March 19, 2016

(click here for today's pictures)

• 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.