March 31, 2015-Happy Birthday Whitman!

(click here for today's pictures)
Celebrating Whitman's 2nd Birthday!

  • We woke up fairly early this morning and Robby and Campbell were off to school after our breakfast of toast and yogurt.  She was a bit peeved at me because I wouldn't let her have a 3rd piece of toast and Graham felt the same way.  I just poured everyone another cup of milk and they did soon forget about wanting more toast.  (I am out of fruit so I couldn't offer that up-our fruit situation is always feast or famine around here and right now we are completely out of fruit.)
  • School started off wonderfully and then it wasn't so wonderful anymore.  My Graham-bless him!  His handwriting is horrible and he holds the pencil all crazy.  Part of all of this probably is that his little mind just goes so fast.  Anyway, he told me he couldn't hold the pencil right so I got the little pencil holder helper for him to use and he didn't really like that.  I stayed calm like a crazy woman and Graham went nutzo.  I just left the room and let him release some steam-after about an hour of this, he finally calmed down and came back to the school room.  I guess that will be my new approach-completely ignore his wrong behavior.  
  • But once my Graham did calm down, things were fine again (except for the constant questions about not using the little pencil holder helper which I ignored.)  Even will all of that mess, we were still finished with school a few minutes before lunch.  
  • After lunch, we picked up and then Anderson found a game for us to play.  I drew out a bracket for us to use in our little game and everyone played happily-seriously, that rarely happens.
  • At some point during the day, I put my hand on the hole in the wall that Grandpa and Robby's repair work has left.  I was trying to decide if it was worth a patch or a new picture to hang over it.  Keaton saw all of this and told me "God will heal that wall."
  • The afternoon went by fairly quickly with Whitman napping, my treadmill time, the kids movie time and then quite a bit of time working on the train rice krispy treats.  Before too long, it was time to load up to start celebrating Whitman's 2nd birthday!
  • Due to a pretty good deal, his party was at Playtime Pizza.  Reagan said that it was like his party was for all of his brothers and sisters more than him!  Even though his brothers and sisters all had a blast, Whitman had a great time too!  We started off in the party room and then we all hit the buffet.  After the real food, we stared on the ice cream.  
  • Whitman opened his presents and he racked up-2 trains, a blanket, a grill set, a bear, cars, a Bible book, pull ups, a truck, pajamas and an outfit.  Like always, he had lots of help on his gift unwrapping but he didn't seem to mind-he did notice when we hauled the presents out to the car afterwards.  He wanted to leave with those presents-he will be happy in the morning when he wakes up and sees them all laid out on the fireplace (if I was a good mom, I would take them all out of the boxes but that is what older brothers and sisters are for) but then he will probably be upset when after seeing his new loot, I whisk him off to Bible study.
  • After presents, we had his rice krispy cake.  I think he liked it and that sweet boy tried his best to blow out the candles.  I am sure that he will get some more practice over the next few days.  Then it was game time-and games we played.  
  • The first stop was the go carts-Lilli, Cash, Reagan and Anderson all drove.  Graham, who was too short to drive, rode with Pops and then me.  Keaton rode with Dana and then on the next round Campbell and Robby rode together and raced Jason and me.  Then it was bumper cars for Campbell and bowling for Whitman and Keaton while the rest of us played laser tag.  The girls whooped the boys but it was a workout for sure-that was my first time to play laser tag since high school (it was some type of lock in and Robby was one of our leaders-I think he even liked me then...or maybe it was my friend Christy.)
  • After the big games, the kids had 60 minutes of play time on the machines and they played and played and played until Robby said that it was time to leave.  The place closed at 9 and we were still picking out prizes!  The kids all had a blast and were exhausted!
  • Campbell headed home with Nonna and Pops to spend the night and the rest of us headed to our home for quick showers.  They were all still hot and thirsty so we gave them something to drink and then tucked everyone in.  I am sure that they are worn out!

March 30, 2015

(click here for today's pictures)

  • We woke up right on time this morning and just a few minutes after 7, Campbell came downstairs, peeked into our room and said "I am going to play; come and get me when it is time to get ready."  The last few days she has become pretty obsessed with playing with the wooden trains.  She makes a track and then plays with it until Whitman destroys it.
  • Whitman destroying things and making messes is pretty much the theme around here these days.  He managed to pour a box of cereal out twice today.  The first time was kind of cute but the second time, it just lost its charm.  Of course, I was pretty mad at myself for cleaning it up and then not putting it back up where he couldn't get it.  And yes, I did put most of the cereal back in the box (my carpet was vacuumed today so we will consider it clean enough.)
  • I had been a bit worried about school today since the kids had their week off.  Things went fairly well-Reagan was a bit distracted by Keaton and Whitman and then Reagan and Graham had a pretty good fight over who was going to use the computer next.  I told them to solve the problem quickly and they didn't so this caused a bit of drama.  
  • We are at that point in school where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I am even starting to plan for next year a tiny bit.  My favorite part of school is opening up all of their new books-that is and has always been so excited to me.  
  • We had our lunch and then started on our chores.  I was walking up the stairs and heard the doorbell ring.  Of course this immediately caused all of the kids to run to the door and I shouted "I will get it.  Do not open the door."  And what did I hear just seconds later-the front door opening.  I was about to beat a child when I rounded the corner and saw Nonna and Pops at the door.  Anderson had seen them and of course opened the door for them.  They were in the neighborhood (plant place down the road) and stopped by for a few minutes.
  • They left and we finished our chores and the next thing I knew Campbell was home.  Grandpa had brought her home and he started to work on moving an upstairs thermostat.  Soon Robby was home and a plumber was here as well.  All of this activity caused some mayhem here and we were barely able to get out the door for soccer practice.  I had actually let time get away from me and had to  throw supper at the kids as we were backing out of the driveway.  
  • Campbell's team with Robby as her coach practiced first.  She did pretty good during practice and had fun.  When it was over, she told me that she wanted for her practice to be longer.  The boys practiced next on another field.  I think they did good and I hope that they were respectful.  I tried to watch them and Reagan's team practice at the same time but I really saw none of either one.
  • By this time, my Whitman had had enough.  We had only brought one ball and he would get upset whenever one of the big kids would take the ball from him.  So pretty much during the practices he was fussing or running away.  At least during practice it is pretty much fine for him to run across field after field.  Now I do not know at all what will happen during game days-I am just afraid that it will not be pretty.  
  • Once we made it home, it was shower time and then bedtime for my Dennie crew.  Tomorrow is a busy day so my kiddos need their rest!

