April 20, 2019

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• 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.

April 19, 2019

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• 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.

April 18, 2019

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• Robby and I both woke up during the storm last night. It was pretty nice hearing the thunder roll. I did expect someone to come downstairs, but really I guess the only folks who might come down are Campbell, Keaton and Whitman. They all slept right through the lightening and thunder.
• I stayed in bed a bit longer this morning because I was enjoying reading about all of the weather and roads that were closed. Apparently, Lawson was a mess this morning. Quite a few kids were out of school today, but my kids didn't get wet at all on their way to school.
• We did our reading and then started on our last day of school for the week. We continue marking things off of our lists so people are finishing earlier each day which makes for a nice day. 
• I was able to throw a few more things in a garage sale box. I should have taken a picture but we completely filled up the back of Robby's car. We even had to take down his seats so everything would fit. I really could probably go back through the house and fill the back of the car again.
• We ate lunch and then did some reading for school. Now, after we read the kids made their signs for their lemonade stand. Once we finished the signs, Campbell, Keaton and I made 2 batches of snickerdoodles. The kids have always wanted to have a lemonade stand so we are doing it up big-unfortunately, when you have 5 brothers and sisters, your profit is split by 6 so they won't make too much at all. 
• At 4, we met out buddies at Third Realm. Everyone jumped without too much drama. Then Robby brought his car which Reagan and I jumped in and headed to Dana's house. I didn't plan on the rain coming back and coming back with a vengeance while we were trying to unload the car, but it sure did.
• We then ran to the grocery store in the messy rain. By the time we got back to the car and threw the bags in the back, we were pretty soaked. When we made it home, Robby already had waffles, sausage and strawberries ready for everyone's supper. 
• It was a fairly quite night around the house. We finished getting ready for tomorrow, I pulled out some school for next week and even stuffed a few Easter eggs. Eventually, it was bedtime for everyone and I am even a bit sleepy tonight. 

April 17, 2019-Branson Trip 2

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We all slept pretty well in our room. Next door though, Grannymom said that Anderson coughed and coughed in the middle of the night. She did wake him up to have him drink some water and made his pillows higher and that did solve it.

The poor guy does have a pretty good cold. We had only gotten about 50 feet from the car today at Silver Dollar City when he asked if I had his breather. I ran back to get that and he took a puff from it. I should have thought about all of the pollen and given him some zyrtec. (I give some to Keaton each morning for her eczema so I will now start giving him some each morning.) 

By mid morning, Anderson's eyes kept getting redder and redder. They were soon bright red, and he couldn't stop rubbing them. Robby walked back to the car to get the eye drops for him. I was pretty thankful that we were packed up and those drops weren't back at the hotel. I now know that I need to bring them where ever I go right now. After we poured the bottle into his eyes, they did improve. It was pretty amazing how fast that medicine helped his eyes.

Unfortunately, I don't have any medicine that helped his stuffy and runny nose tonight. I would have to assume that he just has a cold or possibly it is allergies-either way, he was pretty miserable tonight when he went to bed. Hopefully, he will sleep all night long.

Back to our morning though. My room slept a bit too long and had to scurry around to get ourselves ready. We still had plenty of time to enjoy our breakfast. The breakfast was decent but there was no place to sit because they had the breakfast room filled up with a swap meet of some sort. Odd. 

Then we loaded the car and headed to Silver Dollar City. The kids saw a bus and began panicking about there being long lines. They were pleasantly surprised when we could pretty much walk right on any ride all day long. The longest they had to wait was probably about 10 minutes the first time they rode Time Traveler. The next time they rode the ride there was no wait.

We hit all of the big rides today-even the big kiddie rides. I still haven't gotten Whitman to the ropes area and on the train. We did stop at the ball place, and all the kids loved that. They have all of these loud guns and cannons that shoot balls out. However, Graham and Reagan didn't use those-they just continually pegged each other with balls over and over again. 

Grannymom and Grandpa saw a show in the morning time. Then we joined them at another saloon type show. Keaton, Campbell, Graham and Whitman were sitting on the front row. It was pretty funny so I know that they enjoyed it. Afterwards, we went to find some lunch. There weren't a lot of places open so we mainly just ate our snacks from our bag. We did however end our lunch with our cinnamon bread.

