3rd Week of January, 2019

This week was full of fun things!

Monday was the first day that the kids rode the bus to school in the morning.  Unfortunately, I had an 8am class that semester, and therefore would be unable to take them to school like I had for literally their whole lives.  The problem was, that Kari got on the bus first, and the younger kids got on the bus last.  And I had to leave before either bus came in order to make it to class on time.  We worked it out that Kari would text me when she got on, and we ended up giving Kaitlyn Kari's old watch phone 6 months early (before her birthday) so that she could text me when they got on the bus.  It wasn't ideal, but, hubby couldn't be late every day, and he was travelling so much that it wouldn't have been a reliable option anyway.  And I didn't have any other option to take that class, or I would fall a semester behind.  So....  we made it work.  Monday was the actual day I took Dyl to the doctor to check on his finger.  It had continued to hurt over the weekend and the swelling hadn't gone down.  Again, luckily, it didn't turn out to be broken.  And that afternoon we went over to the Verizon store.  We had intended to change carriers for a while.  When we moved, our previous carrier didn't cover the new area as well. I literally could not make a phone call in my house!  So we switched to the one that hubby's company is on. And that is how we added Kari.  Now....  I will say that as a not cell phone having person previously, and as a parent as well, I wasn't super fond of getting Kari a smart phone.  But, hubby convinced me that she could handle it, and we could still monitor it.  So, she got the same freaking phone that I did!!!  (it was a BOGO).  Needless to say, it was much cooler than my first cell phone in every way.  And was the most coolest cell phone I have ever had as her starter phone!  I mean.... daaaaaaaaang!  She looks pretty happy, yes?

Tuesday I spent the day setting up the new phones and the parental controls on Kari's.  The app that I installed on her phone limits screen time, makes it so I have to approve every app she downloads, and had a scheduled bed time, so every night it turns off so she can get some sleep without worrying about who is texting her.  We also gave her the rules that A) the phone was technically ours, we were just letting her use it, and B) because it was ours, we had the ability to take it away at any point, and read any and all text messages/emails/app things/etc.  Gosh this new technical world is scary, and while we trust her, we are also doing our best to protect her.  It was super fun to see her getting excited over all the "standard, little" things that are so hum drum to most of us.

Tuesday was also the day I dropped Pixie off at the vet to get spayed.  And gymnastics for the girls.

Wednesday I didn't feel well, but I managed to be productive around the house.  And we went to the Ashcrafts for dinner that night.  I finished setting up Kari's phone and her case arrived so she could finally take it to school the next day.  

Thursday hubby and I went up to ATL.  We did a session at the ATL temple, and then grabbed lunch on the way to meet a financial advisor.  We had been looking to see if we could find someone who could sort of teach us how to invest to make our money work for us.

Friday was the fun run at the kids school.  I made it in time to watch Kelsey do her laps.  

Because of space constraints, in order to get the full distance, they have to do a LOT of laps.

 It was fun to be able to go support her.

 That evening we packed again to go to Pa's house.  It was a long weekend, and we would be staying through Monday, and from there, hubby would be leaving directly to go to Florida, so Pixie had her own access to the front seat.  Nana and Pop arrived later that night.

 Most of the rest of the weekend was spent walking, hunting, or playing games.  Kelsey had recently taken to playing Telestrations, so we brought it with us.  I thought this particular guess what pretty cute.  You start out the game with a clue, and the first person draws it.  Then, the next person looks at the drawing only and writes what they think it is.  The following person draws it.  It's a bit like a game of telephone.  The clue I had picked was Cinderella.  I drew this:

Kelsey, perhaps not appreciating my full artistic potential, answered with this.  Translation "A carriage that a princess is going to go on." I love it!

 As always, it is fun to hang out with family.

The kids didn't have school on Monday, and I hadn't started yet, so we stayed through to Monday as well.  The kids and I left right after lunch time to head home and get ready for school the next day.  And hubby left to drive down to Florida.