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| Let it snow!!! |
Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
- When Robby went to put Belle in her house last night, he was stunned when he opened the door and saw all of the snow. We toyed with the idea of waking up the kids so they could see it. Though my outdoorsman of a husband did throw a tarp over his car to keep the snow off for his drive to work. And it worked wonderfully this morning-who needs a garage anyway?
- It wasn't too much longer until we heard the kids talking on the monitor. And it is standard that the first one up goes to look out the window to make sure it is morning. We heard Anderson exclaim "it's snowing, it's snowing." Then we could hear lots of little footsteps rushing to the window. Then we heard the next exclamation "a deer, two deers." This caused Robby and I to jump out of bed and start searching for our glasses. By the time we found our glasses and made it to the door, they were gone. Anderson and Graham both saw them and they could not be happpier.
- Campbell ran right to the window and just kept saying "Daddy's car." She probably didn't remember snow from last year. When we all headed downstairs, I saw her looking out the toy room window. Just staring out the window-we all did our share of staring out the windows today. The snow was absolutely beautiful. Robby couldn't help but take a few pictures before he left for work.
- Before too long, we were all bundling up to go and play outside. Graham turned to me and said "if I get snow in my underwear, I will come in and change it," That is just exactly what I was thinking-where does he come up with these things?
- We went out to play in the snow and things went fairly well for about 10 minutes. Their gloves aren't really snow gloves so Reagan's hands were wet and cold, Campbell wouldn't wear her gloves and just kept crying "cold, cold." I took her in and started to take her shoes off and this made her livid. By now, Reagan and Anderson were ready to come in but Graham wanted to stay outside...and he did while crying "I want someone to play with me." Finally, I went back out to calm him down and he helped me scoop snow for the snow ice cream. He was so proud about his collection of snow and couldn't wait to make snow ice cream inside.
- Keaton came out for a few pictures during the snow. I had her sitting in her little bumbo and she was so cute. I think she was enjoying looking around but I rushed her back in and set her by the heater. The same heater that Reagan came in and stood beside. She told me that she was standing by the fire. Later, I saw her warming her feet by it as well.
- We made the snow ice cream and they devoured it. We would always make it when I was little. We also wore newspaper sacks over our feet to keep them dry-probably should have done that today. I had to dry everyone's pants and they were all sitting pantsless while making the ice cream.
- Next up, I loaded everyone up to go and get my hair cut. They were pretty good-this was the first time that Campbell was not in the stroller since Keaton was the one in the stroller today. Anderson briefly decided to jump on the couch but quickly returned to his seat when I saw him. Campbell did pretty well but mostly stood and watched me get my hair cut. When it was time to go, Graham was still busy coloring and said "but I didn't get to finish." He asked if he could come back to Ms. Tammys another time
- We ran over to see Beebee for a few minutes. She was in therapy so we just dropped off a tree for her room and Reagan took a book that she had been coloring for her. The kids are so very compassionate when we are there. We made it home, unloaded and by then it was time for lunch.
- At lunch, I told them I would read a book and Reagan said "and I don't want it to be the Bible." Hmm, that's not something you want to hear. I didn't grab the Bible book today.
- After lunch, they played while I did laundry. I was in the same room but wasn't paying much attention until I heard "look, we made a zipline." That did catch my attention. Thankfully, it was only a zipline for their stuffed animals and not for little boys.
- Next up was school. Things were going well until Reagan wrote on the side of her paper "I do not lik skoo at home." She does much better when the boys aren't around because she wants to do their easy work. The boys had finished their work and were starting to rough house so I sent them away. Reagan and I both became tickled when we heard this conversation: Graham said "I wish I was in kindergarten." Anderson replied "no you don't, you have to do math." Reagan shouted back "math is fun though."
- They all finished in time to make a huge train with the kitchen chairs and have their snack. They didn't play much train, they just set there in a line, ate their snack and then went upstairs to play. We then woke Campbell, had our Wednesday night corndogs and headed to church.
- Graham usually enjoys Cubbies but tonight his teachers said he fell asleep a few times during the Bible story. One child doesn't want me to read the Bible and another can't stay awake during the Bible story. What am I going to do?
