Steven's 18th Party

Sunday Ruby was particularly "fun" during sacrament. She was being kind of noisy so I told her that she needed to whisper. She did not appreciate me admonishing her so she called me a "meany head". I whispered to her again to be nice and be quiet. So she told me she didn't like my voice and that I was a meany head. Then Lucy tried to give her a sticker and she yelled "pinky!" which in the Hatch home is an insult equivilant to flipping someone off. At least no one else at church knows what our weird insults are.

I was officially released from Primary on Sunday so I had one last hurrah in Primary. Honestly it was a little disheartening. I don't think the behavior management techniques that I put in place will be followed through with so I feel like, why was I even in primary? It is still a disaster, they are still disorganized...I don't feel like I was able to help at all. At the same time, I guess it made me feel grateful to be leaving. I do not like to operate in such chaos. I really hope that Relief Society will be a better fit in that regard.

After church I went with Grace to the library because they were having a game and puzzle swap. It was just a real quick outing and the girls were hoping I would find a game called "Mastermind". Lucky for them I did find that game. It felt like a blessing just for me.

Monday was cleaning day so not super exciting. Ben went to a meeting to see about joining NHS. We both think it might be a good opportunity for him to meet new people who are also smarty pants like him, things have been weird with him and Andrea lately, but he is unsure about adding another thing to his plate. He will be doing ACE next year (like Steven) and he is hoping to still do soccer and archery as well. I have a feeling it may fall to the wayside with me not here to prod about it.

Tuesday while the girls were in school, Ruby and I went to library storytime. She really does love it and it's fun to see her interact with other toddlers. In the beginning she was sitting on the floor and these two girls sat next to her and they all talked about her baby shark boots. It was pretty cute. Her favorite thing is still to flop down in the baby pool full of balls but she kept getting thwarted by other toddlers so that made her a little grumbly.

Tuesday night I went to Grace's. I brought a puzzle just to keep my hands busy but I definitely did not finish it. Jason stayed with us for a bit and chatted with me about Tyler's promotion and gave me some travel advice. It was nice to have both Grace and Jason be excited for Tyler, unlike Caroline who made me feel like crap when I brought it up. I also appreciate his advice on traveling since he is such a frequent traveler, he has good tips. 

Wednesday was not very exciting. We did homeschool, ran some errands to get things for my Italy trip and then 3 of the kids had church activities that night and Lucy had volleyball that night. Lucy's team creamed the other team so she was pretty happy about that. 

Thursday while the girls were in school Ruby and I met my friend Kara and her baby at the mall. We came a little early to play and then ended up staying after she left because it felt silly to drive all the way home and then back out to the girls' school. And this week Ruby has pretty much boycotted naps so there really was no reason to go home (I think Ruby might be done with naps which is super depressing). Anyways, it was a long day at the mall but good for Ruby to get out and play. I had a good chat with Kara and we actually got into some personal stuff. I really appreciate her, she has a good attitude about life and leaves me feeling better. Ruby also made a friend at the play place but she couldn't decide how she felt about him because sometimes he wanted to chase her and she found that scary. She can be so silly sometimes. 

Friday I woke up feeling a little overwhelmed by life but I managed to get a lot done that day- more trip errands, getting things ready for Steven's party (including making a cake) and one last primary birthday gift to deliver because I was worried the presidency wouldn't take care of it. So once the day was over and I had accomplished all these things, I certainly felt better.

Mimi also came over Friday afternoon and her mom was so nice and brought over a little gift for Ruby. She said it was of a gift for Leslie because it was something to entertain Ruby while she's here. It is basically the Japanese version of a WaterWow. That was really thoughtful for her and yet again, that's another friendship that I am really thankful for.

Saturday Steven had his 18th birthday party. He had 4 teens over (3 he's met at stake church things and 1 from school) and they spent their time playing games- video games, board games, etc. I bought pizza and they had cake and ice cream. It is so weird how different he is when he is with friends. He would never play these board games with us but he was happy to play with them and he was really just so happy and nice. I wish he could be that person for us too. But I am glad he had a good little group of friends and that he seemed to have a good birthday.

 

Winter Dregs

Sunday it snowed all morning so they cancelled church. Of course the call didn't come in until after I had woken up and taken my shower. Sigh. But it was still kind of nice to have a quiet day in. Ruby had some snuggle time with Ben. We decided to restart come follow me lessons at dinner time and I am glad we are back on that. It has been nice having the Gospel tidbits at dinner again. We also had a fun family game night of Itzi, Dixit and Scrabble. 

