Exercising, Fiesta, Fundraiser

This week me and Tyler started something new- we started doing YouTube 30 minute workout videos each morning. This means we have to wake up a bit earlier which has challenged our non morning personalities but we succeeded for the week! I am so out of shape and have been sore everyday since we started but the level of soreness has improved some since the first day so that's promising. We also started reading scriptures in the morning. On nights when the boys have basketball or scouts, scriptures weren't happening so the switch has been good at getting us a regular again. I am hoping we can keep at these new routines!

I spent most of Monday and Tuesday preparing for Bunco since I was hosting the fiesta this month. I did take a little break at one point and walk Penny (and her friend we were watching) down to our neighborhood beach. When the weather is good and the skies are blue, Michigan can sure feel dreamy. 

Tuesday night was my Bunco party and I only snapped one picture- my friend Melissa who won the mini sombrero. She was nice enough to pose for me. We had two no shows and one person who had to leave early so the Bunco playing part was short lived- we only got through 2 rounds. I also made an enormous amount of food. I made 1 enchilada per person plus 2 extras but a lot of people just ate a half of an enchilada. I had so much left over afterwards so note to self to make way less next time. Overall though, I think the party was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food (I even got asked for the recipe), and the decorations and the prizes (there was a lawn ornament that several people wanted) so I feel good about it. I also feel extremely relieved that it is all done. Hopefully I can go another 2 years before hosting again!

After hosting Bunco Tuesday night things sort of calmed down and I didn't have too much going on. That was probably a good thing because both of the girls seemed a little out of sorts this week- needy and cranky. This meant I had a lot of time to give to them. Penny and I did several walks when the weather was good. She looks pretty cute in a helmet.

Friday I subbed for a fourth grade class and they were alright. The day was busy with a presentation about students with special needs, an engineering class and extra PE so that all helped the day fly. There was one kid who had an attitude reminiscent to Steven and I had to teach some Government things that I was unsure about but I made it through! I feel like I wing it way more here than I ever did in AZ and  I am not sure if my brain has lost too many cells since then or things are getting harder or what. Thankfully people still keep asking for me to come back.

Friday night the Young Men and Young Women had a Fundraiser at the church. The food was good, there were fun games and face painting for the kids, a fun presentation by the Bishopric and a silent auction. I donated my salsa and some handmade note cards and were glad that each of my items got bid on. It always makes me nervous to put my stuff out there but I am grateful for nice people who at least act like they want it ;) I also got us four hours of babysitting for $25 from a sweet older couple in our ward. I know they are going to dote on the kids so that'll be fun to use. It's crazy that $25 for 4 hours is such a deal- when I was babysitting that's how much I made for babysitting for 5 hours. Things are so much more expensive now.

And today, Saturday, the temperatures have dropped and it's rainy outside. Good ole Michigan and it's bipolar weather, you'd think I would be used to it by now. Ben was at his BF Andrea's birthday party this morning so I took the rest of the kids to the library. They had some fun photo props out that the kids of course had to put to use.

And right now the kids are fighting like cats and dogs and I am ready for it to be Sunday so maybe, just maybe they'll remember it's Mother's Day and treat me a little extra nice because seriously, the fighting 😑

Bonus Post

A bonus post! Yesterday we did end up ordering a new front door and we ended up planting a garden! We planted only carrots and onions because this is our test run and we thought we should keep it simple. We also planted some bell peppers indoors. Already we have had a critter get into our garden and dig a small hole, so obviously we need some barriers. I am hoping in the next few months something will grow!

To reward ourselves for our hard work I took the kids to Dodge Park. They wanted to walk but it was pretty warm and I figured the girls would wimp out quickly so we compromised- we parked at the library and took the short walk from there. The kids had a lot of fun on the seesaw and we tried lots of different combinations seeing who would fly up in the air each time and who would weigh it down. 

Walking back to our car, we had to take a picture by the creek. It was such a pretty Michigan day.

Looking so handsome in his glasses. He cleans those things constantly- he is so anal about them being perfectly clear.

Something else that happened Saturday...While I was working on this blog, I thought the girls were nicely playing mommy and daughter in the guest room. When I went to go check on my plants in the bathroom, I found the girls trying (and failing) to wash off nail polish that they had gotten all over their hands, arms and Lucy even got it on her legs. Lucy had done a pretty good job painting her nails, it just appeared she got carried away and decided some of her fingers and her legs need polish too. Penny had just gotten it all over her hands. It was a giant mess. They also got some drops on the carpet and I found that nail polish remover just spread the mess. I ended up sort of getting it out with hairspray and windex- thank you internet. 

And ending with a funny...Penny calls her shorts "short sleeve pants." When we were at Walmart the other day I was getting Lucy some shorts and Penny began to get very upset because she wanted new "short sleeve pants" too! Tantrums are no fun but the fact that she was crying out for short sleeve pants kind of lightened the mood.

