September 13, 2015

Celebrating #10 at Nonna and Pops!

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• We had to wake everyone up this morning except Graham (who had been playing his kindle so long when we woke up that he had come to ask us if we were getting up and when) and when we did wake everyone else up, Anderson said that he had only slept 2 hours last night.  I am not really sure what I think about this-possibly I need to work on his math skills because he was sure asleep when Robby woke him this morning and then if he had only slept 2 hours, I know that he would have fallen asleep sometime during this day but did not.
• We had donuts for our breakfast and then we headed off to church.  Robby sat by Reagan and Campbell during church this morning because I was helping in the new Christians class and both boys were in there with me.  (Anderson has done the class before but I just sent him again since I was going.)  
• Our class was during both big church and Sunday school and included cupcakes and candy so everyone left pleased.  Robby just had 2 kiddos in our Sunday school class down the hall (2 other ones were in the class with me).  
• Then we headed to Nonna's house for lunch.  And after lunch, Nonna had Reagan a huge birthday cupcake.  We took a few pictures and sang to her (4th time so far) and then ate up.  The kids played some and then we headed home for our Sunday family tradition: tv for the kids and naps for the grown ups!
• The big 3 watched some tv while Keaton and Campbell played baby doll in the mud room and were pretty noisy or maybe the sound just traveled up the stairs and into the bonus room where we were napping.  But that didn't really bother us since we snoozed until it was time to get up and head back to church tonight.
• After church, Keaton headed home with Nonna and could not wait to tell us bye and leave.  The rest of us went home and had some soft tacos before the kids ate their Sunday ice cream before bed.  

September 12, 2015-Happy 10th Birthday Reagan!

Reagan Turns 10!

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• When Reagan went to bed last night she said that she was excited about getting to sleep as long as she wanted to this morning and we certainly let her do that since today was her 10th birthday.  
• While everyone was starting to wake up, Robby ran down the road to pick up some biscuits and gravy for himself since he was making the rest of us cinnamon rolls.  I guess since Robby doesn't have a wife that knows how to make biscuits and gravy, he will have to settle for breakfast from a gas station.  
• We sang and had candles for Reagan this morning on her cinnamon rolls and then Grannymom and Grandpa showed up to deliver Reagan and then girls throw pillows that Grannymom had made for her.  We had found a shower curtain that matched their comforters and the girls were thrilled with how they turned out.  Though when it was bedtime, I saw a new pillow fly across the room and when I turned to glare at the thrower of the pillow, Keaton said, "they said they were throw pillows."
• After Grannymom and Grandpa left, we scurried around and got ourselves ready-as soon as my boys heard me mention that it was time to go, they were ready and in the car.  We loaded the car and then were off with a quick stop at the store and then on to the tailgate.
• The Wilsons had their tailgate set up and we crashed it.  We arrived just as they were starting to eat and we joined in for lunch.  The kids were so in awe of what all was going on, flying around and places to play that they could hardly eat at all.  
• The kids threw the ball, ran on the green and played hard until pretty much all of them are sunburned a bit tonight.  After everyone else had to leave for the game, we stayed and watched a little bit of it on their tv before leaving to take Reagan to a party.  
• I had never been to a real tailgate on the golf course before and goodness gracious-people are quite interesting.  But I was really surprised at the number of people who did not go to the game and just stayed at their tailgate parties.  
• Tomorrow is Cate's birthday so her party was today, but they also sang to Reagan and had her a candle to blow out.  They had a scavenger hunt which was apparently lots of fun because Reagan talked about it most of the evening long. 
• After dropping Reagan off, we picked up pizza and then ran home for a few minutes.  The guys watched some of the game, but the boys soon went upstairs to play their Xbox-I guess that was a good thing because they didn't have to see the Hogs lose! 
• Tonight Robby worked in the garage while I tried to shoot the kids with a nerf rocket and later in the evening I had the kids see if they could drag me out of the house-sometimes I bet Robby feels like he has 7 kids! 
• We put everyone to bed and a bit later, I went upstairs to wish Reagan a Happy Birthday since she was born at 9:12 on 9/12.

