August 14, 2014

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Celebrating Cash's 8th Birthday!

• The kids knew we had a busy day today so they were up and getting their clothes on.  And most everyone had already started on breakfast (pop-tarts today) before I had even woken Whitman up.
• School was started and I had told the kids that what they didn't finish today, they would finish tomorrow.  Then at one point during the day, Reagan thought Graham was finished with his work and she started crying say that he was ahead.  I reminded her that we were not in a race and she said "but I don't want to have do this work and tomorrow's work tomorrow."  They thought that today's work was going to pile on top of tomorrow's work.  This was probably the reason they were flying through their work.  Though once I explained this to them, they slowed way down on their work output.  
• At 10, I started trying to wrap things up and load up.  Today was the meal swap/play date.  I took breakfast burritos and salsa chicken and came home with pancake muffins, breakfast cookies, pigs in a blanket, ham and potatoes something, lime and cilantro chicken and meatballs.  But what was even more exciting than that for the kids was playing with their buddies at Rock Creek.  
• I am sure the mommas who were there rolled their eyes when they saw all of us rolling in with our 17 kids.  Even when the kids were all sitting down to eat, it doesn't seem like a bunch of kids but when you say the number 17, it really does sound like a lot.  We played for a long while and then we headed home.
• Keaton and Whitman had their afternoon nap and while Anderson played outside.  He was the only one that stayed out there all afternoon-mostly he was playing with Graham's new cars.  Reagan and Campbell worked on their bracelet making while they watched a movie with Graham.
• Soon it was time to work on their science fair speeches for a bit (still need lots of work) and then time to load up for Cash's birthday party.  The theme was backyard games and the kids had a blast.  After pizza the games started with an egg toss and the last 5 teams all had a Dennie in them-our field days have really payed off (or maybe it was Dana's soft grass.)  Then the 3 legged race (Keaton and I rocked it) and then spin around the bat relay and water in a bucket relay.  I helped Keaton out during the games and I just love that her and even Campbell can hang perfectly with the big kids and do just what they do.
• We had ice cream and cupcakes and the party ended with a water balloon fight along with Cash opening his presents.  The kids were hot and tired on our way home but showers perked them up and they weren't really looking forward to going to bed.  Tomorrow is a busy day so they need their rest!

August 13, 2014

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• Before I had even finished the blog last night, Campbell was having a bad dream and then as soon as we went to sleep, it was Graham.  I think Campbell gets too hot at night and this causes her bad dreams-she does cover up with a comforter and 2 blankets.  And Graham gets irrate at night when he has to go to the bathroom.  So tonight, we made everyone potty twice and Campbell was only covered up with 1 cover.  Though her internal time clock might just be off, since she woke up at 5:30 this morning asking if it was time to wake up.
• Graham was up this morning when Robby and I went upstairs to wake the others up-I was putting up laundry and Robby was telling everyone good bye.  Keaton popped up and Robby told Anderson bye.  Then he started looking for Campbell in her bed-she was in the top bunk with Reagan.  Robby said "what are you doing up there?"  And Reagan said that she had told her to come up there with her at 5 when she was talking.  Reagan then said that she was going to get in the bottom bunk but she liked Campbell being up there with her.
• Pancakes and waffle morning and then it was school time.  School went fine-actually read an article today and it was a lady discussing their pros and cons of taking a break during the summer.  I can definitely see both sides-our school days are crazy, crazy but they are routine and productive and that is a pretty good feeling.  Anyway, Graham really flies through his work compared to Anderson.  Poor Anderson takes so long in his school work-he just has a good time during school.  I was the kid who finished everything first in my classes-I remember just watching kids turn in test and wondering what in the world they had been doing for so long.
• We had lunch and then it was time for a bit of chores and then practicing our science fair projects.  The kids are going to say a little something and without a report, it just isn't pretty.  So we have quite a bit of practicing to do tomorrow but at least we are finished with the project part.  That is a big relief!  
• This afternoon after naps, we had time to play a game, race those remote control cars, play kindles and watch a few movies-busy, busy afternoon.  When Robby came home, he grilled burgers and then we all watched our Ninja Warrior show.  Keaton talks the entire time-"he did good, Mommy" or "I don't like him"-she had something to say about everyone.  
• As soon as the kids went to bed, I pulled my cobbler out of the oven and hopefully we can eat it in peace!  My Reagan was disappointed to see the peaches in the cobbler-she has been eating a piece of fruit plus her snack each day.  She just wanted to make sure that I had left her a few peaches to eat!

August 12, 2014

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Solving the world's problems...

