Josiah turns double digits.

I now have a child that is in the double digits. He proudly proclaimed that he was a "Pre-teen" now. I asked him why he called himself that and he said because it was what his new Sunday School class was called. Ha ha The term "Pre-teen" scares me. 

I asked Josiah what he wanted to do for his Birthday and he never could make up his mind. So I suggested maybe having a sleepover and inviting his friends from school. His actual Birthday was on a Sunday so we planned a camp out sleepover for Friday night. I was tickled to death with how many friends were allowed to come. I had a van full after school Friday and one of them had to sit in the floor. Good thing we didn't have too far to go and Titus volunteered to sit in the floor. Everyone else was safely buckled. (I think, but not positive. Ha ha). And if you are reading this post then yes of course, your child was safely buckled in. Ha ha

We pulled in the driveway and boys went every which way. 

Out came the camo and guns. 

Out came the bikes and scooters. 

Out came the basketball. 

Out came the bow and arrows. 

WHAT?!?!?!?

 

They played that for awhile, but there wasn't any structure and lots of bad aim. It made their Daddy proclaim find something else to do. I mean one was shooting while another was running to find the lost arrow and I just couldn't bear to watch. 

They practically stayed in the woods all evening and the next morning. They had a blast playing army and hunting. 

Of course, I made them stop for a group picture. 

Which they took very seriously. 

Soon the fire started and they roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. 

This was out camp out essentials. I lost count how many gallons of lemonade we went through.  I think it was close to 9 gallons. Playing outside makes boys thirsty. 

Lots of basketball playing went on as well. 

They played their little hearts out and finally it was time for bed. We misjudged the turnout for the sleepover and only had one tent set out. The boys didn't seem to mind. They all crawled in after I made them 2 huge bowls of popcorn to take with them. (Yes, I had to sweep the tent the next morning. Why didn't I think ahead to a popcorn fight happening?)

Maynard and I slept inside in our bed, but we opened the windows and could see and hear them. 

Amelia didn't understand why she couldn't sleep with the boys. I was quite impressed at how well these boys treated her. She never cried once because they always included her. Of course they tricked her into thinking she was playing a lot, but she didn't know the difference. Ha ha. Bedtime was a different story though. I suggested her  sleeping in the smaller tent in the living room and surprisingly she was happy with that. I even gave her her own popcorn. 

Goodnight, boys!!

Yeah right!!!

At 3:45 a.m. I heard the door opening and shutting. I heard little feet running through the house. I also heard giggling. Yes, boys do giggle. 

I got up to investigate. 

It appeared that it was prank time because the boys had their hands full of Barbie Dolls. Apparently some of the boys had fallen asleep and they were putting Barbie Dolls in their arms. Now, what was a Mom to do???  Surely this wasn't nice and appropriate behavior. However, I couldn't help, but laugh because I had been involved in many sleepover pranks in my childhood. Josiah looked at me worried he was in trouble. (Yes, he was one of the pranksters.) I just laughed and went back to bed. I even thought about letting them use my phone to get some good pictures, but decided that probably wasn't a good thing. Lol

I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep, but I didn't hear anymore out of them until 7 that morning. I heard one of them say, "We did it!  We slept in our tent all night."  It made me smile because not only is sleeping in a tent all night an accomplishment, but sleeping in a tent without a grownup for the first time is an even bigger accomplishment. These boys felt so big and grownup. No longer were they the little guys being told no or not being included. They WERE the big boys and it felt great!!

It was breakfast time!!

I took my griddle outside and started on pancakes, eggs, and sausage links. These boys gathered around me anxiously awaiting their breakfast. 

The boys devoured their breakfast and kept telling me how yummy it was. Then they took off to the woods again. 

Not sure about everyone else, but my kids ended up with chigger bites. Titus is allergic to the outdoors in general so he had it the worse. 

This little princess had no problem keeping up with all these boys. 

