This week was Valentine's Day. Since I am room mom in Zaya's class, I organized and ran her class party. We had a breakfast buffet and played several fun games. I felt like the party went smooth and I think the kids all had a good time. I didn't get to go to Hurley and Brooklen's parties. In the afternoon, I watched Alta Bills's kids while she helped out at Krew's party. After school, Zaya went to gymnastics. Later, Hurley went to gymnastics (they had a fun Valentine party during their practice) and I took Brooklen, Zaya, and Kaiton to the roller rink for the Woodcrest roller skating party. Brooklen and Zaya both had a great time. Kaiton fell asleep on the way over to the rink, so her started out grumpy. He ended up skating almost the entire time though.
On Friday, the kids didn't have school. Ethan and Kaitlyn Menzies were supposed to come over and play in the morning while their parents worked, but Ethan got strep throat, so they didn't come over. Zaya got to go over to her friend, Zoey's, house in the morning and Brooklen played with Jake. At 1pm, Brooklen had a pt appointment and then Zaya, Rob, and Brooklen left for Gaylord for a weekend hockey tournament. Kait, Hurley, and I ran to Target and then we picked up Hannah, who spent the night over at our house. On Saturday morning, we took Hannah home, got in her mom's van and headed to a gymnastics meet in Battle Creek. Natalie, Maddie, Sydona, Kaiton, Hurley, and I all had a great day. I knew when I woke the girls up that Hurley wasn't feeling well, but she wouldn't admit it, so I took her anyway. She got her first 9.0s on vault and floor. She had a tough day on beam and bars. I thought she did fantastic though, especially because she competed sick. After the meet, we went out to eat at a mexican dive and then came home and watched a movie.
Meanwhile, Brooklen, Zaya, and Rob had a great time in Gaylord. During the downtime between games, Zaya got to be spoiled by hanging out with Melissa Menzies and Kaitlyn. Brooklen had a great time swimming and playing X-box with his friends.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Sunday, February 12, 2017
2017- Week 6
I'm going to recap this week backward, because, once again, it has been so busy but I can't remember much! Today, Rob had to go to Oscoda for Ward Conference. After church, the kids and I made a Valentine's dinner to surprise Rob. We made heart shaped quesadillas, heart potato fries, jello, chocolate covered strawberries, and heart little smokies.
Yesterday, Brooklen had a hockey game in Lapeer in the morning. Hurley, Kaiton, and I stayed back to take Zaya to hockey skill development. She is doing so great! I am so proud of her for trying new things. And even though she is small, she is so fierce and seems to be good at anything she tries! After Skills, we went to do our grocery shopping at Meijer. Then, Leah Rudd came over to play with Zaya and Hannah Parks came over to play with Hurley. When Brooklen and Rob got home, we got a few things done in the garage and played outside. Rob left at 4 to go to a youth dance. The kids and I played outside (it was 40 degrees!!), made pizza, and watched "How to Eat Fried Worms."
On Friday evening, Rob took Brooklen, Hurley, and Kaiton skating at City Forest. I took Zaya to the Civic Arena to ice skate with her friends, Lillian and Zoey. She had a very good time, but I ended up having her leave early because they girls were being really wild and Lillian was trying to get Zaya to ignore Zoey. I had a really hard time watching this sort of behavior and I finally had to just take Zaya home and explain to her why we left. This is a tough part of parenting. I love that she is making new friends, but I really want to teach her to be nice and respectful to everyone.
The rest of the week was filled with school and activities. Brooklen and Rob went to a Redwings game on Tuesday night and Brooklen was so excited. He had gotten tickets for Christmas and he had a really great time.
I also met with a physical therapist about Kaiton's legs this week. He definitely has femoral ante version and we are going to work with a physical therapist that Jill knows for a few sessions so I can learn how to help him. I am so stressed having three kids that need PT. I am worried that I won't be consistent enough with them to help them. We have a long road ahead of us getting them to were they need to be, but I am grateful that we know now that there is a problem so that we can address it.
