Adventures in Dennieland...: 03/01/2016

March 31, 2016

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We left off last night with me talking about how Reagan had two teeth waiting on the tooth fairy including one with a bit of silver in it with which Reagan was hoping that this would earn her a bit more money. The tooth fairy was out of most of her money since she had helped the Easter bunny fill the eggs. So even though the tooth fairy was very, very tired last night she still took some extra time to fold Reagan's two dollar bills into pretty little origami hearts. And when Reagan woke up this morning, she was quick to tell me that she did get two dollars but "they were all crumpled up." That just made the tooth fairy want to lay her head down and cry!
Graham, Whitman and Robby took Keaton to school this morning. This made for a very, very quiet morning around here and we worked hard. Anderson was even finished with school by 10:30-this never, ever happens. I was a bit worried when Graham came home. I was sure that he would fall apart when he realized that his brother and sisters were almost finished with their school but he put his head down and got his work accomplished. Now I just have to figure out a way for Robby to stay at home and then leave the house with Whitman, Graham and Keaton for a few hours every morning-that would probably be bad for our finances but good for Sonic's bottom line.
Hot dogs for lunch and then a few chores. Then we all played a game of Uno-I won! Then the kids had some kindle/movie time while I was on the treadmill. Soon Nonna and Pops brought Keaton home. They had picked her up from school and then Keaton and Nonna spent the afternoon cleaning up the toy room. Keaton was very happy to bring everyone a little snack which they gobbled up.
When Nonna and Pops left, we all loaded up along with a car load of my garage sale stuff and headed to Dana's house to drop it off. The kids enjoyed shopping and I spent quite a bit of time putting back the things that they wanted. Then we headed to go and pick up a pizza.
We had coupons for the pizza and of course we left those at home, so we had to run home to get those-it was kind of on the way, kind of. The kids were happy to all have their little pizzas (thanks to that found coupon).
Once at home, we cleaned the van and the kids played outside until it was their turn in the shower. Then the kids and I worked on ideas for their April Fool's pranks before going to bed. The boys did smuggle some tape to their beds tonight-here's to hoping that they don't tape each others eyes closed!

March 30, 2016

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One day you mention the possibility of boarding school to a child and the next morning they are emptying trash cans and folding laundry at 7:05. I thought that my little boarding school threat fell on deaf ears but apparently it did not. Now, I am fully aware that there were ulterior motives-the sooner they finished their chores they know that they have a few minutes to play on their kindles before we leave for Bible study.
Due to the hard work of some of my kiddos, we were able to knock out our chores before leaving. Bible study went well and Keaton (and all the others in her class) received a sweet little note from her teachers saying that they noticed how kind, caring and how well she shares with her friends.
When we were leaving Bible study the kids were thrilled because we were headed to a park (or even Candice's backyard) but before we could get in the car, it started raining and we all had to head to Rock Creek. Don't get me wrong, we love Rock Creek but it seems like we have been there a lot lately and the kids just want to be outside to play and run. The first thing they did today there before even eating was to play a game of Uno.
The rain began really falling during our time there and when it was time to leave, it was a monsoon. Sara and I stayed with Candice's kids while she got her car, then she took Sara to her car while I stayed with Sara's kids and then Sara stayed with my kids while Candice took me to my car (it really does take a village). As I was getting out of Candice's car, I could not open my car door for anything-my silly key clicker would not work at all. I was drenched by the time I opened my door the old fashioned way!
I really did debate going to see Beebee since we missed last week but as soon as I had almost decided to go, it rained even harder on me so we did head home. The kids had a restful afternoon and I did nothing at all and it was pretty wonderful.
When it was time to leave tonight for church, it again poured like crazy. The kids didn't even want to watch a movie or listen to their music in the car-they just wanted to watch the rain. It was craziness when we dropped off the big 3 (their classes start 15 minutes earlier than ours)-but I did love seeing one of the preacher men standing under the awning helping folks get into the building.
We survived the evening and then back at home the kids had a cupcake before bed. Reagan did loose another tooth today so she is staying awake waiting to catch the tooth fairy.

March 29, 2016

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When I went to wake up the girls this morning, Campbell and Reagan were snuggled up in the same bed. I asked why and Reagan said that Campbell was scared and Campbell added that Reagan wouldn't let her go downstairs to our room. We don't have monitors in the kids' rooms anymore so no telling what all happens up there during the night.
Today was Keaton's first day back at school after spring break. She had laid out her clothes and when I saw them, I thought "well, not exactly what I would pick but she is only 4 for a little bit." But when Reagan saw her she said that she needed to change and when Robby looked at my little pinkalicious he decided that she needed to change to. I quickly found her a shirt and she was fine with her new look.
When her and Robby headed to school, the rest of us started on breakfast-muffins, fruit, eggs, yogurt-sounds pretty healthy but my, what a mess it made. Then it was on to school today. It went more smoothly today but not yet back to the calm we had before spring break.
Lunch and then the drama really started. I passed out chores as always and somehow during the laundry folding, everything fell apart. After staying on Whitman to potty all day long (we just have to work on the pooing because it ain't happening), I was tired and quickly had had enough. I sent the kids to their rooms and finished the rest of their chores myself.
I was in no hurry at all because with the 4 bigs in their beds and Whitman watching a movie, the house was quiet and peaceful. I probably should have taken a nap instead of cleaning the kitchen, folding the laundry, picking up pieces of train tracks and getting school ready for the next day. I did finally get lonely and went upstairs to get my people-I did tell them that if they were not able to quickly and happily do he laundry, then I would just start doing it all myself...except if I am the one doing all of the laundry, then I will pick out all of the clothes that everyone wears. The boys were fine with this idea but the girls were most definitely not!
The kids all had a fine afternoon-they all did seem very helpful (probably afraid I would send them back to their beds.) At 5, we loaded up to go and meet Keaton and Robby. He had picked Keaton up from Grannymom's house and met us at Mellow Mushroom. We ate and ate some more and then walked to Kroger to find some bargains (not really, but we did have fun looking around.)
Then it was home to eat our peep cupcakes that we bought from the store. I hadn't taken pictures of the kids today and went around taking their pictures while they ate. I tried to get Whitman to look at me, I talked and bribed and got nothing. Then Reagan walked by and hollered some nonsense phrase at him and he just grinned! That stinker!

