Skeletons

Monday night I went to Fancy Nancy's birthday party at the Blue Cactus. It was at 7pm but I apparently was the only shmuck who couldn't wait until 7pm to eat dinner. I ended up being the only one to order dessert so that was cool. I got a slice of Tres Leches Cake and it was good but probably not worth the $10 price. I also felt silly when Amy announced that she had brought a cake for Fancy Nancy. The party/conversation itself was fine. Sometimes it was a struggle to make conversation with the ladies around me and sometimes we got a little silly and that was fun (like Amy and I joking about who was Nancy's best friend- obviously Amy but I love to tease). The waiter spilled rice and water on me but only a little bit so not too big of a deal. When she brought out a big flaming candle for Nancy, I was worried she might light me on fire...but she didn't. Overall it was a good time and I was glad I was able to celebrate Fancy Nancy. 

Tuesday Ruby and I met Kara and Amelia at the park we had went to the week before, Drake Park. This time Ruby was better about doing the walk first but she also seemed less impressed with the park the second time around. And she also had to pee again which meant we had to make the long trek to the bathroom again. This time I pushed her there in her stroller which made more sense. I don't know why I carried her there last time. I think if we meet up with Kara and Amelia again next week, we'll have to try somewhere new. 

Tuesday night I went to Grace's. She is really having a hard time with Etta and I feel for her. I wish there was more I could do for her. She is so nice and gave me a hat and a book to read. So I tried to return the kindness and brought her flowers the next day. Hopefully they brought a little sunshine to her day.

Wednesday I took Lucy and Grams to Kohls so Grams could figure out what Lucy would like for her birthday. Penny was nice and watched Ruby for us. Lucy is a different shopper than me and doesn't pick things up that she wants and then decide which to get. Instead, she wanders around the whole store looking at things and then goes back to get what she wants. I saw some cute coats for me but I refrained from buying something I don't necessarily need.

After kohls, we finally got our new dryer! Home Depot had kept postponing delivery so finally I just cancelled with them and ordered from Lowes. Lowes ended up delivering it only 2 days after I ordered it. I will miss my mom's excellent laundry service but I am sure she won't ;). The dryer is nothing fancy but it works.

Thursday's playgroup went much better this week. We met at my new library friend's house, Jill. Kelli came and Jean came late. Jill, mentioned some Mormon artwork at one of the houses we had been at and asked if we were all Mormon. I told her not everyone but a lot of us. I promised not to convert her (but that doesn't mean I won't tell her all about the Gospel). Kelli started talking with me about how we do marriage for an eternity and not until death- she thought that was cool. Then the kids derailed that conversation and we went on to other things. Kelli's youngest kept trying to take Ruby's sandwich and Ruby took issue with that and pushed her. Ruby can be such a bully. I am hoping these play dates help her to work on getting along better with others. I guess if a majority of these play groups turn out well then I will stick with them. Hopefully last weeks awful one was just a fluke.

Friday we went to see the skeletons in Northville. It was a little cold and we got misted on at some point, but it wasn't the worst Michigan weather ever. At first Ruby wanted nothing to do with the skeletons and refused to join in pictures but eventually she came around and had a good time posing with the other kids. Maybe by next year she will be totally cool with them. After the skeletons we got lunch at Culver's it was a nice outing with Grams and my younger 4 kids.

Friday afternoon the girls met some church friends at the mall. It was kind of an inconvenient time because Ben had a soccer Game but they got a bit of time with their friends. I ended up hanging with Ruby in the play area for the first bit and then we spent a majority of the rest of time going up and down escalators and elevators. Soooo boring for me.

After the mall I went to Ben's soccer game with Grams (Tyler went too but was ball boy the whole time so we didn't really see him). It was absolutely freezing but I am glad I went so that I could see Ben play for a few minutes near the end. His team ended up winning 5 to 0.

