- Today was our last day of outside church-I really enjoyed our outside church time. We were even early today which may not have been too good of an idea since it was was crazy sunny.
- Last week it was overcast and pleasant, but today was it hot and sunny. Thankfully at Raymar there is always a breeze so that did help quite a bit.
- After church, we headed to the only shaded spot under some trees. Our group numbered about 50 today plus there was another group of at least that many under the trees as well.
- The kids had so much fun playing-they will really miss the after church picnics. I made sandwiches for everyone while I was sitting in my lawn chair-it was quite pleasant.
- Robby left a few minutes before me to head home to work while I stayed with everyone until they were finished playing. On the way home, we did stop by Target-Reagan's swim bottoms that we bought a few days before still had the security tag on it. Then we dropped off some books on someone's front porch.
- We headed home and the kids were delighted to see Brett at the house with a scavenger hunt ready to go for them. They immediately took off on the hunt while I unloaded the car!
- I had just finished all of my stuff in the house and was thinking about my long overdue Sunday nap, when Robby stuck his head in the house and asked if I wanted to paint. So I ran out there to do some painting.
- When I had finished that, I came back in and was about to lay my head down when I got a text about the pool. So I asked the crew and only Campbell and Keaton wanted to go. I should have just taken my nap, but since I was trying to be nice I did take them.
- The girls brought their neighbor friend and all had a great time. I sat in the shade some and then I would have to sit in the sun some as well! I couldn't decide it I was cold or hot.
- On the way home, we picked up clothes from Dana along with supper for everyone at the house. I do believe that Tony and Robby have pretty much finished the shed-there is painting and strategically planning where things will go in the new shed. My plan is to draw a diagram tomorrow-everything will have a home (possibly labeled!)
- The kids all came in-just in time to ask for ice cream. We passed out some ice cream after their showers and then it was eventually bedtime for the crew!
- Robby and I woke up early this morning and quickly loaded a few more things into our suitcases. Then we dropped off Reagan, Anderson and Graham for camp. Right afterwards Whitman, Keaton and Campbell went for a few days at Nonna, Pops, Grannymom and Grandpa's houses. Robby and I then had to hurry to the airport for our two flights to Disney. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary, and after two smooth flights, we made our way to our rooftop dinner reservations where we could see the fireworks over Cinderella's castle.
- Or maybe Corona happened and I worked on the shed project all day long and then went to a kids' birthday party. I know that we have missed a few trips already, but this one really makes me bummed to miss. Robby and I went to Branson for a few nights two years ago along with Oklahoma for 1 night last year, but this was going to be our first big trip since Key West 6 years ago.
- Now, I am not saying that today was not nearly as fun as a day at Disney, but we did work from dawn until dusk on the shed. Well, not really dawn-more like 9-and not really dusk-I quit at 5. I did tell Robby that I felt like a bad mom today since I didn't do much with the kids.
- In my defense, Campbell and Keaton had spent the night with the neighbor. The big boys had Noah with them, and they even slept in. I didn't see Reagan until around 2 which is about the same time that I remembered that I should make Whitman lunch. Good thing, he can take care of himself and had just poured himself some more cereal!
- Today's project was pouring some concrete on the shed along with emptying out and scooting the old shed over. We still have to get a permanent spot for the old shed, but that is for another day since we ran out of time today.
- Tonight we had Michael's birthday party. It was a water party with a slip and slide along with lots of water guns. The kids all had a blast playing in the water-most of my big kids enjoyed watching over the little kids.
- We stayed until the end of the party. Reagan stayed longer and spent the night over there, while the rest of us headed home for showers and bit of ice cream before bed. I actually had two bits of ice cream before bedtime!
- It was a fairly busy day around here. Pretty much as soon as I had folded today's laundry, I went right to work on painting outside. There were 36 new boards of trim along with some red on the shed that Robby and I started to paint.
- Thankfully, Keaton and Campbell started to help us. They are pretty good painters. Campbell even helped Robby saw and nail in a few more boards. I did briefly get a bit frustrated with my big kids who weren't out helping us as well. I really should have had 4 more painters, but I didn't want to ruin the pleasantness happening outside.
- We worked until it was time to leave the house for swimming. The pool was pretty busy today-they even asked us to leave before our time. I clarified, and we were able to stay our allotted time.
- As I was gathering our things though, things did get interesting. Reagan, Anderson, Graham, Noah and Alyssa had been hanging out in the park on the other side of the parking lot. They all came back into the pool in a hurry and all talking to me at once.
- I heard the story once and had them tell another momma. All of the kids had seen a lady walking around, but Alyssa and Reagan saw a lady reach into a car and grab a purse before driving off. Yep, they saw a lady steal a purse.
- We gave our information to the lady while debating if we should stick around or not. The police man arrived and soon asked Reagan and Alyssa a few questions. They told everything they knew, and then we gave him all of our information.
- It was quite an interesting day at the pool for sure. My Whitman stood right by Reagan while she was talking to the policeman. All of this event made him nervous, but he was interested in it. Afterwards, I asked him if he wanted his picture with the policeman, but he did not at all.
- My van was quite noisy on the way home-we discussed a little bit of everything: the theft to current events. What a world that we live in. It is quite a scary place that we live in.
- Campbell and Keaton were excited to get home because they were soon headed out to Zoey's house to celebrate her birthday party. As soon as we came home, they packed and walked down the road.
- Noah came over to spend the night and the kids played while Robby and I worked some more. Grannymom and Grandpa did come over to see the shed progress. Grannymom even brought dessert for us. We pretty much gobbled it up!
- When they left, Robby and I worked some more on the shed. Once we finished, we did clean up and head to the Wilsons. Since my crew had not had supper yet, I took some food over there. Shannon had cake so we just had ourselves a party.
- The kids mostly played outside but did come inside around dark. That is when we played a game-everyone was able to play and had a good time.
- I had a huge mound of laundry this morning to work through. I was able to help Whitman with his summer school and read with the big boys while I was folding. After finishing my pile, I moved on to the dishes. And actually, I still have folded laundry in my room waiting for me to put it up in my closet-there is always tomorrow.
- I did finally work some Legos with Anderson today. We haven't been Lego-ing lately, and I still do want to finish. Finishing will probably never happen, but we did accomplish two little sets today.
- I also cleaned the shower today (I know I have done that recently). I scrubbed that baby with bleach, and it did help. I have started following a new cleaning lady, and I am a bit motivated to clean this place up-but again, there is always tomorrow.
- I had a doctor's appointment today so that was my first real hospital/doctor's office visit since Corona. It is a crazy world that we live in.
- On the way home, I ran by the library. Graham has been super excited for me to go to the library because he had checked out a few Marvel movies to watch. I think that he is trying to watch all of them in order so I did add a few more to his pile today.
- I then stopped by Nonna and Pops' house because Whitman's bike (one of the few that actually work) has been messing up. It was the reason that Graham fell the other day and skinned up his arm. They had one the same size as Whitman's so I brought another bike home. Robby may have to enlarge his shed for all of these bikes! Not really, I have found a place to take our old junky ones and plan on doing that soon.
- Back at home, I thought about painting and even went outside to Robby's remote office (the garage), just in time to see it pouring down. That did get me out of painting for the day-there is always tomorrow though.
- I might have had a nap this afternoon. When I did wake up, Robby and I ran to pick up some Loew's supplies. I had to wait forever for paint. Then we tried to order Mexican food which took over an hour to get. We did run to Sonic and pick up some corn dogs for some of my non-Mexican eating kids while we were waiting.