Washington D.C on the fourth of July is somewhere to be. We were so glad that we had been to D.C. and seen all of the sites (just the year before) so we didn’t feel the need to see everything on this crazy day. Early that morning, we went to tour the U.S. Capitol. I tell you, those security people there are intense. No liquid of any kind can come in that building-they even make you spit before coming in. And don’t even think about bring food in there either. Of course, this was our first stop of the day and we were loaded down with food and drinks since we would be out all day in 100 degree weather. Not a problem for us Dennies-the boys went in first while we stayed with the food and then the girls went in. Robby even snagged us tickets for a real tour later in the day. What did we do with our food-we rented a locker at the train station a few blocks away. The tour was very interesting-I have a picture of Anderson wearing the headset to listen to the guide and snoozing away. (Click here for pictures of this trip)
Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
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| Hat Team! |
- It we nearly 9:30 last night and Robby and I were downstairs watching tv, probably eating and talking. I think I had walked into the next room and was getting something when I heard Robby exclaim "what are you doing out of bed?" You have to understand that our kids don't get up out of bed (except for Graham in the morning) and for him to see someone standing behind him frightened Robby. So his "what are you doing out of bed?" was a bit loud and this caused poor Graham to almost begin sobbing. Robby has scared him too. We had forgotten to get the monitor and bring it into the living room with us and Graham had been calling for us to turn of the Christmas tree and turn on their fish.
- They all slept well and even Keaton slept all night. That girl is a sleeper. She will sleep for crazy long stretches during the day. I have actually started to wake her up sometimes because I don't want her sleeping too long. She did wake up with a yucky nose like everyone else. It was only a bit runny and she did fine during the day and didn't act like she felt sickly.
- The boys went to school. Ms. Stacy wasn't there and Anderson had a sub. He did say he had a good day though but the boy could not understand why he was taking his homework back a day early (collecting 6 of something and putting it in his bag). I tried to explain that it was a good idea to get it finished early and just put it in his cubby so it would be there waiting in Thursday. I am doing my best trying to turn my kids into list making, always prepared and organized people! I think I am succeeding with Reagan but not so much with the boys.
- Reagan, Campbell and Keaton went to Nonna and Pops' house today. And when I picked the boys up, we went over there to have lunch and they played London Bridges, limbo and duck, duck, goose before we could go home. We did make it home just in time because Grannymom and Grandpa were coming over with our headboard. At the Gamble house, it was attached to the wall and had to be surgically removed. So it needed a few modifications to be able to stand alone since we can't make any holes in the walls at this house (Robby's rule).
- After Grannymom and Grandpa left, Campbell took her nap and Graham laid down. So Reagan started on her school work and I loaded Anderson down with school work too. Don't feel too sorry for him since it took him about 20 minutes. Reagan finished hers and was happy to see a puzzle for her to work on in her last school box. She did that and by now Graham was up and worked a puzzle.
- Until supper, they laid by the Christmas tree watching the monorail go around and playing with their tiny Mickey Mouse house set. I would have to intervene occasionally and gently remind them not to touch it. (occasionally! ha!! more like every 30 seconds). After supper, they all played rather quietly upstairs. We told them to pick up and then they came down for our Christmas countdown and prayers.
- We went upstairs to tuck everyone in and saw it...all the stuffed animals dumped out (2 huge laundry baskets full), all the pillows off the bed (8), all the comforters off the bed (4) and all of the blankets off the bed (6). There was no airplane tonight and there was not even teeth brushing (Graham was the most horrified by this saying "but my teeth will fall out").
- They all know taking things off of the beds makes me crazy so that is the reason they were in so much trouble. Usually they only do this when they have company (probably so I can't beat them since we have guests). At Thanksgiving, I made it very clear that they could not take the covers off of their beds and specifically told Reagan to tell anyone that her Mom said no. Dana overheard Reagan telling Cash in a very stern, motherly voice "My Mom said not to do that and you can't do that." They do listen sometimes!
- After Robby and I cleaned up their mess, we decided that we would indeed let them sleep with their covers-we did debate not letting them have anything but opted against it. Probably because we are still feeling a little bad from the few days that we forgot to turn the heat on upstairs and it was rather chilly in the middle of the night for the kiddos.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame was another neat stop. Robby was intrigued with all of the busts of the Hall of Fame winners and I was impressed with the ring that they receive. The kids favorite part was the little area where you could throw the football. And then outside they had a miniature football field where we let everyone run off lots of energy before getting back on the road.
