- Robby was on the phone this morning before I even knew what was going on-calling a tow for our flat, flat tire. Yes, he could have changed it but since we pay a whooping yearly fee for AAA we decided that we should use it. First the repair man came and said "since you have towing service just have AAA call us back to tow it." So that is what we did.
- So there was lots of excitement going on while trying to get Graham ready for school. So much excitement that everyone absentmindedly put on their clothes. Robby offered for Campbell to ride with him to take Graham to school so she jumped at the chance. That girl is going to love going to preschool next year. I miss my Graham and he his gone 3 mornings a week so I am glad that she will only be gone 2 mornings a week. It will be good though because I will have my hands full with 3 in real home school. I'm afraid my Grahammer will be a pretty big challenge!
- Pretty much as soon as Robby, Graham and Campbell left, the rest of us headed to the school room. We knocked out school fairly quickly with no meltdowns and little drama. Though when Keaton did fall off a desk, there was quite a bit of drama. Not so much from Keaton who only cried for a minutes but Reagan, Anderson and Campbell were just beside themselves.
- Reagan finished her work first and then asked if she could go and read. Of course I told her no and to go and play games on the ipad. Kidding, I said yes and she read for a long, long time. This is a new development around here and a pretty exciting new thing. Hopefully, that will rub off on Anderson some or me or Robby. Though I am really enjoying reading on my new kindle-but since I do that at night, the kids never see that.
- After our school, Robby and I dropped off the kids and then picked up the red van. I drove it around for a few errands-Target and Kroger. Surprising how much money I can spend when I just walk into the grocery store for deodorant and some milk. Then I picked up the others from Grannymom's house. Keaton was out on the swing with Grannymom and the big 3 were silently playing in Grannymom's toy room when I walked in.
- As we were on Grannymom's back deck, Campbell jumped and said "I saw a dog." We didn't see a dog. Grandpa and I did not believe her at all-was it a squirrel? was it a cat? what color was it? I even went to check but didn't see anything. Grannymom did believe that child and sure enough as we were leaving the neighborhood, Campbell said "there's the dog" and walking by a house was a brown dog just like she had said.
- Pops had picked up Graham. Graham had a big day at school-ate chicken and rice soup and begged me to buy some. Told me that it was from Walmart or maybe Sams but he didn't think Kroger had any. At Nonna's house, he devoured her banana bread and even managed to get some to bring home. This afternoon, he told me that bread was to take to Dallas so I put it in the snack box to eat there (bummer for me though because it was going to be my evening snack).
- Since Graham was the first home he spent the most time riding his scooter and the others joined him when they came home. As Graham was flying by me on his scooter, he shouted "Mom, I don't feel good." I just nodded and said sorry since he sure looked like he felt wonderful.
- Even though it was coldish outside, the kids were stinky when they came in. So after supper, they all had showers-the boys even got their hair trimmed. Then the shower procedures began. Poor Anderson was the first one to get into the little shower and ended up being in there a very, very long time. I don' t think he minded though.
- Oh yes, at supper a tiny frog had jumped and stuck onto our kitchen door. Robby noticed it and told the kids. They all got up to see so after supper, I put Keaton down and had them point the frog out to her. Later Campbell was nearby talking to Keaton saying "don't worry, I'm here. The frog won't get you. He will stay until we are back from Dallas."
- After supper, they packed a few little toys for the trip and then had a few minutes on the ipad and our phones. Then it was bedtime. Robby went upstairs after being called and said that Reagan and the others are all wide awake. Reagan though had been thinking-she would like her own room, wants a silver case for her kindle that she is saving for, would like a thing near her bed like at the dentist office to dispense water and would also like a cracker dispenser near her bed.
January 10, 2013
January 9, 2013
- We all slept a bit late this morning-must have been because of the dreary weather. It was kind of nice having a slow start to the day. Though by the time Robby left for work the kids were getting a little bit rowdy (understatement) and as Robby walked out of the door, he wished me luck! That wasn't too encouraging.
- Yogurt smoothies are all the rage around here. We haven't bought any in a while and the kids love them. And we even have those yogurt tubes which Keaton loves. Of course they are a splurge so when they are gone, it will be awhile before they return around here.
- I then ushered everyone to the school room for school. We started off by reading our science in the floor-while we were reading, Keaton climbed in a chair and then onto a desk. Then the child just leaned up against the wall while on top of the desk with a grin on her face. It was like she was saying "ha, you aren't going to get up and get me-everyone is sitting listening." And she was right, I quickly said a prayer that she wouldn't fall and kept on reading. I couldn't stop since I had 4 kids quietly listening. After awhile, she sat down and climbed on down. Really, I don't think any of my other babies would have stood on top of a desk when they were 16 months old!
