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.

 

Walk and Library

Monday Tyler was off for Veterans Day. He had a lazy morning while I homeschooled and then that afternoon I left him with the kids so I could do a quick run to the Outlet Mall. I had a Christmas dress to pick up for Penny and then I wanted to grab some of those silly sodas they have at the sweet shop while I was kid free. The kids really liked trying to guess the soda flavors for New Years last year. I feel like in years past I was always the only one prepping for Christmas things this early but now it seems like everyone is being an early bird and I am not a wierdo anymore. I don't really like it though because having everyone else prepping somehow makes me feel like I am now behind. Anxiety can play some weird mind games with me.

Monday night Lucy had a volleyball game. Tyler stood in as coach since her coach was unable to be there (and I may have volunteered him to help). Mariah came to the game with all her kiddos so between her littles and Ruby it was a bit chaotic. Lucy's team creamed the other team for the first 2 games but the last game, the other team made a good comeback. 

Tuesday after the girls finished their work, Penny, Ruby and me went for a walk at Proud Lake. Lucy said she wasn't that into walks and did not want to come. She is getting very teenagerish on me and reminding me a lot of Steven. The walk was really nice. It was cold but with the sun shining it didn't feel so bad. Ruby actually walked for a good chunk of it and she really seemed to enjoy being out and about. And Penny was a good big sister and had fun finding sticks.

Tuesday night while Ben and Tyler were off at Archery, I took the girls to the library. We lucked out and it was super empty. The girls got free reign of the new fort tiles that were there. They are really cool and I had been considering having the grandparents get them for us for Christmas but they aren't super stable, they hurt when they fall on you and Ruby was terrified to go in the forts the girls made. So I think it will suffice to just play with them when we go to the library.

Wednesday, after dropping the girls off at school, I went pant shopping for myself. Poor Ruby had to tag along with me. I went to three stores and found some good deals and that was a lot of shopping for Ruby. At Kohl's I had to go change her diaper (she seems to always poop when we go out)and I was letting her walk after we left the restroom. As we passed the bedding section she immediately went for the soft bedding and stuffies and grabbed as much as she could. When we went to Walmart, I took her to the toy aisle after looking at clothes. She did not care about the toys but once again, went for all the stuffies. She is obsessed with all things soft and would probably love just blankets and stuffies for Christmas but we do not need anymore of those things. After the shopping, we came home for a bit and then I went to go pick up some Water Wow books from someone and she decided to fall asleep in the car. She took a 20 minute car nap and that was it for naps for the day. I hate it when that happens.

That night Lucy had volleyball practice but there were no church activities that night so everyone else was home. I decided to be the mean mom and not let them watch TV. They had been watching "Teen Titans Go" non stop and it is funny but it was still driving me crazy. Penny was really upset with me not letting her watch it but Ben rolled with it and played a game of Scrabble with me. It was a tight game and he kept refusing to accept defeat, but I won in the end.

Thursday was a super rainy day. After the girls finished homeschool (and it was a dramatic day of it), I took them shopping for some clothes. Now that Lucy has her wide leg jeans, she was feeling like her shirts were too babyish. She told me she needed, and I quote,"my age" clothes. And Penny was having wide jean envy and wanted her own pair. Lucky for them, Kohl's was having a good sale so we went there and were able to get some good deals. Ruby was not happy about being dragged along for more shopping though. She was hard to keep happy but we survived.

Thursday night we had nothing going on so 4 out of the 5 kids went to the library with me. This time we were greeted with a very busy library full of little ones. Ben tried to build some things with the fort tiles but the little kids kept breaking what he built. So he gave up and worked on putting together train tracks instead. It wasn't quite as fun as when the library was empty but it was still nice to get out of the house and kill some time. 

Early morning Friday Ruby woke up coughing and it was a rough next couple of hours. I hate this lingering cough. Friday I was trying to get some projects done after homeschool and was reminded how tricky that is with a toddler. Anytime she sees me doing something she wants my attention and she is not one who is easily distracted or who can focus on playing with something. That night I went over to Grace's house for a girls' night  and we all had a good chat. I vented about the struggles of homeschooling my girls and Grace had some good suggestions for ways to handle their meltdowns. We shall see if they help.

Saturday we watched Mariah's kids so she could get some Christmas shopping done. Jeff is out of town for a couple weeks so I am sure it was a much needed break. That night Tyler, Ruby and I did a Walmart run and got Culver's on the way back. Then I watched the 1980's version of "Poltergeist" with Lucy, Ben and Andrea. It wasn't super scary, just kind of weird and a bit gory at times.

Some silly things this week... Ruby likes to abandon the spoon and eat yogurt from her finger. She also learned a new trick this week- throwing things away. She threw away half the contents of my bottom kitchen drawer before I realized what she was doing. Ben decided he had too much hair so Tyler cut it this week- the pic below is the before when it was driving him crazy. 

Valentines and Temple Visits

Saturday night I went to see "Hello Dolly" with my friend Caroline. As I was leaving to go, I told the kids I was going out. They were all shocked I wasn't going to see the play with dad. Penny said, "You're going on a date without dad!?" I said, "No, it's not a date. I'm going out with a girl." Penny then responds in shock, "You're gay!?" Oh, Penny. Way to jump to outlandish conclusions. The play itself turned out to be a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it and they had done really well with casting. Afterwards after much searching we found my seminary student (she was on the tech team) and said a quick hello and good job.

Sunday Ben taught his first lesson in young men's. He said he did great and everyone loved it. I am glad they have the youth teach. It gives them good experience and it also helps me to dive into Gospel topics a little deeper with the kids when I help them prepare their lessons.

Sunday evening we went to our first ever Super Bowl Party at the Eakins house. The food was really good and we watched like a whole 10 minutes of the actual Super Bowl- the half time show. I still was feeling a little off with my friends but it was mostly a good time. We did leave early because with seminary I have become a bit of a party pooper.

Monday Penny had an orthodontist appointment because she has a tiny mouth. The last time I was at this orthodontist was with Ben and I was cranky about the idea of paying for braces for him again so I was not the nicest to them. Well apparently they put those notes on my file because it felt like everyone was walking on eggshells with me and treading carefully. It was kind of nice, lol. Anyways the verdict was no work yet. If they do work it will be a lot because she needs a lot of extra space so another option on the table is pulling teeth to make space but for now they want to wait and see how things progress. I'm ok with that.

Monday was also Valentine's Day and Tyler got me the best bouquet ever and Steven put it together for me. I got Tyler a Samsung Galaxy Watch so now he's cool like me. Our Valentine's Date was a lunch date to Tropical Smoothie Cafe, we ate in the car, super romantic. The kids all got love gifts from me and Tyler. Lucy got a fashion sketchbook, Penny got a scribble scrubbie, Ben got a Super Mario Bros Lego Bee Power Up and Steven got a funny shirt. I also made them each a Valentine.

Also for Seminary that morning we played a Valentine's Game. We had short phrases for each of the OT Doctorinal Mastery's on hearts all around the room and they had to match the scripture reference with the phrase. They got extra points if they made the match while wearing this "cupid" outfit that Ben is modeling below (Depends diaper, Bow, Sparkly red hat and sparkly pink glasses). Only 2 of our students were willing to wear it ;)

Tuesday while the kids were in school I got on a cleaning kick and started cleaning out the kitchen shelves and changing out the shelf lining. Of course, right when I was finishing up I bumped a container of sprinkles that apparently wasn't shut correctly and little, round sprinkles bounced out EVERYWHERE. I was sooo frustrated. And now I am sure there are little, round sprinkles hiding on all my shelves.

Tuesday after school the boys got to go do Baptisms for the Dead. It was Ben's first time. They had a limit on how many people could come so I wasn't able to be there but I'll be able to go with him next month. He said that he enjoyed it and wanted to do more baptisms. I heard that he wasn't the most reverent and struggled with whispering. He was there with all his friends so I am not super surprised.

Wednesday I took Ben to the Eye Dr. He has been major complaining about his eyes hurting for weeks. I was pretty sure it was just dry eyes and had been giving = him eye drops when he complained but finally I decided I should just take him in and make sure it wasn't anything more serious. Well for $100 they confirmed it was just dry eyes. So expensive. The doctor did prescribe some eye ointment, that well kind of gross to apply, has been more effective than eye drops. She also gave some tips, like putting a humidifier by where he does his gaming. Seems like a good tip so I ordered a humidifier from Amazon. This kid is expensive.

Thursday morning we had the smallest Seminary Class ever- 4 kids. I don't know if there is something we should do about our dwindling numbers or if this is just how second semester goes. I do know we have several sick kids so there are some legit excuses. Next week they all have mid-winter break, no seminary, so I am hopeful everyone gets well rested and healthy over break and we have better numbers after.

Thursday as I was driving to drop off the kids at school, we got an alert that someone in Steven's class tested positive for Covid so unless he had been vacinated he was asked to stay home. Boo. He also had a runny nose and a slight cough so probably wise to keep him. That meant he got to join me in picking up groceries and running a few quick errands. Then he got to hang out home alone while I went to visit a friend and her new baby. Her and I chat when we see each other at church and church things but I wouldn't consider us close, we never hang out outside of church. However she had come to church Sunday without her baby and was real insistent I come meet her baby so I did. I still feel weird around babies but I feel like I did a good job faking adoration. Her mom was there and thanked me for being such a good friend to her daughter and that made me feel bad. Considering she had this baby in December and this was my first visit, I would not consider that a good friend.

After the visit I got another fun, school alert. Due to an impending winter storm we were to pick up our kids an hour early. I had been planning to go to IKEA and so that schedule change meant I needed to get on out there asap. Steven ended up coming with me and he was actually a pretty good shopping buddy. I had went to IKEA to get some pretty cereal bowls I had seen online. Unfortunately those bowls turned out to be itty bitty and not what I wanted. I had also wanted to get some new plastic plates for the kids but they were all out. We ended up just getting an ICEE and a pretzel at IKEA instead because we might as well enjoy some food on this unsuccessful outing. Then we went to a nearby Home Goods Store and I found the perfect blue and white bowls that I have been wanting. Perfect to replace our chipped, boring, white bowls.

When we finished up our shopping, it was time to pick up the rest of the kids from school. Steven and I had watched the weather change throughout it all. It went from rain, to slush, to hail, to snow. The roads froze up real fast and on the drive home we spent an extra 20 minutes on one intersection. It was the worst.

Thursday night with all the crazy weather we had a nice, night in. Extra benefit that Friday was declared a snow day so no seminary the next morning. We spent most of Friday inside and didn't venture out until Tyler and I had a temple date that evening with some friends. It was really nice to be there with my good friends and afterwards we got some food at Applebee's. I love the peace I feel at the temple and I love the good friends I have.

May Adventures

So I am pretty obsessed with going to Kensington Metropark it seems. After I wrote my last post, we went for a hike as a family there. We didn't see anything spectacular but the weather was gorgeous and nothing beats quality time together in the outdoors:

Mother's Day was pretty perfect. Tyler did a great job of spoiling me. He made me strawberry crepes for breakfast, chocolate covered strawberries for a treat, bought me a new laptop (because my other one had become virus infected & unfixable), and he made me a club sandwich for dinner (because I was craving it). The boys picked out 2 new pairs of sunglasses for me and Steven made a sweet "about mom book" for me at school (in which he colored my skin with a brown crayon and declared that I like Walmart, mac n cheese and watching Funniest Home Videos).

This week Steven has become obsessed with planting things. He wanted to go out and buy flower seeds and I explained to him it takes a long time for the flower to grow. He told me, "That's ok, I can wait like an hour." 

Steven also wants to plant an apple seed so we can have an apple tree (that only take like an hour to grow too, right?) But Benny doesn't like that idea. And I quote, "I don't want an apple tree because than I would have to shake it to get the apples out and I can't reach that high." That kid, I think we can help him out with that one ;)

The Sister Missionaries came over for dinner this week and apparently Lucy did not approve. She literally would not even look at them and cried the ENTIRE time! Poor Sisters felt so unloved :( Yet Lucy is doing great in nursery so far, apparently no tears and she even smiles some for her teachers.

And since I begun with the place I am obsessed with, we shall end with it too. Yesterday I took another hike there we with Ben & Lucy. We met this old man who was feeding the birds and he gave us some of his bird seed (which was actually just peanuts...) but it worked! I got a little bird to eat out of my hands, and got some to get pretty close. We even fed the chipmunks much to Ben's delight, he was so excited about how fat their cheeks got! We also saw some cranes that were, as Ben says, "flapping their wings on each other" (mating it seemed).

Pretty red cardinal in the tree:

And afterwards we dropped by the farm that's within the Metropark and saw some adorable piglets:

May Is Here

The other week we did a FHE on Emergency Preparedness and showed the kids what to do if their was a fire or a tornado. Tyler would turn on the appropriate alarms/sirens on his computer and the kids would do their thing. They had lots of fun with this and, of course, this got Steven obsessed with tornadoes (again). Using his awesome imagination, Steven came to us with these gems of wisdom:

"If you go high enough on a swing, a tornado can't get you."