When you say Pittsburgh, it usually doesn’t make you think of a neat vacation spot. But Pittsburgh is one place that I would return-there really was alot to see there. The kids had a blast on the Duquesne Incline. Passing the other car was a thrill and getting to see the gears work at the top was so interesting to the boys. It is amazing that there is so much to see everywhere. (click here for pictures from this trip)
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| Christmas comes early... |
Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
(click here for a video)
- Keaton slept all night last night and Campbell was the first one to wake up. She laid quietly in our bed for awhile and when it was time to wake up the others, she was delighted to bust in the room shouting "up, up!" I usually wake her up from her afternoon nap and even though I wake her up sweetly, the others have not caught on to how to wake someone up without shouting and Campbell must have been very excited about her chance to wake the others up.
- It is still raining and not having a garage is just a mess. Good thing Robby bought some outdoorsy pants in Branson-he put them on over his work clothes and stood in the gap loading up my car for later and then loading Anderson up for school. Anderson had a good day at school and took cupcakes for birthday bash. I asked him if he ate one of his cupcakes and he said that he had eaten one of Isabelle's cupcakes. She is the one that when I told him I was going to invite his whole class to his birthday party, he said "not Isabelle." But he can eat her cupcake? Later the truth came out and he said that her cupcakes were very big. Makes much more sense now why he would choose a butterfly cupcake over a fireman cupcake.
- Keaton, Campbell, Graham and Reagan spent the morning at Grannymom's house while I had an eye doctor appointment. Before it was time to go, we did a bit of school and then finished at the bar when we came home later this afternoon. I am still trying to figure out where/when and how is the best/most peaceful way to get our school done. The bar worked pretty well-I had everyone stuff laid out and ready and they breezed through it.
- Pops picked up Anderson and he was more than thrilled about this (though Anderson did bring home the wrong coat! ha!) Anderson even came home with homework and he was happy to finish it (finding 6 of something and putting it in a bag). Soon, I had picked up the others and we were all at Nonna's house eating lunch and then soon, I was off again to the dentist (a crown-3rd in just a few weeks).
- The kids mostly played with the Lincoln Logs and then before long I was back and we were heading home. Campbell and Keaton fell asleep on the way home. The others finished school and then played until Robby came home and supper.
- More play time and then we opened up an early Christmas present-a monorail to go around our Christmas tree. Since our tree is full of items from out travels, we definitely needed that monorail. The boys were beyond excited and Campbell just kept shouting "monorail, monorail." Hopefully, it will last for many years around the tree (truthfully, we just hope it will last until Christmas!)
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| Happy Birthday Dana! |
Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
- Everyone slept well last night-I heard Campbell coughing a bit on the monitor when I went to sleep but didn't hear her any during the night. Though, I didn't even hear the baby sleeping a few feet away from me. But Robby also didn't hear her coughing. Keaton ate at midnight and then again at 5 and then slept soundly until her pre-church bath.
- Powdered donuts are the Sunday morning breakfast and they can finish off one bag in no time. It won't be too much longer until we have to buy 2 bags for our Sunday mornings. Campbell woke up feeling pretty good-she still has that occasional cough, runny nose and has been putting her hand to her ear a bit but by the way she has played you could never tell it.
- We were in Campbell's class for worship care and I tell you, she is a mess. When we came in, Ms. Lisa was putting her shoes back on and when Ms. Lisa left, Campbell took her shoes back off. Campbell spent most of her time sitting in the pack n play with 3 other girls. They were hugging baby dolls and then dropping toys over the edge.
- Lunch was at Grannymom's house to celebrate Dana's birthday. Graham said that was his favorite part of the day. After presents, the kids starting performing for us. First, Lilly and Cash sang a choir song and then Graham sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain." Reagan sang Away in a Manger and Anderson followed with the highly spiritual Rudolph. Campbell was not to be outdone and she would stand beside whoever was singing and sing away.
- We run a few errands on the way home-have to take advantage of it when we are in the big city (ha!). By the time we made it home, Campbell and Graham were ready for a nap. They ended up sleeping until after 5 and Keaton and Robby napped together again.
- We had supper and the kids played until it was time for baths. After baths, we pulled our Santa and then to bed. Before bed, we put vapor rub on Graham and he did not like it. He turned the fan on, pulled up his shirt and tried his best to get it off with the fan blowing on him. I don't think he succeeded to well at getting it off-at least I hope not. Hopefully that will help him have a restful night.
