- Today was one of those days that felt full from the moment I got up. I started the morning with my usual round of chores—nothing exciting, just the daily routine of straightening up the house, dishes, laundry, and making sure everything was in order. There’s something kind of grounding about starting the day that way, even if it’s not the most glamorous part of life.
- Once the basics were out of the way, the focus shifted to packing. We’re getting ready for a trip, so everyone had a to-do list. Packing always takes longer than I think it will, especially when you’re trying to make sure nothing essential gets left behind. Clothes, toiletries, snacks, chargers, books, backup outfits—it’s like a puzzle, trying to fit it all together and still zip the suitcase shut. The kids were mostly helpful... mostly.
- Reagan, my oldest, was gone all day at work. It’s still a little surreal sometimes, seeing her head out the door like a full-grown adult. She’s juggling a lot and doing it well, but I missed having her around during the packing chaos. It’s always easier with more hands.
- The big event for the day was the round of dentist appointments. All of us loaded up and headed over, and it turned into quite the ordeal. Reagan, Keaton, Anderson, and Graham all had cavities. Four kids, four sets of bad news. Not exactly the outcome we were hoping for, but at least we caught them early. The dentist was great—patient and kind—and the kids handled it all surprisingly well. Still, I think we’re all going to be brushing a little more carefully from now on!
- By the time we got home, it felt like we’d packed a whole week into one day. But even with the busyness, I’m thankful. Thankful for a full house, a trip to look forward to, and even dentist visits that keep us on track (cavities and all). Some days are just about getting things done, and today was one of those days.
- If you are still reading, can you tell that Reagan helped me write the blog tonight using ChatGPT? With just a few prompts, that silly thing was able to write a pretty accurate description of our day. The girls have packed, and Whitman and I have packed, but the big boys haven't even thought about packing. Currently, they are out playing pickleball, but they will have to pack when they do get home tonight.
- Another mistake from the above is that all 6 kids went to the dentist-Whitman and Campbell did not have cavities. The others all did-Reagan almost had a panic attack when she checked out after the rest of us (she drove from work) and saw how much her cavity would cost without insurance. I had to tell her where to see what we would pay-that made her feel better, and then we discussed the benefits of dental insurance.
- This afternoon I was sitting in the living room and heard something beep in the kitchen. I went in there to see some letters on the oven where the clock should have been. I did some research and moved it to unplug it. Of course this meant I had to then clean under neath it. It did the same thing tonight, but hopefully Robby was able to fix it-he tried to tighten all of the wires-but this all probably means that the oven is going out (in the last month we have replaced a microwave, washer, and dryer.)
- We all ate supper at the table this evening, and then the boys left for pickleball. Now we are all just doing pretty much nothing!
May 20, 2025
May 19, 2025
- Reagan left this morning-I was moving around in our closet getting ready when she did leave. I did a few things around the house but then I left with Graham so we could get hair cuts. He did think that his hair was too short, but it does really look good.
- We came home, and I made Graham and Campbell a grilled cheese sandwich before they left for work. Anderson and Keaton were up around noon, but Whitman might could have slept all day long. I finally woke him up at 2.
- This afternoon Whitman and I were talking about something, but in our conversation he used the word "sentient." Maybe that is some word that all of you know the meaning to, but I sure didn't. I had him say it about 10 times until I realized I was going to have to get some help from google. In case you are wondering, sentient means having the capacity to feel things (like feel emotions, be aware, and experience things).
- When our conversation was over, I began googling if people with good vocabularies do better on the SAT rather than the ACT. I feel that I have a decent vocabulary, but he sure hasn't been learning words like sentient in our school!
- Graham was meeting some friends at the Goodwill tonight after work to look for things for camp. Since he was leaving early, I started to make his supper-meatball sub. I had planned on just making everyone else's at 6ish, but Anderson walked through and said that he would eat now. Then Reagan said she was used to eating supper at 4:30 at school, so I made everyone a meatball sub.
- We only had 4 things of loaves for fancy bread, but I supplemented with some sister shubert rolls from the freezer. Whitman had made some pizza chips that we all ate as well.
- Graham went to Goodwill and then ended up playing pickleball for a bit. While he was gone, the rest of us pretty much did nothing-and it was nice.
May 18, 2025
- This was Reagan's first official Sunday working at church. I think that she enjoyed working in a Sunday school class-and she even promised a bunch of girls that she would remember their names.
- After church, we all went to Grannymom's house to eat Sunday lunch. We stayed around and visited for a bit, but then most of the kids rode home with Reagan and stopped by Sonic on the way home. They were pretty happy about their drinks.
- When we all made it home, Reagan took a few pictures of Anderson is his graduation robe-I didn't feel that I had adequate pictures from the Sunday that he walked across the stage at church. Then before I could even lay down for my nap, the boys were leaving to go to Cole's house to watch basketball (possibly).
- From there, they went to Raymar for Collide night. Robby took Keaton, Campbell, and Whitman there as well. They all had hot dogs and played quite a bit.
- While they were gone, Robby and I made spaghetti for us and the Wilsons. I had made a brownie pie while the Robby was taking the kids-it was a new recipe for me that I picked because I had a pie crust in the refrigerator that needed to be used. I was surprised by how good that it actually was.
- When the Wilsons left, we picked up a little bit, and then everyone headed towards bed.
May 17, 2025
- I didn't sleep too well last night, but it did help that even after playing on my phone a few times, I was able to take a few naps this morning. Of course by doing this, I pretty much wasted the entire morning, but it was worth it.
