Gizzardfest

Since the big girls are out in PV, Gizzardfest is something that many of their friends visit.  So, this year, we had pressure from them to attend.

Despite the short trip, I packed a full lunch for all of us (except for Billy who was holding out for fair food.)

We stopped at an ATM, at a gas station, and they were out of service = (  So, we found another one that was in service!

We parked at the school, and then found a shady spot to set up our camp chairs.  The kids were able to go in pairs or groups to ride the rides.  There weren't as many rides as Laingsburg, which meant Alice was hanging out with us for the most part.  William, Grace and Juliet spent a good portion of their time on the playground near our chairs.  Emily found her friends and we didn't see her for a while. = )  

Not long before we left, William caught up with one of his friends too!

I think we all had a pleasant enough time, but I don't know if we'll make it an annual event.  We'll see how Emily is feeling about it next year. ; )

later days

All the Other Fun

All these fun things didn't fit with any other post, so here they are together.

We were invited to eat popcorn and hot chocolate, while we watched a movie outdoors.  It was very fun, if a little cold.

Gracea and Juliet dressing to match Blaire and Molly while the nightgowns still fit. = )

Alice found all sorts of decorations over the summer and wanted to do some decorating this fall.    It was fun to find some seasonal surprises everywhere. = )

Sometimes I eat all the food groups for lunch, not super often, but it sure is pretty!

Kennedy got to come over on a short Wednesday one time, and the girls loved having her!

Not long after that, we got to hang out with Zoey at Pizza Hut.

I was watching a show, in Spanish, that is called High Seas in English, and this image was too perfect.  I had to pause it and take a very skewed picture of it, so that I could remember it forever.

Grace and Juliet were working on their face painting skills, on one another.

I added this to the "reasons we can't have a pet" folder in my mind.  I would be so tempted to spend soooooo much money on adorable, unnecessary things.

I scored almost 10lbs of sirloin ground beef for really cheap, since it was marked for clearance.  I came home and cooked up most of it for future meals, but made a meat loaf and meat pie that day.

The meat pie came out so pretty!  Sadly, I didn't even eat any fresh, but did eat plenty as leftovers. = )

My mom treated the kids to Arby's snack shakes.  $1 a piece, which might crack up all you distant future readers of 2122! ; )

Grace picked out a clearance chocolate 'haunted' house kit.  Think gingerbread kit, but Halloween themed.  It refused to stand out, so she used yellow ribbon to declare it a disaster.

Starbucks and Biggby both did away with their Eggnog lattes for the season (and they are my favorite!!)  So, when I spied the lineup of Eggnog that Kroger has, I was excited.  I've been spoiled all season now. = )

It was 75F, in November, in Michigan.  When the kids wanted to do a water balloon fight, I told them to go for it.  I wasn't personally going anywhere near it, but they seemed to have fun.

Despite having a Panera near two areas that I frequent, neither of them are convenient.  So, when I get a craving for their sausage, kale, and bean soup, I make my own.

It tastes so, so good, but makes a ton, so I share with my mom and then freeze it in small portions so that I can have it for lunches. = )

Grace drew a family of penguins. 

The twins dressed up a balloon, for some reason. 

A happy milk lid was occasion for a picture, apparently.

A new Christmas started advertising months ago and finally was available to watch!

Right before Thanksgiving break, the big girls had a snow day, Grace had been sent home school on Thursday, ill, and then threw up at home, Juliet lasted less than an hour into Friday before her teacher called me to come grab her.  So, on the Friday before Thanksgiving break, I pulled a perfectly healthy William and we started our weekend early.  The big girls still had school Monday and Tuesday, so it wasn't quite break for them yet, but we spent the day relaxing at home.

One Sunday, Emily agreed to play my Sherlock game with me.  She didn't finish the round, but it was nice to play with her for a bit.  Luckily, I can play it as a single player game too. = )

For years and years, Grace and Juliet have wanted a play kitchen (we had one when they were very small, but got rid of it to make room for all the double baby things we needed.)  I am so excited to present a folding kitchen to them this Christmas!!

Grace loves seeing her friend Zoey and made a countdown chain until she saw her!  Sadly, this event had to be cancelled, because she and Juliet were slow to recover.

Emily also felt poorly at some point, though not during the Thanksgiving break, at least as far as I can remember.

My mom had me put together some hanging towels for my Grandma, when I was taking a picture of them, I had a cute little photo bomber.

Blaire and Llama each got a stocking this year, to match Molly's.

Speaking of llama, his leg broke this year.  He still sings and tries to dance, but the best we could do for him was to give him a cast. = (

I bought some corn flakes to make cookies one night, and on the box was a chicken tenders recipe.  I also saw a cute little picture of banana and strawberry skewers cross my newsfeed, so that made for a very lazy, easy, well-received dinner. 

