- We barely managed to fold the clothes, unload the dishwasher and empty the trash cans this morning. I had called everyone about 5 minutes before it was time and gave out the last few tasks. Reagan never heard or so she said. Needless to say, when she came downstairs I was very frustrated about having one less helper in our scramble.
- No one had snack today at Bible study so that was one less thing for us to remember this morning. After Bible study, we headed home to eat our lunch-too cold for a park and too many others were going to Rock Creek.
- The Heltz ran to see their great grandma before coming over to our house to eat lunch. The kids played for a little bit before their friends headed home. That meant it was time for us to do a bit of reading around here. We are currently reading about snakes in science along with William the Orange (also known as William the Silent). I seriously have read about so many new things this past year.
- After we read, I did let the kids do whatever they would like-well, the big 3 worked on their East. Anderson did some typing (very little) while Graham tried to work on his logo, but Reagan needed the computer to send something but had trouble after trouble taking her all afternoon.
- Their East has been so beneficial. Reagan and Graham are coming along so well with their typing, and Anderson is getting there.
- Campbell worked on her legos some, and then she and Keaton managed to find the neighbors and play outside for a tiny bit before it was time to head back to church. Reagan heard that the church was having chicken fried steak, and she really wanted to eat there.
- On the way we stopped at the library. In the car today, we have been listening to an audio book about a kid that invests in the stock market and makes a ton of money. The kid is 12 in the book and makes over 50,000 dollars. Since the kids just bought stock on Monday, they were all so interesting in this cd and were probably all praying that the same thing would happen to them.
- At church tonight, I made sure to cut most people's meat in half because I knew they wouldn't finish it. I also grabbed their biscuits off of their plates so I came home with quite a bit of leftovers from tonight's supper.
- It was hat night tonight for Whitman, Campbell and Keaton. I was running so late that Keaton was already standing at the front desk when I ran through to pick her up. My last group of kids stayed a bit later than normal so I was scrambling. Reagan though loved it and enjoyed getting to play a bit longer outside before I made everyone leave.
- Back to school today but before we began I did make muffins for our breakfast. Well, actually Campbell and Keaton made muffins for our breakfast. They had asked last night if they could so I made sure to wake them up just a few minutes earlier than usual so they could help.
- As the muffins were baking, we started on our reading. Once the timer went off, everyone grabbed their breakfast before we headed back to finish our reading.
- I have started having the kids fold the laundry for me before we start on school. I just ask everyone to fold about 5 pieces, and the laundry is soon finished. Now today everyone told me that they had finished folding their five pieces. However, when I counted everything that was folded, I only came up with 12 things folded.
- So of course I had everyone come back and fold a few more things. Usually there are a few things that still need to be folded so during spelling, I give a sentence to write and then run to fold a few pieces of laundry. Today though I did make them do it all since it wasn't done right the first time. So during spelling, all I had to do was give a sentence and then run to put up my clothe and Robby's clothes.
- It was still 12:30 when I finally finished up. Graham and Reagan really like to work with my last so around 11:30, I usually have a line of people trying to work with me. There are those two who want to be last, there is usually Anderson and Keaton who need help with something, Campbell who has realized that it is almost lunch so she is scrambling and Whitman who needs almost constant prodding to get things done. All of that happens from 11 on which makes for a crazy end of the school day.
- We had our lunch-I am still passing out leftovers. Robby always said that he had a bologna sandwich every day growing up so I am not too sure who ate all of the leftovers in their house. If I empty one thing of leftovers, then that night I put two more things in the fridge like tonight I added mashed potatoes and beans to the fridge.
- This afternoon was spent doing our chores and even more school reading. This is the first year that I think that I have read so much to the kids-usually my voice is sore by the time I finish my afternoon reading.
- Then I headed up to the bonus room for some more Lego working. Anderson was able to finish one of his Star Wars planes. We also helped Campbell work on one of her old broken sets-some times finding the next lego piece is like finding a needle in a haystack.
- I did some garage sale pricing while the girls tried to play outside but the rain hampered those plans. Then I did get on the treadmill for a little bit before the girls had to go their last basketball practice of the season.
- While they were gone the rest of us ate our supper. We had just cleaned the kitchen and sent everyone to the showers when the girls came home from basketball. They sat in the kitchen and ate while I cleaned up the kitchen once again.
