July 2012

July 1- cleaned, cleaned, cleaned!!, finished packing for MD but got a call from mom saying the derecho (aka land hurricane) knocked their power out so we couldn't come today, later heard from mom that she was coming b/c power wasn't coming back until the 6th, surprised the kiddos w/ her, started feeling achy/stuffy/yucky..thinking i caught it from e, ephram is STILL sick and coughing a ton at night/nap, watched the olympic trials w/ the fam, had a crazy hail storm that we all watched, brian took the oldest three to the Y fireworks while ephram and i went to bed super early and mom watched tv.

July 2- had a rough night and woke up too sick to go to MD so mom decided to take Kinsey home with her for fun (kinsey was THRILLED!!), sweet ephram was very sick with a fever/cough/cold/runny eyes, rested the whole day while cailey and braden played, took 5 baths to help with achy-ness, oldest two went to swim team practice and finally slept all night.

Kinsey- went out for lunch on the way home with nonny, played lots of games, went on a walk with poppy, more games, played piano, and crashed.

July 3- another sick day, three kiddos played outside in a bubble bath pool all morning, made a fruit/veggie platter for the kids to eat outside w/ toothpicks for fun, and cut out first watermelon of the season, and decided to go to mom and dad's.

Kinsey- went walking with mom and rosie, went to the movies to see Madagascar, went to the library, out to McD's for lunch, played with poppy and nonny, and played games.

July 4- kinsey and mom walked, woke up and got great snuggles from my kinsey girl (who I've learned is a HOMEbody and missed her mommy:), brian took the three oldest on a run, had a fun day of playing together, went to the fireworks in Frederick as a fun family adventure, gatorade:), enjoyed gorgeous scenery and great fireworks!

July 5- kinsey woke up with a red/sandpaper like mess all over her face and took benadryl for the itching all day, blackberry picking, indoor pool together, played tons of games, monopoly for daddy and the three oldest, lots of games with just ephram, nonny/poppy time, pretzel from amish place for lunch, and talked to matt.

ephram- loves to play "membery" (memory) and "fribee" (frisbee) with me:)..oh...and he missed the potty and ended up wetting his pants/underwear and snuck upstairs to change!! he came down in new clothes but i knew immediately. first sneaky thing he's done.

July 6- kinsey still had the red face, brian worked from mom and dad's all day, ran errands with mom and the three youngest b/c cailey didn't feel good, chess and checkers for braden with nonny, poppy, and brian, cailey picked cucumbers from the garden with poppy, went on a date with brian to outback/DQ/and the amish place, and talked to mom until late.

July 7- kinsey woke up with scabbing from scratching her face, found some poison ivy spots on my arm and chest, three oldest went on a run, played games with the kiddos, ran errands with mom, drove home in tons o' traffic, unpacked together, early bedtimes for camp, and talked with leigh.

July 8- bike rides for the three oldest, relaxed together, brian had to work for an hour, dropped the big kids at NLC for the week!, crashed from the heat with brian and the youngest two, and read TONS of books to them.

July 9- ran errands with e and k, went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Carter's birthday, kinsey went home with caroline for a playdate (ephram said, "no! who's going to pay yif me?"), met the klick's at Chili's for more celebrating, and had them over for a little bit for outside play.

July 10- had an at home day of swimming, puzzles, play doh, painting, playing, reading, made up 'ventures' (as ephram calls them), airplane rides on his bed:), nerf gun fights, and TONS of books from daddy.

July 11- cleaned, library, didn't feel great so canceled dinner w/ the klick's and kinsey's sleepover, lots of snuggle time, full movie day for e and k, full candy bars:), more books from daddy, and a great talk with kinsey.

July 12- another day of not feeling great so we didn't get to go to Marble's with the klicks as planned, played games/wikki stix/painting/puzzles/board lacing/read tons with kinsey and ephram, they went in the small pool, they ran errands with daddy, and had some fun tickle/family time.

July 13- took the kids to cow appreciation day at CFA for breakfast/lunch/dinner, nicky and abby came to play for the weekend, watched alex, TONS of laughter and playing outside, met the klicks at cfa for dinner, went to pick the big kids up from camp...YAY!!

July 14- rocket day/cookout/playground, carter's birthday party for ephram, kids played in the pool, pictures at Yates Mill, tons of playing together, sweet older cousins reading to younger cousins, and realized that Ephram thought he was going to Llama preschool with a Zebra teacher instead of people preschool.

July 15- outside play, took the boys to the bookstore for new books, kids played, went to meet leigh in gboro for drop off, went to see Chelsea and other college friends and hear more about the ministry they are doing in China, went to the Corbett's for dinner, and surprised Braden and Kinsey by telling them that they were getting 3 day sleepovers with Bryce and Stacy!! (Braden stayed at Bryce's and Stacy came with us.)

