Adventures in Dennieland...: 07/01/2020

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I do believe that Graham and Whitman were the first ones up this morning. Whitman did come in to my room and ask for me to make him a "surprise breakfast." I am probably not too good at surprise breakfasts at the crack of dawn (it wasn't really the crack of dawn, but close-on the west coast.)
I did manage to throw together a decently fun breakfast before waking completely up and starting on my morning chores. When I reminded Whitman that we didn't have to do spelling today, he asked if we were still going to read. I hadn't intended to, but we certainly did.
It was after noon sometime when I left with Graham and Keaton. Graham wanted to spend some birthday money while Keaton was just along for the ride. We went to 4 different stores including some major grocery shopping so Keaton wasn't too certain about her choice to come when we finally did get home.
Graham found the perfect choice for his birthday money-a salt gun. He has had fun with it all afternoon and evening long. I had assumed that when he shot a fly it would just fall over dead-I wasn't expecting for the salt to shoot the fly a good few feet each time. So it certainly does have a nasty factor to it-which probably makes him love it even more.
After unloading all of the groceries, Robby, Graham, Campbell, Keaton and I ran to the camper to put a few things in it. Then we did run to the best Dollar Tree in the city to pick up a few things. Seriously, when we go out in the camper for a few nights, we really could stay gone for weeks because we will have that thing loaded down!
Tonight we had supper at the Wilson's house. They had plenty of breakfast items to choose from. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals! We did stay for a while over there-the kids enjoyed playing (well, they were also very noisy while playing) and the adults enjoyed talking as always!

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This wasn't as busy of a day than yesterday, thank goodness. I don't think that I could keep up if it was as busy. This morning there were only a few folks awake when I started stirring-Graham and Whitman.
I did some laundry and some more laundry and even found a few things to put in my pile to take to the camper. Whitman and I worked on his spelling-and today we finished! How wonderful is that? That means that we have Friday off of spelling and start his new spelling book Monday!
A bit before noon, we started towards the pool. The weather was fairly cloudy, but the rain did hold off for us. Most of the buddies were there today so the kids had a blast swimming with their friends.
Campbell and Keaton stayed a bit longer with the Kamps before they left. The rest of us scurried home so I could leave the house again. While I was gone the kids did a few chores straightening the house. I have let it get a bit bad in here-maybe tomorrow we will do some deep cleaning....or maybe not.
I picked up pizza on the way home for supper. I do believe that most of my kids love pizza-though tonight Keaton said that she did not like pizza. She also does not like ice cream so she is possibly not our child.
We put some stuff in the camper tonight-I do love filling that thing up. I have a few more things on my list, and then I will have to help Robby with his lists. This camping is a lot of work-and we haven't even gone anywhere yet!

July 29, 2020-Happy 12th Birthday Graham!

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Here is our day in a nutshell:

Graham, Campbell, Keaton, Whitman, Robby left for swim team.
Kaleigh left.
Alyssa came.
Swimmers came back.
Presley left.
UPS came and left.
Robby and I went shopping.
Nonna and Pops came and left with Whitman.
Brett left.
Robby and I came returned.
Whitman came home.
Fed Ex came and left.
Electrician came and left.
Kennedy came.
Graham, Anderson, Reagan, Alyssa and Kennedy went to church with me.
I came home.
Wednesday night church meal was dropped off.
Whitman, Keaton, Campbell, Robby and I left.
Graham, Anderson, and Reagan came home.
Whitman, Keaton, Campbell, Robby and I came home.

I am sure that I even forget something up above, but some days I feel like I need a flow chart to keep up with everyone. It was tough waking up all of my people for swim team this morning. Graham was surprisingly already awake though-I think that he was excited about his birthday.
At swim, they sang Happy Birthday to him, and Robby picked up doughnuts for another birthday breakfast celebration when they came home.
There have been lots of deliveries lately-we are filling that camper up. There are lots of things that Robby needs to make everything work the way we need it to, and there are lots of things that I need to make everything livable.
Robby and I even went to Walmart and the Dollar Tree today. We walked around Walmart like we had never been there before-almost up and down every aisle. Our trunk was full when we came home.
We came home just about the same time that John came over to look at some electrical work which also happened at the same time that the Fed Ex came twice and Kennedy came over-and this all happened in the pouring rainy monsoon!
Graham had been so excited all week about getting to go to Collide (church youth group) tonight. I believe that they all had a super time-Graham came home with 2 new shirts which he was excited about.
While they were gone, the rest of us went to the camper and worked and worked. I have that things full of plastic bins-I am sure that everything will change spots when we actually live in it, but for right now it sure is super neat.
It was a pretty busy day, but I do think that my Graham had a good birthday today-I know that he is super tired though!

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Another day of Camp Geyer for the Dennie crew. Laynie spent the night here last night so I thought that I would have a hard time waking those girls up, but they woke up fairly easily.
I dropped everyone off at church this morning, and they were all wearing matching t-shirts. I hate that I didn't get a picture because I am sure that will not happen again for a long time.
I ran home and did some more camper work while the kids were gone. It is rare that I am home alone without any kids. I was able to mark a few more things off of my list-but the list just keeps growing!
Soon I was heading back to church to pick everyone up. They all had a good time, but who doesn't have a good time when you get a popsicle when you leave. We went to the library to pick up some books. The lady was passing out lunches so my crew grabbed some. Well, Campbell and Keaton grabbed some for everyone.
I ran to get my hair cut this afternoon so I wasn't around too long, but when I did return home, I helped Robby some. Then it was time for the Wilson's to come over for supper. Also Reagan had a few friends come over as well-Alyssa and Kennedy who didn't spend the night and Presley and Kaleigh who did spend the night.
Brett also ended up spending the night tonight. I guess our crew is just turning into teenagers. After playing outside most of the evening long, they sat on the back patio talking until we finally made them come in at 11:30.
This was also the time that we put Whitman, Keaton and Campbell to bed. I am sure that swim team time will come awfully early for that crew!

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I was the first one awake this morning-I actually had no idea what I was hearing when my alarm started ringing. I wasn't sure when Laynie was coming over so I did jump up so I would be up when she arrived.
I woke up Campbell and Keaton and they anxiously awaited their friend to arrive. Meanwhile, I had to wake everyone else up because today was the church's mini vbs. I wasn't working today, but Anderson and Reagan were so that meant that I dropped off all 6 of my crew!
I hurried back home to do a few things-unfortunately, I didn't do a ton of things, but I did load a few things into the camper. It is like moving into a house-I want to put everything in just the right spot, but I don't know what the right spot is just yet.
All too soon it was time to head back to church to pick up my kids plus Laynie plus the Fergies. It again was a full of car! We dropped off some and were soon home eating our lunches. We had about an hour at home before picking up Brett and heading to the pool.
The kids enjoyed playing at the pool, and I enjoyed sitting on my chair. I will say that I am darker each time we come back from the pool even though I sit and stay in the shade. I just don't understand how that works at all.
Back at home, I helped Robby with some water hoses before it was time for me to go to Bunko. Now I did leave early so I could spent some time at the dollar store to find a few things for the camper.
Meanwhile, Robby heated up leftovers for everyone. I had so many leftovers today that I made enchiladas with some of those leftovers. That didn't even put much of a dent in the fridge, but hopefully supper tonight made a difference.
I stayed out a bit but was home in time to put the kids in bed-even though we lollygagged and even let them stay up until almost 11. I am sure that it will be difficult to wake everyone up tomorrow!