- We went the basketball girls to the showers and made the last few stragglers get in the shower before finishing the evening with what was leftover of a Dairy Queen cake. Then we did watch a Netflix show about tidying up your house. This house is pretty tidied up all except the school room and the kids' bedrooms. Maybe we should start on that tomorrow afternoon or maybe not.
- Today has been a fairly busy Martin Luther King day. Robby usually has to work today so we normally do school. However, this year his company is off so we were too. We have been a biscuit making factory, stoke brokers, Lego architects, an airport shuttle and plumbers.
- We did stay in bed as long as we could. Once we did get up, I worked on school for the rest of the week. It does take a few minutes to pull everyone's school out each week. Since we make copies of most things so everyone can use them, I can't just hand them a pile of books. It takes more time, but it does work out well for us.
- Then Robby sat down with all of the kids and let them pick their stocks. He talked about stocks a bit, divided everyone into teams (Reagan and Whitman, Campbell and Graham, and Anderson and Keaton).
- Whitman was adamant that he was only "focusing on Disney" and would not even consider buying another stock. Reagan also bought Netflix and Bank of the Ozark for their group. Anderson and Keaton bought Amazon, Bank of the Ozarks and Disney. Graham and Campbell also did Bank of the Ozarks (Robby just told them that this was an Arkansas company, and they all picked it.), the company that owns the Pink stores, McDonalds and of course Campbell picked the Campbell's company.
- After they picked their stocks, we loaded the ap on their ipads so they can watch their investments. Then Robby and I set to work making a few biscuits. We ended up making 3 biscuit recipes which was about 75 biscuits. Don't worry, we didn't eat them all today. You can freeze the biscuits and then bake them without thawing so now we are ready for lots of yummy breakfasts.
- At lunch, we went to Dairy Queen to eat. It was pretty busy there but the kid's meals were on sale today so everyone had a yummy lunch. Now, after we left Dairy Queen guess where we went. Yep, the grocery store. In my defense we were out of milk. I know this is the 5th day in a row that we have been to the store-I just like the store! I can't help it.
- We also went to Walmart and them Lowes looking for a switch plate for our mudroom. Those were found and Robby put them in when we came home. We then worked some more on the biscuits. Soon it was time to go and pick up Jason from the airport.
- Campbell and Keaton spent a good part of the day looking for the neighbors to come outside and play. They will go outside and ride their bikes in front of their house for a while and then come back inside. Finally tonight, they were finally home and they played for a little bit outside. Whitman even joined them. I tell you, my girls have gotten the neighbor's money's worth on their trampoline.
- Keaton, Whitman, Robby and I went to the airport to go and pick up Jason. He was returning home from a wedding in Arizona. Keaton and Whitman talked pretty much the entire way there and most of the way back home.
- Once we made it home, Robby went to work on sausage, eggs and biscuits for supper for some of the kids while I heated up leftovers for the other ones. Then I did go upstairs and work on legos for a little bit with Anderson. Tomorrow though, I do have to help Campbell with her Lego farm.
- Then Robby started cleaning the grout in the kitchen, and he followed that up with trying to work on the kitchen sink. It is been contrary for a very long time-if you want hot water you have to turn the handle all the way to the window and you can't turn the faucet to one side of the sink. It did work at least...he was able to find out the problem-the faucet is broke and we need a new one.
- We unfortunately let the kids stay up until almost 10 since Robby was working and I was trying to help hold the faucet as he screwed it in. The kids are in bed, and Robby is finished with the faucet but now doing a bit of cabinet repair work. Earlier he did talk about taking a sledge hammer to my cabinets. I did urge him not to because I didn't want to have card tables as my cabinets!
- Church morning, and there was little drama this morning. Well, when Whitman saw his clothes laid out for him, he shouted "let me guess, it is church day." Indeed. it was!
- Everyone grabbed their breakfasts and off to church we headed. Since Nonna and Pops weren't there, we sat down a bit early. We didn't even know what to do with ourselves. Sunday school was next and afterwards, we headed to Grannymom's house for lunch.
- She had brisket and all of the fixings. The cousins all enjoyed playing together for a few minutes. They played hide n seek outside-I guess no one told them that it was cold out there. Soon though we were all loading up and bundling up to go outside.
