Adventures in Dennieland...: 05/01/2016

May 31, 2016

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I was awake early this morning but still not quite as early as the boys. I knew that I had to be up early (for me) so we could start our morning early. We were able to put away laundry, eat breakfast, get ready and everyone did one school box before we loaded up.
We went to Grannymom's house and there we picked up Nonna and Grannymom-Whitman was in heaven since he had 2 grandmas with him. We went to pick blueberries and this was the best berry picking day we have ever had. The weather was cloudy and perfect and the berries were fairly plentiful.
Whitman understood what we were doing and happily carried his bucket. He did put a few blueberries in his bucket but for the most part he ate and ate and ate. By the time that we left, his shirt was covered in blueberry and even blackberry juice. (I am actually fortunate that they did not weigh him and charge me for his extra weight due to his berry consumption!)
All of the other kids did the best they have ever done picking berries today. I assume that it was because the weather was nicer or possibly because they are a bit older. Either way, we quickly filled up my bucket and then the kids happily helped Nonna and Grannymom fill up their buckets.
After our buckets were filled, we dropped off the grannies and headed to the pool. The Kamps were already there and the kids jumped right in. They all played great and I didn't even get around to fixing our lunches until the 1:00 pool break. The kids could have probably swam for another hour (or 4) but we still headed home around 2.
Once at home, everyone helped unload the car and then went right to work on school and chores. By 3ish, everyone was vegging out on the couch until supper time. We ate right at 5 so we could get Reagan to Camryn's house for her birthday party.
The kids still love baked potatoes and supper was gobbled up. The girls and Whitman all went with me to drop Reagan off. Whitman fussed the entire way home because he did not get to go inside with me.
Meanwhile the boys showered, had dessert and were watching a movie by the time that we made it home. My little girls went outside to play and then came in for their showers and dessert before everyone headed to bed. Keaton and Campbell were very excited tonight because they were going to listen to their CD before bed instead of read-it is the simple joys!

May 30, 2016

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I was asked "when are we going to eat breakfast?" at least 4 times this morning before we finally did get out of bed to serve breakfast to everyone. I probably should have just told them to get their own breakfast and they certainly could have done that (not an egg or toast-though that should be on my list of things for my people to learn to do.) Actually, I probably could have stayed in bed until 11 or 12 today if it wasn't for having to feed the kids.
And really, feeding my people is a constant-every single day and multiple times a day do they want to eat. Not just at meal times but in between-no one ever told me about all of this! Everyone was especially anxious to have breakfast this morning because I had some leftover doughnuts from yesterday. Of course, dividing 2 chocolate doughnuts, 4 glazed doughnuts and 10 doughnut holes between 7 kiddos (Cash was here) proved to be quite difficult. Thankfully, I had a few pop tarts to supplement their breakfast.
The kids ended up outside and as they played, we worked inside on our mound of laundry. Then it was time to head to the pool for a bit of swimming and a cookout. Everyone did great today. The big 3 remember very well how to swim and it did eventually come back to Campbell. But Keaton was anxious to go down the slide without her floatees like she did last year so I let her (with Lilli standing right there ready to grab her) and Lilli had to grab her. Keaton was a little surprised that she didn't remember how to swim but because of this she faithfully kept her floatees on and that was perfectly fine with me. It is too cold right now for me to be in the pool and with her floatees, I know she can go where ever she would like in the pool. Now, Whitman didn't need any reminders about how to get around wearing his life jacket and we have been rehearsing for a few weeks now about wearing our jacket before getting near the water and he did remember.
The pool had lunch and the kids must have been hungry because of their light breakfast-they all climbed out of the pool to go and eat. We didn't have to ask them, they just came. But really, my people probably just wanted to get to the front of the dessert line so they could have first pick. After a good while of swimming, we came home and started to work in the yard.
We had 1 small section of leaves in the middle of the yard and we worked on that-even though it started thundering, then lightening, then sprinkling and then pouring on us. As fast as it came, the storm passed and we moved our leaves to the smoldering burn pile. It didn't take too long for them to begin smoking too and soon even though it was sprinkling, we had a good fire going-Reagan asked for marshmallows but we are fresh out of those.
We came in around 6 and everyone cleaned up. Then we had leftovers for supper and the kids watched a few tv shows before bed. At one point, I looked over and Campbell was sound asleep on the couch next to Robby. He took her up to bed a few minutes early and she was so exhausted but I do think that all of my people are.

May 29, 2016

Feed the Need Day!

