Adventures in Dennieland...: 11/01/2016

November 30, 2016

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When I woke up this morning, my boys were already upstairs working on their legos. I had given them a list of items for them to make for Anderson's upcoming party. They were working hard when I had to break up the party and send them to put on their clothes.
I ran upstairs too to wake up my girls and get them started on their clothes and soon Whitman was awake too. I jumped in the shower and as I finished getting ready, I told the kids what to do next-like directing an orchestra (except it didn't sound as beautiful.)
We had time to do our chores (most of them) and then ate our breakfasts before jumping in the car for Bible study. The kids ran off to their classes and I went to mine.
After Bible study, we went to a park to eat our lunch-despite the fact that the wind was freezing. Candice, Jodee and I snuggled on a bench behind our lunch boxes trying to keep warm. The kids had fun though and they must not notice the cold. I did have a few with their shoes off, one had his shoes and socks off and they were even doing something near the water so I am sure they were also a bit wet.
Reagan went home with Alyssa Kate and Caroline came home with us. The kids all spent the afternoon playing. They were inside and outside. During my short nap, the neighbors all came over so I woke to a houseful of kids. They were able to play for just a little bit and then it was time for us to eat supper before heading back to church.
I ran into the library on the way and then it was time for church. I did my games and it seemed to fly by tonight. We were soon on our way home. Robby and Whitman had a big night-they watched some movies, read a bit and Whitman was already in bed when we arrived home. My crew had a snack and showers and then it was time for bed!

November 29, 2016

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Graham was the first one up this morning and was working hard on his Bible study. Soon, I was waking up my littles and getting them dressed for school. Whitman and Keaton love their classes and their teachers so that makes them leaving for school much easier.
I woke up with a scare this morning. I had been dreaming that we were in heavy traffic and whoever was driving the car for us let Reagan out because she had to go to the bathroom. In my dream, I was at Nonna's house and realized that she had been gone for a long time and started to look for her. When I finally found her, she was coming into the garage and seemed upset. She later told me that she had to walk to Grannymom's house to find a bathroom. So when I did wake Reagan up this morning, I gave her a stern lecture about never walking to Grannymom's house!
I told the others that we were going to have muffins for breakfast and that was fine with them except they wanted chocolate chip and blueberry muffins. I already had banana, apple and even pumpkin muffins in the fridge but nope, I still ended making muffins for my people.
Soon after, we started on school and things were going great until I looked out the window. Deer are common out here and we have seen a raccoon and possum or two. Even a few skunks and a few months ago there were 2 goats roaming around. Today, there was a horse in the back yard. The kids all ran outside but they must have scared the horse because he was soon galloping down the street. The neighbors were out and soon everyone had apples in their hands trying to catch the horse-they had no luck but did get out of school for a bit.
When school was finally over, we had our lunch and stared our chores. As soon as chores were over the kids shot out of the house and headed down the road. They stayed there and in our yard until it was time for us to leave.
We met Robby to get gas and then to pick up the littles. He took the boys home for showers and supper and I took my girls out shopping. It was quite a trip! Our main goal was to find a few things for their Christmas lists and that we did-well, kind of. Reagan only found a few things, Keaton pointed out a few things and Campbell liked every single thing that she saw-every single thing. I am now buying her a shovel and Christmas lights for Christmas.
Once we made it home (finally!), we had our supper and then the girls had their showers. Soon it was time for bed for the crew and time for me to do some blogging.

November 28, 2016

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I tried my best to wake up at a decent time this morning but oh the wonderful rain. We did get up in time to get Keaton to school, Whitman to Nonna's house and Robby to work at a decent time. The rest of us started on school work.
Since Graham was one of the first ones awake, he started on his school work for a few minutes and had accomplished 3 of his pages before the rest of us were even awake. This did give him a head start and he was indeed one of the first ones finished with school.
This being a rainy Monday after a break went a bit better than I could have ever expected. It wasn't a completely smooth day but we managed. Reagan and Anderson were the last ones finished with school but that was soon after chores were finished.
The kids were ready to go outside after lunch and asked me and asked me a zillion times. I told them that it had to stop raining first and soon it did. They jumped outside as soon as they were given the chance.
Minutes later, Nonna, Pops, Whitman and Keaton showed up. Pops had bought them Happy Meals for lunch so they were super pleased with this. Keaton had a good day at school and Whitman had been a good boy. The kids played outside for a few minutes and then headed in until the neighbors came out later.
I ran to the doctor for a check up (I passed) and then was home in less than an hour. Robby and I changed our supper plans tonight. We decided to go to Bass Pro to see Santa and look around before picking up pizza.
We had to drop of birthday party invitations at Nonna's house so I asked if they wanted to go and they were soon in the car with us. Bass Pro is just a pretty impressive place. There was no line for Santa and he was happy to see us-even took his picture with Nonna and Pops. Everyone was crowded around Santa all talking at once. They were all so excited-who isn't though when you see Santa? When we walked off from Santa, he did call out "bye Reagan!"
There was a craft to make there and lots of toys to explore. Whitman could have laid in the ball pit for hours but Robby soon took him to look at the fish. The kids all enjoyed climbing over and on every thing they could in the store.
After we had exhausted all of the toys, we went to pick up our pizza. We dropped off Nonna and Pops and then went home to eat our pizza. The kids had their showers and had a bit of time to watch tv before going to bed.

November 27, 2016

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Robby was up this morning with cinnamon rolls in the oven before he woke the kids up. I guess that they were pretty tired since it was nearly 8 and everyone was still sleeping-not really sure why the kids didn't sleep late on a day that we didn't have to wake up!
Church this morning and everyone got off to their classes after seeing the grands. During big church, I was in the nursery and was even able to spy on Whitman for a little bit. He was coming out of the inside playground with his shoes but couldn't find his socks. I guess he had taken them off at the top of the slide and his teacher sent him back inside to find them. I laughed thinking that he would never come out again but soon out he came with his socks in his hands.
Lunch was at Grannymom's house to celebrate Dana's birthday a tad bit early. Grannymom had made Mexican and then the kids went outside to play. They played and played-sweaters were taken off, socks were off and even some shoes were off. I guess that the kids didn't notice that it was 40 something degrees outside.
Afterwards, we headed home. I had a good nap while some kiddos wrote sentences and others played outside. The neighbors came out to play so the kids were out until dark. Then everyone came in for showers and supper.
Tonight, after supper the kids played on their ipads and watched movies. Campbell, Keaton and Whitman colored some and currently I am sitting on a blanket with Whitman-he is watching a movie and I am typing!
It was a pretty restful afternoon and evening. Probably will be the last short blog for a while since school is starting back. the holidays are beginning along with basketball and things will probably get pretty crazy around here!

