Monday, August 25, 2014

August 19th-25th


(8/19) Work day for Dad & me, visit for the girls, and Kathy had the rest of the kids.  Our younger girl was a disaster today - she gets really amped up for visits, and she was coming off of a sleepover with her friend.  I hear it was quite a challenge to get the girls out the door. She missed her check-in when I returned home too and won an early in for the evening prize.  The middles were really edgy today, and I was grateful when bedtime arrived.  Our teen had orientation at school today and came in all excited for all the stuff she has planned.  We are excited for her too! 


(8/20) Busy, busy day today.  This morning I ran C in for this cough that refuses to go away.  The Dr. wrote us a script to fill by Friday if it didn't clear up.  Then we came home and Nanan arrived to watch the littles while I ran C to his dentist appointment.  I brought along our younger girl and told them both I'd buy them lunch if they behaved themselves.  They did, so we stopped for lunch and they ate while we drove over to Granddad's real quick to help him move a cabinet.  Turned out my brother was in town and had beaten me to it, but it was nice to visit with everyone for a bit before heading back home!  Nanan took C home with her and the girls were in and out all day.  All was well until I looked out the window to see our younger kiddo whizzing by on a bike without her helmet and her playtime came to an abrupt end.  Sorry chica, that's not a rule you can forget. It was 8p anyway, so I called it a day and had her go in and scrub her teeth and get ready for bed.  The teen spent the day shopping.  First she got to go for some goodies for her locker with Nanan and then went out clothes shopping with Grandma.  She had a great time and came home with lots of fun things.

Hangin' with Biebs at the dentist
(8/21) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  I had some errands to run after work and before Zumba, so didn't get home until after 7:30p.  I didn't have time for much more than tucking everyone in and reading some stories before the younger four were in bed.


(8/22) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the herd.  The girls are off this weekend to their sister's house for a backyard campout with all their siblings.  So awesome of their sister's foster mom to host them all!  Work let out early, so I got to spend the afternoon with my favorite men and had them fed before Granddad got there.  He came over to watch the boys while I attended a training this evening.  I told Granddad that grandparent rules applied and to let the boys stay up if he liked.  They had a good time. 


(8/23) Fun day for me!  I got up early and went out to the Run A Muk race.  My plan was to do the 5k since I haven't done a lot in the way of training lately.  Grandma and my sister broke themselves though, so I swapped bibs with Grandma and ran the 10k with my dad.  After the race, we walked back to Granddad's and had a pancake and egg breakfast.  Yuuum!  We visited for a few hours more and then I wandered back home where Nanan had the boys.  I talked Nanan's ear off and she didn't escape nearly as soon as she wanted too.  Oops.  Dinner tonight was a massive fail, and since we had to run to the store anyway, I treated the boys to ice cream.  It hits the dairy, chocolate, and peanut butter food groups, right?  Heh.  Even sugared up, we still managed to have a very nice evening. 


(8/24) We all slept in today, which was heavenly.  I took the boys over to Sarah's after breakfast so we could walk to the park, while the big boys rode their bikes.  We returned around lunch, I fed the littles and then put them down for a nap.  I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch and fell asleep for a bit.  I had to return C's Ninja Turtle sweatshirt because the zipper wasn't working, and ended up at Kohl's ALL BY MYSELF.  Woo!  I cleaned out their clearance section and then came home.  I double-checked the pickup time for the girls and discovered I needed to grab them in 20 minutes. I ran out to grab them and bring them home.  We had dinner, watched some TV and then the bigger kids went out to play and visit with friends, and I put the littles down for the night.  Sounds like the girls had quite the adventure. And the break was helpful too.    


(8/25) Work day for me and Dad has the kiddos.  Last full week of summer before school starts.  Eeps! Did everyone's summer fly by?

Monday, August 18, 2014

August 12th-18th


 (8/12)  Work day for Dad and me, and Sarah had the herd at the house.  The middles decided they were ninjas and they needed to protect the entire neighborhood.  I didn't see any shady characters when I came home, so they must have done a good job.  Kiddos and I had a nice night.  Tuesdays always zoom by too fast. 