In the afternoon, Grannymom and Grandpa went to another show while we finished riding the rides. We all finished up at about the same time and then headed back to the car. The ride home wasn't too bad at all. We stopped in Marshall to pick up some pizza and potty. 

The pizza was delicious or we were very hungry. We pretty much devoured two huge pizzas. We ate in the car and everyone continued asking for seconds. The ride was a bit long up until Marshal but after everyone had supper and a drink in their hands, the ride seemed to fly by. 

In Conway, Grannymom and Grandpa climbed in Robby's car and rode home with them. The rest of us hurried home so we could unload the car before Robby made it home. We had the car mostly unloaded when he came. Then we put everything away and then loaded up Robby's car with our garage sale stuff to drop off tomorrow.

The kids had showers while Robby and I worked on some cinnamon rolls. There is just not enough hours in the day. The dough is rising now, then we have to roll it out and let it rise for another hour before baking it! It might just be a late night.

April 16, 2019-Branson Trip 2

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The tooth fairy didn't come until early this morning. I actually heard movement upstairs and was about to hurry up there, but couldn't find my cash stash. The fairy had already put everything exactly where it should go. 

Keaton was pleased with her 2 dollars from the tooth fairy. No one else seemed to complain even though the tooth fairy hasn't given that much money for a tooth in years. I guess they realized that teeth that are pulled are worth more money. We soon began on our school work. Everyone seemed to fly through their school today. Anderson was the last one finished, but he was finished way before noon though. Nonna stopped by to bring everyone a Sonic drink this morning. They were delighted to see her and delighted to see her drinks. 

Before lunch, we worked on a few chores around the house. The biggest chore we had to do was to bring all of my garage sale stuff down from the attic. My pile looked huge in the attic, but once it was stacked neatly in the garage it didn't look so big after all.

I sat down for a few minutes and then had to scurry around for us to leave. Anderson had some medicine ready at Sams so we ran to pick that up and then picked up Grannymom and Grandpa.

I drove us all to Conway where we met Robby. Then from there we zoomed to Branson. It didn't take us long at all to get up here. We had a few snacks-Robby did make our traveling rice krispy treats last night. 

We did stop for a potty break just once on the way. The kids were pretty quiet during the trip since they were busy playing on their ipads. Once in Branson, we drove right to Danna's BBQ. We beat the crowds because by the time that we left the place, all of the tables were full.

The food was delicious. Robby had a bbq baked potato which was very good. Campbell and I split bbq nachos and everyone else had bbq sandwiches. More than one Dennie said that they wanted to come back and eat there again.

From there, it was just a short hop to our motel. The rooms are decent, and we hung out for a few minutes before going out for our next adventure. We headed out to The Landing. We walked around a bit and went into a few stores.

Campbell and Keaton enjoyed playing on the large chair while the boys played the bean bag game. We were nearby when the fountains did their show so we all watched that. We walked through a few stores. Graham enjoyed the sports store full of sportsy logos. He said that he could live in that store.

We didn't need Hurts or Andy's so we opted for ice cream sundaes from McDonalds. From there, it was a short drive back to the hotel. We vegged out for a little bit before finally bedding down in our hotel rooms. The big boys are sleeping in Grannymom and Grandpa's room and the rest of us are in our little room. It is pretty cozy in here!