Yesterday, Brooklen had a hockey game in Lapeer in the morning. Hurley, Kaiton, and I stayed back to take Zaya to hockey skill development. She is doing so great! I am so proud of her for trying new things. And even though she is small, she is so fierce and seems to be good at anything she tries! After Skills, we went to do our grocery shopping at Meijer. Then, Leah Rudd came over to play with Zaya and Hannah Parks came over to play with Hurley. When Brooklen and Rob got home, we got a few things done in the garage and played outside. Rob left at 4 to go to a youth dance. The kids and I played outside (it was 40 degrees!!), made pizza, and watched "How to Eat Fried Worms."
On Friday evening, Rob took Brooklen, Hurley, and Kaiton skating at City Forest. I took Zaya to the Civic Arena to ice skate with her friends, Lillian and Zoey. She had a very good time, but I ended up having her leave early because they girls were being really wild and Lillian was trying to get Zaya to ignore Zoey. I had a really hard time watching this sort of behavior and I finally had to just take Zaya home and explain to her why we left. This is a tough part of parenting. I love that she is making new friends, but I really want to teach her to be nice and respectful to everyone.
The rest of the week was filled with school and activities. Brooklen and Rob went to a Redwings game on Tuesday night and Brooklen was so excited. He had gotten tickets for Christmas and he had a really great time.
I also met with a physical therapist about Kaiton's legs this week. He definitely has femoral ante version and we are going to work with a physical therapist that Jill knows for a few sessions so I can learn how to help him. I am so stressed having three kids that need PT. I am worried that I won't be consistent enough with them to help them. We have a long road ahead of us getting them to were they need to be, but I am grateful that we know now that there is a problem so that we can address it.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
2017-Week 4
This week was a good one. We are busy, but super blessed. Our kids are engaged in a lot of fun activities and we find so much joy watching them learn. On Monday, Kaiton and I went to Romp and Stomp in the morning. He loves socializing with other kids and I am super grateful to have that outlet for him. Later that day, I taught piano lessons and then Zaya had skill development. On Tuesday, we had gymnastics, and then I went to mutual. Zaya and Kaiton came with me and enjoyed playing in the gym with other kids from our ward.
On Wednesday, I took Kait to the library. His favorite thing to do there is puzzles. There are about 10 pretty difficult nursery rhyme puzzles and he won't leave until we do every single one of them!
On Thursday, I spent most of the day getting ready for the Woodcrest Ski Trip. I had to purchase some drinks, pick up stuff from the school, and get all of the rentals and lift ticket money in line. Thursday night, Ethan Menzies came over to spend the night since we were taking him to the ski trip.
The ski trip was awesome! Rob took Kaiton off of the harness and he skied all day down the green runs by himself. Hurley, Brooklen, and Zaya each did the black diamonds and they had a blast with their friends. Zaya even got to ski with a friend from her class, Zooey. She was able to come with her as she did the green run for the first time.
On Saturday, Rob took Zaya to skill development. I met him at the Civic Arena an hour later for Brooklen's game. Afterwards, Rob went to the winter scout camp at Lazy Turtle Ranch and the kids and I went to the Roll Arena to meet Hurley's friend, Laney. We stayed for a while, and then I left Hurley with Laney's mom, dropped Brooklen off at a birthday party, and took Zaya and Kaiton with me to the church to do our chapel cleaning assignment. After we were done, we picked up Brooklen, picked up Hurley at Laney's house, dropped Brooklen off at Ethan's house, and then went shopping at Meijer! Phew! Crazy busy, but I think the kids considered it a good day, especially since we ended with an awesome dinner of waffles, bacon, eggs, and hash browns (their favorite)!
Today, we had ward conference, so Rob was able to come to church with us!
On Wednesday, I took Kait to the library. His favorite thing to do there is puzzles. There are about 10 pretty difficult nursery rhyme puzzles and he won't leave until we do every single one of them!
On Thursday, I spent most of the day getting ready for the Woodcrest Ski Trip. I had to purchase some drinks, pick up stuff from the school, and get all of the rentals and lift ticket money in line. Thursday night, Ethan Menzies came over to spend the night since we were taking him to the ski trip.
The ski trip was awesome! Rob took Kaiton off of the harness and he skied all day down the green runs by himself. Hurley, Brooklen, and Zaya each did the black diamonds and they had a blast with their friends. Zaya even got to ski with a friend from her class, Zooey. She was able to come with her as she did the green run for the first time.
