June 24th-30th

When the twins cook

(6/24) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had ALL the kiddos at our house.  She said it went really well.  Phew!  We continued the relaxed vibe into the evening.  

(6/25) Fun day today!  Nanan came to stay with the littles so I could take the big kids to a tie-dyeing party at the park.  I packed a picnic, an extra teenager, and off we went. We had a really nice time, and we can't wait to see how our shirts came out! The kiddos were outside all afternoon, and I dragged them in one by one as the evening drew to a close.

(6/26) Busy day!  I worked and Dad had the kiddos.  He ran the girls out for new coats and to get camping supplies.  Then they had their visit, and Dad came home from dropping them to take C to hockey.  I came home so he could leave and was here to meet the girls when they got home.  Got them dinner and situated and waited for the boys to come home.  Positive vibe today, makes me optimistic for their future!  

(6/27) Mad rush to get all packed, and D is barking like a seal.  Sigh.. We ended up flipping a coin in deciding whether or not to take the twins camping or have me stay home with them.  I picked tails for them to go and it was heads.  So we stayed home, and it was probably a good thing.  D had a 100.5° fever, that nasty cough, and his poor nose ran like a faucet all weekend.  Even J started coughing.  I'm so ready for everyone to be healthy!  I hoped D would take a long nap, but he took a short one and then was grumpy all afternoon. J, on the other hand, took a FIVE hour nap and then was wired.  We watched some TV and had a quiet afternoon/dinner.  I actually got to sit and watch TV in a totally quiet house this evening.  I marathoned Revenge episodes, and stayed up way too late.  And y'all know what Murphy's law says about that....

(6/28) 6a rolls around and D is yelling. I stumble up there to discover he is hollering because J is not wearing a diaper, and appears to have not worn it for some time.  Yay.  J told me "gross" all while I was cleaning up.  Thanks, buddy.  After that, the twinsies and I bummed around until the power went out.  And I had *no* way to reheat my coffee.  The horrors!  We piled in the car and ran to the store.  And no, I did not get any coffee.  But we did stop at the park on the way home.  It was a whopping 60° and I could not keep a jacket on J, nor could I keep D out of the puddles.  D came running up to rat out J after dunking himself in the puddle, as any good brother should.  Came home for nap, and once again the sickie didn't sleep so well.  Nanan came after dinner so we could watch a movie after the twins went down.  Never thought I'd call a weekend with 2.5 yr old twins "quiet," but it was!


(6/29) Dad texted around 9 this morning and said they were soaked and would be home in 3 hours.  The twins and I hopped in the car and went to go grab lunch (grilled cheese sammiches & soup) and had it ready by the time they came home.  We had lunch, got the camper unloaded, and then Dad passed out for a few while the bigs watched a movie.  After the movie was over, we kicked them outside to go play.  We ended up with an extra teenager this evening & have an even fuller house!  C lost tooth #5 (?) this evening and will get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.  Pretty cool!

(6/30) I'm off today since I was supposed to be camping.  We'll have breakfast and probably run errands and do exciting things and stuff like that.

June 17th-23rd

(6/17) Dad took today off to spend with the kiddos.  C had school, and I had to work.  The kiddos were wired for sound when I got home, so I sent the bigs outside.  The girls are making great use of the wheels we have available and I hope to run the extra bike in tomorrow to get its tire fixed, and then everyone will have their own wheels. And yay for nice weather so we're not all cooped up inside!

Instantaneous recovery when the
word "outside" was uttered

(6/18) Last day of school for the C-monster.  Official new 2nd grader hawk!  Can't believe it.  I took him to school and then came home to grab the rest of the kiddos so we could meet Sarah and her littles at the park.  After the bigs got bored, I ran them to the library to pick up some reserved items for the oldest and signed all the kids up for the summer reading program.  We then grabbed C from school and came home for lunch and nap.  After nap, we had a couple of errands to run.  Got everyone loaded in the car and got 5 blocks from home and poor J exploded. All over himself, the van, everywhere.  Poor bubba!  Turned around, cleaned him & the van up, re-loaded the van and then headed off to drop off some items, run the extra bike in to get its tire fixed for our youngest girl and then hit the library to pick up more books for the oldest because she inhaled her book this morning.  As soon as we got home, I started to make up dinner and our younger girl comes in to tell us the other tire popped.  UGH!  And I don't know if it was cleaning up the van or real, but now I'm not feeling so hot, nor is the oldest.  Can't.get.sick!