- When we finally did get our food, we hurried home to eat. After eating, everyone helped clean the house. It had gotten a wee bit messy today. I do believe that everyone has forgotten how to put things up over the last few weeks. It is like I am the only one who can close a cabinet door, change the trash can or put things in the dishwasher. Many hands do make light work so we were soon back to having a clean house.
- Everyone stayed up too late and it was well after 10 before the people were all bedded down!
- I slept incredibly well last night, except I was dreaming about craziness all night long. Possibly could be due to that ice cream for supper. I have decided that ice cream for supper is probably the best choice though.
- Since I slept in a little bit, the morning did seem to go fairly quickly. I was able to help the boys with their school work, and then we decided to run to the pool for a quick trip. We met the Crafts so we were able to do our kid swap. Keaton stayed up pretty late last night and is right now in my bed. She just gets so exhausted after a night (and a whole day) of fun.
- We swam this morning for about an hour and a half. The weather was perfect-I am not sure how cold the pool was, but the weather was pleasantly warm. Graham was my only big that went with me. He had a super fun time playing with baby Gabriel though.
- When we came home, it was pretty evident that Campbell was indeed exhausted. There were tears and grumbling while she (and I) cleaned the bonus room. She and her friends had slept up there, and it needed a good straightening.
- I also made everyone else work on their chores and school work. I have moved our big chore day to Wednesday, and we were able to accomplish everything on my list. However, after following a cleaning page on the computer, I realize maybe just how dirty my house is. That will be a project for another day though.
- It didn't seem like long until it was about time to leave for the pool. However, the thunder delayed us for an hour. That was fine though because all of the buddies were there tonight.
- My boys all had fun playing with Noah and Brett. My Whitman kept up with the big boys-playing baseball with them and then sliding down the slide over and over with them.
- A good time was had by all. When we did get home, my crew was starving so I heated up some bbq. By the time that it was ready, Keaton had decided that she didn't feel good and started to get mopey. Soon she was sleeping soundly.
- Tony and Robby worked on the shed while we were gone all evening. Shannon and Layne came over in time to visit a little bit. It was after 10:30 when my kiddos all did get into bed-they are all spread out over this house-some in the fort and some in their beds. I am thinking that I could probably sell Graham and Whitman's beds because they are loving their fort time!
- Some days the blog just seems a bit shorter than other days. I do believe that this will be one of the shorter ones for sure. I am not really sure what all happened today, but the day is over and I am tired.
- Let's see the boys, Campbell and Keaton got up and started on their school work fairly early this morning. They worked hard and fast trying to finish everything on their list. Now, I bet that Whitman did skip a few things, but I am not too sure that he knows exactly how to read his list. I will have to make sure I explain it to him tomorrow.
- Reagan had said that her summer list looked longer than her regular school day list. I am not quite sure about that since I figure that her summer stuff will take about 30-45 minutes, but whatever!
- With this rain, Robby had noticed some pooling on the new shed roof. So that mean that we spent some time re-engineering it. The water was actually already leaking through the roof, so it is good that we worked on it today.
- While Robby had run to get supplies, I was able to work with the kids-we read a few of our books, but I am not sure that Campbell or Keaton were listening. They were too anxious for their afternoon and evening.
- Keaton spent the night with Sophia and the big girls were over here with Campbell. They had been making plans all day long, and I am pretty sure that they have done them all already. Now, the girls have had the best time today. Since I have been distracted helping Robby, anything they asked, I pretty much said yes to-can we make jello? can we start a youtube channel? can we ride our bikes down the road? can we zip line out the window?-yes, yes, yes, yes, yes (well, not really yes to the last one, but if they would have asked at the right moment, they might have gotten that yes.)
- This evening I ran with Reagan to find a bathing suit for her. We just stopped at one store and didn't find anything. We might have found bottoms-not sure yet because I am not sure if she has tried them on or now. We also ordered a top along with another suit so hopefully one of those will fit and look modest on her.
- We picked up supper on the way home. The kids ate early, but it was well after 9 when Robby and I finally set down to eat. I thought that we were supposed to be bored during all of this corona stuff-and I just need a nap!
- Other than the weekends, this is the first day in a while that we haven't done school. Kind of interesting for me since I have to figure out exactly what I am going to do with all of my new free time.
- Of course there is always laundry and dishes to do every single day. I did touch up the paint in the girls' room-it was still darkish in there so I hope I did good job. Then I worked on cleaning out Whitman's desk and getting school ready for next year-at least on the computer.
- I gave my shutters another coat of stain right before we left for the pool. I took Keaton, Campbell, Graham and Whitman today for our first pool visit. I was worried that there would be quite a few new restrictions and rules, but everything seemed to be fine.
- My big 3 didn't have any problems remembering how to swim. Graham had volunteered to watch Whitman, but after just a bit we realized that he can do just fine in the water. He still isn't the prettiest swimming, but does alright.
- We stayed for two kid swims which gave us time to have a pretty good snack while we were there. I guess the hot sun and water made everyone hungry. Well, I wasn't even in the sun or the water, but I was hungry too.
- Once we made it home, the kids played outside for a little bit. Then before too long, I was outside painting the shed some. We stayed outside working until the rain came. We scurried around picking up everything just in time for the rain to stop.
- Then I told the boys that I would play basketball so I did that with only stopping to eat cookies from the Wilsons. Right now that is all that I have had for supper-I guess ice cream for supper is healthy enough.
- It was nearly 8:30 when we finally did get supper for the crew. We mostly had leftovers, but Reagan had herself an egg filled bagel while Anderson had two eggs in the whole. I do love it when they cook, but everyone isn't the best at picking up the kitchen after themselves.
- I am not sure what all of the plans for tomorrow are-possibly looking for a bathing suit for Reagan along with a trip to the library!
- Back to church this Sunday morning-well, almost back to church. We had church this morning at Raymar. Church was at 10:30, and for some reason I walked through the house at 8:50 telling everyone that we left in 20 minutes. I am not sure exactly what I was thinking, but I quickly realized my error and calmed the scurrying children down.
- We probably should have kept scurrying because we were setting our chairs out at Raymar just as they started singing. There were quite a few people at church. After the service, we hung out until everyone left...then we pulled out our lunches and had ourselves a picnic.
- The kids played and played with their friends. There was a game of kickball along with riding a hoverboard. They had such a good time despite the sun which came out and started to fry all of my kids cheeks.
- After our picnic, we came home. I thought about taking a nap but the possibility of this rainy week made me decide to stain my front shutters instead. It took a bit longer than I expected since the shutters just soaked up the stain. I would dip my paint brush and be able to cover about a 6 inch square before having to dip again for more stain.
- I still have to work on the porch wood which will require a ladder and help. Plus the shutters will probably need a second coat. So that is on the list for a dry day this week. My list is getting a bit shorter since I have been knocking things out.
- As soon as Robby finished mowing tonight, he fired up the grills for supper tonight. We had hamburgers and hot dogs from the real grill and baked beans from the treager. The Wilsons came over to eat with us.
- All of the kids stayed outside most of the time playing. They did come in briefly to grab their suppers or desserts, and then would go back outside to eat and play. The kids only stayed outside until ten before everyone headed in.
- Bedtime seems to take a while now with showers for all along with the nightly decision of exactly who is sleeping in the fort and where they are sleeping in the massive fort. We have already had our ice cream tonight, so that is one less thing to do before bed tonight!
- When they said that it was going to storm last night, they were not joking. I do think that the storm was right over our house because the thunder and lightening just shook the house. Robby and I were both awake wondering how our paint job and shed painting held up.
