Mariah's Wedding,Cranbrook Museum

Since Tyler left for the wedding before me, I was on my own Sunday. Somehow I made it through church by myself with very little incidents but I was not so lucky once we got home. The kids were crazy! Steven had some major attitude and ended up in his room for awhile. While he was in his room, things seemed to calm down and Lucy and Benny shared this really fun moment where they took turns being Doctor & patient. It was the cutest thing:

Sunday night the girls did not want to sleep, I think Lucy was just too excited about getting to spend the night at her best friend Audrey's house. They were turning on the lights, Lucy was getting into Penny's crib and they were giggling like crazy. I finally got smart and put Lucy in my bed and about 9:45 at night, Lucy and Penny were finally both asleep.

Monday morning it was my turn to head to AZ for the wedding. I dropped the girls off with the Chappell's and the boys off with the Hess's. We are so lucky to have such great friends that are willing to help us and watch our kids. Then I headed to the airport. My mom had got me all stressed that I was going to have a hard time finding a parking spot or that I was going to be in TSA for hours. In reality everything went so smoothly, I found a spot to park immediately and their were only a few people ahead of me in security. I ended up being over 2 hours early for my flight. That was ok though. I started to get a really bad migraine so I had plenty of time to buy water and Tylenol and close my eyes before getting on the plane. 

My flight landed in AZ early but I am blessed with a timely family so Mike was already there to pick me up. I'm glad he came inside to get me because my migraine was returning and it would have been hard to deal with my spotty vision and trying to find his car outside. 

Then we headed to Mi Amigo's, oh how I had been missing good Mexican food, where we met my parents and his wife for a late lunch. It was delicious as always and it was so nice to see all my family again.

After eating our food we went to Mike's home so I could see his kids (and so I could lay on their floor and complain about how tired I was ;)). I hadn't seem Lillian since she was a baby and it was crazy how much she had grown! Tyler met us over there and he enjoyed making faces with Lillian:

That night we had the Groom's Dinner and I got to surprise Mariah since she had no idea I was going to make it to her wedding after all. She gives the best reactions, a giant hug and tears of joy. I sure do love Tyler's sister! The dinner was yummy (more mexican food!) and I enjoyed seeing all of Tyler's family. I also felt such appreciation that I didn't have our kids there, it would have been so hard to wrangle them at a nice dinner and keep them out of the fountain and pool that was there. 

On Tuesday I was pooped, I didn't sleep well and the time difference was mucking me up but thankfully we had a pretty relaxing morning. I got to watch Tyler's dad practice his Father/Daughter dance, it was hilarious perfection! Then I got to go get a slip that would lengthen my dress so it wasn't too scandalous and then I had my sister-in-laws do my hair and paid someone to do my make up- aren't I so fancy? I felt way overdone and I wasn't a fan of the purple lipstick but I also never wear any makeup so it was a huge adjustment to see myself like that. I did get some compliments so that was nice :)

The wedding was at 2:15 and we made it just in time, that's really the Hatch way. The sealing was sweet and emotional, afterwards we took a few pictures in the hot sun (but not as many as I thought we might) and then we headed to The Elegant Barn which was a pretty little reception venue. I helped a bit with setting up centerpieces and Tyler worked hard at flexing his muscles with Reese.

Here are some more fun pictures of me all dolled up:

The reception was a Hatch Party, lots of dancing and craziness. I do not love dancing, I always feel SO awkward but I did my best to participate in some dancing so I didn't seem like a total recluse. But I must admit that when the party ended, I was quite relieved. I am lame, I know, but dancing is really not my thing! When it ended we grabbed a bite to eat and then hit the hay, we were pooped.

Wednesday morning was nice and lazy. We packed up, I went shopping with Jezerea for a bridesmaid dress for her wedding, I had lunch at Kneaders with my parents and Mike's family and then it was back to the airport for us. Tyler and I had a pretty good wait in security but we still made our flight in plenty of time and once in the plane, we even managed to switch seats so we could sit by each other. All went perfectly perfect.

Since we didn't get home until midnight, we didn't pick up the kids until Thursday morning. The boys were less than thrilled to see me, they had been having way too much fun at their friends house. Lucy was happy to see me and I think Penny was too, she just had a funny way of showing me. All the kids did really well while we were away except Penny. Apparently she got really sad when she woke up Tuesday morning and realized she was still at the Chappell's home. Poor Penny, poor Chappell's.

I figured after being away for 3 days we needed some family time so Friday after school we took the kids to the Cranbrook Museum-- an added bonus was that first Fridays were FREE admission! It was a great idea because we really did have a blast! There was a mammoth, a giant bear, pretty rocks (Steven especially loved the rocks even though he refused to get his picture with them), T-Rex bones, and a catapult (which Tyler was so proud because nobody could figure out how to make work but him). Good solid fun:

Curls, Heels & Green

Penelope has a love/hate relationship with open car windows. Sometimes she just puts her hands in the air, like she just don't care, other times she freaks out! Obviously in the picture below she is loving!