(6/19)  It's never a good sign when you get a text that says "Bring Gatorade, Jello, applesauce and bananas."  Poor Dad was sick-sick-sick.  I came home armed with ginger ale, Gatorade, Jello and applesauce.  We ran out to get the bike's tire fixed, and it turned out to be the same tire as yesterday, just a bad tube.  I couldn't remember, but the guy that worked on the bike said he was pretty sure it was the one they replaced, so he put on a heavier-duty one and just charged me the difference.  Nice!  Now they're all wheeled and can motor around the block.  We also had to go to the library to get more books because the oldest inhaled three of them yesterday. After we got back, I loosed the hounds and said GO PLAY.  Made lunch, napped the littles, and tried to keep a periodic eye on the bigs.  Finally dragged them in for dinner and a movie.  Dad was finally feeling more human so got to enjoy it with us.

D having a "noisy" - what he calls smoothies

(6/20) Called out of work today because I didn't want to expose anyone else to this lovely intestinal party.  Not that having a stomach bug is fun, but I'm glad I was here this week, so I could be here for the girls' transition, and so that we got the whole mini freak out about having to take care of FIVE children when we're not at our best out of the way.  We all fortunately felt better today - the bug got 6/7 of us, so we were prepared for #7 to come down with it too.  She may have lucked out though!  We had a busy/not-busy day of a lot of outside play intermixed with some video games and reading.  The girls left midday for their visit and it was crazy quiet in here.  I think I'm getting used to the chaos.  After they came home, they took to their bikes and raced around the neighborhood.  They both have made new friends nearby and C has been right in the thick of things.  The littles were adorable today.  D's language and sentence structure have really taken off lately.  He told me he wanted to watch Sesame Street, and when I got out the Elmo and Big Bird stuffies, he gave one to J for him to hug, and told him "Nice hug, JJ!"  It was a late night for bigs decompressing from the day, but we have no plans tomorrow so look forward to another full day of lazing and playing.

I woke her up early to go running.

And D is outta there!

(6/21) Last night I told the girls that we could get stuff to make cupcakes and could take a trip to the park.  So they biked around home for the first half of the day, then we trekked to the store and got cupcake stuff and stopped at the park on the way home.  The stupid bug struck the last healthy person, and we sped back home.   I made up dinner and doled out applesauce.  And told them to keep things lower-key for the rest of the evening.  Cupcakes were made and delivered to friends, bikes were ridden we had a pretty chill rest of the day.

(6/22) Woke up earlyish and checked on the younger girl and she said her stomach really hurt, so I left her home with Dad and the boys while the oldest and I went to church.  It was a good service on parenting being equal parts awesome and difficult.  Timely, indeed.  After church, we hit the Bux and then I stopped by the store and picked up lunch to share with the littler guys while the oldest and C went off to the farm in search of berries for making up jam.  There was nap time, play time, train building time, jam time, and dinner all in there, followed by game playing, baths and stories.

(6/23) Work day for me and Dad has the kiddos.  Our younger girl has a dental appointment today and Sarah is watching the rest of the herd.  Hopefully we are free of the crud and *do not* share!

I love the rainbow above & BEWARE below (there wasn't
room for the word zombies).  We were reading Goosebumps..
so they have zombies on the brain. 

June 10th-16th

Father's Day gift from C

(6/10) Work day for Dad & me, and Kathy had the kiddos.  Dad texted when I was home to see if we could swing an extra kid for the night.  Oh sure.  He arrived after dinner, and C was unusually tired and didn't want to run off and play Nerf right away.  I'm sure they'll be up early to play tomorrow!

Dear Dad you are special because you give me
allowance. Love Colton

(6/11) Work day for Dad, I had the kiddos, and C had school.  Our extra kiddo was supposed to be picked up by 11a, but there was a whole lot of confusion at the desk and agents going every which way.  After a lot of phone calls, he was finally picked up. And then they called a whopping 8 minutes later to see if we could take him again.  They found a place for him, but sheesh, I felt bad about the shuffle! We had a mini preschool reunion at the park and I had fun, even if I only got to talk in 5 second bursts while I was trying to keep an eye on the twins.  It was great to see everyone!  That tuckered everyone out and the boys were totally done by dinnertime and didn't  even protest going to bed.


(6/12) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  Dad called me and let me know we were getting a pair of sisters in care for the long-term soon. Oh boy...er girl(s)!  I came home for hockey and stayed with the twins while Dad took C to hockey.  He came home a schweaty boy.  After everybody went to bed, Dad and I actually got to catch up on some TV we like.  And it didn't involve EVERYTHING BEING AWESOME!


(6/13) Donuts with Dad today for C at school. I was off today so I could go on field trip with C's class.  Kathy watched the twinsies for us after Dad went to work.  For our trip, we went to the Lively Property.  Really pretty!  Got to go on a hike, release some salmon, and check out the museum.  Our bus home didn't start, so they ended up sending a replacement.  After we picked up the twinsies, we went to the library because I had a book on hold. The boys love it there.