- My Anderson was so distracted today-he had finished 2 of his 10 boxes when Reagan had already finished hers and read for 20 minutes. Graham and Campbell had finished their work as well. Seriously, I don't know what to do with him. It wasn't that his work was too hard nor was it too easy and he was just as distracted in the quiet kitchen. After everyone had finished, I sat with him and we finished his work in no time at all.
- We finished school in time this morning for everyone to help empty the trash and then it was already lunch time. After lunch the kids finished their painting projects that we had started earlier in the week. Then I started packing for our trip. Keaton and Campbell helped me-I put folded something or put it in the box and then someone promptly unfolded or took it out of the box. I should know better than to pack with such good helpers!
- This afternoon, Beebee called and said Papaw was a bit under the weather today so we postponed our afternoon visit with them. I wasn't looking forward to getting out in the rain even though we had to for Awana. This gave me a few extra minutes to pack, possibly take a nap and everyone even ate supper at home.
- Robby did show up with a bit more supper for the kids and me. It actually all worked out well because if he had gone straight to church tonight he would have still been there. Because by the time he made it home from work he had an almost flat tire and tonight when we made it back from church he had a completely flat tire. The kids were so interested in seeing that tire-probably have only seen flat tires on cartoons.
- After Awana, the kids had some milk and then went to bed. We are doing a "star chart" where if they put on their pjs, brush their teeth and get into bed to go to sleep with little talking, they will get a star. And enough starts earns donuts with Dad. And if you don't lose any stars you get your very own drink when you go and eat donuts. Reagan and Anderson are the only ones who will not have to share their drink so far! Next month, we are adding not talking back to the "star chart"-it will just be Robby eating donuts alone next month!
January 8, 2013
- Graham was the only one going to school this morning and he happily went with Robby. He was wide awake when I went upstairs this morning. Maybe he slept well since he stayed in his bed last night.
- Graham had gotten into a habit of coming into our bed lately. Since my belly is getting bigger lately, I can't really lay on my back or stomach (obviously) and must have my knees in front of me to lay on my side so there is less and less room for him in our bed-or less room for me!
- When getting him dressed, I told him that I was glad he stayed in his bed. He looked at me and said "I did get up to get a drink of water though." He elaborated that he went to the fridge in the middle of the night for water. I checked my phone to see when the motion detectors were activated last night and didn't see his midnight trip. I really think he was telling the truth but I guess our motion detectors don't detect little people-hope we are never robbed by a band of midgets!
- After they left for school, we had breakfast here and then started school. Reagan couldn't get over that we had to do school every single day. I tried to explain that other kids were in school too-I continued that they were doing math and phonics. She stopped me and said "they don't do math every day." I explained that indeed they do. Apparently, she wants to do more "fun" things at school. I like to do the hard work during school time and then let them have their own fun for the rest of the day. So I am not on the mission of putting more "fun" into school time here.
- Even though we didn't have any "fun" during school, it was still pleasant. Everyone had a good day. Poor Anderson's math today was challenging-writing the numbers 1-100. That is a lot for him to do. His handwriting isn't that wonderful but he doesn't have a problem with the correct numbers though. I had out two pages of math for him to do both with writing 1-100 on them but quickly figured out that he would still be at his desk working if I made him do them both.
- Next up was Robby coming home for a quick lunch as we finished our lunch. Then I did a few chores while Reagan and Anderson played legos and Campbell and Keaton helped me. Keaton seemed pretty fussy today and probably drank half a gallon of milk throughout the day (only way to keep her happy it seemed). So she did take an early nap and the rest of us had reading time. Reagan started on a new book that Jason gave her for Christmas. After the time finished, she said that she was going to keep reading which was certainly fine by me.
- I didn't put Campbell down for a nap thinking that she would watch a show with Reagan and Anderson and hopefully fall asleep. Ha! That didn't happen-she saw me working on my computer (planning school for the next few weeks) and she found her new computer and sat by me. I know that is cute and all but her computer is crazy loud-I just had to put up my computer and do some real work.
- Before supper was out of the oven, Robby and Graham made it back from work and Grannymom's house. Graham had spent the afternoon with Grannymom and Grandpa-even playing at Rock Creek with Lilly and Cash.
- After supper, Robby headed upstairs to work on the kids train table which is steadily dropping screws on the ground. Of course the kids all migrated upstairs to play-Reagan and Anderson playing transformers, Graham working on his wall track, Campbell fussing because she didn't get to use the drill and Keaton trying to grab whatever one else was playing with.