- Robby had already looked when I woke up this morning. He was pleased to see that we only had to do a few touch ups. Pretty early we did get up and after a text from Graham asking for donuts, Robby and him headed off to get our breakfast.
- A bit later, Robby and I started sloshing through the mud out back to do our shed touch ups. We also worked in the garage for quite a while straightening things up. I briefly thought about staining my shutters, but they were still a little damp so maybe tomorrow.
- We did meet up with some friends to ride bikes this afternoon at the church down the road. Robby wasn't sure if it was worth it since he had do some bike repair before we could even go. Then there were the two cars that we had to shove the bikes in-we don't have many bikes, but the ones that we have seem huge.
- On our way there, we even picked up a neighbor to go and ride with us. So there was quite a crew-14 kids plus all of the adults.
- It was a bit of work for us, but the kids sure had a blast. They enjoyed seeing their friends, but they also had fun riding their bikes. Whitman rode his bike very well. I don't think that he an still ride up hills, but he is improving and worked hard to keep up with the other boys.
- We stayed over an hour-long enough for the kids to get a wee bit of a sunburn. Then it was home for a little bit-long enough for Robby and I to have some ice cream and for me to have a tiny nap.
- I did wake up in time to help cut Robby's hair before it was time to leave again. We ate supper at the Craft's house. The kids had so much fun playing outside. All of my bigger kids are so kind to the little kids-Reagan and Maya were super buddies while Campbell so loved watching over baby Gabriel.
- After we ate, we talked outside and even had more ice cream for dessert. We stayed long enough for the kids to play hide and seek in the dark. Then we headed home for showers along with bedtime. It was another late night around here-but not nearly as late as last night.
- Today was officially the last day of school for my Dennie kids. They have worked incredibly hard this year during school and have finished most things. Reagan and Anderson both have science that they did not finish, but I figure most public schools don't finish all of their textbooks so we will just stop where we are. Anderson and Graham both have one more week of their writing program so we are indeed going to finish that along with Whitman's spelling which will take all summer long.
- I woke up a bit earlier than usual and was able to help my two early birds, Graham and Campbell, with their questions. Then it was up one set of stairs to wake up Reagan, and then up the other set of stairs to wake up Keaton and Whitman who were in the fort sleeping soundly.
- Today was finished our history book. It was huge this year, but next years volume I of the 4 volume set is much smaller. It takes 4 years of read the whole history of the world-the current plan will be to read the volumes 2 more times finishing when Whitman is in the 8th grade. Today she ended the volume not with current events, but with future events with a glimpse of heaven based on Revelations.
- Once school was over, or at least once school was over for me, I helped Robby finish up our bathroom ceiling-another thing marked off of the list. Then Robby and I headed out to pick up some trim for the shed. We were loading up from one hardware store, headed to another one to buy paint, when Robby received a call from a man coming to give him an estimate. So we rushed home-stopping only briefly to pick up some cupcakes!
- The man came and gave the estimate while I cleaned the bathroom. The neighbors were out early again today so my kids have ALL been outside since before lunch. I had planned on making everyone lunch when we did get home at 12:15, but they had already eaten. My Campbell had even made some grilled cheese on the stove for her and Whitman.
- It wasn't too long before Robby and I left again to get the paint that we had intended to buy the first trip out. We did stop for lunch-it was like a date! We bought paint along with stain for my front shutters. For people that don't like to paint, we have spent a crazy amount of money the last few days on paint.
- We stopped at Grannymom's on the way home along with a Kroger run to pick up a few things along with a few cartons of ice cream. Then it was back home. The kids were all still outside playing. They are going to be filthy when they finally come in-right now, it is after 1 and they are all still outside.
- When we did make it home, we went right to work. First we painted 30 pieces of trim for the shed. Then we decided that despite the big rain change tonight, we painted two sides of the shed. Everything had to have two coats so that took a bit.
- After we cleaned up, we finally decided that we should probably cover up the paint on the shed since it was still drying. We tarped it up to protect it some from the upcoming rain. Worse case scenario, it gets wet and takes us another hour or so to repaint it. Not too bad really. The trim boards took longer than the shed.
- Once Robby and I did come in, I straightened the house while he had a shower and then I took my shower and scrubbed paint off of me-I had splatters of paint everywhere! The kids continued to play outside. Keaton did come in briefly after getting stung by ants-she only stayed in long enough to swallow some benedryl before she was back out again.
- I guess we will have to call the kids in at 11-isn't there a curfew or something? It is kind of nice and quiet in the house though, but I do want my ice cream soon!
- Another day and lots of new things for me. I'll start with those-I took Whitman to the dentist and wore a mask. Seemed a bit like I was trying to rob the place. And I have never taken the meat off of a whole chicken-thank goodness for my corona gloves.
- Back to the beginning of the day. We woke up and did our regular school. Tomorrow is the last day, so I even spent a bit of time working on next week's summer schedule.
- This morning, Tanner, the preteen guy, came by from church to deliver Graham's 6th grade Bible. That was pretty cool. He had missed the Sunday evening when they would receive their Bible's a few weeks ago. We knew that the Bible was coming today, and Graham had mentioned that they should at least bring cookies since he was also missing the reception after receiving his Bible.
- Well, Campbell and Keaton insisted that we get cookies and punch yesterday for Graham's reception. No one is missing cookies in this house! So after Tanner left, we gathered in the kitchen to have a mini-Bible getting reception.
- The kids were outside most of the day long. We didn't even do our afternoon reading since they were out playing. We did however, get two whole chickens ready to put on the grill. Robby is a pro at his pork, but this was our first time to do a chicken.
- Then I took Whitman to the dentist. He has a bump on his gum that has been around since February. Of course it is barely there today, but Whitman says that it comes and goes. He does have some type of infection but that should clear up when he loses his baby tooth which is already loose.
- We then went to Nonna and Pops' house where I almost killed a man (not really, I did mention that someone looked old and hours later they had to be rushed to the hospital. Just a reminder, you better stay on my good side.) I worked on Pops' email and fixed 1 out of 3 of his devices. I didn't do it by myself, Robby was on the phone talking me through it.
- Once we came home, I worked on painting the bathroom ceiling. It should be good once we clean everything up tomorrow. I do love marking things off of the list.
- When the chicken was cooked tonight, I pulled it all of off the bone. That was a first for me-not sure I enjoyed it at all. The kids kept coming inside and eating the meat as fast as I could get it off that chicken. I finally did serve up supper which most everyone ate while outside.
- They stayed out until way too late. By the time that everyone had showers (remember we are done a shower right now), it was almost 10. I sat down real quick to finish the blog before they go to bed because I don't like trying to type and eat my ice cream at the same time!
- I guess that this is our 10th Wednesday this year to do school. I have enjoyed the time to get a bit ahead, but I'm not too sure that Wednesday school is for me. Everyone did really well and sped through their school work...all except one little Dennie boy.
- Whitman has less school than normal right now, but it takes him just as long. He is the child that should really just do school all year long. Come July/August when we start school and he has a full load again, he will be shocked...and it will take him all day long!
- After school was finished, I did have some time for a few different things-I hung newspaper in my bathroom. Robby sprayed the ceiling with kilz-you would not believe the smell which went through the entire house.
- And I also stuck my hand inside of two chickens. I was supposed to take the neck out or something-I really just don't know what I did or if I did it right, but thank goodness for rubber gloves!
- I reorganized one tupperware cabinet and later tonight, I also reorganized our games. Today was definitely a bit more productive than the past few days. Maybe tomorrow will be the same.