March 29, 2015

Our very own princesses!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • The kids didn't take too long to get ready his morning. Yesterday, I had gathered everyone's clothes and this morning before I climbed into the shower, I laid everyone's clothes out so they would know what set to wear.  Each Sunday when I am in the shower at least 2 people come and ask "is this mine?"  Today, I was ready for that and things were perfectly laid out...except they weren't-I had switched the boys shirts and pants.  No peaceful shower for me!
  • Today was a crazy day-Robby practically needed a flow chart to explain to the kids who was going where, when and why today.  He was the first car to leave for church so he could be at the Lord's Supper passer outer meeting and the boys went with him.  We were just minutes behind him.
  • Anderson's first official Lord's supper was today so I had him sitting on the end by me.  Campbell and Reagan then ended up beside me and that was not well thought out on my part at all.  I could tell that Reagan was doing the egging on but she would just look at me like she wasn't doing anything and since I didn't think I could whack her across the back of the head during church, I couldn't really do much to stop things.  And again today, if Campbell asked me twice if church was almost over, she asked me 10 times-each time louder than the time before.  
  • Robby kept Whitman's class during church and I taught Reagan's class and soon we were on our way to Grannymom's house for lunch.  The kids all ate really well and then it was time to begin celebrating Whitman's birthday.  He is very familiar with the birthday song since there is always a birthday around here.  He can even sing Happy Birthday a little bit but he isn't too familiar with blowing out the candle.  Either way though, he did enjoy the attention and we better practice the candle blowing out!
  • Campbell and Keaton had a princess birthday party for Hayley this afternoon and their fairy godmother's Dana and Lilli went to work on their hair.  Dana took them over to her house and when I picked them up they were the cutest things ever.  Seriously, they were all sparkly and their hair was just princess like.  We took pictures there and then I even ran them back by Grannymom's house so she could see the little princesses.
  • My girls had a blast at the birthday party-Elsa was even there...the real Elsa.  Elsa sang some songs, they did a dance, they played a game, Elsa read a book-really fun birthday party.  I don't think that I am biased but my girls were the cutest little things there.  
  • And my Campbell took such care of Keaton-making sure she was in line with her, skipping around with her and during the game when Keaton lost, Campbell said "it's okay."  And then when Campbell lost the game, she was to reach in a bag and get a piece of candy-she snuck out 3 and then gave one to her little sister.  
  • After the party, we rushed Campbell to choir and then met Robby and the others who were already at choir.  Keaton went to her class and she said that she went to the playground with Whitman.  Then she told me that he was poopy on the playground.  I asked if his teachers changed him and she said "I took care of him."  I don't know what that means but I assume it means that she told his teachers.  I love that she takes care of her not-so-baby brother!
  • Church tonight and then it was hair cut time for the boys-they truly needed it.  While they were getting their hair cut, Reagan and the little girls helped me straighten the house.  (Reagan did most of the work!)  Then it was ice cream truck time-and we even pulled out all of the new ice cream!  Big time stuff here at the Dennie house!

March 28, 2015

Can you see it? I can see it!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • After the kids came to our bed the third time telling us how they were starving, we decided that we should get out of bed.  Now during this time, we had up to 3 people jumping on us at a time. The other kids headed to their kindles this morning but Keaton was the one that stayed in bed with us.  Finally I let Keaton go and wake Whitman up and once he was up, he immediately started trying to pull me and then Reagan out of the bed.  He was ready for someone to take him to the kitchen to get his breakfast-but we had to wait on our cinnamon rolls to bake before eating.
  • Robby took the girls to Grannymom's house for a bit to work on her taxes.  Robby said that they played really well there and even did quite a bit of doll house play.  Back here, my boys (all of them) mostly sat on the couch playing on their kindles.  I did the dishes and laundry and then decided that at least Whitman shouldn't rot out his brain so I read him a few books on his kindle.
  • Then we headed upstairs to play with his trains and the boys eventually followed.  We played for a long while upstairs.  While we were playing, Whitman found a toy man that his leg was coming off.  He would bring the toy and I would put the legs back on over and over again. When I stood up to run downstairs, I teased him and pulled my leg behind me saying "look, my leg is off too."  He quickly jumped up and made me put my foot back on the floor.  
  • Robby and the girls came home with lunch.  After lunch, Robby went on a treasure hunt in the yard-he was looking for water pipes (for a new yard hydrant and the water turner offer).  He dug through our old pictures and through some pretty impressive logic on our parts, he was able to find the needles in a haystack and found those pipes pretty quickly.  Of course all of this activity (him in the yard bundled up with a shovel, me on the porch looking at the picture directing him to move this way and that way) caused lots of excitement to the kids and many migrated outside.  To bad this treasure hunt wasn't for real treasure-I think we might be pretty good treasure hunters.
  • Soon after this Keaton and Campbell were playing upstairs with Whitman.  I heard him cry briefly and then I heard the girls bringing him down the stairs.  He had hurt his leg or something.  I looked at it, pushed on it, tugged at it and he seemed fine but when I put him down he would limp just a bit.  This limp progressed throughout the day and by bedtime the boy (who could jump and run seemingly normal, he could also stand only on his sore leg and put weight on his leg climbing up the stairs) was walking practically dragging his leg.  It is the oddest thing but hopefully all will be better in the morning.  Part of me thinks he is really hurt but part of me thinks that he thinks his leg has come off like the toy he played with earlier in the day.  
  • Grannymom and Grandpa came over to see Robby's digging work.  Grandpa and Robby worked on a few things-my favorite was fixing the handles on the doorknobs.  The kids have probably heard some colorful language from me as those doorknob handles have fallen off on my toes over and over the past few weeks.  Though the doorknob in the school room was often taking off by me so no one (Whitman, Keaton and Campbell) could not go in the school room closet!
  • After they left, the kids eventually ended up outside playing soccer.  They can not wait for practice to start on Monday.  They weren't able to finish their game because I took my boys to the grocery store to pick up a few things and to restock our ice cream truck supplies.  We buy ice cream things for their snack/reward on Sunday nights.  That ice cream is just for Sunday or another night if we have to miss our Sunday treats.  I am not that great at spending a bunch of money so Robby gave me an amount and told me that I had to spend that much on their ice cream.  The boys had a blast picking things out-they loaded the buggy up.
  • And I had a blast shopping with them.  When we have all of the kids, you just can't let them really help because that is just too many helpers and that makes things crazy.  But with my boys, I let them push the shopping cart, put things in the buggy, put the items on the cart and even carry our pizza back to the car.  (Yes, hamburgers for lunch and pizza for supper-we are bad, bad people especially when you count the cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  It is Saturday after all! Don't judge-quinoa will be eaten here next week!)  Anyway, I could get used to having my workers with me.  They probably didn't like shopping with me though because I made it in to one big economics lesson!
  • When we came home, we ate and then started showers by all.  After our showers, we watched the new Annie movie.  We all piled into the bonus room-at the end of the movie was a kiss and both of my boys "ewww"-ed and turned their heads but Whitman sat mostly still for over an hour of the movie watching it.  He would put his hands over his face each time that Ms. Flannigan came on the screen but other than that, he was perfectly still.  He did go to bed before the movie was over and Keaton was sound asleep before it finished as well.  So my kids all went to bed late and tired tonight!  Hope we can all wake up on time!