July 26, 2020-Happy 12th Birthday (party) Graham!

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Before 8:30 this morning, Robby had gotten a few bags of ice, taken my library books back to the library, and started on mowing the yard. I was up soon afterwards and had my shower and woke up the crew to start cleaning the house at 9.
The kids knocked out the cleaning, and they all had plenty of free time before church started. There was some slight excitement finding church clothes for the boys. Anderson couldn't fit into his khaki shorts. The last time he wore them was one Sunday in March before the Rona happened.
At the same time, Graham was rolling in the floor trying to pull up his shorts. I told Anderson to take his off and pass them to Graham. That left Anderson wearing a non church shirt and non church shorts. Graham was able to find a church shirt and church shorts.
I had told Whitman what specifically I wanted him to put on. He only remembered the church shorts part of my directions and had a on a tshirt. I figured that he was in between Anderson and Graham was just fine.
Soon it was time to go back to church-real church-in the building church. This was only our 5th week inside of Geyer this year (now, we did go 5 times in Orlando, quite a few online Sundays and a few outside Sundays), but it was good being back home.
The mask thing is weird, but not as weird and the seating arrangements. We arrived right on time so there weren't many seats left. We did find a spot on the back row of the balcony. I usually don't like the balcony, but it was so good to be in the building that I would have set on the floor if they would have asked. I have certainly missed church and still miss normal church!
We ate lunch at Nonna and Pops's house. They had a Mexican feast-complete with a watermelon basket. Pops had made one for Graham because he has been asking about it. That worked out perfectly because he also had a birthday cake to go along with it.
The watermelon basket was absolutely huge. I was at their house the other day, and they had a cantaloupe larger than anything I had ever seen before. The basket was so fun, and Pops sent it home with us for everyone at Graham's party to enjoy too.
We didn't stick around too long because it was soon time to head home to start working on the party. Once we made it home, we all went to work outside. There were chairs to be set out, sticks to be picked up and the tent to be set up. Everyone helped-I will say that my kids can be slackers quite often, but sometimes they pitch in and work hard, and today was certainly one of those days-this morning with chores, this afternoon with party prep and tonight for party clean up.
Once that was done, Graham and I worked on making pinwheels for the party-I made about 200 too many! Ha! I made a ton and folks didn't eat as many as I thought that they would. Then we had just a few minutes for a Sunday afternoon nap-of course there were other things that I should have done, but a nap is a must for a Sunday.
I sneaked off to the camper to join Robby who was already there. Campbell and Keaton came in for a little bit. I had a good little nap and could have only slept better with a blanket and pillow. Well, I probably still would have been sleeping if I had a blanket and pillow.
Soon though it was party time and things got busy. We had almost 50 folks there tonight so it was a full yard. The kids all played outside the entire time. There were games of gaga ball where prizes were handed out (Anderson and Graham were two of the winners). There was guess the number of skittles, and another Dennie won that as well-Campbell.
Graham was the big winner though tonight with lots of friends and family there to celebrate his birthday. We had tacos for supper along with vanilla cupcakes for dessert. He opened a ton of presents, but I think that his favorite are his socks and his weighted blanket. We have all actually tried out the blanket-I may need me one!
Everyone stayed a while which was wonderful. Then it was pick up time-the kids went to work. Especially Anderson this time. He had the tractor and was filling it up with chairs before the last car left. My people can work! (Sometimes!)
Outside was quick to clean up and so was inside. Pops and Shannon put away all of the food so the inside wasn't messy at all. The kids had their showers while Graham laid out all of presents. Then it was finally bedtime for all of us! It was certainly a great day!

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The original plan this morning was for me to bake the cupcakes while Robby took the kids to swim practice and ran to the grocery store. Graham heard about the plan but wasn't crazy about it at all. He wanted to help with the cupcakes so when they left, I went to work cleaning.
I had the downstairs sparkling clean when they swimmers came home. Unfortunately, that clean house isn't so clean anymore since we lived and lived well today.
We unloaded the groceries, and then Graham, Campbell, Keaton and me helped Robby trim a few limbs. As I was holding the ladder, Graham told me that he didn't like Robby up that high. I sure don't either! He survived, and we soon had the branches cleaned up.
Then there was one light bulb to change way up high! Once the ladder was put away, Graham and I headed inside to work on those cupcakes.
It didn't take too long, and as he baked, I browned some meat. Wes came over to help Robby with some motor home things, since they were busy I ran to Nonna's house for a minute with Keaton, Graham, and Whitman.
We ate our weight in cookies and nuts while there, but we also delivered some flowers to Nonna since today is actually their 50th wedding anniversary. Back at home, Michael was at the house. Whitman and he played so well together today-they played inside and outside and ate popsicle after popsicle!
Alyssa was over too so Reagan and her made scones at one point. Another time, they decided that they wanted to skate board so Noah and Lily came over to play some. It was a full house!
For supper Robby ran to pick up pizza. Then the kids played for a bit longer before I took the Kamps home.
Then as the kids took their showers, Robby and I cleaned the motor home. It was already pretty clean, but it is super clean now! And now that means that I can start putting things in it!

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I knew this morning that I needed to go ahead and start working on my list since today would be a busy day. I was correct.
Before 9, I had worked with Whitman, folded laundry, emptied the dishwasher and browned 5 pounds of hamburger meat. I am usually not this productive that early in the morning.
A bit after 10, we left for Lake Maumelle. It has only been a week since Robby just looked at a camper. He has wanted one for years and not too very long ago he took it off of his bulletin board in his office.
Well things just seemed to all fall into place this week and before we knew it we were buying a motor home. Wes was gracious enough to meet us to inspect it-and inspect it he did. They spent an hour and a half crawling, poking and investigating the camper. All I knew was that it looked pretty!
There was even a test drive which included Robby's first time to drive something that long-33 feet. Afterwards, we went to the bank to close the deal, but it still took a while for us to get the new baby home.
Graham had been gone all day long at a friend's house. He was a bit bummed about missing out on the excitement of the day, but he would have been beside himself waiting on us to get home since it did take so long.
Campbell and Keaton did plenty of texting to me while waiting. They had me facetime them as I walked through the rig. Those three were so, so excited-Campbell and Keaton were even waiting outside when we did arrive home.
I had to leave the excitement to pick up Graham. They swam and ate at Popeye's for lunch along with some xbox playing. He had a great time. We then ran to Walmart to pick up a few things.
I bought some cleaners, some shelf liner, some silverware and then there was one something special...they had rv cakes for sale just right there in the middle of the store by the cookies. What could be more perfect? Graham and I were super excited about the cake-it was just all meant to be.
Soon we were home and loaded up the rv for a trip to the gas station. Then Grannymom and Grandpa came over for a bit to see the rig. Grandpa helped Robby cut some branches off of low trees. Then Nonna and Pops came over followed by the Heltz and the Crafts. I tell you, our people were all just as excited for us as we were!
We spent the rest of the evening talking about or measuring in the motor home. Hopefully, I can talk Robby into a trip next week! Shh, don't tell him that yet!

