- Robby was already showered and folding the laundry when I climbed out of bed. I started waking up the kids-at least the first go around. Soon we were all ready and headed to church.
- Since Keaton's friend was with us, it made me feel like people were watching us drive up and park. I told Robby that people were probably saying "look, the children's home is here this Sunday." I do love my van full of kids though.
- We did the church thing-Keaton and Whitman are the only ones who sit near us now, but all the others are pretty close. After church we headed to Nonna and Pops' house-they had pork tenderloin which is the kids favorite.
- Keaton's friend left this afternoon, and soon after that Robby and I left with Campbell and Keaton. First we dropped Keaton off at her life group, and then we had a few minutes to kill so Robby and I both ordered our free sandwiches from Arbys and ran into Walmart.
- Next we dropped off Campbell at her life group and then drove around a neighborhood to kill time before we picked up Keaton. Then we came home for a little bit before I left again to pick Campbell up at 8.
- It's been a pretty relaxing day around here-and only 4 days of school left for my crew plus 5 days of soccer over the next 7 days so it should be a fairly busy week!
April 28, 2024
April 27, 2024
- Soccer mornings start early around here. I made sure that Keaton and Anderson were awake by 6:30, and we were on the road to Raymar by 6:50. While Anderson and the others worked setting everything up, I sat in the car and read my book.
- I eventually did get out of the car and helped get the concession stand stuff out. Soon Robby, Graham, and Reagan arrived. Reagan went back to sleep after Robby made sure that she was awake, but Robby was impressed with how quickly she did get ready and made it to the car.
- The kids all reffed and did concessions today. Anderson clocked over 8 hours of work with everyone else working a minimum of 3 hours doing things-well, except for Campbell.
- She spent the night with a friend. Then they met up with all their other people to go to North Little Rock for Heart Walk with the American Heart Association. After their walk, they even ended up at Urban Air and Larry for a late lunch. She had a blast-much more fun that she would have had reffing soccer.
- Keaton is our only soccer player-and her poor team only had one sub today. They were exhausted, but thankfully the score was 3-1 in their favor. I chatted during most of the game while Whitman played with a baby in a stroller. Reagan reffed, and Anderson and Graham sat in the front row of the crowd giving instructions to Keaton.
- There was a rain daily early in the day which was quite interesting. Because of the lightening, all of crowd had to move to the pavilion or their cars-it got a little bit crazy, but it was still a lot of fun.
- Now we are all back home, plus Keaton has a friend to spend the night as well. Robby and I ran to Costco to pick up a pizza, but we weren't watching the time so it was closed, but we did manage to get gas, groceries, and finally pizza from our plan b.
- We have now eaten-though we did have to wake up Reagan and Graham to eat. Robby and I are sitting in the couch vegging out on tv.
April 26, 2024
- Campbell is not home tonight, and she had to text to remind me to write the blog. I guess I had completely forgotten all about it! I was just having a big evening-took a nap, ate some ice cream, read some of my book-and since I didn't have my computer anywhere near me, I never thought about it once.
- The day was busy-this is Friday so I should have felt like I had extra time, but instead I stayed busy all day. Most of that was my own doing since I did make cinnamon crunch bagels along with chocolate chip scones today. Campbell helped me make the scones, and both recipes were pretty delicious.
- Robby and I went to Costco today-he bought a battery for the white van. For months it has been difficult to start, but we didn't think it was the battery. He thought it was a connection or something-I would have to use my weight to turn the key all the way. However, the new battery solved all of that so that will be super nice.
- We also walked around the store some, and it was pretty busy. When we came home, I had time to walk Bentley before Campbell drove me to Nonna's house. We dropped off some scones and dropped off Pop's sock of the month-they were soccer socks this month.
- Then Campbell went to spend the night at a friend's house. On the way home, I drove super slow so I could listen to my book. Next Robby and I went to eat supper at On the Border-we couldn't get any of the kids to go with us nor did anyone suggest any food for us to pick up. They made it find though-Reagan made dumplings, Keaton and Whitman made a pizza, Anderson had a hamburger, and Graham and also Reagan had some of our leftovers for supper.
- We made it home right in the middle of the rain. Now we are going to bed wondering if we will have soccer tomorrow-Reagan and Graham are hoping no while Anderson and Keaton are hope yes. Campbell will be with her friends, so she doesn't care either way!
April 25, 2024
- For some reason I felt like I was running around like crazy today. This morning started off normally-though we did have to take a break during our morning reading to watch the hail. Campbell even ran on the patio and scooped some up for Keaton and Whitman.
- The hail bouncing off the window did wake up Graham, but not really Anderson. Whitman did convince me to let him take breaks again during his school work-so for every two things that he finishes, he earns 5 minutes on his ipad for a break. He banks this time though and waits and takes his break when he has earned a 20 minutes break.
- And speaking of Whitman, last night on the way home from church, Graham thought that he was falling asleep. When he walked in the house, Robby immediately asked him if he was sick. Later in the evening, I touched all over him and he did fell hot-but he was covered in a blanket too so I wasn't too sure. He was adamant though that he did not want any medicine, so I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to find when I woke him up. Thankfully, he is just stuffy and not feverish or feeling bad.
- At noon, Graham and I left to go and take his math accuplacer test. This was his second try-this test allows him to take college algebra next year even though his act test score isn't that high. When he walked out of the door today, I could tell that he didn't pass-but when I saw his score, I knew that he did. He just needed a 249, but thought it was a 251 that he needed like he needed on the other test. He cut it close by earning a 249, but it works!