This week I have been trying to cut some sugar out of Penny's diet (due to her poor decaying teeth) but I haven't had much success. Her drinkable yogurts are pretty high in sugar so I made some drinkable yogurt by blending together greek yogurt with frozen strawberries. She loved it for all of the few seconds I took the picture and then she wouldn't touch it again. Fail.

We've had a bit of a heat wave this week, 80's and humid. I like what the humidity has done to Penny's hair, it's made it wavy and adorable!

I don't think the heat has been agreeing with Lucy though. She has been cranky and irritable this week, more tired. The heat is wearing her out and making her an incredibly awful shopping companion and playmate. Despite her crankiness though she did super well when she got her cavity filled at the Dentist Thursday. No freaking out or crying. She just laid there and watched My Little Pony while they numbed her tooth and drilled away. I was so proud of her! 

And also, despite the heat, she still has her same old silly personality: striking sassy poses, eating mashed potatoes with ketchup, wearing heels and playing with tampons. 

So my super amazing friend is not only watching my girls while I go to this wedding but she also lent me some shoes to choose from for the wedding. The kids got a hold of them and tried them on. It was hilarious to watch the boys try to walk in the heels, lots of falling. Lucy, however, was a natural!

Saturday we dropped Tyler off at the airport for Mariah's wedding. Everything went so smoothly for him and I hope I have the same fate when I leave Monday. Unfortunately things were not smooth going home. There was an accident that made for a long drive home. I figured we needed to get out and play so I decided we would stop at Kensington on the way home. But things did not go smoothly, we kept getting stuck behind slow cars on our drive to the nature trails, then Penny did not want to put on one of her shoes and screamed when I put it on, the bathroom was closed and Ben really had to go, Lucy did not want to walk she wanted to go inside the nature center building...it was a string of awful things. But those awful things stopped and we ended up having a nice little walk on one of the trails. It was shady so we didn't roast and everything was so dang green and beautiful. I'm glad in the end we had a fabulous time! 

Another Week

Did I tell you Tyler's truck is out of commission again? Well, it is. He's been able to check out a work car during the week but not on the weekends. So on Sunday he had to stay after church for a meeting and that meant we all got to stay late at church. Thankfully Penny had a bag of pretzels that lasted her for all that time and the drive home. These pretzels made her a very happy camper.

Penny also picked out what she wanted to wear after church Sunday: jammies, a skirt and a backwards crown. When I tried to show her the right way to wear a crown, she quickly flipped it back around. Apparently wearing a backwards crown is all the rage.

I've been trying off and on to work with Lucy on learning the outfit but I can never seem to get her interested. Recently I came across these dot paint pens and thought they might be the route to go since Lucy loves painting. They have worked like a charm! Lucy loves using her dot paint pens to make alphabet letters. I'm not sure if she's learning anything but at least she is doing the worksheets and having fun!

Lately I have been trying to shake things up at dinnertime and have been trying out new recipes that I have discovered on Pinterest. One night this week, I made this yummy chicken tortilla casserole, however it was pretty spicy so the kids were not fans. After taking a bite Benny says, "I don't really like it, but it's yummy!" Totally makes sense right?

Thursday night Benny got to go on a "date" with me. We went to Meijer's and Target and got prizes for when I am hosting my Bunco group. I know it wasn't the most exciting date ever but Benny still managed to make it fun. I took both of these pictures because he said "Mom take my picture!" Funny kid:

The weather has actually been good to us, no rain this week, so we enjoyed lots of time outside. Love my girls:

Bad news from this week...Both Lucy and Penny had dentist appointments and the verdict wasn't good. Lucy has 1 cavity and they are going to try to do it just the regular way, no gas or anything. = Fingers crossed that goes ok! Penny has 6 cavtities. She will need anesthesia and will likely have to go to the hospital to get her cavities fixed. This is so sad for her and for our bank account. The dentist we saw doesn't have hospital privileges so we had to get appointment with another one who won't be able to see her until June 13th. That gives me plenty of time to worry about how much this is actually going to cost us, ugh!

So instead of ending with bad news, lets end with positive. The kids have such good friends! Lucy & Penny had such a fun morning with their buddy Wesley this week. And today, after helping paint porches for an Eagle Scout Project (the kids were super helpful ;) ) Lucy, Steven & Ben have spent the whole afternoon playing with Beck & Eva.I love all our Michigan friends! 

Mother's Day & Rainy Days

Mother's Day was Sunday. Tyler was very sweet and made me strawberry crepes for breakfast. I managed to sit down and eat one in between getting all my crazies ready for early morning church and they were delicious. At church I took Lucy to the bathroom right before the Primary kids sang their Mother's Day song. That meant she didn't get to sing to me and I only caught the tail end of the boys singing to me, fail.