On Saturday, Rob took Zaya to skill development. I met him at the Civic Arena an hour later for Brooklen's game. Afterwards, Rob went to the winter scout camp at Lazy Turtle Ranch and the kids and I went to the Roll Arena to meet Hurley's friend, Laney. We stayed for a while, and then I left Hurley with Laney's mom, dropped Brooklen off at a birthday party, and took Zaya and Kaiton with me to the church to do our chapel cleaning assignment. After we were done, we picked up Brooklen, picked up Hurley at Laney's house, dropped Brooklen off at Ethan's house, and then went shopping at Meijer! Phew! Crazy busy, but I think the kids considered it a good day, especially since we ended with an awesome dinner of waffles, bacon, eggs, and hash browns (their favorite)!
Today, we had ward conference, so Rob was able to come to church with us!
Sunday, January 22, 2017
2017-Week 3
On Monday, we went to Caberfae for a ski trip that I organized. It was seriously, so much fun! It was a pretty small group, but we had some of our best friends there to ski with us. The Menzies (minus Melissa), the Hills (minus John), the Greimans (minus Christen), the Bonds, Ostyns, and the Smiths all came. It was a wonderful 34 degrees outside and it was such a beautiful day to be skiing. Rob had Kaiton on the harness all day, Brooklen skied with Carter and Ethan the entire time, and I was able to ski with Hurley and Zaya and their friends. It was a lot of work to organize, but it was worth every second.
On Tuesday, the roads were icy, so the kids had another snow day. I had a lot to get done that day, so it was a pretty stressful day for me, but in the end, I survived! Brooklen played with Jake a little bit and the Bond girls came over to play with Zaya and Hurley.
Wednesday was a big catching up day for me. I did a ton of laundry and tried to recover the house a bit. At night, we took Brooklen to hockey practice.
On Friday, Brooklen had a game in Saginaw for a tournament. After the game, I took the girls to the CMU vs EMU gymnastics meet. We had gotten free tickets through MGTC. We also went out to dinner and out for ice cream afterwards.
On Saturday, Zaya had skill development for hockey in the morning at 8:15. Brooklen had a game in Saginaw at 8:30 so Rob took him and I took the other kids. After the game, Brooklen and Rob went out to eat with a few friends from the team and then Brooklen went to watch Star Wars with Ashton and Jordan. The rest of us went to Meijer and then went to Saginaw for Brooklen's last game. He played great and even scored a goal!
Today, Rob had ward conference Bay City. After church, Zaya cooked dinner for us. She found some recipes in a cookbook and was so excited to make them. She made Margherita Pizza, Caesar salad, and a cranberry-orange tart.
On Tuesday, the roads were icy, so the kids had another snow day. I had a lot to get done that day, so it was a pretty stressful day for me, but in the end, I survived! Brooklen played with Jake a little bit and the Bond girls came over to play with Zaya and Hurley.
Wednesday was a big catching up day for me. I did a ton of laundry and tried to recover the house a bit. At night, we took Brooklen to hockey practice.
On Friday, Brooklen had a game in Saginaw for a tournament. After the game, I took the girls to the CMU vs EMU gymnastics meet. We had gotten free tickets through MGTC. We also went out to dinner and out for ice cream afterwards.
On Saturday, Zaya had skill development for hockey in the morning at 8:15. Brooklen had a game in Saginaw at 8:30 so Rob took him and I took the other kids. After the game, Brooklen and Rob went out to eat with a few friends from the team and then Brooklen went to watch Star Wars with Ashton and Jordan. The rest of us went to Meijer and then went to Saginaw for Brooklen's last game. He played great and even scored a goal!
Today, Rob had ward conference Bay City. After church, Zaya cooked dinner for us. She found some recipes in a cookbook and was so excited to make them. She made Margherita Pizza, Caesar salad, and a cranberry-orange tart.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
2017- Week 1
As we head in to a new year, I had to go back and re-read through the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of 2016. Hmmm . . . I guess I should have had those memorized. I think I made some improvements in some areas, but not nearly as many as I would have liked. The beginning of the year is always a bit hard for me because I get a lot of energy and expect SO much of myself. Of course, I'm definitely not superwoman and I often can meet my own expectations.