• Even though I wanted to wake up when my alarm clock rang this morning, I sure didn't want to wake up before the alarm.  I heard the kids over the monitor-Graham and Campbell talking-and then laid really still hoping Robby would say something to them but he didn't.  So I rolled over thinking maybe I could subtly wake him up so he would get the kids but still think I was asleep.  But he wasn't even in the bed-he was already getting up.  Not the way I wanted to start the morning.  
• Graham was busy doing school work just about as soon as he came downstairs.  All he could think about was getting his school work done so he could play with his new remote control cars.  Robby had to break it to him that everyone had to be finished with school before he could play.  After Reagan and Graham finished school, they would walk in just about every 5 minutes and check on Anderson's progress.  They were quiet, almost sneaking so as not to disturb Anderson, and then once back in the hallway, they would shout "He has 5 boxes left" or "He has 2 more boxes."
• Once Anderson was finished, the remote control cars were flying around this house.  You wouldn't believe how many times someone drove a car between my feet while I was trying to fix lunch.  It is a wonder that I can ever get anything done.  
• After lunch, those cars finally needed recharging (Alleluia!) so we worked on our science fair projects and are just about finished.  Now we just have to work on talking about them to everyone-that will be a challenge.  
• During rest time, Reagan pulled out a necklace making set that she had gotten forever ago and worked on that.  Of course this caused some craziness because she wouldn't let Campbell string any beads-she told Campbell that she could pick out the beads and Reagan would string them but this didn't work.  This drama caused me to get off of the treadmill at least twice and eventually woke Whitman up.  That was fine with my sweet Whitman, because I then gave him a snack and drink and he hung out in the bonus room pack n play while watching me walk.
• Soon the kids headed outside to play with those cars for a bit.  Robby came home and we soon had supper-had one of the freezer meals that I had made to swap.  It was good-don't know if I liked it on rice.  Going to try it on tortillas tomorrow night but it would almost work as soup!
• After supper, Grandpa came and I went.  Robby and Grandpa worked on the lawnmower some and I with my sidekick, Whitman, ran to pick up my grandma's laundry.  Then when I came home, Grandpa left since they had finished their projects. 
• soon the kids and us were playing a game of soccer.  It was the girls against the boys and the boys won by 1 point.  Keaton kicked the ball more than Campbell and we would have won if she would have kicked the ball the right way.  Speaking of soccer, Whitman was all in the middle of things during our soccer game but I sure don't think he would be ready to play soccer on a team.  But the other day I saw in a magazine ad that since Whitman is 1 and a half, he could play soccer-seriously, 1 and a half?  That might just be worth signing him up for that just to watch-do they put a wall around the field so they can't run to their mommas?
• Tonight Robby drew names for who took a shower in what shower and in what order.  That is how much the kids love showering in the little shower.  After their shower, we watched a bit of American Ninja Warrior before putting everyone in bed.

August 11, 2014

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Just call him Einstein!