March 27, 2015

This ice cream is COLD!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • Oh, the last day of spring break and we even celebrated by sleeping late and having muffins for breakfast.  Some folks weren't crazy excited about the muffins but I was and they were devoured so I count that as a win.  
  • We did our little bit of school work-more work on their upcoming oral reports, some reading, Reagan worked on her writing, Graham did handwriting, Anderson read to me and Campbell made a game for Keaton while Whitman showed off his skills with some wooden puzzles.  For some reason, we finished earlier than we had all week so they pulled out their kindles and even did a bit of cleaning before lunch.
  • The boys were probably relieved that I didn't have laundry for them to do.  The other day, I realized that my boys had not a clue about how to put away their laundry so I declared that would be their job for a long bit.  I knew that I had been mainly having Reagan put away the laundry after I folded it but she does such a good job but I guess it is time for someone else to learn that skill.
  • At lunch, we read a few more library books.  I realized that I have nearly 60 books checked out right now.  I love getting lots of library books but I really, really like turning them in so I have been on a quest to read as many as possible.  
  • The afternoon was spent most relaxing around here.  I did my treadmill time and the kids watched tv and played on their kindles.  Keaton did cuddle up with me on the couch and we snoozed for a few minutes.  I thought she was sound asleep but as soon as I got out from under her, she woke right up.  
  • Supper tonight was at Denny's!  How fun was that-and silly me, I forgot the camera.  I am not sure the kids thought it was as fun as I did-the Dennies going to Dennys.  We ordered what seemed like a lot of food but by the time we divided it up, I was having to gobble it up so I would have something left on my plate.  All of the kids had said they wanted bacon but when they saw our sausage they ate it.  Graham was finished with his pancake and starting on mine by the time I had opened my own silverware.  Reagan saw my hashbrowns and said that she wanted to try those and Robby was on the other end of the table fighting them off of his cinnamon pancakes.  And even though Whitman ate all of his lunch, he kept pointing to my pancake, Robby's pancakes or the bacon saying "this one" "this one" until he was given some of that one!  We did all have enough food...but just barely!  
  • Next up was to Walgreens for passport card photosfor our little drive in Canada and Niagara this summer.  We had a bit of a wait so we had to walk up and down the aisles so the kids wouldn't go nuts.  My photo makes me look like I am 50 and Robby's makes him look like he is a criminal-yep, they are really that bad! 
  • Then we were headed to Grannymom's house to do her taxes.  I was telling Robby that I should have brought her sign and that jogged Robby's memory that he needed his computer so home we went.  We had our ice cream at home and then it was bedtime for my crew.  
  • One child-the blonde one-got into a bit of trouble before bedtime.  That child is a mess and was pretty devastated that she didn't get to hear the Bible story tonight.  She is lucky she doesn't have to sleep in the bonus room tonight or the shed!

March 26, 2015

Teaching the young!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • It was a pretty slow start to the morning here.  I let the kids pretty much pick out their own breakfast but I did pull out some of our leftover fruit from last night and they pretty much devoured it. Whitman sat in his chair for nearly an hour while everyone else ate, while I cleaned the kitchen and then while I worked in the kitchen with Anderson.
  • Today we did just a bit of our planned Spring Break schedule.  I told the kids to pick 2 of the 4 things on their list that they thought I would really want them to accomplish today.  I don't know if Graham was testing me or not but he asked if I would want him to put together his metal car and read to Keaton.  I told him that no, both of those things sounded pretty easy and fun and I wanted him to do something a bit harder.  He grinned at me and went off to work.
  • By the time I had my shower, it was time to load up and leave for today's spring break activity-a movie.  I was just surprised as you were when Robby suggested it-it's not Thanksgiving, why would we be going to be a movie?  We dropped Whitman and Keaton off at Grannymom. Keaton was able to choose what she did and she quickly picked Grannymom's house.  I think that she was thinking that she was going to have to sit through something like another play at the rep like the other night.
  • We saw Cinderella and it was really great.  I am not a huge movie fan (like my eyes even got a bit heavy during the previews) but this was lots of fun.  Everyone enjoyed it-or maybe they just enjoyed the popcorn and coke that Robby continued to bring to them (free refills).  Campbell would occasionally lean over and tell me who were the bad guys.  The kids were surprised that it was still daylight when we left the movie-we did go at lunch time.
  • Next up was back to Granymom's house to pick up the others.  We stayed there for a bit and then headed home.  The kids watched a few movies while Whitman napped.  I looked for Easter clothes, painted a bit and folded a pile of laundry taller than Keaton.
  • Soon we were eating supper and Robby went to the coaches meeting at church.  While the kids ate hot dogs, mac and cheese and fruit I read and read to them.  Then we caught up on some of our game shows-Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune.  Since Robby still wasn't home yet, we watched one more short movie before going upstairs.  He arrived right at Bible story time and was able to tuck everyone in for the night.