- On the way home, we picked up a Sonic drink for him, and then I picked up pictures for Reagan's graduation table at the church dinner. After I came home from this outing is when I got busy.
- I was able to sign the big boys up for their concurrent classes in the fall-I had to sign them both up twice since they are each taking one through comm central and one not through comm central. Then I finished my concession stand schedule for the week even though it looks like it is going to rain. And finally, I had to have Reagan and Graham read something for a curriculum.
- Anderson left for Raymar to paint the fields and run his practice night while Campbell, Keaton, and I played a game. It was supposed to be a game that took an hour or so, but I guess we were really just fast because it didn't take that long at all.
- Tonight Robby cleaned out the fridge and freezer since it was starting to leak on the floor. We can tell you what kind of fridge not to buy if you are in the market. But this will help it foe a few weeks, but meanwhile it made the fridge look incredibly nice and empty (which we will hear a lot about it being empty since all of the kids will say "wow, we don't have anything to eat.")
- I'm not cuddled up on the couch trying to decide if I want hot chocolate or if I want to get up at all!
April 24, 2024
- Bentley was not very settled last night-at all. I took her out at 1 and then 2, and I didn't really get to sleep then until a bit later. She roamed around our room and the house most of the night until Robby took her out again two more times before our alarms went off. I do feel a bit sorry for her since her tummy isn't quite right, but I could do with one less dog.
- The kids were fairly easy to wake up especially since I gave them a few more minutes to sleep in. We did our morning reading, and Graham went ahead and woke up. Anderson was not too far behind him, so everyone was up and working (except for Reagan).
- Graham and Reagan left for work early, and I took Bentley for a short walk. For some reason I was just tired today so we didn't go very far at all, but she was still ready to come home.
- This afternoon Whitman and I worked together, and then I sat down and read for a little bit. I actually had two more things on my list today, but I just couldn't motivate myself to accomplish anything else.
- When Reagan came home from church, she was there for a bit before leaving again to lead her dgroup. Campbell and Keaton went with her, so it was just the boys and me on the way to church. Afterwards, some folks went to ChickFilA while the rest of us came home.
- I made myself some rice to eat since I was starving for something warm to eat. Now Robby and I are watching a cooking show.
April 23, 2024
- This morning when I came into the living room, Whitman was on the couch as he often is. However, this morning he was sound asleep. He is never asleep on the couch so I wasn't sure exactly what had happened I looked to see that he was wearing all the same clothes as last night so that was a good thing. It took me a long time to wake him up, but really it still took longer to wake up Anderson.
- We did our morning reading, and then Keaton moved on to do her work. She has started doing her school work on the patio. Whitman has moved to the floor of the school room while Graham is really the only other one working mostly in the school room. Anderson does some work in there, but he often does quite a bit in the living room now. Campbell makes her spot on the couch usually with Bentley.
- I'm not really sure when I headed out with Bentley for our walk, but I think that it was earlier than usual. Then I came home and read some before doing spelling with Whitman-this continues to be his favorite time of the day (not at all), and it is also my most frustrating time of the day. Some days he can spell a word right and then the next day he can not!
- Reagan left first for her work. Then a bit later, I left with Anderson, Graham, Campbell, and Keaton. Anderson needed shoes so we bought him some, and Campbell helped find me a pair for mother's day.
- Graham had to be at Raymar first to help take pictures. The rest of us didn't need to be there until 6:30. Keaton had her make up game tonight which Anderson reffed and Campbell reffed the field next to ours. Keaton's game was good-they did win, and Keaton scored a great goal.
- Robby picked up pizza on the way home, so we all ate and finished Reagan's graduation announcements. Now Keaton is watching Amazing Race with us before bedtime.
April 22, 2024
- My plan has been for this to be the next to last day of school, but when I looked at our leftover history today, I realized that I was just one lesson behind for that to happen. So what did I do today? I read both history lessons today-and calling them "history lessons" isn't really adequate-those things are history chapters, and I read two today. I was pretty pleased with myself.
- We did school work this morning, and I tried to sneak in as many things off of my to do list as possible as well. Plus the some of the kids work is a bit different today since there are somethings that I am wanting them to finish so we are hitting those pretty hard, and both of the big boys are already starting something that I wanted them to do next year.
- I think that everyone was finished with school by 11:30, and I had plans on taking Bentley on a walk then. Somehow it was much later than that when I finally left for our walk. After about a mile, Bentley decided that she was done, and I had to pull her a good bit to change her mind about the rest of the walk.
- Reagan and Graham went to work at one, and Anderson left for work around 4:30 with Campbell and Keaton. All three of them had soccer games to ref tonight so that gave them something fun to do this evening.
- Anderson picked up our supper on the way home-we all had free sandwiches from ChickFilA. Anderson made Campbell walk into the store to claim our 7 orders. We were all waiting for them to arrive home. Robby gave Whitman his sandwich, but since it was a spicy sandwich Whitman was not too big of a fan. He ate it, but he said that he didn't want one of those again. Actually, I don't think that I do either-that was still a little spicy for me as well.
- We did get Reagan's senior pictures today so that was fun. It is getting real around here that we have a senior!
April 21, 2024-Adult's Only Camping Trip
There wasn't much camping for me today. I was up and headed to church before 8:30 this morning. Robby was around a little longer while he packed up all the stuff and even managed to have some breakfast before heading home.