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This morning I was awake at 6:30 just laying in bed trying to figure out which kiddo would not get the official volunteer shirt. We had been told that they may not have enough for everyone but when I picked ours up, I quickly counted and thought I had 7 (I didn't ask for one for Whitman). Last night though when I went to lay them out, I discovered that we only had 6. Keaton would had been the obvious choice to not give her one but hers was so tiny that only she could wear it. Size wise, Campbell or Graham were my choices on who wouldn't get one so I laid in bed debating who would take the news the best. Finally, I decided my Graham would understand and probably not really care so I went with him.
Later in the morning when I did tell him that he didn't have the same shirt as everyone else, he was a bit bummed but quickly forgot. I did have him a green shirt so he blended in very nicely with us. The kids were all quick to wake up and get ready this morning. I guess that they were even excited about helping out with Feed the Need because when I went into the garage to fill an ice chest, everyone followed me and started to put their shoes on. I had to tell them to all go back in the house because we had at least 15 more minutes before we left.
On the way there, we did stop to eat breakfast. We had all just climbed out of the car when I man asked, "excuse me, ma'am, are they all your kids?" Cate had spent the night with us so I was able to say, "nope, they aren't all mine" but maybe I should just have a shirt made that says "they're all mine."
We arrived at the Walmart early-well, before the truck arrived and we really didn't have a whole lot to do for about an hour. During that time the kids were all able to climb inside of the cab of the truck and blow the horn. This delighted them all-even Whitman. Now, my Whitman wasn't too sure of what we were doing but he knew that he did not want to go near that big truck. I think he thought we were riding in it and this was not what he wanted to do. But when he saw everyone else blowing the horn, he was ready to climb inside himself and blow that horn.
When the church people started arriving with their food the kids would take the bags to the back of the truck and then we would sort it out on the truck. But most of their time was spent in front of Walmart or Sams handing out cards that said what we needed. A surprising number of people would bring out bags of food to donate-most of our donations today were made by non Geyer Springs members. It was definitely hot and I am not sure that I have ever sweated so much (except when I am on that blasted treadmill) but we all had a great day. Little Rock, Benton and Bryant collected nearly 18 thousands pounds of food and Conway collected over 20 thousand pounds of food.
Whitman and Keaton went home with Grannymom and Grandpa when they dropped off their food and Graham went home with Nonna and Pops. Everyone else stayed and they all did really well during our long day. One stranger bought the Walmart people popsicles to enjoy while they were out passing our cards and another person bought Todd cokes to drink from Sams. There are some really good people out there.
We picked up Keaton on the way home-she was tired from washing Grandpa's car and making brownies with Grannymom. But Campbell and Reagan decided that they wanted to stay so in they went to Grannymom's house. Campbell and Whitman ended up taking a good nap this afternoon and so did Keaton and I at our house when we came home.
But by supper time, the house was straight-ish and supper was ready-ish. Nonna, Pops, Jason, Dana, Cash, Lilli, Grannymom and Grandpa all came over for our Memorial Day cookout. Robby had burgers and hot dogs along with beans (made by Keaton), potato salad, chips, brownies (made by Keaton and Whitman at Grannymom's), a watermelon fruit basket (made by Graham at Pops') and ice cream cookie sandwiches (also made by Keaton).
After we ate, the kids played outside until dark. As Jason was driving away, the kids and Robby and I walked to go and catch lightening bugs. We were having a splendid time until Robby jumped 5 feet in the air and said "well, there's a snake." Off I go to get the shovel while he follows the snake and corals the kids including Whitman who get a little too close for comfort. We just wanted lightening bugs but after the snake discovery, we all just came inside to take our showers.
Cash is spending the night tonight so the boys were sleeping in the bonus room and the girls are all back in their room-Campbell is taking her turn sleeping in the tent tonight. I guess I will leave it up as long as it is not a problem. Tomorrow, we are going to the pool-just makes me tried thinking about it!

May 28, 2016

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This was the first Saturday in a few weeks that we have not had any thing at all on our to do list. It was pretty wonderful since we stayed in bed for way too long. Robby did make the kids cinnamon rolls for breakfast and soon Campbell was delivered back to us from her night out at Grannymom's house.
Fairly early in the morning, we all joined Robby outside and started working in the yard. That is pretty much what we did all day long so I guess that the blog could actually end right here tonight but I will try to break it down for you.
Robby and I spent the entire day on the upper part of the yard burning down a huge burn pile. We weren't able to get to the ditch, the middle bit of the yard or the side yard but we did really well. Robby was actually outside until after 8 tonight. (FYI-only one snake killed today. We were raking and Robby said "there's a snake" rather calmly. I was standing right beside him and he was just standing there and not giving me any indication of where that thing was. I thought I was stepping on it! But all was well-well, not for snake.)
The kids spent the day helping (a tiny, tiny bit), riding their bikes, playing board games, digging dirt castles, inventing games and playing with the neighbors. They just had a blast outside but by the end of the day, everyone was ready to come in and have their showers.
Around 2, Reagan and I left the house to deliver shirts to Amber, pick up Cate to spent the night with us and then buy pizza for our late, late lunch. We were gone long enough that everyone was starving by the time that we made it home. We all ate and then the kids went back to playing.
My Whitman wasn't too pleased today. He played for a long while in the "dessert" but then he just couldn't stay happy. He must have just been tired because he was just a fussy gussy. Eventually Robby took him inside, gave him a shower and set him up with a Thomas movie and a drink. This helped and he stayed inside for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Actually, he had moved on to a movie in our bedroom and was being so quiet that we forgot about him briefly while we were putting the others in bed. I fought us going to bed and we had to talk him into it but I think that he was so super tired!

May 27, 2016

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Everyone slept late last night and again I was thankful that no one became sick-hopefully, everyone is on the mend and no one else will become sick. I was just about to wake up Whitman, the last one to wake up today, when I heard him knocking on his bedroom door while asking "who is it?"
I try to make muffins on Fridays but I only had one package of muffin mix so it was just one muffin apiece plus we did pull out some breakfast burritos. After our breakfast, we started on our little bit of school. I feel so sneaky making them do school work while on summer vacation and I love it. It might even start slipping in some of their work for this next school year.
After we worked on our science (I do believe that our science will never end!), we started on chores. When those were finished, I jumped on the treadmill and the kids went outside for about 5 minutes and then came back in when they couldn't find the neighbors.
We ate a quick lunch filled with leftovers and then loaded up to run a few errands. We went to the library and picked up the books that I had reserved and then the kids all picked a few more. I swear we checked out a hundred books today-I know that because I carried them all to the car!
Then it was to church to pick up our volunteer tshirts for Sunday's Feed the Need. Next up was a stop at the grocery store-I usually try to avoid shopping of any kind with everyone-but today, we had our Feed the Need list and went to work on our shopping. We had a budget and the kids helped me buy what was on the list and count how much we had spent. I am sure that people in the aisles with me were pittying the poor, large family after hearing me say things like "we only have 4 more dollars that we can spend," or "we can buy a box of granola bars or a jar of peanut butter."
Next up was dropping Campbell off at Grannymom's house for the night. When she called to chat tonight she told me that she had eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and that is exactly what we had eaten. We had gone to a grilled cheese restaurant and it was fine but we probably should have just crashed Grannymom's house and eaten with Campbell.
Before we did head out to eat, we were home for a bit-long enough for the kids to go outside and play. I am not sure how my boys can become so sweaty in just a few minutes but they were indeed sweaty enough for showers before we did go out to eat. We did have a quick trip to Walmart on the way home and once home, it was bedtime for all!