March 25, 2015

Dennie Family Restaurant was Open Tonight!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • Last night when I asked Keaton and Campbell where they were going to sleep-with Lilli or Reagan in the bonus room or in my bedroom-Campbell looked at Keaton and said "do you want to sleep in the scary bonus room?"  I said that the bonus room wasn't scary and then Campbell said that when she slept up there before she was really scared.  I then asked her "so you are going to sleep in our room?" and she quickly responded that no, she was going to sleep in the bonus room with Lilly and Reagan.  That little Campbell was trying to make sure her little sister didn't sleep upstairs with them.  It didn't matter though because Keaton was asleep way before everyone else was.
  • At one point during the night, Keaton did climb in bed with me.  I don't know how long she had been in bed with me but I put her back in her pallet around 6 and before too long, we were all up for the day.  We made cinnamon rolls for the girls and one little boy. Lilli had a camp to go to today so the kids couldn't play for too long-they had just started a game of Sorry when it was time to load up.
  • We dropped off Lilli at her house and picked up the boys.  They had already had a full morning playing outside and my Graham was already tired, tired.  As soon as he climbed into the car, he started yelling at Reagan.  Soon though everyone was calm-we were listening to Little Town on the Prairie and we got to a really good part.  Everyone asked me to turn it on as soon as we sat down in the car all day long.
  • I drove by the library but it was still closed so we headed on to see Beebee.  She was quite surprised to see us so early on a Wednesday but was happy that we were there.  As soon as I put Whitman down on the floor, he ran to Beebee's candy bucket.  Keaton was quick to run to Beebee and ask if they could have some candy.  I guess it was 10 that we were there and it was the absolute perfect time to visit Beebee-because her tv was turned on and the Price is Right was starting.  My kids watched it intently and only stopped to briefly talk to Beebee or shove more candy into their mouth.  During the summer, I will do be my best to show up during Price is Right every day.  On the way out, Anderson counted all of the rooms that had Price is Right on.
  • Next stop was the library-I had about 30 books to turn back in and about that many more to pick up.  The kids helped me find some more books to read during our lunches and then it was off to the checkout process.  Checking out at the library has always been the hardest thing ever with my crew but we made it successfully today and the buzzer didn't even beep when we left!  (It worked so well possibly because Whitman was strapped down in the stroller.)
  • We had about 30 minutes before we were to meet April and her crew at Sonic so I thought a brief stop at Nonna's house to use her restroom would be a lot easier than having to go to the Sonic potty.  So we all climbed out and ran in quickly-I had already told my crew that we would not be having a Sonic smorgasbord like we had last night.  I guess Reagan realized this and asked Nonna for a drink so our potty stop turned into a drink stop as well.
  • Soon though we were back in the car on our way to Sonic.  The kids were happy to be back there and probably could play there every day.  Campbell and Keaton loved having Hayley there to play with them.  We were able to play quite a while and then it was time to head home.
  • We had lots to do at home-first on the agenda was showers for all to wash that Sonic sand off.  Then a few chores followed by some work on our restaurant.  We worked on the menus and planned who was doing what during our Dennie restaurant evening.  This took quite a bit of discussion and debate-thankfully, we were able to get everything all solved and then the kids had a bit of down time before our big evening started.  
  • They had down time but I didn't.  Since Reagan had decided that Whitman needed a recipe to contribute to our restaurant I made his homemade ice cream to go along with Keaton's chocolate chip cookies that she helped me make last night.  
  • All of our recipes were from the Duck Dynasty book I had checked out from the library.  Campbell was the next one to start working on her food-fruit salad. She poured the cans for fruit in and chopped bananas while I cut up the strawberries and grapes (Nonna cup up the cantaloupe when she arrived.)  Anderson was next in the kitchen and made his macaroni and cheese.  Then that is when things became busy in the kitchen-Graham started working on his waffle batter and Reagan started cooking her hot chocolate (though it has now been determined that she isn't that greatest at stirring anything on the stove-good thing she didn't get burned splashing hot chocolate all around the room)
  • Nonna and Pops arrived followed by Jason.  And then it was finally restaurant time-we were seated and then Reagan passed out the menus and taking our drink orders.  Next up Campbell took orders for the fruit salad followed by the boys taking orders for their items.  Graham did have the most difficult order taking to do-waffles, syrup, whip cream, strawberries and/or chocolate chips along with sausage.  He did great and everyone enjoyed their supper.
  • Whitman's favorite was the fruit salad and the mac and cheese was pretty great.  Reagan didn't like her hot chocolate as much as she thought she would-it possibly wasn't as hot as she would have liked it but it sure was rich.  Once the dishes were cleared, then the dessert happened.  This was Keaton's turn and she went around asking everyone what they would like and Reagan followed her taking notes.
  • The dessert was delicious-cookies and ice cream.  But our day of cooking left us with lots of leftovers-mac and cheese, fruit salad, ice cream and a few cookies.  I guess all of that will be lunch tomorrow-sounds healthy enough.  
  • Nonna, Pops and Jason stayed a little bit and once they headed home the kids changed into the pjs and went to bed.  Hopefully they can catch up in a bit of their sleep tonight.

March 24, 2015

(click here for today's pictures)
Spring Break Supper at Sonic with the Fam!

  • The big 3 caught me at a very weak moment this morning and asked if they could play their kindles.  I obliged even though they usually are not allowed until after lunch.  But then I said "oh that door is locked" (we have to keep the office door locked or people will "forget" our rule)  I was quickly assured that they could get in easy-I am not sure what they did but I heard them upstairs running and then back downstairs (maybe they were getting a key from somewhere-I would have just stood in a nearby chair and knocked the real key down but to each his own.)  Soon it was all quiet and I probably could have stayed in bed for another hour.  
  • Breakfast had already been planned out this morning-we had no bread for toast, no yogurt, no cereal, no poptarts, no fruit and not even our Sunday doughnuts.  (Yes, Robby is at the grocery store right now.)  We did have pancakes and waffles in the freezer so everything still worked out perfectly.  
  • After lunch the kids started on "school" today-making lego mazes (big 3), sorting coins (little girls) and the other notable project was Campbell making a matching puzzle for Whitman.  She traced about 5 of his little toys and then he matched the toy to the shape.  We only gave him 2 toys and 2 shapes at a time but he sure did relish Campbell, Reagan and my cheers.
  • Before lunch, we had time to play the game Sorry.  It was quite an adventure-Anderson gets a bit pouty and woe is me and Graham gets offended and nears throwing and tantrum during games.  So the game of Sorry is probably not the best game to play with those 2 since the object is to knock your opponents back to start.  Campbell and Keaton played with us for a while but they eventually grew tired of all of the drama and decided to "sneak" off to Robby's office to watch a few movies on their kindles.  We probably need to play more board games around here to practice our good attitudes.  (In case you were wondering, I was the winner.)
  • We survived lunch with our lack of groceries and even finished a few books while everyone was eating.  Then the kids played the wii some this afternoon and watched a bit of movies.  The main thing that happened during the entire afternoon was constant questioning of me of when we were going to go and meet Lilli and Cash.  
  • After 5, we finally loaded up to meet them, Dana, Grannymom and Grandpa and Robby at Sonic.  The kids were thrilled that we let them use the gift cards and get a Wacky Pack-this gift card was part of their Christmas present and it made them so happy to get a meal with a toy (we usually don't!)  
  • Everyone spent more time playing than eating and Whitman followed suit.  He walked a little funny for the first few minutes on the sand but then he never thought another thing about it and managed the playground just perfectly-almost like a 2 year old.  Campbell, Keaton and Lilli were there often to help but he could have stayed there for another hour or two.  I probably should try to take them more often-especially at some odd times when not many folks are playing.  
  • At Sonic, my boys went home with Dana and Lilli came home with us (I got the better end of the deal!)  Reagan, Campbell and Lilli played the wii some, karaoke-ed some and are now watching a movie.  They had cookies, popcorn and soda for a snack-Reagan had been asking for that.  I am sure that she heard it somewhere since we usually do not say "soda."  Keaton made it through some of the movie but she is sound asleep on the couch with me.  I better check and make sure that Campbell is still awake (or at least awake enough to get her to the restroom before she falls asleep!)   