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Some mornings seem like they happen so long ago that it is hard to remember what actually happened. I had to look back at yesterday's blog to job my memory about what all happened today.
This morning was Reagan's turn at UAMS for the beginning of her study. The lady did not read my the 9 pages of forms like she did yesterday, and only read Reagan her forms. It wasn't too bad though because we were back in the car after just an hour and a half.
On the way home, we dropped off some clothes at Immanuel for a clothing drive. I do just love to clean out-I always try to get rid of as much as I bring home. I guess I might have a lot of emptying out to do in the near future.
When I came home, I went to work with Whitman. We are on his last lesson in spelling and will finish next week. Unfortunately, I think that the week after next we will start school back-I really don't want to though since I am enjoying this summer thing!
Graham and I hunted and hunted for a specific Lego this morning. We could never find that sucker so that is incredibly frustrating to me. Anderson and I worked on sorting some baseball cards-the baseball cards are about 30 years old since they were mine-and they still aren't worth anything!
I was supposed to head to the pregnancy center today, but they had plenty of help this afternoon so instead Keaton, Graham and I went to the store to buy the groceries for the big party coming up on Sunday.
And the last event this evening was celebrating Nonna and Pop's 50th wedding anniversary tonight. We all ate out at Saltgrass. It was all delicious, and the kids so enjoyed getting to pick whatever they wanted off of the menu.
Graham delighted in ordering ribs while Reagan had shrimp. Those two always want to try something different-not the ribs and shrimp are different, but they are for me! After eating, we came home stuffed to the brim! Robby and I are not used to eating such rich food!
We stayed up a bit too late tonight-I napped while the girls were wrapped up in a tv show and Anderson created a massive fort with army men surrounding it ready to defend it. When it was finally time for bed, my crew wasn't as tired as I had hoped because there are still footsteps stomping around above my head.

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We all woke up early this morning because Whitman, Keaton and Campbell had swim practice, Graham and Anderson had a visit to UAMS and Reagan had a friend coming over.
The swim teamers left just as the rain started here. Robby said that it wasn't raining at the pool at first, but it eventually did. Campbell said that it poured so much that the rain hurt. I am not sure about that, but Robby agreed that it was coming down!
Anderson and Graham ventured with me to UAMS so they could participate in a research study. First there were questions for them and surveys for us all. We were there for about 2 hours before we all left with 50 dollars each.
Reagan's friend Kaleigh came over today because her family was out of town. They had a great time hanging out together during the day. My little girls followed the big girls around most of the day-they watched a movie this morning and Campbell even made everyone grilled cheese for their lunches.
I worked steadily marking things off of my to do list today but really accomplished nothing. Reagan left at 3 so they could work on their lip sync battle. Anderson wasn't too far behind her and was soon at church practicing.
We actually just watched the video and both groups did very well. Reagan had a perfect part for her-little time on stage. Anderson's group is just about 8 boys, and they did great with their little group.
After we ate our church-brought supper, we headed to the Crafts. It was Gabriel's birthday so we had him a little present to open. The kids played for a long time-even though we weren't going to stay long at all, we did! They even had to pull out popsicles for a snack!

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My alarm did ring this morning, though I am not sure at all why I turned it on! Graham, Campbell, Keaton and Whitman did have a thing at church this morning at 10, but I had plenty of time this morning,
Whitman and I worked on his spelling before it was time to leave. We then picked up a few extra kiddos on the way. We actually left early because I had heard that there was a food bank passing out food nearby which had shut down most of the ways to church.
However, today there was no traffic. We arrived to church super early, so I drove as slow as I could in the parking lot. The kids were to bring masks so I told all of mine to put them in their pockets and to wear them if asked or if other kids were.
The kids reported back that none of the kids wore masks except for one-Whitman! Bless it! He wore his mask the entire time today. I am not sure why, but he was sure proud of himself when I asked him about it today.
I ran a few errands while the kids were at church, and then picked everyone up. At home, we had about 15 minutes before we turned around and left again. This time I took those same 4 to the pool. Reagan and Anderson stayed at home but were left with a list of things to do to help out around the house.
The pool was super hot-hot enough that I had to get in during each swim time. Robby did show up with popsicles for everyone. There were so few people at the pool that we actually did give popsicles to everyone there. That was super fun.
When we came home, I quickly showered and headed back out for a meeting for Reagan's co-op and then dinner out with my CBS group. It was a super fun evening out for me.
The kids and Robby had fettuccine alfredo for supper tonight. Robby said that it was a hit and everyone enjoyed it. I came home right at bedtime so I was able to tuck the kids in before grabbing my ice cream for the evening!

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My alarm went off in time for me to call the doctor about Graham's ear. Last night I had convinced Graham that he possibly was a hypochondriac. After learning what that meant, we did recall that he has recently had to go to the doctor for a blood test, poison ivy last week and now a bum ear.
The nurse didn't seemed to concerned and just told me to buy over the counter drops. I have over the counter drops, but I wasn't sure that they were enough. After some reading, I guess that they are and supposedly, middle ear infections heal on their own. We will hope so.
I worked with Whitman this morning, reading with Anderson and even did Lego's with Graham (yep, Graham!). There was also the unwrapping of the tie dye shirts from yesterday. Campbell was super pleased with hers while Keaton wants to add some more dye to hers. That is fine because I have enough dye to dye all of the clothes in this house.
I made some blueberry pound cake this morning as well-I did keep busy which I seem to do on Mondays now. The only problem with that is tomorrow there will be less to do! Not really though since tomorrow has 4 things on the calendar.
The termite man did come to repair, but he wasn't able to repair just yet because the bugs are still alive. He was supposed to come 30 days after they put out the booster treatment. That all means that another booster treatment is on the schedule for tomorrow (Last time that they used 70 gallons around the house-our house just might float away on termite spray.) and it means that the repair man can't come for another 30 days. Not a problem since it is all in the garage.
Nonna and Pops picked up Graham for an afternoon out. They went to the cookie lady's house, they did some birthday shopping, they ate out and just had a good ole time. Graham was worn out when he did come home this evening.
The rest of us ran to the pool for about 3 hours-the longest we have stayed this year. It was super hot out so I had to get in the pool twice. The pool was fairly empty today which was nice.
Once at home, Graham came back followed by Robby and I running to get pizza. After we ate, we then went to the Wilson's house to pick their tomatoes. However, the exciting part was when we came home, and we discovered a bean ready to pick in our tiny garden. I do already have 2 kids that want to eat the bean so maybe we will have another one in a few days.
Tonight there were a few rounds of Uno-I was the champion once! After snacks, it was finally time for the crew to head to bed!

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It was a sunny Sunday morning. I was quite surprised that we all slept last night. Graham's ear bothered him quite a bit yesterday, so I just assumed that it would keep him up. He did sleep well though so all was good. He did act like his ear was some better today, but tomorrow will be the second Monday in a row that he gets to visit the doctor.
Today was our last morning at Raymar for church so we celebrated with doughnuts-two weeks in a row! We weren't really celebrating today since we love church outside and will really miss it. Next week we will get to go back into the building so that will be a new adventure.
After church, we headed to Grannymom's house for lunch. We had a good lunch and soon after we ate, many of my kids walked down the Cash's house to see his puppy dogs.
This afternoon I did some napping. Then it was time to get to work. Keaton made peanut butter cookies that were quite the hit tonight. Also Graham helped me make and cut Shannon's pinwheels which we ate every bit of them also tonight.
Reagan had a bunch of her fellow 8th graders over tonight to tie dye shirts for their Wednesday church. There was about 9 kids here, plus all of the Heltz plus my crew so the house was hopping tonight.
I was completely surprised how easy tie dyeing was. We might just have another tie dying party or two-I certainly have plenty of dye. I thought that I might need 3 things of dye-so I bought 5-and used less than 1! Plenty is left for another party or 14.
Robby made a bar full of food tonight for all of the teenagers. They grazed and then the adults grazed. You know is a good party when Reagan said that her friends wanted to come back. And you also know it is a good party when the kitchen is a wreck!