Saturday I cleaned the house in the morning. That afternoon Ben, Lucy and Tyler went to a stake dance (Tyler was security). While they were there, Penny, Ruby and I went to Chick-Fil-A. One of the workers upon walking in gave Ruby attention so she got real chatty with them and told them she wearing "Asher's coat". It was a hand me down from Julie. I think the lady thought she said something else and looked shocked for a moment. Then another worker, later on, gave the girls both free ice cream (she did not take their toys in exchange like they usually do) and then she even gave them both mini cow stuffies. She was really nice.

This week #2 was still an issue with Ruby but in other ways. She did not poop her pants or smudge her undies (because I used pull ups when it seemed like she needed to poop) but she only pooped like 3 times all week. I ended up having to use a suppository on her Saturday because she hadn't pooped since Tuesday and was not drinking the drinks that I put Miralax in. The suppository worked almost immediately but I really wish pooping wasn't such an issue. I also wish she would sleep in her own bed. She has pretty much come into our room every night this week. She is exhausting. But on a more fun note- she watched this video from last year of her with "Baby Chad" (our skeleton) and in it she said "he's kind of scary". In the video she said it in a silly way so she thuoght it was funny and kept imitating the way she had said,"He's kind of scary." It was cute.

Good Weather

Sunday was more General conference. Tyler made himself a mohawk out of air dry clay between sessions. It was a beautiful day so after conference we were all outside playing soccer and volleyball and all the outdoor things. Ben ended up scratching his knee on the fence so Tyler wrapped it up. Ruby wanted a "wrap" on her knee like Ben so she went inside and put on Lucy's volleyball knee pad. The older kids were having fun showing Ruby how to fake getting hurt in soccer. At one point I decided to trim Penny's little side bangs. Everyone laughed when I cut them so she started crying but I really didn't do an awful job. They just needed to be blended into the rest of the hair better. I ended up asking Grace if she could help touch them up. She was amazing and had us come in Monday morning and now Penny's hair looks fantastic. She trimmed my bangs too and I really should always have her do it- she is so much better at it than me since she actually knows what she is doing.

Monday Penny got a sports physical so hopefully she can do archery with the middle schoolers. She is thinking of leaving Renassiance and this feels like a good way for her to meet some kids that go to our local middle school. Tyler thinks he is a cool enough coach that he can introduce her to the kids. I hope it ends up happening and is a good help for her to make a decision for schooling next year. 

Tuesday my dryer died so that was a bummer. Even worse, the new one we ordered isn't coming until next week, Wed. I'm grateful to my mom who has been doing my laundry in the meantime. 7 people make a lot of laundry and she has been helping me keep up on all of it. She even ironed my boys' dress shirts which is something I never do. She definitely wins extra Grandma points for that.

Tuesday we had lunch at Burger King with Poppy. They had some pretty awesome Halloween decorations up.

Tuesday after lunch, Ruby and I met Kara at a park we hadn't been to before. It had a great play structure- so great that when Kara and Amelia came, Ruby did not want to go for a walk around the grounds. She was really unhappy about me making her go so it wasn't the best walk but we did have a good talk about all our ailments (she has arthritis issues and me and my dumb leg pain- she inspired me to schedule a PT appt). After the walk Ameila and Ruby swung on the swings- until Ruby had to pee. The bathroom was soooo far from the playground and I about died rushing her there but thankfully she made it. When we went back to the playgroud, Ruby started playing with some other kids. She led her own made up "lava" game with the kids- it was very reminiscent of a game my dad used to play with us.

Tuesday night Ruby, Grams and I went to Ben's Soccer game. Ruby was having poop issues so I almost didn't go. She is making me crazy with getting poop smears in her underwear. I tried making her go bare butt around the house and it sort of helped but was also slightly terrifying. Anyways she ended up pooping in the potty so we could go to the game. At the beginning of the game Ruby saw Ben and shouted "Ben! I see you!!!" until he turned around. It was super cute. In the end, Ben did not get any play time and his team lost so not the greatest game but it was nice to get outside and support him nevertheless.