When we came home from church I got to properly check out my Mother's Day gifts: I got 2 cute signs, a comfy pair of shoes and 5 hanging plants for my porch. Spoiled! And then I was lucky enough to get a little nap. I'm a lucky lady!

The rest of this week was a tough week. The girls went absolutely nutso every time we ran errands. Lucy ran around Walmart pulling things from shelves and climbing on shelves. Penny threw many a tantrums, literally throwing herself down on store floors. Seriously tough. All I have to say is that they are SO lucky they are cute. Here is Penny showing me her nose and fully clothed with church shoes in the shower.

Thursday night Tyler took the crazy girls and Benny on an errand of his own so I decided to take Steven out on a little date to the Farmer's Market. However, due to some impending rain, by the time we got there, the Farmer's Market was closing down. We decided not to let that ruin on our fun so we headed to the Burger Joint instead and got ourselves a milkshake. It was a really nice walk, a really yummy shake and I had some really nice conversations with Steven. It was a first time in a long time that I wasn't just getting frustrated with his stinky attitude. And the cherry on top was that we made it home moments before the rain majorly poured down. 

Tyler was back from his errand by the time we got back so all of us gathered on the porch and enjoyed the rain without getting wet:

Also this week, Steven brought home a Scholastic Book Order and told me he really wanted this book about deadly rocks (the book also comes with rocks) so I told him he would have to earn the money. We worked out this wonderful arrangement where he is now folding and putting away the laundry for me for dollars. Although it's a bit of a learning curve for him, it has been quite nice sharing the daily laundry burden with him:

Last night the boys went to the Ward Fathers & Sons camp out. Of course Tyler didn't take any pictures so it remains undocumented. All I know is...the fancy trick Tyler was going to use to start the fire was a fail, Captain Moroni came to visit, they got rained on and froze all night and they came home smelling like camp fire. Sounds like a success right!?

Funny things:

Steven told me that dad made him stay up late when I had Bunco this week. So I asked him, did he MAKE you stay up late or did you WANT to stay up late. His answer, "Kind of in the middle."

I have this bad habit of joking that I want to jump off a cliff when the kids are making me batty. Apparently I should stop saying such terrible things. One night I asked Ben if he would take care of me when I got old and his reply was, "No, I'll just drive you to a cliff. You always say you want to jump off one." Such.A.Stinker.

Pictures Galore

We have had so much rain these past couple of weeks, that anytime the sun is out we have to take full advantage of it. Tuesday was one of those amazingly sunny days so we spent the morning at Kensington Metropark. We hadn't done the nature trails for a long while and I was so glad to get back out there. We saw two unidentified animals, one that looked like a baby beaver and one that looked more like a weasel. Penny got nervous when she saw those ones. We also so lots of fishes and birds, those ones Penny was ok with. And there were the usual chipmunks and squirrels running everywhere.

Tuesday night was the Scout Bicycle Rodeo. All siblings were invited to come with their own bikes and thankfully Tyler was able to come too so it was actually a pretty lovely night. It even made us finally invest in bicycle helmets for all our kids so now they can all ride safely. Anyways, Steven was the first to fall off his bike but at least it was just a small injury, nothing traumatic. Penny brought her ride on toy but refused to actually ride on it. She just stood there with her hand on it, giving dirty glances to another toddler who kept trying to steal it (and who eventually did steal it when Penny gave up on guarding it). 

Wednesday was rainy again but the dreary day was broken up with a fun Primary Worker Appreciation Night. Because we love Bunco so much, that's what we did. We had a fun game night with snacks for all our Primary Workers. We had about half the workers show up and they all seemed to have fun times, I did! 

Thursday the sun was back out just in time for opening day for the Milford Farmer's Market. Tina and her daughter, Maizie, went with us and Tina did good job of documenting the fun. Since it was also Cinco De Mayo, their was a Pinata and the kids got to make maracas out of plastic eggs and spoons. And an added bonus was free cookies, it was definite good times!

Friday morning we headed to the Farm in Kensington and Penny finally came to terms with the animals there. By the end she was even getting excited by the sheep, pointing and trying to climb the fence. That is some major progress people. Anyways I just love the sassy look on Lucy's face when we sat down for a snack and I had to document the beautiful tulips that were blooming there:

Friday afternoon was the Kindergarten Mother's Day Spa. We had treats, then Ben put some color in my hair (and I put some in his), he gave me a bow, an oatmeal facial, did my lipstick and eye shadow and we ended with a manicure and pedicure. It was way fun but I looked pretty special when I went to pick up Steven from his class. The pictures don't do his makeup job justice ;) Gosh I love this sweet boy: