October 9, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

• The first kiddo we saw this morning was Campbell coming in to tell us that I needed to stop Whitman from coming into their room in the morning time. I was already awake and reminded her that Whitman usually doesn't come into their room and today was just an exception. Whitman definitely caused Campbell to wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
• When I did go up to get him so he could put on his clothes, he was sitting on Keaton's bed talking to her. I rushed him downstairs to put on his clothes and when I reminded him that it was pumpkin patch day, he raced on down the steps.
• I called everyone to breakfast, and they started pouring their cereal. I read a bit and before too long, I was headed out the door with Whitman in tow. When we pulled up to the pumpkin patch, he was full of questions. "You are going to take pictures of just me?" "Do we get to do everything here?" That little boy was so excited.
• We stood in line so I could pay for myself, and then we waited for everyone else. We walked around until the first group went on the hay ride. While we waited for our turn, Whitman rode the barrel, played on the hay mound, crawled through the hay tunnel, rode the train, jumped on the bouncy, played on the swing set, looked at the animals, drove the toy tractors, and picked out his pumpkin. See, we really did do it all.
• He was actually ready to go after all of this, but we still had the hayride to go on. We loaded up with Ms. Stacy and some of his class. It was hot, but he still enjoyed it. During the hay ride, there was the shoot out part. I had made sure he knew what was going to happen. When I was telling him all about it, he said "can I hold your hand?" 
• As soon as the hay ride was over, his class had a snack and then he was ready to head home. I was ready to head home too because I knew that my others were at home working on their school work. They had been keeping me in the loop by texting-most school was finished and chores were also done.
• When we made it home, I checked everyone's school work and inspected their chores. They had all pretty much done everything with excellence. That was a huge relief. I was able to check everything, pull out school for tomorrow and make lunch by 12:15. That is pretty early for us lately-maybe I should go to the pumpkin patch every day! (nope-too hot, been on that hayride and seen the shootout way too many times. Though I did get a bit sad when I realized this was my last field trip to the pumpkin patch with Ms. Stacy.)
• We had our lunch and read a few books. The kids did a quick clean of downstairs and then I let them do whatever they would like. They vegged for a bit but also made a fort, had a soccer tournament (yes, in the house) and Campbell listened to and sang along with some of her choir songs. 
• At 4, I shooed everyone out of the house. I came out for a bit and pushed people on the swing, opened popsicles, threw the football some, blew bubbles and even rode a bike one loop around the block. Robby aired up bike tires and threw the ball as well. Then Robby and I went in along with Whitman, but the others stayed out.
• The neighbors came out and the kids then stayed outside until after 7. When they did come in, everyone cycled through the showers, and then we ate quesadillas for supper. The kids were fairly helpful tonight and helped with the dishes and clean up after supper.
• We watched a tv show and all too soon it was bedtime for the crew. Tomorrow will be more of a regular day and those regular days make my heart happy!