November 26, 2016

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Robby and I were sleeping pretty soundly when Anderson and Campbell came in with breakfast for us-raisin bran for me and pop tarts for Robby. I thanked them and then told them that they could get their breakfast now. When Anderson heard this, he said, "that is what we hoped you would say."
Robby rolled over and went back to sleep but I ate my raisin bran and then wen back to sleep myself for a minute or two. We then talked about us all going shopping this morning but decided that I would just go and run a few errands.
After that, it didn't take too long for me to get ready and head out. I ended up going to 4 different stores and spent just 30 dollars and that was mostly a just for fun purchase. My shopping trip was a real bust (Robby would disagree and say that my shopping trip was perfect since I didn't spend too much.)
While I was shopping, I saw Reagan and Grannymom who were also out shopping. They then went to the mall for a bit and Reagan didn't come home until 3ish. Graham had spend the night at Pops' house and he came home around 1ish.
The afternoon was kind of quiet around here. The neighbors were out and the kids all enjoyed playing. Then we picked up half of the Wilsons and met the other half at Senor Tequila. My kids were pretty wound up tonight and acted a fool. The restaurant was crazy crowded but we were able to be seated together. Everyone ordered and we had enough food at our tables to last a week or so!
Afterwards, we all came back here and had some ice cream. The kids watched a bit of a movie but didn't have time to finish since it was getting late and tomorrow is back to reality with a full day of church.

November 25, 2016

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I was the first one awake this morning and quietly got myself ready and quietly headed out the door. I really didn't have a ton of things to shop for today but it never hurts to just see what is out there. Most of our shopping arrives by UPS or Fed Ex so it is rare that I do much shopping at a store except for the grocery store (and that is pretty rare too.)
My first stop was Toys R Us and there were more workers than shoppers, next was Micheals and Academy and they were both empty too. Then I headed to Walmart and just did a normal Walmart run and it was really easy. I am not sure where all of the shoppers were but they were not at the stores that I were out.
I made it home right after breakfast was delivered to the house. Then we started on the Christmas decorations. I always convince myself that putting up the Christmas is easier than it is. It took us all day long for the house to be completely decorated-well, we did stop for to watch the ball game.
This is the first year probably since the kids were born that we did put up our Snow Village. We have already taken bets on how many pieces will be broken. And in the kitchen, I have a skinny tree with all of my ornaments that are food or from restaurants. I am 100% certain that Whitman will end up trying to open up the bag of chips hanging on that tree.
Before we worked on downstairs we did let the kids help with their trees and ornaments. It is funny because the kids always get really huffy doing this. Reagan was trying not to be too bossy but bless her, she just can't help it. Campbell was in a foul mood anyway and Keaton kept saying that Reagan wouldn't let her do anything. In the other room, Anderson was in a hurry to finish and Graham wanted things to be perfect and Whitman, oh Whitman was trying to jump rope with a strand of beads for the tree.
Gannymom and Nonna both came to pick up kids-Graham to Nonna's house and Reagan to Grannymom's house. I am pretty sure that they both had a really good time. Whitman asked once if I wanted him to go and wake up Reagan. I guess he never realized that all of the grands came over to get his brother and sister.
Robby made supper while I worked on finishing up the snow village. The kids briefly picked up and soon the house was back in order and we could finally relax. The kids stayed up for a good while but they were excited to go to bed with their trees shining in their rooms tonight.

November 24, 2016-Happy Thanksgiving

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On this Thanksgiving Day we should not have hit snooze as often as we did this morning. It sure was nice though and after I had made sure that the kids understood that they were not to ask me about breakfast, I think that we could have slept all morning long. (And yes, the first thing I said to my people this morning was "you may get a pop tart."
The boys were the only ones up and the girls woke up pretty soon after. When Robby turned on the parade they watched intently. I eventually had to get Whitman because they were afraid that he was going to miss Thomas or some other balloon that he would enjoy seeing. It was fun seeing the parade site, Central Park and even seeing the performance of Holiday Inn just as we saw in New York this year.
The house was fairly straight already but Robby did clean the floors in the kitchen. We had just gotten the tables ready and the kids had started working on their fruit turkeys when everyone started arriving.
For the past few years, the kids have made a turkey out of fruit. It is always cute but watching the kids personalities show while decorating is the most interesting thing. Reagan is the boss and tells the girls what to do. Graham was in charge with the boys turkey. Whitman was happy watching and Anderson would do whatever just to finished with this task. Campbell enjoyed munching on the fruit and Keaton just wanted to help anyway Reagan would let her.
At noon, we cut the turkey (a little turkey breast which I thought was really pretty good) and heated the rolls (Sister Schuberts). Between Nonna, Dana, Grannymom and Jason we had all of the food that we could imagine and everyone certainly had their fill.
It was such a beautiful day out that the kids migrated outside just as soon as they had finished their turkey. Not too long after, the neighbor kids came out and at one count, there were 16 kids in the backyard. They were having a blast-once I looked down as I was loading the dishwasher and saw Whitman standing beside me. He was covered in dirt-hair, shirt, coat, pants, shoes, everywhere-just a sign of a perfect day!
Everyone stayed over for supper and we all passed them time until supper by looking at the sale items. The kids weren't too interested in supper tonight but did convince us to let them go down to the neighbors house for a game of monster (or something like that) in their yard. It was dark out and when Campbell went down the road, she had to have Pops escort her and when Keaton went she convinced Jason to walk with her.
After they played for a good while, we called them in and they all showered. Just as soon as most everyone was out, the Wilson's wrote so we went over there to help them make their shopping list for tomorrow. We were out way too late but did have a great time and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