Throughout the day the boys kept playing as eventually one would leave right after the other. When the last kid was picked up, I found Josiah like this probably not even 10 minutes later. 

I made him wake up though to get in the shower. He was filthy. 

I am so pleased he had such a good turn out. It's important to me that my kids have friends. Having childhood friends was a big part of my childhood and I want the same for them. I realize that 10 is still kind of young for a sleepover, but I am thankful to all the parents who allowed their child to come over. It meant the world to a 10 year old boy. 

Of course, Sunday was Josiah's actual birthday so he insisted on having pancakes with a birthday candle. These kids don't like for me to mess with traditions. 

He also got to open his gift from us which was a better tablet than what he had. 

After church we took him to our favorite Mexican restaurant. 

Then we stopped to get a cake at Krogers for the rest of us. I never make my kids share their Birthday treat they get at restaurants. I don't care how upset they get. It's not their special day, but I try to get them something to enjoy like a cake later. 

I was impressed Josiah asked for a red velvet cake that was on clearance. Whoo hoo.  It was delicious. 

Happy 10th Birthday, Josiah!  You are one loved little boy!!

We hope your Birthday was special. 

Back to school 2015-2016

I intended on doing this post a lot sooner being that we are now on our 3rd week of school. Better late than never.....

Our kids started back to school on Monday, August 10, 2015. 

Josiah was so ready to go back to school. He is my social bug and couldn't wait to see all his friends. He also just loves school. This year he is in the 4th grade. Why does 4th grade seem so grown-up to me?

I'm using the picture his teacher sent me. Somehow she can get a better smile from him than I can. Josiah has the same teacher again this year, Sis. Lisa Schooley. He loves her and likes that she gives him responsibilities. It gives him self-worth. He likes being treated like a "big" kid. 

Titus was a little more hesitant about going back to school. He wasn't ready for summer break to be over with. He would get so frustrated with Josiah because Josiah kept talking about not being able to wait to get back. Then Amelia would get excited and I caught Titus, a time or two, trying to discourage her. I heard him say "You won't like school, Amelia. Just wait until you get hard spelling lists like I get. Then you will have to memorize verses."  Amelia didn't believe him. Ha ha 

I think Titus finally got excited about school when we went school shopping for supplies. Once he had his supplies, he was ready to go back to school. 

Titus is now in 2nd grade. His teacher is the same as he had for 1st grade, Sis. Joanna Bowman. 

Now on to Amelia!  My oh my!  Was this little girl excited to start school??  She could hardly think of anything else other than starting Kindergarten. She wasn't going to let Titus dishearten her a bit. She was ready. 

School supply shopping was a lot of fun with her. Can anyone guess what backpack she chose??  No really!  Can you guess??

Princesses for the win!!  It also has ruffled lace and lights up. Oh dear!  She also already had a princess lunchbox that matches perfectly. 

There was only one time that she had her doubts for school. It was about a week or less before school started that she got up out of bed and came to talk to me. She was trying not to cry and said, "I'm excited about school some days, but some days I'm not."

I asked her what made her not excited about school. 

"I'm really going to miss you, Mommy."  Be still my heart. So now I'm trying not to cry as I explained that she gets to go only for a little while and her brothers have to go ALL day!  This made her laugh and she cheered up and went back to bed. She never again mentioned being sad. 

Just look at her being a big Kindergartener now!!

We took a few pictures before we left for school on the first day. For some reason I completely forgot about being a cool Mom and using our chalkboards like we did the previous year. I was a bit frazzled trying to get 3 kids out the door and all 3 kids decided none of their shoes fit. Amelia didn't like the fact she couldn't wear flip flops and could she just pack them in her backpack for break??

Hard to believe all 3 of my babies are in school now!!

Had to recreate the boy's annual back to school picture. I didn't get the pose right this year because I was still frazzled and in a hurry. 

 Here's a collage of this year and previous years. 

They are growing up!!

We got to school and they all went straight to their classes. Amelia was being a little shy, but she was ready to start the day. 