March 28, 2016

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Everyone morning of spring break, at least one of my kids were awake by 7:20 but today, on the first day back to school, no one was awake until 7:45. That would have really made me crazy if I had woken up at 6 like I should have but since I was in bed still at 7:45 it just was ironic! We will do better tomorrow (I hope!)
We were able to start school at a decent time after our breakfast of fruit salad, boiled eggs and cereal. I know that I have said this before but cereal is not the best Monday morning breakfast since somehow those pieces of cereal ends up all over this house. I guess it is good that Monday is vacuuming day.
School went as well as could be expected. I am now counting down the weeks/days/hours until our summer break. The kids are all finished with their spelling books and we are just reviewing those so that does make the day a bit easier.
For some reason, Whitman was in a mood today and made a mess of everything and everywhere he went. He did do well pottying today and only had one accident. Probably because my patience was gone and whenever he sat on the potty, my exact words were "pee pee or I will spank you." Listen, it worked and I never had to spank the boy (for that not pottying at least!)
Lunch was at home and then we spent a good while cleaning up all of the messes Whitman made today. He had dumped every box of toys in the boys room out today and I had just read an article about why toddlers dump things last night and I even thought to myself "boy, I am glad that Whitman doesn't do that."
The afternoon was spent with the kids watching tv some while I was busy around the house. It did seem like the afternoon sped by because before I knew it, Robby was loading the girls up for soccer practice. I brought the boys at 6:30 and took the girls home. I was able to watch a bit of everyone's practice and thought things were going well.
Reagan said that she has one girl on her team that doesn't want to play at all. I told her that she might have to play the whole game then and she said that would be great because she wants to play the entire time. Graham said that he has 4 kids on his team that listen and 2 that do not listen. Robby said that he has more than that on his team that do not listen. Anderson seemed to enjoy his practice. Robby did say that Keaton might be a bit timid during the game but at least she will stay on the field and I am already starting to encourage Campbell to play hard and expect to be in the entire game.
I brought the girls home and dumped them in the shower and as soon as the boys walked in the door, I started taking their shirts off and shoving them in the shower too. Layne was having her birthday down the road so we went to wish her happy birthday and eat some of her birthday cheesecake.

March 27, 2016

Happy Easter!

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At 7:02, a chorus of 5 voiced walked into our bedroom and not so quietly proclaimed "Happy Easter!" They then all laid down on our bed (we really need a king size bed) and we held them off from their Easter baskets for about 6 more minutes.
Robby did go and wake up poor sleeping Whitman so he could be in on the Easter basket action. Then we passed out the much anticipated baskets. Now, growing up we didn't get an Easter basket but did have a chocolate Easter bunny and candy at our spot in the kitchen but somehow my kiddos have ended up with baskets (same thing with Christmas stockings-I didn't have them growing up and turned out just fine but for some reason I started doing them with the kids.)
My kids were so excited about their baskets and tore through them. Here is the rundown of what was in the Dennie Easter baskets: a light up bouncy balls that the girls found and asked me to put in, chocolate Easter bunnies, a bottle of orange juice, 4 tiny coke cans that had Avenger characters on them, a honey bun (Robby said that it was the knock off version of a honey bun and not the real thing.), new socks and the most exciting Easter basket item was new underwear for everyone.
The kids all ate their honey bun and drank their oj for breakfast and then we all donned our Easter clothes. Robby took the mandatory Easter picture on our bench and the kiddos looked pretty cute. We then flew out of the house in two different cars to make it to church on time.
Reagan had to help lead music in Sunday school so her and Robby were in the first car. My car left a few minutes later after a quick clean of downstairs. At church I was immediately shocked at the cars there-I believe that all of the regulars heeded the preachers urging and parked in the back because it was crazy back there. We did find spots near each other and Robby helped us in the building.
Once inside, we made the grandparent rounds and then found some seats way, way up front. Like we were so close that if Dave would have spit, it would have gotten in our eyes. But thankfully we stayed dry and enjoyed the wonderful Easter service. Then it was on to Sunday school.
Robby headed home to get things ready at home for Easter lunch and in our class, Amber asked the kids what their favorite Easter candy is or what one thing they had in their Easter basket. Anderson quickly told about his chocolate bunny but then when I added that everyone in my house had socks and underwear in their baskets, the boy turned bright red.
After Sunday school, I collected my kids and fought the traffic in the parking lot and made it home just before Dana and her crew arrived. We then had our Easter lunch-ham, fruit salads, deviled eggs, squash, green bean and corn casseroles, potatoes and rolls. The meal was topped off with two different bunny cakes and a carrot cake.
The kids were not to impatient and quietly waited as we "hid" the eggs-the yard is big but hiding a few hundred eggs really just involves dropping them carefully around the entire yard. When it was time to take off, the kids scattered and all went different directions. I stayed with Whitman-redirecting him to pick up more eggs but every time Anderson and Cash would run by, they would throw a few eggs in his basket.
When all of the eggs were picked up, we headed in for the kids to open and see the loot they had collected. After stuffing the eggs with 3 bags of candy and barely making a dent in the eggs, I started putting in stickers, hair rubber bands, erasers and finally money and everyone ended up with 4-7 dollars when it was all said and done. That is a lot of eggs to collect when their were only 5 with dollar bills and the rest had change (2 cents to 25 cents).
After egg hunting, Pops and Nonna ran out to see Beebee and everyone else stayed for a bit. When they all left, Pops and Nonna came back and picked up their dishes and then headed home. Keaton and Campbell were still playing outside so I watched them until they came in-and yes, Keaton was still wearing her Easter dress and her new pantyhose and even though we had seen her up in the tree house and carrying dirt around, her pantyhose survived and her dress was just a bit dusty. I did finally make her change clothes and she put on all pink-such a diva.
Robby and I took a nap and then we started on supper, showers and then snacks for the kids. Supper was kind of light because we were still full from lunch but their snack was our regular Sunday ice cream. After eating their ice cream, it was bedtime for all of my Dennies.