May 26, 2016

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Our alarms went off at 7 this morning so we could get everyone ready and head to Keaton's last day of school. Not only were they going to have certificates, singing, cinnamon rolls and a play day. It was a big day for my little preschooler.
But shortly after those alarms rang Robby thought that he heard someone call me. I didn't hear but did head upstairs and there I found poor Keaton. She was on the potty and sick, sick. When I finally thought that she was ok enough for me to bring her downstairs, I held her and quickly moved over the carpet to my bathroom. On the way, I did tell Robby that there was now no reason to hurry and then set down with Keaton on the tile floor. It was a good thing we were on the tile because just seconds later the poor child just exploded!
Afterwards, I put her in the shower for just a second and then laid her down by our bed. On Monday she was sick and then felt pretty good but not today. It took her until almost 11 to really wake up and feel okay to leave our bedroom.
Meanwhile, everyone else was already dressed so we did eat our breakfast earlier than usual. Then the kids started on school and we even had a chance to work together today. They morning didn't go quite as we had planned since we missed Keaton's celebration along with a trip to see Beebee, the library and the grocery store (we will make up some of those stops tomorrow.)
But since Keaton was missing her pre-k graduation, we thought that we should have one here. Reagan made her a certificate, found her a trophy and medal. Campbell had some jewelry and another certificate for her. I had made tummy friendly hors d'oeuvres (cheese and crackers) and Robby made a grand speech. As he introduced Keaton he explained that she was the favorite, prettiest and smartest in her class. She then entered the kitchen to the cheers and applause of us all and received her certificates. I do believe that she enjoyed her impromptu graduation and it might possibly have made her feel better because soon she was feeling much better and playing outside.
I didn't give the kids lunch until 1 and they only received their lunch when they knocked on the back door. Then I would pass it to them-they were all too busy working on a sand castle competition and had forgotten about lunch. The girls ended up winning (I had to be the judge) but the boys (I didn't get a picture before Whitman knocked it down) made a pretty impressive castle. I guess we will need to consider a load of real sand after this dirt disappears.
Robby and I went outside to do some yard work but before we knew it, the rain was near. Robby did get a bit of mowing accomplished but had to hurry and put the mower up before he was struck by lightening. The kids and the neighbor kids were all out playing-and getting soaked! I debated having everyone go in but we just lived on the edge and they all had a blast.
After Robby and I had hung up a clothes line for wet pool towels, we headed inside. The kids were already soaked so they probably didn't need the showers that we gave them but they received them anyway. Soon Robby made our supper-pancakes which Reagan things taste most like actual cake than pancakes.
When supper was cleaned up, we watched a movie and then it was bedtime. Keaton is celebrating her last day of school (even though she missed it) by sleeping in the tent upstairs. That tent has gotten more use in the last 2 weeks than in the last 6 years.

May 25, 2016

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It was storming this morning while I was still in bed and it was perfectly wonderful-even hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning, I was not even the least bit concerned about Robby who was wrapping up his water hose during the storm-that is how perfectly comfortable our bed is (and that sales lady said that our mattress was just a "starter mattress" or one "for a teen's bedroom." What did she know?)
Robby left for work as the rain stopped. Before we were practically finished with breakfast, the neighbor kids were out and my people were dying to go out themselves. I told them that was fine but when they came in for lunch, we would have to do our chores, school work and eat. This was fine with them and out they went.
All except for the hour and a half that they were in for lunch, I never really saw the kids today. Whitman has become my buddy since he will stay in the house the most (which is really the easiest for me). He watched some movies but played mostly in his room with his trains and his "castle" (imaginext people).
At lunch the kids worked quickly with their eyes on the window making sure that the neighbors weren't outside without them. Filled trash bags were being thrown down the stairs, people were flying through the house with loads of laundry and I have never seen Anderson do school work so quickly. They only slowed down to eat-leftover pizza and bbq nachos-which they thought was delicious.
So outside today the kids spent a lot of time playing in the dirt. They made a huge moat and while Nonna and Pops were over visiting the kids even tried to make a ramp for their bikes. Before supper time the girls all worked diligently on a sand (or really a dirt) castle.
The kids also spent quite a bit of time playing board games. This is fine with me since it does give them time to cool off-they asked to play inside but after one look at those filthy people, no way were they coming into my house.
Though by 6, the boys were ready to come in but I didn't let them for a while-I wanted to make sure that they were sure they were going to stay inside for good. After they were scrubbed down, the girls eventually came in and it was supper time-tonight the menu was Shannon's fettuccine alfredo, Louanne's green beans and funeral brownies. It was definitely a keeper meal.
Another late meal so that meant just a few minutes after supper and then bedtime. Tonight Whitman was asking to go to bed upstairs...maybe this weekend we will start that.