March 23, 2015

Any day is a good day to make a mud pie!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • I never like it when a kid is standing beside my bed in the middle of the night because it is never good news.  Campbell was the one who woke me up at 3 and said "I am thirsty."  I was so relieved and mumbled for her to get some water from our water bottle on our sink.  She did and then walked back to my bedside waiting on my to walk her back upstairs.  I quickly asked if she wanted to sleep in our floor-I figured pulling out an armload of blankets from under our bed and sleeping without a pillow for the rest of the night would be worth not having to walk up and down the stairs tucking her back in.  Of course sleeping in our room was exactly what she wanted to do and when everyone woke up, she happily told them where she had slept.
  • Kind of a normal Monday morning around here.  We woke up and had our breakfast and then started on school-well, spring break school.  Spring break school consists of reading, reading to someone else, reading some more and a few other little things-Campbell and Keaton had to find some things that matched the shapes outlined on the floor with masking tape.  They had fun and by noon, we had finished school, made our own Jackson Pollock paintings, cleaned the house and everyone even had some kindle time.  
  • After lunch, we all headed outside for the rest of the day.  It has been a while since we have spent all afternoon outside and I have forgotten how filthy the kids can get-mud caked, blood, bug guts-yep, they were just nasty.  We probably should have hosed them off outside.  The kids rode bikes, played basketball, played soccer, caught ladybugs, played waterguns, played nerf guns, dug in the dirt, rode scooters and even did just a tiny bit of work.  
  • Today all of the leaves from the tree house area and from right behind the house were raked and hauled down to the bottom.  We had let the backyard get pretty messy this winter-as in not even picking up the chairs that had fallen over.  Now everything looks really good and we just need about 17 more days like today to finish up (not that many really-just probably 3 or 4 to do the entire yard)
  • All of this playing took a toll on Whitman and Keaton.  They are completely covered in excema.  It didn't seem to bother Keaton but Whitman was scratching at his arm and fussing.  I gave him some zyrtec and rubbed some pretty strong medicine all over both of them so hopefully it will all be gone in the morning.
  • After everyone was spic and span, Robby made taquitos for supper and we were shocked to realize that it was almost 7.  We ate and then let the kids even had some ice cream since they were pretty good help to us today.  And then one quick alligator movie before bedtime-my Keaton and Campbell were almost asleep before made it to the top of the stairs.

March 22, 2015

Did you wake me up to take my picture?
(click here for today's pictures)
  • Church morning and I was a bit relieved to hear the rain hitting the window this morning-that meant 2 things: no yard work this afternoon and a rainy afternoon nap.  We had big plans last night of yard work this afternoon but then the weather had other plans.  Hopefully, we can still get some more leaves done this week.
  • The excitement this morning during breakfast was the new kind of doughnuts I had bought-there were the traditional powdered along with the chocolate covered but I also grabbed a bag of "crunch" doughnuts.  I tried one as Robby passed it out and surprisingly the crunch was made out of coconut.  We kept that on the down-low so maybe no one would notice and I guess they didn't really since Reagan decided that she liked those best.
  • Our Sunday school class was down from our usual 15ish to 7 this morning and that was a pretty perfect number.  We usually end with some hangman and Robby arrived with the rest of our kids during our final hangman rounds-of course, Anderson on down all have guesses and the 3rd graders always get so upset if Anderson or Graham solve the puzzle before they do.
  • Lunch was at Nonna's house today and they had hamburgers and all of the fixings.  We even had some time for the kids to play before coming home.  Graham immediately started building a tent like the one he slept in the other night, the little girls did some drawing but mostly played baby dolls, I think that Anderson watched some tv and I really don't know what Reagan did!  I do know that Whitman just jumped from one place to another getting into trouble at every turn.
  • Back at home, Robby and I tried to nap but the kids were so needy this afternoon-spilling milk, asking for a snack, and on and on the list went.  It would have been comical if it was happening to someone else!  Our nap was pretty light since we had about a zillion interruptions.  
  • We went to the Wilsons this evening for a bit of trip planning.  I whipped up some brownies and Robby picked up some pizza.  The kids were so excited about getting to go over there and play-or maybe they were excited that we didn't have to clean the toy room.  Reagan, Layne, Campbell and Keaton mostly played American Girl dolls and the boys played on the xbox (or whatever).  Everyone was really good and we even managed to stay until almost 10.  
  • On the way home, Anderson said "my throat hurts and it did the last time that I went to Brets."  By the time we made it home (less than a mile) my boy was wheezing away-it took us a bit to realize it but they have a cat.  We showered Anderson and doped him up and he was fine.  After his shower, he said "so I can't go back there?" and I assured him that next time we will just have to do his medicine before we go.  Then when we went to bed he asked "wish they had a shot you could take for allergies."  I added that they do but you have to take it each week for a year or two!
  • Everyone was great coming in and getting on their pjs.  We were back downstairs unpacking our bag when we saw the camera and realized that we hadn't taken pictures of the kids so back up we went. I was shocked that Keaton and Campbell were already sound asleep-how do you fall asleep in 9 minutes? 

