Christmas

Our Christmas Sunday was nice. I like it when sacrament is mostly singing. The final musical number, a rendition of I Heard the Bells, was a big one- there was the adult choir, the primary choir, chimes by the ym and yw and a soloist.  I was anxious that it wasn't going to turn out well with so much going on but it ended up turning out really well. After sacrament I had a nice chat with Caroline- for once she was upbeat and it was refreshing. While I was chatting, Lucy took Ruby to the bathroom with her and had the joy of Ruby saying to her very loudly: "Lucy poo poo" "Lucy wipey wipey". Toddlers can be embarrassing. 

Monday was everyone's first day of break. I had thought about doing something fun but all my ideas required doing things outside and it was much too cold for that. Instead, I decided to just take Ruby and Penny to the library. Super exciting. 

Tuesday I made the crescent rolls for Christmas dinner and failed as per usual. They turned out very flat and were not delicious. I stink at making bread. I also ran to Hobby lobby to get a couple puzzles for the break. I've decided at this time of my life 500 piece puzzles are more my jam because I just don't have the space for bigger puzzles to sit out for days. Unfortunately I gave away all my smaller puzzles when I was on a big puzzle kick and only had 1000 piece puzzles so I had to go but a couple new ones. 

Tuesday night we decorated cookies for Santa. Tyler kept telling them that Santa likes red hots on his cookies so there are quite a few cookies covered with red hots.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve. Tyler and I spent the day making our fancy dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mac n cheese,  banana pie and Christmas punch. It was nice not having anyone coming so I didn't have to worry if things didn't come out right or if timing was off. But also we had way too much food. Tyler got one of his Christmas presents early- a blue tooth cooking thermometer- and it was a hit. It made it so much easier for him to monitor the temperature. 

After we had feasted and the food had settled, we had pie and then opened up our Christmas pj's. This year we all had shirts with quotes from the TV show "psych" since the kids had binge watched it this year and loved it. Ben's was the most rude,  it said "suck it". Dad's was the most fitting, it said "c'mon son". Steven hadn't actually watched the show so he was confused by his, lol.  And all the psych shirts for toddlers were mucho expensive so I decided against buying her one and just got her footie jammies that matched our pants. 

Then the kids opened their gifts from each other. Ben was the most excited by his gift from Lucy, it was a gorilla that you can throw and punch. He had wanted one since last Christmas when someone stole it from him at a white elephant party. Ben got Lucy a really cool themed gift of Mike and Ike candy and socks. Steven got a Mentos watermelon car air freshener from Penny and it had a very strong fruity smell. Penny got a pink blanket and barbie socks from Ruby (she picked them out with a bit of help from me). Steven got Ruby a stick pony and she loved it!

When we were done opening sibling gifts we loaded up in the car to go see neighborhood lights. We ended up in a neighborhood across the street from us and it was actually a really good one. Lots of homes were decorated and the kids were able to get most of the things crossed off their Christmas light scavenger hunts. We ended our drive at a house in our neighborhood that has a light show with music you can tune into on the radio. It turns out one of Tyler's co workers lives there, he found that out earlier this month. 

That night the kids watched "Christmas Story" while I put out presents and filled up stocking. I went to bed fairly early, I was pooped.

Christmas Day Ruby was up at 7:30 so we all got up with her to go see our gifts. The kids had various little things in their stocking and Ruby got a baby doll. She didn't get super excited but she did seem to really enjoy opening gifts. She's become a pro.

Ruby got princess dresses (and is constantly having wardrobe changes), fake make up (she loves applying the lip gloss and doing her siblings make up), a fake cup cake kit, fisher price Moana, and her baby doll.

Lucy got a wicked lego set, a dr p shirt,  a teen cookbook, a burrito blanket, a snoopy doll and socks, a necklace, a volleyball desk buddy and fake nails. 

Penny got a new comforter and sheets, a necklace, a soccer desk buddy,  an angel lego set and fake nails. 

Ben got a sweatshirt with a quote from the TV show psych,  a soccer desk buddy, Mario socks, stranger things brickheadz, and a Zelda game.

Steven got a minecraft lego set, a computer microphone, Mario socks and cereal. 