- Soon everyone brushed and put on their pajamas (well, if they had even changed out of them today) and went to bed. Another good day!
January 7, 2013
(click here for pictures of Tara's birthday celebration at Nonna and Pops yesterday)
- This was back to school day-preschool for Graham and Comm Central for Reagan and Anderson. I dropped Keaton and Campbell off at Nonna and Pops' house this morning as well. We woke up on time and seemed to make it out the door in plenty of time.
- When I was telling everyone about this day, Campbell was not happy that she and Keaton were the only ones going to Nonna's house. She told me "I want more to go with me." She had forgotten about all of this and was the first one out of the van when we pulled in their driveway though.
- Graham had a good day at school-it was birthday bash day so they had cupcakes which was a big treat. He was so proud when I picked him up that he was able to bring his hand print angel home from school. I should have taken a picture of it but forgot-no, it is not in the trash. It did have his hand prints on it after all so it is a keeper. I don't keep everything but hand prints, something written that is sweet or the first time they have done something (written name, etc.) are keepers.
- After I picked up Graham, we went to Nonna's house for lunch. Campbell was busy making our lunch when we arrived. The kids ate and then played for awhile before we came home. Keaton and Campbell had naps once we made it home.
- Graham followed me around in the house this afternoon, I worked on laundry while he ran his cars over my piles and then I clipped coupons while he watched his movie. When I finished couponing, I thought he would have finished his movie but he was hot on my heels, so we used his tape measure to measure a few things for my upcoming ikea trip.
- Reagan had a wonderful day. She came home talking non stop about what all they did, who was there and who was not. Reagan was so proud of her oral report today which was about the silver dollar that Jason had given her yesterday. Anderson also said that he had a good day. His show and tell today was his silver dollar from Jason. And he was pretty excited that he had earned all 5 of his stars today.
- Robby not only picked up Reagan and Anderson but he also picked up sonic drinks for everyone. The kids were so excited about them but they were also excited about getting to count their money. Robby had told them that he will buy them a kindle if they can save 100 dollars. We spent quite awhile counting everyone's money but finally came out with some totals (Campbell-20, Graham-44, Anderson 35, Reagan-41). Those totals were pretty impressive to me but really the only way to save the rest of the money is for us to visit Beebee and Papaw a few times a week.
- I am not sure where the afternoon went but we did spend some time outside. We took a little walk and the kids rode their scooters-it was cold out there but they didn't seem to mind. Then we came in and Robby cleaned the oven for a bit while the kids played on our phones.
- We had pizza from the oven for supper but it was still smelly in the kitchen so we ate in the bonus room. Afterwards, we watched a movie and read some of a devotional book and then sent the kids to bed. Robby and I had to hibernate in the bonus room tonight because we are self cleaning the oven and it is smelling up the entire house! No cookies for me tonight I guess!
January 6, 2012-Tara's Birthday Celebration #3
(click here for pictures of Tara's birthday celebration at Nonna and Pops)
- Everyone slept well this morning and dressed for church without a fuss-mainly because Reagan had picked out her dress and Campbell's dress the night before. I seriously don't know what I will do when she is a teenage. We discussed tonight picking out a whole weeks worth of clothes at one time. I did this when they were little but have since stopped but maybe should start back. It would definitely save me some time everyday.
- We made it to church with little rushing around and had a good morning-didn't leave anyone at church so that is always good. The kids were good in big church-better than the big kids in front of us-that's all I will say about that. Campbell had made a shaker in her Sunday school class and when she was showing it to us she said that she was not to put it in her mouth (wonder how many times her Sunday school teachers had said that during the day).
- Nonna had lunch for us-Hawaiian hamburgers and a delicious cake. It was all really good. I had filled Keaton's plate with food and tomatoes (her favorite) but she kept pointing at Nonna until we understood that she wanted some of Nonna's baked beans. But on the other side of the table, sits Graham who will not eat baked beans for anything. He had become sick on them a few times during a Sunday lunch at Grannymom's house and now has a fear of them. Robby did convince him to eat just one today (really baked beans are like a staple) and he did so without too much gagging!
- Back at home, Keaton had her nap and I took my birthday nap. But Robby had made it upstairs to hide and take his nap before I even got started with mine. I got even-I told everyone where he was (even though I was up there too!). We had thought choir stared tonight but it didn't so we decided to go out to eat for my last celebration.
