- Reagan and Graham left the house at 6:45 for their Bible study this morning. When they came back home, I talked to them briefly, and then they both went upstairs and took a nap. Anderson left for school today-he just went to one class and skipped the other while Reagan just skipped all of hers. (I maybe skipped about 3 classes my entire life, and my kids have skipped more than that in the last two weeks. Actually, it is good for Reagan to relax a little bit, and honestly, it is probably good for Anderson to as well.)
- I read with Campbell, Keaton, and Whitman this morning. I have 48 books checked out which overwhelms me a bit. There was a time when we had nearly 100 books checked out at all times, but now 50 is a lot. I am trying to finish all of our library books before Christmas, but I have about 10 books on hold for me to read just in case it snows, and I can't get to the library.
- After school today, I went shopping with Campbell and Keaton. Campbell needs quite a few Christmas presents, but unfortunately, we were only able to find one thing. We did find something for Whitman though too and half of a gift for me. Still I was a bit bummed-I couldn't find what I was looking for and Kroger was out of brown sugar. We did get to very briefly walk around Barnes and Noble. By that stop though (store 6), Campbell was fading so we hurried on our way.
- Once at home, I organized some gifts and then started on supper. Tonight we had our street tacos and all of the fixings. Plus we did our Advent along with the Christmas ornament and Santa pulling after we ate.
- Robby and I were going to watch a movie tonight that we thought was out, but it was not so we tried another movie which was also not out, so after a bit of sports we turned a Hallmark movie. Hopefully, we will have time for two!
December 5, 2023
December 4, 2023
- This was the first day of Christmas school around here, and it was no surprise to me that my school work time still lasted until almost noon. I did finish earlier than usual though so I was pleased. Whitman was the one who was the most pleased because he was finished with his school work a lot earlier than usual.
- Reagan and Graham went to work this afternoon, and the rest of us went to Defy for a little bit. Well, I did leave Anderson at home-his ankle is improving so I didn't want to risk it, but he really needs to be studying for his finals too.
- When we came back home, I worked on a few things from my list. Then I really intended to go outside and take Bentley on a walk, but it was so chilly out there that I just curled up on the couch while Keaton made some chocolate chip cookies.
- She finished with the cookies, and I put the homemade lasagna in the oven-actually, it wasn't homemade. I told Robby that I would like to make homemade lasagna but it is a bit of work and not really cheap either. There are a lot of things I would like to learn how to make, but I am not sure if you can teach an old dog new tricks!
- Reagan went to Bible study tonight so she missed our supper, but she was eating out too so she didn't mind. We even did our Christmas things without her-Robby suggested waiting, but the kids didn't want to at all.
- Now, Robby is watching basketball on tv, but I am not too sure if the boys are because they are fairly quite upstairs. I am currently reading two different books so I plan to read a little bit of each one tonight and possibly get me some hot chocolate or some ice cream-I don't know which!
December 3, 2023
- This morning was church morning so as Robby took his shower, I made the first pass trying to wake up the kids. I really didn't do too well since Graham was the only one who left his bed on my round. Since I didn't have any alarm clock problems today, I was able to do the laundry and the dishes before we went to church
- We did the church thing this morning and then headed to Grannymom's house for Sunday lunch and to celebrate Dana's birthday. We had taco salad which is one of my favorites plus some s'mores cupcakes.
- When we came home, we had a little bit of time before Graham, Campbell, and Keaton went to Rock Creek to help with their children's Christmas event. Anderson took them there and soon Reagan was headed out to babysit with Alyssa.
- I worked on cleaning the camper, but then I left with Whitman. We first stopped at Rock Creek to enjoy their Christmas at the Creek. It was pretty impressive, and Whitman had a good time-he was a fan of the pizza and of the karaoke. I was shocked when he said that he wanted to karaoke, and he got himself right up on that stage and sang a song.
- After we saw all of the sights, we went to Walmart for him to finish his gift for his person. He was so pleased with everything that we bought-sometimes he is just my favorite! We then picked up the helpers from Rock Creek and went to the Wilson's for supper.
- The kids stayed for a bit and then headed home. Robby and I stayed until 10, and then I had to come home and help Reagan review her history. Now it is bedtime for the crew!
December 2, 2023-The Cowboys for Christmas!
Robby and I woke up a bit later than we had planned, but we were still pulling out around 8:30. Robby even had to air up the minivan tire before we left this morning so that slowed him down a bit as well.
We didn't have any traffic going through Dallas, so we were rolling into Buccees fairly early. I whispered to Keaton to ask if she wanted to go in or if she wanted a drink, and she was awake. Whitman was quick to throw his head down off of the top to tell me that he would like a drink. Graham was still half way asleep and did not want a drink.