November 23, 2016

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Keaton and Graham both came in our room this morning at different times and all they could ask about was breakfast. When I said that we would eat soon, this didn't seem to please them at all. Nothing I love more than to start my morning off with lots of complaining and grumbling. They both went to bed with a stern warning about not asking me for breakfast in the morning. Graham said "what if it is 10 and we still haven't had breakfast." I replied that I am an adult and I know very well that they need breakfast and I promise that they will get it.
We ate our breakfast and then we all did our science and history. I figured up today exactly how many lessons we will need to do to be half way in our books by Christmas today so we will not adopt a Sunday science day to our routine (kidding-kind of). That was all of today's school except for the next few hours home ec that we did-also known as learning to clean the house.
The kids helped me clean this morning. I had a long, long list of things to do. First, I sent Reagan upstairs to straighten her room and the boys room. I am not sure exactly what she did but she was upstairs for nearly 30 minutes working. The rest of us were marking things off of the list. Now, my house was cleaned partly by me but partly by my gaggle of children so it looks like it-but that is okay with me.
As soon as the kids were released from their chores, they were outside. The neighbors were out a bit today so my crew stayed outside for a good bit. The excitement did begin this afternoon when our new oven was delivered. My Whitman acted like he had known the delivery men for years. I tried not to put him down because I was pretty sure that he would have ended up inside of their truck.
Before I knew it, it was nearly 6 and the kids were still outside playing. We called them in for showers and a quick supper. Then it was on to the Wilsons-we made sausage balls over there (because my new oven is so clean that I never plan on using it) and then we watched Shannon make our rice krispy treats so we could copy what she does since hers seems to be a smidgen better than when we make it.
We played over there for a good while and didn't come home until after 10. Robby and I were up til 2 last night so I think that I might just be as tired as the kids are tonight!

November 22, 2016

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This was our only school day this week and even though my people weren't too excited about it, they did go ahead and get started with out too much prompting. I do think it was because I let them have poptarts instead of my planned cereal and muffins. (We were out of milk.)
Days that we have Keaton and Whitman home with us are much crazier and much more entertaining. Keaton is getting into the school routine and empties her school boxes and works on all of her school work-until she gets bored and then puts it all back into her boxes. We are on lesson 25 of her reading book. It is really hard for her right now, so we are going to review the other lessons for a few weeks and maybe something will click with her. She just has about nine months until she will be in kindergarten.
Whitman also enjoys getting his school work but he never really seems to want to do what I have out for him. He goes and gets his own work from the school room closet and usually destroys the entire closet in the process.
School took Anderson the longest today as it always does but when he did finish his work he had done it well. I made lunch and the kids and neighbors were already out playing so I let my people eat outside. The kids all played for the rest of the afternoon. They were mostly outside but did come inside during the rain showers that we had.
While they were outside, I could only get Whitman to go out with them once. He spend most of the afternoon helping me cook, looking for me in the house or asking me for a drink. The other day, the kids made a bicycle track by raking the leaves out of the way. Since then their track has grown and grown-now it goes by 3 swings. I looked out this afternoon and saw the girls swinging as high as they could while the boys rode their bikes on the track. To dodge the swings, the boys had to time their bike ride just perfectly to not get whacked in the head by the swings.
Robby came home and I helped him unload his groceries as the kids straightened their messes from this afternoon and started on their showers. We had sandwiches for supper and then headed off to Nonna and Pops' house. I used their oven while Robby worked on Pops' phone and computer and discussed a trip.
By the time that we made it home, my people should have been tired but my boys are still going strong upstairs!

November 21, 2016

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I wasn't exactly thrilled about our early morning this morning. Grace and Cannon came over for the day so Robby and the girls went to pick them up before work. Whitman was still snoozing when they left and the big boys decided that they would rather stay home and play their kindles.
While they were gone, I ran around this house like a mad woman trying to accomplish as much as possible. I had marked quite a few things off of my list when they had arrived. My big boys immediately took to playing with Cannon and keeping him entertained (like I even debated paying them for working so hard.) Grace and the girls started playing in the girls' room.
It seemed really early when they all asked to go outside but I let them and they played outside until almost 10. Then it was back inside and I let them have some candy (Anderson and Campbell made a candy scavenger hunt for them) and watch 2 movies. They didn't even finish them because they saw the neighbors from the window.
Everyone went back out again and by this time, I had finished the laundry, straightened all I could and since there was no reason to clean until Wednesday and we weren't doing school today, I wrote the neighbor mom and offered to cook for her kiddos too. So I made 13 sandwiches (1 peanut butter, 10 grilled cheese and 2 extra grilled cheese), cut up 2 apples (I should have cut more but the crowd was becoming impatient) and used an entire bag of chips. A kitchen full of people is just exactly what I love and I so want kids to flock to this house.
Afterwards the kids were in and out for the rest of the afternoon. At one point, Campbell was a little lost and needed something to do. She had a painting project to do for Christmas so I got her started on it and before I knew it 5 more girls, Whitman and Cannon were all in the kitchen painting. I know that I just said that I want the kitchen full of people but I don't really want the people to all be painting! Gracious me, that is some work but once they were all done I encouraged them to go on outside so I could quickly (and quietly) clean up.
Around 4, we had to pick up outside and head to drop of our extras. We were a few minutes early so I let them play on the playground out back at church. Of course they all love this and acted like they hadn't been outside in ages. After our playtime, we loaded back up and headed home.
We had a few minutes to play before Robby came home. He brought pizza so we all dug in and then the kids cleaned their rooms before everyone had showers. The kids were all pretty tired and vegged out in front of the tv until bedtime.
Robby worked on the oven some and indeed their will be no turkey for Thanksgiving at the Dennie house. The new one is on its way and should arrive Wednesday but I might just pop in to a lucky reader's house to bake a few things before Thanksgiving day!

