Sunday, July 31, 2011

July 2011

July 1-went on a walk/run around the lake with mom and the kiddos, had ephram nap early so we could take the kiddos to a FUN outside pool (since the indoor one is closed for summer), sent e to run errands and 'help' mom...came home to them reading together:), played soccer/mother may i/tag with the kiddos, and stayed up to wait for brian:)!

July 2-went out with mom while brian took the kiddos to the castle park for the morning, played with ephram and layed down with him at nap time while brian and the kiddos went swimming all afternoon, hung out with mom, sat in the yard talking to dad with ephram, played connect 4 with the middle two while brian played mother may i with whoever wasn't doing the board game, and played lots of wordfeud with mom.

July 3- ran errands with the fam and nonny, put out the slip n' slide for the kiddos, played games, listened to poppy play the piano and danced with the kiddos (LOVE), read books, and loved on the babies.

July 4- went on a 1.6 mile run then walked around the lake with mom, went on a quick date with brian, took lots of july 4th pics, went to the castle park with the fam to play lots, chase, climb, surprise them with ice cream, and watch the fireworks.

July 5- went with everyone (minus poppy) to Tyson's corner to surprise the girl's with a visit to the American Girl Store, surprised Braden with the LEGO store, watched ephram go on a train ride with daddy, window shopped, got cailey her flash master prize...earrings!, got her a new turquoise backpack, watched the little's play in the play area, ate lunch out, napped in the afternoon with everyone, and said goodbye to Brian after dinner.

July 6- went to RIO with mom and the kiddos for time at the bookstore (where she bought everyone a book), lunch, shoe shopping, playing on the playground, ice cream cones at home, lots of playing, kinsey sewed a pillow for Ivy with nonny, played games, witnessed LOTS of hide and seek and hide and seek tag, taught the oldest to play 'tricker' and played more wordfeud with mom.

July 7- said goodbye to MD, drove home, unpacked, played, jumped on the trampoline, read (all w/ the kiddos of course), realized the reason we came back (swim team) was canceled b/c of a nonexistent storm, and got ready for cow day.

July 8- early swim team practice, COW APPRECIATION DAY so LOTS of Chick Fil A, thunderstorms, snuggles, face painting by tricia, lost keys/found keys, newest thing...facetime with nonny lots:), facepaint craziness, cfa for dinner w/ the eshlemans and lots of laughing.

July 9- early swim meet where the kiddos had pr's in freestyle, showers outside:), nerf wars, just dance, sock fights, emily/grace/braeden here for the afternoon and night for a sleepover, trampoline fun, homemade cookies for all, 101 dalmatians, legos, electric trains/helicopters, lots of giggling, hide n' seek, and fun for all!

July 10- church with all the friends (7 kiddos) plus tony and marsie, flat tire on the van, sweet friends to help us get the kids home and others to help with the tire, naps, chores, playtime, relaxing, games with kinsey, four new tires:(, lots more playing.

July 11- VBS week! at mt. vernon, 1 on 1 time with ephram spent doing puzzles/reading/acting out books/playing/chasing/giggling/for three hours:)! coloring with kinsey and ephram, reading with the big kids, listening to them read, sweet and sour chicken night:), and hide n' seek.

July 12- braden ran 1 mile with brian, VBS, more playtime with ephram...precious! his favorite thing to do was write with a pencil on a pad and he did it for 1 1/2 hours!, kiddos spent the afternoon napping or doing review work, lots of playing, brian ran while the big kids biked 3 miles for their triathlon training in the 110 degree heat at 7pm, played with kinsey and ephram, and surprised the girls in their rooms after bedtime with snuggles and tickles.

July 13- while the two oldest were out running with brian, ephram pooped in his underwear (i was sleeping) and kinsey cleaned it out and put him on the potty by HERSELF!! little mama!, chick fil a breakfast treats for the kiddos with all the free q's they got on cow day, VBS, playtime with my little man, inside/at home day, grace and emily over to play, swimteam practice was stormed out so they went to Bayleaf for Kidzone, lost hat at VBS, and lots of reading.

July 14- watched alex, played trains/beads/etc. with the baby boys, ran then walked at the Y with Kelly, treated ephram to a milkshake for staying DRY, brought Ashton home with us after VBS for playtime, kiddos played board games/hide n seek/chase, watched Grace and Emily, caught up on blogs and did enough until august!, broke my 'one post a day' rule so i could catch up, and sent all the kiddos to swimteam practice (where they played sharks and minnows the whole time) with Brian. Ephram LOVED swimming with daddy and talked about going all evening...Brian said he had a lot of fun:).

July 15- love hearing, "Guys? Guys! I'm coming up dere (there)" when the big kids run up to play hide n seek and ephram follows them:), watched alex, went to beth's for the morning, watched the kiddos in their VBS show, had ashton over, and crashed with the kiddos and some books:).

July 16- ran 3 with Kelly and Beth EARLY, had a great time with the family at Blue Jay point with the scouts watching rockets launch/eating lunch/hiking as a fam/playground/and watching the kids wade in the water...such a fun family day, went to the TRI carb up dinner for the kiddos with the klicks and the kids played on the playground there, and drove the course.