May 24, 2016

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I woke up 6 this morning and looked at the clock and sighed, "we made it." All night long without anyone throwing up! That helped me snooze wonderfully well for the next hour. When Robby climbed out of bed and said that he was going to go and wake Keaton up, I had no idea why or what he was talking about. Eventually I did realize that she does indeed still have school-only one more day though after today.
Robby and Keaton left this morning and soon everyone was awake and we ate breakfast before they started on their school work. The kids finished their school pretty quickly and we worked on our science before everyone headed outside.
The kiddos played outside for just a bit before I served up lunch. Then back outside they went for most of the day. This is the second day in a row that the kids have been outside for most of the day and my kitchen floor feels like the beach. There is more dirt on the floor of my house than in the dirt pile outside. Yes, I know that I could sweep it and I probably should but there is always tomorrow.
The neighbor kids came over and most of the day was spent playing in "Whitman's desert"-the dirt pile. This made Whitman incredibly happy but when Reagan was completely buried, it did not make me happy at all. Dirt, dirt everywhere.
Around 5, I headed out with Whitman to the grocery store. He was a pretty good shopper as long as I would let him get a few things off of the shelf. He did become pretty excited about ice cream that I was buying. I tried my best to explain that this was not his ice cream-it was Mommy and Daddy's ice cream and when he was a daddy he could stay up late and eat ice cream too.
It was again nearly 8 when we had our spaghetti for supper (we are like big city folk). It is kind of nice because just as soon as the kids have showers, we eat and then it is bedtime!...and then it is ice cream time!

May 23, 2016

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We were sleeping so peacefully last night when Campbell came into our room and said those dreaded words "Keaton threw up." Up the steps we went to gather and clean poor Keaton. She was still standing in the bathroom. I helped her go to the bathroom and then she went downstairs with Robby while he left me with the paper towels and cleaning stuff.
By the time I can downstairs, Robby had Keaton bedded down in our floor and we hoped that the night would go smoothly from there. That poor baby could not go to sleep at all and tossed and turned for about an hour until she had to go to the bathroom. That didn't last too long and we had to quickly turn around. Keaton is my happiest yet worst sick kid-she will throw up and just smile back at you right afterwards but when she is sick, she is really, really sick. Thankfully though once she finished with that round, she soon fell asleep and didn't wake up until Graham had already joined her in the floor of my room.
Graham didn't get sick until 7 this morning and bless him, he was sick, sick, much worse than he has ever been. Both ends and continuous until about 10. But here is the odd thing, by 11 he was outside riding his bike. He still moved a bit slower today and would come in occasionally to go to the bathroom but still, sick as a dog one minute and playing outside the next.
But that was also the way it was with Keaton; when she woke up this morning she was ready to eat, to play and to not lay in my room and rest. I eventually did just have to let her get up and do whatever she wanted and after she held down a pop tart for breakfast I counted her as well. I am sure it must have been a stomach bug but their oddly quick recovery times makes me wonder if they are something bad (but we all ate the same thing yesterday so that really couldn't be it-probably just wishful thinking by me because I don't want for anyone else, including me, to get sick.)
I tried to keep everyone quiet this morning hoping that Graham would rest but he was too busy being sick to rest. The kids helped me straighten upstairs and then downstairs. I was going to make them do their school but Robby talked me out of it (it wasn't that hard to convince me!)
By lunch time, everyone was playing outside so we just had a quick little snacky lunch-mostly cheese and crackers for all of my sickly people. But Graham and Keaton must have been starving because they kept asking for more food. After lunch, the kids headed back outside to play with the neighbors and there they stayed until after 8.
Eventually Robby and I joined them outside to do some raking. While Robby was blowing some leaves he stumbled upon a snake. Anderson was sent to get a shovel and couldn't find one so he did come back with a hoe (good thinking). The snake wasn't huge but was indeed a copperhead-eek! That did spur Robby on to start a fire and get rid of some of our leaves on the lower side of the house. We worked out there until bedtime with only stopping when Grannymom and Grandpa came over for a quick visit.
After showers, we had supper and then sent the kiddos to bed. Hopefully everyone will sleep all night long tonight and this little tummy bug will bypass the rest of us!

May 22, 2016

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Last night I had sent the girls upstairs to find their church clothes and Reagan met me on the stairs wearing one of Campbell's dresses (which perfectly fit her but she has said that she doesn't like and let her sister have). She asked if it was too short and I told her that it was perfectly cute. Wow, her wearing a dress-I couldn't believe it. But this morning when it was time to get ready, I looked around and that dress that she had laid out was no longer on the floor of my room nor was it on Reagan. She instead had her church jeans and a cute top which was fine but just not the dress that I had been hoping for.
Church was uneventful this morning and soon we were on our way to Nonna's house for lunch-or should I have said breakfast. Nonna and Pops had a huge breakfast-pancakes, waffles, strawberries, fruit, bacon, sausage and eggs. This was a hit and the kids gobbled it up and even went back for seconds.
This afternoon Robby and I laid down for our weekly hour nap and even though last week's nap was perfect, today's nap was not perfect at all. The kids' movie was loud, Whitman messed his pants, Keaton had a zillion questions about snack, Reagan wanted to go outside, Graham sat on Campbell, Whitman found a Hulk mask and proceeded to put it on and growl/scream at us until we finally gave up and got up.
Even though my nap didn't go as expected, tonight still turned out to be fun. This was the Upward soccer celebration and the kids were very excited. The entertainer was the same one as last year (and possibly the year before). He was entertaining-though Keaton did lean over to Robby half way through and say "he just keeps doing the same thing over and over" which was very true. Robby and I stayed happy as long as we didn't have to go up on the stage and thankfully we were not called on.
Afterwards, the kids were given their soccer balls and everyone had a snow cone. When they had finished their snow cones, we took our 6 blue and red lipped kiddos to go and eat at Dickeys. Sundays are kids eat free so how could we pass that up?
As Reagan was eating her ice cream tonight, she looked around and said, "Snow cones and ice cream all in one night, where are my parents?" It was a pretty good night for my crew!