November 20, 2016

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Our big excitement this morning was when Robby tried to cook cinnamon rolls for breakfast. After waiting for the oven to preheat, he went to put them in and found that the oven was not the least bit warm. Thankfully we had the toaster oven for him to throw the cinnamon rolls in. Soon the kids were dressed and eating cinnamon rolls and Robby and I were left looking in the oven trying to decide how worried we should be.
We made it to church and had time to see the grands before heading off to our Sunday school classes. My class went around a few times telling what we were thankful for and it was pretty interesting hearing some of the third graders' thoughts.
Lunch was at Nonna's house and she had Reagan's favorite meat which hopefully made up for her not so favorite meat (meatloaf) from Friday night. The kids had a few minutes to play while Nonna and I looked at their Christmas lists. Then it was home for a few minutes.
Robby took the heating element off of the stove so Grandpa could test it (it worked which isn't what we wanted to hear) I think that I could have had time for a nap but since Robby wasn't snoozing, I stayed up too.
Tonight was the Thanksgiving meal at church. The kids all had plates and they all ate only their rolls! Campbell did eat a few green beans and Anderson did eat some pumpkin pie. They were all anxious to get inside the sanctuary to hear the music. Campbell and Graham ended up sitting with Nonna and Pops, Anderson sat with Grannymom and Grandpa and the others sat with us. Whitman lasted for all of the singing and a tiny bit of the talking. Then he tried to run down the aisle towards Grannymom and Grandpa. I grabbed him and out he went to his class for the rest of the time.
Once at home tonight, the kids had their ice cream truck and then we even had a bit of time to watch a movie before bedtime.

November 19, 2016

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We tried to sleep as long as we could on this Saturday morning but Graham was up early telling us that Pops was texting him. Soon Anderson was up trying to get me out of bed so he could text Pops back. I had told them that they couldn't text until I was out of bed. Anderson is spending the night with Nonna and Pops tonight and he could not wait to get over there.
Before I did get out of bed, I text Pops myself telling him to come on and bring breakfast. It wasn't too long before we were all eating doughnuts in the kitchen (7:20)-it wasn't that early but almost!
When Nonna, Pops and Anderson left this morning the others played outside for a few minutes. Then the did migrate back in the house. Whitman has a cold and did sit in my lap with Keaton for a good while-almost 1-when I did get them up so I could get up and fix lunch.
Reagan helped make nachos for her and Campbell and I made sandwiches for everyone else. The rest of the afternoon flew by for Keaton and I because we had to leave in the middle for Harper's birthday party. It was at a cheerleading place and the girls loved running around, climbing and jumping. The played with a parachute, learned a dance and even a little cheer. It was cute watching Keaton play with all of her little friends.
Everyone else played outside the entire time that we were gone. It seems a bit cool to me but I don't think they seemed to mind at all. It helped that the neighbors were out as well. Whitman watched a few movies but eventually ended up outside too.
When we came home, everyone went in for showers and then we made a pizza before watching the Hogs play. During the game, I was able to catch up on a little blogging (prepping for my Christmas ornament countdown) and even putting tonight's blog up pretty early!

November 18, 2016

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Since it was Friday morning, we weren't in too much hurry. We still had our school work to do but it was Friday. It really wouldn't have taken much for someone to convince me for us to skip school this morning. No one tried though so after our breakfast, we started on school.
I did skip science and history today which are two subjects that we are woefully behind on. Reagan has finished her handwriting book (mainly because we did it daily on our big trip) so at least we will finish that this year!
Before we started on lunch, I worked with the kids and we finished chores. I knew that the kids were anxious to go outside despite the dreary weather so I made sure we finished the chores. As soon as lunch was over, they asked to go outside. The sky was growing darker and darker so I told them that if there was thunder or lightening that would need to come inside.
Poor babies had not been outside for 2 minutes when boom when the thunder. They all dutifully came back inside and waited out the rainstorm. As soon as the rain became a drizzle, everyone but Reagan and Whitman headed outside. They neighbors couldn't come out so my people worked on their leaf race track (they raked leaves in a trail to form a race track around the yard.)
They did come back in when they got cold. I passed out popcorn and hot chocolate and they spend the rest of the afternoon watching movies. When Robby came home, we dozed on the couch before finally deciding what to have for supper.
We heated up mashed potatoes, meatloaf and bread for supper. It was not a hit at all! Ha! Poor Anderson could hardly choke down a bite of meatloaf and even my meat eater Reagan said that this was her least favorite meat ever. Whitman gagged on the mashed potatoes. It was a good thing that we had left over cupcakes to end the supper on. (Robby and I thought the meatloaf was fine.)
After we cleaned up, we started a movie-Pollyanna. We are reading the book and needed a long movie for this Friday evening. It was indeed long and pretty good. At least the parts I saw were pretty good. Robby napped through the movie but so did Whitman and I who were cuddled up on the couch. It was a cozy end to a cool Friday.

November 17, 2016

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It was going to be a busy day so we did manage to get up and get around; or maybe that's because the Grandparent Appreciation program at Whitman and Keaton's preschool was to start promptly at 8:30. (Some of the kids still beat us out of bed but we were all getting ready by 7:30. It's the little things in life!)
Whitman had a double big day at preschool - he was also having his Thanksgiving Feast. (Keaton had hers Tuesday since they were going to be celebrating Harper's birthday today) Anyway, Robby dropped the two off and Whitman was so excited to take his cheese cubes. The grands were arriving as Robby was leaving.
Back in home, the rest of the kiddos were getting dressed, eating breakfast and picking up for our Home School Thanksgiving Feast. I did mange to get my turkey cooked last night (or early this morning.) Since it wasn't quite thawed last night, I think it took a bit longer. By the time it finished cooking and cooling off a bit, I was crawling back in bed around 2:00 this morning. But I was determined to cook the bird and may never cook another one. (Actually, the kids really liked it so I might cook another one next year.)
Our friends started arriving right before 11:00 and carrying in all the goodies they had made. We had so much food and it was all very yummy. Before we ate, we gathered in the living room and let the kids tell what they brought, how much it cost or cost per serving, how they cooked or prepared it and anything else they found interesting. And then Reagan closed it with reading some Bible verses of thanksgiving. And by this time, Robby had retrieved Whitman and Keaton from preschool.
We had tons of food including my 16lb turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, corn casserole, sweat potato casserole, rolls, pecan pie, chocolate pie, and cupcakes. Several of the kids returned for seconds so it must have all been pretty good. They finished by coloring some turkeys, hanging leaves of Thanksgiving on our Blessings Tree (I just made that up) and even did a few Thanksgiving Mad Libs. Then everyone, including the adults, wandered outside on a surprisingly warm day.
After everyone left, we quickly picked up and then some continued playing outside and some watched tv. Meanwhile, I was trying to get myself together so I could head out for a little shopping by myself. Robby manned the kids late in the afternoon and I managed to spend a few gift cards (my current mission to use up all old gift cards) and buy some Christmas gifts. Then it was Bunko at Ali's house with another huge feast. I may not have room for Thanksgiving next week.
Meanwhile, Robby loaded up the kids and they headed out around 6:00 for dinner Newk's. They all shared bbq chicken pizza, couple of sandwiches, tomato basil soup, 5 cheese mac-n-cheese and lots and lots of crackers! They made it back for showers and a couple of television shows before calling it a night.

