- Thursdays have been my favorite day for as long as I can remember. It was rainy last night when we went to bed which made my sleep wonderful. I was hoping that the rain would continue through the day and cancel our soccer practice, but the sun shone through the clouds early this morning.
- Today Anderson finished his spelling for the year. Actually, he finished the end of our spelling curriculum-7 levels. I made Reagan go back through each of the levels and spell all of the words to me this year. Now she has a page of words that she can't spell that we review each day. I am not too sure what I will do with Anderson next year. Possibly another spelling program or possibly what I did with Reagan.
- Whitman goes back and forth between being super focused and super distracted all day long. It kind of makes me crazy. He did enjoy reading a book to his new Minecraft stuffed animal. Everyone was finished fairly early today-early enough that Graham and I cleaned his closet and Campbell and I finished her clothes switch over all before lunch.
- We had lunch and I read to everyone. Then after a few minutes, I gathered everyone to read to them again. They tried to convince me that I had read enough to them, but I would have none of that and read and read!
- This afternoon flew by since we left around 3 for Third Realm. We know now the workers by name, and they know all of the kids by name. It poured as we were there, and I continually checked my phone to see if soccer practice was cancelled. We then drove home in the pouring rain to put on our uniforms!
- It wasn't rainy at the soccer fields-the sun was shining and it was even a bit warm. Keaton and Whitman had their practice first. Then Whitman and I ran to Dairy Queen to pick up hamburgers for supper. Everyone else had their practices last, and we had a car full of grass on the way home.
- The kids all had their showers in between eating the hamburgers-it is pretty amazing that 3 Dairy Queen hamburgers can field all 8 of us. (The burgers were doubles so we turned them into singles plus two folks had leftovers.)
- We had a few minutes of downtime before it was finally bedtime. Campbell, Keaton and I watched an RV show-we are getting ready for November!
- I always have lots of grand plans on Wednesday mornings. My goal is to have the dishwasher emptied, the laundry folded and the trash emptied. Now if I would get up when my alarm clock goes off in the morning, then my list would be much more easily accomplished. However, I like to wait to the last minute to do things-it just makes my Wednesday mornings more exciting.
- Campbell and Graham were the ones most excited about going to Bible study today. They each had to bring snack. Campbell had her brownies already made with plates and forks in a zip lock bag ready to go. Graham put his oreo balls on a plate before I had even mentioned it to him.
- After Bible study, we ran to Walmart. Whitman had a blanket to return from his birthday. He then picked a minecraft pillow and was super excited about it. Anderson bought himself a chocoalate bunny, plus I replaced his Razorback shirt. His shirt got torn at Third Realm the other day (by his older sister.)
- The kids enjoyed jumping again today. They must talk about it alot because one of Graham's Bible study buddies asked to meet us there tomorrow. So I guess we have a big kid playdate-that's fun.
- Once we came home, Reagan finished her clothes switch over. Right now, Reagan wears everything fairly big so the clothes that she was finished with will fit Campbell. I helped Campbell with her clothes, and we will finish tomorrow hopefully.
- We did get in a little school reading before it was time for supper. I fixed some roasted carrots along with a few pieces of chicken in the freezer along with some leftovers. We gobbled up our food so we could run to the library before heading to church.
- Once we came home from church, we had a bit of down time and watched a few RV shows while eating a snack or two!
- I am not too sure why Robby and I keep waking up at 6:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom. Seriously, I know that is the time that we should get on out of bed and start our morning. However, it is so much more fun to curl up and sleep for another hour or so.
- My mornings would be a bit slower if I did go ahead and wake up, but what fun would that be. Robby headed off to Conway early today while I was herding everyone to my room to start on school.
- Our fridge has been a bit contrary so we decided to empty it, turn it off and let everything completely defrost/unthaw out. That has made for lots of trip to the garage today. The first thing we needed outside was milk for our breakfasts. Whitman asked me a few times for another cup, but I just urged him to grab something from his mini fridge instead. The fridge is turned back on now and we are waiting on it to cool off before reloading it. Though we have talked about just bringing back things into the fridge and freezer as we need them.