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Robby offered this morning to take the swimmers to swim team, and I certainly let him! I didn't argue at all with that suggestion. Graham was the only one awake-his ear is bothering him. Ugh! He hasn't had a cold, so I do assume that it is swimmer's ear. I had a few different drops-Tony later told me that one wouldn't help, so hopefully the other few that I found will help at least until Monday.
The swimmers all had fun at practice. Robby said that they swam the whole time. Campbell counted that they did 40 laps-that isn't too bad. No wonder Graham came home and took a nap (he really didn't feel good.)
Around noon, I left the house with Reagan and Graham. We headed to Hobby Lobby to buy a few tshirts for tomorrow. The lines were so crazy to check out that the kids gladly walked around with me for a little bit.
As we left, they looked longingly towards to Dollar Tree and asked to go there. We did with a quick run to Academy first. Reagan found what she needed so quickly that Graham asked if we were sure we were done.
At Dollar Tree, they didn't take too long either. Reagan grabbed some chicken pot pies, and Graham chose twinkies! We came home after our shopping, but Robby and Campbell were gone.
They had worked on cleaning out the white van. Then they did stop at Kroger and of course Sonic. So all of the people that left the house today were treated with something-chicken pot pies to Sonic drinks.
The afternoon was fairly slow. Graham did make mac and cheese while I was making a snack for tomorrow. I had plans on making one more thing but didn't get around to it. After we had our supper, the Wilsons came over for a bit.
The kids played outside for a good while, and when they came in they were ready for some ice cream. Once they cleared out of the kitchen, the adults went in for our snack! Shannon had pecan pie which was delicious. Then I topped it off with a bit of ice cream!
Right now I am trying to figure our curriculum for next year for Reagan-I might should just stop now and get some ice cream-that would make me happy!

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Robby and I didn't sleep in too much today. We did lay around for a little bit before packing up from our little trip. We did make it last as long as possibly by eating Mexican in Morrilton on the way home. We even stopped and looked at an RV as we drove through Conway.
We were home around 2ish-I think. I had thought that the kids would be waiting for us since I knew that at least Graham was tracking us. The house was quiet and perfectly picked up when we came home.
The kids told us all about their day, and we caught them up on our day. I do think that they had a blast staying with Grannymom and Grandpa. Whitman would probably be happy if we left again in the near future!
I unpacked a bit this afternoon while Campbell and Keaton worked on making bracelets. Reagan has been making bracelets left and right, and those two so want to be like their big sister.
It wasn't too long before we loaded up to go to the McGuire's house for supper. Todd grill hamburgers and chicken. It was all delicious, and the kids so enjoyed playing in the pool all evening long. They all just get along really well.
Camryn, I think, had made dessert for us-a chocolate sheet cake which was delicious. My kids kept sneaking back in the house to grab another bite of it. I am pretty sure that we almost ate the entire cake-and it was huge!
After we played for a long while, we did head home. Only some folks took showers, and the rest will have swim team early in the morning!

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Robby and I slept as late as we could this morning which wasn't incredible late. Then we just laid around the room like we didn't have any responsibilities for a good while. When it was decently hot outside, we did venture downstairs!

We walked down the sidewalk from the lodge to the start of the trailhead that takes you to the summit of Mt. Magazine. The total trail was just about a mile and a half. It wasn't too bad of a walk except that it was hot and it was uphill.

Before we knew it though, we did walk to the top of the summit. We then sat in the shade a while to cool off. While we were there Robby did say "they tried to make it in the shape of Arkansas, but didn't do a great job." I looked up at the sign and thought that it didn't look like Arkansas at all-it just looked like a rectangle sign.

As we were leaving, I stepped onto a large stone area only to realize that is built in the shape of Arkansas. I thought it looked very much like Arkansas since I was comparing it to the rectangle sign that I had been looking at.

We went down the hill a different way and explored the campground for a while. The campground was full so there was lots to see. Then it was back up a little bit of the hill to return to the lodge. We were pretty sweaty by then so we went to the room to cool off for a bit.

After a while, we did venture to the visitor's center for a few minutes. Then drove down the hill towards Paris, Arkansas. On the way we stopped at Cove Lake, where Robby went swimming with his grandparents. We didn't drive all the way to the lake since they charge admission-he doubted that they charged 40 years ago when he was there.

We then visited the local Sonic in Paris and had ourselves some ice cream. I was living on the edge eating Sonic ice cream while being in the car, but my tummy did fine. Next we drove the see all the sights of Robby's grandparents including a visit with his great aunt.

Then it was back up the mountain for us since we had made a day of it. We did drive around on the top of the mountain for a little bit before going to the restaurant to order a pizza. We had intended to just get a to go order, but ended up eating there. It was a beautiful view even though we were not by a window.

We had spinach dip, split a tiny pizza and had a mini peanut butter pie for dessert. It was all delicious! Then we walked down a tiny bit of one trail that had the words "caution steep slope" on it. We were cautious for sure. We didn't stay on that long at all.

Soon we were back in the room laying in our separate beds! Robby is catching up on some work, and I am working on next year's curriculum if Reagan doesn't get to do her co-op and am blogging.

I haven't heard from the kids much today. However, I do know that they went to the pool with some of the Heltz. Grannymom offered for Reagan to drive, but Reagan quickly declined. Anderson said that they had all done great. Also I do know that spaghetti was for supper since Graham wrote asking for the bread. I do think that they all had a great day-we sure did!

July 15, 2020-Happy 20th Anniversary!

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Whitman was the first one awake this morning. He crawled into our bed just in time for my alarm to ring. He is perfectly snuggly, but it was time to wake everyone up for swim team. I had to work really hard to wake up Campbell and Keaton. They were not moving very quickly at all.

We left a minute later than usual but still made it there in time. I ran to Walmart during some of swim, but I made it back in time to see the big and little kids doing a relay race. Keaton and Whitman's team won, and they were so excited.

We hurried back home, so Graham could quickly take a shower and change clothes. As soon as he was out, Candice was there to pick him up. Today was his day at the Little Rock Family Care Home. He said that they were busy all day long. I did see him in a video working hard outside.

Robby and I washed and folded about 4 loads of laundry this morning plus did our packing. The dishes were washed along with reading with Anderson and Whitman's spelling. Around noon, Grannymom and Grandpa came over, and Robby and I headed out!

The day at the house was pretty busy. Graham didn't get home until 2ish. Campbell made cake at some point. Reagan and Anderson had Collide tonight-water night. And Campbell and Keaton went to the pool with Candice this evening.