As I have thought about goals for this year, one thing keeps coming back to me. . . I want to be more positive. I can be a pretty competitive, jealous person. I also am hard on myself (and others). The result of these things is that a lot of negativity comes out of my mouth. So, I really want to work on that this year. I want to try to see others as God sees them. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I want to try to see things from someone else's side. I want to not compare and not complain. I know that it would take a lifetime to completely correct all of these issues, so I'm going to take small strides.
1. Try to say positive things to my children and only say negative things when I absolutely have to to correct behavior. I am really hard on my kids. I am competitive and it is hard for me to bite my tongue. I'm going to try though. They need to hear uplifting things from their mother.
2. Try to not gossip and not worry about other's business. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt and worry about my life, my family, my actions.
3. Not compare.
Sister Melissa Wall gave a talk in church today about parenting. She talked about how people can change and we shouldn't "pin" identities on our children. I really believe this and I yearn so badly to be a better parent.
I hope in 2017 that I can also become a better mother by being a better spiritual mouthpiece in our home. I often feel like I can't share gospel knowledge because I don't know enough. I need to get over this. My kids need to know it's important to me. It will be harder to teach them this if I don't start making a strong point of it now.
And lastly, like always, I hope I can be better at taking photos of my kids. I'm trying to keep a camera downstairs and available. I hope that helps.
As I have thought about goals for this year, one thing keeps coming back to me. . . I want to be more positive. I can be a pretty competitive, jealous person. I also am hard on myself (and others). The result of these things is that a lot of negativity comes out of my mouth. So, I really want to work on that this year. I want to try to see others as God sees them. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I want to try to see things from someone else's side. I want to not compare and not complain. I know that it would take a lifetime to completely correct all of these issues, so I'm going to take small strides.
1. Try to say positive things to my children and only say negative things when I absolutely have to to correct behavior. I am really hard on my kids. I am competitive and it is hard for me to bite my tongue. I'm going to try though. They need to hear uplifting things from their mother.
2. Try to not gossip and not worry about other's business. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt and worry about my life, my family, my actions.
3. Not compare.
Sister Melissa Wall gave a talk in church today about parenting. She talked about how people can change and we shouldn't "pin" identities on our children. I really believe this and I yearn so badly to be a better parent.
I hope in 2017 that I can also become a better mother by being a better spiritual mouthpiece in our home. I often feel like I can't share gospel knowledge because I don't know enough. I need to get over this. My kids need to know it's important to me. It will be harder to teach them this if I don't start making a strong point of it now.
And lastly, like always, I hope I can be better at taking photos of my kids. I'm trying to keep a camera downstairs and available. I hope that helps.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Week 52
Last Sunday was Christmas, today was New Year's Day. Christmas was a fun-filled, busy day, so I didn't get a chance to sit down and record anything about the day.
Our Christmas this year was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve at City Forest sledding, skating, and drinking hot chocolate. Hurley had Hannah spend the night on Christmas Eve Eve, so Hannah also came with us. We also had a fun snowball fight that morning. The snow was perfect packing snow! Later that evening, we prepared our "Jesus Dinner" and ate it while we watched "Elf."
On Christmas morning, we all woke up at about 7am. Since we had to be at church at 10am, we couldn't really force the kids to sleep in! Brooklen got a Playstation 4, 2 PS4 games, Redwings tickets, and new mini stick goals. Hurley and Zaya got a JR. Kip Gymnastics bar, Shopkins, and Beados. Hurley also got the pottery wheel she has been wanting and Zaya got an American Girl doll bed and Barbies. Kaiton got a Paw Patroller and several pups. The kids also got several super fun games and my parents gave them a full-size trampoline.
After church, we spent lots of time playing games, putting together presents, and eating delicious food. It was a wonderful day.
The kids were super busy this past week with gymnastics and a few hockey sessions. We threw in a few other fun activities, roller skating (2 times), Chuck E Cheese, ice skating, and plenty of game playing. Hurley and Zaya also had some friends over and attended some gymnastic clinics. Winter Break was a little bit of a bummer since I got really sick for 2 of the days and basically laid around the house. I hate it when that happens on a school break, but I did my best to make up for it!
Yesterday, we went skating at the Roller Rink. The three older kids had already qualified for the city races earlier in the week. All three of them are SO fast. Yesterday, however, Kaiton decided that he wanted to race too. It was so cute! He didn't really know where to go, but he got out there and raced in the 7 and under group. Rob and I were so proud of him.