I left the school building feeling a little bittersweet, but also looking forward to 4 whole hours of time to myself. For 10 years now I have taken kids with me to my Dr's appts, took them all to the grocery store, ran errands together, and paid bills. They have always been with me. If not all 3 then at least one was with me almost always. Now I had 4 hours a day, 5 times a week to get those errands done. I've had bloodwork done and had Dr's appts the last couple of weeks all by my lonesome and it's kind of been nice. I know all you homeschool Mom's out there probably just gasped at those last few lines, but when you don't have family nearby to help out, things get hard when you tagalong 3 kids everywhere. Mine are a little older now and it's not been as rough, but they still have their days!!  That doesn't mean I love them any less. I can't wait to see them after the school day. By then my errands are done and I can focus on them. Supper, homework, baths......

So back to that first day........

I came straight home and went to bed. Lol. Seriously. I'm not even lying. I played on my phone and took a nap. It was really really quiet. I heard lots of noises I don't normally hear. I even was spooked a few times. Ha ha. That goes to show you that I'm rarely ever alone. 

Amelia was insistent that morning that if she didn't get a "demerit" could she have a slush after school that day.  When I picked her up that was the first thing she said. 

Me:  Hi, Amelia. How was your first day?

Amelia. Good. Can we go to "sonix"?

I decided she needed to eat lunch first so I took her to her favorite restaurant. Ya'll want to guess on that one too??

 Mexican!  "Don't tell the boys, right mom?"

 I thought she would forget about the slush, but she didn't. I took her to Kmart since apparently none of her shoes fit her. Somehow her feet took a growth spurt and the shoes that were perfect for school pinched her toes when she wore them with socks. We found a good deal on shoes and she ended up with 3 pairs and a slushie from the Kmart concession stand. It was hard not to spoil her that day because she was just being so cute. Oh. Funny story. It was time for me to go to school an hour before pick up to clean the school kitchen. I pulled in Sonic to get myself a slush during Happy Hour and Amelia asked me what I was doing. 

"Mom, why are we here?  I already had a slush."

"I want one before I clean the kitchen because I'm thirsty. 

"Mom!  You can just get a drink from the water fountain at school."

Ha ha. She cracked me up!  Here I had spoiled her all afternoon and I only deserved a drink from the water fountain at school. 

After cleaning the kitchen it was time to go. The boys had a good day as well and had lots of stories to tell. 

That night I was getting uniforms together and I asked Amelia if she wanted to wear a jumper or skirt the next day. She said, "Why?  Where are we going?" Ha ha. Umm... Sorry, Amelia, but this school thing is Mon-Fri. I guess she thought she only had to go one day. I'm not sure what she was thinking. 

Thursday, Amelia got to be the Line Leader. Oh my!  She was absolutely tickled pink to be the line leader and looks forward to it every single turn she gets. 

They had a good week and were all excited about Friday. Friday was Farm Day for Amelia and Titus and they got to dress up as farmers. Josiah was having a back to school picnic so he got to have a casual day as well. 

Farmer girl with her Hay bales "rice Krispy treats". 

We took a few pictures outside before we left. 

Amelia is actually holding her back pack straps, but looks like she's ready to deck somebody. 

I went to school early to help set up Josiah's class party. I got busy and didn't get any pictures except of the table. 

 

Here's a group picture of Amelia's class. Her little friend dressed up as a piggy. 

Here they are having a picnic. 

Titus' friend brought her chickens to Farm Day. Lol

I'm so thankful they had a good first week. I give thanks to the Lord for supplying the financial need that we had to send our kids to school this year. I'm still amazed how the Lord moved. My new favorite quote comes from Bro. Shelton. "If it's God's will, He'll pay the bill."

Makes it even more worth it when you find these letters your kids left you on the first day of school. 

(Thank you for letting us go to school.)

My kids realize it's a blessing to go to. Christian  school. 