He brought the camper home, emptied the food and started the laundry before meeting the rest of us at Grannymom's house. The kids had woken up here, and I parked just as they pulled into a parking spot this morning. They all sat in their spots with only Keaton and Whitman sitting with me. Robby was gone this week, and I was gone last week (worship care)-we better make it to church together next week or people will start to talk,
Whitman went with the 4th and 5th graders to his life group today. They went to a nursing home and worked with the people there to paint a pot and make a flower. Two different people came up to me to tell me how well he did. They said that he found some man, and they just sat painting their pot and talking the whole time. It made my momma heart pretty proud.
All of us except for Whitman then went to Grannymom and Grandpa's house for lunch. We couldn't stay too long today because Keaton, Campbell, and I had a baby shower to go to. We picked up one of Keaton's friends on the way.
The shower was cute-they had pickles as part of the food since I guess pregnant women usually like pickles. (I never did, but that's just what I hear.) At first I didn't think I was going to stay long nor find anyone to visit with, but soon I realized that I had been standing around chatting for 2 hours.
Reagan and Robby filled up the cars with gas on their way home before Robby had to make the rounds to pick up Whitman and drop some others off. Soon Reagan, Anderson, and Graham all headed back to church to join the girls and the other youth for Collide Night this evening.
When I came home, I worked on the camper some while Robby worked in the yard. I eventually moved to trying to straighten the house and fold the hugest loads of laundry I have ever seen!
When it was over, Reagan went to play pickleball, and the rest of us went to the Wilson's house to eat leftovers for our Sunday night supper. We didn't stay incredibly long because I was having trouble staying awake-I think I might be becoming an insomniac because I am so tired I won't even be able to read tonight.
April 20, 2024-Adult's Only Camping Trip
We all woke up around 6 this morning, and most of the kids were awake when I went to check. I was kind of quiet in the boys' room because the plan was for Whitman to sleep as long as he could this morning. He had set his alarm to wake up before Nonna came to take him to Keaton's soccer game later in the morning.
Soon, Campbell, Keaton, and Anderson left for soccer. The weather was pretty overcast, so we knew that they might not play the whole day, but they arrived and went to work getting things ready. Reagan, Graham, Robby, and I left about 10 minutes later.
Our first stop was at Raymar so I could help them get the coffee and hot chocolate ready. Graham also jumped out of our car and joined the other. Then Robby and I joined the others to head to Ouachita for early registration for Reagan.
Campbell, Keaton, and Graham worked the concessions stand during the first game. Then they played quickly through the second game with Graham, Keaton, and Campbell reffing a game. Apparently, one grown up man didn't like some of Campbell's calls along with the calls from the other teenage girl ref and let them know it. Two take aways from that: nothing tells more about a man's character than how he acts on a field or court...and nothing makes a dad madder than someone being ugly to his daughter.
By the end of the second game at Raymar it was starting to rain, so they cancelled all of the games. The kids quickly helped pick up and headed home. Nonna had asked about picking up Whitman still, but I told her to not worry about it.
I had actually been texting Whitman while we were in Arkadelphia. He wasn't answering my texts, so Robby checked the cameras and could tell that he must still be asleep. Whitman had set his alarm wrong and was a bit panicked when he did wake up thinking he had missed Nonna. Eventually, he saw my texts explaining soccer being cancelled.
A bit later, he text me to say that he was going to take Bentley to potty. I told him that if she wasn't whining then it was fine. However, seconds later he text me a few pictures of where she had been sick. Poor thing-her tummy must have been so upset! I tried to text him through cleaning things up, but I knew the others were almost home.
They soon arrived, and bless those children's hearts-they went right to work. Anderson and Campbell worked forever on the carpet, Keaton lit candles and help Campbell give Bentley a bath. They all took turns taking her out to make sure that she was done. It was a mess, but they had it all cleaned when I came home.
Reagan, Robby, and I started out in a large group, and then the kids went off to make their schedules. I think that she really enjoyed the day and is getting super excited about the upcoming school year. She made her schedule, and it looks like it is a really good schedule.
Then right as it was over for us, we were able to meet Reagan's roommate. She seemed super nice, and I think that they are really going to work out well with each other. They took pictures of a few dorm rooms and made some plans.
We ate in the cafeteria, and then headed home. At home, I made sure everything was clean from Bentley's incident. Then we ran to Sams for me to pick up some desserts for tonight. It was chilly outside so I was not in a huge hurry to come back to the campsite.
Supper tonight was tacos so of course it was pretty delicious. Right now I am stuffed, but that is probably form all of the desserts that I have eaten today! It was cold tonight, and I really should invest in some super warm clothes to take camping!
April 19, 2024-Adult's Only Camping Trip
When we went to bed last night, the storm was not far behind. The rain was super hard, and of course it sounded even louder in the camper. Campbell said that it rained here, but not crazy bad. Robby and I listened to the storm until we finally went to sleep.
It was a restful sleep, but of course I had to go to the bathroom three different times in the middle of the night-maybe I should stop drinking so much water. We woke up and eventually headed out to breakfast-Robby made pancakes, egg in the hole, and sausage. I forgot to pack chocolate chips for the pancakes-and I decided that I do like pancakes with out chocolate chips.
The day kind of went by quickly at the campsite. Robby and I walked Bentley three miles with Annie and some other campers. We also gridled up some poundcake and blueberries for our afternoon snack.
I don't think that a whole lot happened at the house today. Keaton made chocolate chip cookie bars. Reagan went to work. Graham's ear has been bothering him so he skipped out on work today. Campbell and Keaton spent some time on the trampoline and even did some drawing today.
All of the Rock Creek campers gathered tonight for supper-hamburgers and hot dogs. Then we sat around visiting and watching the Hogs play baseball. When the game was over, we finally put things away and headed home.