(6/14) Foster kiddo 1 of 2 arrived this morning with her sister to tour the house.  She's excited to help set up for her sister's arrival.  We stopped at the scrap-book store to get them albums to decorate during the twins' nap.  The twinsies slept quite a long time.  The bigs watched some TV and worked on their albums, and C made bracelets.  After dinner, the bigs went out to play street hockey and ended up attracting a couple of neighborhood kids to come play too.  Play ended abruptly with an injury, and after that was taken care of, they radically switched gears and made bracelets out in the driveway.  LOL!  Bedtime rolled around and everyone gradually turned in.  Busy day!

Deedles

Little rainy today

(6/15)  Happy Father's Day!  I looked at Dad last night and said, "Five kids.  Happy Father's Day!"  So glad we can open our home to kiddos in need!   Today Dad cooked us Dutch Babies, as they are his forte.  After breakfast we played and Dad went to work on assembling a dresser.  I decided to take all the kids to Starbucks, and to the park, so we would be out of Dad's hair, but it started to sprinkle once we got there.  Then as soon as our drinks were ordered, it opened up and poured.  I called Dad to please come fetch us, and thankfully by the time he got there it had settled back into a steady drizzle, and we were able to load up kiddos and not get soaked to the bone. We headed back home for lunch and the twins' nap.  And after nap, we went over to Granddad's for dinner.  D inhaled strawberries and other munchies (not to mention he also had strawberries at the previous 2 meals). And well, they didn't sit well, and up they came. He ended up eating a couple Saltines while the rest of us had dinner, since that was all he could seem to keep down.  No temp or anything. Poor bubba.   We came home earlier than we normally would have, and he was his chipper self in the bath and at bedtime.  Hope it was just a fluke!  C was given an electric train set for his birthday in a few weeks and he had it quickly assembled without any of our help.  Smart kiddo!

D feeling the rain

O HAI MOOSE!

(6/16) Busy day today, and I'm at work for it. Pout.  Our foster kiddo's sister arrives today to stay with us too. Weeeeeeeeeee, madness!

Twinisms

Someone found a red marker...

Pillow fort!

Made the kids fruit smoothies ~
Me: Do you want to try it?
(J runs out and holds up his glass)
J: TRY IT!
D: Mama's brr-cold!
....
D (sad): All gone noisy. (I had to use the blender to make them)
 
D: Thank you so muches!

Everything is awesome!
J: NO AWESOME!

Me: I found Thomas jammies!
D: C'MON!

June 3rd-9th

(6/3) Work day for Dad and me, & Kathy had the kiddos.  C was in a mood today and we were all told what mean adults we were, and how nothing was fair, and everything was UNFUN. Drama!  Sometimes you just have to laugh at almost 7 year old antics. 

(6/4)  Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos.  After C had gone to school, and I had enough caffeine in my system to get me going, I took the littles to the park to meet up with Sarah, Kathy, & some friends.  They were doing construction at the park, and there was a field trip happening, so it was crowded and LOUD.   The littles were having a great time until I lost track of J for a few minutes.  Found him under a climber sobbing.  He had a crowd of kids around saying they thought he lost his mommy.  I assured them I was his mom and tried to calm J down.  We even went out to the car to get snack... which, now that I look back, went right by the loud construction vehicles and sent J further over the edge.  He kept covering his ears and eyes, and I wasn't sure what was going on. I think he's just super sound sensitive and that all scared him.  Anyway, we went back and tried to have snack but nothing was making J happier.  I finally called it and took them back to the car, and as soon as the doors closed, he was totally fine.  Alrighty then!  We went home for lunch and nap, and then picked up C from school.  The littles crashed hard, so they might have been tired too.  After school, they "watered the plants" for me, which involves taking cup after cup of water outside and dumping it on the plants/in the pool/on themselves, etc.  C did his last bit of homework, played his allotted screen time, and then joined them.  Fun day!


(6/5)  Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  C left for hockey as soon as I got home, and the littles and I got to sit down to watch some Chuck.  It's funny that J is so in to that show (all about construction vehicles), when he does NOT like loud noises.  Somebody is just like his older brother at that age!   

(6/6)  Work day for Dad & me, and Kathy had the kids.  Dad and I have started playing the "when will Placement call?" game.  I guessed 3p and Dad guessed 4p.  Both wrong.  Got a call at 2p.  Had an extra boy this weekend!  C was so excited!  Even though there was a significant age gap, it really didn't matter.  They're both 7 yr olds at heart.  The evening went pretty smoothly, all things considered.  Should be a fun weekend!