July 16- went swimming with the kids, braden still with Bryce, loved matching kinsey and stacy:), polished the girls nails, baked brownies with kinsey and stacy, had kelly and the kids over for dinner during swim team, and snuggled baby charlotte and my biggest and littlest babies.

July 17- braden at bryce's, went to a free movie with Kelly and the kids, took the girls and ephram to chili's for lunch, kiddos played outside in the pool all afternoon, swim meet for cailey that brian went to while i watched winston and met kelly at Moe's for kids night, went to kell's for the rest of the evening so the little girls and little boys could play before coming home with caroline for a triple sleepover.

July 18- met Laura/Kelly/Molly at the pool, got to snuggle my braden boy again!!, cailey started feeling sick after the pool:(, great afternoon with the youngest three back together, swim team practice then braden and kinsey went to the klick's for a sleepover and I read TONS of books to ephram and snuggled sick Cailey girl.

July 19- picked up the kids from the klick's (who were taken out to train by Brandon but Kinsey took a NASTY spill and couldn't do it) took Gracie and Emily Ruth to the pool b/c Cailey decided she was better, got sun poisoning on my lip:(, lots of talking w/ C, played games together all afternoon, did team cleaning, and LOVED having no where to go in the evening!!

July 20- brian took kinsey on a bike ride on the tri course, watched alex, met Zoe for another fun pool day, swim team canceled b/c of storms, listened to Kinsey read Frog and Toad Chapters...well!!, kiddos did a little math, played Pente with the three oldest, and had early bedtimes.

July 21- big kids went on a bike ride on the training course, went to the Life City festival at Lake Lynn (bounce houses/face paint/sno cones, etc.), kiddos played all day, cool but HUMID, lots of thunderstorms, YMCA carb up dinner, played with the kiddos.

July 22- early wake ups for the kids tri where they all did AWESOME!!, kids exchange for 1/2 price day, brian took C to aunt camp, went to cheesecake factory for molly's birthday, and crashed with the kiddos!

July 23- ran errands with the three youngest while cailey was at drama camp at Rebecca's, got a big haircut, date at claire's with kinsey for new earrings, started making decorations for cailey's surprise party (tissue flowers/votive holders) with kinsey and braden, read tons to e, swim team, and caden slept over.

July 24- (Cailey to drama camp w/ Rebecca) met kelly and molly at the movies to see Rio, brought Jackson/caden/caroline home for a playdate, kiddos played outside in the water then the boys played LEGOS all day and the girls played babies, swim meet rained out so we met the Klick's at Nantucket Grill for dinner (super fun!!) and traded kids for another sleepover (boys w/ me, girls w/ them).

July 25- ran errands w/ the boys, met Kelly at the Library for story time, went to CFA with them for lunch where Ephram threw his biggest fit EVER (over having to pick up C's napkin that he threw on the floor), more party errands, came home and stuck a skewer in my hand while making taffy kabobs, swim team practice and ephram played in the pool with Carter while I ran more errands.

Cailey went to drama camp and watched Rebecca get her ears pierced...then went to sweet frog and made a cute picture frame.

July 26- drove to laura's, got great talk time, thrilled to see my Cailey girl after camp, kiddos played together great all day, had yummy ham and cheese pockets from scratch, and caught up!

July 27- drama camp, worked out with Laura at the Y and ran, treated the kids to yummies:), hung out with L, blessed her which blessed me more:), chatted, snuggled my big girl, kids played and had a blast with their friends, watched Cailey's drama show with Auntie Anne there!, and drove home through six storms to see Brian!

July 28- watched the Olympics as a fam, cleaned, brian "fixed" lol the shutter lol:)!!, hung out together, made shrimp and linguini (that cailey requested before her tonsils come out), had a super fun tickle/hide and seek/laughing half hour before bed, more olympics, and enjoyed just being home together.

July 29- church, errands, honey-do list, olympics together, played, kinsey played with the neighbors outside all day, games, started working on another party craft with braden, bbq chicken pizza, and had a nice family night.

July 30- cailey's tonsil surgery while the klick's watched the other kiddos all day (where they played outside in the water then spent their day in the playroom), cailey got lots of phone calls then flowers from nonny/poppy and us, comforted my big girl and stayed by her side all day, swim team practice for the others, talked to Matt, snugged cailey to sleep after she had 2 slushies/8 popsicles/2 italian ices, and crashed.

July 31- took care of cailey, cleaned fridge and microwave, did 10 loads of laundry, played games with ephram, hung out with braden, read with kinsey, watched Olympics with the kiddos, cailey felt sick and napped, brian fixed the water pressure (YAY!!), and snuggled my big girl.