Dad got the Harry Potter train lego set, a grilling kit, a blue tooth cooking thermometer, a minecraft cookbook and some mini fruity syrups. 

I got a sweater, an anti theft bag for Italy, a puzzle and new balance shoes (which weren't in time for Christmas, but came a couple days late.

After present opening, I made a cinnamon roll casserole and bacon. It went over pretty well, but the casserole was a little soggy on the bottom. Then I cleaned up all the wrapping and boxes and then went back to sleep because everyone was busy with their toys. The rest of the day was full of lego making, and rotting our brains with movies and stranger things. 

For dinner we had our traditional Bethlehem meal. The only problem was I bought our pita bread too early and it molded so I had to make some pita bread. It turned alright but I'd rather just buy it. 

Friday the kids finished the massive lego set that Tyler's parents had gifted us for Christmas- the Weasley house. There was some frustration from Tyler because the kids had alternated bags and Penny wasn't always the best at following directions so he had to fix some things she did.  But overall I think it was a great gift, they loved putting it together and it's a great addition to all our Harry Potter sets.

Also Friday I took down all of Christmas because I'm Scrooge- but really I just can't handle all the clutter. It felt good to have our house back. I did also go to a couple stores too looking for Christmas clearance deals (sweaters, books, crafts) but I only found a couple things, not much luck. Tyler was nice and drove me to the store because we had freezing rain all day and the roads were slippery. 

Saturday Grace and I went to Ann Arbor to go thrift shopping. We went to a new store called Kiwanis first. It was huge and I found a couple great sweaters and some good books for Ruby. But it was also a bit more peopley than I like.  After we shopped there we got some food at Dos Hermanos. Grace was nice and bought my food. It ended up being delicious, I wish it was a little closer to home. We ended up chatting for a long time about Legos, we are both obsessed nerds. After eating, we went to a nearby Salvation Army. I found some shirts for the girls there. Then we headed home. I really love thrift shopping and it was fun to hang with Grace. She's a good friend. 

That evening Ben had a soccer game. I didn't go, but  apparently Tyler confronted the dad who is always yelling loudly at Ben's team. Dad kept his cool but did not seem to get through to this man. He thinks his mean and unhelpful yelling is beneficial. It is not. 

When Ben came back from the game,  Ben, Lucy and me stayed up until 1am watching the latest batch of stranger things. That was way too late for me but now we're all caught up (we rewatched all the seasons for Lucy) and no one can spoil anything for us. 

And in light of stranger things I made these amazing stranger things pics of all of us in chat got. Only one I couldn't get was of Tyler because for some reason it was totally changing his face in the pics I gave it, even though I said keep his facial features. 

Graham Cracker Houses

Sundays have been fun with Ruby. She's taken to narrating things she's doing in a fairly loud voice. She even likes to say "I'm pooping", even though she isn't.  She's trouble. During primary, our new primary chorister was out of town and the primary president had offered to take over but she was not prepared so it was a bit chaotic. The kids were going to go caroling to all the 2nd hour classes for the first half of singing time. Caroline happened to be around, and even though she's been released, she stepped right in. She is like me and tends to take over when things aren't being led well. I just wish the primary president would text me for help when she's in over her head. I would've been fine to lead if I had been given a heads up and I could've saved Caroline the trouble. 

Tuesday Ruby and I went to the pet store after we dropped the girls off at school. It was not so fun this time. She was less excited about the animals and she mostly wanted to look at "fish toys" which tend to be breakable. The cat room was actually open this time but she immediately wanted to get out. It did smell really bad in there so maybe that was it. 

Wednesday Penny had her annual well check up. We had a doctor we've never had before and she was pretty cool- she is not as warm as our doctor that quit the practice, but she was easy to talk to and had a good sense of humor. She might work as our new family doctor....When I said to the dr that Penny didn't eat bread, she said,  well that's why she broke her arm. That's been a joke in our house too, so it hit well. The nurse that gave Penny a shot was really chatty and friendly too. She was very patient with Penny's nerves and we bonded over loving Legos

Thursday while the girls were at school, I cleaned the downstairs. It was nice having Tyler off work because he went and ran a couple errands with Ruby while I cleaned. (One of his errands involved him returning shoes he had bought for me and him still not buying the right shoes for me, he has sworn off buying me shoes now, lol). It's so much easier to clean without her. After I finished cleaning we went to Culver's with Ruby. She is such a crappy eater lately but she did eat some of the Mac and cheese we bought her, just very slowly. After we ate, we grabbed a couple things at target. Ruby already recognizes the Target store symbol and gets excited to go there- that's all thanks to her sisters. 