But other than that, it was a fairly slow and relaxing day for all of us. It is now after 11-Robby and I came home to sleep tonight since we all have to leave so early in the morning.
April 18, 2024-Adult's Only Camping Trip
Robby started our camping trip last night in Maumelle so he woke up there while the rest of us woke at home. I could hear that someone was up fairly early this morning. I thought that it was Whitman, but I couldn't figure out why he would be in the school room so early.
When I did get out of bed, I was surprised to see that it was Anderson awake early. He was already sitting in the living room eating his breakfast and working on his school. No one else was awake, and it took me a while to wake up Whitman and the girls.
Soon we were finishing school for the day, and much to Whitman's disappointment, we even did spelling before lunch. I also took Keaton and Campbell to buy some candy for a birthday party that Keaton has to go to Saturday.
When we were there, Keaton picked her out some candy and Campbell did the same so we left with quite a bag of candy. Campbell decided that she wanted to drive home so she did that-she is steadily improving, but it is just always a little hard to ride as your baby drives a car.
I soon headed out to Maumelle-and it wasn't long after that that Anderson went to Raymar to paint the fields and get ready for practice tonight. Reagan and Graham also went to Raymar to take pictures tonight so three Dennie kids were earning a pay check this evening which is great.
Last night going to practice, Anderson hydroplaned when he was stopping. It was not a big deal, but big enough for him to come home and tell me. Tonight, Reagan was pulled over for not stopping at a stop sign on the way home (the one at the curve where we kind of check for cars and then just go). Thankfully, she just got a warning, but hopefully both of them learned a lesson over the last few days. However, my heard finds all of this hard to take-again, my babies are driving.
Robby cooked pork chops tonight on the blackstone as well as Hawaiian bread. I did make the mashed potatoes-just from a bag though! We intended to have blueberries and pound cake for dessert, but we didn't get the pound cake out of the freezer so we will just do that tomorrow for lunch.
We sat around and visited this evening and even walked Bentley fairly late tonight. It is almost midnight, and I am just about to take a shower and settle in to read a little bit.
April 17, 2024
- This Wednesday seemed to fly by. I slept in a little this morning, but I was still able to rally the troops and start on school before 8:40 so I definitely call that a win. I think that we just have about 8 days of history left so that makes my heart super happy.
- Everyone finished their work at a pretty decent time even Whitman who now does 2 and a half things from his list before taking a 5 minute break. Some how this works for him, and he manages to finish his school work before 12 or even before 11:30 on some days so I can really not say anything.
- I spent a good deal of time reading this afternoon, plus I tried to do a few things to get ready for next year. I wish that I could be as motivated about house cleaning as I am about planning for school things. I received one book in the mail today, and it just made me so happy. I'm just a book lover and not a mop or duster lover, but maybe someday.
- Soon Robby went to Maumelle Park with the camper and the dog. I'm heading out there tomorrow-it is always the case, but when you are busy, you are just super busy. This weekend we have a jillion and one things happening-even overlapping-so tomorrow, I have to make a schedule for everyone.
- Reagan and Graham came home from work and were only home a bit before Reagan and the girls left again. They went to church early for Reagan's d-group, and my car came next. After church, Anderson and Campbell went to ChickFilA-while they were there, Keaton had Campbell buy her a kid's meal-and bless it if some girl didn't think the bag was trash and put her ice cream in it. Campbell was able to salvage the nuggets and a few fries, but poor Campbell was bothered by this and Keaton was disappointed.
April 16, 2024
- This day has just been a little bit uncertain-the silly rain just made things a bit crazy around here. Graham was supposed to go to Raymar this afternoon to help again with pictures during practice. However, pictures were cancelled because of the threat of weather, but for most of the afternoon pictures were still going to happen.
- Reagan was also going to work pictures, but first she had to go to her other job for an hour. Since by this time pictures were cancelled, she even stayed a little bit longer there. Reagan had plans to meet quite a few friends to play pickleball tonight, and she is there now, but the weather made those plans pretty uncertain-and they are probably pretty wet playing this evening.
- Anderson had to work practice tonight, so even though it was raining here, he headed to the field before it was officially cancelled. He did stay there until practice was supposed to start to tell people that it was cancelled, but once people drove up and saw an empty field, they realized it pretty quickly.
- Keaton would have had her practice tonight, but since it was cancelled she was disappointed. Campbell was also going to go to practice tonight so her plans were changed as well. That was fine though because I used both of them to help with supper tonight-we just had chicken and beef tacos along with cheese dip and black beans for our supper.
- Everyone ate, and then Reagan left for her outing. The rest of us settled into our spots for the evening. I don't think that tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, but hopefully rain on Thursday or Saturday does not cancel any soccer.
- Robby ran some errands today so I filled up the camper fridge, and I was able to do a little bit of summer school planning. Oooh, I also received a book in the mail that was exactly what I wanted and it was less than 10 dollars. I was thrilled with my bargain.
- Now, I think I am going to eat myself some ice cream tonight or maybe some hot chocolate-it is still kind of hot chocolate weather maybe.
April 15, 2024
- Our school day was pretty much like most today, except we had people come and give our air conditioners a tune up. I didn't think that this would take long, so three hours later when men were still outside the window or walking around the house, it became a bit odd.
- If they actually did any good giving those air conditioners a tune up, then they should last for a few more years-though now I just jinxed us for sure. I eventually had to fuss at Whitman as he played farting noises on his ipad while the worker man was on the other side of a door.