(6/7) This morning started at 6:30a and the whole house was up!  Weeee!  I was at Fred Meyer just about as soon as it opened to replenish my Nerf supplies.  There were video games, a Nerf fight, breakfast served with a big side of chaos, all before C left for a planned sleepover at 9am.  Our foster kiddo was super bummed, but I told him we'd still get to have some fun, and that C would return early the next day.  He played video games, interspersed with playing with all of our toys until after nap when we all packed in the car to head to the spray park.  He found a group of kids his own age to run with, and I kept about 3 eyes on everyone. That extra one comes in handy.  I treated us to ice cream on the way home, and then we built a pizza for dinner.  The littles played some more out on the deck, and our foster kiddo headed back to the video games.  We were told he'd be in heaven with what we have available. After the littles went to bed, we broke out the board games and had a heated game of Trouble and checkers.  He kept coming up with some crafty checkers rules, which made me laugh.  Hit the hay around 11p and was so.very.done.


And D is done.

(6/8) Yay!  Everyone slept in and the house was just getting up when I got back from my run.  We made breakfast, and our foster kiddo played some video games while we waited for C to come home.  After that, it was madness.  More games and activity!  D was in true D-saster form, and everything was frustrating and worth crying over.  Just try to imagine the noise level.  I packed up the oldest two and we went swimming.  So very nice to have a cheap and NICE resource close by!  Came home for lunch, and the littles had already gone down for a nap.  Bigs played mostly quietly while they were sleeping.  After nap, everyone went to the spray park.  D was focused on the playground, so I tailed him while Dad stayed with the other three in the water area.  Rounded everyone up after an hour or so & went home to change for dinner.  Ended up at a buffet with a little bit of everything.  There were squawks of "MORE YELLOW!" (Jello) and "YAY STRAWBERRIES!"  I think the littles liked it.  The bigs played outside when we got home, and I got the littles bathed, and turned a little TV on that they enjoy.  J had a fit when we tried to watch the Lego movie, so I gave in and put on Chuck when nobody was watching Legos.  We resumed watching the Lego Movie when it was time for the bigs to settle in.  Dad played some chess with our foster kiddo, and kiddo did really well!  And I have to say.... EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!! 


(6/9) Shew, I'm tired.  I'm rather glad to be going to work today.  Dad has the boys, C has school, and our foster kiddo goes to school and then back.  Wishing him well!


This weekend was exhausting for us. All that boy energy. And it is exhausting being so very *on* as a parent all of the time.  Is it nap time yet?

May 27th-June 2nd

D: SMILE!
He loves playing with flashlights and taking 'pictures' of himself

(5/27) Work day for Dad and me.  The kids normally go to Kathy's, but her boys were both sick.  BOO for germs!  Sarah graciously watched the twinsies for us, and I left work early to pick C up from school.  I then collected the twins & we spent a sunny afternoon hanging out.

(5/28) Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos.  I am done volunteering in C's classroom (sniff, sniff) for the year, so the littles and I had Nanan over for a visit.  She stayed through their nap, and had dinner with us.  The littles decorated the back deck with chalk and hammed it up.

(5/29) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  I came home in time for Dad & C to leave for hockey, only there was no hockey.  Ugh.  So home they came.  The littles assisted with pizza-eating.  J, by removing the tomatoes, and D, by taking the olives off my slices and eating them.  They're so helpful!

(5/30) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the kiddos.  We got a call to take in an extra kiddo for the weekend, so we hustled home, got dinner started... and then finished... and then the kiddos went to bed before she arrived.  We visited, got her settled, and watched part of a movie before turning in.

(5/31) Dad and the kiddos all were up super early, all except our extra.  She came down later, after breakfast had been made & inhaled. Nanan called and invited us up to have a picnic at the park.  That sounded perfect for a bright & sunny day.  We headed up, grabbed some lunch, and hit the park.  Wore everyone out, and the twins conked on the way home.  I put them down for a little bit of an extension of their nap when we got home, and they slept for another hour or so.  Enough time for us to finish the movie we started yesterday.  After they got up, we hit the spray park for some more fun.  D was his normal self, and was completely soaked within minutes.  J, though, was cracking me up.  He crouched down and reached out as far as he could to touch the water, then would run back to me so I could dry his hands.  LOL!  Neither twin enjoyed *leaving* the park when it was time, but D kept running off, and it was dinnertime.  We made pizzas when we got home and watched some TV to wind down from a busy day.  The twins were out within minutes of putting them down. C was not far behind.

(6/1)  Another early morning for the littler kids, and our extra again slept in.  After breakfast, I took the two older kids swimming, and Dad kept the twins.  We got home after the littles had gone down for their nap, so we made lunch and watched a little TV.  Then our extra and I went to Roller Derby!  That was awesome ~ I've never been, and neither had she, so it was a fun treat.  We got home late, but props to Walgreens for getting our pictures printed from this weekend so fast!  I hugged all the boys, who had already gone to bed.  Didn't get to spend much time with them today, but they reportedly had fun with Dad.

(6/2) Work day for me and Dad has the kids today.  C has school, and our extra goes back.  Sigh. But it was a fun weekend!