March 26, 2016

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It was around 11 last night when we heard Graham calling us from upstairs. He couldn't go to sleep. I had him come downstairs for a few minutes and then tucked him in once again. This time I did help him put his head on the other end of his bed-it does always work for his daddy.
I thought this had worked until around midnight we laid down to go to sleep. We heard someone slowly opening our bedroom door. I crossed my fingers that it was just one of the kids and indeed it was that little thinker. No telling what he was busy thinking about last night but it had kept him up for a little bit. His head was wet with sweat so I am sure that he had been to sleep at least for a few minutes. I made him a pallet beside our bed and within seconds I could tell that he was already asleep. Robby whispered to me that even though he was still up at midnight, he would still be the first one up.
And yes, as soon as my alarm rang he was sitting up asking my why I wasn't getting out of bed. I told him that I planned on hitting snooze at least 2 more times before anyone got up. So he laid back down but I could tell he was crazy antsy ready to wake up. Anderson was downstairs pretty early and looked down at his brother and compassionate-lessly said "what is he doing in here?"
This morning everyone was up early because we were headed to pick up doughnuts and then Grannymom and Grandpa. Robby had promised the kids doughnuts to end our spring break on a sweet note and they did not disappoint this morning. Shipleys is really the favorite of all the Dennies and the chocolate filled is my absolute favorite (in case you ever need to bring me a little sweet treat.)
After picking up Grannymom and Gradnpa, we headed to Mt. Nebo state park. We had never been there and wanted to check it out. The drive wasn't too long and the kids stayed fairly distracted with the movie and a few snacks. Our first stop was at an overlook and I made sure to hold on to Whitman since we were on the side of a cliff. My poor Anderson could hardly enjoy the trail at Pinnacle mountain the other day because he was paranoid about Whitman falling down. So I made sure to keep close to Whitman so Anderson could relax.
Next stop was the visitors center and we did a short little hike, well, we really just walked a tiny bit of the hike. I would like to return and walk the Bench Trail but we didn't have time for a 4 mile trail today because the little girls had an Easter party to return home too.
Before we headed back down the mountain, we let the kids play on a playground for a few minutes. Then we traversed down the multiple switchbacks and ended up at Whataburger. Robby went in to order our food and came back out with a huge box filled with hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. This did make the drive home go much more smoothly!
Once at home, Keaton and Campbell changed their little clothes and we headed to Aiden and Ryan's Easter egg hunt. This is at least the 4th year that we have been there and my girls acted so timid walking in but they quickly warmed up and were very happy to be running around. The first activity was eating and the girls loved all of the cute Eastery food. Then they played a pin the tail on a bunny game followed by the long awaited Easter egg hunt.
The kids all lined up and were ready to hunt eggs-I think I heard they had 250 eggs but they were gone in no time at all. Campbell stayed by the house and picked her eggs out of the bushes. Next up was a mandatory group picture and then my girls politely told their hosts thanks for inviting them.
Back at the house, Grannymom had even showed up to help with a bit of last minute yard work. They all worked on the soccer field some and Robby said that Graham and Reagan worked really hard. Anderson was distracted by some neighbor kids over playing basketball but then did work pretty hard. Whitman had slept most of the time but did enjoy his time outside.
When we returned home, we stayed outside while Robby finished up. I played ball with the kids and once, while I was trying to be like the kids, tackled Graham to get the ball. I pushed him to the ground and then laid on top of him and then I heard him crying. I started trying to get him up while asking what was wrong and apologizing at the same time-and then that boy started laughing. So then I really knocked him down and tackled him and before we could get ourselves up, Whitman was laying on top of us and we were both hysterically laughing.
Once we all headed in, the kids took turns showering while helping with chores. We cleaned this place up and were soon waiting on our food to arrive. Robby had a gift card to Chef Shuttle and used it tonight so our food arrived from On the Border. While we waited, Campbell and I made all of our food for tomorrow and put it in the fridge for Robby to cook when he comes home tomorrow.
Tonight I was in the restroom and Campbell came to the door and stared talking to me. She said "you can keep doing your business, but why does it take grownups so long in there." I said that it doesn't usually take me too long and she agreed and then asked "do you think that it takes Daddy so long because he trying to get away from us?" I sat there thinking that I am not sure why hiding in the bathroom works for Robby but does not for me since I was sitting there talking to both little girls and no one ever seems to talk to Robby while he is in the bathroom.
Our food arrived and it was quickly gobbled up. Then the kids waited at the table while we cleaned the table and the girls fingernails dried (I had to do some touch up work tonight.) Then we dyed our Easter eggs. On Reagan's first Easter, I kept her up so she could dye eggs after Robby returned home from participating in The Kingdom (click here for those pictures) It was just about as late tonight when we were dyeing our eggs this year.
Reagan could spend forever on her eggs and Campbell and Graham are close behind her. Keaton and Anderson were quickly finished and so was Whitman. I am sure that his Sunday school teachers will know exactly what he did tonight since his hands are bright blue. I guess it is better than his mouth being bright blue-before we started on the eggs, he did put one of those egg drying tablets into his mouth but he quickly spit it out as Robby and I were hollering at him.
After the eggs were dry, we put Whitman in bed and headed upstairs. Tonight we did our Resurrection Eggs and I had the kids each look up a verse and read it before opening up the eggs. This was a bit different than usual so they enjoyed it. Then it was finally bedtime for my crew and time for us to clean the kitchen and stuff Easter baskets.

