. I think the girls might be growing apart because they seemed to have a hard time finding things that they wanted to do together. Their mom is super nice and they are a good family but I don't know there just always seems to be drama and not a lot of fun.

Tuesday night I had my first primary meeting and I am less excited about things. They put me over the Valiant Girls and Boys Leaders (Activity Days), are still having me teach but wanting to change the class I teach and I am still going to have to play the piano for the primary program. I just didn't love that none of them teach a class but it is expected of me. The President was having a c-section Thursday so I didn't kick up a fuss but maybe after she has settled some with the baby, I might have to have a talk about things. 

Wednesday morning the girls and I went on a walk to 7-11. Sweets are the only way I can get them to walk these days. That stretch where we walk on the slanted shoulder of a busy road is killer with a stroller. It felt like quite a work out to keep the stroller from getting stuck. I got the girls a slushee to share and Ruby had a hard time sharing this time. She would scream and we would have to tell her that it is Penny's turn and Lucy's turn and then Ruby can have a turn. Sharing is hard. 

As we were walking back home, the neighbor was out and this time he came up to talk to me about my parent's buying his house. He seemed genuinely nice and said he accepted my parent's bid because he wanted my family to be able to be close to my parents. He also said he wanted to get rid of all his things and if he wasn't able to do an estate sale, if we were up to it, he could leave his things for us to sale and we could keep the profits. It was an interesting proposal. There are some things of value but there are also some junky spots that could take some effort to clear out.

Wednesday night while the older 3 had activities, Tyler, Ruby, Penny and I went to Home Depot to look at some bathroom things and then we went to Culver's after. It seems Ruby ended up eating too much ice cream from Tyler and me because that night she was pretty fussy right before bed and then had an explosive bowel movement. 

Thursday Tyler and I went to the inspection of the house my parents want to buy. The house was built in the 70's so as expected, it had some issues, but I feel like it is still in way better shape than my house. My parents have some requests for things they would like to be fixed so we will see if the owner is still feeling nice and if he accepts their conditions.

Friday was a quiet day and I ended up walking with Penny and Ruby by Asher's house after to lumch to see if we could get the babies together. They were home so Ruby and Asher hung out. They actually played some together and Ruby did better with sharing his Cozy Coupe.

Friday afternoon Steven had his first day of work at Taco Bell and of course he waited until 30 minutes before he had to leave to see if he had the right pants to wear. He came to me accusing me of giving away the pants he needed (dark jeans). I was so annoyed. I told him if he couldn't find them, there was a Walmart by his work and he would just need to buy a pair there. Of course, 5 minutes later he found them buried under the piles of clothes in his closet. Every since I put the boys in charge of washing their clothes, their room is just piles of clothes. Anyways, he worked all weekend there and has told us how boring it is and how he burns his fingers on the grill and not many people come and most people order from the kiosk...But that's actually more than he ever told us about Jersey Mike's so maybe he actually likes it ;)

Friday night, Grace and I hosted a goodbye party for Ashlee. I made salsa and rice krispy treats and a chocolate candy "salad". I went over to Grace's early to help with set up. I think the little decorations we had out were nice and helped it feel a little more special. Ashlee only invited a few people which I appreciated, I like small get togethers better. Mostly everyone left by 9:30 so it ended up just being Ashlee, Grace and me and we stayed up way too late chatting. I am really bummed that Ashlee is moving, she has always been a good friend to me.

Saturday morning I went to Kara's baby shower, her husband was Tyler's seminary co-teacher. This is Kara's first baby so it was a little more fun to shop for her. I ended up getting her a cute elephant towel and book and some bath toys. She is a high school teacher and is taking off work for a whole school year. Maybe she'll hang out with Ruby and me since she will be a stay at home mom for a bit. The baby shower had some good food and I sat outside with a few people from the ward and had a good chat. Then they played a few games and it was back home for me. I spent the afternoon cleaning while the girls went to Mimi's birthday party. Then I went out to dinner with Tyler and enjoyed a quiet night in. It was a full but good Saturday.

 

Broken Arm

Sunday after church the Bishop said he needed to meet with me and in my head I thought it must be about Tyler's new calling to the High Council and was confused why he needed to meet with me. Of course it turns out the meeting had nothing to do with Tyler, and actually the Bishop was giving me a new calling- First Counselor of the Primary Presidency. I'm not super worried about it. I think it'll be a lot easier than last time I was in it- less kids and primary is only and hour long.