• I had hoped to be up before everyone else this morning but that didn't happen.  Robby was even up before me but when we did all finally wake up, we all started moving pretty quickly.  The kids started working on putting on their bathing suits as soon as breakfast was over.  Then they started on one school box and a few chores were even accomplished.  I quickly made lunch and then we even had time to do our science lesson for the day.
• The first stop was the most exciting for Campbell.  She was thrilled to take her school supplies to Ms. Stacy's class and have her official meet and greet with Ms. Stacy.  She knows who Ms. Stacy is very well because she is the 4th Dennie to be in the class.  Campbell had even copied a few words from her school work this morning and let her new teacher hang it on the wall.  This was big time stuff for my little Campbell girl.
• Next up was the swimming pool.  We were the first folks there-I even had to hold the kids back until a lifeguard came out to their post.  Soon Lilly and Cash were there with 2 of their friends and then the Kamps and Stattons arrived.  So counting us, our group of friends totaled 17 kids (and just 4 moms.)
• The kids were delighted to have so many choices of people to play with.  Whitman swam our second hour there-and by swim, I do mean swim.  Since the child doesn't walk ever, watching him in the pool is quite challenging.   I walked to get him a toy and even though I was watching him the entire time, I still had to quickly jump in to get him.  He just runs, runs, runs and falls, falls, falls-he did that for an hour until it was lunch time.  
• Our crew ate and really, I don't know how much my others ate but Keaton ate her entire sandwich, a handful of grapes, mini oreos, cheese-its, a slice of cheese and 2 oranges.  And she got upset with me when I took I bit of her sandwich.  Oh and she ate some of my yogurt-she actually wanted all of it but I inhaled it so I didn't have to share with her.  Wonder if she has worms?
• At 1, I loaded up my crew and we went to Grannymom's house to change our clothes.  I really thought I had everything for the kids-not so.  Over half were missing underwear and Campbell was missing socks.  My problem was that I had let some kids pack their stuff, then I packed everything for some and only needed to pack a few things for others.  It was all too confusing and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to add to my bag-that is why I have so many lists when I pack for a trip!
• We left Keaton and sleeping Whitman at Grannymom's house and then we went to Toys R Us to spend Graham's birthday giftcard from my grandma and to return 2 of his duplicate presents.  This gave the child over 70 dollars to spend-wow!  That is a lot of money for a child that has never gotten to go to the toy store and buy anything at all.  Reagan and I were starting to think that we would never ever get out of there.  Those boys touched every single boy thing in that store.  I thought for sure they would settle on legos but nope, my sweet Graham picked out a remote control car set that had 2 remote control cars so him and his brother could both play.  Then he had a bit of money left so he bought one other thing.
• Next stop was Barnes and Noble to turn in their summer reading forms and to get a free book.  Reagan, Anderson, Graham and Campbell all picked out their book from the free book list and were as happy as they could be.  Campbell kept asking me "we get to keep this book forever?"  She is only used to going to the library.  Last year when we did this, we had extra time and were able to lolligag at the book store and Reagan picked out lots of birthday ideas.  This year, we were in a hurry and she wasn't able to do that so I told her that I would get her back to the book store before her birthday or she could probably convince a grandma to take her one day to make a list.
• And we had about 50 seconds left of shopping before it was time to head to Upward football tryouts.  Reagan has been asking for a Tervis cup for her birthday so we ran to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick out which one she wants.  Now, I know it is a long time until her birthday but when you have a few minutes to shop (or even window shop) with a few less kiddos, you don't pass up the opportunity.
• Then we went to football tryouts and goodness it was hot out there.  The kids did great on the drills-by did great, I mean tried really hard.  One of the lines was really, really long but the boys waited patiently in line while Reagan, Campbell and I just sat in the grass and watched.  Reagan was counting down the minutes until happy hour at sonic was over.  I sure didn't think that we were going to make it and we did all run to the car.  When I drove past sonic at 4:04, I thought I would still get the kids a slushy even though happy hour was over since that had done so good on our busy day.  But luckily for me, they still charged me happy hour prices!
• Once we were at home, the kids had to do another school box and then I finally opened up those remote control cars.  My Graham was so excited and the cars even lasted all evening long-glad they are holding up (so far).  Robby came home with Whitman, Keaton and supper so we ate and then all headed outside.  
• The kids played and fought outside until it was time to come in.  They had their showers and then we watched one Bible story movie before bed.  The kids were exhausted tonight and were quickly asleep.

August 10, 2014

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A floral science experiment!

• Sunday morning here and the kids were stirring before us.  I guess I have gotten out of my alarm clock habit because I had turned it off before I even heard it this morning.  We finally drug ourselves out of bed and started getting the kids ready for church.  Everyone complied and was happy with their clothes that I had selected the evening before (this is not always the case).  Our only clothing drama was Graham putting on Anderson's shirt and when he realized it was hanging off of him, he found me to ask "are you sure this is my shirt?"  Well, I guess Graham did have some more clothing drama-his pants had to be tightened 3 times (why? I have no idea since he has been wearing them for quite some time and he sure isn't getting any smaller) and he appears with a blister on his foot during big church making his Sunday shoes hard to wear.
• At church, the kids were fine and I was a bit sad (or terrified) that this was going to be our last Sunday without Campbell in big church with us.  Some time this afternoon. she said quietly "I am going to miss Ms. Diane."  I think she is the one who is looking forward to changing classes the least. Keaton did get a taste of her new classroom because she came with me to help with worship care and today we were working in her new class.  
• We had lunch at Grannymom's house today.  The kids quickly ate and then headed out to play outside.  Grannymom asked Campbell if she wanted to stay this afternoon with her and Campbell quickly took her up on that and then that child proceeded to convince Dana to take her to the pool. They found Campbell a bathing suit and Campbell said that they swam for 2 kid swims and then came back to Grannymom's house.  
• The rest of us went home-the big 3 watched movies and played on their kindles while the little 2 and Robby had naps.  I went to see my grandmother for a few minutes before I headed back to church for a meeting and to pick up Campbell from Grannymom.
• Once Campbell and I made it home, Robby had supper ready.  Then Reagan and I worked on her science fair project (finally) while Campbell had a shower and the boys straightened some.  Next up, we watched a Bible story movie before putting the kids to bed.

August 9, 2014

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Superhero in the house!