(8/13) Work day for Dad and I had the kiddos.  Today was a big team meeting between all care givers, social workers, and everyone involved with the girls, and we conferenced in.  Got some really tough news and I was a wreck after.  I took all that emotion and decided we all needed some retail therapy so took the herd out to terrorize Kohl's.  Oh my gosh, did we score for the big kids!  We "saved" $450!  Got everyone outfitted for school and stayed within our budget.  Huge kudos to our cashier - she was super patient with us and really worked hard to get the best deals for us.  I need to call in and thank them!  The littles are pretty adamant that they don't want to be kept in the stroller, and J kept taking off when we would stop.  I had my iPod and phone though, so let them take selfies for the trip and they had a great time!  Them staying busy freed me up to help the bigs.  We stopped for dinner and delicious (ice cream) after and then went home.  Dad came home too so we were able to talk.  Some changes coming... And yeah, a really tough, tough day.  I'll share more later.


(8/14)  Work day for me and Dad had the kids.  The teen was super frustrated with the prices all being so high for her clothes yesterday, so we decided on thrift store shopping this evening.  She scored big-time!  We got back so late that Dad had the rest of the kids in bed.  The teen had a friend in to show off all her new stuff, and then we ran her friend home before we settled in for the night. 


(8/15) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the kiddos.  Dad got the teen all registered for school and the supplies purchased.  One more thing to check off our list!  Things at home went mostly smoothly, so that was good. The teen took off for a sleepover at a friend's house so it was just the four younger kiddos at home.  I had the TV all to myself tonight after they went to bed - WOOT! 


(8/16) Today we went to a back-to-school thing where they were supposedly handing out school supplies.  They ended up running out, but we scored lunch, balloon animals, and had a nice afternoon running around Snohomish with Grandma & Granddad.  When I asked the littles if they would like some 'delicious,' all the kids thought that sounded like a great idea!  We went to the Snohomish Pie Company and shared a couple of slices.  Mmm!   After we got home, the teen called and said she wanted to go.  Little late, kiddo.  We'd already been and come home while they were doing what teens do best: sleeping in!  Everyone was back home for dinner, and our younger girl talked me into a slumber party with her friend.  We agreed on our house and so her friend and her mom came over with a bazillion stuffed animals.  The teen couldn't deal and finagled another night away at a friend's.  The girls took party in slumber party to heart and were up til around midnight, and then again around 3:30a for water.  Other than lots of reminders that it was bedtime, they really did well. 


(8/17) I caught a run with Sarah before Dad left for fantasy football. The younger kiddos and I then had the place to ourselves for the day. Mid-morning we packed up our girl's friend and walked her home, then came back so the littles could play out in the yard.  The big kiddos were in and out all day, C got invited on an overnight with his friend, and our younger girl ended up at the lake with her friend for the afternoon, leaving the teen, the littles, and us for the smallest family dinner ever. 


(8/18) Work day for me and Dad has the kiddos.  C will return sometime today and our younger girl leaves for a sleepover at her friend's house.  Weeeeeee!

Monday, August 11, 2014

August 5th-11th


(8/5) Work day for Dad and me and Kathy had the kiddos.  C has hockey camp every day this week and the girls had their visit, so they were all away for part of the day.  C is really enjoying camp.  It's hard and he comes home exhausted, but this was definitely a great activity for him!  They have all ages together and I think that helps him work that much harder to keep up with the big kids.  So today was kind of crazy with all the schedules and everyone was on the last shred of sanity by the end, but we survived and had a decent evening. 


(8/6)  Work day for Dad and I had the kids.  I hit a Pump class early this morning for the first time in forever.  You may need to pass the WD-40 later.  Ouch.  I came home and went back to sleep and caught another few hours before the house got up.  We spent the morning outside in the sandbox and after the littles went down for a nap, I got some time to read.  It was rudely interrupted by drama which caused me to pull out my mom voice and give the whole neighborhood some rules.  Yaaaay.  Thankfully that was the excitement for the day, and the rest of the evening went smoothly. 


(8/7) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  I went to dinner tonight with Nanan and my brother to celebrate our birthdays.  We went out to Anthony's and sat out on the deck and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.  I got home late and missed most of the day with the kids, but it was nice to have a relaxing dinner where I didn't have to share anything. 


(8/8) Work day for Dad and me and Kathy had the kiddos. It was a rough day for our middle kiddo with some stellar choices.  She was keyed way, way up tonight because we were headed to the pool for "Wipeout" night (inflatable swim).  I had two teen aged tag-a-longs since Grandma & Granddad came to stay with the littles.  I told them they were welcome to keep the little guys up until we returned.  I'm glad they did since I brought home sundaes and sugared them up before putting them to bed.  I'm mean like that. Our oldest decided on a sleepover at a friend's house, so I had a mostly quiet house to myself after the kiddos went to bed. 