May 21, 2016

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Last soccer day at Raymar so we were up early this morning-not as early as we probably should have been but still early. We had about 10 minutes left before we needed to load up, I was getting myself dressed and doing the girls' hair and I hollered at Robby, who didn't hear me, to please not let me forget Whitman. Graham and Campbell had slept over at grandparents so we were already down a few kids and I was a bit afraid that I would forget about the one who was still happily sleeping. Whitman must have sensed this because within seconds he was knocking on his door saying "let me out."
The original plan was for Robby to run into the grocery store before the games but since we left about 5 minutes later than planned, we didn't think we had time for the store (and ran there between games instead). When we made it to the fields, Campbell and Graham were both there and happy to see us.
Campbell and Keaton played first. My Keaton did a cartwheel as she ran out of the tunnel and was very proud of herself. The team that they were playing today were giants-seriously, they were all as tall as Campbell but fortunately for us, they weren't too good at all. Our little team of 4 pretty much dominated the game even though the score did not reflect that. Campbell ran and ran and ran during the game and Keaton would really kick the ball hard. It was a great game for them to finish the season with because they all played super hard the entire game.
Next up was our doughnut run-Dale's in Benton today. It was pretty good but Shipley's is still the favorite of ours. Reagan and Graham were the next games. I walked over to see Graham play during the first period-I looked on the field and he wasn't there. I looked on the bench he wasn't there. I guess that Robby saw me looking around confused and shouted at me that he was playing on another field. The other field was short players so Robby was sending one of his players over each period. I was able to see Graham score a goal on that side and this was the only goal scored by his team today.
I only watched him play 2 periods. Reagan really notices who is watching her games and I wanted to make sure she had a crowd to cheer for her. That girl was on fire today-she scored at least 3 and the other coach was shouting at his players to "stay with number 23." Reagan said that she heard him say that and "it made her feel good." Her team won their game and I believe the score was at least 6-1.
We all had lunch under the pavilion and then headed to watch Anderson's team play. They are always entertaining and Anderson almost scored a goal but he ran his little heart out. His team won as well but I think he was more excited about passing out a snack to his teammates.
After the games, the kids helped pick up the fields and flags. Then we rewarded everyone with Sonic drinks and some time to play on the playground at Sonic. Once we made it home, we cleaned and cleaned out the car. It is so clean now that I feel that we should be going on a trip.
But we didn't go on a trip-we just played outside. I finished cleaning up inside while Robby did just what he wanted to do on a Saturday afternoon-cut down a tree (not!) A tree near the house is dead and has been dead but today a good bit of it fell while we were gone so neighbor man cut the tree down and Robby spent the rest of the afternoon cutting up the tree and picking up limbs.
When we finally finished that job, we headed in for showers and a sandwich supper. We let the kids finish watching a documentary (wild and crazy Saturday night for us!) and then it was bedtime for the crew!

May 20, 2016

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We have now completed the first full week of our summer vacation and I think that I really, really like summer. It might just be my favorite time of the year and possibly we will continue our summer schedule forever and give up our normal school days. (kidding about giving up school-kind of!) We all pretty much slept until 8, had biscuits and jelly for breakfast, did a bit of school, played a game, did some chores and were outside by 11.
The kids started their Sorry game yesterday but only played a tiny bit of it then and even less today. We have been pretty diligent about locking the game up in a room away from Whitman and taking pictures of it each time they finish. Maybe we can sit down tomorrow and finish it but since Whitman has now moved (possibly hidden) all of the pieces who knows what we will do.
At 1, we loaded up and headed to Nonna's house to drop off Campbell. This was her turn to spend the night at Nonna's house and also her turn to spend the night with Grannymom. When Grannymom wrote to ask about getting Campbell tonight, I was busy texting her and wiping a bottom and guess what happen to my phone. Yep, right in the potty but it only took me less than a second to throw the pottyer off of the potty, grab my phone, rip off the case and start drying it with pottyer's undies (they were the closest thing I had). Let's just say that the commotion coming from that bathroom caused all of my people to come and check on us. My phone and my hands were then disinfected multiple times over the next few minutes and thankfully my phone survived this little ordeal.
After we dropped of Campbell, we went to see Beebee. She was in good spirits and the kids had brought a game to play which helped some. When we were leaving, Beebee did say "Whitman only got 1 spanking while he was here so he did pretty good." I'll agree with that.
Next up was dropping off Graham with Grannymom. Since Campbell was taken, Grannymom had to take the next in line-Graham. He was so excited to learn that he was going to get a night out of the house.
When we came home, the kids spent pretty much the rest of the day outside. Whitman would come in and then go back out. They were all outside when Robby came home and we played a bit of baseball before heading inside. Reagan and Keaton convinced us to let them make nachos for the kids. So they ate their supper while watching a movie and now, Anderson is sleeping on the floor in the girls' room and Keaton and Reagan are sleeping in a tent in their bedroom. Now, usually on a Friday night (or any other night of the week) I would be preparing myself for ice cream but not tonight-we are all out! Eeek!