After school, the girls got invited last minute to go see the movie "David" with some church friends. They didn't end up loving it but were happy to be with friends. Although Lucy ate too much popcorn and made herself sick.  The boys had a holiday Archery tournament but it was at 8pm so I didn't end up going. I didn't want to keep Ruby out late.  I don't know why all the sports stuff had ended up being so late at night this year. 

Friday was our annual Graham Cracker House Christmas party. We had Stacie's family (they've been attendees for ages), Nahoko's family (last year was their first year joining us) and Grace's family (newbies). Stefanie had said she didn't have a day that would work for everyone so she bowed out. I have 5 kids and I can make time so it felt like a brush off, kind of bummed me out. Anyways, it was a good mix of people. The kids really got into the graham cracker house making and I swear they took almost an hour creating. While they made their houses, the grown ups played a little game, kind of a christmas scattergories. We don't normally play a game at that time, we usually chat and although the game was fun enough, I wish we had just chatted. That was really the only time we had to chat and catch up and I missed having that. After that we voted on the houses and while I counted the votes,  the kids play the saran wrap ball game. It was mostly just candy prizes but they all seemed happy with that, except Mimi who isn't really into candy. But lucky for her, she got the Target giftcard from the ball.  After the saran wrap ball, we had one more game to play. I might need to start the party earlier next year because it was kind of late at that point. We had Family Feud like questions and people got points if they guessed the top answers. It was a bit chaotic but I still think it was fun. In the end Eric and Al went "head to head" and Al won the lego prize. Then at the end of the party we passed out trophies. Lucy won "most epic" again. (It was a literal tie between her and Ben so we had to do a re vote and Lucy won). Jenna won "most beautiful". And Reggie won "most creative". I think both Lucy and Jenna won those categories last year so I think we might need to shake things up next year. Anyways the party was loud and chaotic in our small space, Ruby (and all the kids) ate so much candy, and every family seemed to go home with something, so I think it was a success?

Above is Ben's ship and below is Penny's candy store

Saturday morning Penny, Ruby and I went to Belle Isle. We had no plans that day and I just couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up inside all day with Ruby and Penny was up for getting out with us. It was a good choice, Ruby loves watching sea animal flashcards on YouTube so she enjoyed seeing the real life fish at the Belle Isle Aquarium. She was most captivated by the big sting rays. She easily identified the clown fish and was super excited to see a real axolotl (she sits with Tyler and Ben when they play Minecraft). After the aquarium we went to the conservatory. Penny was given a scavenger hunt to do there and that kept her occupied. I think it was just nice to walk around somewhere warm with and see living plants. Then we went to the museum that I thought was free but was actually $5 each.  It's small and not really worth the price but we made the best of it.  There were some fun interactive boat things and a pretty view of the Detroit River and Canada. 

The weather this week has varied from super cold to warm and back to cold. That means all of our snowman have melted and we have gotten some icy roads. But the warm days did also mean we got some fresh air this week...

Christmas lights

Sunday we had stake conference. I stayed home with Ruby. She'd been so grumpy lately, I just wasn't up to spending the whole conference walking the halls with her. It was a good choice. I actually was able to listen to conference via zoom while Ruby played and she could be as noisy as she wanted to be. Conference had some good thoughts about finding joy, something I've been seeking lately and some good Christmas talks too.

Sunday evening we went to the Wayne County Lightfest, as per tradition. It was the one night we were all home and could go. We had our traditional juice and doughnuts. Ruby was immediately captivated by the Grinch lights. She really seemed to love it and made this old tradition feel fun again. 

Monday, Lucy had her annual check up. Our fav family doctor has left the practice which makes me sad but the dr we saw was nice. She just doesn't know us and all our crazy quite as well. Lucy did really good this year with the shots, no panic attacks. She's maturing. 