- Graham had a tough time during school today, and it took him until mid afternoon before he had calmed down and was his happy self again. Everyone did finish their school at a decent time-well, not Whitman. He can be focused or he can be not focused at all. When he did realize that everyone else was finished, I sat beside him and he finished an entire page before I realized what he had done.
- We had our lunch and gathered a few things from the outside fridge to eat. Then we had to take everything back outside. Campbell has snack for her Bible study class tomorrow so as soon as she was finished with her school work, she started on it. Graham also has snack so this afternoon we worked on his oreo balls.
- I helped work on clothes with Reagan and Campbell. We don't have too much to do in their room before I will be completely finished with the clothes changeover. I also had everyone try on bathing suits today-and Whitman wore his for most of the afternoon.
- We met the Heltz at Third Realm this afternoon. The kids never seem tired of jumping. Once we made it home, I went to the treadmill while the kids tried to find neighbors to play with. They didn't find anyone to play with until after supper.
- We had manicotti for supper, and it was delicious-some freezer meals are really yummy. When we do have a good freezer meal, I always want to make more things for my freezer. This evening everyone had their showers and started packing their lunches for tomorrow.
- Monday morning and I was up fairly early, but I did one of the things that I love-just laid in bed! It was wonderful and could have only been better if it was raining. When I realized that even Campbell was awake, I did get on up to start our morning.
- Graham and Campbell went to town on their school work before we started school. They only had a few things to do during our official school day. I know they like finishing early, but I think that it would make for a long day and morning for them. Keaton realized this afternoon that maybe she wanted to finish early tomorrow so she started on her school work for Tuesday.
- We did our reading and then everyone went to work on their own school work. We are finishing this week of school. Then we will only do 2 more weeks of school.
- Now there is a possibility I will have Reagan do some more science to come close to finishing it up. But I have been reminded that most real schools do not finish all of their textbooks so maybe I shouldn't feel that pressure.
- I let the kids eat on their own today because I had a check up for my blood pressure meds. I have a new doctor and she was puzzled by my old medicine combo so she is changing my current meds. I don't mind changing meds but I do mind having to go back in a month for a recheck. As I get older, I am becoming less and less a fan of going to the doctor.
- I hurried home so we would have time to read before heading the Third Realm. On the way there, I ran into Walmart to exchange Anderson's undies from yesterday (too small) and to pick up cream cheese for Graham's Bible study snack tomorrow.
- Then we jumped at Third Realm for an hour. The kids enjoyed jumping today. The moms enjoyed chatting until they turned up the music to a crazy level. Seriously, if OSHA had been there the workers would have to wear ear plugs. It was so loud that we were having to shout at each other. I would lean over and shout one thing to Amber and then have to lean towards Candice to shout it again so she could hear it.
- Once at home, Campbell and Keaton went outside and there they stayed until 7 or 8ish. The boys and even Reagan played some outside this afternoon. They didn't go out as early as the girls, but they were still out long enough to need showers.
- We did have to clean our floors tonight because I neglected to sweep well on Sunday, and we had ants everywhere in the kitchen. Also we decided to defrost the fridge-the freezer has been getting frosty lately so hopefully that will help. However, that did entail us taking everything out of the fridge and freezer and carting it to the garage fridge and freezers.
- We did use that opportunity to have lots and lots of leftovers for supper. Unfortunately, we didn't really clean much out. Well, Robby and I did devour a strawberry cake from the Wilson's house.
- It was nearly bedtime by the time that Robby finished with the floor. The kids weren't too happy about going to bed but there bedtime has been slowly creeping closer and closer towards 10 and I just don't like that at all!
- We were again up early this morning. Robby and I were about to climb out of bed when Whitman crawled over my head to get between us so we stayed a bit longer. Campbell, who was fully dressed, was next to come in our room.
- By the time that I walked through the living room, the big boys were dressed and on their ipads. I did have to wake up Keaton and Reagan. However, they did start stirring fairly quickly. We needed every extra minute this morning because we had our annual Easter pictures to take along with Easter baskets.