May 19, 2016

(click here for today's pictures)

I forgot this little tidbit last night. After the ice cream party, the kids played out on the playground and Robby and I called them to leave. Everyone came running except Whitman who did not even hear us. Robby led the others out of the gate and on around the fence towards the car. I entered the playground and was behind Whitman to get him. Before I could make it to him, he looked up and saw his Daddy and his brothers and sisters walking to the car. That baby of mine shouted. "don't leave me" and took off running to the car. He had no idea that I was behind him and sprinted out of the playground, down the sidewalk and to the car. It was pretty funny but a bit sad as well-surely, he wouldn't think that that we would leave him. I tried to reassure him for the rest of the evening that we would not leave him anywhere (at least on purpose.)
Before 7, Campbell was in our bed but she soon fell back asleep so we laid there until time to jump up and get Keaton to school. Each week Robby has been taking Whitman along with one of the kids. At the beginning of school, they would just run a few errands but over the last few weeks the mornings out have become bigger and bigger-doughnuts and drinks along with the errands. Campbell was the one on the adventure today and she even brought him doughnuts for the rest of us.
Back at home, the rest of us started to work on school and I went to work on that school room closet. When Robby returned, Whitman went upstairs to play on his train track-he has backed off his kindle watching lately and has renewed his obsession with his trains. The rest of us worked together and then we started on a game of Sorry.
We didn't get too far on that because Robby saw the neighbor kids out during one of their school breaks. The kids hustled outside and stayed out there for the next 6 hours. I made lunch and Reagan and Whitman came in to eat, Campbell gobbled her food so she could get back outside and the boys ate outside while playing.
The kids spent quite a bit of time in the neighbors front yard playing board games. They also played a game of baseball here and hours were spent riding their bikes. Whitman spent his afternoon in the dirt pile-that boy was able to entertain himself for most of the afternoon. He did help rake a bit but other than that, he was on his own.
When it was almost 5, I called in the kids to have a snack and load up. On the way to the fields, we ran to Walmart but we also drove through quite a bit of rain. That prepared us mentally for the soccer game that was to come. When Reagan saw the rain on the windshield, she become so stressed out that she would not get to play her next to last soccer game.
We were able to start the game without it raining but soon, it was a good little drizzle. We quickly put up our umbrellas and urged the kids to come under them with us but apparently the only kid that we have with any sense is Keaton. She did try at least to stay dry but no one else seemed to care. Reagan and her team played 3 on 3 with the other team and Reagan's team one by 2 points. It would have been a higher scoring game except that lightening appeared on the radar so the games were cancelled at half time. Reagan was bummed about not getting to play a full game but Robby was glad that he was able to see her play since he is always coaching Graham during Reagan's games.
It took us probably 30 minutes to load up the car. We tried to dry a few things before loading them up. Then we worked on getting the grass off of the kids legs followed by taking off their shoes and socks before they climbed into the car. Then we headed to pick up a pizza on the way home.
Once at home, everyone showered so they could eat in dry clothes. We ate and then gobbled up the brownies that Keaton and Nonna had made this afternoon. The kiddos were tired tonight so I sure hope that they sleep in a bit in the morning.

May 18, 2016

(click here for today's pictures)

It was such a dreary morning that my people were very slow to wake up which was wonderful. And then when they did wake up, they migrated to our bed-first Keaton and Campbell, then Graham, followed by Whitman and with all of those kiddos in bed with me it was sure hard to get up.
Whitman picked our breakfast this morning-his choices were waffles and pancakes or toast and yogurt. He picked yogurt so that it was...yogurt in his mouth, on his shirt, across his face and even in his hair. My boy liked him some yogurt!
After breakfast the kids went right to work on the laundry (assigned by Robby) and then back to the kitchen to help with that yogurt clean up. Next it was time for their school work and everyone went right to work on that.
The morning went by pretty quick and before I had accomplished much, it was time for lunch. I was supervising the boys raising a tent when Reagan asked if she could make lunch. That I certainly agreed to but then I did question my agreement when she served "chipwiches" (bread with chips on it). I was about to say "nope" to her selection when she explained that it was from a book that she is reading so I figured one "chipwich" wouldn't hurt.
After lunch, the boys went back to work on their fort building and Reagan scurried off to read (she is flying through a book series right now and can not get enough of her books-unfortunately she is on the last one!) And I headed to the treadmill. Today was a good treadmill day-I only had to get off 2 times. Once to turn on the air upstairs and another time to ....hmm, sorry I don't even remember. I do know that it was something to do with Whitman but can't remember what it was.
When it was near supper time, the kids put on their clothes and then we had our baked potatoes for supper (I only have about 20 more pounds of them for us to eat!) Church was next and this was awards night. Whitman fell sound asleep on the way there so I just held him during the ceremony. He was fine the first bit (when he was asleep) but then I had to wrestle him that next half.
Keaton and Campbell's group sang a few songs and said a few verses. They were all awarded a certificate. Then the big kids sang a song and also said a few verses. Reagan received a hymnal for her work memorizing hymns in 1-3rd grade. She also received a trophy for memorizing all the verses and a few other ribbons. The boys also received a trophy and a few ribbons. Everyone was pretty proud of themselves but the highlight of the evening was ice cream and lots of toppings.
Once we came home, it was bedtime and the kids had quite a bit of reading time tonight. The boys were pretty pleased-lots of new books from the library and Anderson is even sleeping in the tent.

May 17, 2016

Midweek Soccer Game!