- This afternoon, I did take Campbell and Keaton to the store to find bathing suits. Shopping for bathing suits is stressful enough but when you add not being able to try them on, that just kind of made me worried. We fairly easily found suits for both girls. Keaton found a 2 piece but couldn't find a shirt to go over it. I told her we would keep looking and in the mean time she could wear one of her silky shirts. She was find with this. Now, Campbell found 2 suits that she liked and had trouble making up her mind.
- I was still worried when until they tried them on at home. Thankfully, they fit perfectly! We still haven't been able to find tomato cages for my plants, but maybe next shopping trip. At the end of today's shopping trip, we also picked up pizza for our supper.
- Everyone must have been hungry because we scarfed down the pizza. The kids played outside most of the evening. Campbell did take a pretty good spill on her bike. She recovered though with a few bandaids and an ice pack.
- Keaton and I watched some RV shows before it was finally bedtime. I think that at least 9 kids walked by me tonight and asked for a snack. I wasn't really keeping track of who asked so I am sure that some folks had multiple snacks tonight! That is fine since I also am going to have multiple snacks tonight!
- When I woke up this morning, I quickly hit my alarm so I wouldn't wake up Robby. Gracious though, he wasn't even in the bed. He has started waking up on normal people time lately which I am not a fan of!
- I did get moving early enough, and we were soon working on our school work. I think that the kids are getting excited about finishing school-I know that I am!
- I couldn't find anything to sell today so instead, my extra morning activity was some laundry and some work on the kids' cookbooks.
- After we had our lunch, Grannymom and Grandpa came over to see the girls' room. My Campbell and Keaton were also happy to show off their new corona cuts. Yep, I have also now trimmed their hair. They both wanted a few inches off so I just did it! I actually think that I might go to beauty school! (Ha, not really!)
- This afternoon we did our work together. Then the afternoon kind of flew by. I am not really sure what all I did-I remember pushing Campbell on the swing. Oh, yes, I do remember now...
- I took Anderson and Graham to a few stores. First we had to run to the library, then the boys and I went to Walmart. Bless, they had not been to a store this whole time. We found swim suits for them along with some other things that were on the list.
- Since chickens were on sale, we decided to just brave it and go on to Kroger. Another hundred bucks there before having to stop at Dollar General to look for bleach for the house. I found a tiny bit there so hopefully we can do a little bit more.
- Tonight I made quesadillas for everyone's supper before we went to the Wilson's for a little walk. Most of the kids came with us and played outside while we were walking. We didn't stay too long since we are down a shower-we plan on repainting/kilzing our master shower ceiling. Because of that, we are trying not to use it so it dries completely before we start-so that means a few less showers around here!
- I knew that I was running behind when Anderson asked me this morning if we were going to work together. I did get moving and headed up to wake Reagan up. Then I had to go up to the bonus room to wake up Keaton and Whitman who were sleeping in the fort. I am glad that they are enjoying the fort, but gracious I sure don't like having to climbing up two sets of the stairs to wake everyone up.
- We did our work together this morning-only three more days left of history for this school year. I do think that we are going to do some working together during the summer-might as well. The pool seems to be on for the summer. That along with a few activities at church, we will have a fairly busy summer. Seems like the only thing that the kids will be missing out on is summer camps. And since we will all be at home at the same time, then we will have plenty of time for some extra reading.
- School today went pretty quickly for most folks. I will say that I did get distracted for a bit. I listed one thing for sale on a facebook group. By the time I had gotten back to my bedroom to supervise Whitman, what I had just listed sold.
- This caused me to list about 10 other school books. By lunch, I had made 60 dollars so this morning was super fun. Of course, this has caused me to walk around the house like a crazy woman trying to figure out what all I can sell.
- Nonna and Pops came over this afternoon. I had ordered something for Pops which they delivered to his front porch. I wrote him and told him that it had been delivered so he came to my house to pick it up...even thought it was on his porch. The girls were very happy to show them their newly painted room.
- I was headed up the stairs today so help put their room back in order. Graham was quick to tell me that he helped Reagan do this task. I guess that she was ready to have her room back though I did kind of enjoy having her downstairs.
- I helped Robby some late this afternoon. We did some cleaning of the house and a bit of pressure washing. I tell you, this house is big and tall and a wee bit dirty. It is better now. I will say that the bottle of 10 dollar cleaner did very good on the house. However, the 1 dollar bottle of bleach did good so these Dennies will be looking for a few more bottles of bleach to finish our house cleaning.
- BBQ was for supper, and we finished just before Reagan's Bible study started. Tonight is the 6th week (I think), and just two more left. When the Bible study was over tonight, I did go outside to play a game of basketball with Anderson, Graham and Campbell. Keaton was going to play with us, but she didn't want to be on a team with me and Campbell against the boys so she went in. That was fine, but we probably needed her since we lost 10-2.
- The evening was kind of quiet. We just mainly worked on eating the cupcakes that Reagan made this afternoon. Her cupcakes were topped by Graham's strawberry icing! Campbell had also asked to make a dessert, but we have to save something for tomorrow!
- This is the 10th Sunday morning to watch church from the couch, and hopefully it will be the last one. Though we do kind of like our little Sunday mornings. I will definitely miss cuddling with Whitman and Keaton in my lap during the sermons.
- After church, I went to work on the girls' room while Robby ran to buy me more painting tape along with buying lunch. Tony stopped by to start working just as soon as it started pouring. So the working didn't last long, but Brett did get to stay to play with the boys for a bit.
- I took a break from painting to eat lunch, and then went back to more painting. Robby eventually left to run to another hardware store to buy some drain things for his shed.
- Not only does he have lots of drains to dig and figure out, we are also down one bike! Graham had used the bike and parked it a bit too close to Robby's car. Unfortunately, the bike was the only one that fit Keaton, Campbell and Graham. There were a few tears about it, but in the end it is replaceable.
- I'm thinking we just need a few days of sunshine around here. I do believe that I did finish the girls' room today. I did the trim which wasn't that bad-just took a bit of time. Their beds and room is still a mess, but we will have time get everything back to normal tomorrow.
- This evening Robby worked on the drains some-actually removing an old one. The kids played outside until the neighbors had to go home. We all just grazed for our suppers and mostly grazed on snacks until it was finally bedtime!
- I woke up this morning and quietly got up to go to the bathroom. I really thought that it was 9ish, but when I looked at the clock, I realized that it was just 6! The rain had not started yet, so I laid back down quietly trying to sleep until the rain began.
- We weren't that lucky since the rain didn't come for a long time. We have been talking about painting the girls' room since before Christmas, and today we finally we got started. We started around 11 and worked until just now it seems!
- We did take some breaks. At one time, Robby disappeared on me. I eventually found him digging inside of the shed. He was actually playing with the water flowing through the shed trying to figure out a way to divert it another way. There are lots of French drains in our future.
- Campbell, Keaton and Reagan helped us so much today painting the room. They worked pretty much the whole time that we did. Now, Keaton and Campbell did take a break to build a fort in the bonus room. This fort has been talked and about planned for about a month with them and Graham and Whitman, and today was construction day.
- We did some more painting, and once I did sit in a chair and take a very short nap....until my children woke me up fighting about a chair. I then headed outside to find Robby and hide wherever he was hiding-he was sitting in a lawn chair in the shed. I went back in to grab a blanket, and we sat out there for a long while.
- Then it was just cleaning up and pulling out supper. There wasn't much to pull out so Graham added some mac and cheese to the mix. After we ate, we started work on a snack that Shannon had last night. We said hers tasted like a little bit of heaven-ours did not! I choose to blame my oven which doesn't get hot enough. Our dessert still tastes good, but just not the same.
- We stayed up way too late and bedtime took way too long-but I was sure glad to lay down after working all day. I do not want to grow up and be a painter!
- Halfway through the month of May-kind of makes me sad that summer is about to start. We have usually finished the school year by now, but this year there is really no reason to take any extra time off. We were gone for quite a bit of the school year. However, what little we might have been behind, we have quickly made it up the last few weeks with one additional day to work each week. With not a lot going on each day, there is no reason to slow down on our school work at least for another week.
- I am getting anxious to stop school so I can really start thinking about what we are going to do next year. I have already bought a few things, but I so love pulling out everyone's school work for next year and organizing their desks. Now, since Reagan will be doing most of her school work through Comm Central next year, I can't really prepare her stuff too much which does kind of make me crazy!
- This morning was a fairly light school day for most. Now, one child woke up in a very foul mood, and it continued most of the day. Bless Campbell but she just couldn't shake her bad mood. And it sure didn't help when I found out that she was about 3 days behind in her computer math.
- There is something about this quarantine stuff that sure makes my people want to cook. At least 3 people asked to bake something today. I refused to let anyone do any baking, We just didn't really need any sweets since we were having a big supper and Tony's birthday dessert tonight.
- This afternoon I did run Campbell, Keaton and Graham to the Wilson's house along with some post-it notes for the kids to write Happy Birthday on their garage door for Tony to see when he came home.
- Then I did walk a little bit with Keaton and Graham while they rode their bikes. Keaton wanted to go biking earlier but no one would ride with her (she has to have a buddy-my rule) so I told her that I would go with her. There was a little dog that barked at us a good distance. It's bark was fierce-so fierce that I picked up a stick for our return trip by the same house on the way home. I didn't have to use the stick thankfully!
- I did help Robby some outside off and on today-mostly I would sneak to the garage to sit quietly near him while he did his work. He has taken to doing his work in the garage-it si super quiet out there and right now the temperature is just perfect. Unfortunately, the temperature probably won't be perfect for much longer.
- I did go with Shannon today to pick up our supper. We haven't had good luck with Chinese food the last two times we have eaten out. One was at another place and one was at tonight's restaurant. However, tonight, our food was just pretty perfect. I didn't get a lot so we cleaned our plates clean.
- After eating, the kids played outside while the adults sat on the back port and talked about how the Wilson's could spend their stimulus checks. We stayed until it was late before heading home. Tomorrow might just be a rainy day so we may possibly be incredibly lazy or incredibly productive!
- Robby has been waking up early lately which causes him to get a it irritated at how perfectly wonderfully I can sleep in the mornings. I guess I would like to get up early and have a few things accomplished before things get crazy, but maybe I just like sleeping in!
- We started work on our school this morning. My friends have all read a book that they recommended I read to the kids. I wasn't expecting it to be 400 pages long-yikes! I just added it to the pile and hopefully, we can finish it by the time school rolls back around again.
- I was finished with my school work by 11:30ish. I will say "my school work" since Anderson and Reagan both have needed help with their computer math lately. Reagan's is like a puzzle-sometimes I get it and other times I don't. They do have an explanation for the problems but sometimes I don't even understand them. Who knew I would still be doing geometry when I am 42 or am I 43?
- Anderson and I worked on Legos today for a little bit. My goal is to get rid of all those tiny pieces-even if I had to surround the bonus room with bookshelves to hold the completed Legos. We were able to help Robby unload the car from his lunch time grocery store run. By the load of food in his truck, we definitely eat better during quarantine.
- We did some more reading during the afternoon. Then from around 2-5 I usually can't remember about what I do during the day. I did help Robby on the shed some. After Tony came tonight to help, the roof does now look straight so all is well in shed world!
- I made spaghetti for supper-well, I did some and Reagan did some too. We usually clean the pan so tonight, we doubled the recipe. I am not sure what happened tonight-I certainly hope that everyone did get supper-but we had a ton of leftovers.
- I had my last Bible study tonight. We had to go through 2 different lessons so it took a bit. When it was over, the Wilson's were here for a bit. Once they left, it was soon shower time and bedtime for everyone. Tonight, Whitman is sleeping in Keaton's bed. Those two were so happy when I told them that they could share a bed tonight. Campbell, however, was not happy at all. She said that they talk way too much, but I think that maybe she was feeling a bit left out.
- School work this morning went well. Graham was finished super quick, but I still had to hang around the bedroom until almost noon for my stragglers to finish up. Whitman's head was somewhere else today. I am not sure what was going on, but we both needed medicine by the end of the school morning-he needed concentration meds and I needed some anxiety meds!
- During lunch time, I worked with the girls taping their room. I was hoping that it was going to rain more this week than it probably will. Lots of rain means room painting, and that needs to happen soon.
- We worked together this afternoon. The kids could hardly concentrate because they were so excited about our afternoon adventures. The first stop was to Nonna and Pops' house. Pops was having trouble printing something-I wasn't able to help him, but we were able to eat most of the snacks that he had in his house.
- Then we ran to the library to pick up about 25 books and drop off about 100! I offered to put all of those books on the table near the door, but they just wanted them in the book drop off. Still getting library books is one of my favorite parts of the week! (I know, I need a hobby or two.)
- After marking everything off of the calendar this month, I only had one thing to replace it with-Maia's birthday. Everyone here made cards and her gifts were wrapped. Her gifts were actually toys that she had seen here and wanted, but I promised that we would give to her on her birthday.
- The kids were all so happy to see each other especially since we let them play! They had much fun running around the Craft yard as long as I let them. I eventually did call everyone in for one quick picture before we had to head home.
- Once at home, I helped Robby some. He had done some work earlier in the day and happened to see a snake near my dryer vent. He chopped off half of it and bless if the rest of that snake didn't crawl right into the crack in the wall by the dryer vent. Now, there will be a bit less laundry happening here right now.
- I helped Robby work on his shed some. Campbell and Keaton helped too-we just tore down the last remaining old wall on the shed. I think that Robby likes tearing stuff down. Maybe I should try to get him to tear up my carpet or kitchen cabinets.
- We played out there-even cut up a tiny tree stump before walking a couple of miles with the Wilsons. The kids enjoyed playing with Brett while we were walking. They seemed to enjoy riding their bikes quite a bit tonight.
- After walking, I had chips and salsa for my supper while Campbell made most of the kids chicken of some kind for supper. It did take me forever to clean up the kitchen tonight. I am not sure if it was supper or their afternoon popcorn but maybe I need a maid just for my kitchen! Or I need to be the one cooking so I can be the one cleaning.
- It was showers pretty late tonight-Robby was still eating supper at 10 so this quarantine has turned us into city folks.
- Graham was working hard on his school early this morning probably because his bed was full of a sleeping Whitman. Those boys are something else.
- Speaking of something else-last night I heard quite a commotion in the girls' room. I laid real still for a bit trying to hear because I assumed that Keaton was sick. They never called and no one came down, so I assumed it was nothing. When I did wake them up this morning for school, they were quick to tell me that a big dead bug (cricket) was under a towel in the bathroom. I guess Reagan discovered it when she was going to bed, woke up her sisters and they managed to kill it but not dispose of it.
- It was chilly all day today, so people spent the day covered up with more blankets than I ever imagined that we had. I went out to help Robby measure something outside and thought I was going to need a shower to warm back up.
- There was some more pancaking making this morning for breakfast. Graham made some for breakfast with some help from Robby. Campbell decided that she needed some for lunch so more pancakes were made. We will be pretty good pancake makers by the end of the week!
- I worked with Anderson today on some Legos while the others tried to go outside a few times. They would go outside for a bit and soon come back in. It was just so cold and wet. After supper, they did manage a few minutes on the trampoline-everyone came in wet and cold! Cold enough that Campbell had to make hot chocolate to warm up.
- Robby and I made chili for supper tonight, and it was a perfect meal for this day. We might even make more soup tomorrow since we didn't have any leftover chili. I guess we are going to have to start making more of certain foods and chili is one of them.
- There was a game of Sleeping Queens this evening along with lots of showers and some tv watching!
- Monday morning is one of my least favorite days, but it is also one of my most favorite times. I don't like the rest of the week looming in front of us with the weekend so far away, but I really enjoy the quiet of Monday morning with the whole magical week ready to begin.
- We did our morning reading fairly easily with little interruptions. Then it was time for everyone to start on their work. I read with Whitman first-he has finished the last book of his book series that we have here and is not so patiently waiting on my to go to the library to pick up the next book.
- Everyone seemed to be fairly quick with finishing their school today except for Whitman and Anderson. I did let Whitman take a break to go outside and play with his sisters and a brother for a little bit.
- Reagan was very pleased with herself for finishing so early this morning. Graham and I were talking about some kids already being finished with school. He told me that he wouldn't want to be done because if he was, he wouldn't have anything to do all day long.
- We worked together again after lunch-I am trying to finish up that silly never ending history book. We are up to the 1970s so surely we don't have too many more days to read. Then I ironed some perler beads for the kids before sitting for a minute to close my eyes.
- It wasn't too long before I was outside playing a not so friendly game of basketball with Anderson, Graham, Campbell and Keaton. Our basketball games have just gotten a bit more fierce lately. I think that all of the kids would immediately get ejected from games if they were playing somewhere else.
- Tony came over late this afternoon for some shed work. So most of the kiddos were outside the whole time playing with Brett. They played some sore of Olympics are obstacle course which kept them well entertained and made them well stinky.
- Reagan and I had her online Bible study tonight. It was pretty good, but does seem to be a bit on the long side. When it was over, the Wilsons were still here so I had some time to visit for a little bit.
- Afterwards, we heated up chicken sandwiches for everyone's supper. I do believe that that meal is a winner. The desserts that we have at our house are also all winners right now-so many desserts!
- Since supper was at 9, we didn't have much time afterwards since it was soon bedtime!
- I barely heard any sounds this morning with all of the kids in the kitchen working on my traditional Mothers' Day breakfast in bed. Usually, they are very quiet until they start deciding who is actually holding what when they come into my room. Today was not much different.
- They had waffles with syrup, bacon and some doughnuts that Jason had given us yesterday along with some orange juice. Everyone was delighted to give me their cards. Campbell and Keaton even had me gifts-wooden blocks that they had painted for me.
- After I looked at all of my goodies, we all went to the kitchen to eat our yummy breakfasts. Robby had worked pretty hard on the breakfast, and it was delicious. After cleaning up, we didn't have very long until church was starting. Robby even missed the preshow, and we had to catch him up.
- Church was very good today, and when it was over, it was time to get busy around here. I forgot about Graham's corn casserole so I had to quickly call him back inside to help stir it up. Then it was back outside to help set up.
- The kids helped drive the tractor filled with the baggo, lawn chairs and a table to the side of the yard. Soon everything was fancy smancy and ready for a Grandpa's birthday celebration along with Grannymom's Mother's Day celebration.
- Everyone arrived as Robby was working on grilling his burgers. He did them on the Treager, and they weren't my favorite. I think that he agreed with me-they were definitely good, but not really like a regular grilled burger.
- We had lots of desserts for Grandpa's birthday-Grannymom had a coconut cake along with cookies and brownies. We had a chocolate chip cookie cake along with rice krispy treats and cookies. The Dennie crew does not slack when it comes to desserts.
- After eating, the kids and Grannymom played a round of kickball. Once everyone did leave, we worked on cleaning everything up before heading to Nonna's house for her little Mother's Day celebration.
- Reagan drove my big van over there. She has decided that she will learn to drive it some-it is so big that it scares her which it does me too! She did just fine on the road-though there was a bit of veering from one side of the lane to the other.
- Nonna was getting around well today. She is still moving a bit slow, but much better than last time we saw her. Their new kitchen really looks good. It will look wonderful once it is all finished.
- After visiting for a while, we headed back home. I went to work pulling out school work for this next week. The kids are ready for less school work, but I just don't know what they would do all day if we didn't do something constructive during the day.
- I almost finished when I went outside to walk the kids trail in the woods. They wanted to show Robby their hard work-and they have worked hard since they basically cleared a pretty good little bike track.
- We then changed a bike tire and had a bit of downtime before having some lanwmower problems. Robby did eventually figure it out after lots of flashlight holding and whispering silent prayers by me.
- The kids started on their showers-I did have one child throw an absolute fit because she didn't want to take a shower even though the bottom of her feet were filthy! After showers, the plan is to watch one tv show before bedtime. Then it will finally be time for my Mother's Day ice cream-well, maybe. I still didn't get my Mother's Day nap-maybe next week!
- We did sleep in a bit this morning. Whitman was the first kiddo that we saw. He came in to ask if he could get some milk. This does get us out of bed because we certainly don't want him pouring his own milk which would lead to spilling the milk!
- Robby and I decided to run to Walmart first this morning-we needed an assortment of items-everything from a bike inner tube to chocolate chips. We didn't take too long and were soon back home.
- Robby made some rice krispy treats before he headed out to mow. I started to working on making cookies with Campbell's help. And gracious, if we didn't have any eggs! Campbell and I ran to borrow some down the road, and then we were back at our baking.
- I next ended up outside moving outside furniture to pressure wash. Then I gathered lots of children to help with the raking and moving of leaves. Robby hurried to finish mowing and soon we were leaving.
- We dropped off some snacks at the Fergusons and stayed there to play for a little bit. Whitman loved running around the yard with their little puppy chasing them. Graham agreed that we need a dog. We did remind him that we will happily buy him a dog when he moves out!
- Reagan has actually thought about moving out lately. She walked through the shed the other day and decided that it could be a really nice house. She even planned where she would need a fridge.
- We ran to Sonic, Home Deport and back to a Walmart (which was crazy crowded) before heading home. Once we made it home, Robby and the kids picked up the construction site while I painted some of the furniture.
- We worked for a long time outside. Then Robby went to weed eating and finished around dark. It was nearly 9 when we pulled our pizzas out of the even for our supper tonight. After we ate, everyone did gather around the tv to watch on show before bedtime.
- I was a little rushed all day today. I just couldn't seem to get everything accomplished during the day. I am not sure why, but gracious me-usually I can knock a few things off of my weekend list on Friday, but not today.
- We finished our school work for the week-well, most of us did. For some reason, my child that can't seem to pick anything up and put it away right now, happens to be skipping a few school things. I am not sure why they think I don't have any sense-I can always tell what they skip. Though, to be honest-when Graham was little and would push his phonics papers under the tv, I didn't know about that until way, way later! If we ever move from here, we will probably find a whole year's worth of school work shoved under furniture-at least I hope not!
- We worked together again in the afternoon. Then I crimped Reagan's hair. I have become quite the hair stylist lately-trimming hair, crimping hair, braiding hair. Keaton really wants me to trim her hair too, but I didn't have time today.
- I did manage to plant a few thing in our little planter today. Also, Robby took the tarps off of his shed's roof. I was going to fold them, but they were too wet, so I shook them and laid them on the driveway to dry. I knew that the wind was blowing, so I threw a few boards on the tarps. Well, imagine my surprise when I came home later to see my tarps not where I left them. They were not folded either-they were just all crumpled back up in the yard.