- School was finished on time around here, and then I did a little bit of work on my computer. Not real work, but at least I was trying to be productive. I eventually started to take a walk, but then I was afraid that the worker men would need to talk to Robby and since he was on the phone, I stayed around the house for a few more minutes-poor Bentley was so confused.
- Reagan and Graham went work this afternoon, and then they ended up at Raymar to take team pictures. That was good for them since they earned a few extra hours. While they were gone, we took Anderson to get his hair cut.
- Then we went to eat-Robby and I split chicken fried chicken along with baked potatoes, but the rolls! If I could just make Texas Roadhouse Rolls we would never have go out again-actually, I think that there would no reason to leave the house ever again.
- Everyone is back home now, and quite a few of us are on the couch watching a tv show. Campbell and Whitman are having their ice cream, but I am still pretty full from supper.
April 14, 2024
- Campbell and I had worship care this morning so we missed big church. Then it was Sunday school time. Our children's department had pancakes so that was fun-plus it kept us busy passing out pancakes and all of the toppings for everyone.
- Then we headed to lunch at Nonna and Pops' house. They had bbq along with pink pineapple-which none of us had ever tried before. We ate and visited some before heading home.
- Robby watched some of the Masters this afternoon, but I just napped. Then it was time for everyone but Whitman to leave the house. I am so looking forward to next year when he has things to do on Sunday nights.
- Graham and Anderson left first for Rock Creek, then Robby and I left with Campbell and Keaton for their life groups-20 minutes away from each other-and finally Reagan left to go to her life group. After Robby and I dropped off the girls, we ran to Arbys to pick up a free sandwich.
- Then we went to Old Navy to buy some polo shirts for the boys since they were on sale today. I bought both of the big boys two different shirts-and dang it, if I didn't buy each of them a repeat shirt. Oh well, I will exchange them hopefully for another color that they might wear. At least I did good with Whitman's shirt that I bought.
- We then picked up Keaton before meeting Campbell since she rode home with someone else-otherwise, Keaton would have been picked up super late so that helped a ton. The boys made it home before we did.
- After dropping off the girls and all of our purchases, we went to the Wilson's house for a few minutes to visit. We stayed there until 10, and now Reagan is on her way home, and I'm going to herd all of these people to bed.
April 13, 2024
- When everyone went to bed last night, I told everyone to set their alarms. Anderson wasn't awake by 6:30 so I went to his room and unfortunately, was standing over him when he did wake up. Of course, he jumped when he saw me. I do think that helped wake him up though.
- We were out the door before 6:50 this morning. Anderson was the only one working this morning so he certainly used Keaton and Campbell's help. Anderson and Campbell rode around in the gator setting things up while Keaton carried box after box. I sat in the car and read, but after watching Keaton carrying about 20 boxes, I got out of the car to see if I could help do anything.
- By then, Anderson had most things done so I worked on setting up the concession stand. It was warmer today so we didn't sell as much coffee and hot chocolate which is the most difficult thing to do.
- Again it was a busy Saturday-I guess Anderson clocked over 9 hours today, Keaton and Graham both reffed 3 games, Keaton played her game which again ended in a tie, and Reagan and Campbell both reffed 1 game. When there game was over, the three of us ran home to shower before heading to Star City.
- Keaton opted to stay and play her game today, but Campbell and Reagan came with me to Josh and Kyndall's wedding shower. It was a sweet little shower which we all enjoyed-the girls may have enjoyed seeing Shelley's dog more than the shower though. On our way home, we stopped at the Country Village Bakery to pick up some goodies-Campbell wanted a doughnut and Reagan opted for a apple fritter, and I bought 3 cinnamon rolls for people later. That made everyone super happy on the way home.
- We made it home about the time that the Raymar people did. Tearing down took a bit longer since it was just Anderson and the rest of the family who helped. We were all able to unload, and then most people headed to the shower.
- Robby and I heated up our leftovers for supper with plans to have our cinnamon roll in a little bit.
April 12, 2024
- Last night, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I sat up and checked to see where the dog was. Sometimes she lays in the floor or right on the steps to the bathroom so I am always cautious about her location so she doesn't kill me in the middle of the night. I walked to the bathroom and Robby came around the corner out of the door. He was trying not to scare me, but I just about died of fright. I guess that I neglected to see where he was-maybe tonight I will have to check on his location and the dogs before I get out of the bed.
- After waking up this morning, I went right to work on my morning chores. I did a few of those before waking up Keaton and Whitman. They were pretty easy to wake up since they were going to pick strawberries this morning. Last night, as Whitman was going to bed, he asked when he was leaving "to go pluck strawberries."
- I woke Campbell up as well to see if she wanted to drive us there, but she declined. She actually acted like I was waking her up at the crack of dawn instead of 10 in the morning. I dropped off Keaton and Whitman at Nonna and Pops. Then I ran to Walgreens and the library.
- Anderson was downstairs when I came home. I came in the kitchen and unloaded all of the things in my hand. I was about to sit down with my book when I remembered that I had brought the dog with me. I'm sure Anderson thought that I was nuts when I ran out of the house to get Bentley.
- She could have possibly been made at me when I came out to get her. I opened the door and she just sat right where she was. She was in no hurry to leave the car so maybe she was enjoying it instead of pouting.
- Robby and I left soon to go and eat. We ate tons but we also brought home tons of food as well-half of a chicken pot pie, french fries, two buffalo chicken wraps, and half of a salad. Reagan went to town on some of the leftovers tonight. I plan on eating my chicken pot pie tomorrow, but I am still too stuffed for supper tonight-now, we did have some ice cream this evening, but that really doesn't count.