(click here for today's pictures)

Busy day here at the Dennie compound. We stayed in bed as long as we could until it was time to jump out and scurry around to get Keaton off to school (only 3 more days left after today) and Robby off to work (only 30 more years left after today).
Then it was time for everyone else to have their breakfast, start on chores, put on their clothes and work on their little school work. We did this pretty well but at 9:10, I decided that I was going to walk on the treadmill because if I didn't do it in the morning, it would never happen. So I left the kids downstairs to finish up everything and of course they did it perfectly. I was still sweaty and red faced when our guests started arriving.
The homeschool buddies came over today. We had planned on having everyone over today and actually cancelled when the weather looked very rainy today but when the weather looked better we were back on. Jodee made dip, Sara made brownies and Amber brought her award winning ice cream (Nonna's recipe).
The kids played inside but mostly stayed outside. They had lots of fun riding bikes, playing ball (all sorts of ball), swinging and just being with their friends. They all did play a round of bingo and I was able to round up a few prizes from my garage sale box. And I also had some powder to make some snow for them all to play with. Everyone enjoyed playing with a bit of snow and I was even able to save some for Keaton.
After our friends left, the neighbor kids were ready to play with my kiddos. The boys stayed out some but then came back inside. Campbell and Reagan stayed outside until I called them in for supper tonight. I am so glad that they enjoy playing outside.
Whitman did stay inside for the afternoon and he again stayed dry today (2 days in a row-baby steps!) so maybe he will be ready for preschool after all. Speaking of preschool, Keaton received her final report card today and she passed prek4 with flying colors (we weren't really worried though we did have to do some shape studying for a few weeks.)
As soon as Keaton and Robby came home tonight, the kids climbed in the van and we threw hot dogs at them. Last night's soccer games were rained out and everyone's game, except for Reagan's game, was rescheduled for tonight. First was Keaton and Campbell's game. They didn't even have enough players but again they played hard and my goodness Campbell's little cheeks turn bright red!
Next up was Graham on one field and Anderson on the other. Graham's little team still has their head in the clouds but my Graham again really did well and knows exactly what to do. And Anderson scored a goal for his team and was pretty pleased about that. Now, my Reagan wasn't too happy about not getting to play tonight since we have told her that the weather doesn't look promising for her game on Thursday night. And Whitman just had himself a little meltdown during the games-that baby just still needs a nap.
After the games, the kids helped pick up the flags and balls and then we headed home for showers and bedtime. We are pretty speedy with our showers and soon the kids were in bed!...not yet asleep since I can hear footsteps and people running back and forth to the potty but at least they are in bed!

May 16, 2016

SUPER-heroes!

(click here for today's pictures)

Seriously, I do believe that my kids are insomniacs. A little after 7, Graham was in my room asking about his bit of school work that he needed to do today. Reagan was right behind him working on her school work. I know I have given them work to do this summer but I think that I have stressed them out. During regular school days they have 12-15 items to complete but this summer, they only have 3! Possibly they were all in a rush to finish their school work so they could play on their kindles.
But it wasn't kindle time until almost lunch time. We had our breakfast to eat along with cleaning the kitchen. Then everyone finished what was left of their school work before we started on our chores for the day. And finally once those were finished, it was time for them to pull out their kindles.
I spent the rest of the morning organizing that blasted school room closet. I am making progress in there but goodness gracious, I think that I am a hoarder. I know that is a surprise to many of you so to help with my hoarding cure I have thrown away at least 20 pounds of paper today.
Next up was lunch and some reading. We are finishing all of our library books around here and I have at least 50 books to return to the library-which is kind of odd because their site only shows that I have 20 checked out! Maybe I will get a credit to my library fines.
Most of the afternoon was spent looking out the window, checking the radar and looking for emails-we were supposed to have soccer games tonight but the rain made all of that questionable. Finally they cancelled the games and rescheduled them for Tuesday and Thursday of this week. I guess that is good for the kids since they were bummed that they were going to miss their games but their rescheduled games will cause me to miss bunko and Robby and I to miss a banquet at church. But the weather for the rest of the week doesn't look too promising.
When Robby came home we had our supper and then we watched a movie. For some reason our movie finished before bedtime so the kids had some more down time before bed. And would you believe that they started on their work for tomorrow? They also played a game and even played the xbox some. Then it was finally bedtime...and ice cream time!

May 15, 2016

Enjoying a little picnic!

(click here for today's pictures)

Church morning and the first words spoken to me was "Mom, which ones are my clothes?" I am not too sure why my people (the boys especially) are unable to find anything without help. I was seconds away from climbing into the shower so only had a towel wrapped around me when I had to go through the pile of clothes. As I picked up Whitman's clothes, I reminded Graham that his clothes were not the little ones and then I was quickly able to help him rule out any of the dresses as his. So that just left his clothes and Anderson's clothes. I guess it is had to tell their clothes apart since they are almost the same size...next week, I am going to put their names on their clothes when I lay them out for church.
Now, we didn't really need all of this clothes drama because a family of 8 can not really wake up 45 minutes before they are to leave and expect to leave on time. We did manage to feed and dress everyone and ourselves but it was not a pretty experience!
The kids were happy to see Pops back in his row at church and happy that the lady behind us had another bag full of candy for them. Every week she gives them all a full size candy bar-Robby and I even received one last week. Reagan wrote her a thank you note last week and she also wrote Reagan a thank you note for the beautiful card that she had made for her.
Lunch was at Grannymom's house and the kids played outside after lunch. Once we made it back home the kids settled in on their kindles and Robby and I had ourselves a wonderful afternoon nap. Not a sole came in our room and disturbed us until the very end of the nap-that made me a happy, happy person!
When nap time was finally over, it was time to load back up for church. Tonight they had a picnic to celebrate Hughey becoming the lead pastor-hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies and ice cream. Plus jumpies and lots of kids to play with-my kids were in heaven. Whitman kept busy with the jumpies and the boys enjoyed playing ball and my girls did a little bit of both. It was a bit cool but fun was had by all.
On the way home, the Wilsons wrote to see if we would walk so we ran home to change shoes and then met them at their house. The kids played outside while we walked and then after our walk, we had a rice krispy treat to celebrate Tony's birthday one more time. Then it was home for showers and bed for my people-the weekend is over but the start of summer break begins tomorrow!