Monday was another snow day for the boys. The girls didn't have much school work so we ended up all going to Chuck E after they were finished. The roads were just fine by then, even though everyone was driving like they weren't. I think schools should start doing a late start day or something. They have too many snow days.

Tuesday while the girls were in school Ruby and I kept busy. We got groceries and then I took Ruby to the library's storytime. She really likes the storytime and participates in the songs and mostly follows the rules (I think nursery has been good for her). She also really loves all the toys they put out after storytime- especially the kiddie pool full of balls. She is pretty much the size of it but she loves to lay down in it. After storytime we came home and I had Steven come with us to Costco. He actually came without much complaint and was super helpful. I was grateful for the prompting that I had to invite him. It's rare that we have positive interactions these days.

Wednesday night we had church activities. I was in charge of what was my last Valiant Girls Activity. I will be released Sunday. It was a planning meeting and I felt like it went really well. The girls came up with great ideas and we got things planned until August. Then we played 2 truths and a lie and it was fun to get to know some of the girls a little bit better- even if I am leaving.

Thursday morning I subbed in seminary (Melissa's husband is out of town). It felt like it was the right thing to do but it was rough. When I am on my period, I tend to have a night of insomonia and of course, that night happened to be the night before seminary. I think I only got like 3 hours of sleep. Once I was there it was fine and her lesson was decent but the rest of the day I felt so blah and tired. It made me miss teaching teens but I absolutely do not miss the lack of sleep.

Thursday while the girls were at school, Ruby and I were going to meet Kara at the mall, but she cancelled on us. Instead we just did a quick trip to the library, just to get out of the house. Unfortunately we timed it wrong and got there right when a library event ended so the library was super crowded and peopley. Ruby got a little frustrated because it seemed like all the toys were being played with. Eventually people started leaving so she enjoyed her time a little bit more. Near the end I started chatting with a mom and we both connected over being older moms. I hate when I feel like I am vibing with a mom and I want to be like, we should meet up again! But then I don't say that because it feels like that would come across a little strong. It is hard to make mom friends with people at the library because I rarely see them enough times for that invitation to not be awkward.

Friday after Ruby's nap, we went to Chuck E Cheese for their VIP members only party. It promised extra play points and tickets and Dippin Dots. The kids really wanted to go and I think that was mostly because of the Dippin Dots. So they were very disappointed when we learned the Dippin Dots would not be served for 2 hours and we would not be there that long. The extra play points and tickets were nice though. With the extra tickets we managed to get Ruby a Water WOW and all the kids lollipops. And because I felt bad about the Dippin Dots, I went to Krogers and bought them all Dippin Dots. Sometimes I am a nice mom.

After the Chuck E Party, I had a girls' night with Melissa, Grace and Caroline. It had been a long time since we all had gotten together. And it will probably be a long time before we all get together again. It was a lot of negativity and I don't like the way I felt when I left.

Saturday Steven had work and Ben and Tyler were off at another archery tournament (he got another personal best on Bullseye 262!). That meant I was at home all day without a car I could drive. (The Suburban is too tricky for me to drive on snowy roads). Before Steven went to work, I ran to the Dollar Tree to get some craft supplies so Ruby wouldn't drive me crazy. We have been doing shaving cream and paint lately so I restocked on that and she spent a good amount of the morning mixing and painting with it. I also dropped by the library and checked out some Magna Tiles. Before when we have had them, my kids never seemed very interested in them but they actually ended up being a hit. She liked making houses with them. The art supplis and magna tiles definitely helped the day go faster.

Happy news this week- Tyler got the promotion at work. It means he will be getting a significant pay raise and be given a company car. The catch with the company car -because of taxes and bureaucratic crap we don't understand- we have to own another car that is a 2025/2026 and we have to "update" that car every 4 years. We are thinking of selling the squeak and just leasing out a car as long as he has this position. We are not in love with leasing but I don't think we can afford the alternative. We shall see what we decide to do (we have 6 months to figure it out) but I am happy for Tyler. I know he was really hoping for this promotion.

And I'll end with a funny story. Ruby was on my lap at the table and started saying "Jennifer!" And I said "Are you calling me Jennifer?" And she said "Daddy calls you Jennifer."