Fall break 2015

Last week was fall break. For some reason I forgot all about them getting a fall break. Not sure why.  Anyway, they were ready for a break as well as I was. Of course the first day off included cleaning the house so we could enjoy the rest of the week. I cleaned the whole house while the kids whined and cried in their room all day halfway cleaning. 

Tuesday I got a wild notion to take my kids to Richmond to the Bounce House. They had sold toys at our yard sale and I gave them each $10 and they all agreed they wanted to spend it by playing at The Bounce  House. 

As soon as we got there they all 3 went straight to a basketball inflatable court that of course cost extra to play 15 minutes. That's so dumb.  It looked really fun, but should have been included in the admission price. 

Amelia found her 2 little friends right away. The boys had to play with each other because boys their age were in school still in that county. 

We stayed about 4 hours and they wore themselves out playing. I'll just include a few pictures. 

Titus loved this basketball game. It was supposed to be an extra dollar to play as well, but he found a stray basketball. Lol

My little orphan had crazy hair because she played so hard. 

It's hard not to have blurry pictures when their constantly moving. 

Josiah was scared of the steepest slide they had. Towards the end he finally got brave enough to try it and ended up loving it. 

Titus was like "Nan nana boo boo!"

This picture cracks me up. 

Yeah, I know. Amelia's picture was better. 

Enjoy the next few pictures of Josiah. 

Josiah overcame his fears. 

We left the Bounce House and stopped at Fazolis for kid's night. 

Wednesday we spent the day cleaning the church to help out a family on vacation. 

Thursday was a picnic and park day. 

We spent 4 hours at the park with friends. They had a lot of fun. 

Friday the kids kept fighting and arguing so they got grounded and I made them stay home all day. The library was closed for 2 weeks and they were really bummed about that. 

Saturday we drove to Elizabethtown to see my family. They were having a HarperFest. All our family got together and we had a meal and then games for the kids. There was a bounce house and even a hayride. Everyone had a good time. I didn't get very many pictures though. Here's a few....

The Harper Gang!!

Hayride down a country road. 

This is actually a basketball game using the light pole as a goal. It actually entertained them for a long time. 

We came back home and prepared for Sunday School the next day. 

Hard to believe fall break was over and time to head back to school. 

Monday morning the kids did not want to get up. Amelia cried and cried not wanting to go. They were all tired from a busy weekend. 

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.