Our Neighborhood Beach, Bike Rodeo, Glasses & Farewell Play Date

Sunday the weather was warm again and the girls came downstairs after church in these super styling outfits! They are always mixing patterns and sometimes I fight it but since it was a Sunday, I let it go. Honestly they are so cute they can pull off anything, ha ha!

With the weather being warm I decided to take a bike ride with the kids to our neighborhood beach/park. They had a blast swinging and playing in the sand at the volleyball court. The lake water is obviously still too chilly to get in but it is going to be super fun when summer comes. As the weather warms I am more and more happy with our home choice. Such fun things to do with the kids here!

Tuesday I subbed for the first grade class I sub for a lot. I decided to just use some bribery since they had been getting a little wild the last couple times I had been there. So after each lesson and activity I picked 2 star students and they got to pick a prize out of the box. I hate that I am such a briber but it really made the day go nicely. 

Wednesday I met with the new Primary Secretary and went over what I did as secretary. I felt silly later on when she told me she had been Primary President, pretty sure she knew a lot of this stuff already. I ended up staying at her house for a few hours. Penny and her son Jude really hit it off and I had fun getting to know her since she just moved into our ward a month ago. It was weird this week when my phone reminded me to do prayer and talk reminders and I didn't have to do it. Part of me thought I should do it because she may not be up to it yet but I had to remind myself that it's not my responsibility anymore. It's interesting that I am having a hard time letting go of something I never really loved doing. 

Wednesday night we had the Cub Scout Bike Rodeo and I totally failed to document it. I am super disappointed in myself since I have pictures from the last couple years but now, not this year. I spent too much time socializing apparently. We have a new family that joined the den- they aren't members but their kids go to Kurtz with my boys. Their son is friends with Steven and their daughter is also in the class I sub for a lot. It's fun to have some new people in the bunch.

During the night we had a storm and Thursday morning Lucy's school had no power so school was cancelled. I thought she would be excited because she complains about going a lot but she started whining that she was going to miss her friends. She is so hard to please! That morning we ran an errand to pick out candles (as a Bunco prize) and apparently Lucy does not like smelly candles. She wrinkled her nose at all of them.

For lunch, I had planned to meet some friends at Red Robins with Penny so Lucy got to come along with us. They both did pretty good coloring and playing together until the end when they started to get antsy. They fought over my phone so a sweet friend shared hers with Penny. Penny must have sent at least 20 snap chats to my friend's daughter by the time we left- super fun for her daughter I'm sure ;). Then as we were leaving Penny threw a tantrum because I wouldn't put money in one of those car video games. As if I ever do that? At least the tantrum was right by the door so it was an easy out.

Thursday night we had Laci and her kids over for dinner- her husband was out of town again. I thought I was being smart because I made some kid friendly food (hot dog mac) for the kids and adult food for us grown ups (shredded pork tacos). Unfortunately the kid friendly food was not friendly enough for Wesley. He wanted nothing to do with it. He reminds a lot of what Ben used to be like. After dinner the kids had a blast playing outside but at some point Lucy and Steven confiscated my phone and took some fun pictures. Gave me a good laugh when I found them later.

Thursday evening we got a call that Steven's glasses were in. He has anxiously been awaiting their arrival so when I saw that the place was still open, I sent Steven and his dad down to get them. He is so excited to finally be able to see- he keeps telling me how clear and beautiful everything looks. He is also excited because he can now be part of his friends "glasses club." So funny! Tyler did a great job picking out the frames, I was also anxious to see what they looked like.

Friday we had a final play date with my friend Sarah and her son Rhett (the one who had a moving away party a couple weeks back). They are officially gone Sunday so it was nice to have one last hurrah with her. It was pretty much the first big play date I hosted at my house and it was quite the turn out. You can tell she's going to be missed. I was glad the weather was good because the kids were able to spend lots of time playing out in the yard. It was such a good time. We didn't get everyone in the picture because some friends had left but here is our mom selfie and kid pic below. 

Friday night we finally met our neighbor who is across from us on Royal Blvd. She works at as a Gymnastic teacher for toddlers. She actually works at a place that a lot of people in my Ward take their kids. She seems pretty nice but informed us that the people who lived in her before the last ones called this house a money pit- super comforting words. 

Today Tyler is finally ordering a new front door and screen door! Our screen door doesn't shut and blows in the wind so we've been tying it shut. The front door also squeals when it opens and has gaps in the frame. I am so glad the weather has finally warmed up enough that Tyler is willing to install new doors!