Robby and I stopped at Hobby Lobby and Micheals before grabbing lunch from Chilis. We ate our eggrolls and chicken and waffles in the car. Robby also had a free dessert from there so we had to eat that quickly so the ice cream didn't melt. It all was delicious. The chicken and waffles are one of my favorite eat out foods. Then we stopped at Walmart-I was busy looking for purple dye for Reagan who wants to have a tie dye party. Purple dye is hard to come by in Little Rock and even on the internet! I think that I have enough-at least I hope so.

It wasn't a bad drive at all. We were soon at Mt. Magazine State Park. The drive up the hill was very pretty. We checked into the lodge and found our room. It didn't take too long before I was taking my nap! Our view is just gorgeous-we are on the third floor.

After hanging out in the room quietly for a bit, we decided to go and get some cheese dip. We walked down to the restaurant and ordered cheese dip and a hamburger. While we waited, we walked down the trail some and looked at the cabins here.

It took about 20 minutes but soon our food was ready. We ate in rocking chairs by the overlook. We sat out there eating until it was dark. There aren't many folks around-kind of deserted. Then it was back to the room-we don't have any ice cream here, but did bring some peanut butter m&ms, but we are even too full for that!

July 14, 2020

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Surprisingly, we all slept well last night. Well, I am not sure how much sleep Keaton and her little friends or Reagan and Alyssa got, but I did know that they were quiet and I slept well. Actually, I do think that Graham's medicine caused him to be a wake a little bit too last night. And down the road, Campbell was busy staying up super late at her sleep over.
I had to squeeze in working with Whitman this morning because he could not stay away from the girls. He did perler beads with them, he went on a walk with them, he played cards with them-it took the whole morning to grab him long enough to finish his spelling and reading.
Campbell spent most of her day at the Little Rock Family Care Home. They brought supplies and cleaned all day long. They did stop for a lunch break-I think that she had a great time.
I picked her and Anna up and headed to the pool with my van load of kids. We met all the other moms there and swam for our two hours. It was hot enough today that I had to get in the water for a little bit.
Once at home, Robby was mowing the yard so the rest of us went about cleaning the house. I did get the kids to work for nearly an hour-it did help that I fed them coke floats from Arbys on the way home from the pool. It also helped that I had bags full of sliders from Arbys ready to go for our supper too.
The house was spotless and the yard was looking good when we all ate supper. The neighbors did come out later in the evening, so it was nearly 9 when everyone had their ice cream dessert! Then it was soon time for bed...and ice cream for me.

July 13, 2020

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I didn't sleep very well-there are plenty of unknowns about school/life next year which could keep my up, but I was busy worried about crazy things instead of sleeping. I was still able to get a good night's rest, despite my alarm clock ringing before I was ready.
I had set my alarm in hopes to get an early doctor's appointment for Graham and his poison ivy. I was able to get an appointment for this afternoon so we started our day.
I worked with Whitman and Anderson this morning. Whitman loved his math for the day since it was sorting and graphing Goldfish crackers. After that I worked on my laundry pile.
Around 10, I started waking up my late sleepers. Then an hour later we did our work together. After this Reagan and Graham went to work emailing colleges asking for free stuff. I am not too sure that they will get anything back except being on lots of mailing lists, but they have big hopes of free tshirts.
Graham and Robby went to the doctor just minutes before I left with everyone else for the pool. The kids enjoyed playing at the pool, and I was surprised to see Robby and Graham back pretty quickly. He did not get a shot, but was prescribed medicine. Hopefully, it will work quickly for the boy.
We were back at home for just a few minutes when Nonna and Pops showed up. They brought an anniversary gift for us to open as Robby worked on Pops' passwords.
I wasn't there too long because Keaton, Whitman and I had to got to church. We all brought food, and the mission project was to pack the food in bags to give away at a community center. The kids enjoyed decorating the bags and filling them with food.
Afterwards, I brought home Sophia and Charlotte. Campbell was already at Traci's house, and Alyssa was already at our house. I picked up pizza for the crew and even manged to feed a few neighbors.
The kids enjoyed playing all evening long. Whitman tried his best to hang with the big kids tonight. He struggled with that a little bit, but he did manage to eat a few popsicles! I plan on having no popsicles tonight, but some ice cream once this house full of people go to sleep!

July 12, 2020

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At 7 this morning Robby woke me up saying that Raymar was cancelled. He also mentioned that it was odd though because there was nothing on the radar. I quickly turned off my alarm and rolled back over.
It wasn't too long until Pops called telling me to get out of bed because they un-cancelled church. We decided that the best way to get the kids out of bed was to mention donuts. It didn't take long to get everyone up and ready-even though we just gave them a 20 minute notice.
Soon we were sitting in the car eating our donuts. We were one of the first few folks at Raymar so we picked where we wanted our tent. We were all settled in our chairs and were able to watch everyone else arrive.
Church was good again, and the weather was perfect. Right now we just have one more week outside before heading back in the sanctuary. After church we went to Nonna and Pops' house for lunch.
They had ham and cheese croissants for lunch which is Dennie family favorite. We stayed for a bit after lunch, but still we were home in time for me to have a wonderful nap. Well, my nap was great until Robby went upstairs to continue his nap.
As soon as he left, the kids were in and out of this room like it was a subway station. Graham was wandering around trying to find relief for his poison ivy and Keaton was busy working on perler beads and needed help.
I did get up in time to folk my pile of laundry from this morning. After I finished folding it was time to head to Eli and Ryan's birthday party. The kids enjoyed playing in the yard and inside.
After cake and supper, Whitman walked back into the empty kitchen to get more strawberries. He saw the dog using a chair to get on the table so he could eat the cake. Whitman went to the grandma in the other room and politely said, "Excuse me, but the dog is eating the birthday cake."
It was a fun evening-and we stayed out way too late. It was nearly 10:30 when the kids finally went to bed which just shows that it was a good day!