Sunday evening (around 9pm) everything had been really nice and I was busy working on my Lego art when I heard the usual running of Penny going to do a handstand against the coach and then everything went haywire. Penny shrieked and Tyler was freaking out. I guess Tyler heard the bones in her arm snap, thought it was the couch and then saw that her arm was at an angle and he did not react well. I tried not to think too much about it and look too hard at her arm because I knew I would probably freak out as well and one of us needed to be calm. He was in a huge rush to go so I wasn't able to find her crocs and instead threw some tennis shoes in the car. Then he got upset when I said we couldn't go to the nearest hospital because I had heard awful stories about it. We chose a hospital after a phone call with Caroline (who visits the hospital often with her kids), and were heading there when Tyler got dizzy and had to pull over. I drove us the rest of the way there and then dropped them off at the door. The car ride was rough with Penny freaking out (understandably) and me trying to calm her down. Telling her to breathe and trying to find any positive thought I could about having a broken arm- like maybe a pink cast, and friends getting to sign your cast and all the attention ;) It was hard to come up with good things.

At the hospital Penny ended up walking in with just 1 shoe. I had started to put one on and never got the other one on. Once inside I thought things would move quick with a broken arm but that was a silly thought. They did not move quick. The lady checking us in kept telling us how she had a daughter named Penelope too and kept telling Penny that her name was a strong name. I'm sure she was trying to distract Penny but it wasn't super helpful. Penny was in so much pain. They got us back fairly quickly but it was a good hour before they finally gave Penny pain medication. I hate how long she had to suffer for. Then a lady came in and did an xray with a super fancy machine that looked like a tablet. Both bones were broken. The doctor came in and informed us that they would use conscious sedation on her (ketamine) and then attempt to set the bones. Of course a lot more waiting before that happened.

When they finally drugged her up and attempted to set her arm, it did not go well. Both the nurse practioner and er doctor struggled- her bones just would not set in place because there was nothing to hold them together. Since they were unable to properly set the bones in place they sent an xray to an orthopedic surgeon to figure out if they should do anything else before releasing us. 

During that wait time we encountered the funniest Penny we have ever experienced as she came off the drugs. She would wake up, say silly things and then just randomly pass out. Bluey was playing on the TV during all this so some funny things were related to Bluey. She sang the whole Bluey theme song, told us she hated Bluey and we should change the channel. Told us she loved Bluey. She asked if she was dead and if this was heaven. Was Bluey in heaven? She told us not to take videos (but we did). I took her glasses at one point and so she freaked out and wondered why everything is blurry. Then she called me a liar and stealer for taking them. She asked what time it was and how we were surviving not being able to sleep. At one point each time she woke up she shouted good morning to a different place- good morning New York! Good Morning Germany! It was on my bucket list to break a bone in Germany! Good morning UK! She worried about the Bishop knowing that she had taken drugs and begged us not to tell him. She said the thing in her nose was for old people and she didn't understand why she had to have it. She called the blood pressure cuff evil. She shouted she was hilarios and then passed out. She also informed that she did not want metal in her arms because popular kids don't have metal in their arms. All this was the only "bright" spot in a really rough night.

Hours later the orthopedic surgeon finally saw her xray and said he would send a resident to try to set it again and cast it, hoping that would help the bones stay in place so they wouldn't slide too much. And then hours later the resident came and they gave Penny ketamine again and this time it was really hard for me to watch her go through the pain of them trying and failing to set it once again. There were times she would wake up crying in pain. I was frustrated because they weren't successful in setting the bones so it all seemed pointless to me. Tyler thought it was good they did a cast because it protected her arm better. It was hard for me to see that in the moment.

She wasn't funny coming off the drugs this time- I think she was just so tired at that point. Finally, at 6:30am, they were done messing with her arm and the ketamine was out of her system enough that we could go home. We left the ER with pretty much a guarantee that she would need surgery.

When we got home (7am Monday morning) Penny and I went straight to bed in my bed- since she couldn't climb into her loft bed and I wanted to be close to her in case she needed anything. Tyler- the trooper- went and got her some Motrin and then he passed out in the guest room. I was grateful for Lucy helping with Ruby so we could get some rest. Mostly Monday, which was Memorial Day, was us trying to recover from the all nighter we had just pulled. Our original plans were to go to the Toledo Zoo so that did not happen. We did do a BBQ on Tyler's new camping stove for dinner though so a little semblance of normalcy.