March 25, 2016

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Last day of spring break and most of the morning was spent switching over the girls clothes. It didn't take too long at all to make those switcheroos. I was a bit tired of dealing with clothes so I didn't really probably do the best job possibly-Keaton's drawers are still stuffed full and Reagan has hardly any Sunday clothes but they were pleased with new summer clothes and I was pleased to be finished with this task.
It was 11:30 when we finished and Reagan asked if she could make lunch, so of course I let her. She ended up asking everyone what they would like in their lunch so as you can imagine, the kids lunch today was extremely healthy. Ha! It was actually pretty decent and for dessert Reagan went all out. She hid everyone a few Easter eggs with some candy in them and they all had to find their own color eggs.
After the eggs were all found, I painted the girls finger and toe nails. I really should do this more often since they love it. I think that their toenail polish managed to stay on but Campbell and Keaton's fingernail polish was almost all gone tonight.
Once their nails were dry, Graham asked if we could have a nerf gun battle so that is what we did. Everyone was armed and we ran around the house for 15 minutes. I am not sure who won but I know that I did not. I believe that I lost because I am a much larger target than the kids are.
When Robby came home, we all headed outside for just a little bit of yard work. We raked a bit behind the house and ended the evening outside with a basketball game. My kids may not be the greatest at playing basketball but I do think that pure talent is necessary for 4 kids and 2 adults to play a game without tripping and falling over Keaton, who was riding her bike around us, and Whitman, who was eating fruit loops sitting in the middle of the court.
Everyone had showers while I ran to Walmart to pick up few more Easter items and then I can home as the kids and Robby were finishing up supper. I made them cookies and settled in to eat my frozen chinese. We watched a movie and then it was bedtime-tomorrow is another busy day!

March 24, 2016

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This morning the kids all seemed to be up early and were loud, loud, loud. I was already stirring when I heard the little girls starting to fight so I hurried to get myself to them to stop their fussing before it all just spiraled out of control. Thankfully, I made it in time and everyone was able to eat breakfast peacefully.
That lasted for a while...well, until I passed out chore assignments and then that peace went quickly away. Everyone worked well but the laundry always trips them all up. I helped for a bit and then gave up myself and went to the school room to work on pulling out school for next month.
I did spent a good bit of my morning preparing lunch for the kiddos today. I was a cool pinterest mom and put their entire lunch into Easter eggs-the eggs were filled with peanut butter crackers, grapes, nuts, chips, goldfish and pieces of cheese sticks. I was pretty pleased with my cute little lunch and Reagan even commented tonight that lunch was fun (success!)
I wasn't around to see them eat their lunch because I was down the road at Shannon's house doing some freezer cooking. We made pumpkin muffins, chicken enchiladas, 2 other meals (golly, I can not seem to remember what they were), chicken spaghetti, pizza pasta and breakfast burritos. We had lots of fun cooking and cooking some more.
And Robby had lots of fun manning the kids-just ours and Brett. They all played outside and even inside. Around happy hour, Robby did take everyone to Sonic for over an hour. They played for a good while and then drank their slushies on the way home.
They were still drinking slushies when I ran home with all of my new meals to put in the freezer. Tony was starting on burgers and we headed back over there-after I had a shower...Robby said that I smelled like onions!
We ate at the Wilsons and then just sat around visiting (about eating healthy-while we ate brownies) until time to bring my kiddos home and put them in bed. Tomorrow is the last day of spring break-who knows what we will end up doing here at the Dennie house.

March 23, 2016

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It was a good morning though and as soon as Whitman was out of bed, all of the kids gathered around him to help him open up every single one of his birthday presents. They all played games, pushed trains and a truck, bounced balls, read books and worked puzzles and that was even before breakfast.
Day 3 of Spring Break and this morning's activities consisted of going through the girls' summer clothes, emptying the trash cans, cleaning potties, getting school ready for April and organizing Reagan's desk. Yes, we are indeed living it up here at the Dennie house and I am sure that you wish you were right here with us.
Organizing Reagan's desk took much longer than I had thought so lunch wasn't served until 12:30. The kids didn't seem to mind since they were all ready for our afternoon outing but I was the one scurrying around trying to get ready in just a few minutes.
We met Jacqui and her kids at Pinnacle this afternoon. They were going to climb but without Robby, I knew that we could never make it to the top with Whitman and Keaton. They were able to do it last time but Whitman needed someone to carry him and hold his hand constantly and Keaton needed quite a bit of encouragement.
But we were able to play with them on the playground and take a walk around the nature trail before the headed off to the top. My poor Anderson had lots of fun until we went on the trail-then his allergies started acting up and his little eyes were so bothering him. He was almost miserable until we made it back into the car-I sure need to be giving him his allergy medicine daily during the springtime.
On the way home, the kids had a snack and then they played outside for a few minutes once we made it home. Pretty much as soon as I walked into the house this afternoon, I turned right back around to head to the grocery store. I picked up my purchases which took me forever since I am seem to be incredibly slow at shopping.
Back at home, Robby had the kids showered and a late supper on the table when I arrived home. The kids played some but before bed tonight we did let them watch a movie since we hadn't really watched any tv this week (there has been no time at all!) After the movie, they all headed to bed and gracious me, the boys are wound up tonight. I am not sure what they are so excited about up there but I have been up there once and am about to head up there again.

March 22, 2016-Happy (early) Birthday Whitman!

