Birthday Week

Lucy (with some help from daddy) lost her first tooth. She had a tooth pulled awhile back but I don't count that one. She was super excited to get a gold coin from the tooth fairy.

Monday I worked hard to tidy up the house after all the painting and to get it ready from Grams and Poppy. We were also watching some friends so that made cleaning a little more complicated but somehow I did it!

Tuesday my parents were flying in at 5pm and everyone was very excited so we had to find things to entertain ourselves. The first thing we did was try out a new park in West Bloomfield. It had two separate playground areas and Steven was not excited about the first one we went to. It was too "babyish." But the kids enjoyed racing around that playground. The second playground was definitely more geared towards the older kids and they probably would have stayed there longer if they hadn't got hungry. 

After we came home and ate we had some TV time and then killed the rest of our time at the library. I love that the kids can spend hours there being entertained. I also love that I can sit in a nice cushy chair in the comfort of an air conditioned place and watch them being entertained. It's one of my favorite places to go.

At last the time came to head to the airport and pick up my parents. We somehow timed things perfectly that we didn't hit too much traffic and we got there just before they got their luggage. After having some dinner at our house, we took Poppy on a tour of our neighborhood since this was his first time at our new house. Of course we had to stop at our neighborhood beach and do some swinging.

Wednesday was my birthday and I had requested a day trip to see a lighthouse and a beach. We ended up going to Holland, Michigan. Overall the trip went really well. The kids survived the 3 hour trip listening to Harry Potter (no electronics). Our first stop was at DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory. The kids loved trying on the wooden shoes and also getting to see them be made. I loved the Deflt plates and vases- so beautiful but much too expensive for me to own. However, my dad was nice and got me a nice windmill knick knack which is now properly displayed on our bookshelves.

After that we grabbed a quick lunch at Burger King because Lucy started bawling when I told her I had packed sandwiches for lunch. Apparently she hates sandwiches again. I caved easily because I really didn't want them either, ha ha.

Our next stop was the lighthouse but Google led us astray and took us to the shore opposite of it and into Holland State Park. There was a river between us and the lighthouse that we were unable to cross but there was a beach so we stayed and played. The waves were crazy high and Lucy had absolutely no fear and kept swimming further and further out. It was shallow and wouldn't have been that big of a deal if the waves didn't keep washing over her. I was left with two choices- either stay at shore and be totally anxious for her or go out and be pummeled by the waves. This was making me sincerely doubt my birthday wish to go to the beach but thankfully she eventually got tired of being far out and stated playing closer to the shore.

When everyone started tiring out from the lake water we decided to take a little walk to the rivers edge to get some good pics of the light house. Ben and Poppy opted to stay behind though. Ben is big into building sandcastles. After checking out the lighthouse from a distance we walked down a pier. This time Grams opted out because she did not want to go on the pier with us- she is not a fan of being that close to water.

After our walks the kids got to play at a playground for a bit and then we had the adventure of changing in a car (because I was too lazy to walk them all the way down to the restrooms). When we were all cleaned up we made one last stop at the Windmill Gardens. I was unsure about going because it was getting late but I am glad that we did. The tour of the inside of the Windmill was really neat, the grounds were beautiful, we got serenaded by an organ and the kids all got to ride on a classic Merry Go Round.

After this it was time to head home. We stopped at Steak N Shake for dinner and then we had a super uneventful drive home. It was really perfect birthday trip.

When we came home from the trip we had some ice cream cake that Tyler had bought. Then later on my friend Corinne came by and dropped off this hat. It's always a joke that I don't like hugs so it was a fun joke gift. And added bonus- cacti on the brim.

Thursday morning we spent recovering from all our fun the day before and then in the afternoon we took a trip to Ikea because my plastic drawers in the guest room were not cutting it for my mom- she wanted something more classy. We planned to drop off all the kids at the play area there but poor Steven was just a smidgen too tall and couldn't play with the rest. To rub salt in the wound he had to lend out his socks to Ben because you had to wear socks in the play area and Ben didn't have his. Somehow Steven survived hanging out (sockless) with us grown ups and he even found a stopwatch/timer/clock that he just had to have. Made it all better.

Friday we went to go see "Christopher Robin" and it was a hit with everyone. A really sweet movie and very uplifting. Made me love the Winnie the Pooh characters all over again. Then that afternoon Grams and I went shopping because that's our favorite thing to do. After that I had a baby shower to go to- I went early to help Laci set up since it was at her house. There were only about 6 people there which made it enjoyable for me. I really prefer smaller group things. It was a lot of fun but they kept me out too late. I'm getting old.