- The kids all get socks and underwear in their baskets and have for a few years. They also had a bit of candy in there, but the kids seemed a bit underwhelmed with their baskets. That is fine with me though since most everyone needed new undies and I spent an ungodly amount on their undergarments. 6 packages of undies and 6 packages of socks are not cheap!
- We had to leave a bit early because we were on parking detail at church. We did miss most of the meeting so that might be the reason that we didn't know what we were doing. We did figure it out eventually.
- Actually, not all of us helped on the parking lot. I sent Reagan and Whitman to put down our Bible and save us seats. They did come out briefly to check on us. At one point, Campbell asked if Robby knew everyone since as he was directing people, most of them were waving at him. And it did seem as if we did know quite a few of the folks pulling in our section.
- Graham and Keaton headed in next. When it was church time, I tried to get Campbell and Anderson to go on it, but they were really enjoying it so I ended up going in to church. Robby and those two stayed out until about 15 minutes after church had started.
- It took me a few minutes to find Reagan and the seats that she had saved for us. When I walked in, everyone was standing singing-except for Whitman. I quickly rectified that and he was fine for the rest of the service.
- Church was great and full today. It was so full that we were in no hurry to get out of there. We waited around and took a few pictures at the photo booths before finally braving the parking lot. By the time that we left, the parking lot was cleared out pretty good.
- At home, we got everything ready for our Easter lunch. We just had to heat up the dip, rolls and potatoes. Soon all of the family arrived, and we dug in to our Easter lunch. By the time that that the adults had started to eat, the kids had already finished their meals. I think they were pretty excited about the egg hunt.
- Whitman did make some Easter eggs out of his dot markers for the kids to find. He was so pleased with himself. Next was the real egg hung. Now, I did have a lot less eggs this year but they still covered the yard. It didn't take very long for them to find all of the eggs that we had hidden.
- Now, after finding the eggs each year my kids and Lilly and Cash all go inside and start opening their eggs and trading their candy. It is a like a swap meet or the stock exchange with everyone trading away. I think that this tradition might just be their most favorite part of finding eggs.
- After the grands left, the neighbors came outside. The kids ended up playing outside until almost 8 when the neighbors had to go home. Then we loaded up and went to the Wilsons for a few minutes.
- We took some chicken and Shannon had some yummy mac and cheese that my people devoured. We visited over there until it was absolutely bedtime for my crew. Once at home, everyone still had to have showers before bed. Everyone was kind of looking forward to doing school tomorrow since they can eat all of their candy as they work.
- Another early morning for us. Today was a beautiful soccer day. All of the boys played first and were all excited. Anderson and Graham were excited about playing, but more excited about the birthday party they were going to later in the day. Whitman wasn't excited about playing at all but was excited about getting his game over with and earning his dollar.
- Whitman did super again this week. Now when I say "super" that is a relative term. He didn't lay down on the field, cry or chase butterflies during the game. He actually ran the entire time and kicked the ball many times. I think there is a possibility that he just might score a goal by the end of the year.
- Someone told me today that Anderson and Graham were the best players on their soccer team. They did lose by 2 today, but both played hard. I think that both of them were so close to scoring today. I didn't see a whole lot of their game because since Robby was coaching the big boys, I did stay closer to Whitman's game except when he was on the bench.
- We then had a break between game. Keaton and Campbell stayed at Raymar while the rest of us ran an errand. All of the boys changed out of their uniforms while on the way. Now, I did leave Whitman's shoes at home so while we were at Walmart buying Anderson dress sandals, we picked up Whitman another pair of slides so he could have dry feet today. Those fields are so wet in the mornings that his shoes and both pairs of socks were soaked.
- We then struggled to find something for lunch since it was just 10. Robby tried to get us food from a few places but we did end up with pizza. Even though it was early, we still ate our lunches when we arrived back at Raymar.
- Keaton's game was next which was fun. Reagan was her ref and Robby was her coach. And not surprisingly Keaton's team won their game-it helps to have a sympathetic ref. Keaton scored 2 of her team's 3 goals. She was so excited because Robby had told the kids that they would receive an additional dollar for each score that they made.
