August 2011

August 1- braden's first day (EVER) at New Life Camp!!, played with the other three and had an 'at home' day, prepped kabobs and other dinner foods with cailey, games, danced with ephram, bubbles, lots of dot to dots for the girls, picked up sweet braden (who loved it) klick's over for a yummy summer dinner, kiddos played outside until bed.

LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing how ephram says, "gook at dat, mommy" or "gook at dis mommy" (i/o look at this or that). He has so much language (way above his age) but "gook" is my favorite work of his.

August 2- ran around the indoor track, watched the girls on the rock wall, pool with beth and kelly, time with my big girl while littlest two napped, picked up my super happy 'sugared up' boy, and back to the pool for swimteam and swim time with daddy.

random- ephram's been standing up to pee for a while now...just wanted to start doing it one day. and other than night time (knock on wood) hasn't had any accidents in a couple weeks...yay!!

August 3- hugged my happy NLC boy before he left, stayed home for a 'fun day' with the other three, popped popcorn/filled bowls with candy/and put in Fern Gully in for them to watch, played lots of mancala/old maid/and go fish, read "llama, llama, red pajama" for the 100th time this week to ephram:)/then listened to him 'read it' to me, put a ribbon on frank at e's request, swim team practice, poop in the locker room incident with a sick kinsey girl:(, and got lots of snuggles.

August 4- braden boy went to nlc, watched alex, notes of encouragement and thankfulness left all over the house by cailey:), dropped cailey off at zoe's for a playdate, went to beth's pool with kinsey and the two babies (had a blast), played with cailey during naptime, kids went to swim team and friends brought them home while kinsey played at Emily and Grace's, and listened to braden talk about all the fun he's having and the things he's learning at New Life Camp.

August 5- still in denial about it being august...and almost time for school, watched alex, had a fun day playing tons of mancala with the girls and 'to grandmother's house we go', read lots of books to ephram, did an "f" craft with the baby boys (put Five Flower stickers on F), baked brownie smores, kinsey did the big mosaics with cailey, ephram was DRY ALL NIGHT (yay!!), went to pick braden up at new life camp with the fam and the esh's!!, spent the evening watching canoeing/fishing/paddleboating/putt putt/playground/praise and worship, and catching up with dear friends.

August 6-woke up at 4am to the loudest thunder i've ever heard (shook the whole house for three hours), delayed rainy swim meet...last one, cheered on my swimmers and joked w/ brian, anthony and elizabeth, no pee for ephram in bed...yay!, cailey and braden played together outside while everyone else napped, ran errands with the fam (very laid back and FUN), school supply shopping and a trip to the mall.

August 7- great sermon at church, kiddos had their swim team banquet at the Y, swim time with the fam, races with anthony, slide with beth, dunked some big kids:), had a fun time together at the pool from 4-close!

August 8- fun pool day with speiers (and corbetts and klicks came too!), switched kiddos with kelly for playdates (she had little girls, i had big boys), boys had a blast building with legos/searching for bugs/eating brownie smores/building huge marble mazes, etc., sign ups for dance and gymnastics.

August 9- canceled pool day w/ corbetts and klicks b/c kinsey girl was sick with a bad cough/cold/wheezing, spent the day playing games, watching kiddos play with play doh/paint/do crafts, played more games, did lots of imaginary play with ephram and kinsey (doctor and restaurant), read tons of books, had a great talk with braden about adoption...and sending him his teddy bear as a baby, and refuel at church.

August 10- another 'at home' day because the car is getting a new transmission, did summer door art/fish crafts for hours with the kiddos, baked a yummy new dessert for them, played games together, watched grace and emily, kiddos did some giant puzzles, could listen to ephram talk all.day.long. and made my first trips to HT for super doubles!

August 11- watched alex, did crafts with the babies/big kids, lots of tot stuff (lacing, beads, pegs, nursery rhyme games, puzzles, etc.), baked cookies with cailey, 3 great HT sd trips, family errands, picked up brian's car, made dinner w/ the girls, afternoon of games with kiddos, and organized food pantries with braden.

while we were outside playing ephram asked if he could pee in the grass...so i let him:). learned a new skill:)

August 12- watched a&a, had a fun playdate at the corbetts(and great talk time with laura), baked cailey's cake, taught cailey and braden how to do laundry, dropped braden off at the williams for a sleepover, listened to kinsey read biscuit, got the girls ready for their first soccer practice of the season (kinsey's first ever:), did another super doubles run and missed my biggest boy.

