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.