2016- Week 9

The most eventful thing that happened this week is that we got a big, fat snowstorm. Early in the week, the forecasters were making big news of a big storm that was heading our way. We were told that we would get 8-12 inches, which seemed so crazy considering that we haven't had much snow this year at all. On Tuesday night, the storm was still predicted to be very big, so we woke up on Wednesday morning to news that school was cancelled. The kids were super excited and I was pretty happy to have them be home. Plus, we all got to lounge around and sleep in! We spent the entire day at home. I have to admit that it was pretty exhausting entertaining the kids, but only because they like different things right now. Brooklen wants to play video games and hockey and the girls and Kaiton enjoy different things. I did my best all day to try to play a little with each of them. I also got them to play card games a bit with me, since this is something the three older ones can all enjoy.

On Thursday we had planned to pull the kids out of school to take them skiing. Luckily, it was still snowing and the roads were still bad, so school was cancelled again. The downside to that is, obviously, that the roads were bad on the way to Caberfae. It took us much longer than usual to get there, and I stressed pretty much the entire drive, but we made it safely. We had a great day skiing. It was super windy at the top of the runs, but we all had face masks and the 3 older kids had goggles, so they were able to bear it. Brooklen, Hurley, Zaya, and I all tried a blue run, which was a first for us and Rob, Brooklen, Hurley, and I had fun trying a snow jump (a small pathway made of snow with a series of snow bumps at the bottom). I fell the first three times I went down it and I was completely terrified, but I forced myself to keep going until I could land it. Hopefully, next year I can work on that a little more and get more comfortable with it. We got Kaiton on skis again. He did much better this time, but he was still pretty scared. Hopefully by next year he will be old enough to learn on his own. On Friday, school was cancelled again! I couldn't believe it. The school district said that some of the country roads were still not great, so they made the decision to cancel school again. We hung around the house all morning and in the afternoon, the kids played a bit with Jake and Jenna. We also spent some time playing outside in the snow and ice. The kids had such a blast! In the evening, we went to Woodcrest's Annual Sockhop. My kids love this event every year and this year was no exception. Brooklen spent most of the evening with Ethan Menzies and I took the girls and Kaiton around to the different games.

On Saturday, Brooklen had a hockey game in the morning. He scored 2 goals and he played great! Afterwards, we went to the church and helped at the mobile food pantry. This is such a wonderful event, where we load carts up with groceries and give them to people in need. I especially love this service project because little kids can help. Even Kaiton helped load food in to the carts. After the service project, Brooklen went over to play with a new little boy in our ward. I went grocery shopping and Rob stayed home with the other kids. In the evening, the Bills family watched our kids so that Rob and I could go on a date. We drove around looking at land for a while and then we went to Qdoba. It was nice to be alone for a while!

2016- Week 8

This week was the daddy-daughter dance for our church. The theme was a 50's sockhop. My girls needed new poodle skirts anyway for the Woodcrest sockhop that is next week, so I made them a week earlier so that they could dress up for the dance. They both looked so darling and they were so excited to go to the church for an evening with their dad and with their friends. When they got home, Zaya said that she had spent a lot of time with her friends, but Hurley mentioned that she spent almost the whole time with Rob. This is huge, because she is usually so social. I'm so glad that she was having fun with Rob and enjoyed an evening having some quality time with him. While the girls were gone, I stayed home with Brooklen and Kaiton. I had asked Brooklen if he wanted to watch a sports movie with me, but instead he wanted to chose the activities for the night. First, we played video games. He wanted to play all of his sports Wii games and I'll tell you, it was pretty miserable (the games, not the quality time). I am terrible at video games and he isn't very good at giving direction. For an hour, he completely creamed me in every game that we played. Finally, he got bored (I'm no real competition) and so we went upstairs. Kaiton was asleep by this time and Brooklen wanted to play Monopoly Empire. That version is so much better than regular monopoly and we had a great time. When we were done, we made banana spits and watched a little bit of the Amazing Race. At the end of the night, we downloaded some iPad/iPhone games and played with each other. When Rob and the girls got home, Brooklen broke in to tears. I think he was really enjoying the quality time. I'm already planning my next date with him (a Saginaw Spirit game).