- Today was the March for Life, and it was indeed chilly. Thankfully, the sun was shining so we weren't miserable. We found all of our buddies and shuffled to the front of the capitol. The speakers didn't seem as long this year, but all the little girls sat in a group and wrote on the ground with someone's pretzel sticks. They were able to use them like chalk which was pretty creative.
- Afterwards, we found Grannymom-we had lost her during the shuffle. Then we headed to Sonic and back to the grocery store. And yes, if you are counting, we have now been to the store 4 days in a row. We had planned to make biscuits but I forgot to buy self rising flour before. Also today, I found white chocolate for just a dollar and since that was on my list, it was a win! (And we have no intentions of going back to the store for at least 48 hours.)
- When we finally did make it home, we had everyone help up put things up and do some cleaning. Then we did have time for a short nap-well, Robby and I did fall sound asleep after eating one of my bags of Christmas candy.
- Robby made meatball subs for supper tonight. They were well liked by everyone which was another win. At supper tonight, someone mentioned the March for Life and Whitman piped up, "it should be shorter." I guess even short speeches to a 5 year old boy are long.
- It was 8ish by the time that we finished supper. Then I went upstairs with Anderson to re-build one of his Lego sets. We finished over 100 steps today and did finish his tank thingy-ma-bob. Tomorrow Campbell has grand plans of rebuilding one of her sets. We shall see what the day brings!
- At 2 this morning, the crazy thunder woke us up. We had already been expecting to have Whitman join us in our bed since he was by himself. However, when the lightening started up at 2, we knew his footsteps would be the ones we heard coming down the hall.
- It was Campbell though. Even though she was sharing the bed with a friend sleeping over, Campbell was still a bit scared. I walked her back upstairs since I felt a bit sorry for her. Indeed the thunder was crazy loud and the lightening continued on and on.
- After I was sure that Campbell was calm, I headed back to bed myself and did go right to sleep even though the thunder continued. I again woke up though with Robby not in the bed. Gracious, he gets around.
- This morning he had already taken the car to the shop since my battery has been a bit contrary. It took me a while to get all of my girls ready this morning. We did leave in plenty of time to pick Robby up and get Keaton to basketball on time.
- Thankfully, as I was driving to Walmart Robby told me that he was on the Sonic side of Walmart. Hmm, I thought where is the Sonic by the Walmart. There sure wasn't a Sonic near the Walmart that I was driving to. Luckily, I hadn't gone to far the wrong way and was soon headed in the right direction.
- Keaton's game was the first game today. She came to life and scored 7 points. Her game is quite entertaining to watch-the girls are fun but the crowd is even more fun with everyone screaming and hollering.
- After the game, Graham headed off with Grannymom to watch Cash's game while the rest of us went to pick up our car. That took a bit longer than expected, but we were still home around 11. I know that it wasn't lunch time, but everyone seemed to be starving so we all ate almost as soon as we came home.
- The afternoon then seemed to go by quickly. Robby did some electrical work (yes, I made him put on his tennis shoes just in case!) while I did some laundry (always doing laundry around here.)
- Then it was back for game number 2 and 3. Campbell and Graham were playing at the same time and their courts were right next to each other. We were able to sit and watch both games which was nice.
- Campbell's team dominated the other team. I am not too sure if Campbell scored or not, but she did have a few rebounds and steals. Graham's team tied the ball game and in the last second, Graham was fouled as he was taking a shot. So after regulation he had two free throws. Bless, the baby missed both but I can't really blame him since everyone was watching. I so hated it for him but they tired, which is better than they had done all year. Maybe next week, which will be their last game, will be his week.
- Anderson's group didn't have games today because of something going on at Immanuel. Since they didn't, we signed Anderson up for a research study. He had to test an app for asthma and nutrition. Bless, the child was so nervous at first. It think that his hand was actually shaking as he was signing his name. He eventually calmed down and even made a joke at the end as he was talking to the ladies. It only took us about 30 minutes and he did come away with a 50 dollar gift card to Walmart.
- We headed back home and by this time the beautiful snow had stopped. I was pretty bummed that the day is snowed and snowed a lot, none of it lasted for any length of time. Grannymom and Grandpa had just finished double checking Robby's electrical work when we arrived home.