November 16, 2016

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I am just not sure what is happening with us getting up in the morning. I know that I sound like a broken record but we used to wake up before the kids and now, goodness gracious it is like we are teenagers. Now, it probably didn't help that we were up until 1 last night. We had painted earlier in the evening but when it was time to go to bed, we decided that we should check for spots and pull off the tape. That took a bit longer than we had anticipated so it was rather late when we turned in.
We were still able to get to Bible study on time and I still did have time to eat my Wednesday morning bagel (my favorite part of Wednesdays). We didn't really have time to do anything else before we left though.
The kids all carried in their 3 snacks-my favorite was Anderson's who came back with over a half a bag of his popcorn leftover. Graham's teachers raved about his brownie with an M&M Africa on top and Reagan's cookie was surprisingly delicious.
Whitman was sitting at the table in his room when I picked him up. His teacher said that he must be tired because he had a hard time during music. Now, she did say that about him which of course meant he was not at all the best during music but she went on with how well he did during craft and story, how he usually does good in music and he is the best helper when it is time to pick up the toys. Seriously, I love the teachers at CBS.
We met Jodee at the park and had Noah with us. The kids played for a good while and then we headed home. I wasn't home for too long when I had to leave for a check up from my kidney stones. I was gone until 5 so Robby was in charge of the crew.
The kids played inside, outside and even down the street. When I arrived home, I scooped up the soup and we all ate before loading up and heading to church. Everyone was tired and hungry when we came home from church so we did have a drink after our turkey lesson.
Nonna, Pops and Jason had come over to give me a turkey lesson on how to cook our big bird for tomorrow. Pops made it look easy and Campbell took notes for her to tell everyone tomorrow how we did it....and I have some lunch meat in the fridge just in case!

November 15, 2016

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Even though we woke up about the normal time, I was scrambling this morning to get Keaton and Whitman ready. It didn't help any that I decided that Whitman should probably put on his clothes by himself instead of me helping him and this morning should be the time that we work on that. Then he told me that he wanted cereal, poptart, applesauce, muffin and a banana for breakfast. I managed to get him a poptart, cereal and banana but we did have to forgo the applesauce and muffin and he was not happy about that.
The rest of us had a smaller breakfast than Whitman. The kids worked on their school and everyone did pretty well this morning. Reagan and Graham did have a disagreement about the piano-Reagan was practicing this morning and singing her heart out and Graham was not pleased about the noise she was making. So he pulled out his guitar and began having a jam session of his own.
We worked together around 11 and then had a quick lunch followed by chores. Then the real excitement started-3 Dennie kids have snack at CBS tomorrow (Whitman had his snack today at school, Keaton had to take apples today for her Thanksgiving Feast and Whitman takes cheese for his feast tomorrow.) Graham had been asked to make some type of snack about Africa since his teacher is returning from there. We made brownies with a M&M outline of the continent on them. Then Reagan started to work on her big chocolate cookie and Anderson and I made chocolate covered popcorn.
So most of my afternoon was spent in the kitchen. I eventually moved on to the living room to start taping for our evening of painting. The kids played with the neighbors and were in and out all afternoon long. The neighbors did have to go home just a few minutes before Robby, Keaton and Whitman came home.
Robby went right to work on moving furniture and more painting prep while I prepared supper and fed the kids. I ate some with them and then they went of to the showers and then to watch a movie. We worked for about 2 and a half hours painting the other half of the living room. And fortunately, we don't have enough paint to work on the kitchen!
We finished just at bedtime and then tucked the kids in. They were all wound up tonight-Whitman told the boys that he wanted 10 animals in his bed and they helped him out which didn't help with anyone in that room going to bed. The girls were just as wound up down the hall but right now, everything seems quiet.

November 14, 2016

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We weren't moving very fast this morning but Keaton had school so we needed to be moving a little faster. I was going to heat up muffins and pull out the yogurt but before I could do that, poptarts were being passed out.
Keaton left for school, Whitman left for Nonna's house and Robby left for work. Keaton had a good day at school and even came home with a birthday present from one of her friends-she has had the birthday that will just never end! Whitman read books all morning long with Nonna and never even thought about watching tv.
Back at home, the rest of us started on school. We had a pretty good day-unfortunately, I just have to stay on top of everyone about doing their work well and not just getting by. The boys are much worse about that than the girls but hopefully they will grow out of it, maybe.
It was around 12:30 when we finally did lunch. Then we all worked together to knock out our morning chore list. I worked on supper for tonight and then straightened a few things before Keaton and Whitman came home with Nonna and Pops.
As soon as Nonna and Pops were about to leave, we saw the neighbor boy outside and Nonna and Pops were able to experience the mass exodus that I talk about. If you are standing in between the kids and the doorway, you could be trampled. They all played outside until it was dark enough for me to turn on all of the lights so they could find their way home.
We threw them in the showers and soon the Wilsons arrived for supper. I went with Shannon to take Brett to basketball practice on the other side of town. When we made it back, it was time to eat. Robby had been having to hold the kids back from the soup and was thankful that he had some cheese and crackers for them to munch on while they waited on us.
We ate and even had some apple pie and ice cream while the kids watched a movie. When it was time for them to go and pick up Brett, Whitman really wanted to ride with them. When they did come home, Robby was carrying Whitman who was sound asleep-he had a big day and was just exhausted.
When the Wilsons left, we scurried the kids into bed and then we sat down to work on a few things before heading to bed ourselves.