Tonight we have a birthday bash for a friend that has a fiesta theme. I am hosting Bunbo next week with a fiesta theme so maybe it'll give me some fun last minute ideas for my party ;)

S'mores, Expander, Color Run & Temple Activity

Tyler and I have been experiencing some calling changes at church, not sure if I wrote about this yet, but Tyler is no longer YM's president. However, he is now the Scout Master so not much has changed on that front. He still has Wednesday night activities and Camp Outs. I have *finally* been released as Primary Secretary and starting this Sunday Tyler and I will be teaching Steven's Primary Class (yup Tyler has 2 callings now). Still in primary but I am excited to be back on the teaching end of things. I sort of went a really crazy planning this Sunday's lesson, probably won't come prepared with story props and a hand out every week but it was pretty fun for this week. I am also hoping that maybe us having some time with Steven in a different setting will be a good thing for our relationship.

The weather this past Sunday was full of sunshine and perfect for s'more making. It's fun having a fire pit in our yard so that we can build fires and eat some s'mores whenever we feel like it. It was a perfect night that made me so excited for summer to officially hit here.

Monday my mom and I walked to Dodge Park. It's a bit further than our one in Milford but not too far. I also saw the trail that we can walk to go to the library. It will be fun to walk to the park and the library in the summer. That combined with our beach, should make for some good summer activities.

Tuesday I had to take Grams to the airport so she could go back to AZ. This made me very sad and the house has felt like it's missing a piece ever since she left. I am grateful that I only have to wait one more month before I get to see her again. Our trip to Legoland can't come fast enough! 

To alleviate the sadness of Grams leaving I met a friend at Arby's for lunch. Curly fries and roast beef sandwiches were definitely the highlight of my Tuesday. It's nice to have a friend that loves Arby's as much as I do. Her daughter, Lucie, always cracks me up because she literally drinks the Arby's Sauce. Even though the kids didn't get kid's meals an employee was nice enough to give us a toy. The toy was the game Uno so we had some fun playing it before we left.

Tuesday night I took Lucy to Five and Below while Tyler took everyone else to basketball. Lucy was desperate to spend some money that her Poppy Hatch had given her. She ended up picking out a mermaid stuffie. Another doll to add to her massive collection.

Wednesday we had Penny's friend Brooks over. They get along so well, I really love their friendship. Then that afternoon we met a friend at the library. Our girls kept going to opposite areas of the library so I didn't get to socialize too much with my friend but Penny still had fun. She loves the touch screen table they have- she especially loves the game on it where she "clean up a beach" by swiping garbage into the proper cans. There's even poop that has to be swiped into the trash. So funny what will entertain a kid.

Thursday morning I had my last Primary Meeting. I debated going since I have been released, even if not officially from the pulpit, but I ended up going. I will miss the time spent with the ladies in the presidency but I will not miss the meetings so much. Trying to figure out who to place where and dealing with teacher drama- I'm good with being done with that. Especially since the drama has increased since we have started combining activity days with the other ward.  

Thursday afternoon Steven got his expander put in his mouth. Oh my goodness has this created drama. He is struggling with eating and every time he tries to eat he freaks out because it gets stuck under the expander and he claims he will never be able to eat anything again. He can be so DRAMATIC. I understand that it's not comfortable, but it's not going anywhere any time soon he has to learn how to deal with it. I really hope we can survive this transition period. In the meantime he is constantly asking when his glasses will come in. He is still excited for those but I wonder how he will really feel about adjusting to those when they come.

Friday was the first day in awhile that I had literally no plans (well besides picking up groceries). I took advantage of the blank day, got some things done around the house, played some games with Penny, pushed her on the swing and I even took a nap with Penny. It was literally just what the doctor ordered. 

In my laziness I did not go to the Color Run that the boys had at school that day but I had some nice friends who took pictures for me. The boys came home just as colored and were immediately ordered to shower. Pretty sure they had a blast.

That night Tyler went on a Scout Camp Out and I made him take Steven with him. It was a pretty long hike and he had to wear a hiking pack the whole way but Tyler said he did good. It's funny how whiny Steven can be at home but not so much with outdoorsy things- I'm pretty sure that's his element.

Saturday morning, I had one final primary activity to help out with. With Tyler and Steven out camping, it was just me and the other 3. Unfortunately this activity was not the best one for me to have as my last- it was a pretty big bust. We had it at the Stake Center and the Temple President and his wife were to come speak to us and then afterwards we were going to walk the Temple grounds, take pictures and have a picnic. Unfortunately we started badly with the Temple President being late and us trying desperately to kill time. By the time they got there the kids were super wiggly. After that we went to go walk the grounds, only to find that it was raining (not to mention it was cold outside). Everyone kind of dispersed and the whole point of being by the temple was wasted. I definitely feel like there were things we could've done better but alas, I will never have the chance to fix the things that went wrong. After cleaning up from it, the rain had abated some so me and the kids went for a little walk- only to have Penny throw a fit because I wanted her to take a pic with her Ben and Lucy. So yeah, not a great morning, but I did get a few fun pics. 