July 17- woke up super early to cheer cailey and braden on for their triathlon, ran around cheering and taking pics, had many proud mama moments (including when they ran with others to encourage them), went to the kids exchange for 1/2 off day, jason's deli to celebrate our runners, naps for mommy, kinsey, and ephram, cailey played at Grace's all day, braden built a buzz lightyear LEGO set, and cleaned up together.

July 18- had a sick sick cailey girl who threw up all night, stayed home and took care of her while the others played.

July 19- ran on the treadmill with cheryl/kelly, kiddos climbed rock wall (had a BLAST!), swimming with friends, braden went to caden's for a playdate, naps for the two youngest, met klick's at cfa for kids night, saw some cute/pretty face paint including ephram's first time...a doggie face!

July 20- spent the morning at the lawley's for playtime until naptime:), cailey stayed to play for the afternoon, pasta night, puzzles and blocks with ephram, read with kinsey, swimming with daddy, and swim team practice.

July 21- swim team practice, watched A&A, worked out, played with the kiddos all day on this HOT HOT day, hung out with cheryl while kiddos played after pickup (2:00), brian took girls to play soccer while boys stayed cool:).

July 22- swim team practice, watched A&A, went to the pool with Laura C. (FUN!), snuggled ephram after a bad face plant on the concrete:(, had a sleeping alex on me in the pool, traded kiddos for a playdate with laura (bryce came with braden and kinsey went with stacey), watched the boys play outside in the 100+ temps looking for bugs...for hours!, taco night!, packed sweet cailey up for her week at aunt camp, read the blog book with cailey, found ephram napping on braden's TOP bunk, and gave out cupcakes from cheryl:).

July 23- early and HOT swim meet at kraft, sprayed hot kiddos while cheering on the biggest two, cailey had a PR in freestyle...25 sec!, laughed a lot with elizabeth (white), sweated... a lot, gave hugs to cailey who left for aunt camp for a week!!, went out with the rest of the fam to the mall for a much needed haircut/shopping/play place time, and played lots of wordfeud.

cailey spent the day at the lake for a birthday party.

July 24- church with marsie/tony, relaxing afternoon, kinsey had a movie date with brian and watched Lion King, went to carter's 2nd birthday party, raced Brandon (lost) and Brian (won) in swimming, witnessed some chicken fights, and had a great time fellowshipping with sweet friends.

cailey had fun at church, playing hide and seek and other games with rebecca all day, and eating ice cream at wendy's.

July 25- worked out with kelly, took kiddos to McD's for playtime and ice cream sundaes, made an ice cream cake and kabobs (YUM) while braden made a blueberry coffee cake...on his own!, listened to thunder, hosted bryce for a sleepover, watched the kabobs get devoured, watched the boys have a blast playing with dinosaur eggs/bugs/magnetic tangrams, and listened/read to kinsey read.

cailey's still having a great time at rebecca's and drama camp. today she played in the backyard pool and ate a brownie pie dessert that was, "super yummy"! it's so funny to me that other than playing/drama camp the biggest thing she wants to tell me about is all the yummy food:)>

July 26- blueberry coffee cake for breakfast, more playing, hosted corbett's here for playdate, played color sorting games and puzzles with ephram, watched sweet kinsey play dress up while braden built castles, had an at home relaxing day, welcomed the williams boys for a sleepover..yay!, watched grace and emily, witnessed nerf gun fights, trampoline, wii, movie night (Cars), and made a super yummy dinner of spaghetti casserole that was devoured!

July 27- woke to a house full of boys:) (and kinsey of course:), picked up braden and harrison from swim team practice and went to run with kelly and beth, watched ashton and alex all day, kiddos did crayon resist water colors/played babies/chased/etc., packed kinsey up for her first alone sleepover with caroline, traded and got caden, played UNO with the boys, took them to Bayleaf for a fun water night, went on a date with ephram and brian to get him a new doggie and go to CFA (his choice...so fun!), and set up a movie for the two big boys.

Cailey's highlight was getting a slushie from McD's:). LOVE and miss that girl!

July 28- taught caden and braden a fun new game, caden went to bb camp, watched A&A, had the klick's and conards over for a playdate, got BIG snuggles and smiles from my Kinsey girl who had a blast at her sleepover with Caroline, (they cont. playing all morning), ashton and braden played lots of games, watched emily, reece came over for a sleepover, the boys had lots of time to play games/play wii/eat pizza and ice cream cake/watch a movie/ and play with toys while ephram was reading books/'writing'/playing games and kinsey girl was at ANOTHER sleepover at Ashton's house! (Last minute but she was thrilled:)! Another night of all boys.

July 29- watched A&A, Brian worked from home so I could go to China Grove to see Laura and get my big girl and watch her Little Mermaid Show without kiddos, got a couple hours of chat time with laura before hugging my sweet BIGGEST girl after a week of not seeing her, watched her fun show, hugged lots of littles, surprised cailey with auntie anne coming to her show (YAY), drove w/o music so cailey and i could catch up for two hours, dropped her off at her first lock in...all night!, and crashed in bed.