March 21, 2015

I've got the remote!!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • Graham was the first one to wake up but he was at Nonna and Pops' house so it is fine that he woke up at 5:32.  He is my kiddo that can remember every single thing.  My people didn't wake up nearly that early-well, if they did, I didn't know about it.  On Saturday, the kids can wake up and start playing their kindles and they probably wouldn't come into our room at all if they could make their own breakfast.
  • Graham was the one eating at my favorite doughnut show-Shipleys.  But the rest of us were enjoying biscuits and sausage.  Our biscuits today were cooked perfectly which made them so good that we were inspired to get out and start working on our leaves....
  • Actually, Robby mentioned that we needed to get them picked up before Easter and then we suddenly realized that Easter is just two weekends away.  So out we went-the first order of business was to pick up the sticks in the front area of our house.  We had the kids work and in hindsight we should have each of them made their own pile of sticks-that way we could have seen who was really working and who was not.  They must have done something though because we had 2 big piles of sticks and the front yard sticks were pretty well picked up.
  • Next on the list was tearing down some of the fence at the bottom-this way we could just take those leaves down there on the other side of the fence and forget about them.  Robby didn't have anything to cut the fence with so he did some work getting the vines away from the fence and then joined me back up in the front yard raking the leaves.  When they were all raked-we have about 28 piles of leaves.  Some piles were wet, some were dry, some were little, some were huge!  
  • Of course all of these leaf piles were just too inviting for Whitman.  He would dive into one, lay in it and grin at me and then get up and repeat the entire process.  It would have been adorable and I would have loved to have taken his picture but I was too busy raking away (and his runny nose wouldn't have made that great of a picture anyway!)  Anderson spent his time playing basketball, Campbell and Keaton did anything and everything that could to avoid us thus avoiding any work and Reagan did the most work out of our kid crew.
  • At lunch, Robby ran to Grandpa's house to get some fence cutters and Keaton went with him. As Robby was driving out of the garage, he asked if Whitman wanted to come and I figured that he certainly did.  He so loves being outside but he just walked wherever he wants to go. At one point today, he followed the others as they rode their bikes down the street-I was watching him and then chasing him.  Just as I was watching him and then chasing him when Robby was at the bottom today working with his generator and chainsaw-that boy just wants to be anywhere that there is excitement and danger!
  • While they were gone, I made my crew lunch and we ate outside in lawnchairs.  They asked me to read a few stories to them so I obliged.  And before we were finished with the second, Robby and the crew came home.  I made them lunch and within minutes Pops was home with Graham.  He had had a big evening and big morning but he was ready to come home and see his momma-or something like that.
  • Once Robby was finished with the fence de-construction, we all started to work.  We have 3 tarps that we would fill, haul down to the bottom, dump and then haul back to the piles to repeat the process.  It took a good 2 hours to do this process and the last 45 minutes we were constantly bribing everyone with a snack and another drink.  We had almost finished when my timer started ringing signaling that Campbell and I needed to go in and get ready.
  • Campbell and I had showers and then we loaded up for JJs Superhero birthday party.  She wore a Batman shirt of Andersons along with superhero mask of Grahams.  And since I braided her hair she thought that she was something else.  And she really was the cutest thing ever.
  • The party was outside even though it was spitting rain-the kids didn't seem to care at all.  Campbell enjoyed the trampoline and I enjoyed the nuggets and lemonade from Chick Fil A. There were a few other big family moms to talk to-two moms were having their 4th kid and one just had her 5th.  I guess that made me the expert!  And since I am on the side of a Baptist Hospital truck, I guess I really am an expert! (Ha!)
  • After the party was over, Campbell and I ran to Walmart for a few things-I could have bought a zillion items off of my list but I just stuck to the basics-doughnuts for breakfast tomorrow, quinoa for supper Monday, ice cream for our leaf raking reward and 2 pairs of soccer shoes for in a few weeks-just the basics!  As we were leaving Walmart, Campbell noticed that it was sprinkling.  She looked at me and asked "do you want me to stay with the groceries while you go and get the car?"  Wonder if she really thought I would say yes-she probably did, since I had already let her push the shopping cart (something that never happens if you are at the store with a zillion brothers and sisters.)
  • Back at home, Robby had fed and bathed all of the other crew.  He said everyone was great about taking their showers or baths.  He ran in when we left so he could get his shower before they came in and soon he even had supper made for them.  When we arrived home they were all camped out in front of the tv watching March Madness.
  • Campbell had another bite of supper and then we all had some popcorn before Whitman went to bed.  When we he went to bed, Robby asked the others to put up their kindles-they did but Keaton did not.  I told her "Daddy said to turn off the kindles." She looked right back up at me and said "but I'm 3."  That was pretty smart but it didn't work.
  • Tonight as we went to bed, my Reagan caught Robby in a weak moment and asked to sleep in the toy room like Campbell did for a few hours last night (she was acting crazy up there so we put her to sleep in the toy room but Robby did move her back to her bed when we went to bed) Robby agreed and Reagan is sleeping in a room by herself tonight-she was beyond excited. Robby doesn't think she will make it in there all night long-after all, she has slept in the same room with someone since she was 3 years old.  