July 11, 2020

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Oh my alarm went off way too early this morning-actually, it went off so early that I don't even remember hitting snooze. It was a few minutes later that Robby punched me and asked if I was awake. I jumped up like I was but could have slept soundly for another few hours.
We hadn't had swim team in a few days because of the closed pool, so it was difficult to wake everyone up for the pool this morning. Whitman, who I had carried downstairs, just laid with Robby trying not to get up at all!
Swim team went well today. Whitman's little group so continues to improve. At the beginning of the summer, you would kind of hold your breath while the kids swam to the end. Now they are all doing the back stroke across the pool.
Keaton, Campbell and Graham just are really doing great swimming. They are all fast and really enjoy it. Campbell and Graham enjoy competing against each other. Campbell did beat Graham today but a few tenths of a second in their backstroke.
When we finished swim team, we had to mask up to run to Kroger. Whitman and Keaton have something at church on Monday night. They are to bring food for the other kids to pass out later in the week. They loved picking out the food and practically filling the buggy (though quite a bit of the food was for our family too). However, those two did not love wearing their masks.
While we were gone, Robby had done the laundry and dishes for me. I did clean the front of the old little shed with bleach this morning. It is amazing what some bleach can do to things. It makes me want to clean everything in my house with bleach-wonder if it would work on my carpets! (kidding, I know better!)
Afterwards, I had a shower and washed my hair. There are few reasons to wash my hair these days-I used to just wash it for church on Sundays and Bible study on Wednesdays. Now, church is outside, and we just sweat and there isn't Bible study so I didn't remember when I had washed my hair last! Don't worry though, I still do shower regularly.
Soon I loaded up with Reagan, Graham, Campbell and Keaton to go to Laynie's birthday. Reagan was going to keep Camryn company during the party, and Graham was going to keep my company during my running around (and his exact words were "to get out of the house.")
Our first stop was Target to buy a birthday gift for Laynie. That would have all been easier if I hadn't left my wallet at home! Ugh! I was able to use money on my target app though.
Then Campbell and Keaton had money to spend at 5 Below so we did that quickly. Oh, yes, Reagan did drive us all the way there. She did really well-she drove a bit slow on Sparks and Springhill but I will certainly take that. No one was behind her so it was all just fine. Though that did cause us to have less time shopping-which was actually fine with me.
Graham and I dropped off the girls. Then we had planned to go to Academy to look at bikes. We have a coupon, but couldn't buy anything without my wallet so we just went to window shop. It didn't take long to window shop since there were only 4 bikes there.
Afterwards, we did run to Sonic-it is nice being able to pay with those apps. So even wallet-less, we had our Sonic drinks in hand when we returned to Laynie's house. The girls were eating ice cream sandwich when we arrived so we had some.
Before I knew it though, Graham had joined all of the girls in the pool. He had a great time, but bless he has poison ivy on his arm. The other day he woke up with it, and we thought that a mosquito had found him in the night. However, it must have been poison ivy because it is now on both arms, on the back of his neck and even on his back.
I have mentioned that he might need a shot so he is a bit worried about that. He even found a concoction on the computer of hydrocortisone, calamine and alcohol that is said to be the best poison ivy cure. We made up a recipe tonight and smeared it all over the boy.
On the way home from Laynie's party, we ran by Shannon's house to start up the chocolate fountain. It took a few minutes to melt the chocolate but as soon as the fountain was going, we all ran home to change since swim suits were not the proper attire.
We all changed and were back over for Layne's graduation party after a few minutes. I did answer a few questions and earn 2 continuing ed hours real quick. Shannon had a ton of delicious food that we munched on all evening long. The kids went to town on the strawberries and the chocolate fountain. Whitman has decided that he wants to use the chocolate fountain for his birthday party too!
We stayed for the whole party, we didn't want to miss anything!...or any of the food. We did sneak out well after the party had ended, but their party just kept going! It was a fun evening, and we all came home super tired-or at least I was!

July 10, 2020

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I awoke to someone knocking on our front door this morning. Robby got the door so I didn't have to get out of bed. However, soon there was a loud drilling sound right outside so that did cause me to stumble out of bed.
The termite people were here giving the house a booster treatment that somehow involved drilling into concrete. I do think that we are safe from termites for a while-hopefully, all of those chemicals that they used also helps with my ant problem in the kitchen.
I have actually thought about trying to relocate the termites from the garage to the kitchen. They have to replace what is eaten plus the kitchen cabinets would be a breeze for them to chew from. Unfortunately, I do believe that the termites in the garage are no longer alive! (I am only kidding!)
Now what we did toy with doing today was renting a carpet cleaner for the carpets or just ripping up the carpet. We decided that ripping out the carpets would be irresponsible even though that is what we really wanted to do.
I worked with Whitman today on his spelling-2 and a half more lessons. I read with Anderson. I did Kahn math with pretty much everyone-including Reagan at 9 tonight while I was eating my supper.
Since there is so much schooling happening this supper, I did decide that I could take it easy today. The only thing productive that I did was sweep the kitchen floor and help Robby hang Anderson's Pez dispenser shelves.
Graham made brownies this afternoon, and would you believe that my silly kids ate every last one. Robby and I did get some, but when I went back for more, the pan was completely empty. I guess we had a hungry bunch.
At 6, we went to the pool for the evening. It was a little bit warm but was still pretty perfect. The kids all enjoyed swimming. On the way home, we did pick up supper for everyone-Chickfila for most and Mexican for Robby, Keaton and me.
We ate and let the kids stay up for a few minutes past ten, but then it was bedtime for the crew. We will eventually have to reign in this staying up late-but I guess it won't be tonight!

July 9, 2020

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Since we were meeting everyone to swim at 10, I had to wake all of the Dennie kiddos up this morning-evening Graham. I guess this summer schedule has finally caught up with even him.
They were moving slow and a bit fussy as we loaded the car to swim. When the Craft little boy heard that he was going swimming, he said "Graham." Graham was super pleased to hear this.
The pool was supposed to be without the fountains today since today was the first day back after the pump problems. We were super looking forward to it since it would nice and quiet. However, after we had been there about an hour, those fountains came back on. Ugh! I was enjoying the quieter than normal pool.
Ten is really the perfect time to go to the pool. We were home in time to enjoy the rest of our day. I certainly enjoyed today's tomato sandwich-not from my garden though. I am just not sure our garden is going to do anything. The plants are growing, but that is about it. We will still try one more year, but maybe I just don't have a green thumb.
While Robby was gone today, there was some thunder and rain. At one point, the thunder was so loud that my room was soon filled with 3 more kids. I had been sitting with Whitman working on math-I saw the lightening so I wasn't startled but Graham, Campbell and Keaton sure were.
Late this afternoon, I went to Shannon's house to help her with her party prep. She asked if Anderson and Graham wanted to come over to play with Brett. So when I was getting ready, I said that "the boys" were going to come, and Whitman said "ok" and got on his shoes. He was more than ready to go and play with Brett.
They all played pretty hard while Shannon and I worked pretty hard. Robby brought over pizza for everyone. After we all ate, we finished up a few more things then it was time for home and showers for everyone.

July 8, 2020

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This morning some folks came and put basically a window tinting on the boys' bedroom windows. I was worried that it would be too dark in there afterwards, but I can't really even tell a difference. The boys say that it is a bit darker, but that is the goal-hopefully, their room will not get as hot during the hot, summer days.
Whitman and I did his spelling this morning. I am not sure if I wrote about our spelling the other day-I would give him a sentence to write, and then he would have to wake me up when he had finished it. That day I was so exhausted and since he isn't too speedy, I had a good little nap or a few good little naps during his sentences.
My girls slept just about all morning long. I was working on Legos with Anderson when Keaton woke up. And a bit later around 11:15, I had to wake up Campbell and Reagan. I guess they were pretty tired.
We did our work together right before lunch. We have been slacking in our working together this summer-we are trying to finish up a few books plus reading the daily chapter of the Bible along with the church though we are now super behind, but we will eventually catch up.
I spent some time outside sitting with Robby by the new shed today. He sits there to do his work now so I joined him. It is mostly quiet outside. I even brought out my lunch-a tomato sandwich-which was delicious.
There were a few rounds of gaga ball today. Since I was outside, I ended up playing at least two different times out there. I am not the best, but I am also not the worst! I did win one time out of the probably 20 games that I played today.
The church brought by their meal tonight. Reagan and Anderson's church tonight was cancelled, so they were a bit bummed. Pizza was for supper so that did make up for missing church some-ha, not really!
After supper, Reagan drove Robby to Bass Pro to pick up straws for her water bottle. Then later in the evening, most of us headed to the Ferguson's house. It didn't take long for them to set up their gaga pit. They are getting ready for their boys' birthday party this weekend-and the gaga pit will be super exciting.
It was late when we came home, but the kids showered plus their was even some tv watching before everyone went to bed. Robby and I had ice cream tonight and even this afternoon-it was a good ice cream day!