April 15, 2019

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• I told Robby last night that if I woke up before 7, then I would walk on the treadmill before school time. I then also encouraged him that if he had to go to the bathroom before 7 to please be very, very quiet. Thankfully, I slept soundly until my alarm clock went off. Honestly, mornings would be the ideal treadmill time, but that just doesn't work for lazy me. Now, I was able to walk this afternoon.
• We started on our school work and most folks flew through it quickly. We are steadily marking things off making school days a bit easier which is nice. Everyone finished fairly early and went to work on their chores.
• On Friday, Keaton had mentioned that her tooth hurt. I looked at it, and it looked brownish but her gums didn't look swollen. I looked and saw that our dentist was closed on Fridays so this morning, I asked if her tooth was still hurting. She said that it was a tiny, tiny bit.
• I wasn't really sure what to do, but did call and make an appointment. Robby took her there at noon, and around 12:20 he text to tell me that they were about to pull her tooth. Apparently, her tooth was abscessed. Her permanent tooth is about to grow there so no need to worry about the space. Dr. Jolley said that she did super great and has already text to see how she was doing.
• When she did come home, her little face was puffy and she had cotton in her mouth. Bless, she looked pitiful. Campbell went into nurse mode and made sure that she was okay. We had been in the middle of working on shoes so Campbell helped Keaton try on and pick what shoes she wanted. 
• I had put applesauce in the fridge for her, but she said that she didn't like applesauce. I scanned the fridge for something soft since she hadn't had lunch. Robby had bought her a Sonic drink, but her mouth was too numb to drink it. Thankfully, I did find her some marshmallows. (She gobbled down chicken spaghetti for supper and popcorn for snack tonight didn't seem to bother her.)
• Soon we headed the Third Realm to meet our buddies. I wasn't too sure that Keaton would jump-she wanted to go but had said she wasn't going to jump-but jump she did. Everyone had lots of fun jumping and were incredible sweaty when we came home.
• The girls and Whitman played outside and actually only came in to eat supper for a little bit tonight. Then everyone but Whitman headed back outside. He was in the middle of a Wizard of Oz cartoon. 
• We were going to have everyone come in at 8, but they all floated in minutes before. They took their showers, and we all settled in the living room to watch the Wizard of Oz. Whitman had been begging to watch it for weeks so tonight was finally his night. 
• Robby made two batches of popcorn for us to eat. Most everyone liked the movie but they were not as interested in it as Whitman. He loved every single minute of it! Now he is just waiting on the book on tape that is coming from the library soon. 

April 14, 2019

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• Everyone seemed to stir fairly quickly this morning. A little bit of that was because Camryn had spent the night so my little girls wanted to be ready to hang out with the big girls as much as they could. And a little bit of it was because we did have leftover doughnuts for breakfast.
• We were able to see the grands before we sat down for big church. Campbell and Whitman tried really hard to sit on the front row. I made them move back but we did tell Campbell that she could sit on the front row. We reminded her that her daddy always did growing up, but she did not want to sit by herself.
• In Sunday school, we barely had enough time to do our craft and eat our snack which does make the time go by quickly. Then we headed on to Grannymom's house for lunch. After everyone ate, Keaton went with Dana to see her puppies. Then we picked her up and headed to Third Realm with Cash.
• The kids enjoyed jumping for an hour. I think that they were pretty tired today because they did keep sitting by us. Now, Anderson has been having some problems with his asthma so that was his reason. Hopefully tomorrow I can pick up a refill for some of his better medicine to help out a bit. (Don't worry though, he still has medicine here and was fine tonight.) 
• Also tomorrow, Keaton has been complaining of a tooth that hurts. It looks dark-ish to me so that will need a dentist call and visit. Now, she acted like it didn't hurt tonight but better safe than sorry. But that is tomorrow, back to today. I started working on my to do list there on my blog, didn't I?
• We dropped Cash off and then rushed home to take a little snooze. Before too long, it was time to head back to church. Robby and I wanted to see The Kingdom again so the little 3 came with us. Campbell and Keaton were convinced to come because we said that we would sit in the balcony. Whitman didn't think that he wanted to come, but he was so wide eyed the first time we saw it, that I knew he would enjoy it again.
• The line to get into the church house stretched all the way across the parking lot. It was something to see. The place was packed tonight with over 200 in the overflow. We enjoyed it so much again.
• It was already late when it was over but we had a few errands to run. Robby dropped me off at Kroger where I did some speed shopping. Then he ran with the kids to Dairy Queen to pick up our burgers-not for tonight, but for tomorrow's lunch. He also picked up the little drinks at McDonalds.
• I really did some speed shopping. I had to stop shopping when my buggy was full-completely full. So I checked out and had to wait a good 10 minutes on Robby to finish running his errands. If you remember the show Supermarket Sweep, I would be a good contestant on there.
• Once at home, it was quickly bedtime for the kids and time to unload the groceries, do laundry and dishes for Robby and me!