Last night for New Year's Eve, we stayed home and made 4 different kinds of pizzas. Then, we played some games and watched a movie. It was a nice chill evening at home . . . just the way I like it! I'm looking forward to the New Year and I hope that it brings plenty of happiness for us!
Our Christmas this year was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve at City Forest sledding, skating, and drinking hot chocolate. Hurley had Hannah spend the night on Christmas Eve Eve, so Hannah also came with us. We also had a fun snowball fight that morning. The snow was perfect packing snow! Later that evening, we prepared our "Jesus Dinner" and ate it while we watched "Elf."
On Christmas morning, we all woke up at about 7am. Since we had to be at church at 10am, we couldn't really force the kids to sleep in! Brooklen got a Playstation 4, 2 PS4 games, Redwings tickets, and new mini stick goals. Hurley and Zaya got a JR. Kip Gymnastics bar, Shopkins, and Beados. Hurley also got the pottery wheel she has been wanting and Zaya got an American Girl doll bed and Barbies. Kaiton got a Paw Patroller and several pups. The kids also got several super fun games and my parents gave them a full-size trampoline.
After church, we spent lots of time playing games, putting together presents, and eating delicious food. It was a wonderful day.
The kids were super busy this past week with gymnastics and a few hockey sessions. We threw in a few other fun activities, roller skating (2 times), Chuck E Cheese, ice skating, and plenty of game playing. Hurley and Zaya also had some friends over and attended some gymnastic clinics. Winter Break was a little bit of a bummer since I got really sick for 2 of the days and basically laid around the house. I hate it when that happens on a school break, but I did my best to make up for it!
Yesterday, we went skating at the Roller Rink. The three older kids had already qualified for the city races earlier in the week. All three of them are SO fast. Yesterday, however, Kaiton decided that he wanted to race too. It was so cute! He didn't really know where to go, but he got out there and raced in the 7 and under group. Rob and I were so proud of him.
Last night for New Year's Eve, we stayed home and made 4 different kinds of pizzas. Then, we played some games and watched a movie. It was a nice chill evening at home . . . just the way I like it! I'm looking forward to the New Year and I hope that it brings plenty of happiness for us!
Week 50
Well, I can't believe that we are almost to the end of the year. I haven't done as well as I would have liked at recording things this year, and like always, I definitely haven't done a very good job at taking photos. I was looking around my house this week and I realized that I actually don't have any photos from the last couple of years printed in my house. Let's just say that I'm super embarrassed by that and I plan on working on that in 2017.
December has been quite a blur. Last weekend we got a big snowstorm and we actually didn't have school on Monday. The Menzies kids came over for the day and we had such a great time. The kids played, we made cinnamon dough ornaments, watched the Santa Claus 2, went sledding at City Forest, and made 3 flavors of snow ice cream. It was a day that I was grateful for. I am glad I had the chance to spend time hanging out with the kids, but that they were also entertained part of the day with friends.
We've spent quite a bit of time inside lately and I am loving it. We have been playing games with the kids and watching a lot of Christmas movies. On Friday night, I was so excited to show the kids the original "Miracle on 34th Street." They all really liked it, but the girls were exhausted and fell asleep at the end.
We had a chance to go to the Santa House this week. I'm glad we made the trip a little earlier this year; we only had to wait about 40 minutes. The kids all really enjoyed seeing the Santa House and Kaiton even sat on Santa's lap without crying!
December has been quite a blur. Last weekend we got a big snowstorm and we actually didn't have school on Monday. The Menzies kids came over for the day and we had such a great time. The kids played, we made cinnamon dough ornaments, watched the Santa Claus 2, went sledding at City Forest, and made 3 flavors of snow ice cream. It was a day that I was grateful for. I am glad I had the chance to spend time hanging out with the kids, but that they were also entertained part of the day with friends.
We've spent quite a bit of time inside lately and I am loving it. We have been playing games with the kids and watching a lot of Christmas movies. On Friday night, I was so excited to show the kids the original "Miracle on 34th Street." They all really liked it, but the girls were exhausted and fell asleep at the end.
We had a chance to go to the Santa House this week. I'm glad we made the trip a little earlier this year; we only had to wait about 40 minutes. The kids all really enjoyed seeing the Santa House and Kaiton even sat on Santa's lap without crying!
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