(8/9)  We had a park date this morning.  Our oldest girl called right as we pulled up to let me know she wasn't feeling well and wanted one of us to come get her. Once home, I pulled the bike out for our middle girl to discover a pancake-flat tire AGAIN.  Grr.  About the only happy critters today were the twinsies.  We stayed at the park until it was lunch/nap time.  I took the littles home and got them situated, then kicked the middles out to work on their attitudes, and headed out myself to get the lawn mowed.  The littles were having a party upstairs and not sleeping, so I figured, why not!  Once they finally woke up, I set up the pool for them and the sprinkler for the middles.  We stayed out until dinner, then went inside to cook and eat.  I took the littles up for a hose down (bath) and after I put them to bed, discovered the middles out playing in the dirt, so they moved up bath night too. 


(8/10) Laid-back Sunday.  I took the girls to church this morning, and we bummed around until then.  After we got back, it was time for lunch and the littles to "nap."  And by nap, I mean mattress flipping and jumping on the board beneath.  It took them a while to go down, but before they went to sleep the middles had exhausted the last of my patience and got themselves kicked out to terrorize the neighborhood and get out of my hair for a bit.  I kicked myself out as well and went for a long walk.  I returned to discover our dog had found the pair of little boy sandals that got left out over night and chowed down, so had to run out to replace those.  Then we had a phone visit, dinner, and the bigs went ice skating with Dad.  It was so nice to have some time with just my littles.  We shared some delicious, called Nanan, and suggested she have "a-licious" too.


(8/11) Both of us were supposed to work today since Dad had a training, but it had gotten cancelled and nobody bothered to let anyone know. So we had Sarah over at our house at the crack of dawn, and everything for this to all work, annnnnd GRRR.  Happy Monday indeed.

Monday, August 4, 2014

July 29th-August 4th


(7/29) Happy Anniversary to my hubby & me! We've officially been together longer than we've been apart.  Here's to another lucky 13!  Dad had to work day, but the rest of us had plans to meet the grandparents at the beach for a picnic.  I brilliantly sunscreened everyone, but totally forgot about my back. I was a little crispy tonight.  We had lots of fun and topped a yummy lunch off with ice cream, and then headed home too sugared up for the littles to sleep... but it was worth a shot! 


(7/30) Nanan came today to watch the littles so I could take the bigs to Jetty Island. That was a lot of fun- the tide was very low so the beach stretched on forever.  Everybody swam, and hunted crabs, clams, and one of the kids even caught a shrimp!  We came home full of sand and were sunburned, because once again I forgot about someone's back. To be fair, we sunscreened and then she took off her jacket later.  She was pretty miserable tonight with it though.  Sorry, kiddo. 


(7/31)  Dad had the day off, so we ran around doing normal Thursday things and then had the kiddos converge at Sarah's house so Dad and I could go to the Steakhouse for a belated anniversary dinner tonight.  We had the place to ourselves and were serenaded.  Fun!  It was a very much needed night away from it all. 

 

(8/1) Happy Birthday to me!  I thought about leaving the kiddos with a sitter and taking the day, but opted instead to just stay home.  We've been pretty busy lately, which is fun, but it's nice not to have plans sometimes too.  The big kids were in and out today and the littles and I had lots of backyard sandbox time.


(8/2) My baby brother turned 30 today.  I'm not sure when he passed me, since I'm still 29.  We spent a relaxing day bumming around the house until it was time to head to his party.  Grandma watched the kiddos so Granddad and I could go.  We had thunder, lightning, and hail at the house but up north it was 80° and clear.  I had lots of fun, and it sounds like Grandma did too! 


(8/3)  I took the big kiddos sailing today!  We agreed we'd only go out if it was calm, since our kiddos have a tendency to get seasick.  They did fine and only had a few tummy rumbles when we were going in circles looking for a missing crab pot.  Sadly we never did find it.  I'm betting it probably had all the crabs.  We went to the grandparents' for dinner ~ since we only caught two crab, we all got a taste of that and had fish from the store rather than the ocean.  We caught a lot of seaweed today, that we could have had for dinner, though the kids were pretty adamant that we not save any of that.


(8/4) And now back to our regularly scheduled chaos of work and kiddos.  Reality.  Please pass the coffee.