July 7, 2020

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We didn't sleep in very long this morning because Graham, Campbell, Keaton and Whitman all had an event at the church house. It was similar to the last few Tuesday things except I didn't have to work!
Robby dropped off the kids while I did some reading with Anderson. Then I did a few things around the house. I didn't clean or do anything that was necessary, but I marked a few fun things off of my list. My list is still just as long as it was before, but there are fewer things that I want to do!
It wasn't too long before I had to leave to pick up the church crew. They all had fun-Whitman did say that he went for the snacks. He did get plenty of snacks-chips and candy-so I think that he was happy.
We then ran to the library before driving to the other side of the world to pick up Reagan. She had spent the night at a friend's house. The drive home was very pretty though, but Keaton asked me at least twice how much longer until we made it home.
This afternoon was kind of quiet. The neighbors did come out eventually so the kids played some gaga ball. I made supper-chicken spaghetti. We all sat around the table eating and talking for a while. We actually sat around long enough for Robby to suggest that Anderson go and get the ice cream. This, of course, made everyone (but Keaton-she doesn't really like ice cream) happy.
Robby and I went to help the Ferguson's build their gaga pit tonight. Seriously, maybe we should open up a gaga ball pit building business. It didn't take too long to build all of the sides to the pit. Maybe tomorrow Robby will help set it up.
The kids stayed here and played some outside and all were showered by the time that we came home!

June 6, 2020-Happy 10 1/2 Birthday (Party) Campbell!

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I would have loved to have slept in today, but I did be responsible and get myself up so I could wake Reagan and Anderson up. Robby was off today so I had to tiptoe out of the bed. Actually, I didn't tiptoe-if I am not sleeping, then no one is sleeping. Kidding-I did try to be quiet.
Anderson was easier to wake up than Reagan was. Campbell and Keaton were so excited about tonight's half birthday party for Campbell that they were up early early!
Soon Anderson and Reagan left for church. Is it so nice having folks nearby that we can rotate driving responsibilities with. Today's mission Monday consisted of cleaning out a barn at Raymar and some work around the church house. I am not sure exactly what all was done, but I do I know that pizza was for lunch and that they came home sweaty and sunburned.
I avoided my laundry pile and instead started on party prep with Campbell and Keaton. This was such an easy party to get ready for since everything was in packages. I didn't have to make a single thing except for heat up the chocolate for the fountain.
We worked for a while getting things set up. Finally, it was finished enough for me to sit down and take a short nap. I did work with Whitman first on his spelling and time telling. After my rest, Robby and Whitman headed out to Grannymom's house while the rest of us loaded up for our trip around town.
Our first stop was to pick up Anderson after Mission Monday. We also chauffeured Reagan, Alyssa, Kennedy, Emma, Noah and Alex to Ava's house so they could practice their lip sync song for Wednesday night.
The next stop was to pick up the two oldest Craft girls so they could come over early and help Campbell decorate for her party. They were all so excited about decorating and chatted the entire way home.
Then we dropped off a few things at one house on the way home. It took a while, but we made it back in time for the decorators to have plenty of time. Zoey came over early too, and the girls went to town.
Soon Laynie, Caroline, Eden and Lily arrived and the party started. First they girls played a straw and skittle game. Then we moved on to painting followed by oh, gracious. I can't really remember the order.
I do know that while the girls painted, Anderson and Graham hid the scavenger hunt clues. We thought that the scavenger hunt would take a little bit of time, but they flew through it. There was also orbeez to play with along with a balloon stomp game.
Robby ran to get the pizza while the girls played "who knows Campbell best." Oh and the most exciting part of the evening was the huge syran wrap ball that we had made. It took a little while to do-I think that was probably most everyone's favorite thing to do.
Campbell received a bunch of presents-there was cash, slime, make up and an assortment of other things. They were all things that she would like-so she was super excited. The girls eventually migrated outside to play gaga ball. Brett showed up so he even played with them a little bit.
We decided to continue the party and just take everyone home at the end of the party. It was not a problem so we drove around dropping everyone off. This did take a bit but was fun. When we came home, Robby and I went to work on the kitchen and soon everything was back in order.
Robby did have to work on the dishwasher late tonight. It just isn't the best-or it just really doesn't drain the best. He cleaned it out so things are in good working order-for now.
We waited too late to get our ice cream tonight-so I guess we will have to wait for another night for our Blue Bell.

July 5, 2020

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I wasn't sure this morning that we could get everything accomplished today, but we certainly managed to accomplish it all. After staying up until 2ish last night, Robby and I were a bit slow to get out of bed this morning.
I was pretty sure that we would not have church this morning because of the rain which the weather apps said was coming. Thankfully, the rain never came so we were able to go to the church fields and have church there.
We have a new tent (larger than all of our friends-ha!) which we set up to block the sun. It certainly did help with the sun today-I was even able to listen to the sermon. We did have a row of tents in our little section. I will miss our outdoor church when it is over.
After church, we headed to Grannmymom's house for lunch. She had taco salad for us along with banana pudding. It all was delicious. When we were done eating, Robby worked on their phones, while the kids helped do some painting for one of Grannymom's Christmas gift projects.
Reagan stayed there when we left. Grannymom then took Reagan to meet a few friends at the skating rink. They roller skated and ice skated and had a pretty good time. There is one picture of Reagan's two friends and two hands sticking up-Reagan explained to me that is from when she had fallen and was on the ground!
Back at the house, everyone else was in the backyard working on the gaga pit. The boys and Robby loaded the sides into Robby's car and drove it to the gaga spot. We set out the pieces and that thing came together within two hours.
Robby finished screwing in the screws while the kids took turns sanding the edges. I did some raking, but soon I had to leave to take Anderson to church for his grade to work on their lip syncing. I took him to church, dropped him off and then just sat in my car.
There was no time to go home so I just sat. I played on my phone for a bit and even closed my eyes. Before I knew it, there was just about 20 minutes left before Anderson was finished, and I hadn't even played any games. Hmm, I think that I snoozed pretty well in that car!
Meanwhile, Robby was busy mowing at home while the other kids stepped up inside and outside. They sanded more on the gaga pit, made brownies, made lemonade, got the kitchen ready, wiped off tables. I really should leave the house more often!
Soon, I was back home and by the time that I heated up the cheese dip, the party was starting. The Heltz, Fergusons, Stotts and Crafts all came over for hot dogs and gaga ball. The kids all had a blast playing in the gaga pit. If we don't ever play in it again, I can say that we got our money's worth tonight.
I think that everyone had a great time. When the party was over, we quickly cleaned up outside and inside. Whitman even cleaned the front yard-he knew that the sooner we clean, the sooner he could watch his ipad so he was a cleaning machine. It didn't take long for things to be back in order and people in bed.
Tomorrow is birthday party so it will be another busy day around here!

July 4, 2020-Happy Independence Day!