Tuesday we had more snow and the roads weren't great after dropping off the girls at school. I had a bit of a panic attack myself driving home. My car slipped some which didn't help. I drove extremely slow after that, people didn't love that. Once home,  I attempted to be productive but everything takes longer with Ruby, she was being particularly needy. I did still manage to get some cookie dough done for an activity and I did get some house cleaning done. Tyler was nice and picked up the girls so I didn't have to venture out again. This meant I was also able to finish cleaning the house while Ruby slept. 

Tuesday night I went over to my bestie's house. While I was there a cop ended up calling her because her daughter was at a park with a boy. She spilled some drama on this and I found myself very relieved that my boys are not dating girls. Obviously I want them to date girls eventually and get married, ha, but dating in high school seems like too much drama. I'm glad we haven't entered this world. 

Wednesday we got even more snow and the boys got a snow day. The girls were not happy because they still had to do school work, but when they finished we all had some fun making snowman. I even made one. It was the best snow for making snowman, although a little heavy for shoveling. 

That night bishop said activities were still on which I didn't love because I was worried about the roads, but at the same time I was glad it was still on because I had made cookies for the Valiant Girls activity and I didn't want to have to make them again. The drive actually ended up being a smooth which was good. The activity- decorating cookies and the gift exchange- went smoothly. One of the whiniest of the girls ended the game with the gift she wanted so that was good- no melt downs. 

Early Thursday morning, Tyler took Penny to the hospital to get the rods out of her arm (they call it hardware removal). He took her because he's more calm than I am so he can keep her better grounded. Everything went smoothly with the removal and they even made her an ornament from the rods, which was kind of cool but also super gross.  The only bump was when she was coming off the anesthesia she started to feel sick and apparently melted down. Once home she did ok, some pain, but she took Tylenol and advil as needed.

Friday, the homeschool co-op we are part of canceled due to its heater being broken. We were all relieved to not have to go and since that was the last one for the semester, we are done with it. It just wasn't a good fit for us. 

Saturday the girls were reunited with Geli and Luna and though they've been drifting in those friendships lately, they ended up all having a lot of fun together. They hung out at our house for a bit and then went with us to the Ward Christmas party. I wasn't super excited for the party since Grace wasn't going, but it ended up being ok. People felt sorry for me sitting alone (Tyler was always up helping with things and socializing) and came up to chat with me.  Mandi is one of those people who is always nice and comes to talk to me. I appreciate her.  The food was alright, nothing spectacular. Ruby ate mostly just treats and wandered around the tables a lot. She even made herself at home at a nearby family's table because they were watching Bluey.  The nativity presentation was alright, I think it was more work than necessary. I would've been happy with a couple songs.  Penny and Luna were angels. Lucy sang a song with the yw and Ben and Steven sang a song with the ym.

Snow and Santa!

Sunday we woke up to lots of snow and yucky streets, so they canceled church. It was nice to have a day at home to catch up a bit on life and to play in the snow. Ruby is a huge fan of the snow! Lucy played with Ruby for a bit, until she got tired of her not cooperating. Then Ben helped Ruby make a snowman. Meanwhile, I shoveled my parent's driveway (since Steven parks there) and then shoveled ours. It was a good work out. 

While we were home from church, Tyler did some amazing work for me and finished the bathroom. It's perfect and I hope we can keep it looking good. 

And Sunday evening, I let the kids open their December 1st packages a little early since the boys leave so early for seminary. Somehow I missed getting a picture of Steven but him and Ben basically got the same thing. They weren't anything super exciting but I did get e

a Lego advent calendar for everyone to share which has been fun. And Ruby seems to love her Santa Tonie.

Sunday evening Ruby was fussy when I put her down and then when Penny came up to bed, she had the unfortunate luck of hearing Ruby throw up. It was a stinky awful mess but at least she kept it all in her bed so I didn't have to clean up any carpet. I threw her in the shower and then after she was cleaned up, she snuggled on the couch with me. Unfortunately while snuggling with me, she threw up all over me. At least I only had to clean up myself afterwards though. So gross. At that point she got everything out and finally was able to fall asleep. She didn't throw up again but did end up in our bed for most of the night. 