September 11, 2015

Kicking off birthday celebrations at Krispy Kreme!

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• I guess that Robby grew tired of hearing me hit snooze on my phone early this morning and he said "we will do better next week" which meant 'turn that off and go back to sleep.'  I quickly obliged but still climbed out of bed before 7 so I could have a few minutes to get my day started and the muffins cooked for breakfast.
• I went upstairs to start waking everyone up and after waking up the boys and laying in Keaton's bed, I then laid down in Campbell's bed to hop right back up again after seeing her empty tooth fairy pillow.  That tooth fairy didn't come last night (if she doesn't make a note then she just forgets everything).  So I scurried downstairs to see if I could find a spare dollar-thankfully, I did and all was well.  A few minutes later, I heard Robby at the bottom of the stairs-he had remembered that tooth fairy hadn't showed up last night and was ready to help.
• The kids had breakfast and then we started on school work and any day that you spend most of it in your pajamas is a good, good day.  And it certainly doesn't help if that day is a Friday-I think I am just a happier person on Friday (even though my life is pretty much like a Friday and weekend combined!)
• After lunch, I was sitting in the living room cutting things out for science and pricing garage sale stuff when I noticed that the lamp was blinking.  I finally had to ask the kids if I was seeing it right and they agreed.  (Some of our lamps are on a switch that we can control on our phones/tablets.)  Reagan stood up and said "I will just turn it off."
• Graham was a bit slower doing his work today, but his attitude was fine so I had no problem with that (he had been fooling around most of the morning).  He was working in the school room and came into the living room panicked saying "what is that noise?"  I thought it might be my weather radio (why, I don't know) but told him I would go and check.
• I waled right in my bedroom and saw another light blinking.  Now the alarm had just buzzed and the lights were blinking-I decided that I was going to text Robby and tell him that his electronics were going nuts here at home.  So I had to find my phone...
• The kids use my phone as a timer during the school day and since I usually wear my pjs during the day and have no pockets for my phone.  It took me awhile to find it and as soon as I did, I saw that it was on airplane mode.  I turned it off and could quickly tell that Robby had been trying to get a hold of me.  
• I text him and he called back and my first words were "were you the one turning our lights on and off?"  I guess that is one way to get our attention!  We are getting some shelves for the bonus room nook and he needed some measurements.  The shelves are going to be for legos-I think it is going to be a perfect place for the legos.
• After this, our afternoon was fairly uneventful.  I made supper and after we ate, we played the xbox some-quite entertaining since Campbell and I were playing basketball.  We had NO idea what we were doing which caused the boys to scream and shout "push A" or "push Y" over and over at us.  Even Whitman would get into the act shouting "push A Momma"-I could have pushed A if I would have known where that button was!
• Next up was beginning the celebration of Reagan's 10th birthday with doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.  Layne and Brett went with us and everyone had their fill of doughnuts before we went back to the Wilson's house to drop off a few things for the tailgate tomorrow (we aren't going to the game but are crashing their tailgate party).  Layne had a present for Reagan and Reagan was pretty excited about her loot!
• We didn't make it home until after 10 which meant a quick turn around getting the kids into bed-minutes after tucking the kids in, Robby went back to their rooms to grab their laundry and Reagan and Keaton were already asleep! 

September 10, 2015

Homeschool Day!