Tuesday Penny was feeling good which was nice. She had got a really good night of sleep. I had bought tickets for us to go see "Lilo and Stitch" that afternoon and Penny wanted to go still so we went. I am glad we did, it was a nice distraction from all the things. The movie was cute, and made me cry, but they definitely changed some stuff and some changes were good and some were meh. Like I think they made Stitch a little less naughty and I appreciated that but the sister needing to leave Hawaii to be a marine biologist is a little weird...I mean how can she not be one in Hawaii? 

Wednesday morning Penny had her appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. The waiting room had some colorful people who were the kind of people who feel entitled to things that they are not entitled too. Then our visit with the surgeon went exactly as we suspected- we were told Penny would need surgery to put rods in so they could properly set her bones. Even though we knew it was coming, it was still not happy news. They called later that day and scheduled the appointment for Friday. It was good that we could at least get it over with so she could start the healing process.

Wednesday night was Seminary Graduation and Tyler was speaking at it. Since Penny was still feeling good, we decided to all go. I wasn't able to stay the whole time but I at least got to hear Tyler's talk. He talked about Sherlock Holmes and focusing your studies on what matters. I left early with Ruby so I could attend a Zoom meeting for High School Soccer. I should have just stayed at the graduation because the meeting pretty much gave me no new info and mostly focused on the fact that not everyone is going to get a lot of play time. I think we already know that.

Since we had bought the Toledo Zoo pass online Sunday and hadn't been able to go Memorial Day, I thought Thursday would be a good time to use it. A last hurrah before her surgery. Right as I took a wrong turn on the freeway and was lost and in traffic- the hospital called about billing. I could not focus and answer how I wanted to pay for Penny's surgery and I informed the lady of this. She was rude and said I had until noon to call back. But then she didn't leave me a number and when Tyler tried the one she called me from, it did not work. So while he was at home trying to track this lady down, the girls and I were at the zoo having a much better time than him. There were a lot of field trips there so it was more peopley than we would have liked but we still saw a lot of fun animals. Ruby loved the Aquarium with all the fishes, and sharks! She also got to pet a goat. We saw monkeys swinging and playing and we got to watch a mommy and baby elephant eat. The baby elephant even went running which was cute. I didn't take too many pictures but it was a good time.

Tyler had zero luck in reaching the billing lady. He was essentially told, after calling 7 different numbers that he would have to wait for her to call him. And of course as soon as we started our drive home, she called. It was so frustrating. I told her my husband had been trying to reach her so she asked for his number. She was actually pretty rude about it all but in the end, she called him and arrangements were made. We now have a lovely payment plan so we didn't have to take a bunch out of savings. I swear we can never get ahead financially.

Friday Penny had to be at the hospital at 6am. Tyler decided he wanted to take her so I ended up at home watching the rest of the kids. I wish I could have been there too but I felt bad asking anyone to watch Ruby. I did wake up with Penny to send her off. She was very tired which made her very emotional. That was hard. They were able to set both of Penny's broken bones with rods during the surgery but they ended up having to do 3 incisions instead of the promised 2. They were not able to give her a pink cast since they just did a splint so that was super disappointing to her. She has to wait 2 weeks before she can get the permanent cast and HOPEFULLY that one will be pink! She apparently woke up from the surgery feeling very sad about the lack of pink. She was very sad on off for the rest of the day- these sedation meds were not as fun as the last. Penny spent her time back at home watching TV, and feeling blue. 

Also Friday, I discovered that the house across from us was up for sale and my parents decided that they wanted to buy it. I called the realtor and she called my mom and the ball got rolling. It would be so nice for them to have a place right next to us.

Saturday we had talked about going to Penny's last soccer game so she could cheer on her team and get the medal at the end but it did not work out. She was in a lot of pain so she needed to take the big pain meds which make her sleepy. After putting lunch on the table for Penny, Tyler and I went across the street to check out the house for my parents. It was in really good shape and seems perfect for them. There's just a weird smell. When we came back from looking at the house, Penny was slumped over in the kitchen chair, fast asleep. The rest of Saturday was rough for Penny- she didn't feel great and was emotional. I just hung out with her for moral support. Tyler took Ben to his last soccer game, Ben's team did not win.

Saturday night Grace and Jason came by and dropped off a sweet gift for Ruby- a blanket,a stuffie and candy. It really brightened Penny's spirits and was so thoughtful. It was also nice to be able to talk with them about the rough week Penny had had.

Pics from this week: