School's Out for the Summer!

Last Saturday afternoon we attended the Annual Milford Picnic. It was a warm day and the kids got nice and sweaty but they had fun (80's here is nothing like the 80's in Arizona thanks to humidity). They pretty much spent most of the Picnic in the Bounce House and doing the Bouncy Obstacle Course, their idea of heaven. They also got to ride on a pony (even Benny got brave and rode on one), run in a race (in which Steven tied as a winner), sit in a Police Car and eat free hot dogs (I may or may not have eaten 3 of these). No pictures taken, but good times for the kids.

This Wednesday we went to Steven's Kindergarten Celebration. All the Kindergarten classes sang some songs (titles included "The Vowel Song" "Apples & Bananas" and  "I live in Michigan") and we were SO impressed that for once, Steven was singing and not just chewing on his hands! After the songs Steven got to come sit with us and watch a slideshow of pictures from the year.Lucy stayed happy throughout the Celebration but you'll see by the pictures that Ben was a pretty big grump at times during it:

After the slideshow we went to his classroom where we got to see work he has done throughout the semester. It seems like he had a pretty good semester with Mrs. Hornyak:

And now, believe it or not, school is over and I can officially call Steven a first grader! I am impressed with his growth as a reader and it never gets old to hear him give answers to simple addition and subtraction facts. He is such a fun loving guy, with a huge imagination and a huge amount of energy (he LOVED being a part of the mileage club at his school). I am proud of my boy!

And lastly for this week (a long boring self indulgent story), yesterday I was feeling kind of down after a play date at the park with some ladies in the Ward. I was having a hard time relating to them and it made me miss my Arizona friends! So after feeling properly sorry for myself I said a prayer in hopes of feeling better. Not too much later I was outside with the kids when my neighbor came outside with her kids and I had such a good conversation with her. I felt so much better and I realized that I can make good friends here in Michigan, I really can! It helped chase away some of the homesickness. 

Later that night, I had scheduled to do an Endowment Session with the sister I visit teach. As we were driving there I found out she hadn't been to the temple for over a year. Her husband didn't go and that had made it hard for her. That made me feel extra good! I helped someone get back to the temple! It helped me feel like there are reasons I am here in Michigan. Really, it's the little things sometimes that can help us feel so much better :)

Poppy Thus Far!

Poppy arrived in Michigan this past Wednesday!! I was scared about driving to the airport and being able to find it AND him but thankfully it all went without a hitch. Since picking him up we have been trying to show off the beauty and wonders that Metropolitan Detroit has to offer. 

I kept Steven home from school Thursday and Friday so he could spend time with his Poppy. Thursday we took him to the Detroit Zoo. On our way there we encountered some of the worst traffic I've seen but somehow we survived the drive...only to arrive at a zoo that was SWAMPED with kids on Field Trips. It was CrAzY packed but we still managed to push through crowds and have some fun. 

On Friday we took him on a hike in our favorite place, Kensington Metropark. The weather was pretty perfect and even though I didn't have any bird feed, Steven still managed to get a bird to eat some cereal out of his hand. Of course I didn't get a picture because I really didn't think a bird would go for Golden Grahams but I did take these gems:

On Saturday we went to Greenfield Village. Coolest place EVER! I was opposed to going at first because it was super pricey but it was totally worth the cost, so much so that Tyler upgraded to a membership so we can come back. This place is everything it claims: it "is like stepping into an 80 acre time machine." 

One of the first homes we went into had women in era appropriate dress cooking a meal with era appropriate kitchen tools. Then we went on to see rye being mowed by a horse drawn mower of sorts. And of course there were sheep and chickens nearby. Here's Lucy helping out at the farm:

After that came some cool mills and machinery and a variety of craft shops: blankets being woven, socks being sewed, glass ornaments being created, newspaper being pressed, tin being shaped...So much fun! The kids (and me) were especially in awe of the glass ornaments:

After that we walked by the civilian war camps and saw soldiers marching through the streets:

By that time, it was food time and then nearby was a super fun playground. It had a machine that sprayed water, slides, a bouncy swing, a rock wall to climb, a tunnel and a fun truck to "drive":

We didn't last too much longer after the playground. We were just able to make it to the Railroad Station where we saw a genuine turn table for trains and we saw Edison's Power Plant and an old school house. But in the end we only saw about half of the Village (if that!).Hence the reason we upgraded our tickets, Tyler LOVES seeing how things are made and all the old machinery so we will definitely be returning to see the rest of it's awesomeness.

As we left, my van decided to not turn on. We thought it might be the battery but after a nice person attempted to give us a jump start, we realized that was not the problem. So Tyler got on the phone with AAA, and I prayed for a miracle because it had gotten warm and we were all exhausted and the idea of waiting for AAA sounded horrible. And a miracle happened! I felt prompted to try and start the car again and it worked! Just like that!

Anyways, apparently it is having "connection" issues and Tyler isn't sure how to fix it. And it decided to have connection issues when we went to leave church today but then after waiting some time and trying, again miracles. I'm not sure we have a limitless supply of miracles so hopefully we can fix it soon. 

We still get to have our Poppy here until Wednesday, so we have a few more days for adventure, if our mode of transportation permits. It has been nice having him here, the boys do love playing and wrestling with Poppy- he is WAY more fun then me ;)

Lucky

Last weekend we spent Sat afternoon at a small swap meet sort of place where I got an awesome "teething" necklace. Really Lucy has no desire to chew on it but that's fine. Truthfully, I just got it because I thought it was stinkin' cute! So here's a picture of me sporting the necklace and sporting my 18 week pregnant belly. Less than 2 weeks until the gender revealing ultrasound folks! 

Monday was St. Patrick's Day. I am not one of those amazing Pinterest moms who does a million awesome things for each holiday but I always try to do one or two (easy)fun things. So for breakfast my kids had some Lucky Charms with green milk. I will admit that the dyed green milk just looked awful but Steven claimed excitedly, "It tastes just like milk!" (Ben, of course, had his breakfast by the heater vent in the kitchen):

 I also gave Steven a green lunch- dyed mac n cheese, and broccoli. Oh yeah, super delicious!

This last month I have been (finally) working hard on teaching Benny his ABC's. It is so nice that I am at last at a point in my life where I can do this. BUT he is VERY difficult to teach and it can be quite frustrating. He doesn't catch on quickly and sometimes I feel like I am a terrible teacher BUT then we have moments where it clicks. And since preschool is not in the budget and the mom's in my ward failed at their recent attempt to do a co-op, it looks like I am his only hope ;)

 

On the other hand, Steven is doing splendidly in Kindergarten. We had a conference with Mrs. Hornyak Thurs and were told he is right on target, if not a little ahead. Yippee! Lately, his favorite thing to do is staple pages together to make books. They have a title, lots of pictures and the last page always states "the end". He's made an AFV (America's Funnies Videos) book and a Calvin & Hobbes book these past 2 days. They're quite entertaining to "read."

And yesterday I had a tender mercy occur. We were blessed to have a babysitter come watch our kids while we went to the Detroit Temple (for free nonetheless, thanks to a personal progress goal!). So I went to pick up some pizza for the kids and the babysitter but when I came home I realized my wallet was gone. I remembered putting it on top of the pizzas after I bought them and that was it. I was panicking! 

I threw my now poor, jacketless kids in the car and rushed back to the scene. I was praying out loud in the car as we drove there and in retrospect Steven's reactions to my prayers were pretty great, "Can He really hear you?" "Will He find it for you?" "Can He take it away from the bad guys?"...

When we got there I checked the parking lot to no avail. So then I checked the pizza place but still no luck. But from the beginning I had the feeling I should check Kroger's which was pretty close to the pizza place. So I did, and there it was, money, cards and all. Definitely a blessing! And we made it home just in time for the arrival of Tyler & the babysitter.

Then I got to go do my very first Endowment Session in a temple besides the Mesa Temple. It's true, I have never been inside another temple before (not counting temple open houses that is). It is beautiful but significantly smaller and you actually have to RSVP. They had a list and if you weren't on it, it was more than likely you weren't getting in. Anyways, it was nice to finally be in the temple again! Can't wait to go back!

And here are some cute pictures Steven took today:  

Snow Day

So this week things are finally *sort of* coming along with moving. The relocation adviser finally got in touch with us. We found out that the movers will pack our stuff and GM will ship our cars there. These are steps in the right direction. I also found out that I needed to book my own trip to Michigan for house hunting purposes, so that is done. 

This week we will go and look at all 2 houses that I was able to find online (there were more, but either too expensive, too far away or too small). Super. It seems we are either going to have to settle for a very small space (1400 square feet) or settle for an expensive rent ($1400/mnth). Tis the lot of having a large family. Maybe I'll get lucky and the real estate agent they set us up with will prove helpful or maybe one of the property management companies will call me back and have some awesome homes for us. Fingers crossed!

And though my major planner aheader self continues to feel stressed about all the unknowns that I can do nothing about, I was able to have some fun with the kids. We went with Oliver & Mikey Dude to a bank's way awesome Snow Day! They didn't advertise the event as well this year which was AWESOME for us, no waiting and no crowds equals lots of fun. The kid's pigged out on doughnuts, sat in a firetruck, and got balloon swords. Steven once again loved the Bounce House and Bounce Obstacle Course. And then of course there was the snow:

And we got to see a way better looking and nicer Santa than Bass Pro Shop for absolutely NO wait!!!

Oh and let me end with a "tender mercy" moment. I was having one of those mornings where I was feeling overwhelmed with everything. One of the things on my to do list for the day was to check second hand stores for winter clothing for Lucy, she was still really lacking but I was dreading spending more money that I didn't have. And wouldn't you know that as I was thinking of when I was going to be able to shop for these clothes I got a text from my visiting teacher asking if I needed any winter clothes for Lucy, she had a whole bin of some that her daughter had outgrown. Tender mercy! Now I have a ton of clothing for Lucy and it was all the stuff I needed. Just another reminder that my Heavenly Father loves and looks out for me. We are truly so blessed! 

Answers

So we are officially moving to Michigan. This past week I have definitely had the answer to my prayers and I have felt that peace and affirmation that we should go to Michigan, I especially felt that when we were in the temple. But when you leave the peace of the temple, it's easy to forget all that. I still have lots of emotional moments... moments of sadness, anxiety, worry. I think it's only natural when you are moving so far from home to a place that is so unlike where you have lived for the past 28 years of your life and a place that you have never even seen. But I would like to share my moments of personal revelation. Moments that I am going to need to hold on tight to when doubt creeps in.

The first night Tyler got the offer, right after I said a prayer asking if we should go, I read a conference talk by Henry Eyring called To My Grandchildren. When I read the part where Eyring spoke about how his mother moved far away from her own widowed mother so his father could support his family, I felt an overwhelming sadness and I will admit that I bawled. I think even at that moment I knew we needed to go and I knew how very much I was going to miss my mom.

Then on Saturday night Tyler & I went to the temple with a hope to find comfort and peace in our decision to move to Michigan. As we prepared to go, I was worried it would be too crowded and I really wanted to have time afterwards to talk with Tyler but the Lord blessed us and we were literally able to walk right in to do sealings. Then while doing a sealing I felt a very distinct impression that this was all I needed, my spouse, my children. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we are together. It was an amazingly peaceful moment.

Also, throughout this process I kept remembering a talk I heard, I couldn't remember where, that had spoken about how there wasn't one right location to live, the church could use you anywhere. I couldn't remember who or any of the exact details but wouldn't you know that my good friend quoted it in a comment she made on my last blog. She wrote how the speaker said people would call the Stake President asking for advice on the safest neighborhoods, best schools and strongest wards but "not once did anyone ask where their family would be needed the most." Going to a place that won't be so filled with members was definitely a worry for me but this talk helped me realize that I need to stop being so self-focused. Who knows who we can impact there. Their will certainly be a lot more missionary opportunities in Michigan than we have here. And honestly, though I am normally terrified of speaking to others in general, I weirdly feel very excited about this...