On Saturday morning, the girls, Kaiton, and I went to the Civic Arena for Try Hockey For Free. Brooklen and Rob went to Traverse City for a hockey tournament. We had to do a lot of waiting, which was a bummer, but the girls loved being on the ice. Zaya skated with her friend, Lucy Bond. They were in the intermediate level because they are both good skaters, but every time they stopped skating for a minute or two, they would get moved down to the beginning level because the instructors assumed that they were not very good because of their size. Boy were they wrong, those girls are both great little four year-old skaters. Hurley was in the advanced level. She was the only girl and by far the youngest one, but she is also a great skater. Initially, she tried getting out there on hockey skates, but they are very different and she was struggling. She came off the ice in tears. I think she was embarrassed! I quickly put on her figure skates and decided that we need to get her hockey skates ASAP! The girls both enjoyed the event and they both want to do skill development now. The pictures below were taken by a reporter and they were in the newspaper!

 After ice skating, we went home and played outside for a while. It was 50 degrees and sunny yesterday. It was absolutely gorgeous. The Nymans were outside playing, so our kids joined them. At 3:00, we went to the Keplers house for Lexi Van Wagoner's baby shower. I had to bring 4 dozen cookies, so I cooked those up right before. At 5:30pm, we went over to Tiffany and Eric Jaimie's house to celebrate Sophie's 4th birthday. The girls had fun playing over there and they enjoyed the dinner and dessert that Tiffany prepared. Rob and Brooklen didn't come home until about 10:30pm. Brooklen had played four games throughout the day and he was really tired. I think that he had a good time. The hockey season is coming to a close and I am grateful for how much confidence it has given Brooklen. I think it has helped him feel really good about himself. Today, Rob had to go to Mt. Pleasant for Ward Conference. I had to teach a lesson in YWs and Hurley gave a talk in Primary. After church, we stayed for a Laurel class meeting and then when we got home, we all spent some time outside in the warmer weather. I didn't have much food in the house, so I made some homemade pizzas for dinner. After dinner, we played Monopoly Empire as a family before bed.

2016-Week 7

This week, Rob had a pass to the community center that he got from work.  Every year, they do a "12 Days of Christmas" event and this year it was pretty late.  So, we went rock climbing with the kids on Monday.  Rob took the older three kids again on Tuesday while I had a young women's activity at our house. On Wednesday, we were busy with hockey and gymnastics, so we didn't make it over there, but on Thursday evening, we went swimming.  We met the Bills family there and the Hale family came too.  The kids had a lot of fun swimming and it was nice to get them in the water again and see what we need to work on this summer with them.

On Thursday, my kids had their Valentine's parties at school.  I was in charge of both of them.  In the morning, I dropped Kaiton off at Bethany Broderick's house and Zaya and I went to Hurley's classroom.  Halfway through the party, my friend, Kari Weideman, came to pick up Zaya and take her to gymnastics.  The party went great and I had time to pick up Kaiton and make it back to the gym for the end of Zaya's class.  In the afternoon, I took Zaya and Kaiton to the Bill's house and went to Brooklen's party.  I had to rush home after school because I had a piano lesson come at 4:00pm.

On Friday, we were supposed to go skiing.  It was supposed to be really cold, windy, and snowy, so at the last minute, our entire group decided not to go.  I was pretty happy with the decision; it is so much more enjoyable in nicer weather.  We made the decision to take our kids out of school on a Thursday in a couple of weeks and go with another group.  Hopefully, it will be warmer.  So, on Friday, Rob decided to go to work.  We met Charlotte Nicholas and her kids at Emerson park around noon.  It was freezing cold, but the three older kids had a great time ice skating with Evan and Kiera. A reporter from the Midland Daily News even came by and took their pictures.  I'm not sure if they will make it in the paper, but it was nice of her to come by anyway.