Monday Ruby didn't have much of an appetite, she had a fever most of the day and she was very tired. I didn't accomplish too much that day since she spent most of the day snuggling and napping on me. That night though, Tyler and I left her with the kids, and went to look at shoes for me. We ended up going to DSW and I found a pair of sneakers that I want for everyday wear for my Christmas present but I'm still not sure what to wear in Italy. I have some waterproof hiking shoes already but I worry they won't be comfortable for miles of walking. After shoe shopping, we ran a couple errands and then picked up a treat at Culver's. It was a nice little escape.

Tuesday Ruby didn't have a fever but she was still off- poor appetite, yucky diapers and fussy.  I felt like she needed to get out though so after we dropped off the girls,  we went to the pet store- we needed to get a gift for Sharon's dogs there anyways. Ruby loves looking at the fish and she had fun watching the cats. Their cages were getting cleaned so we couldn't go in the cat room but we could watch them climb up their cages and fall (always on their feet) through the window. She loves funny cat reels so it was like real life TV for her, she was giggling so much. 

Wednesday I managed to get the whole family out to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. This santa was very friendly (I think we've had him before) and he actually managed to get Ruby to sit on his lap. He asked her a few questions and then gave her a candy cane- I'm sure the candy helped soften her opinion of him. After they took the picture,  he had each kid tell him about what they wanted for Christmas and he gave his opinions and thoughts on what they wanted. Lucy was funny and said she wanted a turquoise hoodie which was definitely not on her list. When asked about it later, she said she didn't know what to say so she just made that up. So random. Anyways, it was nice to not be rushed off after taking the picture. And it's fun having Ruby because she has made old traditions that were getting kind of lame, fun again.

When we finished with Santa, we went to the Lego store to do some window shopping and then let Ruby play at the play area. After that we bought some candy for the kids and headed home so the kids could get to their Wed night church activities. 

Thursday while the girls were in school, Ruby and I ran a couple errands. Our last errand was to the mall so I could get the soda for our NYE tradition. After we got the soda the errands were done and it was Ruby's turn for fun. She wanted to go up and down the escalator several times and then we played in the play area. On our way out she got to see the puppies at the dog store. Once home I tried to organize some things but everything takes longer and it's more tricky with her by my side. 

Friday after homeschooling, I took the girls shopping for gifts for friends. Tyler was off work and able to watch Ruby so that made it a much more pleasant experience. We went to Sephora for the first time ever to get something for Lucy's friend. They were having a 20% off everything sale and the sales guy seemed a little taken aback that we were only buying one thing and weren't taking advantage of it. We also went to Costco Friday to get pizza and a few things and while there we ran into our bishop, Julie's family and Lucy's friend Brielle.  Sadly for Julie's family, they were waiting on their pizza when we got there and they still hadn't got their pizza when we left. Apparently their order got missed. I would've given her ours but it was all pep and they wanted half cheese. 

We got pizza for the older kids because they were going to the temple for baptisms but the rest of us went to Chilis for dinner that night. I was worried it would be a long wait on a Friday night,  but we got right in and the food came fairly quickly. I got my fav chips and salsa and Ruby was funny and kept dipping chips in salsa and then offering them to Tyler and me. While there, we also learned about Penny's crush. It's fun when we're able to go out with just a few kids and chat them up.  Penny was reluctant to tell us but what's funny is it is someone at school so it's not like we know them anyways. 

Saturday I attempted to get some things done in the morning but it was tricky with Ruby. She's been so needy lately. I'm not sure if she is still sick with the same virus or if it's a new one.  She now has a very runny nose too. Thankfully Tyler was around so I did manage to finish getting cards ready and mailed out. I wasn't going to send any because we didn't have a good family picture but the guilt of not sending them was too strong. I don't know why I feel so guilty, we hardly get any cards from people anymore. I used this picture from our trip- we're all cold and messy. 

Ben had a soccer game that night. The loud, angry man was back and shouting at the boys the whole time again. He's awful (as was his advice like, kick harder) but no one wants to confront him. Ruby and I ended up moving over by the other teams goal,  just to escape him. It was much quieter and Ruby thought it was hilarious anytime the ball hit the goal or the nearby wall. Ben's team ended up losing but they weren't totally creamed, they lost 6-12.