November 13, 2016

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Last night when we tucked the kids in bed, we wondered if we should turn the heat on since it was already chilly upstairs. It was cool downstairs too but soon we were under the covers and snoozing away happily. The kids did all sleep last night but when people started piling in our bed this morning, their little noses, ears and toes were all ice cold. So tonight the heat is running-that is the thing about living in a cinder block house, it stays cool in here all the time.
I haven't done a great job on picking out the kids clothes lately and Keaton came and showed me what she had picked out-the exact same outfit that she wore the week before and the week before that. Two weeks in a row was fine but three weeks in a row makes me worried that people will start taking up a collection for us. And if any child does not need more clothes it would be Keaton-the third girl in the family and she has more winter dresses than she can wear this season. She did pick something else out-a summer dress. I put a blue jean jacket and winter boots on her and called it done.
Everyone was dressed except for Whitman when Robby pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven this morning. I had Whitman a plaid shirt today to wear-it was blue but the last time I pulled out a red plaid shirt, he said "I don't want to be Mike Mulligan again." He did enjoy book character day but I guess he is over it. I probably shouldn't try to make him wear his red plaid shirts anytime soon.
We did our Sunday school classes today and then went to big church. I do love sitting in church with the kids and I really love hearing them sing their little hearts out. Reagan was sitting by Keaton today and sweet Reagan tried to help Keaton sing along with us. One of the songs that we sang today had been one of the kids' choir songs so Campbell knew it and knew it well. She was really singing it-so much so that she must have worn herself out because just minutes after Dave started talking she was sound asleep.
Lunch was at Grannymom's house. Les and his family were passing through so there was a house full. The kids ate and then they all migrated outside to play. They enjoyed playing with Zach outside and were all hot despite the cool weather when they came inside.
We all headed home and changed clothes. The kids started watching their movies and playing and I climbed into bed. Whitman was eventually causing a commotion so Robby put him in bed with us and it is amazing to watch but within minutes (less than 5) he was sound asleep between us.
We had quesadillas for supper and then ran to the Wilson's house for our Sunday night ice cream truck. Tony made milkshakes and I wished that Robby would have reminded me that I can not eat milkshakes-just a bit too much milk for my stomach! Maybe another bowl of ice cream will help! (kidding-I am ice creamed out for at least 24 hours.)

November 12, 2016-Happy Birthday (Party) Keaton!

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Robby and I were a little bit excited about the chance to sleep in this morning since our early risers (the big boys) had spent the night at Cash's house. That didn't happen. At 2, Campbell came downstairs saying that she was scared. I was too asleep to walk her back upstairs and since she had already pulled the blanket out from under my bed, we let her stay.
I guess she woke up first and was soon in our bed because not too long after 7, Whitman was even awake and downstairs with us. So much for sleeping in! I guess I can still blame some of this on Daylight Savings Time. My Reagan spent the night at Nonna's house and I know that she slept as late as she could.
After a bit, we did get ourselves ready and loaded up for the Preschool Fall Fest at church. Campbell wasn't too sure about going since she is not in preschool but she had a blast. They had both big playrooms set up with lots of things to do. Everything was decorated really cute-so cute that it made me just wish that we were having a fall party tonight (except that would have been a lot of hay for us to vacuum up!)
We had our picture made and then headed to the game room. It was filled with cute little fall games-running around the pumpkins, riding a push toy around pumpkins, ring toss on pumpkin stems, pumpkin bowling and one of the oddest was moving gummy worms to a different plate only using their mouths. I told Whitman what to do and he just looked at me and poured his plate of worms into the other one.
The next room had apple cider and hot chocolate along with making a picture frame, decorating a cookie, making a bag of chex mix and two other fall crafts to make. We ended our morning with a hay ride around the church parking lot. It was lots of fun the my little people all enjoyed it.
Then we drove on Toys R Us and met the boys and Cash there. They had a Lego event so everyone received Legos to make a Nexo something or another. I am still not sure what we made-and yes, I mean "we" as in Robby and I. The boys all made theirs but we had to make Campbell and Keaton's lego man.
After a bit of finding a few items for Christmas lists, we loaded back up but this time we had the boys and left Campbell with Grannymom. We then went home for a tiny bit. We had that odd amount of time-long enough to finish unloading and straightening but not long enough to sit down and enjoy being done with our list.
We started loading up the car around 2:30 and then headed to church. Robby took one car so he could stop and order the pizza and I took my car loaded down with stuff for Keaton's birthday. I was worried that we weren't going to have enough time to set everything up but surprisingly we did-barely.
The kids helped some and it doesn't take much to make things look like a party! This was Keaton's first friend party and this birthday party was almost 2 months late since her birthday is September 29th. She has waited not so patiently for this day and I think that it met her expectations.
There were 3 girls from her class, Harper, Lilly and Scarlet, one girl from Bible study, Rosemary and others buddies from church, Evelyn, Eden, Lilly, Caroline, Charlotte and Alyssa Kate. It was quite a crew especially when you add in her big brothers and sisters and Whitman. We all played on the playground first and then we had a few little games-passing Snow White's apple and sweeping a magical pumpkin.
Then we moved inside and the girls played bingo followed by eating. For food we had Jasmine's pizza stars, Aroura's pink cookies, Elsa's snowballs (marshmallows), Cinderella's magical pumpkins (cheese balls) and Ariel's fish friends (goldfish).
We then had one more game and then Keaton opened her presents. The girl really racked up-jewelry, stamps, play doh, candy, art supplies, hair stuff. Then we sang Happy Birthday to her and I do think that she was a bit embarrassed by everyone staring at her! Cutest thing ever.
I do think that she had a great birthday. When it was over, Jason and the grands helped us pick up and we soon had that church house in better shape than we found it. We loaded up the cars and headed home. Once at home, Reagan organized Keaton's presents and then helped her open a few of them.
The kids all alternated through the shower during breaks in the football game. The boys always start the games really interested in the football games but by half time, they are done-especially when the game isn't too exciting like tonight. The kids all headed to bed and I think that they are tired-I know I am (meanwhile, we are trying to figure out how we can combine Anderson and Campbell's birthday parties into one day and be done with it. Does a lego cake decorating party sound like a good idea?)