"Tornadoes can't break metal."

I'm not sure we did a good enough job with our safety training for that kid...

This week I got another ultrasound. Everything is still well with Penny, and oh my goodness, she is still quite the performer. Here she is being camera shy (or, as my mom believes, shielding herself from the ultrasound waves):

While we were working on learning our ABC's this week, Benny decided to take a dry erase marker and color himself some "angry eyebrows" and a "beard":

Steven got home and was jealous of Ben's marked up face and decided to make himself into a tiger. He also drew faces on his hands and belly button:

But thanks to me, Lucy remained unmarked: 

Have I told you desert rats we are? We get super excited every time we see a squirrel in our yard-- which we shouldn't, because they are literally EVERYWHERE here! One time I was working with Ben at the kitchen table and he literally stopped mid sentence and screamed "Squirrel!" as he pointed to one in the tree out the window. It's just what we do here at the Hatch house:  

And let's end this post with my humiliation. It all has to do with a long straight road that leads to Steven's school and a mother's lead foot. I was literally deep in conversation with Steven on the exciting topic of Vampire Bats, when I saw the police office, saw my speed and groaned- I knew I was doomed. Sure enough, he pulled me over, literally right behind where all parents must enter to drop off their kids. That's right, they all had to go around me and give me the look of shame. And the icing on top? I had left my wallet at home. Somehow I got lucky, and the officer decided to let me off with a warning, "At least if you're going to speed, make sure you have your wallet." Then I got to go drop Steven off and listen to all his friends shout at him, "Steven!!! Your mom got in trouble!!!" Ugh. But the funny moment in the midst of it all, Steven says to me, "Daddy should get a ticket, not you! He's always speeding!!" See, I really am the better driver! At least according to Steven ;)

Adventures

This week we all got to take a turn throwing up. Each of the kids threw up once and then they were totally fine. Tyler and I were less lucky, we were both sick all day Saturday. It was miserable, especially since I had finally gotten us a babysitter for that night- I had been looking forward to our date night ALL week but we had to cancel :( Now I have to wait another week. Boo!

But on a slightly funny note, after Ben threw up, I asked him why he threw up. He said he had smelled something bad. So I asked him what he had smelled. His reply, "Grass." Ummm... maybe the rats are down in our basement smoking "grass"? 

And speaking of funny Ben, one afternoon I was reading this terribly sad and touching blog (http://themomentswestand.blogspot.com/) and I was bawling like only a pregnant mommy can and Ben happened to notice and asks me, "Mommy, why do your eyebrows look sad?" 

I was SO excited for Thursday because we were supposed to hit the 40's (a temperature we had NEVER seen here). And we did hit them! So despite the fact that there was rain in the forecast and the sidewalks were all terribly icy, I took Ben & Lucy out for a walk to a nearby bakery. We only slipped a few times but we made it there in one piece, and without getting rained on and I didn't feel the least bit cold. As soon as we sat down to eat our doughnuts though, instead of the forecasted rain, big beautiful snowflakes stated falling down (at least those are my favorite kind). Thankfully our home was only a short walk away but it was quite the adventure trying not to slip on all the ice that was now covered in a light blanket of snow. And we did get quite soggy from melted flakes. But it was SO nice to get some fresh air, so worth it! 

Here's a pic of the snow covering our driveway that had just that morning been completely snow free:

Because of all the icy back roads and strong winds, school was cancelled Friday. Ugh! Steven had just had Monday-Wednesday off for a random February holiday and he was getting bored (which means whining and fighting). So I tried to make the day fun...we did "science", played with Play-Doh, and even ventured out (despite the weather) to the library. Nevertheless, I am SO SO SO ready for a normal week of school! There is way to much school cancellation here in Michigan...

Anyways, by the time late afternoon rolled around on Friday, the kids were making me extremely crazy so I decided a trip to a museum was in order. When Tyler came home we went to the Cranbrook Institute of Science Museum. Best idea ever! It currently had a dinosaur exhibit which was totally awesome...

The boys were totally fascinated by this thing that was like a giant marble tower...

Lucy had fun following everyone around and watching her dad attempt to spin some tops...

And the coolest thing yet was getting to see Jupiter through a high powered telescope. Totally awesome! Equally cool was the fact that we practically had the museum to ourselves. We rarely saw anyone else and when we did it was just as we were leaving an exhibit. Anyways, definitely a highlight of the week.

And lets end with an adorable pic of Lucy...