On Friday evening,

On Saturday, Brooklen had a hockey game at 11:30am.  We dropped Hurley off at Hannah Park's house before the game and went to cheer Brooklen on.  They got smoked by the Saginaw teams; they played two pretty rough games.  After the games, we went and picked up Hurley and then went home to eat lunch.  Then, we met the Bills family at city forest to Toboggan and ice skate.  I'm actually getting a bit better at ice skating.  I'm impressed to see how much practice helps!  Rob had a stake meeting and stake dance at 4:00pm.  I stayed home and watched our kids and the Bills kids while Thomas and Alta went on a date.  We ate pizza and then we decorated Valentine's cookies.  They came back later and we spent some time chatting and when the left, it was 9:40pm!  I rushed to get the kids bathed and in bed and then I cleaned up the messy house.  Rob got home at about 10:45pm and then I ran to Meijer.

Today, Rob had to leave early for a ward conference that was 2 hours away.  We had a nice day at church and then I took Brooklen to Ashton's house for a birthday party.  They just hung out and played hockey on the Luty's outdoor rink.  I spent some time with the girls and when Rob came home we had a nice dinner.  We ended the day with scripture reading and they are all in bed finally!

I took a couple cute pictures of Hurley for a school project this week.  She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out!

2016-Week 6

Yesterday (Saturday) was a busy day for us.  I started the day with an early photo session in the freezing cold.  We went to two locations and after the first location, my hands were in so much pain.  Rob had to leave to take Brooklen to a hockey game at 11:00am, so Andrew Hales came over and watched the kids until I got home.

Brooklen had a game in Saginaw.  He scored one goal.  This week my Dad actually sent him a $100 bill.  He had told him at the beginning of the season that he would give him $100 if he scored 10 goals.  He now has 11.  After the 10th goal, my dad promised him another $50 if he got to 15 goals. He only has one more game at this point, so we will see if that can happen.

At 1:00pm, Zaya had a gymnastics event.  It was pretty much like a big class with all of the tumble time kids.  It wasn't that exciting, but I wanted Zaya to feel special having her own event.  We went home for 45 minutes after her event and then we went back to the gymnastics center for a fun meet for Hurley at 3:30pm.  She performed well, and we enjoyed getting to watch her.  Afterwards, we went home and made pizza for dinner.  Then, I went to Meijer to do our grocery shopping and Rob started the movie, "Little Giants," with the kids.

Friday night, Hurley had a makeup gymnastics class after school.  We went and picked her up at 6:00pm and then we went over to Baseball Heaven and watched Rob and Brooklen practice for 30 minutes.  We had given Rob a gift certificate for Father's Day and we were excited to watch him use it.  When we were done, we stopped by Qdoba and got dinner and then we went to City Forest and ice skated for a while.  It was a fun and busy evening.

The rest of the week was filled with our normal activities.  Zaya had a makeup gymnastics class this week and Hurley also had one, so it felt extra busy with those extra trips to the gym.  Tuesday night, I had mutual and Rob had a YM Presidency meeting, so I brought all of the kids to the church with me.
I was able to spend some good quality time with the younger kids this week.  We spent some time pretending to be at a roller rink downstairs and we read lots of books by the fire.  I also spent some time capturing their fun, silly personalities with my camera.

2016- Week 5

My eyes are so tired as I write this entry.  This has been a super fun week, but it has felt jam-packed. I love that our family life is so full of fun and adventure, but sometimes it catches up with me and it is exhausting.

