Petersons Never Give Up: May =)

May has been an expensive and challenging month, but it was also a great month. When we got back from Legoland it became clear that our dishwasher was broken. I called an appliance repair place and they came out and said it needed a new control panel. We got that ordered and had it installed. It worked for 3-4 washes and then stopped working again. I talked to the repair guy and he said we couldn't get a refund on the part, but they could order a new part and replace it again in case the part was faulty. That was like 3 weeks ago. I said to go ahead and try to replace the part but they have kept saying that the part hasn't arrived. Last weekend we gave up and decided to just buy a new dishwasher. I wasn't really convinced that putting another control panel in was going to fix the problem and handwashing dishes for a month is getting really old! Our new dishwasher comes next Tuesday and I am super excited! I did call the appliance repair place today and they are going to at least give us $100 back from the $325 we spent to try and fix the old dishwasher.

We got together at Neil and Rebecca's house to have some Mothers day desserts. We parked on the street because Rebecca's sister was loading some furniture into her car. I had my phone on the seat between me and the door when we parked and thought to myself "I need to be careful not to drop my phone down that sewer drain" But then of course I opened the door and couldn't find my phone anywhere, I think it dropped into the drain as soon as I opened the door. We looked everywhere for it and tried calling it and doing the find my iphone thing. But it was a gonner. Sean and I left the kids to play with cousins and went to the mall to the AT&T store. We decided to get a new model that was cheaper than the last one I got. So it was only about $500 instead of $800. We had to order it from apple though. The guy gave me a new sim card and my new phone came two days later. I was super grateful that all our data and pictures were backed up to the cloud so that we didn't lose anything.

In February I bought a used bernina as a second sewing machine. I have thought on and off about buying a new machine, but everytime I look they just aren't quite right. They have lots of awesome electronic features, but I don't really need any of those. My original bernina froze up at the beginning of May so I started using my backup machine which isn't as fast and the tension is off so I have to stop and resew things every so often. As I was sewing one Tuesday afternoon I had a clear thought that I need to get a new machine. I started doing some research and found a Juki semi industrial machine that looked like a really great fit. It is just a straight stitch mechanical machine and is a workhorse. I talked with Sean and he wholeheartedly endorsed getting the new machine. I ordered it Wednesday and on Thursday while trying to finish up blankets to drop off my back up machine froze up too! I was so grateful for the inspiration to order a new machine. My new machine is a dream and I love it so much! It has some super cool features like a blade that trims the top thread and bobbin thread when finishing a stitch and it does 1500 stitches per minute! So there went another $700 but at least thats tax deductable =) I did pay to have my original machine fixed and dont really know what to do with the other one...maybe pawn it?

The girls have really wanted to dye their hair so I found them some semi permanent dye and we did blue and purple in Lizzie's and blue in Alana's:

Lizzie had her kindergarten fieldtrip to the Bean Museum at BYU. She got to ride the bus and was giddy about it! They didn't have enough room on the bus for all the parents that wanted to come so I drove down separately. The museum was fun, but we were there a bit long for the kids attention spans. We went to a park and played and had sack lunches and then went home. She had so much fun! She felt some anxiety about going on the bus without me, but she worked through it and did great!

Sean earned his green belt in martial arts and is in the advanced class now!

Brett made a very fun plinko type game out of legos:

Neil and Lexi told us about a really fun show called the Kids Baking Challenge. Its available on food network and we recently started sharing Discovery + with Neil and Rebecca which has food network and HGTV! We've been watching the show together and enjoying it a lot and the kids have wanted to bake more. Lexi and Neil love to bake too so they came over one Saturday morning and we made a vanilla cake from scratch with a swiss merengue buttercream and then mini chocolate cakes with American buttercream. We also made a marshmallow fondant and had a great time sampling and decorating!

Our neighbors told us about a fun dining experience where you get a 5 course meal and then there is a 45 minute magic show at the end. We decided that sounded like a fun way to celebrate our 13th anniversary. We arrived and felt immediately immersed in a fun magical environment. The dining room was intimate and themed super fun and had lots of Harry Potter and How to Train your Dragon music playing. Our server was great and the food was delicious. We started with a bruschetta appetizer, then a berry salad, then a raspberry sorbet, then chicken and potatoes and asparagus, and a cheesecake for dessert. The magic show was so so fun! We even got to be a part of it. He asked for a couple who was celebrating an anniversary so we went up (there were only about 20 of us there). He had us each pick a playing card from a deck and sign it. Then he had Sean hold his card and me hold mine in between our hands. He played a funny song and talked about magically intertwining our love. When we took our hands apart the cards had become one! Like literally could not see how they were ever two cards. He let us bring the card home. He was very funny and we felt so entertained, we will for sure be going back.

