March 21, 2015

I've got the remote!!

(click here for today's pictures)

• Graham was the first one to wake up but he was at Nonna and Pops' house so it is fine that he woke up at 5:32.  He is my kiddo that can remember every single thing.  My people didn't wake up nearly that early-well, if they did, I didn't know about it.  On Saturday, the kids can wake up and start playing their kindles and they probably wouldn't come into our room at all if they could make their own breakfast.
• Graham was the one eating at my favorite doughnut show-Shipleys.  But the rest of us were enjoying biscuits and sausage.  Our biscuits today were cooked perfectly which made them so good that we were inspired to get out and start working on our leaves....
• Actually, Robby mentioned that we needed to get them picked up before Easter and then we suddenly realized that Easter is just two weekends away.  So out we went-the first order of business was to pick up the sticks in the front area of our house.  We had the kids work and in hindsight we should have each of them made their own pile of sticks-that way we could have seen who was really working and who was not.  They must have done something though because we had 2 big piles of sticks and the front yard sticks were pretty well picked up.
• Next on the list was tearing down some of the fence at the bottom-this way we could just take those leaves down there on the other side of the fence and forget about them.  Robby didn't have anything to cut the fence with so he did some work getting the vines away from the fence and then joined me back up in the front yard raking the leaves.  When they were all raked-we have about 28 piles of leaves.  Some piles were wet, some were dry, some were little, some were huge!  
• Of course all of these leaf piles were just too inviting for Whitman.  He would dive into one, lay in it and grin at me and then get up and repeat the entire process.  It would have been adorable and I would have loved to have taken his picture but I was too busy raking away (and his runny nose wouldn't have made that great of a picture anyway!)  Anderson spent his time playing basketball, Campbell and Keaton did anything and everything that could to avoid us thus avoiding any work and Reagan did the most work out of our kid crew.
• At lunch, Robby ran to Grandpa's house to get some fence cutters and Keaton went with him. As Robby was driving out of the garage, he asked if Whitman wanted to come and I figured that he certainly did.  He so loves being outside but he just walked wherever he wants to go. At one point today, he followed the others as they rode their bikes down the street-I was watching him and then chasing him.  Just as I was watching him and then chasing him when Robby was at the bottom today working with his generator and chainsaw-that boy just wants to be anywhere that there is excitement and danger!
• While they were gone, I made my crew lunch and we ate outside in lawnchairs.  They asked me to read a few stories to them so I obliged.  And before we were finished with the second, Robby and the crew came home.  I made them lunch and within minutes Pops was home with Graham.  He had had a big evening and big morning but he was ready to come home and see his momma-or something like that.
• Once Robby was finished with the fence de-construction, we all started to work.  We have 3 tarps that we would fill, haul down to the bottom, dump and then haul back to the piles to repeat the process.  It took a good 2 hours to do this process and the last 45 minutes we were constantly bribing everyone with a snack and another drink.  We had almost finished when my timer started ringing signaling that Campbell and I needed to go in and get ready.
• Campbell and I had showers and then we loaded up for JJs Superhero birthday party.  She wore a Batman shirt of Andersons along with superhero mask of Grahams.  And since I braided her hair she thought that she was something else.  And she really was the cutest thing ever.
• The party was outside even though it was spitting rain-the kids didn't seem to care at all.  Campbell enjoyed the trampoline and I enjoyed the nuggets and lemonade from Chick Fil A. There were a few other big family moms to talk to-two moms were having their 4th kid and one just had her 5th.  I guess that made me the expert!  And since I am on the side of a Baptist Hospital truck, I guess I really am an expert! (Ha!)
• After the party was over, Campbell and I ran to Walmart for a few things-I could have bought a zillion items off of my list but I just stuck to the basics-doughnuts for breakfast tomorrow, quinoa for supper Monday, ice cream for our leaf raking reward and 2 pairs of soccer shoes for in a few weeks-just the basics!  As we were leaving Walmart, Campbell noticed that it was sprinkling.  She looked at me and asked "do you want me to stay with the groceries while you go and get the car?"  Wonder if she really thought I would say yes-she probably did, since I had already let her push the shopping cart (something that never happens if you are at the store with a zillion brothers and sisters.)
• Back at home, Robby had fed and bathed all of the other crew.  He said everyone was great about taking their showers or baths.  He ran in when we left so he could get his shower before they came in and soon he even had supper made for them.  When we arrived home they were all camped out in front of the tv watching March Madness.
• Campbell had another bite of supper and then we all had some popcorn before Whitman went to bed.  When we he went to bed, Robby asked the others to put up their kindles-they did but Keaton did not.  I told her "Daddy said to turn off the kindles." She looked right back up at me and said "but I'm 3."  That was pretty smart but it didn't work.
• Tonight as we went to bed, my Reagan caught Robby in a weak moment and asked to sleep in the toy room like Campbell did for a few hours last night (she was acting crazy up there so we put her to sleep in the toy room but Robby did move her back to her bed when we went to bed) Robby agreed and Reagan is sleeping in a room by herself tonight-she was beyond excited. Robby doesn't think she will make it in there all night long-after all, she has slept in the same room with someone since she was 3 years old.