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I woke up a little bit confused this morning because I had slept so late. After I did stir, I found Robby and asked why he didn't wake me up. He said it was because he had just woken up a few minutes earlier. Only Graham was awake so the kids must have been tired. Last night it was after 11 when they went to bed...
Tonight we were out in the backyard measuring with Campbell, Graham, and Keaton at midnight. So it was a bit after that when they finally did get in bed so I am sure that they will be exhausted tomorrow when it is time to wake up. There is no sleeping in tomorrow since it is church day.
First things first-there were dishes and laundry. Then I did paint the back door. I probably should have rolled it and not brushed it, and I probably should have used a matching color and not just bright white. However, I probably like the door a lot better even with brush marks and the wrong trim color since it is nice and newly painted.
Robby ran some errands this morning. When he did get home, we started to town on the gaga ball pit. I tell you, we were thinking that we might could build half of the sides today and tonight-we built all of those sides! That might be the reason I am just typing the blog at nearly midnight though.
Surprisingly, the sides came together fairly quickly. Hopefully, the actual assembly will come together very well tomorrow. Also hopefully, the rain won't mess up our building plans. We didn't have all of our materials so Robby took Campbell and Graham with him to the store.
While he was gone, Keaton made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for tonight. When they returned, we went to town building! I did have to run in the house occasionally-crimp Reagan's hair, make a batch of mac and cheese, crimp Campbell's hair, make another batch of mac and cheese. And by the way, the mac and cheese recipe was delicious! At least my people thought so-it will be my new go to dish.
We were scrambling to get all of ourselves ready for the Wilson's party tonight. We arrived and my kids took off playing volleyball. Graham had made s'mores dip, but still had to heat it up. He went in the house to heat it up with me, but quickly asked if he could go out and play.
We all sat outside and ate lots of yummy food. The kids all played and gracious, there were a lot of big kids. Whitman must have thought that he was a big kid himself, because he had a great time talking to and playing with the big kids.
There were sparklers for the kids to shoot off which was a hit. Keaton was a bit skittish with them, but she eventually did try them and enjoyed them. After it was dark, Tony and some other guys had a massive firework display. Robby said that it lasted 45 minutes. It was pretty impressive.
It was late when it was over so the party broke up. We helped pick up soon before heading home ourselves. At home, we unloaded our car. Then we tried out our new shade tent for church. We made sure that we could figure it out in the morning if we have to (rain chance.)
Then there was a few more boards to screw in for the gaga pit. Robby was surprised when I told him that it was midnight while we were measuring exactly where we are going to put it. We then herded the kids inside and to their beds. Right now they are still going strong- I guess the longer you stay up, the more awake you are!

July 3, 2020

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All day long I have felt like today has been Saturday. I think that is because Robby was off of work today. Or maybe because I slept fairly late. Either way, it was a pretty perfect day.
Campbell and Keaton were up early this morning making pancakes out of muffin mixes. They had seen the recipe last night and had to make it today. It was actually pretty good though Keaton was not a fan.
I do believe that the kids have been getting more and more bored around here. It doesn't help that the neighbors haven't been out at all this week. Campbell and Graham are my most stir crazy kiddos. We have been going places and seeing people, but they are just a bit anxious to get out of the house.
They didn't get out of the house this morning, but Robby and I did. Our first stop was the look at the gaga pit at church. Then it was to Lowes to buy a few boards to play around for the pit, and finally it was to Kroger to buy some more ice cream-can you really have too much ice cream?
When we returned home, I made another blueberry pound cake. This one, again, stuck to the pan. This is the worst one yet. I briefly thought about remaking it. However, I just plan to smother it with icing tomorrow.
Nonna and Pops came over for a little bit to see the shed. They visited for a while. The kids enjoyed showing them our little garden...which still doesn't look like it is going to give me any veggies. Bless, we have tried hard though.
After supper tonight, we decided to go and look for snow cones. We didn't get very far because we ended up at the Craft's house. Then we all headed out for snow cones-we tried two different places but didn't find any. We did however find a Kroger and some ice cream.
We ended up crashing their house again to eat our ice cream. This kids were happily playing cards as we tried to leave so we stayed a while. Everyone had lots of fun, even though we stayed out way too late. It was a great start to a holiday weekend.

July 2, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

I didn't sleep all that great last night, and I think that yesterday's Walmart disturbance bothered my girls too because they slept in the same bed. I did sleep in though so there were dishes, laundry and working with Whitman as soon as I could.
I had my yearly doctor's appointment today. It was uneventful so that was good. While I was gone the kids didn't really do much! The neighbors haven't been out much this week, so my crew have been in the house pretty much the whole time.
I did take a picture of Whitman doing his daily reading. He read today while rolling back and forth, back and forth on the hover board. Just a different child!
As soon as I did get home from the doctor, Campbell and I went to work on her syran wrap ball. It ended up being a pretty big ball, and we needed Keaton, Graham and Whitman to help us finish.
After we finished, we worked on the rest of the party things. The bin in loaded with pretty much everything ready to go for Monday. I still have a grocery store run to make, but the half birthday party is almost ready to happen!
I then did go to the pregnancy center to volunteer for a little bit. I stayed until 4:30ish and made it home by 5. Back at home, Graham made another quiche for supper. We had made 2 pie crusts last time we made quiche so tonight's supper was much quicker.
Graham had been wanting to go fishing so we took him down the road to the church. While we were there, he let Campbell, Keaton and Whitman do a bit of fishing too. No one caught anything.
Keaton and Whitman both rode their bikes around the church for a little bit. Robby and I looked at the churches gaga pit and did some measuring. It started sprinkling pretty good so we hurried on to our next stop-Kroger.
Robby and I ran in while the kids stayed in the car watching the crazy lightening storm. We loaded up on ice cream before heading home for our evening snacks!

July 1, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

After laundry and dishes this morning, I started spelling with Whitman. I guess that he had taken his focusing medicine this morning because he was writing his sentences quickly. Some days he just surprises me. (He doesn't take any meds to focus-he probably could use them though!)
The morning was kind of slow. I did try to work on filling the holes on my door. I sanded what I had puttied the other day. The more I sanded the more dust was everywhere. I eventually sanded too much and knocked off some of the putty. So that means it all will need another day to dry before I paint!
Reagan and her buddies slept in pretty late this morning. Alyssa did have to go home, but Kennedy stayed the rest of the day with us. Other than our trip to the pool, we pretty much never saw them. They did make lunch at 4-quesadillas. Kennedy thought it was silly to use a quesadilla maker like Reagan suggested. And Reagan thought it was ridiculous to make them on the stove.
We did go to the pool at noon. The pump is broken at the pool so we can only stay for 90 minutes and the capacity is down to 50. We still stayed for 2 hours though-shhh! There was no one waiting. The kids had fun swimming and hanging out with the Ferguson boys.
After swimming, we had some down time at home. So it seems like we went through some really busy days around here working on projects constantly. Now, things have slowed to where the only things on the lists aren't that much fun to do. I did a few of those non fun things like the potties and restocking my paper plate cabinet. But I also found time for a nap!
Campbell, Keaton and I dropped off Anderson, Kennedy and Reagan at Raymar again tonight. They had their youth thing there. They cooked out and played. While they were there, the girls and I ran to Walmart. Bless while we were there, a mother lost her child and was constantly screaming the child's name. It was unnerving, but my Campbell was beside herself with worry. Her sweet tender heart was breaking. I do think they eventually found the child, but ugh!
We picked up the big kids and headed home. Graham and Whitman had eaten the church meal tonight-mini corn dogs. They had eaten their fill. My Graham was anxious for the rest of us to come back home-he was getting lonely.
Back at home, there were showers and snacks and eventually bed!-Well, there will be eventually bed. Right now, we are still showering and snacking.

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