March 20, 2015

It was a Coke Float kind of night...
(click here for today's pictures)
  • The Dennie menu says that Fridays are mom's choice for breakfast but some days, but I didn't have anything planned so we went back to earlier in the week and had toast since we missed it earlier in the week since all of the bread was frozen.  Everyone seemed fine with that so after eating up, we started school.
  • School went well for most today-for some it didn't go so well.  Campbell, who isn't that used to school here, was told that she had to do her reading book, her phonics pages and 2 other pages.  I started telling her that last night but still this morning when she understood that I actually meant it, she was quite upset!  The child will go upstairs to throw her little fit and then will come back down a different child ready to comply with whatever asked.  I am getting more and more concerned about her being here next year-she will do fine but I will probably have to start her school a bit early so she can get my full attention for a few days.
  • We did manage to finish our little school early enough to work together before lunch.  I did cave and let the kids all have a piece of candy while we did our reading.  Whitman quickly ate his and then went from kid to kid trying to have another bite or two-his favorite was anyone who would let him have a lick of their lollipop (that might be why he went into the kitchen tonight and found himself a lollipop, opened it and gladly brought it into the living room to enjoy-I did take it away and traded him for some MMs.)
  • After lunch, we all worked on cleaning the house-and just for grins, I had everyone stay in the same room so we could all work together.  It is amazing how some little people can work so hard and others can avoid work so well-I would love to raise a family of hard working little children but my current goal is to just have 1 out of 3 that work hard!  
  • We had a very late lunch and before too long, Nonna and Pops were here to pick Graham up for his night out. A few weeks ago when Anderson was with them, he spent 2 hours with them getting their taxes done.  And before Graham left, Anderson told his brother that he hoped he got to go to the tax place too-brotherly love.  I think Graham ended up getting to go to the car shop and having some popcorn and coke there so that was sure a win for him.
  • This afternoon, I did my treadmill time and the kids watched their movie.  For some reason this afternoon before I realized it, it was 4 and Whitman was still asleep and I didn't have anything else to do.  Amazing!  That time only lasted for a few minutes and soon Whitman was up and there was lots to do-things can change just like that around here-from calm to crazy in a matter of seconds.
  • Robby arrived home with HBs for supper and we devoured it before letting everyone play.  The drama tonight was Campbell becoming so upset when Whitman messed up her train track that she had been working on.  Campbell had been working hard but she doesn't get how to redirect Whitman and instead causes him to want to play with whatever she doesn't want for him to touch.  There were tears, flying trains and lots of drama but eventually every calmed down.
  • We watched our alligator show and had coke floats which has apparently has made the kids act crazy after we tucked them into bed.  Keaton was so cute, grinning at us as she slyly climbed the ladder trying to get into Graham's bed.  We let her sleep in that bed and Robby has now been upstairs 3 times and me once.  Keaton has been put back into her crib and Campbell has been moved to the toy room.  Gracious me!

March 19, 2015

(click here for today's pictures)
Having fun at Nonna and Pops!

  • I guess the late night out Tuesday night caught up with the kids this morning.  I had to go upstairs at almost 8 to wake everyone up.  Graham was coming out of their bedroom door as I was going in and he scared me to death!  I jumped and started laughing and of course all of this commotion woke up everyone else up-which was a good thing because Campbell did have to leave in just a few minutes after waking up.
  • I was able to quickly get Campbell and Keaton breakfast before they loaded up.  And just as they were about to close the doors of the car, I remembered Whitman and remembered how he would just love to go with his daddy (and how I would just love to do a little bit of school without him).  So I jerked that boy out of bed, threw some clothes on him and buckled him up before he was all the way awake!
  • They took Campbell to school and then ran to Rock Creek to pick up Reagan's sweater that we left yesterday.  As soon as we had made it to Beebee's place, she remembered it and asked if we could go back.  I assured her that we would get it another day and Robby was able to pick it up today-of course this was a win for Keaton and Whitman because they were able to play for a little bit. 
  • This was also a win for us back at the house because the kids were able to plug along on school and finish at a decent time.  Every so often, I have to go through the kids papers and weed out what the school papers that I keep, so I did that today before the little people came home plus I was able to work with Graham and Anderson.  I had just started to work with Reagan when everyone came home and Whitman was in a mood.  He just could not be appeased and eventually ended up in bed-he fussed for a bit but then he started his happy singing.  (I figured he had calmed down some but since Robby was already headed to pick Campbell back up from school, I just left him in bed until lunch.)
  • At lunch, we pulled Whitman out of bed and he was just fine until we set him down for lunch and again he started fussing.  Poor thing, he is so close to talking that he thinks he can communicate better than he can and I am sure that frustrates him to no end but screaming will never get your way so back to bed he went.  Keaton and Campbell were beside themselves worrying about if Whitman was going to get his lunch and drink.  After he did stop fussing, I brought him back to the kitchen and he ate happily as I read a book....
  • Until I finished 2 picture books and started reading out chapter book.  That is when he started fussing again-he wanted to see the pictures.  So with one hand I held the chapter book that I was reading and with the other hand, I held up the picture book and would stop occasionally to turn the pages.  This made Whitman very happy and of course that made me happy.
  • After lunch, everyone worked to pick this place up a bit and then they had some free time for a pretty long time.  I finally did put Whitman down for his real afternoon nap and he was happy to lay down (all that fussing makes a boy tired).  We did our science and are almost finished with it-I though we would never finish it this year and alas we have.
  • The kids watched a few movies this afternoon and Keaton and Campbell played church.  I even turned on a Bible story movie them to watch so they could pretend like it was their sermon.  I think they watched for a few minutes before leaving "church" early.  After I was ready, the kids packed their pajamas for their evening at Nonna's house and then we all loaded up.
  • Robby and I went to eat at Market Grill while the kid stayed with Nonna and Pops.  I had left them a St. Patrick's Day scavenger hunt and the supplies to make a paper rainbow.  Nonna even had green cookies so they had quite the St. Pattie's Day celebration and yes, I do know that St. Patrick's Day has passed but the kids enjoyed the activities and they enjoyed Pops' pizza so everyone had a good night.
  • Robby and I ate our meal and then walked around Whole Foods-they are selling real grass there for Easter baskets.  I can not imagine that people would buy real grass-it even smells like cow manure (I am the one that sniffed it!)  We just walked through the entire store thinking how crazy people are and speaking of crazy, 6 dollars for a gallon of milk is a bit crazy.  So we went to a store that is more like us-Sams.  And their milk is currently cheaper than Kroger so we loaded up.  
  • After that, we picked up the kids and headed home.  After our short Bible story, we put everyone in bed and then we went to unload our Sams shopping.  