November 11, 2016

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Yesterday, Whitman had climbed in bed with us but today, Anderson came into our room while I was cuddling with Keaton and Campbell and said "Whitman's not in here. He isn't in his bed either." That was a bit concerning to me so I did roll on out of the bed. By the time I had walked down the hall way, I heard his little laugh. He was hiding behind a chair.
We did school this morning and everyone did fairly well. Graham has started multiplying hundred numbers in math and goodness gracious, it is a challenge. The whole idea of this overwhelms him. I believe he only got about 2 of them right-we fixed some but I did let him slide today since it was his first time. I did point out a few of his mistakes but decided that we didn't need to frustrate either of us anymore!
Whitman was in a good mood on this school day. He did enjoy a little bit of extra attention from Campbell and Keaton. They both spent some time working with him on his school items. When it was nearly 11, we did our work together and that flew by fast enough that we were able to work on our chores before lunch time.
Nonna came around 12:30 and I was still working on our lunch. The kids ate and then Nonna and Reagan headed out for an afternoon of shopping. Reagan had a few gift cards that she was looking forward to spending. I think that she even managed to get Pops to take her to go and eat steak (she loves it and we really don't so steak is rare around here.)
Everyone else impatiently waited on me to finish picking up after Nonna and Reagan left. As soon as every thing was straight again, we loaded up and headed out. Graham and Anderson were spending the night with Grannymom and Cash and they were both pretty excited about this.
We stayed for a minute at Grannymom's house and then it was time for us to run to Sam's to pick up the cupcakes for Keaton's birthday party. Then it was on to Kroger for a shopping marathon. Robby tried to go by himself but I wouldn't let him-I wanted to go to since Kroger is my happy place.
We shopping and shopped and came home with enough groceries to fill my pantry and all the freezers. We are at max capacity around here-no more food allowed in this house. It took a good while for us to unload and put away all of the food. The girls had showers while we worked and then Robby cooked supper for the crew. We ate while theirs cooled off. And then when they ate, I worked on party favors for tomorrow.
We had some time to watch a bit of tv before bed and then it was bedtime for my 3 littles! Hopefully they will sleep a little later than usual tomorrow.

November 10, 2016

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It was kind of chilly in the house this morning and Whitman was warm and snuggly in our bed. I finally did get him dressed and then went to wake up Keaton. I am not too sure why Whitman has been waking up early but I guess he has my Dennie boy gene which causes them to wake up at 7:00 every single morning.
Robby was drove the bus to school this morning-Keaton and Whitman always enjoy school. Back at the house the rest of us worked on our school. The kids worked pretty hard this morning. Campbell was the only one have quite a doozy of morning. She wasn't happy about anything and when I told her that she couldn't skip phonics today, the water works began.
Around 10:30, Reagan was almost finished with school when she saw the neighbor girl out. Graham hollered at her that Reagan just needed 10 more minutes. I guess there was a wind storm happening outside when he opened the front door because we had more leaves in our house than we did in the front yard by the time he shut the door.
When I left to get Keaton and Whitman at 11, everyone but Anderson was finished with school and were outside playing. The neighbors were all out since their cousins were over so we went ahead and told Anderson he could play now and do school later. He ran out and I drove off.
Keaton is the only one in her class that doesn't stay for lunch box kids and I do think that makes her a bit sour but them staying 3 more hours at school doesn't really help me at all. There are still 4 other kids here so it isn't like I am eating Bonbons on the couch. When I picked up Whitman, Ms. Jennifer said that he laced his pumpkin mostly by himself-she seemed pretty impressed.
When we made it home, the kids were still out. I had just decided to let them stay out when the all started pouring in. The neighbors had to go in so I quickly worked on lunch while the worked on their chores. Afterwards, Anderson finished his school work while the others...well, I am not really sure what they did.
I was standing between the door and the kids when they saw the neighbors out. I was almost trampled! Everyone but Whitman stayed outside until it was dark. The kids played and played outside. I thought it would have been a bit chilly and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to eat popsicles but they did!
Around 5:30, when it was already dark, they all started pouring in. We did showers and then Robby and Campbell worked on supper-quesadillas. We didn't have too many tortillas so they cooked until they were gone.
After supper was picked up, the kids watched a few movies until bedtime. They were pretty wound up at bedtime-they boys talking about remodeling their room and the girls talking about Keaton's birthday party.

November 9, 2016

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After staying up until 2:30 last night, it was a bit hard to climb out of bed. It didn't help any that Whitman climbed in bed with us. He was warm and cozy and before I knew it, he had taken my phone-I guess he wanted to check the election results or watch some Little Einsteins.
I served up waffles and pancakes to the crew after everyone was dressed. The kids ate like they were getting ready to go and work in a field all day long. Once we had finished and picked up some, it was time to head to Bible study.
When we walk in the doors, my big 3 always run off to their classes. Whitman is only concerned about getting a drink of water and then he heads off happily to his class. Keaton and Campbell are across the hall from each other and they both like their classes too. Campbell doesn't like to be the first one in her class and unfortunately we are usually the first one!
After Bible study, Keaton went with the Heltz' to Jump Zone. This was part of her birthday present from them and she was beyond excited. I had packed her lunch and they ate before jumping. After they had finished jumping, they went back to their house until church time.
The rest of us came home and skipped out on the park. It did make for a really long afternoon-staying up late, a morning at Bible study and then working in the house all afternoon made me incredibly sleepy late this afternoon. I probably could have taken a nap but Whitman was outside with the others. I still feel like I need to keep my eye on him so he doesn't wander down the road!
I had watched the kids for about an hour out the windows. They spent time in the front yard and then in the back. The girls came in for containers and the boys asked for grocery bags. Eventually, I had to ask and they were picking up acorns. My first though was that they were going to pile them up for the deer or make a sweet craft project. Nope, they had themselves a bit ole acorn war. Nothing like chunking acorns at your siblings and neighbors.
I thought about suggesting goggles or even mentioning that I didn't think this was a good idea but I kept my mouth closed. And surprisingly, the acorn war went well-no one was injured or even lost their eye sight. Eventually the neighbors had to go home so my kiddos came in and got themselves ready for church tonight.
We had supper and then it was to church. This was the first night that I had to do my preschool games since it was too dark for their playground. I left just a bit hoarse. Then we headed to meet up with Robby and Whitman. Tony was working on a craft project and Robby did offer him some moral support. We stayed for a bit and then headed home. My people were tired after a busy day and I am too.