And I will end this lengthy post by just saying that though I may not sleep well at night and my stomach may be in a constant churn, I know that's just me being me and I know that our family belongs in Michigan for the next few years, we really do. And though it won't be easy and I will probably miss AZ like crazy the Lord has a purpose for us there. If nothing more then to just make us a closer, stronger family. And despite my crazy emotions, I am excited for this adventure, I really am!

Goodbye dumb phone

Yesterday something wonderful happened! I finally got smart! I know you're all thinking, "It's about time", and I feel the same way. It's hard to live life when you're missing something so important and vital to living. Wait a minute...did you just say brains? I was talking about a smart phone here!

Ok so I really was probably better off without this phone because I'm already spending way too much time on it. But I must admit I was smitten with it as soon as I discovered the Swype keyboard. And then getting free Minion ring tones was just the icing on the cake. I am super pleased with my new phone and feeling grateful that my hubby finally let me have one and Mike let us on his plan so it'd be affordable.

Another great thing this week happened at the mall of all places. Steven was mourning the loss of a quarter that was eaten by a gum ball machine as a teenager walked by. This teenager looked a little rough around the edges but he did something super nice at that moment. He threw a dollar at my boys and said, " Take this." They immediately put it in the change machine and my boys were so happy, 4 free quarters! The teenager took off before we could properly thank him but what a kind thing he did! His mom would be proud!

And to close off this week of goodness, Tyler gave a talk in church and it was wonderful. It's the only time I get to see him be emotional and I love it. So as you can see, life is fabulous. And Ben's face shows that perfectly!

Sickness

It's been a week of sickness in our house. Wednesday night I was awakened to the sound of vomiting. I thought it was one of the kids because it sounded distant but upon further investigation I discovered that the culprit was Tyler- who I had thought was lying in bed with me- but he was in the downstairs bathroom, making an awful noise that reverberated throughout the whole house. Ugh. I was not a sweet and comforting wife but rather I looked at him with disgust and retreated back to bed.

Tyler attempted to go to school (mind you he left to school right after having another bout in the bathroom) but he was home soon after- no big surprise. 

And that same day, Ben woke up from his nap with a gunked up eyes. I wanted to chalk it up to just being allergies because I swear we just had pink eye run rampant through our house. But in the 10 minutes is took us to pick Steven up from school, I could no longer be in denial. I looked at him and it was crazy eye central- swollen and pink. 

And Lucy of course had hopped on the sick boat, her nose had been running like a faucet all that day and she was super fussy. That night she reached the peak of fussiness, like monster baby fussy, and I actually put her down at 6:30 (normally she goes down at 8) and believe it or not, she slept until 6:30 the next day. That was a crazy amount of sleep for her.

The next day, Lucy awoke with gunk in her eye. In need of eye drops for 2 children now I called my doctor's office and made a fatal mistake- I admitted that Lucy had pink eye too. So instead of avoiding a visit, I essentially asked for one- if they're under one they won't order eye drops without a doctor's visit because apparently many babies get ear infections along with pink eye.

So in we went & out we went--$35 spent to be told it's just pink eye. Ugh. Off I went with 2 gross children to pick up eye drops at Target. Once there we had to wait a half hour for the medicine so I got to push my 2 noticeably germy kids through the store.

When we finally got home and I pulled out the drops I noticed a strange picture on them- it looked like an ear. Looking through the info sheet, I soon realized it was an ear. The pharmacist had given me the wrong medicine- good thing I noticed before putting them in the kids' eyes! So for a moment I wallowed in self pity, knowing that I needed to get this fixed but NOT wanting to. I had already made an unnecessary trip to the doctors, and at this point nap time was overdue and I did NOT want to schlep Ben & Lucy to Target again. 

BUT the kid's needed their medicine SO... a phone call was made, apologies were given (along with refunds) and again I drug Ben & Lucy to Target to pick up our now free eye drops. Lesson learned from that day- ALWAYS check your medicine! 

And now, a couple days later, Ben's eyes look normal, Tyler is still feeling funky and though Lucy's eyes look great, she still has a bad cold. And Steven, our normally sick and afflicted child, has remained unscathed through it all :)

Here's some pictures of the boys with their finds from Goodwill & the Dollar Store- they still haven't grasped the concept of saving their money for something big....

