December 7, 2015

Keaton's First Visit to the Dentist!

(click here for today's pictures)

• Thankfully, I was the first one awake this morning and was able to eat my cereal without anyone asking me a question.  I heard Whitman dropping his trains out of his bed and then climbing out so I met him at the door and all that he could think about was playing with his trains.  
• Keaton was not too happy with our breakfast choice-cereal.  Which was kind of funny since we have at least 14 cereal choices and really, everyone should be able to find something that they like.  She finally picked Lucky Charms and everyone was happy.  
• The day started with the kids doing their bit of school while I was working on my chores.  Then we were able to work on our science which I had fallen woefully behind in.  Today we discussed obsidian and pumice rock-yep, I learned something too.  
• Then it was time for a quick lunch and then we loaded up for the Compassion Experience.  Once we arrived, we put on the headphones and started our journey through the two kids lives.  The kids listened intently-even Whitman-to their headphones and really seemed to take it all in.  I do hope that they remember how blessed they are after learning about those two kids lives.
• Next up was dropping Whitman off with Nonna and then taking my crew to the dentist.  It was around 100 teeth for them to check today and no cavities and no talk of braces (just yet!)  This was also Keaton's first time at the dentist and she did perfect!
• We picked up Whitman from Nonna's house-he was sound asleep and even continued his nap once we made it home and slept until I woke him up after 5.  He was one tired little boy.  When Robby came home, we started work on supper.
• The kids loved their breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls for supper.  Then the kids had a bit of downtime-Reagan did her school work for tomorrow, Graham did some of his and watched basketball, Whitman watched Thomas, Keaton and Campbell filled the living room with crafting items and Anderson played his kindle.  
• Before bed, we did watch a short movie about Santa.  Reagan said that she thought it was about "80% real" and Graham said that he just didn't know.  My little thinker!  Either way, Santa has almost finished all of his shopping-at least, he knows what he is getting everyone!

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 18 Days until Christmas

In 2003, we ventured to Aspen with a church group to do some skiing.  I can't find anything on the blog about this trip but I did look back in my journal for some information on this trip.  I wrote down that I had "become the queen of the blues" during the trip.  That statement surprises me greatly but let's just go with it.  I did also write that we ate out once on the trip: at a McDonalds in Aspen (it was the only restaurant that we could afford.)

December 6, 2015

A singing star is born!

(click here for today's pictures)

• This Wednesday the big kids choir was practicing and Anderson was pulled off of the stage because of his behavior.  Of course, we did not hear about this on Wednesday night but I was informed about it at bunko on Thursday night.  I quickly pulled out my phone and let Robby know about Anderson's shenanigans and the boy wrote a page long apology letter before bed.  
• Flash forward to this morning and Anderson came into our room saying that he felt bad.  He moaned, he groaned and even threw up (just a bit).  Robby whispered, debated and strategized about what our plan was going to be-was it nerves or a real stomach bug.  We were at a loss about what to do but the next thing I knew, Robby was telling Anderson to go ahead and put on his clothes-yep, we took a gamble!
• And yes, it must have been nerves because the boy did fine during both services singing and didn't hurl on the stage.  I was much relieved to see them walking off the stage without incident.  I was actually so nervous about this that I could hardly enjoy listening to Reagan sing in a little quartet.  She did so good and we could not have been prouder.
• Now back to last night, I was picking out Whitman's church shirt as he was walking by and I asked what shirt he wanted.  He said "orange" and then grabbed an orange shirt and said "it is my favorite."  I certainly couldn't deny him from wearing it since I had asked-even though it was short sleeves.  But I am thankful I put him in that orange shirt because after running around the sanctuary before church one time, he did it again. The place had filled up some and I saw him at first but then, I couldn't see him anymore.  I had almost made my way back to Robby to tell him that I couldn't find W but I saw a flash of that orange shirt and was able to grab him.  
• Reagan, Anderson and Graham did very well singing but once we got in the car, Anderson shouted "man, my fly was down the entire time."  I am pretty sure no one noticed though! We had our lunch at Nonna's house.  She had bbq and then she started off Anderson's birthday week with a huge cupcake for us.
• Anderson we pretty pleased with his cake and enjoyed blowing out the candles.  Reagan and Graham really, really wanted to blow those candles out but thankfully Anderson was able to get his wish in. 
• This afternoon the kids watched their movies and Whitman snoozed and Robby and I tried to take a nap.  I had been sleeping well when at least the 3rd time that we were interrupted, Robby said "I shouldn't even try to take a nap because I just get up in a worse mood."  I didn't think anything about that at the time but later realized that he had implied that he was already in a bad mood.  
• Church tonight and then we met the Wilsons for a quick bite of supper at Wendys and then off to look at Christmas lights.  We drove through Sherwood Forrest and then found the "blow up" house in North Little Rock.  Wow!  It was a yard full of decorations and a garage full of a village-yes, we even got out!  We had never seen anything like it at all! 
• It was getting late so we were just able to see the capitol and downtown lights as we drove home but everyone enjoyed seeing those too.  Then we dropped the Wilsons off and headed home.  Tomorrow is dentist day! (we are crossing our fingers that he doesn't mention braces just yet!)

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 19 Days until Christmas

Sometime after I finished graduate school (2002) and before kids (2005) we flew to Buffalo/Niagara Falls for a few days.  I am sure that you will be shocked to learn that though I have pictures printed from the trip, I do not have any record of this trip on the blog.  It was a quick trip and we didn't stay too long in Buffalo but did manage to snag an ornament.  It wasn't too many years later when we returned with 3 kids and then this year with 6 kids.  We did learn this year to always stop at Paula's donuts anytime you are near Buffalo.

December 5, 2015

A trip to see Santa!

(click here for today's pictures)

• The first thing I remember from this morning was Robby coming in the room to tell me how fortunate I was-Whitman had woken up right before 7 and crawled out of his bed.  Since his door was locked, he couldn't get out of bed so he just rattled the door knob until Robby came and whisked him away upstairs so they could watch Thomas for a while.  
• The others woke up and then our morning was underway.  We quickly got ready and went to pick up Grannymom and Grandpa up to go and see Santa.  This is at least our 4th year to go to the Clinton Library to have our pictures made with Santa. 
• We were there before it began and saw Santa walking into the room.  The kids all then took their turns telling the big guy what they wanted.  Reagan, Anderson and Graham all asked for an ipad (not gonna happen!), Campbell asked for a Hello Kitty watch, Keaton asked for an Elsa watch and when Santa asked Whitman what he wanted, he said "Thomas."
• The pictures were very cute and the kids enjoyed coloring their Christmas cards for a few minutes before we headed home.  Now, I do believe that the kids were a bit disappointed because this year there were no cookies to eat-instead they had magnets that said "Haiti" to give away (yep, we thought that was a bit odd too!)  
• After dropping Grannymom and Grandpa off, we headed home and picked up a few movies on the way.  The kids started on their kindles as soon as they finished their laundry and Robby and I started on our chores-the goal today was to straighten our closet.
• Robby then began cleaning out the chip and cookie cabinet while I was working on making a Christmas present.  Then it was lunch time followed by me sneaking off to Target to return a few more presents.  When I came home, Robby's cookie cleaning out had led to cleaning out under the sink.
• This turned into cleaning out the tupperware cabinet which then led us to the laundry room cabinets to be reorganized.  By the time it was almost supper time so we made pizza for the kiddos.
• Everyone went upstairs to watch one more of the kids movie and Robby and I started to work on our pictures from our trip.  This has been a very productive day around here and I plan on finishing it up with a bit more Christmas shopping before bed.

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 20 Days until Christmas

We arrived at the National Corvette Museum almost at closing time this year on our road trip.  The original thought was for us to just walk around the lobby some since we really didn't have time to see the exhibits (the recently repaired sinkhole was what I was most interested in).  Tony and Robby ended up going over to the guys at the front desk and they must have batted their eyes at the guys because before I knew it, we were touring the museum for just a little donation.  We had about 10 minutes to see the place and we hurried through it and I even made time to buy an ornament for our tree.  Click here from that day's post.

December 4, 2015

Thursday Nigth Crew Christmas Party!

(click here for today's pictures)

• I knew this was going to be a busy day so I stumbled out of bed and started working on food for tonight.  I had baked some sugar cookies and cooked 2 pounds of sausage when I remembered that one of those pounds of sausage was supposed to be going into sausage balls-so I shouldn't have cooked it.  Hmm, that is kitchen fail #2 for me in less than 24 hours!
• We were able to do most of school this morning-Anderson didn't finish his nor did Campbell.  Sweet Campbell is a home body just like her parents.  She was ready to come home just as fast as she could this morning and was soon home bearing a snack for all of us-she didn't want to wait around for cookies to bake at Nonna's house so they just popped some popcorn and brought it to us.  
• We had lunch and then spent some time picking up the house before putting on our jackets and heading to Grannymom's house.  We dropped Whitman off and went to Sams-not to shop today but to go and ring the bell for the Salvation Army.  
• We rang the bell with the Kamps for a while and then their shift was over and it was just us.  The kids sang some songs and soon Nonna showed up and then Pops followed by Whitman and Robby came to see us.  Everyone helped ring the bell-even Whitman.  The little 3 went home with Robby and the big kids and I were there for a few more minutes so we made a game of standing out there-we tried (and succeeded) to get 50 people to tell us Merry Christmas. 
• Then it was home for just a few minutes-time to change clothes and help Robby heat up our food-before leaving for the McGuire's Christmas party.  Everyone brought lots of yummy food and it was all delicious.  We probably have been having our little Christmas parties with the McGuires and Penningtons well over 10 years (I could only find a record on the blog since 2005 but I am pretty sure that was not the first!)  
• After the party, we hurried home so we would have time to pull our Santa down, talk about an ornament and read our verses for the day.  It was after 10:45 when my kiddos laid their heads down!