LOVE how ephram says, "it diDn't" or "i diDn't" or "you diDn't" and enunciates it..and has the most serious look on his face. LOVE it!

August 13- canceled car wash for cailey and kinsey because of rain, decorated cailey's birthday cake, picked up braden from the sleepover, cleaned for the party, had an EXCITED cailey girl all day long...and she was counting down the hours, had excited braden and kinsey who got to have a sleepover at the klick's house, welcomed cailey's birthday party friends, and partied all evening with them/brian/and ephram while the other two had a BLAST at the klicks.

August 14- woke up to giggly girls who stayed up until 1am, they played hide and seek until it was time to go, took kalia and ashton with us to church, met marsie there, mom came!, ran errands with mom, read books to kiddos, cailey did puzzles with nonny, naps for all, and hung out with mom.

August 15- watched caden, went to the Y and ran(ish) 3, went to subway with mom and the kiddos, ran errands, played games with cailey, read with braden, played games with all after naptime (ephram played hey diddle diddle!), played outside in the cooler weather, blogged, went to braden's scout pool party with the fam, and watched rizzoli and isles episodes with mom.

August 16- ran 2 with cailey, ran tons of errands with mom and the kiddos, played games, baked cookies, played more games, read books, did airplane with the kiddos, had a yummy chicken dinner (thankfully mom cleaned the livers out..eww:), went to the mall with mom, and played word feud with mom.

August 17- haircuts for all three boys, lots of poop accidents from ephram..sigh, k&b did watercolors, ephram did stickers, played lots of games, lots of love from braden, laundry, packed for the beach, laughed a lot, took youngest three to Lucas's party at Rainbow playgrounds, errands with cailey and mom, laughed and played tricks with cailey, and had a pillow fight with the girls.

August 18- ran 2.5 with cailey, packed the van, played deejay in the van on the way to the beach with brian/brandon/kiddos, beach time!, kiddos played and had a blast, family dinner (every night), and laughed a lot.

August 19- beach till naps (everyday), pool, took big kids to museum to see babar exhibit, took boys to see fighter jets, super long monopoly game for the kiddos and daddies, carriage rides, playground, and watched soul surfer.

August 20- toured Atalaya castle, went to the beach where the babies finally LOVED the water, went to the nature center so the kiddos could touch stingrays and horseshoe crabs, monopoly for the boys, braden was beyond brave while having a deep splinter dug out of his foot, went to take family pics on the beach, and stayed out super late at broadway at the beach while the kiddos rode rides.

August 21- beach...SO fun!, pool with kiddos while brian packed, said goodbye:(, walked around barefoot landing, stopped at Mcd's, played 'would you rather' and the license plate game in the van, drove through lightning storms, and came home to be greeted by nonny!

August 22- sang lots of happy birthday to cailey, met williams for lunch at cfa where they had lunch/ice cream/mini milkshakes, played, sang more, laundry, house back in order, more playing, met corbetts at chuck e cheese to celebrate cailey and stacy's bdays, took cailey out to eat w/ just mommy and daddy while the other played with the williams, walked around the mall w/ her, did presents, and sang one more time.

August 23- can't get over ephram's language...amazing!, first official day of school (even though it's day 2), brian left for Seattle for 4 days, pretty sure i broke my toe on ephram's bulldozer, had an EARTHQUAKE while i was sitting in my bed...then standing on the floor..everything shook and rattled, ate dinner at beth's...awesome to catch up, then came home and went to bed.

several times ephram said, "i have a tummic ache" and then would snuggle...then go potty. then he said "i ate my gum" i said "that's not good. we don't eat gum" and he said "now i have a fever!" and held his head! we haven't talked about fevers in months so it was pretty amazing to me!

August 24- school, cooked a new recipe (spaghetti pizza), had the williams over for dinner (hubbys are out of town), kiddos did make your own pizzas/trampoline/just dance kids, read lots of books to ephram and the kiddos, fudge for dessert, early bedtimes.