And cutie pie Lucy:

Swords

This Monday, after years of neglect, I decided it was time to have family home evening. I've always had an excuse for not having it (tutoring, Tyler's never home, etc ) but after reading Ensign articles on parenting (I need some help in that dept) I realized it all came down to those primary answers (prayer, scriptures, FHE...). So even though Tyler was gone at work, I got busy planning (and Pinterest searching) and had a fun family home evening with the kids. It had a REALLY rocky start but once we got through the song (don't know why that part was so hard) it went really well.

We talked about the people of Ammon and how they made a promise to God to not fight anymore and buried their swords. We then decorated our own swords and put our names on them. We talked about what we did in our own family that caused contention/fighting and wrote it on our swords. Steven=hitting, Ben=pushing, Mommy=yelling, Lucy=books (& her habit of eating them) and Daddy told me to put work on his. Then we went into our backyard, dug a hole in what used to be my mini garden and buried our swords of contention.

Of course the boys were sad about burying their swords so I had to make them a couple of "swords of peace" to play with. And it was fun to say during the week, "No fighting! We buried our swords of fighting!" And honestly, this week was not perfect but it went a lot better than last week and I attribute that betterness to our better practicing of those primary answers. For some reason those things that should be so easy are not so easy to do but they are well worth the time and effort. I just have to remember that :)

Another Post

This week we got spoiled and had 2 date nights. Friday night we went to the temple with Tyler's family so that we could see the new Endowment video. It was wonderful! All the words are the same so the message hasn't changed- only the presentation of the message. And it's amazing the difference new presenters can make. Afterwards we all went out to dinner to Mi Amigo's. Delicious food and good company :) 

Then Saturday night we had our date night swap so we went to visit Josh & Mary in the hospital. Tyler has known Josh since high school and just a few weeks ago he was in a motorcycle accident. In the accident he broke his trachea, arm, leg, and was basically just one big mess and blessed to have made it out alive. He is recovering well and can now talk which is miraculous in itself. His wife (due with baby #3 late October) has been a champ throughout. While we were there she relayed a story that a doctor had told her about when Josh had arrived at the hospital. Apparently they had no idea about his broken trachea and doctors were busy attending to a few people with gun shot wounds that had come in at the same time. But this doctor had a feeling she should go check on Josh. She took of the plastic brace they had put on his neck and discovered his broken trachea. She immediately put a trach? in and the doctor told Mary that he wouldn't have lasted 5 more minutes without it. Somebody was certainly looking out for Josh that day and we are so grateful that he's still here and will be able to meet his new baby in October.

Other news from this past week---- Ben won the battle against walking to school. After he cried the entire walk home Friday, I caved today and took our double stroller. Oh how I hate this double stroller- it's a pain to steer- but I think it was worth it. We got to school and home SO much faster and there were no tears. Lazy Ben wins the battle!...But maybe when the weather cools down the battle can begin again. 

If you ever ask Ben who his best friend is, he will usually say Boston. Today I got to watch Boston and Broden so Ben was in heaven. Here he is with his BF:

Lucy is already a social butterfly, she loves the walks to school. She gives great smiles to everyone and now she waves and says "Hi" to everyone too. It's super cute!

Since I had 2 extra kids today I wasn't the bestest mom ever and Lucy-- who will stick everything and anything into her mouth---decided to chew on some wooden thing that Steven had colored with red marker. Apparently the marker came off on her face... I'm sure that was healthy ;)

Steven is still loving school but I am not so sure school loves having him. Today his teacher said he did much better--- he only went to time out twice. Ugh! No time outs would be a better day but that might be asking for too much. He is having a really rough time at school (and at home) with keeping his hands to himself. He also apparently likes to blurt out and not raise his hands. He has been coming home with a major stubborn attitude. It has not been making our time together too fun. He is in need an attitude adjustment.

And Tyler starts what will hopefully be his last semester this Thursday. I'm saying lots of prayers for him because he has two tough labs and I REALLY need this to be his last semester.