- I picked Panera and Robby and I really liked our food. And the kids cleaned up their plates but the kid portions are pretty small for the price. We just split two kid meals and they devoured them. Going out to eat is just a good reminder that it is just not worth it-not only money wise but also effort (ha!). Seriously, I could have bought 3 big lasagnas tonight instead. And the kids were shocked when I tried to explain (again) why they all couldn't have coke-"we can get 1 coke this size here or 1 coke this size at the grocery store." Not that I let my kids drink coke or anything-that would be bad parenting! I don't know how one of Keaton's 10 words is "coke."
- Speaking of coke, on the way home we stopped by the store and Robby bought a zillion half gallons of milk. As he was loading up the car, Campbell said "Daddy, did you buy milk?" He said that he did and then Campbell added "I like coke too." That she does!
- Back at home, we loaded back packs and packed lunch for school in the morning. Then it was off to bed for the crew. I continued my birthday celebration by making cookies-and filling the house with smoke!
January 5, 2012-Tara's Birthday Celebration #2
- I believe that Campbell was the one to wake us all up this morning. But I did take Robby's place and go upstairs. He thinks that I don't know but when he gets up there he usually climbs in bed with one or more kiddos and then they all snooze for a few more minutes. And I did the same thing today.
- Those of us upstairs thought we heard the microwave this morning so we rushed downstairs but it wasn't the microwave. Then we all ended back up in my bed and had a very interesting conversation. Anderson told me that I was getting big. I said "like my tummy because of the baby?" And he agreed. Reagan added that I wasn't getting fat and then she named off a few large people that we know. I was relieved that I wasn't on that list. Tonight though when I was getting in the shower, I took off my shirt and Anderson said "wow, Mom you really are getting big."
- Robby thought our party today was at 10:30 so I was herding kids towards the door, he was just getting in the shower. But since it takes twice as long to load up 5 kids than it does for him to shower, he wasn't even the last one buckled. Owen's party was today at a teakwondo place. We were very impressed. The instructors were excellent and they kept the kids busy the entire time-kicking, punching, hitting things, relay races and even the parents got in on some of the action.
- Reagan, Anderson and Graham had no trouble joining the group and following the directions of the instructors. Campbell wasn't so sure at first but after the parents had to go in to hold something for the kids to kick, she stayed in and had a blast. She followed directions just as well as the big kids and she even got in on saying "yes sir"-so much so that she screamed it tonight at supper.
- Keaton liked watching the kids and after the parents did go into the room she continuously wanted to go in and have me chase her. We did quite a bit but soon a special guest arrived at the party-the green Power Ranger. That is actually when Campbell decided that teakwondo wasn't for her and quickly excited the room. The Power Ranger did kicks, flips and was pretty impressive but most impressive to the kids was cupcake time.
- After the party, we headed to Grannymom's house for one of my many birthday celebrations. She had made Mexican casserole along with apple dumplings. I opened up presents along with some from Robby with cards made by the kids. I even received a kindle fire-luckily Robby didn't send it back the other day when I told him that I wanted no gifts with cords. I think that I am going to like it-once I figure it all out.
- On the way home, Robby and I were trying to decide what we were going to do-pick up inside or pick up outside. As soon as we parked, the kids pulled out their scooters so after putting Keaton down, Robby and I started picking up the garage. We moved things around on a shelf to fit the generator and soon I looked over and neighbor man was approaching.
- He had been out working on his chainsaw and we casually mentioned that Robby was working on his as well. So neighbor man started trying to work on it with no luck (he seemed to know what he was doing too but did say he was going to bring a part). Anyway, before we knew it, neighbor man was cutting up branches and we were all hauling stuff to the burn piles.
- The kids worked pretty good-Reagan stayed with it the entire time. And Graham would pick the heaviest sticks to carry and his little cheeks stayed so red and cold. Anderson, unfortunately doesn't yet have the greatest of work ethics but he did work for quite awhile before ending up at neighbor man's house playing football with other kids. Campbell picked up a stick but mostly just followed us around. Until she took the mail inside and a few minutes later, I looked in the mud room window to see her wearing only her shirt. It was a good 15 minutes until I finally went into check on her-she had wet her pants, gotten a towel and cleaned it and then found new clothes to wear. Then she was back outside for a trailer ride before we all cleaned up.
- Once inside, everyone had showers to wash and warm up. Then it was supper time-I had some hawaiian bread for their sandwiches and they devoured them-that is just good bread. Robby and I agreed that anything would taste good on that bread. Next was a bit of ipad time for the kids before watching a movie.
