Spring is Here, technically speaking

This week was another action packed week as usual. We experience St Patrick's Day as well as the official first day of Spring. We also had a couple birthdays, my brother David turned a quarter century and Keira's friend Haley from her nursery class turned 3. I did not feel super great all week, but we still managed to get a lot done.

On Monday, I woke up feeling not quite right. I had felt tired and groggy on Sunday, but figured it was just from the race. When I woke up groggy and congested, I knew it was more than just post race ailments. We didn't let it slow us down too much. Since it was just a cold, it is easier for me to keep Keira entertained by doing things outside of the house than try to keep her entertained inside.

I had a couple things to exchange for sizes from the weekend shopping, and we headed out to Laurel Park Mall, which does not have a play area. It does have some mechanical ride ons similar to the food court amusements at 12Oaks, so Keira got to play there.

After that, we hit Costco because we were in need of food after being gone. I can tell I wasn't thinking right because we forgot some major items (Keira's milk) and would need to go back later this week. It warmed up beautifully today. Linda stopped by for a quick visit and to drop off our carseat that was still in her car and a stroller for Valerie to try. Keira enjoyed playing outside. I was indeed not happy about not feeling well because it would have been a fabulous day for a run. Instead, Ryan went on a bike ride on Hines drive- yes, it was finally not underwater anymore.


Tuesday was insanely busy considering that I still didn't feel good. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we donned our green today. We got up and met up with Lisa and Dominic, Emily and Brooklyn, and Naika and Gabby for Kindermusik. After that, we headed up to 12 Oaks to do yet another exchange and got Keira a green balloon.




That afternoon, after naps, it was again beautiful outside and we walked up to the playground. It was a good thing Keira put her jeans on because no sooner did we get to the playground did she walk right into a pile of mudd/grass that had been snowplowed into a pile about 1 foot high and fell onto it covering herself with dirt. How she missed it I do not know, considering it came up to about her thighs. Keira and Soren enjoyed the swings, and Soren conked out on the stroller ride home.



We had a quick dinner once Ryan got home and when he left for scouts, we left for the library. They had a special "community" storytime. The Novi Superintendent of Schools read a story, as well as a woman from Community Financial (the sponsoring bank), Officer Tom (Novi Police) and Officer Barrat (Novi Fire). Keira had a great time, although she was a bit distraught that Miss Diane was not there, but got over it. Soren was also very well behaved considering that it was close to bedtime. He really seems to enjoy all the activties that we do for Keira.





On Wednesday, we kept things a bit more low key. We did start the morning early with a presidency meeting. Keira got to play with Lizzie, Elise, and Jared. I was glad she tired herself out a bit over there because I was indeed starting to get worn out from everything we had done this week, and was still not 100%. We had some decent weather today that was not forcasted, so Keira and Katie played outside a bit today when Valerie stopped by to pick up the stroller to try. Any visit from Katie always brightens Keira's day. We had our taxes prepared this evening, so that kept us occupied. We are happy to be getting a nice return.



Soren likes his feet.
On Thursday, we had no real plans for the day. We did have to go back to Costco to get the things we forgot earlier, and fortunately nothing needed to be refrigerated, so we were able to squeeze in a Meijer run on the same trip. It was another gloomier day today, so we stayed inside until Ryan came home. I was supposed to go to an enrichment activity this evening, but was just not up for it. Instead, we went over to the car dealership to look at Escapes and Soren and I took a nap before bedtime that was badly needed by me.
Soren wore his Ford clothes to the dealership. I located all the short sleeved clothes we have for him in the closet this morning as well.
This is what I did instead of enrichment.

Friday was another super busy morning. We started off the morning checking out the Novi Public Preschool. We are on the waiting list for another preschool at Ward Presbyterian, but are fairly high on it. We need to decide in the next little bit what to do, either enroll in Novi and have it be a sure thing for fall or wait to do Ward where she can go with Lizzie. Both schools are comparable on almost everything, with very little cons, so it is a bit of a tough decision for me. We did a lot more walking than expected, and then went over to the library for storytime. Miss Diane reminded us that today was the first day of spring, and all the stories today were about caterpillars. It is also the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and it is being re-released as a pop-up book (Keira recognized the butterfly from the book in the USA Today that I looked at earlier in the week at the car dealership, so I knew this going into the library). The book was unavailable to take home today, but they do have it already.


After the library, we went to Valerie's so that Keira could play with Katie and Ava (Katie's cousin). Soren and Luke just looked at each other. Valerie had a great lunch for all of us. That evening we went to REI and Running Fit to do some pre-birthday shopping for me.



On Saturday, Ryan had made plans to go biking with Kent. Of course, the weather was cooler today that it had been earlier in the week. I was sick of not being able to run, and even though I was still not 100%, I went for a short run anyway early, when it was still pretty chilly, before Ryan left for his ride because we had a birthday part for Keira to attend. It was not the best run, but it at least felt good to run again. While Ryan was biking, we ran out to get a gift and lunch. Once Ryan was back from his ride, it was almost time for Keira, Soren and I to leave for the party. Keira had a great time playing with Haley from nursery, as well as Ava, and the other guests. Ava, Haley (the birthday girl!), and Keira, waiting for cake and then eating it.
Keira really liked the basket craft that she decorated at the party. I loved how it had a lone bat on it, amidst all the flowers, and Keira called it her Halloween basket.
I felt like Ryan and I were a bit out of phase with each other all day, but we did manage to sit down as a family for dinner at home and just hung out the rest of the evening.
Sunday was a fairly typical Sunday. It was pretty much a day of rest for us. We had a lazy morning with a big breakfast of waffles, chicken sausage, and turkey bacon. We went to church and Keira was very good today in sacrament and I gave the closing prayer.
Keira loves climbing on the outside of the stairs. She doesn't go too high, fortunately.

For next week, we don't have many plans yet. Many weeks start off this way and end up being super busy so it will be interesting to see what unfolds. I am feeling a ton better and will hopefully get out and run, and maybe even do some biking too.