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• Whitman is the best sleeper ever-he will usually wake up and just play in his bed for the longest time quietly until I come and get him.  He never really calls for me to come and get him and never wakes up in he middle of the night either...except for last night.  I woke up around 1 with him screaming "Momma, get me out!" So I went to check on him and he started handing me his trains from his bed as we do each morning.  I was quick to hand those babies right back to him while trying to explain that it was still night time.  Of course with the hall light on, my words didn't make any sense so we went into the dark kitchen and sat and looked outside for a bit.  Then with a cup of milk, he happily went right back to bed.  He has some eczema on his chin and I do believe that is what was bothering my baby.  (He is well medicated tonight so maybe he will sleep all night.)
• Anderson was the one who got to ride with Keaton to school this morning along with Robby and Whitman.  Today was one of our homeschool meeting days and I would have kept her with us but it was also bring a bear to school day so of course she couldn't miss that.  
• While they were all gone, we picked up here and did a bit of school work.  Pretty much as soon as the others came home, we loaded up to go to Jodee's house for our homeschool day.  The kids had all read a book and then drawn a picture and written a summary of each chapter.  They then told briefly about their books and we laid their work on the dining room table so we could all ooh and aah over them. 
• Reagan read Mr. Popper's Penguins.  Anderson's book was The Boxcar Children and Graham read The Matchlock Gun.  Campbell's report was about Caps for Sale and Keaton, who didn't get to do hers today because she didn't arrive at Jodee's house until after school, did her report on The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.
• After the reports were over we gobbled down our lunches and then the kids swam most of the afternoon.  We did break long enough to celebrate a few September birthdays: Eden, Sara and Reagan (who share a birthday), Cate (her birthday is the day after) and Keaton.  They all had their own candle to blow out and then we devoured the big brownie and a pan full of cookies.
• Back at home, the kids had a noisy afternoon-I really wanted a quick nap but it never happened so I just made supper instead!  After supper, the kids played the xbox and finally had much needed showers.
• Pretty late tonight, we went walking with the Wilsons and the kids all played inside while we walked-Whitman even found a video with someone hiding Thomas trains in play doh and this was a big, big hit with him.

September 9, 2015

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• This was our first day back at CBS (Community Bible Study) so I was up early, early (for me) to get our day started.  The kids were sound asleep when I went in to wake them up but when I mentioned that it was Bible Study time, everyone was up and getting ready quickly.
• We had our breakfast and then did a bit of chores before rushing out the door to our first church of the day.  I am glad that the first day of CBS is over because leading up to this, I have received phone calls from everyone's teachers-7 different teachers (mine and all of the kids).
• First I dropped off Reagan and then Anderson and Graham who are in the same room.  Next class was Campbell's room and since she has the same room and teachers that Graham had last year and Anderson the year before, she didn't hesitate to walk in.  Next was Keaton who was in Campbell's old room and then back down the hall to drop off Whitman. He went in confused but fine which could be because he watched everyone else go into their classes.
• When it was time for pick up, I turned in all of my paperwork for each kid that I spent the lecture filling out.  Whitman came jumping out of his class telling me that he went to Keaton's class.  Keaton told me all about Whitman coming to her class for music time.  On our way to lunch, everyone talked and talked about their new classes-they all absolutely love Bible study. 
• This year will be a bit different since Reagan has a bit of a harder book (eek) and now, Graham will also have a Bible study book to answer questions in each day.  I showed it to him this afternoon and he said "they told us what to do but I didn't understand."  Hopefully he will pick it all up quickly.
• Church number 2 was our next stop (Rock Creek) for lunch and a bit of play time.  The kids really did more playing than lunch and after we had ran all of the other kids really enjoyed themselves and got pretty noisy!  
• Then it was time to go and see Beebee.  She was happy to see all of us since we missed last week.  Whitman ran in and gave Beebee the biggest hug when he saw her.  We pretty much devoured her candy and then the boys pushed her to flower arranging class before we headed home.  
• We then came home for a tiny, tiny bit and then it was to church number 3 (ours) for Wednesday night.  Robby and I worked in the preschool area for games tonight-that was an adventure!  Once the evening was over, we hurried home to pass out snacks and put our babies to bed.