- Reagan and Graham went to work this afternoon. Robby did have to pick Graham up early because he had a birthday party to go to this evening. Anderson and he left around 5 and are still out and about. I know they are having a good time.
- The rest of us have had a pretty quiet evening. Robby and I are watching baseball, and I have done some reading, but I don't think that we have seen any of the kids since I made everyone's supper this evening.
April 11, 2024
- Wonderful, wonderful Thursday. People finished their school work at a decent time today-Whitman has started to do 2 and a half things, and then he will take a 5 minute break. Even with this, he still finished at a decent time.
- Whitman has also started doing all of his math sitting in the school room. Up until a few weeks ago, he would do his math sitting near me. When he did this, I could watch him work and check things as he went. Now, he brings me his math, and I have to check those two pages (like I do for everyone else.) He continues to do his math fairly oddly-writing as little as he can-only the answers even when I have to write out and work the problem to make sure that he is correct.
- I took Graham to take the Accuplacer math test today. This allows him to take college algebra as a concurrent class in the fall. He was so nervous on the way there-I thought it was because of the test but instead it was because he was worried about getting his hair cut afterwards.
- He was 3 points shy of the score that he needed. This made me super happy, but he was pretty discouraged. The test is only 10 dollars, and we can take it anytime we want so I am pretty sure that he will pass next time.
- The next stop was Walmart where I ran in and bought an assortment of items. Then we went and waited for Graham's haircut. I'm not sure why he does get nervous, but he was fine, and his haircut was fine too. I like to get my money's worth when you pay for a haircut, but when you have long shaggy hair, you really don't get a lot cut each time.
- We came home, and I did spelling with Whitman before taking Bentley on a walk. I had a bunch of small things to finish this afternoon so I rocked through them before sitting down to finish my book.
- Reagan did not have work today, but Anderson had to paint the fields and run practice tonight so he was gone most of the evening. I heated up sandwiches for everyone because I could get no burger takers.
- The Wilsons came over with cookies, and while we were visiting Campbell made brownies. Now Robby and I are watching the Masters reruns before we call it a night.
April 10, 2024
- Another school day and we are quickly ticking by on the number of school days left. I love school, but I also love the summer break (at first at least).
- We did all of our school work, and before I knew it everyone was finished. I was the only one left in my bedroom so I did my exercise video and then sat down and ate my lunch while reading. I'm not too sure why everyone finished their work early today, but it was a good for me.
- Graham and Reagan left for work at noon just as Robby returned with some drinks for some folks. I didn't do much this afternoon-I tried to be productive, but I ended up doing more reading than anything else.
- Before too long, it was time for Reagan, Campbell, and Keaton to go to church. I had to trim the back of Graham's hair before we left-he wanted me to trim it even though I assured him that we would get a hair cut this weekend.
- I then headed to church with the boys after our stop to the library. When church was over, the boys were outside playing basketball for a long while. We finally found them, and Anderson and Campbell headed to ChickFilA while we headed home.
- Robby had run some errands while we were gone, and he even had supper for us. We pretty much devoured everything that he had ready for us. Then Keaton went to work on her evening dessert while Robby and I are holding out for ice cream tonight!
April 9, 2024
- It was back to school today after our light day yesterday watching the eclipse. Things went pretty well and no tears were shed. Whitman never likes working with me in the afternoons for spelling, but I think that he is just teasing.
- Even though it was fairly wet today, the kids still spend some time on the trampoline. I kept Whitman busy this afternoon-not only did we do spelling, I had him wash and fold the towels, and then he helped me make some muffins. We had just started when Keaton walked down the stairs to make her muffin recipe. I tried to get her to make hers as well since I was giving some away, but she decided to wait until another day.
- Keaton was disappointed that soccer practice was cancelled, but it was still a fairly busy evening around here. I went to supper at a friend's house, and we stayed out entirely too late but had lots of fun. Reagan had her work this evening, and Robby left to eat supper himself and pick up some supper.
- The girls spent the evening doing their school for tomorrow. They like to try to get ahead the best that they can every night.
April 8, 2024
- For days I have neglected to mention the April fool's jokes that happened here. I quickly realized that it was April fools last week when I opened the fridge and first noticed that my dip was upside down. I figured that it had fallen and someone had just put it back incorrectly.
- It didn't take long for me to realize that instead, every single thing in the refrigerator had been turned upside down. Gallon of milk-upside down, every single condiment bottle-upside down. After fixing all of that, I was on guard for the rest of the day. So when Keaton and Whitman came grinning into my bedroom saying that there was water running out of the bathroom, my mind flew back to the exact image I had seen on the computer of bottles of water in shoes coming out of the bathroom.
- I went to double check though, and sure enough that is exactly what they did. I snicked to myself when they went to tell Robby. However, water running out of a bathroom here wouldn't be extremely out of the ordinary, so when Keaton told Robby, she immediately saw his face fall.
- Robby said that Keaton's reaction to his reaction alerted him that this might be a prank. However, he was certainly relieved to see that it was just an April fool's prank.
- Now we will fast forward to today-this was eclipse day so school was kind of limited. I woke people up at 9, and we started on school. I read some eclipse books and a chapter of our history book; then the kids started on their limited school work.
- Keaton went to a friend's house to watch the eclipse so she wasn't with us, but Anderson had a friend cover over. Robby ran some errands and come home to Whitman, Campbell, and I me sitting in the front yard. The boys all were playing some basketball-sometimes they would even play while wearing their eclipse glasses not being able to see a thing.