Anger Management

Last week started off really rough. My kids were being super naughty and pushing all my buttons. It was feeling like I spent each day just yelling at them for one thing or another. On top of that Tyler had 3 finals Thursday so he was super busy leaving me alone and stretched to my limits. And then in addition to that, I had a really awful tutoring experience Tuesday night. 

This student is usually difficult, I think he has ADD, but it wasn't the lack of attention that brought me to my melt down. It was the fact that he began to argue with me (just like my kids had been doing with me all day). It all started when I told him he was writing the info in the wrong box on a chart. He then got mad and said that I wasn't filling out the chart correctly. I told him I was a teacher once and I knew how to fill it out so he retorted "Were you in the classroom with me when my teacher told me how to to do it?" Then he refused to do it because he said I kept changing things (which I hadn't). And then he got upset saying it didn't matter if he did it because I was just going to tell on him anyways. In the end, his mom arrived, he cried and then there were many apologies from mom (not him) when she learned about his behavior.

After picking up my own kids, I got home and just wanted to cry. I was tired of feeling so mad and frustrated with kids all day. I was wondering if I should stop praying for patience because all that seemed to do is give me more situations for me to lose my patience in.

Then as I was sitting on the couch feeling totally miserable I got a text message from my sweet visiting teacher saying: "This is totally random but do you need me to pick up anything for you at Walmart?" I didn't need her to but I knew it wasn't random at all, I know who was making her think of me at that time. It was confirmation of truths that I forget so easily, Heavenly Father knows me and loves me. He has a plan for me. 

And then I decided I needed some help learning patience so the next day I went out and bought a book that I've been thinking I should read for awhile now. It called Screamfree Parenting and I am so glad I got it. I don't think it has any revolutionary ideas like it states it does but it has a lot of kind of "duh!" stuff that I needed to her. And so far it has been helping to make our house more calm. Here are some of my favorite "duh!" ideas I got from it... 

-I need to calm my own anxiety over my kid's choices because they are there choices not mine and I can't force them to be good (I am responsible to them not for them)

- I need to be consistent about enforcing consequences for their bad choices and I need to pick consequences that I am willing to enforce (I need to keep my promises)

- When my child has a problem I need to say "gosh that stinks! how are you going to fix it?" instead of always fixing it for them (it's helping with Ben)

- I need to take care of myself first (sounds weird I know but it's the whole oxygen mask in crashing airplane sort of idea- put it on you before putting it on your child)

Anyways, I still have issues and I still yell every once in awhile but things are definitely better in the Hatch home :)

Blessings

I am so blessed! I haven't even known a week that I have a little girl on the way and already I have TONS of little girl things. Thanks to my good friend Karen Eberhard and my mom (who had clothes from my niece) Ben's closet (poor kid!) is full of dresses, jackets and sweaters. And that doesn't even account for all the onesies, pants, shorts, sleepers, shoes, etc. that I was given. I spent all of Saturday afternoon giggling over pink & frilly things as I organized what I was given into my own mad system. If you went into our spare/guest/storage bedroom you may think it looks a bit chaotic  but I promise, it is extremely organized!

Saturday afternoon was eye opening for 2 reasons. 1: It helped me realize I don't need to spend money we don't have. We have the essentials which is such a blessing. 2: I realized what a completely new world I'm stepping into. I have never needed to use the boys closet except to hang maybe a suit or  two. Now I have filled up a closet. My boys have usually owned only one or two pairs of shoes that fit at a time, my little girl already has WAY more than that. I have never had to concern myself with hair, now I have a baggie and jar full of bows. Not to mention the beauty of flowers, lace, ruffles, pink and purple. I am so excited (and a bit nervous) for all this newness!

The other blessing we received this weekend was a new couch! Well...new to us! Tyler's parent's got a new couch and were kind enough to give us their old one. They had already given us it's love seat awhile back and now we are super excited to have its matching couch and chair. Our old couch has definitely been through the ringer and we are not feeling any pains to let it go. Yeah for a fancy new leather couch!

And just because I don't want to leave out my boys. Here's a cute picture of Ben after he picked out what clothes he wanted to wear. And then a picture of Steven being invisible.