The summer break that went by really fast

I am so thankful that we went on vacation the very first week of summer break. Otherwise, my kids would of had a crummy summer break. The rest of their summer was being passed back and forth to other people while Maynard and I recovered from surgery. 

Maynard and I had been saving money by doing odd jobs and such to buy the kids a swimming pool this summer. We finally found the pool we wanted to get, but it was sold out. We had to order it online and it took almost 2 weeks to come in. Our goal was to have the pool set up before his surgery because he wasn't going to be able to lift for awhile. We kept checking and our pool still hadn't arrived. Would you believe that on the very day we were driving to Lexington for his surgery, that I got an email telling me the pool was ready for pick-up?  Of all days!!!!

5 days after Maynard's surgery, I had to have surgery. So this pool was never going to be put up it seemed. (not that I could have put it up by myself anyhow). 

My Mom came to help take care of us invalids and one day when Maynard was feeling better they decided to go put the pool up. We heard it was pretty simple to do and my Mom is pretty tough so they thought they would give it a try. 

We decided to put the pool up in Pittsburg, at our soon to be home, because it was a bigger yard and a lot more level ground. 

The pool went up rather easily and these kiddos couldn't wait to try it out. It became a fun slip and slide while it filled up. 

Half filled up and still fun. 

We got a Coleman pool that is 16' by 48". It has been the best baby sitter ever. 

 Amelia has always been a little fearful of the water. I got her a  PuddleJumper last year and it gave her so much confidence. She still would never jump in and Heaven forbid if her face ever went under the water. One day the boys were doing flips in the pool and she wanted to try so bad, but her PuddleJumper kept her from doing it. I told her that she could take it off because her feet would touch the bottom. She took it off and took like a duck to the pond. She done flips and floated. She swam from one end to the other. I was so proud of her and she was so proud of herself. Now I have 3 little swimmers!

We had some friends over to swim with them a time or two, but it rained so much that we never could have too many swimming parties. 

Poor Josiah. Ha ha

We plan to leave the pool up as long as possible. We all went swimming last weekend at night. I love swimming at night time!!

This was a purchase that I have yet to regret!!!  I feel like it helped make up for the rough summer they had.

 I'll post a few random pics of them this summer doing other things. When I got well I tried to make it up to them by keeping them busy with activities. My mom also was good to keep them busy while she was here. 

Library fun with friends. 

Mamaw don't mess around with misbehaving kids. Lol

This was a fun library day meeting Superheros. 

Batman with Superman fans. 

My kids dressed for Superhero day!  They are responsible for their own outfits. Titus thought they were crazy. 

Face painting. We waited in line forever for this. Well, the boys got arm paintings and Amelia got face painting, technically. 

Titus gets embarrassed easily. Ha ha

Let's see. Oh!  I had to have bloodwork done at the hospital one day and they had a carnival deal set up outside. We had to go check it out!!

Cotton candy!!

Believe it or not she actually came clean. 

Bouncey castles for the win!!!!

We also went to a back to school party hosted by my family's church. They had inflatables, snow cones, cotton candy, hot dogs, and they all got a goody bag filled with supplies. 

The above picture was borrowed of IG. I didn't take many pictures that day except for a few. Like this cute one of my nephew. 

And Amelia and Emma who said one word to me the whole time. That was "red" and only because she wanted a red  sno-cone. 

 

Another pic was this beauty of my Dad enjoying cotton candy. 

That was basically it for our summer. 

It rained a lot and ruined a lot of our plans. 

Even though my kids missed out on what could have been a more fun summer, I don't think they had the worst one ever. I'm just used to keeping them busy with activities all summer and just wasn't able to do it this summer. 

It made me laugh when I heard by Josiah's  teacher,  that he didn't get to study his Math Facts like he needed to this summer because his Mom and Dad had surgery. Ha ha. What about him trying to use that as an excuse. Haha. Cracks me up!!

Hope everyone else had a good summer!!  Look for our first week Back To School post coming very soon.