• This morning was certainly a restful Saturday morning-though the night wasn't so much.  We were headed to bed when I realized we hadn't turned on the monitor and when we turned off of our tv, we could hear lots of people screaming for us.  Up the stairs I went and opened the door to hear Keaton and Campbell both screaming "I'm scared, I'm scared."  
• I went to Campbell to calm her down-she was the one just about hysterical-the poor thing.  Robby joined me and soon she was quiet.  We really aren't too sure if she is truly awake but she is definitely upset.  I then went to Keaton and she looked at me and said "we scared."  I told her that she was not scared and she laid down and said "ok."  She doesn't even know what scared means so she was just hollering to holler. 
• Once everyone was calmed down, Robby and I were able to get to sleep and Whitman was the next one awake.  That poor boy probably fussed for a long while because when I woke up, I had no idea what that noise was that I was hearing-Whitman screaming.  We calmed him down and gave him something to drink and he then went back to sleep.
• The boys were the first ones up and they quickly found their kindles and played quietly.  Everyone else woke up slowly and then we had breakfast.  My Reagan knew it was Saturday but after questioning me extensively about if she would be able to do minimal work on Tuesday during school if she did it today.  She did finish about 4 or 5 of her boxes this morning before we left the house.
• Since the yard was cut enough and it was too rainy for the pool, we headed to the movies. Grannymom was able to watch Whitman and when Keaton found out where he was going, she sure wanted to go to.  That was fine but when Campbell decided she wanted to stay at Grannymom's too, we told her no.  Campbell had been so excited all morning about "going to a movie, at the theater." 
• The movie was good but I think that kids enjoyed the snacks more-2 cokes, 2 buckets of popcorn, oreos, fun dip and chocolate bunnies left over from Easter.  Yep, we pretty much ate during the entire movie.  The kids enjoyed the movie but none of us enjoyed the ice cold theater.  I thought that I should make a list of things to bring to the movies-jacket, cups to put popcorn in would be on the list.  But then I decided that we didn't go to the movie enough to actually write down a list.
• We picked up the littles and then headed home.  Once at home, Whitman had his nap and the others watched tv while Robby cleaned the kitchen floor and I just stared at my list for next week wondering if we could get it all accomplished.  
• Soon, we loaded up and headed to the pool.  When we arrived with our bucket of KFC there were only 2 other families there.  And shortly, we were the only ones there-kind of feel silly with 2 life guards watching your 5 kids swim when one of those kids is wearing a flotation device and when Robby and I were sitting close watching them too.  
• Robby eventually got in (I waited him out-hoping he would get in so I wouldn't have to) and once he had thrown the big kids around enough, he hauled Whitman around for a while.  Whitman is just as happy as he can be in the water or even running around in the shallow.  Anderson and Campbell wanted to stay a bit longer so we stayed until 8:15.  Then it was home for showers and to bed for everyone.  

August 8, 2014

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Styling Whitman's hair!

• The kids and us all slept well last night-so well that it was after 8 when most of us woke up.  Graham remembered him and me working on legos before anyone else woke up yesterday morning and since he was the first one up, he came to ask me if I would help him again this morning.  I felt only a tiny bit bad as I told him no...but I also told him that we would work on it later today.
• Since we didn't have school, we were less busy this morning yet we were busier-just a different kind of busy.  The kids helped me with a few chores-dishes and laundry.  Then we did a bit on both boys science fair projects, the boys both read, Campbell did her reading book, everyone helped me make cookies and worked on those legos.
• Finally, around 11:30, I asked the kids to play on their kindles so I could run around and pick something up and start cleaning.  Lately they have become kindle obsesses but this morning we were so busy that they barely had time to play.  But I sure didn't have to ask twice for them to start playing this morning.
• Way before I was ready, it was time to for lunch and we read a few books during lunch-but today's books were all picked out by Keaton and Campbell.  Most of them were board books so Whitman greatly enjoyed them too.  One of those had a bit of "peek a boo" in a it and Whitman got so into playing peek a boo with the kids.  He is so into imitating right now that he is quite the funny little guy.
• This afternoon, we quickly cleaned the house and then it was naptime for my little people.  When they went to bed, the rest of us played Graham's new I Spy game from his birthday party.  It was a pretty short and fun game and then movies for the kids while I served my treadmill time.
• Before too long, Robby was home with groceries and we all helped put those up.  Then it was time for the McGuires and Penningtons to come over for supper.  We were especially glad to see the McGuires because our Reagan had spent the night over there and we were glad to have her home-my Keaton was probably the most happy to see her,
• Everyone ate supper and then the kids ran around the house screaming until we sent them outside.  Then the wind started to blow like it was going to storm so the kids came in.  Then they played upstairs in the bonus room for a long time until they started playing the game of sardines (reverse hide n seek)
• After everyone left, it was time to pick up.  I guess all of the little girls had dumped many of our games out so that took a bit of time but by the time we had that finished, Robby had downstairs done.  Then it was time for teeth and bed for all of my crew.  Glad to have everyone back under one roof.