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The kids were all up again in the same order as yesterday and this trend will probably continue for the rest of the week. The first thing that I was asked was if we were going to have a special breakfast since it was Whitman's birthday. His party was today but that did not call for a special breakfast since his real birthday is in a few weeks-so yogurt, applesauce and cinnamon toast was served.
I then had the kids do a few chores-the main chore today being narrowing down their candy stock piles. Honestly, I feel like we do eat a lot of candy around here but the kids seem to always have a zillion pieces in their bags. Not anymore-they were allowed to keep their Easter candy and about 15 other pieces that they picked out. The kids didn't seem to mind too much and the candy they put in the get rid of pile, I picked through and filled some of their Easter eggs to Sunday's big hunt (which I hear is going to be very rainy)
I changed Whitman's clothes over to his summer clothes with Keaton's help. She really worked hard emptying drawers, separating clothes and reading the numbers on the sizes. It took me about an hour to do his clothes and my hope is that I will be able to knock out the girls summer clothes change over sometime this week.
Next up was some work in the school room. I pulled out work for April while Keaton and Campbell worked on their desks. It does sound like Keaton was doing a ton of work today, don't worry, the others will have their turn tomorrow and later this week.
I quickly made it quesadillas for lunch and then Robby came home to work and watch Whitman while the rest of us picked up the Wilsons and their cousins for some fun at Big Rock. Today's spring break activity was putt putt-and I can adequately say that there is no Tiger Woods in our Dennie bunch.
They all had so much fun. The boys played in a group in front of the girls. The boys seemed to move faster at each hole which makes me think that they were improving. My girls struggled to hold the golf club but they also did improve and Campbell even made a hole in one. Everyone enjoyed playing and afterwards we even rewarded them with Sonic drinks and a few minutes at the playground there. Playing putt putt was warm in the sun but the playground was cold and windy so we didn't stay too long.
When we did arrive home, the kids had showers and we turned right around and headed to Whitman's birthday party. We first stopped and picked up some balloons to make it a real party and then on to Denny's for supper. Denny's? Well, Whitman's first birthday was Whitman's chocolate theme. His second was Thomas the train and his middle name is indeed Thomas. So now, year 3, he needed a Denny birthday to match his last name.
Grannymom, Grandpa, Dana, Lilli, Cash, Jason, Nonna, Pops and all of us were there. Whitman sat in the middle of the table and seemed to enjoy his little birthday party. My kiddos enjoyed eating whatever they wanted off of the menu and were tickled that the waitress kept their drinks refilled (we will probably have more than one wet bed in the morning!)
Whitman opened up lots of presents-puzzles, a map of the zoo (what he had requested), lots of orange presents (his favorite color), trains and a big truck. He was so happy with everything and all o the times that we had worked on saying "thank you" really paid off-he happily thanked everyone tonight.
After presents, we had a big cookie cake and he loved blowing out his candles and when we sang Happy Birthday, he would sing Happy Birthday to me! I do believe that he had a very good birthday and left as a happy 3 year old!
Once at home, we ushered everyone to bed and I laid out the presents so Whitman can explore them all tomorrow.

March 21, 2016

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First day of Spring break and that does make me very happy. As I was laying in bed this morning, I thought about real teachers and they are away from their students during spring break but mine are still right here with me every single minute-I wouldn't change it for anything though (most of the time.)
The boys were up early and had a war with their army and pirate men. Campbell was also up early and she just bounced between our room and the boys' room (they wouldn't let her play). Whitman was up soon and the first thing he said was "bear is soaky" and indeed his little bear and his pajamas were soaking wet.
We were inside for a bit this morning and I quickly made a birthday cookie for Whitman's birthday party tomorrow and the kids helped me with a few chores before we all headed outside. Around 10, we all went outside to begin our yard day.
We did absolutely no raking this fall and are having to play catch up right now. We were able to rake the front yard along with all of the leaves up to the tree house so that was wonderful. Right after lunch Grannymom and Cash came over to help.
Cash is a hard worker and his work ethic rubbed off a bit on my Anderson and he worked harder than usual. Reagan and Graham also worked hard trying to keep up with Cash. Campbell, bless her, gracious me, she just isn't much of a worker but I am sure that my parents would agree that I probably was not either as a child. Keaton would work as hard as she could was probably worn completely out. And Whitman probably walked a zillion steps-he would follow us down to "the forest" and then back up the hill time and time again.
We finished around 3 and then kids, Grannymom and I played a short game of kickball. After the game, my kiddos came into rest until soccer practice. My Keaton had her very first soccer practice and her coach said that she did great. Campbell did everything that she was asked so that is a win and Reagan was down the hill practicing with her crew. Robby had brought the girls and I stayed home with the boys for a bit.
Then I took Whitman to Nonna's house and then dropped off the boys at practice and then brought the girls home. My main goal tonight was to finish Whitman's birthday cookie and I was able to do that in the time that I had home before the boys arrived back home with Robby. I rotated the girls thought the shower while I worked on the cookie and when I had just finished, Robby and the boys came in.
The boys had their showers and then it was bedtime! I know that everyone was very, very tired tonight.