May 14, 2016

Soccer Day!

(click here for today's pictures)

I hit snooze this morning over and over again but finally jumped out of bed and headed to the showers. Robby was pretty close behind me because soon kids were passing by wearing their jerseys. We had monkey bread ready for breakfast this morning because last night, Whitman dropped a can of biscuits out of the fridge so those had to be baked (earlier in the day he had also broke an egg from the fridge but that didn't end up cooked like the biscuits.)
Today our first game started at 8:30 so we hustled to get to the soccer field. Keaton and Campbell's game was first and my Campbell hustled like crazy today. She really gets soccer-just like Reagan. And Keaton is so not afraid during the game and will get in the mix to kick at the ball. Unfortunately, they lost their game today but just by 1 point.
Then we had our break between games and decided to try out another doughnut place. The kids really liked today's doughnuts but we are still Shipley's fans. Then we spent a bit of time and a bit of money at Lowes while waiting to head back to the fields.
Reagan's game was next-she scored once and nearly scored at least twice. She did get knocked down once and held back a bit for a while. But then she got back after it and was again all over the field. I do think that her goal in life is to now be a soccer coach and a soccer ref.
On the other end of the fields was Graham playing. I do not know what in the world his team mates were doing today but whenever I watched Graham he was the only one with his head in the game. That boy hustled again today-a sweet lady even came up and complimented Graham after the game on how well he played.
Then we headed to the pavilion to eat our lunch. After lunch, it was Anderson's game so we all moved to his field. His team was the only winning team today and his games always seem to be the most entertaining to watch-the boys are pretty animated, the parents are loud, we are all relaxed since it is the last game which all makes for a very fun game.
When we made it home from soccer, I quickly helped unload and then Graham and I headed to Will's birthday party at Alititude. Graham had loads of fun jumping and was exhausted on the way home. One of his party favors was a little bag of sunflower seeds and my goodness, my kiddos have apparently never had sunflower seeds. They were all so excited to try them and Reagan has even asked for some for her birthday.
Everyone at home spent their afternoon outside. They were filthy when we came home from the party. Robby and Whitman had quick showers and then we headed over to the Wilsons to celebrate Tony's birthday. They had made supper which we happily ate while the kids played and played outside! We stayed out way too late since we had to hose down the kids before letting them into their beds. So once we did make it home, we quickly showered everyone and then to bed they went.
Reagan did say that her ear was hurting tonight and even let me put some ear drops and she hates medicine. This must be mean that she is getting sickly! Arrgh!

May 13, 2016

Early week ice cream truck!

(click here for today's pictures)

Whitman was the first Dennie up this morning or at least I thought he was. When he came out of his room, he had been using a stamp and looking out the window so no telling how long he was actually awake before he started knocking on the door while trying to unlock it.
I had just convinced Whitman to climb into bed with us when Graham walked in with a page of his school work. When my Graham is determined to do something he can do it so well. For instance, the kids work on their math facts each day on the computer. Graham is usually a slacker when it comes to this math and this has caused multiple meltdowns (by him and me) throughout this school year. Last week, Anderson showed me a different screen which showed that even though I thought Graham had been doing his math (he had earned a yellow and not a red) he had actually only done 4 problems. I politely explained to my child that was not acceptable and would change this week. And change it did! One day last week Graham only did 4 problems on his computer math but this week he has averaged over 120 problems each day. Also his overall score has gone up and up and up-passing Anderson's and Reagan's scores.
Back to this morning-by the time that Robby left for work, everyone was awake and waiting on this morning's muffins to cook. The kids started right to work on their last day of school while I tried to straighten a few things and pull out school work for Monday (yes, I know it is summer but we will still do a few things each day)
After lunch, we started on our chores and things were going swell for a bit. Then the boys were roughhousing and I told them to stop and then minutes later they were doing it again. That is when I told them to "get out of my house." Those goofballs looked at each other and said "ok!" I saw them walking around the swing and then sitting on the back deck. I was going to let them stay out there until they decided to come in and it didn't take too long for my Graham to come in and ask "what do I need to do?" Anderson wasn't too far behind them and it was a good thing they did decide to come in since we were getting ready to celebrate the last day of school.
Everyone had an ice cream treat and shortly afterward, Whitman just lost his ever loving mind-in 30 minutes that child bit Anderson (drawing blood-I would have to assume that Whitman doesn't have rabies), pooped in the floor (yes, though I probably should have had pants on the boy) and then he knocked all of the shoes off of the shelves in the garage. I have never! Hughey's sermon last week was about Samuel being dropped off at his church house when he was 3. I am sure that he talked about something else as well but that was all that I heard and when I drove near the church on the way to Beebee's this afternoon, I sure did think of dropping my boy off there too.
Beebee was very happy to see us today. Her place had had a big picnic for lunch so she was in a good mood and her candy bucket was filled to the brim so the kids were in good moods. We didn't stay too long because Keaton was ready to leave so we could go and meet Grannymom. She was going to get to spend the night at Grannymom's house tonight and could not wait to get over there.
After dropping her off, we came home and Campbell was anxious to play outside but no one else wanted to come and there were no neighbor kids out either. So she convinced me to come out and do some of my work while sitting in the driveway. That I did until Robby came home and he soon started working on the yard and I thought that I should start helping.
Eventually all of my people came out to join Campbell and so did the neighbor kids. The yard was full until nearly 8 when we finally loaded up to go and pick up some pizza and then come home and eat supper before putting the kids into bed. Breakfast is made for tomorrow (monkey bread) and everything is set out and ready for the soccer games-only 3 games left.

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