Saturday I had signed the kids up for a Fishing Tournament at Milford Memories but it did not happen. There were too many kids and not enough volunteers to help. So rather than waiting forever for it to be our kids turn we decided not to do it. It was probably for the best since I found out my kids hadn't actually done real fishing at Scout Day Camp- apparently all they really did was hold the rod. After we abandoned the fishing competition- we played at the playground, put out a fire, did all the fun crafts and activities at the Kid's Tent, shopped the booths (where Capt Ben got his own wooden sword and Steven kept trying to spend his money on frivolous things), ate amazing pretzels, listened to some music (where I apparently made Poppy leave too soon), got some free books from their Principal from Kurtz and had a sweaty, hot time. We had to head back to the car before seeing all the booths because all the kids were dying from the heat and it made me really miss living within walking distance because there would be no coming back after we left. Parking is a fiasco. Milford will always hold a special place in my heart.

Saturday afternoon, when Tyler got back from plumbing, we decided to rush over to the theater to watch Jurassic World 2 with Poppy. Since it had been out forever I figured it would be no problem getting there a few minutes late. I was wrong. It only had 3 seats that were all separate from each other. That was the only showing at that theater for the day so I hopped on my phone and found another showing at another theater and managed to buy 2 seats next to each other and 1 seat in front of those 2- as good as we could get apparently. We made it was time to spare and got to watch the latest Jurassic World. It was exciting but still held a lot of similar elements from all the other Jurassic World. I wasn't super impressed but it's always nice to get out. It's nice having parents here who volunteer to watch kids and take me out shopping. Life is good.

Painting

This week was not super exciting. Monday was mostly spent painting the beadboard in the dining room and kitchen white because it was most definitely not a pure white color. It's amazing how off white everything looks when you put it next to a true white. 

Monday night me and Lucy went on a "date" of running errands. We got some more gray paint samples for the top half the wall, did some early back to school shopping (there were some deals at the stores) and then rewarded the kids with Icee's for behaving so well while I was painting. I was surprised how good everybody was at letting me work on this project.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the boys had Scout Day Camp. They both loved going fishing there and they both caught a fish (with a hot dog for bait). Now they are planning of doing the fishing tournament at Milford Memories. They also both loved archery and now want real bows and arrows for Christmas. Some of the crafts they did: they made slime, rain sticks, ice cream, carved Easter Island statues, made Mexican Wrestling masks (the theme was Adventure Passport). They also enjoyed shooting BB Guns. It was a good time for the boys doing all sorts of fun boy things and they are both excited to go again next year.

Meanwhile life trudged on while they were at camp. On Tuesday I didn't do any more painting work since I was babysitting for a friend. Her poor youngest has had so many surgeries and was in the hospital yet again, this time to get ear tubes in and her tonsils out.

Also that day tragedy hit another friend of mine and she had to go to the hospital that night because of a miscarriage. This is so sad because she had a previous miscarriage, had troubles getting pregnant again and now was finally pregnant and further along at 17 weeks when she lost it. I ended up going to her house that night to watch her daughter while she and her husband went to the hospital. Her mom was flying in town but wasn't going to get there in time. I came at 9:30pm and her 3 year old was still not asleep. It took me an hour filled with stories, and a little bit of friendly threatening to finally get her to sleep. I don't know if she normally is this hard to get to sleep or if it was the circumstances of the day but boy am I grateful for how well my kids go to sleep.

Wednesday I finally settled on a color for the top half of the rooms and got to work painting them. I chose Behr's "silent white." It has a very slight gray to it and I am still not 100% sure I love it but it does brighten up the room. I also ended up painting the top trim and ceiling white that night. It was an exhausting day (and I had-still have- a cold) so I am pretty sure I almost died by the end of the night. Ceilings are absolutely the worst to paint. Here is a picture of the end result. We are also keeping the blinds off and put up a nice sheer curtain instead.

Now that the walls are painted my next step is to paint the cabinets/cupboards white. I ordered the cabinet kit and am nervous about this daunting project but excited for the results. I also want to redo the tile backsplash at some point. And double also, now the dining room colors really clash with the warm yellow living rooms so yet another project to be done in the future. It seems that with this house, one project spirals into a million others

Thursday I was beat- my cold and the painting had taken it out of me. After dropping the boys off at day camp, the girls and I met a couple friends at the park. It was a nice, calm morning. Then I babysat for someone that afternoon. I was horrible babysitter and basically sat their kids in front of the TV while Penny and I took a much needed nap. 

This also happened Thursday, Penny really enjoys being the "baby" of our family:

Friday was another day of recovering. Besides picking up groceries not much happened. I spent a lot of the day of the couch and it was just what I needed. I felt significantly better by the time Saturday came around so I was up for the task of painting the pantry door, the door to the basement and the door to the bathroom which are all in a kitchen. What a differnce that made! Then that afternoon the kids and I met the Brandley's at Spring Mill Pond. Our families get along well and it made for such a calm evening. When everyone gets along, beach days are my favorite. 

Carrots, Escape Room, Revelation, Race Day

Last weekend we picked about 1/3 of our carrots- there are so many and they are nice and big! We also have some nice and tall green onions and I was able to use some in a dip I made for a baby shower. I am proud that we were able to grow something and look forward to starting over again next year now that I have some confidence in the area.