September 8, 2015

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• I was so exhausted last night and figured that I probably wouldn't wake up to exercise and I was exactly right.  There was no one in our house stirring this morning until almost 8 when I had to wake everyone up.  They all slept very, very well in the new little beds and as soon as Keaton climbed out of her bed, she turned around and started trying to make it up (Reagan has already trained her well.)
• Keaton and Robby headed out to school and work and the rest of us started on our school.  Things were going well for about 10 minutes!  My Graham just had a rough day-he became very upset if he could hear anyone talk and then complained of a buzzing in the bonus room.  The house was surprisingly quiet today (I let Whitman watch a Thomas movie on the tv in my bedroom) so it was a bit strange that Graham could not find a quiet place to work and continued shouting that there were too many distractions.
• I let him have his little fit/pity party and pretty much ignored all of the distractions that he was causing for everyone else.  I could have easily lost my mind today but kept quietly whispering to myself "I have bunko tonight, I have bunko tonight" and it worked-everyone made it through the day (even Graham!)  Graham did not finish his work until after 4 today which is a bit longer than his usual 11'o'clock finishing time.  
• Reagan flew through her work today because she knew that she was going birthday shopping with Nonna and Pops.  Nonna stopped by a bit after lunch to take Reagan and they shopped and shopped until supper time at Pei Wei-while I was out tonight, Reagan even left me her leftovers in the fridge with a note attached telling me what all she did, what she bought and how much fun she had.
• Campbell was a little bit lost this afternoon without Reagan or Keaton so she followed me around helping me get ready for tomorrow (Bible study, park, BeeBees, Wednesday night church) and working on their rooms (I still have about 2 huge boxes of stuff to go through,)
• Anderson spent his afternoon watching tv and working on his project for Thursday (he is pretty far behind but we hopefully can finish tomorrow) and Keaton spent the afternoon with Grannymom and even went shopping and bought candy to share with everyone.
• When Robby walked in the door, I was standing ready to go-I finally snuck out and headed to buy a few Christmas presents.  Then I met my people in the Heights to eat and ended our evening at Le Pops.  
• Robby took the kids to Sonic to play and eat supper which meant showers when they all got home.  Since we just went out to eat, I made sure to drive really slow on the way home to make sure that the crew was in bed and everyone but Reagan were sleeping sound asleep when I checked on them.

September 7, 2015

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• I had hoped that we would sleep in today but Robby's alarm on his wrist buzzed at 6:45.  Then it took me forever to go back to sleep well because I kept dreaming about how to find the area of a circle (why, I don't know!) 
• But I did go back to sleep and Whitman was the first one to wake up of the kids just as Robby had finished making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  We enjoyed our Labor Day breakfast and then the day began.
• Grannymom and Grandpa arrived while the kids were finishing up their bit of school work.  I had given them just a bit of work and everyone got it done without too much drama.  And there was little drama upstairs as Grandpa and Robby started on bed number 1 in the toy room.
• Bed 1 seemed like it took a very long time but once it was finished, it seemed like they were almost finished with bed 2 by lunch time.  Nonna and Pops had arrived with lunch and Nonna set up shop in the kitchen cooking quesadillas for the kids and sandwiches for the rest of us.  
• At some point, I became the drawer putter together-er and that was fine so I worked on that with Pops while Robby and Grandpa took apart Keaton's crib and moved it the new boys' room for Whitman (he is not sleeping in it tonight-we are too tired to mess with that change!)
• As soon as the boys' beds were finished, they each had a grandma putting sheets on their beds.  It was quite a sight to see-my people were so excited about getting new pillowcases! (not sure why since we have always had pillowcases.)
• Bed 3 and 4 were put together very quickly but by bed 5, they had slowed considerably.  Between putting together drawers, I was filling those drawers up with clothes.  The drawers are huge and after Reagan put her clothes in her drawer, she said "I need some more clothes." 
• Bed 5 was finished and then it was clean up and time to reorganize.  Grannymom and Grandpa left and then I worked on putting lots and lots of things back in their rooms while Robby and Graham went off to buy a mattress for Keaton's new bed (hope she doesn't roll out tonight!)
• I didn't finish my job of getting all of the toys out and sorted but did pretty well and there is always tomorrow.  We then started picking up downstairs while Robby vacuumed and then it was off to walk a bit before coming home and showering the kids.  
• They were so excited to sleep in their new beds tonight and hopefully everyone will sleep well-still a few more things to get for them but their little rooms are coming together nicely.