- Robby had walked past them and was shocked to see that they had all blown in the driveway into. (He had knocked them off of the roof and just left them on all of the sides of the shed.) He was worried that they would blow away, so he grabbed them in a bundle and threw a board over them. We did fold them when we came home tonight though so all is well again.
- Reagan had a drive by birthday party today in Maumelle, so we drove there. Keaton went with us so she was happy to hang with those big girls for a little bit. We tried to social distance, but didn't really! Or at least the kids didn't at all!
- While we were gone, Robby did pick up the roof to the shed so that is a project for another day! When we came home most everyone was playing outside. I did make a quick supper before we ran to the Wilson's house to do a tiny bit of walking.
- Later Robby ran to pick up the kids who were still at the house so they could come and eat ice cream with us. We devoured some ice cream before finally coming home way too late. Most everyone needed showers tonight so bedtime continues to creep back later and later!
- Robby left the house early today-last night as we were working in the garage, we looked over to see that one of his tires was pretty low. While he was airing it up, he crawled all around that tire looking for the culprit. You guessed it, a nail. Well, not actually a nail-it looked like a bolt.
- He could have picked up that bolt anywhere, but the odds are that it happened when he was driving in the yard. I have been working diligently at picking up nails, screws and any thing else I can find, but there have been so, so many.
- Thankfully, it was just a repair and was even free so that did start his day off a little bit better. Meanwhile, we started our morning this morning by baking some banana bread for Nonna and Pops.
- Then it was time to start on our school work. Graham has worked extra and has finished most of his school work for tomorrow even. I guess that he has big plans happening tomorrow. School went fairly well-the kids know that next week we will have a bit less school so that makes them pretty excited....me too!
- As soon as I got to a school stopping place, we loaded up and headed to Nonna and Pops's house to check on Nonna. She was in her chair and happy to see us. They are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so we all enjoyed snooping around their "new" kitchen. We also enjoyed eating most of Pops' cookies.
- From there we ran to Walgreens and Hobby Lobby to pick up a few things for Reagan's afternoon craft project. I will say that at Hobby Lobby, we were about the only folks not wearing a mask.
- Once at home, Reagan went to work on her project while the other girls went outside. Anderson and Graham often go outside to ride their bike on their trail-they seem to do this every chance that they get right now.
- Later in the afternoon, Robby and I worked on my little garden box. We filled it up with dirt, and I planted some carrot seeds inside. Tomorrow I have bean seeds to plant in the house. Hopefully, I will have a green thumb this year-or hopefully Robby will just buy some fresh veggies and put them in the dirt every morning.
- Then Robby and I ran back to Lowes-really, can you ever have enough Lowes. He has been working on fixing an ever leaking potty. We have blamed Whitman for the wet floor for months, possibly years, but it did get worse the last few days so we discovered that Whitman might have decent aim after all.
- While I was on my Bible study call, Robby was able to fix the potty-hopefully. This is the third part that he has had to buy for the fix-soon we will have a brand new potty piece by piece. The kids were coming in from playing outside when Robby discovered that one sink wasn't working.
- Gracious, thanks to some internet searching we were able to solve that problem (a gunked up aerator). We are thinking that the other day when our water was turned off due to a neighbor's leak, some things were stirred up. Thankfully, everything is back to order-at least right this second.
- The kids were outside until well after 9. Then no one was in a hurry to take their showers so it was well after 10 when it was finally bedtime for this Dennie crew!
- Robby started his day early this morning by putting 2 big hunks of meat on the grill. His meat smoked all day, and we did a lot of sitting around watching and smelling it. At one point, I even stood in front of the grill trying to get the smoke to blow on me, so my hair would smell like BBQ-quarantine goals!
- We did our school this morning. The kids were delighted when Pops came over baring doughnuts for their second breakfast. Nonna was having back surgery at the time, and since he couldn't wait at the hospital, he dropped by to see us.
- After he left, we went back to our school work. Reagan continues to breeze through her work right now and even finished one book today. I do think that next week's school will be even lighter than this week...except for Whitman whose school work will never end! (That is exactly the way he feels too!)
- Jason stopped by to bring Anderson some Lego pieces that were shipped to Pops' house. This was pretty thrilling because Anderson was then able to finish a pretty large Lego set. He was waiting just on those pieces to arrive. We are steadily plugging along on those Legos-hopefully, we can finish some day.
- The kids enjoyed showing off their new woods trail to Jason. They are loving riding their bikes through there. I will say that even though Graham is covered in calamin lotion right now, he will be back on that trail tomorrow. I am not sure if he has poison ivy or not, but he is already itchy.
- I do worry about poison ivy and snakes on their trail-but Anderson and Graham are spending so much time out there so I will have to say that it is a good thing. Maybe building your immunity up to poison ivy and some dirt and pollen is a good thing. Or maybe they should be wearing masks along with long socks and pants!
- This afternoon Robby and I watched his meat cook some, but we also worked on a box for me to plant a few veggies this summer. I have wanted to do this forever and am still a bit worried that the deer are going to eat my veggies....Whitman may have a new fun chore on his list-peeing by my garden.
- Robby and I finished (minus the dirt and plants) just in time to chop up his first slab of meat. He pulled out that bone and we went to town-eating! Ha! We tried not to eat it since he was chopping it with the meat cleaver. It was too dangerous to sneak our fingers near his chopping!
- We then went to the Wilson's house to do some walking. We walked a little bit while Anderson and Graham rode with Brett on the 4-wheeler. That made them supper happy!
- Happy enough to forget that it was late and they were starving. It didn't help that Robby was on the phone for a good bit when we got home. We finally did chop up the second hunk of meat for our supper. We did devour it! Well, we didn't eat all of it since 5 pounds of meat is too much even for us Dennie's to eat in one meal.
- It was after 9 when I finished cleaning the kitchen. The kids showered and went to bed around 10. Robby and I then worked in the garage for a while-it was nearly 11 when we finally came in. We even discovered a fun new project for tomorrow!
- I am pretty sure that today was Tuesday. It was a fairly good day around here. We got started a bit later than usual on our school work, but that was still fine. Today our history reading was about man landing on the moon. I was a bit offended when someone asked if I was alive then. Though Robby and I were born not too terrible long afterwards.
- After our reading, the kids started on their school work. Whitman is super into these dragon books right now. He would read these forever if I would let him. I don't though since he has other school work to do. Thankfully today his math is super easy right now! He is learning about money right now.
- Anderson even finished fairly early this morning. I think that we are all finally in a good grove-just took us since August. Ha! The kids continue to finish their school work earlier each day since they continue to finish things up. I am already working on my chore/activity list for this summer.
- For lunch everyone grabbed what they wanted. Then the afternoon began. We worked together while Robby made it to the library for me. We returned some of my 2 laundry baskets full of books.
- I worked in the back some today picking up nails and screws. It is taking a bit longer than usual plus I have my other list of projects-yikes! Will we ever get it all done? Probably eventually. We did find out today that church will be starting back fairly soon. I am ready for that, but on the other hand, I do kind of like this lifestyle.
- Tony did come over and they measured the roof tonight so they will order one tomorrow. While they did that, I ran with Shannon to the grocery store. I bought a few things-and had a few more things that should have been on the list that I didn't think about. I always seem to have something on the grocery list-as soon as I come home from the store, someone is always telling me to add something to the list. That is just like the laundry-there is always someone throwing something in the laundry basket right after I start the laundry!
- The kids and Brett (minus Reagan) worked on a good long trail in the woods. We will soon see which Dennie kids are allergic to poison ivy/oak! Fingers crossed that it is no one! They yelled and squealed and had a blast making their bike track/trail. Those are the days that they will remember for a long time.