March 18, 2015

You bet I love ice cream!
(click here for today's pictures)
  • I was quite surprised this morning when the kids started waking up on their own this morning.  I thought for sure that they would be cray sleepy from our late night last night but I was wrong. Since we had Bible study this morning, I was glad that they were awake.
  • Once everyone had on their clothes, I started passing out chores for everyone to do.  My Reagan is my rock on doing chores but I have noticed lately, that she seems to come around less when it is chore time and often is a bit slower in getting ready so she has less time to do those chores.  This works out well for her but not so well for everyone else-they aren't on to her yet but I am.  I do cut her some slack though because she does put away the laundry as one of her chores every single day and that is a pretty hard job.  Anyway, she emptied one trash can this morning and Graham did 7-a bit lopsided!
  • We had to leave a bit earlier than usual this morning (just 5 minutes) since we were stopping by to pick up Whitman but instead we left just 5 minutes late.  That ended up being fine because I made it to the beginning large group a few seconds after it started.   Whitman had a good time with Grannymom and Grandpa-who wouldn't when you get to eat cookies for breakfast?  He was happy to see everyone when I put him in the car and he didn't even seem to mind that after being back with us for about 5 minutes that we dropped him off at Bible study.
  • I was a bit stressed throughout Bible study wondering if the kids had done the right lessons (they changed the adults lessons for today and I was pretty sure they changed the kids too but wasn't sure).  Thankfully, we all had done the right lesson and no one was mad at me!  Actually, they were all pretty thrilled since we were getting to go to Rock Creek.
  • Rock Creek wasn't exactly the same since half the crew is in Hawaii and some had the stomach bug but we were able to round up Kennedy and Noah to play and today we were the only people there.  It was kind of odd since there have been so many folks there lately and today should have been a good day to come since it was rainy.
  • Back on the road after lunch, we went to see Beebee.   She was in a good mood today but oh, my Whitman combined with Campbell and Keaton are going to drive me crazy.  All Whitman wants to do at Beebee's place is get her candy out and eat which is fine for a bit but after he has eaten about 60 pieces of candy, I do have to cut him off and that is when he gets a perturbed with me!  Campbell and Keaton are just about as bad-they go over to the candy and try to sneak some in their pockets like I can't see what they are doing-after all, all 8 of us are in a room that is the size of my couch.  I can see everything that goes on in there and of course all of us make the room crazy noisy which means that I can't hear my grandma talk at all!...all of this combines to make me just a bit on the insane side when we leave.
  • This afternoon flew by with a bit of science, catching up on our Bible from this morning and a bit of out loud reading helped with the quick afternoon.  I did make Campbell and Keaton take a nap for a bit (Campbell never slept) since they dreadfully needed it.  Then before long it was time to load back up and head to church.  Keaton fussed for about 10 minutes before leaving because she did not want to go to her class-sweet Reagan talked and talked to her until she had calmed down but she still was a bit timid when going into her class (Reagan was much more patient than I would have even been-I was resigned to just taking her to class crying and let Ms. Sonia deal with her.)
  • Back at home, the kids had ice cream since we had missed our ice cream from Sunday night and then it was bedtime for all.  Whitman is in his bed just a singing away and hopefully all of my people upstairs are sleeping soundly!

March 17, 2015

A night out on the town...
(click here for today's pictures)
  • Well, last night was fairly uneventful-I didn't dream about becoming a deaconess nor did I wake up to the sounds of the kids cleaning.  Campbell was the first one in our room this morning and she started putting on her school clothes trying to surprise us.  Today was picture day for Campbell and her class and I sure hope her hair looked somewhat decent during her pictures (even though I probably won't buy any!)
  • We were all up early enough to have some green milk for breakfast-Campbell and Keaton decided that they didn't like green milk but Anderson was really in the green spirit so he even had some green yogurt.  We are festive like that-though we probably should have read a book about St. Patrick-there is always next year!
  • Campbell left for school and the rest of us started on school here.  They worked pretty hard today but my Whitman, oh my Whitman.  He has started wanting to watch a movie all of the time-he gets upset if the tv in my bedroom isn't on or if he sees the others working on the computer, then he wants to watch a movie on the computer or if he can find the kindles then that is his movie method of choice.  I think that he has gotten a bit addicted to movies even though he attention span is about 3 minutes long.  
  • And if he wasn't fussing about a movie today, he was upset that he only had one piece of candy when we were all working together.  After he ate his candy, he walked to all of his brothers and sisters trying to get pieces from them.  When they had all finished or refused to give him more, he left the room and came back with a box of granola bars.  I did cave and let him have one so we could continue reciting the presidents but then he wanted another one.  Oh my goodness, I am going to have to start giving him school work to do.
  • We had our lunch and then the kids helped me straighten some.  Then they watched their movies a tiny bit early while Whitman had a power nap and I did the treadmill.  As soon as I was done, I ran to the shower and started calling for them to put on their shoes and we were out the door.
  • The plan had been for us to go to soccer tryouts on Thursday but the weather is iffy then so we crammed it in to today.  We dropped off Keaton and Whitman at Nonna's house and picked up Campbell.  Then it was the Raymar we went.  We were one of the first ones there so the lines weren't bad at all.  The kids did fine and it is nice that the big people are old enough to say "go do it" and they do.  Campbell did hang by me but she did what was asked and is pretty excited about soccer this year.  I think I am too-maybe. When we had finished, I let the kids run to the pond and back a few times before loading them up in the car.
  • Back to Nonna's house we went and started showering.  Whitman got in first with Keaton and he stayed in the shower with Campbell, then with Anderson, then with Reagan and then with Graham.  Whitman was one wrinkly little guy when he got out.  I am surprised that Nonna's hot water lasted that long because my kids loved playing in her shower-Campbell and Keaton could have stayed in the shower forever and had created a swimming pool in the shower.
  • Robby asked if we could leave a bit earlier so that put things in high gear and we did leave a few minutes earlier than planned.  We then dropped Whitman off at Grannymom's house since he was spending the night over there and then we fought the traffic (wasting our precious minutes that we had saved earlier) and picked up Robby.
  • We ran by McDonalds and had supper in the car while waiting to go into the Rep.  It was open seating and surprisingly the line into the building was already out the door.  Those Acxiom people were serious about getting a good seat and as always, I just wanted for us to be able to sit together (or at least close)  We were actually really lucky to get seats together and up close. 
  • The show was Mary Poppins and the kids loved it.  Reagan, Anderson and Graham were probably the most into it.  When Mary started flying, I asked Graham how she was doing that and he would try to show me and explain it to me each and every time she flew.  And Campbell kept saying that it was "magical" as Mary Poppins pulled these huge objects out of her bag.  Keaton lasted the first act and then she was out like a light for the second act-she didn't even stir during my favorite part-the chimney sweeps.  I have only seen the movie once and I really liked the play much better.  It was lots of fun!
  • It was nearly 10, when we made it back to the car.  Of course after a fun night, we needed to end it with a Wendy's frosty.  Then back to Robby's work to pick up my car and then home.  The kids were quickly in bed and I am pretty sure that there will be some tired little Dennies in the morning.