When we were in Bucess, there was at least two buses full of army men on their way somewhere. Robby had to watch me closely because I just wanted to stand by the register and buy all of them their food. And of course when we went to check out their were no army men nearby to buy anything for.
Then we just zoomed right on home with our next stop being Kroger in Little Rock. The kids were kind of up and Robby listened to a football game while I reached the end of the internet a few times on my phone. We filled up at Kroger and then drove on home.
At home we unloaded the camper-so far I have only left one thing in there which I had to go out and get just now. Usually there is always something that we leave inside that we have to go out that night and fetch.
It didn't take too long to unload everything. The kids all grabbed their things and one other load for me. Then Robby and I just took our time unloading everything else. While we unloaded, I caught up with all of the people here.
Reagan not only worked late last night, but she also worked early this morning with Santa as well. And yes, she did take her picture with Santa which delighted me. Anderson caught up on some school work, played xbox all morning and even baked brownies while we were gone. Campbell said that she didn't leave the couch the entire time that we were gone to which Anderson agreed.
After unloading, Robby and I made it to the couch where we stayed until a football game was over. Then we went to pick up pizzas-and yes, we stopped at 3 different pizza places to get our supper. When everyone had eaten we started our Christmas traditions-pulling the Santa bricks, picking a Christmas tree ornament and reading our Advent devotional.
When I pulled out the Advent devotional, Robby and Graham both said, "Didn't we do that last year?" Those little heathens! Now we are back on the couch watching football!
December 1, 2023-The Cowboys for Christmas!
We slept in a little bit this morning, and then we headed to downtown Dallas for our lunch. We joined the line at Pecan Lodge BBQ-the line was fairly long, but we didn't wait more than 30 minutes. It was definitely a happening place.
Graham had a sandwich, Robby and I split a sandwich and bbq nachos, and Keaton and Whitman had mac and cheese. Now, it was all very good, but we barely touched the bbq nachos. We didn't think that the chips would keep though they were delicious chips, but we did bring home the bbq that was on top of the nachos. We brought home enough bbq for someone to have at least 2 sandwiches later.
After our bbq, we opted to not go to Ikea and instead went to a huge Christmas decorators warehouse. It was something to see-especially to see everyone buying up all of the Christmas items. Keaton and Whitman decided that they needed to have their photo taken at every photo worthy spot so that kept us busy while walking through the store.
After that, we drove back to the campground. We had some down time, and I even had a nap while Keaton and Whitman went to the jumpy thing for a little bit. Then the boys opted to stay in the camper while we left with Keaton for Target and Walmart. She was really looking for a chocolate advent calendar which we did not find. However, I did find a few things for Christmas stockings.
On our way home, we stopped at the Krispy Kreme right across from the campground to pick up a few doughnuts. We didn't really intend for them to be supper, but they ended up being our supper which was perfectly find. We we save tonight's meal for tomorrow or another day at home.
Tonight we munched on the doughnuts while Graham watched basketball. Keaton and I played the other half of the game that we started last night. Now Robby and I are trying to watch our tv show, but so far he hasn't had any luck since he has been working on getting it started since I started typing this blog!
November 30, 2023-The Cowboys for Christmas!
I woke right up at 6:30 this morning like a kid on Christmas. I was quiet for a while but eventually pulled out my phone. I did actually then stay awake until I could tell that Anderson was on his way to class. He isn't the best waker upper. I thought I about staying awake to make sure that Reagan left the next hour; however, I am glad that I didn't because that girl skipped her classes today. (She had no reason to go since they were just reviewing.)
Robby was soon awake and on his computer working. I guess that I woke up the kids making my bagel. Also Graham and Whitman slept in the top last night-having two boys up there is not ideal. They were smelling up the place for sure.
We ate and then we eventually loaded up to go to the Gaylord hotel. Robby and I have walked around one of these hotels before but wow, they were all decorated for Christmas. It was something to see. Robby had prebought all of our tickets-except the parking. And yikes! I will not even tell you what we paid for parking-it might make you cry-it did Robby!
Each year they have an ICE exhibit. This year the theme was Dr Seuss. It was incredible-you put on these parkas and then go in a 9 degree area (seriously, it was 9 degrees) and walk around to see the sculptures. People from a village in China come over and do the carving. There were tons of sculptures plus even an ice slide to go down.
By the queues that were all around we could tell that the lines could get crazy. It was pretty crowded when we were there, but nothing compared to what it is closer to Christmas. We really enjoyed the ICE part. Then we bought an ornament before the kids were able to do some snow tubing. The run wasn't huge, but they still did it a few times. The tube was heavy for Whitman to carry up the stairs, but that was good for him. He was the one who seemed to enjoy it the most-every time he went down, he was grinning ear to ear. This just makes me want to go to the huge hill in Branson and go snow tubing.
Then there were snowballs that we throw towards targets, and finally a scavenger hunt through the atrium area of the hotel. Our first stop there was some hot chocolate. Doing the scavenger hunt showed us how absolutely massive the hotel really is. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas. I now would like to go back to it during the year to see what it looks like normally. Currently though, you could stay all day and spend thousands of dollars doing Christmas activities all day long or possibly even for a few days.
It was a lot of fun despite the dreary weather outside. It might have rained a little bit this morning, but it has mainly been a very slight drizzle if that all day. It has just been enough to make it messy for Bentley to go out and to make it grey and dreary.
Campbell spent her day busy-she perfectly made the chocolate oatmeal cookies that Robby and I struggle to make right. Those are one of his favorite cookies, but we usually undercook them. Reagan had work this afternoon, but other than that hopefully, she and Anderson did a lot of studying today.
After leaving the Gaylord, we stopped to eat at In and Out. There burgers are one of my favorites. I believe that we agreed that there burgers are better than Whataburger, but their fries are not as good (I haven't had Whataburgers fries). And of course, no milkshakes can be better than ChickFilAs.
We were pretty full on our half hour plus some drive back to the camper. We laid low until it was time for us to drop of Robby and Graham. Graham received tickets to a Cowboys game last Christmas so he has waited for 11 months for this. I drove the stadium and dropped them off.
To get back to the camper, I made a uturn just like I was a New Yorker. We made it back to the camper just as the boys made it to their seats. Their seats were pretty high up but near the front of the section. The game has been pretty good to watch.
We also watched the game on the tv back in the camper. We also ate some supper, played some games and ate dessert. I finished a book-and silly me, I didn't bring enough books and am out. I guess I am going to have to just put a spare book in the camper for emergencies.
We watched the game until 1 minute left, and then my crew loaded up to pick up Robby and Graham. We zoomed right towards the stadium until we got to a road block so that meant that Robby and Graham had an extra 15 minute walk to get to me, but we were right at the edge of the street when they did walk by us.
Their game was good, and it was a win so they had a super good time. We made it back to the camper a little bit before 11:30 so now everyone is getting ready for bed.
November 29, 2023-The Cowboys for Christmas!
I woke up at the normal time this morning and quickly did my chores before waking up all of the boys. I had originally thought that we were going to be leaving at noon when I wrote out my school for this week, so Graham had some school to be done. (I could have changed it, but it didn't take him long) Anderson and I did some math work to prepare for his final next week. And Whitman didn't have to wake up, but whenever his brothers do wake up, he wants to make sure that they wake him up too so that is what I did.
Soon Keaton was awake, and I also woke up Campbell since she needed to start on some of her school work. Reagan was the only one left in her bed, but I went upstairs once to ask her a question and text her another question so she wasn't sleeping too soundly.
We left a little bit after ten this morning, plus we stopped at Kroger on the way to fill up with gas. Silly Bentley didn't do her normal business this morning so we left later because I was trying to give her plenty of opportunities. At Kroger, I thought that I would get out as well for her, but nothing. It wasn't until tonight that she finally caught up.
Anyway, we just zoomed right on down to Buccees today with no problem at all. Graham slept the entire way. Keaton also slept most of the way. Then we drove right through the middle of Dallas near rush hour, but it wasn't horrible. Robby focused on driving and I focused on praying!
Our campground is in Arlington and it is kind of right in the middle of things. However, if you follow the gps directions then you would have to make a u turn to get here. Of course that isn't possible in a camper towing a car so they had alternate directions. So that last few miles I held both phones reading directions and looking at the map while Robby fought the crazy traffic. However, we did get here without a problem and had a wonderfully level pull through site.
As soon as we parked, I saw an inflatable trampoline in the middle of the campground so that is where Whitman and Keaton headed off to. Graham followed a little bit after that. Soon Robby had us all set up, and we took a loop around the place with Bentley.
Graham was hungry since he slept through lunch, so it didn't take too long for us to get the orange chicken started for supper. After we ate, we ran to Aldis nearby to see what they had. We bought some snacks for tonight, but I do remember being more impressed than I was tonight. It was fine, I we will probably go one or twice when it comes to Little Rock, but probably will really only go if they have a great sale on something.
Reagan went to work this afternoon back at home. Then she ran home for a minute and everyone rode to church together. She had to get there early for Bible study, so Anderson could have come later, but he would have had to drive the white van, so he just rode with her and Campbell. But other than that, I don't think they did a whole lot today.
Once we were back at the camper, we had our desserts and turned on the Hogs game. I am sitting on the bed in the back with my hood on and wrapped up in a blanket so I don't even know who is winning right now-and I don't plan to get up and look anytime soon either!
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