November 8, 2016

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I wasn't too sure how this morning was going to go because at 1 last night, I heard those dreaded words! I went upstairs and Keaton was sitting in front of the potty-bless her. She had not been sick but felt like she was going to be. Robby made her a pallet and I took her downstairs. She did eventually get sick on little time but then slept all night long.
I am not really sure why that poor baby gets sick so often but I would just have to assume that last night's episode was because of the foods that we ate last night (chick fil a and cinnabon). I had laid in bed last night feeling sorry for my poor baby going to miss Book Character day. But since her episode was completely different than usual and she woke feeling great, off to school she went.
Whitman and Keaton were the cutest things ever-she was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and he was dressed at Mike Mulligan. Whitman said that he could be a farmer and with his overalls that he could be.
Our past book characters have been Reagan as Fancy Nancy, Anderson as Mike Mulligan and a fireman, Graham as a football player and Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Campbell was Llama, Llama, Red Pajama twice (not really sure why-hopefully she picked that and I was just lazy that year) and Keaton was Caps for Sale last year.
My big 4 sat down and started on their school work while we waited on the Book Character parade. Then it was all eyes on the parade of kids marching around. My babies were the cutest and man, I sure do love seeing Whitman walk with his class and walk on the line like he is supposed to.
When the parade was over, my people and I headed home to start on our school work. We had a pretty good day-my boys still try to sneak a few things by me but I catch most of them (goodness knows what all I miss.) After we finished school, we turned this place into craft-ville. It is unfortunate that we weren't working on Christmas gifts or something.
Reagan painted her book some. She and Campbell glued seashells on their letters. Graham worked on a model airplane and a wooden car. Anderson and Graham both helped me put vinyl on their yeti cups (I will have to do Graham's again since I made it too thin but it was a good first try.) I had a project for me to do to but I didn't get around to it since it was soon voting time.
We met Robby, Mike and Red Riding Hood at the poll. We didn't have to wait an hour or so to vote-we just walked right in. Voting was easy and we did try to explain a few things to the kids. (Tonight I tried to explain the electoral college to the boys but I am not so sure they got it-not so sure that I get it either. But as so often these days, I ended our voting conversation with my speech about who is really in control.)
Back at home the kids played some and then it was supper time. We ate and soon I headed out to basketball practice with the boys. They so enjoyed playing tonight since it was just scrimmaging. They both did well-weren't the worst and weren't the best. I did watch them play but I also ready 5 magazines while I waited!
The girls and Whitman hung out at home with Robby. They watched some of the election but enjoyed watching their tv shows more so that is what they did until we came home. The boys had a shower and then it was bedtime for the crew. The boys wanted me to wake them up and tell them who won. We shall soon see but either way we know who is really in control and we have ice cream in the freezer!

November 7, 2016

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No one here has adjusted to Daylight Savings time and I guess that is fine since we did start our morning a bit earlier than usual. This probably helped Reagan with her school since she was finished by 10 this morning.
Keaton headed off to school and Whitman to Nonna's house. Then everyone did start on their school. Once Graham realized that Reagan was finished with her school, he quickly threw a pile of papers at me. When checking them, as I always do, I realized that 95% of his math was wrong. That boy-I guess he thought that today I wouldn't check it. He had to do it all over again so he didn't finish as soon as he thought that he would.
Anderson was slow and steady in his work today-he doesn't seem to mind when he is the last one finished and never seems to get in a hurry on his school work, even though I often wish that he would. We did our together work before lunch and then had lunch.
During lunch, we are reading the book Pollyanna. I almost started crying as I was reading today pages. We are just in the first couple of chapters so maybe things will start looking up for the girl. After lunch, we had quite a few chores and the kids knocked them out fairly quickly. Now when I say chores, I don't mean big things-just a bunch of little items to do. All of these would already be done if my people would just pick up after themselves.
Soon Keaton and Whitman were home and the kids played outside for a bit. Then the girls started on painting something for their room. Whitman also had a craft project since we are already getting ready for Christmas around here.
When Robby came home, we soon loaded up the car and headed to Chick Fil A to eat our supper. Graham is the one who asked if we could walk around the new mall for a bit after we ate and imagine his surprise when Robby said yes. So we walked around the mall and even stopped for some cinnamon rolls before heading home.
Once we were home, the kids had showers and then they had a minute to watch a movie and the girls colored some before bed.

November 6, 2016

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Sunday morning and the kids must have been awake early because of time change because at 7:02 Campbell was dressed and downstairs asking me to button her pants. I am so glad that the kids know how to read the clock and know our rule about staying bed until 7.
Needless to say, since everyone, except Whitman, was dressed by 7:15 we didn't have to hurry around this morning. But for some reason we did have to jump the van so that added a few minutes to our travel time and by the time we made it to church, we were running late and had to zoom through our grandparent visits.
We did the church thing and then headed to Nonna's house for lunch. They had a yummy lunch and the kids even had time to play for a bit before heading home. At home, the kids rested for a bit and so did us. Robby and I took a nap with Whitman between us-he wasn't ready to go to sleep at first but within a few minutes he was sound asleep.
The kids did watch a few movies this evening while Robby ran to Walmart. I tried to mark a few things off of my list but didn't accomplish anything since I ended up watching their silly movies with them.
I did let everyone have some of their Halloween candy right before bedtime. And yes, we did brush really well! Now, I am going to help them finish off some of that candy.

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