July 17, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

• First day of school this morning for Keaton. I am starting school slowly so as not to make myself crazier. I was up right after Graham and started on as many of my chores as I could. Soon I was waking everyone up and we were starting on school. 
• I had explained all of Keaton's work yesterday so she was able to get started. Whitman sat beside her for a long while. Campbell was good to help her whenever she needed help. Everyone else had to read and do a page of math along with start something new with me. After doing that along with our work together which takes nearly an hour, I could quickly become overwhelmed thinking about all that is left to add to our plate. Every year, I worry how we are going to get everything accomplished and we somehow do manage to get most things done so I shouldn't fret too much. 
• For lunch, we had leftover Olive Garden, leftover Pie 5, leftover Mexican casserole and leftover stuffed shells. I think that everyone found something that made them happy and I was happy getting some of the fridge cleaned out. Now we just need to work on those freezers which are full to the brim.
• After lunch, everyone finished their chores and threw on their bathing suits. It was pool time since we needed a semi-first day of school celebration. The Heltz and Crafts were there so we had lots of buddies to play with. We stayed until 4:30 and then headed home.
• When we opened the door of the house, it just smelled delicious in the house. I had pork chops in the crock pot and they ended up being just as good as they smelled. Those along with corn, green beans and biscuits, we had a pretty great supper.
• We celebrated World Snake Day with a snake of our own. Campbell was walking to the shower after supper and casually said, "Dad, their is a big snake on the windowsill outside." Of course we all ran that way. Robby decided that it was a rat snake but still didn't want it around so he worked on shooing it to the woods. The snake was 4-5 feet long! Long enough that I am considering moving back to civilization.
• Reagan was in the shower and so was Anderson but the rest of us scurried outside. The entire time, I am reminding the kids to always shut the doors, to be cautious of your surroundings, never touch a snake, blah, blah, blah. Anderson noticed us all outside and was soon out with the rest of us. Reagan watched from the window after her shower.
• We followed Robby down the yard as he moved the snake. It was a very slow process and he almost gave up a few times and used the shovel to end it all. (Speaking of end it all-we hit a bird and also an armadillo while driving last night.) Robby would point in the direction he wanted the snake to go but it didn't work. The snake would try to climb up the house (eek) or climb trees and spent a lot of time trying to strike Robby and his shovel. 
• He eventually, got that big snake to the bottom and we all walked back up to the house looking carefully with each step we took. Once inside, showers were finished and we watched a Bates while eating popcorn before bedtime.