Alana started therapy with a cool guy named Aaron. It is all virtual which is really nice and convenient. Aaron has taught us a lot. For her second session we decided to try an exposure where I pick the clothes she has to try on and then we talk through the way she is feeling with the clothes. I picked an outfit that was exactly her style (the type of thing she normally finds comfortable) but not the 2-3 things she had been willing to wear for the last several months. She put them on and said it was completely fine. So we upped the challenge a bit and had her put on underwear, something she hasn't been able to wear for 3 years. We challenged her to wear the underwear for an hour after our session and although she was relieved when the hour was up, she did it! The next day I took her to Walmart and told her to pick some clothes that she just likes and wants to wear regardless of the fabric or cut or any of the things she normally worries about. She picked some denim shorts and a stitch shirt. She came home and wore them both right away. She tried a different style of underwear and has worn it EVERYDAY since then. This is huge! Like seriously HUGE! She has been wearing clean clothes, underwear, and different things from the norm for 3 weeks now and I am blown away. After we explained what had happened to Aaron at our next session, he mentioned that he doesn't think she has sensory processing disorder, he thinks it OCD. I had a session with him last week and he described different ways to challenge her anxiety and do exposures for her. I found it helpful not only for her but for the other two kids as well.

We also had the fun run for the kids at school. They did chalk and threw it at the kids while they ran. Both Lizzie and Alana got separated from me at different points and they were pretty upset, but Brett had fun and ran and ran. We got snowcones from the food truck they had there too.

snuggling after baths one night:

Jean shorts!!

My parents live in a pretty strict HOA and were told they need to remove the lattice from their pergola. we helped them one day and then screwed the lattice onto their fence where Winston constantly jumps =)

Alana has decided she likes Diet Coke like Grandpa:

Lizzie painted a stepping stone for our front flowerbed:

We got flowers and planted our garden.

Lizzie has been developing a lot more anxiety especially with crowds and germs. Poor girl. Its been hard to watch her getting more and more upset by people brushing past her and even germs from her sister. She has felt a lot more stressed about going anywhere without me too and really doesn't like to go to anyone elses house to play. Hopefully we can work though some of those things this summer.

Alana has been working on earning a guinea pig by keeping her room clean, working on exposures, and earning $100 to help pay for it. We went to Petsmart to look at them one day and found an awesome cage on clearance so we decided to get it that day. When I went to pay they said it wasn't in the system and that we could just have it! So cool! We went to another pet store after to pick up Oreo after getting groomed and he wasn't quite ready so we just hung out and talked to the store worker. They had these beautiful rainbow lorikeets that the kids liked playing with.

I bought a fun shallow pool for the kids at costco:

Brett has had a wonderful last month of school. He made a friend named Bently and was able to enjoy school and recess. We have him maxed out on his anxiety medicine and I think its helping a lot. He said he was sad school was ending now that its getting good! He earned the Puma Pride award for completing a bunch of tasks throughout the year. He also earned the Smartie Paws award from his class. The teacher picks two students and he was one of them for showing major growth academically, emotionally, or socially. Here is what his teacher e-mailed me: He is such a brilliant kid, but I wanted him to know that it is not just his academic growth this year that I’m proud of. It’s how much he has grown in handling hard situations with resilience. For that I wish I could give him ten awards.

Unfortunately Alana missed her entire last week of school! She tested positive for covid on Tuesday morning so had to stay home all week. Luckily she doesn't really know how great the last week is since she's never had a last week. Kindergarten got canceled with covid and we homeschooled for first grade. Lizzie had kindergarten graduation on Wednesday so we all tested on Tuesday and we were all negative except Alana, so we went to graduation with masks and Brett got to go to school and his awards assembly. After Bretts assembly I started feeling a bit yucky so I tested again and was positive. Sean tested at work yesterday and was positive. Brett went to field day on Thursday, but we kept him home the very last day. He got to say his goodbyes and is still testing negative, so hopefully he will stay that way.

Alana earned the Golden Paw award in her class for citizenship. Here is what her teacher said: Thank you so much! I have loved getting to know Alana this year and am so proud of the growth she has made, not only academically, but just in her mindset! I loved seeing her confidence bloom. Please tell her that she can come visit my classroom anytime. I have definitely missed her face this last week of school and am sad that I won't get a proper "have a good summer!"

I am so proud of all three of my kiddos and how much they have grown this year! Their teachers were amazing and they all worked so hard!

Its been a lame last week of school with covid in the house, but we are ready to rock this coming summer!

Here's cookie the guinea pig! We got him on Memorial Day (the day before Alana tested positive)