Wednesday both Penny and Ben had orthodontist appointments, but thier appointments were not at the same time. I'm glad the orthodontist is only minutes from our house. Ruby came with me to the second appointment because she always likes to see what movie is playing. We also all went out to lunch with grams and Poppy that day. Some of us got subway, some of us got tropical smoothie. The subway people brought their food to tropical smoothie so we could all hang out. Even Steven came so it was a good family outing. 

Thursday's playgroup was not a success this week. As I was driving to the indoor playground that we had planned to meet everyone at, I got multiple texts from people saying that they wouldn't be able to make it. Only one person said they'd come and they said they would be an hour late. I had rushed out the door to make sure we would be there on time for basically no reason. That was frustrating. We got there and it was a really cool indoor playground but it was a tall playground and Ruby was too anxious to climb up in it by herself. She ended up just playing in the toddler area. An hour after being there, Kelli showed with her girls and shortly after Sam came. Sam pretty immediately pretended I wasn't there and gushed about how excited she was to see Kelli and didn't allow me to part of conversations- talking quietly, showing pictures to only Kelli. I felt pretty excluded from my own playgroup and it didn't help that Ruby wasn't clicking with their kids and was being very needy. It's weird because Ruby usually makes friends with strangers. Anyways,I'm pretty sensitive when it comes to being left out and Ruby wasn't having a great time so I decided we would leave. I tried my best to act not upset when I told them we were heading out, I'm not sure if I was successful. It was easy to get Ruby to leave because the church that this indoor playground is in offers free drinks so I just promised her a chocolate milk on our way out. We sat at a window while she drank it and then left. I felt pretty disgruntled by it all and I'm not sure I have it in me to continue this group.  

Thursday Steven helped me make sloppy joe's for dinner without complaint. This week I have seen him making small changes in his behavior, for the better, and I hope he continues on this upward trend. 

Friday was a pretty chill day. After school work we went for a walk to 7-11 for slushees. It was a beautiful day and I always enjoy walking and talking with my kids. We have some good conversations on these walks.

Friday night the girls had a dance at Renassiance that night. It was Penny's first dance and it had a country theme. They both came back saying it was super fun- even if they don't actually dance with anyone. 

While they were at the dance, Tyler took Ruby out of the house so I could clean. I'm actually really enjoying this new routine. I like being able to plug into a show and get the house clean with no one around to bug me. 

Saturday at lunchtime Ben had a soccer game. Ruby got there and immediately started whining for candy. I thought it was going to be a rough game but she got over it pretty quickly and even made a friend. Ben got to play for 20 minutes so that was really awesome. And even better, his team won. 

Book Club and Play Group Success

Sunday morning I woke up feeling puffy under one of my eyes. When I looked in the mirror, sure enough, my cheek was swollen under my eye. I hadn't slept well and had some drainage but since I wasn't feeling awful, I still went to church. I figured a puffy face wasn't a reason to miss church. At church Ruby's friend (Melissa P) was gone so Ruby desperately tried to get everyone around us to play with her- the little boy in the pew in front of us, the family in the pew to the right of us and then, a mom behind us (who had 3 little ones of her own). Ruby would show them things from her bag and try to chat them up. She is such an attention hog. After church we needed to give Reggie a ride and I asked Steven to do it (we bring several cars to church) and he refused saying "Why do I have to do everything?" That led to a discussion after church where he was asked to write out a list of everything we do for him/give him- the catch was if it wasn't on the list he wouldn't get it anymore. It felt like a fitting punishment, although I am not sure it changed his attitude quite as much as I was hoping for. Also after church, I suddenly got struck down with all the usual cold symptoms and felt completely miserable. It's funny how all those symptoms waited until after church was over. Thankfully I had nothing to do after church- besides deal with a toddler- so I was mostly able to rest. 