March 20, 2016

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This is at least the second Sunday in a row that I have set my alarm at the perfect time but it did not go off. When looking I have realized that the time was set to go off on weekdays only. Good thing we have 6 kids as our back alarm clocks but 3 of those back up alarms wouldn't have been any good today. The girls were all sound asleep when I went up there to wake them up.
Campbell and Keaton have started sleeping on top of their covers so they will not mess up there made bed. That is fine with us as long as they stay warm and they were still all snuggled up this morning underneath their little blankets.
Everyone put on their clothes and then had leftovers from yesterday for breakfast-cinnamon rolls from yesterday's breakfast and biscuits from yesterday's supper. By the time that I made it to the kitchen, the leftovers were gone and I was without breakfast.
Church this morning was wonderful (as usual) and even though I was concerned about this week being our first week with the combined 11:00 3rd graders, it was a breeze since there were only 6 kiddos there.
Grannymom had chickfila for lunch and parfaits so that was definitely a hit with the kids. They were able to play for a bit before we headed home for haircuts. Robby cut Anderson and Graham's hair and then I helped Robby cut his. Now everyone has their hair cut for their first soccer practice tomorrow.
After the hairs were all cut, I laid down with my boots still on and took myself a wonderful nap. It was only about 45 minutes but the best sleep ever! The kids had a snack and just as soon as their snack was picked up, it was time to run around and go back to church
I had a meeting at 4:45 so we all went at that time-Robby dropped me off at the church house and then they all went to Hardees to grab a bite to eat before church. The service tonight was a bit shorter than usual which gave the kids plenty of time to enjoy their ice cream before bed.

March 19, 2016

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This was one of our last Saturdays to sleep in and even though Robby had gotten up early, I had planned to sleep in. We had even given the kids the speech about being quiet until well after 7 and not bothering me until 8. At 6:45, I could hear all of them above my head chatting away. At 7:04, I was summoned upstairs because Campbell had bumped her tooth and made it loose. At 7:12, the piano was being played in the living room and it was not a lullaby that they were playing. That is pretty much how the morning went but I was determined to stay in bed until almost 8 and I almost made it.
Robby even made it home before I had the cinnamon rolls in the oven. He showered and then the kids ate and picked up a bit while I got myself ready. Pops was soon over with Graham who was ready to get back here so he could go with us to the church down the road.
The little church down the road (our second church home) had their annual Easter egg hunt today. This is at least our 3rd year to go-we registered and then the kids all headed to the bounce houses. Whitman really enjoyed the bubbles and the all of my kids absolutely loved the pickle walk (though only Reagan seems to be the only one to eat pickles)
After some playtime, it was time for the egg toss. All of my people played except for Whitman. Keaton was playing with a cute little boy and when he threw the egg to her, she adeptly caught it on her chin. It smashed and her eyes were as big as saucers. It didn't seem to bother her to much after we cleaned her off and she watched as Anderson and Graham were one of the next teams to be out. Then Campbell and the little girl she was playing with were out-they had been in for a while since their egg kept landing in soft grass and not cracking. Reagan and her partner made it to the final round which was moved on to the concrete. They didn't make it far in the round but I guess did come in 3rd place.
Next up was door prizes-4 Dennies won. My sweet Graham picked out a cup that the little girls could use to. Anderson then picked out a movie for them as well and later I pointed out that the book that Whitman won could also be used by them. I continued with saying that everyone thought of others while picking out their prized and Graham quickly shot back, "everyone but Reagan." (she had picked out a whistle)
The egg hunt was next and Whitman was in the first group to go. He would pick up an egg and shake it-if it sounded empty, he would put it back on the ground. I kept encouraging him to pick up more and he managed to get half a bucket full. All the other group went seconds after Whitman started and there were tons of kids running past me and Whitman.
When I realized that Keaton was too old to be in the first group, I started to worry that she would get any eggs at all. I didn't have to worry about that-when I finally found her again, her bucket was filled to the top. Reagan was storing her extra eggs in her jacket hood and Anderson and Graham had eggs stuffed in their pockets. We possibly need bigger Easter baskets.
After the egg hunt, the church had lunch-hot dogs, chips, cookies and a drink. We ate and then headed to the grocery store. On the way there, we realized that our next event was moved up an hour so we split up in the store and did our shopping as fast as we could (current count-1 item off the list we forgot, 1 item we bought didn't make it home).
At home, we threw the groceries in the fridge, used the restroom and loaded back up in the car. Lilli was getting baptized today at another church that has a baptistry. The service/ceremony was short and much to my delight, Whitman slept the entire time (that boy had jumped hard on those bouncies earlier.)
Afterwards, we met Jason and the Dennies at Raymar to shoot off Anderson's rocket. Robby said that after it didn't work last time, he wasn't sure why we invited more people to come and see. But it did work this time (a much more powerful battery was used) The kids were delighted and it was something to see. We were able to shoot the rocket 3 times and each time it went super high. The parachute really worked the best the first time but the other times it at least slowed it down.
Even though the kids liked seeing the rocket, they probably enjoyed playing soccer, football and baseball out on the fields more. We brought all of those items and everyone played something and most of us even went on a walk down to the water for a bit. After we were all sufficiently wind burned and Robby adequately sunburned, we headed home.
The kids played outside until the Trojans started to play and then they came in to watch the game and open up all of their Easter eggs. They found lots of candy, some stickers, erasers and even a few bracelets. Robby made supper-biscuits, eggs and sausage-which we ate after the game.
The Wilsons came over for a bit for some brownies. We spent our entire time together talking about redoing our fireplace. Tony became so excited about this idea that he could hardly stand it. The little girls and Whitman stayed right by my side tonight, as they usually do when they are exhausted. Since Layne wasn't here, Reagan mostly watched movies and the boys played outside and on the xbox.
When they left, my kiddos that hadn't yet had showers took showers and then everyone was put to bed. After Robby finished reading the little devotion, Campbell and Keaton were almost asleep.