August 25- short school day (yay for diligence!), watched alex, did science collages (mammals/reptiles/amphibians), played games one on one, read tons of books to the kiddos, did magnet games, did make your own ice cream sundaes with the kiddos, more games, trampoline fun, enjoyed watching the kiddos make up games and search for coconuts (aka acorns) outside together, popcorn/movie, and lots of snuggles.

August 26- watched alex, did mini school (eng, spelling, math), took the girls to their first american heritage girls (which they LOVED), ephram did fine without a nap, went to soccer practice only to find it canceled b/c it was supposed to rain, stayed to play on the playground with the klick's, read TONS of books to the kiddos, and greeted brian (who came back from Seattle) just in time for the kids bedtimes.

August 27- slept in, hurricane irene canceled soccer games, cailey had auditions for kings kompany, three oldest went to Emily Ruth's ice skating party, lots of playing for the kiddos, and a nice quiet evening.

August 28- great church service, lunch at mall w/ martins and friends, first night of awana, math lesson with daddy, date with brian, connect party at journey, hugged my puggle, two sparkies, and tnt-er!

August 29- braden's first training run, cailey's NEW piano lesson, school, gymnastics for kinsey and braden with friends, cailey's first hip hop class, crazy rain/hail storm leading to a rainbow, fun games with the kiddos, and chinese:).

August 30- school, braden's piano lesson, welch's came for the day/night (YAY!:), great time with laura, loved watching the little kids actually PLAY this time, r&c babysat, lots of outside time, precious watching cailey lead them in duck duck goose including ephram, heard ephram exclaim, "Who's gonna pray?!" with hands lifted after hearing a firetruck then proceed to pray, baked cookies, renewed feeling:).

oh...and hannah thought it would be a good idea to climb on the girls dresser and take a fish out of one sconce and transfer it to the other. it ended up falling behind the dresser and died...only to be discovered as missing hours later...dead.

August 31- said goodbye to laura and the kiddos, did some school, had hilemans over for a fun trampoline/hide n seek/lego/silly band/talk time/bug hunting playdate, more school, trampoline time for daddy and ephram, watched the two youngest paint masterpieces, kiddos chose to eat dinner outside in the back, watched cailey read to ephram at night, and took a bath with my baby boy who was COVERED with mosquito bites all over his back.

Beach Shoot and Broadway at Night

after our photo shoot on the beach (which was after a big storm...SO thankful it cleared up!) we took the kids to broadway at the beach so they could ride on their favorite rides. ephram was big enough to ride some this year too!:)

the three oldest rode the pirate ship but kinsey did NOT like it. then they rode the swings and the catepillar ride, carousel, and ephram rode a whale boat ride. they had so much fun!

Atalaya Castle, Beach, and Sting Rays!

The whole time we were at the beach the kids took turns riding in each other's cars so they could be together (usually we either had boys OR girls) but one day they all squished in our van:) fun times!


We went to Atalaya Castle and a different state park for the beack this day. The kids learned all how sculptures were made and toured the castle seeing what life was like for the owners. Great History lesson!

afterwards we walked to the beach for more ocean fun...

i went in the water with the kids and boogie boarder this day and ended up losing my sunglasses in the rough waves! it was fun though:) i love the water but am nervous about sharks. this is also the day that ephram started to LOVE the ocean and spent most of his time laying on his tummy waiting for it to crash on him. he was VERY brave and even when he'd get completely covered he would just smile/laugh and do it again!

The kids had a science lesson when we visited a nature center on the way out. They were able to touch stingrays and horseshoe crabs...they LOVED it! they also saw snakes, alligators, and fish.

The non nappers went to the pool when we got home and while running back home in the grass Braden got something stuck in his foot. He told me it hurt but then went off to play Monopoly again so I forgot about it. After the game he got down and limped over. Turns out he had something stuck VERY DEEP and it needed to come out. This would have been a trip to the ER if it had been any of the other kids (or me) but I gave him a lollipop, the ipad to watch a show and play games on and started praying. OH MY WORD. he was beyond brave. can't believe it honestly. Brandon's mom is a nurse but it took a long time of cutting and digging before it came out. He winced a couple of times and inhaled deeply once as if in pain but that was pretty much it..the whole time! SO VERY BRAVE!! and a high pain tolerance. thankful we didn't end up having to go to the ER!

they were waiting patiently for the patient to be done:).