- Reagan came out just in time to see it all. Everyone was pretty impressed with the totality. Once it was over, the kids all quickly migrated back inside while Robby and I just sat outside and enjoyed the cooler weather. It was so interesting to me how the temperature changed during all of it.
- We had quite a few eclipse snacks to eat-Sunkise, starburst, milky way, star crunch, and cosmic brownies. The boys went to town on the Sonic burgers while the girls went to town on the snacks.
- I finished my book this afternoon, and then made some pasta for supper. Once we ate, I ran to pick up Keaton, and she had a good time at her friend's house all day long.
- Now the basketball game is on-the winner of our family bracket is between Reagan or Anderson. Reagan isn't watching the game, nor is Anderson. He is actually in the bonus room with Whitman watching Star Wars. This is their second night to go up there and watch a Star Wars movie.
- star wars
April 7, 2024
- This morning Reagan had to be at church pretty early, so instead of taking two cars we all left early with her. She also had to bring snacks for her Sunday school class so I was up early, early washing fruit to go along with the muffins that we made.
- After we dropped her off, the rest of us stayed in the van and went to pick up doughnuts for our breakfast. We all ate those as we drove back to church. Then we did the church thing-big church and Sunday school.
- Lunch was at Grannymom's house today, and she had pizza which always is a crowd favorite. After we finished eating and visiting, Robby ran into Lowes to pick up a weed eater. Then we all came home for a bit before people headed out again-Reagan went to her lifegroup while the others went to Rock Creek. Whitman had to stay at home with us, but I think that he didn't mind that at all.
- We all met back up at the Wilson's house for Sunday night supper. They had a clean out the fridge night so I had leftovers that I ate at their house the night before-they were still delicious. We even had some of Shannon's famous cheesecake again-actually, we cleaned the plate, and that was still delicious as well.
- Now, we are home planning tomorrow's school/eclipse activities. I have a few more things off my list to mark off before bed, but I don't think it will be long before I head that way.
April 6, 2024
- This morning was the first soccer day, and goodness it started early. Since bringing 3 cars there would have been silly, I rode with Anderson, Campbell, and Keaton this morning. Anderson had to be there at 7:15 to start work, and his sisters just like to come for fun.
- I hung out in the car until almost 8 and then went to start setting up the concession stand. The girls helped, but gracious that coffee pouring and hot chocolate making is tough. At 9, the rest of our crew arrived, and things became a little bit busy.
- Campbell and Reagan worked an hour in the concession stand while Keaton worked two. Whitman also did his time in the concession stand (he doesn't get camp money, but he gets candy) Graham reffed 4 games, Reagan and Anderson both did 3, and Keaton and Campbell both reffed 2 plus Keaton played a game. Her game ended in a tie-she did score one goal, and even though her team is pretty good, this game was tough, and I'm afraid that the other games will be as well.
- I will never get tired of watching the kids all grow up-it is so fun to see them doing their things. And I certainly enjoyed getting my picture of all of them wearing their ref shirts today. I have learned that if I want a picture, I get it immediately and don't wait until another day.
- This year there is one more soccer game each week, so it was after 3 when we made it home and after 4 when Anderson finally made it home. That makes for a much longer day for sure.
- Back at home, we started to notice just how red all of the kids were-my face is probably burned as well. Anderson came down wearing a red shirt after his shower, and I told him that he looked like a tomato. The weather was so nice today that I didn't really think about sunscreen-I had it with us, but never thought to use it
- Robby and I made muffins for Reagan's Sunday school snack tomorrow, and then we went to the Wilson's house for a little bit to watch some of the basketball game. We ate and visited for a while, but did come home to watch the last half of the second game.
- We leave for church early in the morning so I really better go to sleep early tonight-so maybe no reading for me!
April 5, 2024
- Anderson, Graham, and I left fairly early this morning for a preview day at Ouachita. Graham wasn't too thrilled about coming since he felt like he would be the only sophomore there. (He wasn't.) Anderson isn't stressed about college like Reagan seemed to be, but he is a pretty low key guy and isn't concerned about much.
- We decided that we would go to the school of business when it was time to divide by majors. Even if the college tour didn't help make up their minds about schools, maybe the talk from the business guy might have helped make up their mind about a major.
- The next part of the day we were split up so when the boys left I told them to save me a seat for lunch-they did, but we were at a table with all boys. The three other boys at the table had left their parents, but I sure did set myself down with all of that testosterone.
- We ended the day with a walking tour of the campus. We even went into the girls' dorm where I took a few pictures for Reagan to help plan her dorm room. When it was all over, we headed home with a stop at Sonic for drinks on the way.
- By this time, Reagan was already at work, but Robby met me with Keaton and Whitman at Urban Air. They were able to jump and do some of the fun things this afternoon. Then we picked up pizza and finally made it home. I was almost gone from the house for a full 12 hours so it was a fairly long day for me.
- We all ate, and now a few kids are on the trampoline, Robby is working, and I'm alone on the couch. If someone doesn't come in the living room pretty soon, I will probably have myself a nap.
April 4, 2024
(click for today's pictures)
- I was running a bit behind this morning, but we were still able to read most of our things. I did finish one more book so that is just leaving us the 20 or so library books that I just checked out and about 5 others books to read each morning. History is getting closer, but not close enough that I have started counting down the chapters. Today we read about the Korean war so surely there isn't that much history left-really, it is probably 18 more days of it. I probably should know for sure, because every night I peek ahead to see just how many pages of history I will read the next morning. I have to prepare myself mentally. (Next year, we go back to the first history book and those chapters are just 1 or maybe 2 pages instead of the 8-12 I read every day now.)