Monday I felt much better but still not 100%. I am glad that whatever I had was fairly short lived. However, my hormones went insane Monday so I pretty much snapped at everyone in the family and I felt extra irritable towards Ruby because she was particularly needy. It was not one of my finest days. Tyler decided to buy a gym membership and further pushed me into a bad mood when he left me with the toddler to go work out that evening. Some days my hormones just cannot handle a full day of Ruby.

That night Steven got the brunt of my hormones when I unplugged the internet on him at 11pm because he was being too noisy gaming with friends. Our room is right across from him and I just cannot sleep when I can hear him. He came down "to get a drink of water" (or maybe to fix the internet) and we had a chat about my concerns that he is addicted to the internet and that he needs more balance in his life. Once again, not sure if this conversation made a difference but these are legit concerns I have for him.

Tuesday was a beautiful day, but my horomones were still messy so I opted against going to storytime and being around other people. Instead I went with Grams and Ruby to Milford. We parked at Central Park and then walked to the bakery for treats and then played at the park. The park was dead when we got there, literally no other kids, but near the end a 2 year old girl showed up and Ruby quickly started to hang out with her. They wandered the playground together- pretty much  instant friends. Ruby is just so much happier when she is with other kids and I am starting to think she might be the first kid of mine that I put into preschool.

Tuesday night was book club. We were discussing "How to Solve Your Own Murder". Grace, Becky, my mom and Marlene came- a smaller group than normal. I served caramel and apples and homemade toffee. After we ate some treats we all talked about how much we didn't like the book. It was nice to have us all in agreement on it being a very poorly written book. Then I read everyone's "fortune" using oracle cards. That was actually really fun and I think I was kind of on point for some. Grace brought slightly "darker" oracle cards and we did those next, but those were not very nice fortunes so we didn't love those. Next I had some logic crime puzzles I had gotten off Etsy. We broke off into pairs and solved the puzzles. Everyone seemed to enjoy doing them and it seemed like book club was a success, despite being small in numbers.

Wednesday evening  I was trying to clean out the guest room- it had become a bit of a place to just dump everything so it really needed it. While I was attempting to clean, Ruby was dumping things out (like buttons and googly eyes) and just making a giant mess. Tyler ended up taking Ruby to Home Depot so I could actually get it cleaned it. I was grateful for that. Now the guest room feels a bit more ogranized and less chaotic. We still have too much stuff but we are also a family of 7.

Thursday's playgroup was much more successful than last week- there were 3 other moms there and the nanny that I had met at the library came as well. I was glad the nanny came because she is maybe a decade older than me so then I wasn't the oldest lady in the room- although I am the oldest mom in the room. My friend Kassi hosted (she has a beautiful house and lots of fun toys). The kids parallel played for a long time but near the end they started to interact with each other. Ruby still gravitates towards the grownups and will chat them up or try to get them to play with her. She can make things so awkward.  She also can occasionally have a hard time sharing but I do see her doing better. Conversing with grown ups was nice for me but afterwards I started overthinking everything I said and started wondering if I had retold stories that I had already shared and if I was being an annoying conversationalist. Hopefully I didn't scare people away and the playgroup continues to be a success. 

Thursday evening I ran a couple errands with the girls. After cleaning out the guest room, I realized their special markets had dried out and since I didn't want them using mine, I decided to buy them new ones at 5 and Below. We also stopped by Marshall's just to browse and I ended up buying them shirts. I wish I had an unlimited budget and could properly clothes shop for winter clothes for all of us, but alas I cannot. Clothes are just so expensive so I have to buy them sparingly. I guess that's a good thing since we have too many things in our house ;) It is fun to shop with them though and even Ruby had fun trying on some clothes (that I did not buy for her).

Friday was not an exciting day for me. Homeschool, work out, entertain a toddler, pizza night, and clean the house (while the kids were at the temple and Tyler was out with Ruby). Saturday was equally non exciting- took Lucy to law mow, made cinnamon bread, watched General Conference (yelled at Penny for being silly over where she was sitting while Tyler yelled at Steven for being silly over helping him out), walk with Steven and Ruby, more General Conference, and Panda Express with Tyler.