Olive Garden, Dates, Belle Isle

Monday was spent recovering from the baptism and helping the house recover too. Tuesday I ended up subbing for the morning. I was nervous because I was subbing for fourth grade and Steven told me the classes were switching for Science and Social Studies that day. All the fourth grade classes can be RoUgH but I used my prize box as bribery for the kids to listen and it worked like a charm. Well it worked for everyone except Steven. He had put his new book he had gotten from the book fair on top of the textbook we were reading and had them both in his lap- very tricky. 

Tuesday night the boys had their first Basketball Skills Class. Benny was very nervous about going because he said he wasn't good at basketball but afterwards he told me he was glad he had gone. I really like the coach- he is a good teacher. He is firm and enforces rules but also has good sense of humor. He has a bum knee though and I am surprised he was still standing at the end of it all- hopefully he makes it to the end of the class ;)

Wednesday Grams took Penny and I to lunch at the Olive Garden. It was so nice to just hang with them both and be fed delicious food. Even my bread hater Penny hogged down on the garlic bread. I had this moment during our nice lunch where I thought that maybe I could have just one more kid when Penny starts kindergarten- it's pretty fun to have a little sidekick. Well afterwards we went to the mall to play and Penny threw an epic tantrum when it was time to go. It felt like a sign that I should definitely NOT have anymore children. She literally screamed the entire way home. She kept screaming she was "done" and that we should go back. Ummm screaming definitely does not equate being done throwing a tantrum.

Wednesday night Steven was supposed to have a 3 mile hike for cub scouts but it was cancelled due to low temperatures and freezing rain. I was going to go with so I was glad that they cancelled and I didn't have to endure the weather. The temperatures have since warmed up and I am really hoping that they stay warm.

Thursday morning I picked up groceries- I have decided to go back to ordering groceries from the evil Walmart. Thankfully they were on time and no issues. After getting groceries we went and met a friend at the library for story time. Penny really seemed to love it. She would dance to the songs and then turn and look at me as if making sure that that was ok. She was pretty cute.

Thursday afternoon Tyler and Steven had an eye dr appointment and it turns out Steven legitimately has bad eyesight and will need glasses. I was a little worried he just wanted to go the eye dr because all his friends have glasses (he wants to be on the glasses team ;)). He has been very excited since that appointment about getting glasses and constantly asks when they will be ready. He says he just wants to be able to see again. I asked him why he didn't tell me sooner that he couldn't see. He said that he thought it was just normal to not be able to see things that are far away. He also informed me that he never wants contacts because he doesn't want to have to touch his eye. We'll see about that.

Thursday night Tyler and I got to go see "A Quiet Place." I love scary movies and get super excited anytime one comes out that is actually PG-13 and not some sort of gore show or satan show, ha ha! When we got there we actually had the theater to ourselves until right before it started and one other person came. The movie itself was so good, and made me jump quite a bit! Tyler and I also laughed about how it would be a good movie to teach our kids the importance of listening to your parents. There is a kid that doesn't listen and literally gets snatched up by a monster.

Friday morning was Doughnuts with Dad at Lucy's school. Lucy has been looking forward to this day for weeks and was so excited. I think it's pretty much the only reason she had been tolerating school. Unfortunately they ran out of doughnuts but fortunately they had brownies. Lucy was just happy to get sugar for breakfast and be with her dad.

Also Friday Penny and I took Grams to Belle Isle. We also were watching Penny's friend Eliza so she got to tag along with us. We stopped at the Belle Isle Aquarium first. Penny jumped from fish to fish but her friend could've stopped and stared at those fishes forever. Apparently Penny has a short attention span.

After the Aquarium we went to the Belle Isle Conservatory. I love looking at the different plants, so pretty, but I think everyone else was less enthused. There were also several field trip groups there so it did make for a more crowded space. 

When we finished at the Conservatory we took a lunch break. We had packed some stuff for the girls so they ate in the car, overlooking the lake and Canada. Then we went in to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. The girls enjoyed running from thing to thing. When we had gone through the whole museum, it became strangely empty so the girls wanted to go through the museum again. Penny especially liked the binoculars and looking out over the lake.

Friday night Tyler and I were able to go to the temple. I am making a goal to try to get to the temple once a month. I love the peace I feel there and I need to be better about visiting it more frequently. 

Saturday Grams and I spent the morning shopping for things I need for hosting bunco next month. I am doing a Cinco De Mayo theme, so Mexican food and cactus themed prizes. It was pretty fun to be able to spend money guilt free since we all put money into the pot for Bunco night. 

While we were shopping Tyler took the kids with him to search out a camping spot for his Boy Scouts. 

Saturday afternoon we had a going away for our friends the Douglass's. I really wish people would stop moving away from us! The weather was wonderful and the party was outside so it was a really nice afternoon. I just wish the reason for the party was different.