- While we watched a short movie-I snoozed and Robby hung up his new pegboards. Then he read the kids a short book from my kindle before putting them in bed. The kids were worn out from the party, the scooters and the leaf hauling so they were out pretty quick tonight!
January 4, 2013-Tara's Birthday Celebration #1
(click here for today's pictures)
- This was another lazy morning around the house. I did actually put on clothes other than my pajamas today. I think my kids are enjoying spending so many days in their pajamas-they might just be a bit sad to go back to school. Well, Reagan will not be but the boys both said "aww" when I mentioned school was starting.
- I had two things planned this morning-organizing my cleaning products under the sink (why does under the sink always get so messy) and taking pictures of the house. Last year we took pictures of the house near the first of the year and I want to try to do that each year. That way 12 years from now we can look back and see what the house looked like before....insert whatever here.
- My house is by no means clean but is sure does look straight in the pictures (except in my closet and the hall closet which are just hopeless). But the reason things look so straight is because I had a team of kids following me from room to room moving all of the clutter out of the picture. I didn't get to outside pictures, upstairs pictures or Robby's office pictures (embarrassing-ly messy). And yes, we do need a few more pictures on the walls, don't we?
- I had to repay the kids for all of their work so everyone was able to take a few pictures with my camera. Of course, the loved this activity and wanted to do more. And when I laid my camera in the floor by me for a fraction of a second, Keaton picked it up for her turn. Reagan couldn't understand why Keaton couldn't have a turn. Tried to explain that if she was allowed to touch the camera now then she will always think she can-of course Keaton is always grabbing the camera and putting it up to her face.
- Our next project was painting. The kids each had a little something in their stocking to paint so they went to town. They didn't finish but everyone had a great time-especially Keaton. I passed her a paintbrush and she just went to town painting her high chair tray. Well, she had a great time until I had to take the brush away because she was eating it.
- We played Campbell's new bingo game-Reagan enjoyed this more than the boys. But what boy would like playing bingo where you are looking for Minnie's bows. And before I knew it, Anderson had brought down his new Battleship game. I told him we would play it during Campbell and Keaton's naps and that we did.
- Anderson had played Battleship at Nonna's house with Jason so he knew how to. So I was on a team with Reagan and Graham while supervising Anderson. I used to love Battleship and had forgotten how long that little game can take to play. We played until Robby came home with cupcakes and then the game was quickly over. Anderson was in the lead and had sunk 3 of our ships and we had only gotten to 2 of his.
- Before we did play our game, Graham did finish his blanket that he recieved for Christmas. He was so proud of his work-even though I really did most of it. I knew that he wouldn't be able to tie but he did try his best to help me by wrapping each piece around his finger. Tonight he covered all up with his blanket-such a cutie.
- Robby brought home birthday cupcakes for me-actually, he brought home wonderful cupcakes for me and then other (Kroger) cupcakes for the kids. The kids did notice that my cupcakes were larger than theirs so I after much begging I did let them each have a half of mine (I am generous like that!).
- Robby had a shop tonight at Coltons so we dropped the kids off at Nonna's house for them to play for a bit. I had packed everyone a sack supper and Pops said that is was a big hit. They even all had special napkins to use-it doesn't take much to impress our kids.
- We went to Home Depot and had to ask about a few the location of a few items. The first lady we asked called for Steve on the radio who came to help us. Then we re-ran into Steve and asked him about another item. Finally, we had to ask another person about something and they walked to the end of the aisle and said "hey, Steve..." Seriously, we thought that Steve was going to check us out as well. We went to a self checkout so Steve wouldn't have to do that but just as bad, the lady at self checkout checked out our items herself.
- We didn't fair much better at Coltons-the kids really wanted us to bring them back rolls and peanuts but I forgot my purse and zip lock bags (kidding, I don't even had a purse). Robby quickly wrapped 2 rolls in his napkin and hid them beside him while I was the look out. The waiter was pretty surprised that we downed 4 rolls in about 30 seconds so he brought us some more. We were a bit afraid that we would get busted if we hid those too so we just waited on our to go box to put that basket of rolls in. We did wait until we had paid before I dumped the bucket of peanuts into the to go box as well-this time Robby was the look out. After all of this cramming and stuffing of the to go box, Robby tightly held on to me as we left so I would not fall and then spill our to go box contents at the feet of the manager!
- Back at Nonna's house, the kids devoured their rolls. They had all had baths and were back in their pajamas. All but Anderson had put on clothes at 4 so we could go to Nonnas and Pops' house. Once we made it home, we quickly rushed everyone to bed-big day tomorrow, we are going to a Ninja party!
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