On Monday the boys had their Running Camp and it was a beautiful day so I took the girls to Central Park (since it was open again!). The weather was beautiful so we had fun killing time their until it was time to pick up the boys.

Monday night I had signed the boys up for a Harry Potter Escape Room at the library. The other people in their group ended up not showing up so it was just me and the boys who got to figure out how to "escape the room." I am not super smart when it comes to solving puzzles and the boys aren't super good at that either so it was a bit of a challenge for us at times. The first time I got stuck was when we opened up a lock box that had a notebook and a black light in it. I of course assumed that the light was to see something in the notebook and was getting frustrated when we couldn't see any "invisible" words. We ended up asking for help on that one and Ben was the awesome one who answered the Harry Potter question correctly so we could get our clue. It turned out what was in the notebook (it was all about Ron) was the clue on where to use the black light. It felt so obvious after she told us! Seriously not my forte but we did "escape the room" and I think the boys had a good time. 

Tuesday I had a dentist appointment and got to bring all the kids with me. Thankfully they all behaved myself and after the torturous cleaning I was diagnosed with only having one cavity- yay. I hate how I always bleed like crazy when I get my teeth cleaned and they inform me that I need to floss. I do floss! I even purposely floss roughly in hopes that I will toughen up my gums but to no avail. I wonder when the day will come that I will have an entire mouth full of fillings and crowns.

Tuesday night I went to the temple and had a special experience. I have not really wanted any more kids since having Penny but I have been feeling like I need to take it to Heavenly Father before making any final decisions. I have procrastinated this because I'm a bit afraid of his answer. During the Endowment Session I prayed for an answer to this question but in my prayer I basically told him my feelings of fear and that I'm not sure I could "do His will" if he wanted me to have another baby. I know, terrible attitude here. So after the session I went into the Celestial Room and found a Bible and a corner to sit in. I prayed again, asking that I could find some sort of answer in the scriptures. When I opened up the Bible, I opened to a page in Job and it was really all about how God is at the helm and knows us best. At least, that was the revelation that came to me as I read them. It was extremely humbling and made me aware that I really need to work on my faith and trust in God so that I will be ready for whatever the answer may be when I pray again. 

Wednesday I picked up groceries while the boys had Running Camp and then later in the afternoon we did a beach day with just us- a first in a long time. It did not go well at first. They all lost TV time and I was ready to go but I decided to do some bribery and said if they could all get along for the rest of the time I would give them their TV time back. It worked! They all started working together to build sand castles and then they all went out to the platform to jump and played nicely. It was miraculous and perfect and I even was able to get some reading done.  

Wednesday night I decided to pray for opportunities to serve. My friend Laci had lost her father Wednesday night and I was feeling helpless because she was kind of pushing away any help I offered. Not in a mean way but I think she just wanted some space. So this left me just feeling like I wanted to help someone if I couldn't help her so that's what led me to pray for these opportunities. Literally the next day I was given oodles of opportunities. I ended up babysitting for 2 families Thursday. One was a for a single father that has 3 kids and then I watched Caroline's 3 oldest while she took her youngest to an appointment. The babysitting times overlapped by 1 hour so I had one hour where there were 10 kids in my house. It was insane. Reality is I actually had 12 kids because a friend came over to help me survive the chaos. It really did help to have her there though. I am not sure I could have made it through the crazy without her there to calm me down.

That was just half of the serving opportunities I was given. I was also asked that day if I could take a friend to an airport and watch her cat and garden while she was away. And another friend asked if I can watch her youngest overnight in August while she takes her older kids to New York. It was definitely reassuring that God listens and answers our prayers.

Friday was the last day of Running Camp and after it was over we met some friends at Central Park in Milford. Unfortunately it started to rain shortly after we got there and as of late Lucy has been having some major panic attacks when it rains. She has this fear that rain brings lightening and she will get struck by lightening. It's awful because it rains ALL the time here in Michigan and I don't know how to calm her down. Even when there is no thunder or lightening, she swears she hears it. So we ended up rushing out of the Park and going to our friends house since they live in Milford. It turned out great because our kids all play really well together and it was a really nice afternoon afterall.

Saturday was the Race Day- what running camp had been training them for. I was worried about the boys finishing their mile but they ended up doing really well. Steven got third place and his time was 7:30 and Ben got fifth place and his time was 8:17. The girls had fun cheering them on with cow bells that were provided and signs that the boys had made. It was a good morning!

Afterwards I impulsively decided it was time to tackle the project of painting the dining room and kitchen so we stopped at Home Depot and bought some supplies. I have been wanting to do this since we had bought the house but was struggling with color choices and wanting to exert the effort. Well the colors gray and white finally felt right and I finally got the umph to start. The burned orange color is now covered in primer and our kitchen is already brighter. Now I just have to find the right shade of gray. Since I also want to paint the cabinets white I am pretty sure our kitchen will be in shambles for quite some time but I know it will all be worth it when it's done!