- After Keaton's game, I ran Anderson and Graham to a birthday party. They had a blast while there. It was a laser tag party so they came home even more hot and sweaty and sunburned! I had put sunscreen on the back of everyone's necks but neglected to think that it was a lot sunnier than last week and we needed more sunscreen. (I am glad that I did put sunscreen all over my face this morning.)
- Campbell's game was last. I arrived in time to see most of it. She had Robby and all of her grands watching her so she was not neglected in the least. Campbell was the goalie the entire game. She is a great goalie but I don't think that she likes doing it the entire time.
- After the game, we did run to Kroger to find some rolls for tomorrow's lunch. Thankfully, there were a few bags left. Then it was home to unload the car and put those things away. I then worked on making the dip for tomorrow while Robby ran to pick up a trailer for some yard work.
- He arrived home just as I was leaving to pick up the boys. I could tell by their attitudes that they were very tired after the party and soccer. But we still had hours of yard work to go. Anderson mowed and mowed outside while the rest of us raked, picked up sticks, and pulled weeds. The yard does look a lot better but we have miles and miles to go before it is all done.
- While Robby finished up outside, everyone had their showers and helped me decorate our Easter cookies. Then we all loaded up to go to Chickfila for a little treat. Once at home, Robby did shave off Whitman's mohawk.
- Then I cleaned the kitchen and by the time that I sat down to do the blog, it was already bedtime for the crew. I know that they were a sleepy and sunburned bunch tonight.
- It was an early morning for us-I started stirring everyone around 7:15. Most everyone popped up. They were excited about their lemonade stand but they were also excited about getting to help at the garage sale.
- By the time that I was dressed, everyone else was ready. I am glad that we did grab coats as we were getting in the car because it was cool and windy all day long. I was actually a bit miserable when I made it home because I was just so chilled.
- When we arrived at the garage sale this morning, the kids set up their lemonade/cinnamon roll/ cookie stand. Business was pretty slow at first. Whitman and Anderson worked the stand the most with Campbell in at close second.
- It was too chilly for lemonade, but the snickerdoodle cookies were certainly the hit. We just about sold out of them. We only had a few takers on cinnamon rolls which works out perfectly because we have plenty for breakfast tomorrow and for snack tonight. The kids ended up making 25 dollars so that was really pretty good. I think that they were all very pleased.
- My Campbell and Keaton spent most of the morning shopping. They really wanted to help with the garage sale like Lilly and Reagan were able to so they shopped instead. They did find quite a few little treasures.
- Robby came around lunch time with hot dogs and wraps for everyone to eat. The kids ate like they hadn't eaten in a day or two. Once Robby left the big 3 plus Whitman headed home with him. Campbell, Keaton and I stayed a little bit longer. We eventually headed home for a few minutes.
- While we were at home, I stuffed the rest of our Easter eggs while some the boys and little girls played outside. Then it was time to meet the Powells at Third Realm. The kids enjoyed jumping today and I enjoyed chatting with Amber.
- After coming home, we ate some supper then Robby cut the boys' hair. He did leave one child with a Mohawk. Whitman was so excited when Robby said that he could have his hair cut like that.
- While Robby was cutting hair, I had everyone else working on cleaning the house. The house is now clean and afterwards, we dyed our Easter eggs. The kids still enjoy doing that, but they do take less and less time each year. Whitman and Campbell were the last ones working tonight.
- Campbell, Keaton, Whitman and I then went to work cutting out and baking cookies for Easter. That didn't take too long and when they was done, I sat down in my new chair. Dana was getting rid of one of her chairs so I snagged one for me. It is so much more comfy than the brown leather chair that I usually sit in at night.
- At bedtime, we did the resurrection eggs. Everyone is big enough now to take 2 verses and read them before opening an egg. It is the sweetest thing to hear them all able to read scripture. Of course, Whitman's little baby voice is precious. He is working on memorizing the Lord's Prayer during school so he reads it every day and my heart just melts listening to him.
- We again stayed up way too late since we have to wake up way too early in the morning, but everyone is excited about playing their games tomorrow.