- Between the kids' showers, we had supper tonight. We tried an insta pot meal. The pasta was good, but we weren't too pleased with the chicken. It was too much chicken for me and not grilled like Robby likes it. Either way, overall the dish was a winner. When most of the kids get seconds, then something will be cooked again in this house.
- There was more laundry tonight along with some straightening. We had plans to make biscuits but after going to the store each day for the past three days, I still didn't have an ingredient (self rising flour). Oh, well, we will probably make them tomorrow.
- We did watch a tv show all together. While we were watching, Reagan spent most of her time working on a logo for her East. She told me the other day that she thinks she wants to be a graphic designer which I think is a pretty great choice.
- Once the show was over, it was time for bed! Hopefully, we will sleep a bit better tonight since there shouldn't be any thunder. Though I would sleep a lot better if we had a foot of snow outside! Maybe another day.
- Robby was up early this morning for an airport run with Jason. I did briefly stir but didn't realize that he had been gone until he came home. We have a bit less to do in school on Fridays so I was in no hurry to get started today. Keaton was in even less of a hurry because she wanted to bake muffins for breakfast. I suggested that we eat something that we already had so that is what we did.
- We did all of our reading this morning, and then the kids started on their own work. When Whitman finished his work, I made him start writing his names on his Valentines. As he was writing his name over and over, he said, "it is like we are in a workshop." Later he added "we are in an assembly line." It was indeed just like a worship and an assembly line. Writing your name 20 times for a 5 year old is pretty tough work. He did it though and loved every bit of it.
- We soon had our lunch-more leftovers. I think that we will never finish them. After lunch there were chores and lots of packing. Reagan headed to Grannymom's house for the evening and the big boys went to Noah's house.
- Grannymom and Grandpa came over for bit to help Robby figure out a light switch. When they left, the took the big 3 with them to drop them off at East. The little girls played outside most of the afternoon until it was time to leave.
- We ran a few errands before picking up the Kamps girls and then picked up all the big kids at East. Then we dropped off Reagan before dropping off the boys. There was Kroger next and picking up pizzas after that. Needless to say, the girls were ready to get home so they could play with their friends.
- We ate our pizza and then the girls made slime before we settled in to watch a movie. We did sugar everyone up with popcorn and candy before sending them to bed. I am actually sending them to bed right now so wish me luck!
- Another day of school around here. It was pretty dark this morning so I did struggle waking up my people. Whitman knew that he wanted pancakes this morning for breakfast. I had already told him that we didn't have any, but thankfully Keaton walked through about that time and quickly corrected me. She was indeed right, and Whitman was delighted.
- After everyone grabbed their breakfast, we worked on our reading together before moving on to their individual work. Now, I have started having everyone help me fold some of the laundry before they start on their school work. They aren't crazy about it, and really they aren't too good at it either since they are in a hurry, but it sure helps me out quiet a bit.
- I was able to read a few books to Whitman right at the end of school today. Everyone finished fairly quickly and Graham and Anderson's math is easy right now which helps everything go more smoothly. On the other hand, Reagan's math is not easy, and I don't think that it will ever be easy again!
- I have a pretty good lunch menu for us to follow, and I have worked hard at following it after Christmas break. However, when we have leftovers I do feel that it what we should eat instead of sandwiches or any other thing on the list. So today, we had lots of leftovers-chicken spaghetti, cheese dip, spaghetti, quesadillas, hamburgers-It is like we will never be able to eat all of the leftovers in our fridge since they keep multiplying.
- Robby and I headed out after lunch to run to the grocery store. We also stopped at Chick Fil A, the post office (Anderson's nerf gun is messed up and they are replacing it), Chick Fil A (another one) and Dairy Queen. We were pretty speedy on all of our stops and yes, all of our fast food purchases were free and were supper for the kids.
- We unloaded all of our groceries when we came home. Campbell and Keaton were outside-I tell you, the neighbors trampoline has been a big hit with my little girls. The bigs and Whitman ate and once Whitman realized that the girls were outside, he was quick to chow down his supper and head out to find the sisters. They stayed outside for a quite a long time.
- Meanwhile, Anderson, Graham and I headed to basketball. I took them this time and walked on the track the entire time. I am not sure how long I did walk in that hour and half but I tell you I just kept going round and round so much I almost got dizzy.
- The boys seemed to have fun at practice and I was pleased to get my walk in. Once we made it home, they showered and everyone had some downtime before bed!