March 18, 2016

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March Madness seems to be all around us and this morning it was even happening above our heads. The boys must have been in the final four because they were playing a rowdy game of basketball in their room. It was loud enough that Robby even left the bed to tell them to take a time out.
I made muffins again this Friday morning and just as the kids had asked, I made sure that there were more this time than last time and they were all still eaten. Whitman though did not like the outside of the muffin so he crumbled his to pieces and then ate it causing a huge, huge mess.
None of the kids had to do spelling today so that did make me happy since it shortened our work together time. At the first of the year, I had scheduled each kid an hour to work with me and most of the time we finished quite early so we moved up our everyone work together time (science, history) to before lunch. But I am already thinking about next year and Reagan will lose one thing that we do together but will start something else, which I think will be harder and Anderson will add something as well. This makes me stress that school next year will last forever...can you tell that I need spring break to start?
And it has. Pops picked up Graham today at 11:15 and that pretty much was the end of school here. After that it was just chores and eating. Graham has done about that too-except for the chores part. I believe the he went to see Beebee, ran some errands, went to Chuck E Cheese to play, out to eat and then back to Nonna's house to watch basketball.
This afternoon we didn't do a whole lot here-Anderson played the xbox, the girls watched a movie and then made a few bracelets, Whitman just pottied....everywhere in this house! A little after Robby came home, the kids all ended up outside. They were outside for a bit and when everyone finally came inside, Whitman realized what was happening and started crying "but we were having fun."
Robby whipped up some supper and as soon as he had finished with supper, we made some St. Patties Day cookies. We were just a bit late on those cookies but they were delicious none the less. The kids played some before bed and then at bedtime my Anderson asked to sleep in the girls' room. He said that he just wanted to see what it felt like to sleep in there. Robby told him that he knew since he had slept in there for 3 years but I think he might be a bit spooked without his brother with him.

March 17, 2016-Happy St. Patrick's Day

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I really wanted to wake up early and serve my treadmill time this morning but when I reached to touch my alarm, I knew that sleep was so much more important. Oh, well there is always tomorrow!
Keaton, Anderson and Robby left for school and to pick up a truck this morning. Robby had a few errands to run as well so when we finally returned home, he had lots of school to do. Here at the house, we did school just as fast as we could because when Robby did pull back in the driveway, I was already sitting in my car about to pull out.
I had to get myself to Keaton's school for her Easter party. When I arrived, parents were already hiding eggs so I jumped right in and helped. Then Keaton's class had cupcakes and painted a bunny. And finally, it was time for the Easter egg hunt.
At school, the eggs have to be empty and all solid colors so there will be no tears. Keaton was still happy to find her 10 eggs and afterwards there were a few games to play and my Keaton was the cutest thing ever! She is just the happiest thing ever during her class parties.
After her party, we came home and I quickly checked the big pile of work that everyone had finished while I had been away. Then I refilled the kids boxes for tomorrow and by that time, everyone was starving. I quickly made lunch and we all ate.
When lunch was finished, we picked up and the kids had some free time. Around 3, we loaded up and left to see Ms. Tammy. I had my hair appointment today and so did Keaton. This was her very first hair cut. Tammy couldn't believe it and of course, my Keaton sat there like she had gotten her hair cut a zillion times.
Next up was a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few items-Anderson was on cloud nine because he found some Razorback flip flops. I had told the kids that I would buy them flip flips but they had to cost under a certain amount-and his did!
Once at home, the kids played outside some until Jason arrived followed by Robby and the moving truck. We have been given a beautiful (and huge) piano. Robby, Todd, Jason and Tony moved the piano into our house and had it placed within minutes of driving up. (They are now hiring out to be professional movers.)
Nonna and Pops arrived at about the same time with supper so we all ate, moved furniture around, cleaned up and ate some more. Anderson did leave with Tony to go to the batting cages which he loved and Graham left with Robby to take the truck back.
I did have to put my little girls to bed early tonight because of their antics last night so that led to much weep and wailing but all was well by the time we tucked them and everyone else into bed. Today was a big day here-Easter party, new piano, batting cages, pizza, St. Patties day-my kids must be tired because we certainly are.

March 16, 2016

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Bible study morning so we were up and quickly started on chores and breakfast-sounds so peaceful, doesn't it? Ha! Reagan was the hardest to wake up but Whitman is by far the most fun to see in the morning because he acts like you have just been sitting and waiting for him to come popping out of that room.
We try to leave at the same time every Bible story morning but that time fluctuates a bit but no matter what time we seem to leave, we still arrive at about the same time. My goal is to have the kids all dropped off and me in my pew in just enough time for me to sit down and check my phone for a few minutes before Bible study starts.
After Bible study, our small group met together at a room in the library. The kids all ate and then played a few board games. The enjoyed the time with their buddies but they were a bit bummed that we couldn't go to the park but we will have plenty more park days (actually just 5 more Bible study days this year)
We then drove to see Beebee and the kids were good but the most exciting thing was when Whitman ran out of the door, with hopes of running to the lobby to hide in the pillows, I sternly called his name and he came running back to me. Could my naughty little baby be starting to listen to me? Oh, hopefully! When we left, he did run and get under those pillows and said "I just love this spot."
We were home for a bit this afternoon and the girls and I went through the boxes of shoes to check if there were any shoes for the summer and indeed there were a few so that was wonderful. Then it was supper time followed by our evening at church.
Graham was very happy that he had earned over 100 bucks in his group, Anderson told us all about his group practicing Bible drill, Campbell and Keaton were very excited that they had eaten a popsicle on the playground, Whitman was just happy that we picked him up and Reagan told us all about the kids' choir singing on Mother's Day.
Once at home, everyone had a little snack and then it was bedtime. Tonight when we tucked everyone in, Robby game a big speech about staying in bed and going to sleep because it was bedtime. Everyone said they understood and not 10 minutes later, Keaton and Campbell both started screaming and crying. They had been switching beds and ran right into each other. I am pretty sure they will have be knots on their foreheads in the morning! Oh, my, it took forever to calm them down but I can pretty much guarantee that they will stay in bed!