On an unfortunate note, the entire family came down with the flu this week.  It started out on Monday night, when Kaiton threw up while he was sleeping in our bed.  He never threw up again, but he seemed pretty lethargic for the next day or two.  We hung around the house on Tuesday, and in the afternoon the kids wanted to get out of the house, so I took Zaya and Kaiton ice skating at Emerson Park.  It was a pretty warm day and when we got there, there was about a 1/2 inch of water on the rink.  I got their skates on and helped Kaiton skate a bit with my boots on.  He tires of the cold quickly, and asked to stop skating, so I took his skates off.  Zaya was begging me to skate with her, so I grabbed my skates and told her I would get them on.  Normally, I would have left Kaiton in the Jeep while I skated, but there were other cars parked at Emerson, so I brought him back out with me and out him down to walk.  It took me a couple of minutes to get my skates on and when I finished, my heart skipped a beat when I realized that Kaiton wasn't next to me anymore.  Seriously, I am getting a sick feeling just writing this.  All I could think in that split second was that we were right next to the river that was half melted.  I started screaming for Kaiton and got no response.  Zaya said he wasn't in the rink with her and he was no where to be seen.  I lost my mind.  I couldn't even run because I had my skates tied on tightly.  So I hurried to get them off as I panicked hard.  I started screaming and ran to one of the other cars to get someone to help me.  As soon as I got to the other car and got the man in the drive seat to open the door, I saw Kaiton walking around on the other side of the rink.  He had walked all the way around.  This was one of the most fearful moments of my life.  I was so scared.  I rushed the kids back in to the car and headed home and prayed the entire way to thank my Heavenly Father that my kids were safe in what could have been a disastrous situation.

On Wednesday afternoon, I watched Jack Jones.  At about 3pm, I started feeling awful.  I went to pick up the kids, took Hurley to gymnastics, and taught piano lessons, all while feeling horrible.  As soon as Rob came home, I went to bed with the flu.  On Thursday morning, Zaya woke up at about 3am and told me she had thrown up.  I went to her room to start to clean up the giant mess and then walked in to Brooklen's room and saw that he had thrown up too.  They both denied that they were sick and I became quite annoyed as I spent a long time trying to clean up the awful mess.  I can't understand why my kids can't admit it when they are sick.  I sent Hurley to school because she said she was fine.  I had bought some grape juice and gave it to Rob and Hurley, hoping it would keep them healthy.  Brooklen and Zaya were better by about lunchtime.  They both were able to keep light food down and seemed pretty normal.  At about 3:30pm, I got a call from the school saying Hurley had thrown up.  I was teaching a piano lesson, so Rob saved the day and went and picked Hurley up.  She had thrown up at the end of the day and had thrown up all over her friend's stuff.  Her poor teacher was getting the kids rushed out the door, so she had to bag up the vomit-covered items and send them home with the kids.  I felt so bad.  Hurley really got the flu the worst.  She threw up for about 7 hours straight.  She couldn't even keep a couple of sips of water down.  We felt so bad for her, but we had a ski trip planned for Friday and we were worried it wasn't going to pan out.  By morning she was better, but Rob wasn't feeling well.  He was a trooper and went on the trip anyway and I think he felt better by lunchtime.

One of the most frustrating things about having my kids sick is that they are in denial.  They also aren't very responsible about vomiting in something.  I hate that while I want to have sympathy, I end up becoming frustrated and upset.  I was really disappointed in myself after those sick days.  It made me realize that I need to be a more understanding and patient mother.

On Friday, we went skiing.  It was another great skiing day.  It was also the ski day for Woodcrest and Seibert Elementary.  We decided to get Kaiton skis this time, and that made things much more manageable.  Having him on skis meant that we could all be outside at the same time.  Brooklen went off with his friends, Carter Greiman and Samuel Hales for pretty much the entire day.  Carter's day tried to keep up with them a lot of the day.  Rob and I would take the other kids up the chair lift (Hurley would ride alone) and then I would come down faster with the girls and Rob would ski down with Kaiton between his legs.  Kaiton enjoyed the chair lift and he liked coming down, but after a couple of runs, he was definitely cold!

I took these cute pictures this week.  Kaiton is OBSESSED with Daniel Tiger.  He wants to watch the show or read the books every second of every day.  We have to him away from it most of the day because he would literally watch it all day if he could.  In one of the episodes, Daniel is trying to catch snowflakes.  He found some snowflake stickers around the house this week and I found it him putting it on his hand and then he walked around saying, "I caught a snowflake!"  It was so cute, I had to capture the moment!