July 30- big girl came home from her lock in and had SO much fun!, got her to sleep 2 hours (though it would have been much longer if i let her), ran errands with the oldest and youngest, played 7 little words with brian, watched the kiddos play in the sunshine rain, movie day, braden did a 300 piece puzzle by himself!, emily and grace came to play, and had a nice at home saturday.

July 31- had a sleepy girl who slept 15 hours and only awoke because of noise, church, games with brian, got drugstore deals, had a rainy thundery gray day, found sweet notes all around the house from cailey, kiddos played all day, cailey gave ephram piggy back rides, and played games.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

playdate with zoe


We met Zoe (and her mom/Sydney) at the pool one day for a playdate and brought her home with us for the afternoon.


The girls played and entertained themselves for hours! They did crafts, played a couple games, but mostly hung out and talked...Cailey called it a "big girl playdate".

turtle time


Brian found this guy on our driveway after we got home from a swim meet on Saturday and the kids fun playing with him all day. (We knew it was a HIM because Marsie told us how to tell the difference:). Ephram wasn't sure what to think but finally...at the end of the day he was ready to hold it. The other kids had the turtle going on all kinds of adventures...but it spent the majority of the day outside in a box. This was definitely the fastest turtle we've ever had and walked super fast.


Random June/July Pics


ice cream at nonny and poppy's and big dangle earrings which
cailey has started wearing


pool fun, crazy wig, and a haircut


in a blink of an eye they'll be driving...for now they just play:)


our kids always figure out some way to have fun with a laundry basket. they could spend hours connecting ropes and pulling/racing with them. this day they decided carrying ephram in it was fun enough:). the other pic was taken after the pool one day when ephram and alex were completely conked out in the van.


sweet boy was sleepy and waiting for daddy to come home
in his percy underwear...on his doggie


watching sweet kinsey on the jumpy for her gotcha day and ephram taking a ride on the boat.


this was taken at swimming lessons. cailey would 'babysit' the boys while we showered everyone else. she was great at reading to them, singing, doing nursery rhymes and giving them food. the other pic was taken when daddy was at the store with us and could push what i like to call the 'daddy shopping cart'.


love listening to cailey play paino!


sprinkler/baby pool fun with some cake thrown in

ephram's not crazy about getting wet in sprinklers/sprays and is JUST like his big brother when it comes to being freezing when it's 100 degrees out. if there's water near he's gonna chatter and turn blue.


ephram fell down and got a boo boo but sissy always comes to his rescue:) glad i had my camera that day!


drivin' his tractor


I call ephram my little collector aka hoarder:). He LOVES to fill bags (any kind of bag) with stuff (any kind of stuff..trash he finds, paper, pencils, ipods, school work, cars...you name it!) and carry them around. I cleaned out the girls closet the other day and empty backpacks, totes, grocery bags, and purses that were just filled with 'stuff':)! He loves his bags!


chillin' and cheesin' it up




this was a SUPER hot day and the kiddos had been playing outside in the sprinklers all day...they just HAD to have an ice cream break with the neighbors! audrey was visiting too so that made it even more fun!


ephram got a new pair of sunglasses that cailey accidentally stepped on...didn't phase him!
he still loved wearing them:)


my sweet girl with me after getting over 8 inches cut off my hair


kinsey and daddy having a movie date...watching The Lion King. she sat with him
the entire time!

Friday, July 29, 2011

dressing baby??



We were about to go out and play and ephram needed some pants and underwear on. (During potty training). Cailey said she'd put them on. Then she came to me with a girly ephram that I just had to get a picture of! It made me remember days of my baby kinsey but daddy was sure to change his clothes immediately following the picture. Thanks for getting him dressed, Cailey girl:).

Thursday, July 28, 2011

up...and down:)


Ephram's at the age where he LOVES escalators. Cailey and I were both afraid of them when we were younger but the others always loved taking 'rides' on them. Lately when it's just the kiddos and I at the mall the two oldest help him while I have the stroller. He GRINS so big and says, "whee" I just had to document it:).

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

workin' at the carwash!


after the 5k we all came home to wash cars...big and small:)! the kids LOVE getting sprayed (well...maybe not ephram and kinsey...it makes them both scream...and cry:(


the older two could have stayed there for hours washing all their toys...and so would the younger ones if they didn't get so wet! this is a great outside activity to do with the kids that is fun for the whole family and it gets done quicker!


soaking wet car washer!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

take me out to the ball game!


Braden's scout troop (along with many others) had an opportunity to go see a Durham Bull's baseball game then camp out on the field. He was VERY excited about it and we talked about it a lot the weeks leading up to it. Since his other camping trip was rained out he was most excited to get to sleep in a tent...at the baseball game.

SADLY (oh so sadly) after eating and walking around with friends for a while it started to rain...hard. They stayed for a good while to see if it was going to stop so they could watch the game but finally gave up and came home. Turns out the field got WAY too wet so they couldn't camp out:(. He's such a positive person and said he had fun but I felt bad for him that his second camp out in a row was rained out! We're praying now that the next one doesn't get rained out!


not a good sign in the background...but he's still happy!