March 15, 2016

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Just to clear the air-I did heat up a pie last night to celebrate PI day and I did eat every single bit of that. It was a little pie but a pie nonetheless. But I did run three miles today in 31 minutes today so if we would have gotten the kids to bed earlier tonight, I would have indeed eaten another pie (had we had one!)
We did wake up earlier this morning than we have lately but still had to rush around to get breakfast in Keaton before she left for school. Everyone had picked out their own little yogurts for today's breakfast (instead of our normal big ones) but Keaton and Reagan hardly touched theirs. That just made me sad-most food I can finish off of the kids plates but yogurt is just not one of them. I did have my own yogurt for lunch-it was a free one so I picked the best flavor-lemon and zucchini. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. So good in fact that Whitman ate most of it with me.
Robby took Keaton to school and the rest of us started on school here. We all survived but some day I am going to take pictures every 20 minutes of each room in the house during the school day just so you can see the complete mess that the entire house becomes during school. The kids finished their school work and all ended up scrunched in the hallway working on some toy. A trillion square feet in this house and they all congregated in one tiny area.
Lunch was just a bunch of leftovers and then we did a few chores before the kids made an Easter egg hunt for themselves. Graham used all of his candy to stuff the eggs and you would not believe the excitement that ensued with finding eggs in the garage. Reagan, Anderson and Graham made sure that Campbell and Whitman had their share of eggs and surprisingly everyone ended up happy.
This afternoon I kicked the kids out of the house to go and play outside. They were not too pleased about being out there-it was hot, there were bugs, they were thirsty, it was windy-I told them that their daddy could probably get their soccer money back but they said that soccer was different. We did play a game of kickball and Campbell, Whitman and I blew bubbles until I thought that I was going to pass out.
Robby text when he and Keaton were headed home and I rushed everyone in for showers before supper. Reagan was getting into the shower when I heard her scream, "Mom, Whitman poured a box of cereal in your bed." I thought that surely she was mistaken but nope. I walked in and I do believe that these were my exact word "Boy, I am going to spank you...but let me get my camera first!" We eventually had mexican for supper after cleaning up Whitman's mess-chicken quesadillas, rice, beans and cheese dip.
After cleaning up, we watched a movie and I know that Field of Dreams is a classic but goodness, it sure was a weird one. I had as many questions as the kids did at the end of it. Once we put the kids to bed, I stuffed some Easter eggs for next week and then we watched a Fixer Upper-without a pie!

March 14, 2016

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When I closed the blog last night, the second thunderstorm was rolling in and the kids were a bit unsettled. We could really hear the hair hitting our windows so I went upstairs to just see if the boys could as well. I don't know if the trees blocked their hail or maybe the noise from the fan drowned it out but they couldn't hear it-nor could they sleep. They were awake until we went to bed and at one point, Graham came downstairs and even spied what we were watching while sitting on the couch (Property Brothers). Anderson was quick to point out his brothers midnight run downstairs.
The girls on the other hand were just as wired but at least they stayed in their room. The flashes of lightening kind of bothers Campbell so she and Keaton made a pallet on the floor and slept beside Reagan's bed. I saw them all laying there and really wanted to take a picture but getting the camera from downstairs was too far to go! Keaton asked me if the rain was coming down the chimney and Campbell had made Reagan look out the window to make sure that it wasn't flooding because she was sure that she could feel the house floating.
I read an article today talking about what you should do during a tornado watch/warning-helmets and shoes on the kids, sharpie their names and socials on their arm, hanging a blinking flashlight around their neck-seriously, I hope that article was all in jest because my people were all out of sorts from some thunder. It probably hadn't helped that we had the weather on most of the evening but they sure didn't learn this excitable behavior from us!
It did take forever but they eventually all did go to sleep and we were able to go to sleep ourselves. Time change again made it hard for us to get everyone up this morning to start school but we managed and were only a few minutes later than our normal start time. The kids had finished a school box last night so they helped with today's workload and by 11 everyone but Anderson had finished.
We worked together and then started on lunch and chores. Chores seemed to take forever for everyone today. I haven't quite figured out the perfect way to do chores-have everyone stay together and work with me, write out individual chores on separate lists for each kid or just tell them what needs to be done when they finish a chore. Some days one of these possibilities work great and the next day it doesn't. We will eventually get things figured out!
I started working on changing the boys winter clothes over to summer clothes-they don't have a lot so it will be pretty easy and I plan to finish this tomorrow. I was about to get on the treadmill when Robby came home so after reviewing the day with him, I did my exercise. Though my real exercise happened during the day while doing a workout video with Campbell and Reagan (actually everyone else participated too). I did learn the boys are wimps and can hardly do any exercises and Whitman loved copying us. And my other bit of exercise happens taking Whitman to the potty every 30 minutes all day long-he hangs on me like a monkey every time I pull up or down his pants. He did stay dry all day long today so that made me happy, happy! And I can say that I am successfully potty trained-when I hear the timer, I take him potty and that is working for now!
We had baked potatoes for supper and the kids like them as much as we do. Pretty much everyone ate almost a whole potato-Whitman just screamed about "more fruits and vegetables"-apparently a potato is not a veggie to him.
After we ate, we started on showers and then Reagan and Robby left to go and see a movie. He had preview passes to a new movie and they went to see it...leaving me here with all of the other people. We did all watch our own movie, the movie Up, and ate cookies until bedtime.
I know that I am supposed to use the kids' middle names when they are in trouble but I just forget and only use their first and last names. That is going to be my goal for tomorrow-to use more middle names. Just right now, I went to the bottom of the stairs and called for one of the boys to "straighten up this instant" but sure didn't remember that middle name.
I guess the kids know that Robby isn't home because Anderson and Graham have been fussing at each other and Whitman will not settle down and has now had 3 glasses of milk (he has stopped drinking any at bedtime). And the girls are stomping above my head...
I have heard that today is PI day and I am pretty sure that I have myself an apple pie in the freezer. I think that I might just go and heat that baby up-goodness knows I deserve it!

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