- I left a little bit before one with Keaton and Campbell to go and help at a wedding shower. I had door duty, and I really kind of enjoyed that task. Campbell and Keaton helped take people who came in the wrong doors to other parties happening around the church. They also worked the sign in book some along with door duty too.
- When it was over, we had to load up my dishes, but the girls didn't load up in my car. They went out with Sara to Target. They didn't buy anything...probably because Campbell's wallet was at home, and Keaton's was in my car.
- When I came home, I found my spot on the couch and have pretty much stayed here since. I have a good bit left on a book to read, but I don't think I will finish that tonight. Reagan has been going through her boxes, bags, and bins of clothes that she brought home from school. Keaton just walked through with a few things, and I even got a few things to try.
- Robby left to go and buy some Blue Bell-ice cream is important. While he was gone, Anderson and Graham got a pickleball call so they headed off to play.
- They did miss the ice cream, but so did Whitman. He couldn't find a flavor that he liked so he opted for a cookie that Keaton and her friends made last night-they were really delicious.
May 16, 2025
- Reagan went camping with some friends last night. They had pancakes for breakfast, but they had to go to Walmart to buy plates! She was home fairly early this morning, and the first thing that she did was hop in the shower.
- Everyone else slept in last night. I had a few things that I tried to get done this morning, but soon I was taking Campbell and Graham to work. Then Keaton and I took my plates to church for a shower tomorrow. We ended up washing plates and even helping with some flowers.
- We then had to leave-Sonic was calling Keaton's name, and the library was calling my name. We picked up Campbell and Graham from work a little bit early so we could get Campbell to her next thing.
- She changed clothes, and we dropped her off at a friend's house. Then Keaton and I picked up Sophia and two other friends. I took those girls to 2 Goodwills, Platos, and Hobby Lobby. We drove all over creation, but unfortunately, they didn't find too many things. Keaton did get some shorts and a pair of shoes, and I bought a shirt for Whitman to wear to camp.
- I picked up pizza for supper on the way home. We all ate, and then the girls went out to play volleyball. I sat down for a little bit and then had to leave to pick up Campbell. The girls made cookies while I settled in on the couch for the rest of the evening.
May 15, 2025
- Reagan was the first one to leave this morning-she went to work. I think that she was busy most of the day long-I know that she went to Walmart at least twice. On her last trip, she was buying food for my cooking track. I will be interested to see what she bought-she had to send me a picture of cooking spray (Pam) to make sure that it was the right thing.
- Keaton and Campbell left next for their last day at Mother's Day Out. Keaton is the main teacher in her class since all the other ones have left, and she wrote me around noon saying that all the other classes had a little gift for their students. We hadn't even thought about it, but I was able to print out a tag, cut some ribbon, and run to Walmart to buy some bubbles for her people before it was over.
- Before I left to pick up the girls, Graham came home to pick up Anderson to take him to basketball. They played with a pretty big group of guys, but they didn't play for too long today. Graham brought Anderson home as well-I know that he will be tired of driving after this week!
- When I came home, Whitman and I worked on school. It is 10 right now, and I just reminded him that he didn't do two pages for me-so he ran to do them while his popcorn is cooking. He is actually doing a good bit of school-and he is knocking it all out for next year (but don't tell him that.)
- Adi came over tonight so Campbell could do her nails. They had been doing nails in their bedroom, but now their nail studio has moved to the school room. I think that is fine-I guess I can help keep all their things a little bit clean especially if I have to walk past them 100 times a day.
- Robby and I went out with the Wilsons to celebrate Tony's birthday. We ate at Layne's chicken-the honey mustard sauce was really good, and the desserts that Shannon had were really good as well. We watched the baseball game-or at least I tried to watch the baseball game. My eyes were so incredibly heavy!...and they still are!
May 14, 2025
- Graham came by to pick me up this morning, and we headed to his nutrition center visit. They had sent me a text a bit ago, and when he saw what he would make he decided he wanted to try it.
- As always, at the Nutrition Center, they read pretty much the whole consent form to you which makes me a bit crazy-word for word page after page. Plus I've already read the form because you emailed it to me...and in the form it said today's visit would just be 3 hours. However, the lady today said our visit could take 5 hours-Graham and I started to worry a bit about getting him to work.
- It all worked out just fine though because we were out of there in exactly 3 hours. The study is basically seeing if isometric exercise or aerobic exercises are betting at lowering blood pressure-though Graham's blood pressure today was like incredibly low (or at least I thought it was incredibly low compared to mine-though my blood pressure was crazy low for me yesterday.)
- We raced home, and I jumped out of the car and the girls jumped in, and he headed to work. They wrote asking if Keaton wanted to work again today so she took them up on that. She proofed most of the afternoon long.
- While they were all gone, Anderson and Whitman did a little bit of school work. Whitman was still sleeping around noon today-I did make sure that he woke up and got out of bed. I'm keeping a close watch on him so he doesn't pull any more all nighters-that boy has never required much sleep.
- Reagan went to work-today she ran some errands buying things for Camp Geyer. I know that she enjoyed getting out of the office for a little bit. She was finished early this afternoon and hung out at Graham's house sitting house for a little bit before going back to church.
- We all met back up at church this evening for the Camp Geyer meeting. The meeting didn't last too long so afterwards the big boys went to play pickleball-we hurried home so Anderson could take the car. Right now everyone seems to be crazy busy with plans every day-all of our people are coming and going, but I think that it will all slow down once summer gets started (at least I hope that it will.)
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