- The boys woke up fairly late, but everyone managed to get all of their things in today. The big event was Reagan had to do a speech-she has been doing them in the bonus room and filming them. However, today's speech was making something so she had to have the kitchen. This cause the whole house to shut down-we were all silently sneaking around for the hour that she practiced and then during the speech.
- And speaking of sneaking around-the neighbor lady probably wishes that her office was on a different side of their house-especially since the trampoline has now been moved. Not just does she see the trampoline, she also sees and hears our kids for at least 2 hours every day. And usually, it is not just one child out there (though today I walked through the kitchen and Campbell appeared to be napping on the trampoline) but it is most of them. And I do love my children but they are not quiet at all!
- Anderson went to work fairly early so he could paint the fields and then be there for practice. Campbell, Robby, and I went to eat tonight and then met Anderson at Kroger to get gas. We also found some eclipse snacks for Monday. We are going to party hard around here!
April 3, 2024
- We did our reading this morning, and as I'm reading every day, I always listen to make sure that Anderson and Graham do get up. They usually don't have to get up until 9:30, but today Graham leaves for work early so he needs to be up and moving pretty quickly. However, much to my surprise today, Anderson was the first one downstairs this morning. He isn't usually the quickest to wake up in the mornings.
- Everyone did their school work, and when ever I would walk through the living room people were piled on the couch or even in a chair working. They all finished fairly quickly today so I had some time before lunch to mark a few things off of my list.
- Graham and Reagan left for work, and then soon afterwards I took Bentley on a walk. It was much cooler today than yesterday, but much windier. I did spelling with Whitman but I had to call him off of the trampoline to come in. He didn't mind since we had already set a time for spelling.
- Reagan and Graham zoomed in from work, and after I made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich they were out the door to the car again. This time though Campbell, Keaton, and Anderson went with them. The youth had something special tonight so people were already getting there early.
- We all did the church thing, and the big kids were late getting out, and then Reagan chatted some and so did I so we were super late getting home. Campbell and Anderson went to ChickFilA so they are just now getting in for the evening.
April 2, 2024-Happy 11th Birthday Whitman!
- Since today was a birthday, I rolled out of bed early enough to make chocolate chip muffins. They were ready about during the middle of our morning reading. I had to shorten our reading today since Keaton was leaving early to run some errands with Robby. (This is the third day in a row we haven't been able to do all of our morning reading-when we finish that history book is when we can think about taking a summer break so I definitely have motivation.)
- Whitman zoomed through his school and then sat and read for 40 minutes. While he did that, I helped the boys with some of their school, and I started pulling out some school work for everyone to do his summer.
- It wasn't too long before Robby took the birthday boy and Campbell and Keaton to see a movie. Robby said that Whitman ate a huge amount of popcorn-he does love him some popcorn.
- When the came home, Grannymom and Grandpa came over to bring Whitman his presents. While they were there, Grandpa helped Robby hang a swing in the yard-Grandpa gave instructions, Robby climbed the ladder, and Anderson held the ladder.
- Just about when the swing was finished, Nonna and Pops came over to bring their presents for Whitman. Since all of the grandparents were there, we pulled out Whitman's birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday before eating cake.
- Soon afterwards, it was time for soccer practice. Campbell went along just for fun, Anderson worked an hour, and I went along as well because I thought that weather was going to nice. Today I walked Bentley and even brought her home early because I thought that she was going to get hot-she was panting and her tongue was hanging out.
- However, just a few hours later at soccer, we were absolutely freezing. I sat in the concession stand most of the time so I could stay warm-Raymar is the windiest place in the city for sure. We came home and heated up warm food to eat for supper. Robby and I had a can of soup!
- Now most of the kids are trying a Cadbury egg for the first time, and then we will probably watch some tv.
April 1, 2024
- I have not done a good job lately in planning my school mornings. Thursday was Reagan's teeth and today was her eyes. Her appointment was at 9, and her eye appointment was definitely a lot easier than the teeth. A few years ago, she needed glasses, which she never wore, but this time her eyes are just fine.
- On the way home, a few kids had free ChickFilA biscuits, and I picked up Reagan a smoothie from McDonalds. It was also free, but today is the last day of special Reagan things. She is tad bit swollen still and even has a little bit of a bruise. Reagan is still being very cautious about what she does eat though.
- When I came home, most of school was done for the people here. I just had a pile of math to check. Whitman understood his and just had to fix one problem, and Campbell and Keaton each had one page that they were not sure about that we had to work on.
- Since I didn't get to read with the little 3 this morning, I decided that I would still read 3 library books to them this afternoon-we ended up doing that on the trampoline. I guess that if we knew how much use the trampoline would have gotten right up next to the house, we would have moved it a long time ago.
- People have been out there all day long-even Anderson has been out there with Campbell, Keaton, and Whitman while I was on my walk. And I do believe that Campbell is out there right now. Not only have they jumped today, but there was also a big football game that happened this evening.
- Campbell did spend a good deal of time today working on Whitman's birthday cake. He said that he wanted a chocolate rectangle cake so that is what she made him. She worked so hard on it, and it really does look good.
- Reagan and Graham went to work today. I think that they were pretty busy while they were there. Before they came home, Robby and I left to go and grab some supper. We came home with a few leftovers for the kids so we pulled out everything in the fridge and went to town heating things up. I was pretty pleased that we made a major dent in things-the fridge had gotten a little bit crazy.
- I am now cuddled up on the couch watching women play basketball. A few folks have had their showers, and I'm sure that someone will be asking about the cookies in the kitchen.
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