- Everyone was super filthy tonight so most folks had showers as soon as they walked into the door of the house. For supper it was just more leftovers-we might can even squeeze another night of leftovers out of that fridge!
- Tomorrow is a full day-quite a few things on the list-and I can't wait to tackle them all!
- The days are all running together lately. By 8:30 we had started our school work today and seemed to breeze through things. I know that I was finished at a very decent time with my school work and started on my own list.
- Part of the reason that I was finished early was because at 11:30 Whitman saw his brother and sister outside playing so he asked if he could take a break. I guess I have become a softee so I let him take a very long break. He did eventually finish all of his school work. I figure as long as he is finished with work that involves me, he can certainly go run and play-you are only a kid once.
- I made lunch for most everyone today-Robby and Tony were first with sandwiches, then Keaton with a roll up, Campbell with a sandwich, and finally Whitman and Anderson with cinnamon toast. I am feeling a bit like a short order cook around here these days.
- We did our work together time this afternoon. It is really my favorite time right now because other than history, I can read whatever I want since we have time.
- I have printed out a math packet for Keaton and Whitman. I worked with them after our morning work on the first page. Campbell walked by and said that she wanted to do it too...so of course I printed her out one too-a bit of extra math work never hurt anyone.
- I ran to Sams today to pick up our medicine. Campbell and Keaton went with me-this was their first time to visit a store since this has all started. They were so excited to leave the house and go into a store!
- Once we came home, the afternoon flew by. I didn't have a big fun project to do today like Robby working on the shed outside. Soon it was late in the afternoon, and Shannon came over for a bit.
- When the menfolk finished their shed building, we pulled out all of the leftovers for supper. I did make about 3 more quesadillas, but we still had enough food to feed everyone along with leftovers to return to the fridge.
- The kids all had their showers tonight and everyone had an evening snack before bed tonight! We have just about finished off Robby's favorite new cookies-I guess I may need to make him another batch or two!
- Today was another full day of shed building around here. I was again awake before usual. I am not sure what might be happening to me-possibly growing up.
- Since Robby was up early working on his shed, he did have to skip church today. There is just so much work to do on the shed. They are moving swiftly along-the roof is done with some help to Graham who fearlessly screwed in quite a few nails and most of the walls are done since Anderson helped hold some boards. There is still a bit more work to do-at least another days worth.
- The kids and I watched church this morning together. I will say that sitting in my comfy chair, cuddled up with Keaton under a blanket made it especially hard to stay awake during the sermon. I managed to see most of it!
- After that was over, I did do some Lego working with Anderson before making sandwiches for Robby and Tony's lunches. Some time around then, I did run to Lowe's for some quick crete. I had so much trouble finding what I needed, then had to go back to the aisle to get two more bags...then I had to go back to the aisle to find a trowel. Gracious me!
- Back at home, I did work on the attic some straightening it. I moved a shelf around and cleaned a few things up. I am not sure where or when we have accumulated all of this stuff. Makes me want to be a minimalist...except we are enlarging the shed to hold more stuff!
- This afternoon Shannon came over for a bit. We soon found ourselves running to Lowe's to buy 10 more bags of concrete. We had a time loading and unloading all of it!
- Soon afterwards, we were back on the road to West Little Rock to pick up supper. Tonight's supper was a delicious pre-Cinco de Mayo celebration. We ate and ate and ate some more. The kids played Nertz tonight while the grown ups talked.
- It was late again this evening when everyone did get to bed. Whitman and Graham really wanted to sleep in the air fort but that will have to be for another day. They did however end up sleeping on the floor of their room.
- Robby woke me up early this morning to tell me that Tony was going to the hardware store with him so I could sleep a little bit longer. That was certainly welcome news to my sleepy ears!
- I actually didn't sleep too much longer and had almost finished making chocolate chip muffins by the time that Graham and Anderson were out of their beds. Then I finished making the cookies from last night-two more pans. Robby has said that those are his favorite cookies right now.
- I worked on the never ending laundry and dishes and checked on the Robby's progress outside. They were moving along fairly well. By the end of the day they had made two trips to Lowes and have 2/3rds of the roof on. Robby is pleased with the progress-hopefully lots can be accomplished tomorrow too.
- I did move a bookshelf from the attic to the school room. The shelf was holding things in the attic but now they are just sitting in the floor. There is a lot of organizing to do up there-maybe tomorrow.
- I made Robby and Tony lunch and watched them eat it. Then I worked on Whitman's lunch while making breakfast burritos to put in the freezer. The boys were anxious to go to the the Wilson's house.
- They had their minds on riding the 4 wheeler so they did that quite a bit. Meanwhile, I did some recipe writing out and laminating while Shannon did some pie baking. Then we worked on her cricut for a little bit crafting.
- Soon we headed back to my house to work on supper. I heated up last nights supper (blowing a fuse while doing so-5 appliances are too many at once!-2 quesadilla makers, ice maker, air fryer and toaster oven) plus I made quesadillas and cheese dip. That along with one pizza fed everyone and will probably feed everyone tomorrow night too!
- Campbell and Keaton spent the entire day outside down at the neighbor's house again today. They all showed up down here around supper time so everyone ate later than the adults. At one point the yard was full of at least 13 people outside playing. Not much social distancing happening in my yard!
- For dessert tonight, we had my apple crisp and Shannon's strawberry pie plus cookies from last night. Graham and I liked Shannon's pie best, but the plain vanilla ice cream was certainly a hit too! That is Whitman's favorite.
- It was shower time after the Wilson's left and then very shortly bedtime! Tomorrow there will be churching, building and some organizing!
- I tried to get up early this morning to get started on school a tiny bit before usual-I didn't! Don't be shocked! We did move early enough for school to start at the regular time. The kids sped through most things since it was Friday.
- Reagan did some of her ACT work-we have quite a ways to go on that! Whitman did pretty well and only had a few pieces of work to do after lunch. By the time that it was actually lunch, Campbell and Keaton were gone and didn't come home until around 9 when I called them.
- They hung out at the neighbor's house. They helped work in the garden, went to buy plants with them and even ate their supper over there.
- Robby and Tony started to work around noon on the big shed project. They worked and worked getting things right so they didn't do a lot of boards today. Now after supper, they did go to town and get a 2 or 3 done in just about an hour.
- I did some housework today and finished about the time that Shannon came over. The two of us eventually went to pick up Robby's car-which now has a perfectly working air conditioner. It is so cold that I had to turn it off!
- Then I went to Kroger to do some shopping followed by picking up supper for everyone at Eat My Catfish. It took forever for me to get home-well, it seemed like it since I was starving. I did stick my hand in a container determined to eat whatever I pulled out. It was a hush puppy so that was a lot better than a handful of beans.
- While we were running errands, the boys went to the Wilson's house. They had fun over there driving (carefully) on the 4 wheeler. They called me multiple times to make sure that I was okay with them riding on the 4 wheeler. I think that they were determined to call me until I answered them!
- We all enjoyed our supper. Afterwards, the kids all went back outside. Robby and Tony did some more work while Shannon and I made a few dozen cookies. We filled up all of my cookie sheets and I even had dough left!
- When the cookies were finished, we ran to the Wilson's house to watch them open up their Amazon boxes-this is what quarantine life has brought us too! Ha! We also did get a few packages today-4 new kid photobooks!
- I am pretty sure that everyone was exhausted tonight when we went to bed! Robby worked hard all day on the shed, Campbell and Keaton played hard with the neighbors and Anderson and Graham played hard with Brett most of day!