While we were at the mall with Juliet, I came across a stash of Pusheen goodies.  Alice wanted a "Pusheen Box" as her big gift this year.  So, now when I see it I stop and look.  They had an adorable container of mini marshmallows called "meowshmallows," but it was $5!!  I asked my mom to keep any of her spice containers that might empty in the near future, but when I stumbled upon this tupperware container at the thrift store for 75 cents, I thought, that would be perfect to make one for Alice!  I actually like it better than the instore version.

Emily has been a bit harder this year than usual, so for her I'm customizing a hat that I bought online with her team and a sewn in pocket.  I've got the pocket made, but I'm still feeling a bit apprehensive about cutting into the hat to install it, especially since I've already finished the embroidery.

For our MOPS meeting next time, we are doing a gift exchange.  They asked us to bring 3 (of the same item) that we consider a favorite thing, that costs under $5.  I immediately thought of my cord wraps.  I seriously use them for everything!  As I pulled the materials out of their storage places, I had a wave of self-doubt, do I really love these or am I just being cheap?  As I began to cut the pieces out, I thought to myself: I love this fabric (it was from the stash that Christin sent me from Germany many years ago) I think I'll make one for myself too. lol.  Well, I no longer feel guilty or cheap. I may still include some candy or treat to make it look a little more appealing.  They came out so cute though!

 later days

Dental Visits

This is the latest post in the series of William, grace and Juliet's journey with hypophosphatasia.

We have actually had 2 visits to the dental clinic down at UofM, since the last time I posted.

This visit was just a routine cleaning for all 3, that had been delayed at least once.  William and Juliet got good, boring reports.  Poor Grace has to go in for some cavity fillings that formed in her poor soft teeth (the same ones Juliet had in the past.)  That appointment is next week.

Today we went back, for William to check in with his orthodontist.  I failed to take a picture while we were eating our lunch, but we did eat in the courtyard, as is tradition.

No braces for our boy just yet, he has a few bottom teeth that need to come out first.  They are wiggly, so if he is able to wiggle them out before the appointment with the regular clinic comes up, they won't have to pull them.  If not, we'll make a trip down for them to pull those two teeth, sometime before his next orthodontic appointment, in 6 months.

My friend Jessica takes her child to the same clinic every 4-6 weeks, so I'm hopeful that maybe one day we can carpool to break up the long, boring drive!

later days

<what happened previously

what happened next>

Optimist Day at Burchfield Park

During one of our summer swims, Rachel clued me into this amazing event, scheduled for the end of August.  With a slightly cloudy sky, Alice opted to stay home, while the rest of us went to enjoy a beautiful day.

We hadn't even made it from the parking lot to the registration line when Alice called, panicked and changed her mind that she wanted to come after all. So, Billy left the 5 of us to go grab Alice, and we registered, and I totally did not take into account that all of the registration goodies were now going to be carried around by yours truly, since the car was now absent.  We were able to finagle Emily's hoodie into a kind of bag that I slung over my shoulder.

The next part of my story is a sad one, so I'm including no pictures, in hope in time that the sad memories will fade. 

We headed up to the fishing pool that they had installed, so that the kids could all catch a trout that they had seeded.  The line was fairly short, and my crew was up fast.  Emily was the first to catch.  They gave her a bucket, but her fish was such a fighter.  It escaped her hold, the bucket, her hold, landing hard on the pavement every time.  It was still trying to escape while on the hook during her picture.  We were both feeling this awful and brutal empathy with this fish who should have, by all means, escaped and live another day, slowly dying. By the time it was finally decapitated, Emily was in tears, and I was barely keeping it together, let along helping my 3 other children with their catches.  Luckily, as we headed down the hill, we were joined by Billy and Alice and all of our moods improved.  Well, mine did, as it always does when Billy is near, and I think Emily felt better too.

Next up was compound and traditional bow shooting!

As we continued our day, we found other fun.

At the hot dog lunch, we ran into so many people that we knew!

The kids really liked the Lego robotics table setup.  Nearby were some yard games, so that you could play while waiting for your turn to run the robot.

Once everyone had their chance with the robot, we headed over to the kayaks.  Alice, Emily & William all rowed alone, the twins had fun in a double.

At one point, William got to close to the boundary, and ended up floating across.  He had to be 'rescued' though he remained in his boat and had on his life vest and was in very little danger.

As the grand prize drawings came near, everyone started gravitating back to the starting area.  Grace waited very patiently for her turn to ride the bike, while the rest of my crew checked out the golf tent, dunking booth, or hung out with Daddy.

I am pleased to report that Grace met her goal of learning to ride a bike without training wheels this summer. I am so proud of her!

It was a lovely, well done, event.  We had great weather and enjoyed all the offerings that the optimist club put together.  I hope to return next year, but we'll probably skip the fishing.

later days

edit: publishing this post closer to the date of the event, for the sake of continuity.