Party Time:-)

Our little buddy Corbin is turning 1! We had so much fun at Mt Trashmore...the kids running like crazies for hours in 90+ degree weather! On the way home they were being hyper and crazy in the car and Brooks says "I drank three cans of soda!" Well, adding that to the cupcakes and lollipops and we had quite a sugar rush going on:-)

*all pics stolen from facebook - I forgot my camera

They look like mangy dogs

Corbin and Brian having some serious guy time conversations:-)

Kenna & her friend Savannah

My Grey. Pretty much the cutest thing I've ever made.

Co-op

This year we joined a homeschool group co-op - it meets every other Friday, and they will do two subjects Art (renaissance period), and Science. Today was the kickoff - no real school, just a big picnic so all the parents and the children can meet each other and start to make friends before the official start next Friday.

Kenna, put me down!

Maisy loves bubbles!!

My big girl

Love that hair. It is one of the many things that makes me happy

Sonny!

A fruit by the foot creation

Lots of new friends!

School Started

A few pics from Monday, the official first day of school. So far, all is going really well!

Ma, I made a cheese sandwich! Out of cheese!

Grey's very first day of preschool!

Sonny's first day of preschool too!

...and May's. She tags along too:-)

Back at it!

Well, our summer is OVER, it's official. We have Sonny & May back now, everyday, starting today! My kids are very excited for their friends to come back and be part of everyday life.

We topped off a crazy week (mostly crazy for Brian) by going to Camp Pendalton (30-ish mins from our house - a military base). Our good friends the Allen's were in town! Sam had training, and Heather and the girls came along for the fun of it! They rented a cabin there, and it was big enough for ALL of us, so we joined them! It was soooo fun, and I didn't manage to take a single picture. BOOO.

Brian took Thursday off work so he could hang out with me and kids (and Heather, and her kids...haha!) He used the day to catch up on sleep, and just do nothing but talk and visit. It was really quite lovely. Although he pulled off a miracle with that hospital job he finished...he was booked back to back for another job - in an occupied space downtown Norfolk in the World Trade Center - so it's a night job. Joys, right?! So he didn't really have a chance to catch up on any lost sleep from the hospital job, so it was really nice that he could a day off to sleep and rest up and hang out. Poor boy!

A funny - he said while he was at the hospital job, and spending the night there working - 2 different days/nights he never came home at all. He caught a few hours sleep each night - once on the floor with his feet against the door so no one could come in, and once on a reclining chair that they use for pregnant ladies  - it's some kind of really comfy chair that leans back so they can relax the mom/baby. I thought that was funny. He said that he just couldn't bring himself to sleep on an exam table with stirrups. HAHA!!

Anyway, now that we have Sonny (3) & May (2 in Oct) back, it's school time too!! It will be another month before we add Ardyn (2) & Alice (will be 3 months) to the mix, since their mom is still on Maternity leave. And then, I will not have them everyday, but only 6 days per month.

Once I have the kinks to our school schedule worked out, I'll post about it, (how, why and if it's working for us:-) - Running a day, including schooling 5 to 7 children, ranging in ages from 7 to infant:-)

I have lots planned and scheduled for this year. It will be our busiest ever, so far, with regards to kids, and school anyway. It will be fun though, and I can't wait to post and share about our progress!

Here are a few pics from today - no school today, we're starting on MONDAY! Yay!! But I have introduced them to a few things that will be part of their daily schedules this year...

It's quiet play time for May-May

Sonny is working on one of his chores - laundry :-)

Busy Book/Quiet Play

This set up is a new arrangement to the boys room this year - it will be necessary space wise for things like quiet/structured play time and also a large "desk" area for when that is needed (for when Kenna or Brooks need a quiet place to concentrate when I'm doing louder school activities with Sonny & Grey)

Brian's Week

I should really have him write about it, but he's too busy, and so tired, I'm sure its all a blur:-) I added it up, and Sunday morning at midnight, he'd worked 80 hours since waking up on Wednesday morning - but then I lost count. When days run into nights, it's remarkably hard to keep track!

So at midnight it was 80 hours...but then he worked all day Sunday and didn't even come home Sunday night, working through the night (for the second time), crashing for a few hours (on the floor I assume?) around 3am. If I can figure it out correctly, I think he worked somewhere around 115 hours from Wednesday to Monday. He came home Monday night - or actually, this morning, around 2am. And he slept until 9am. YAY. That is more sleep than he's gotten collectively since about Wednesday I think!

I should be writing this post about his trip to NYC and his fantasy football draft - this trip and that draft is/was the highlight of his year...and he didn't go. Not only did he not go, he auto drafted. *gasp*

So last night I got to talk to him for more than 2 seconds or a "bring me clean clothes" text. And got some of the story -

He told me at some point, he put a sign up on the main door. "No more whining". I had him text me a picture of it this morning:-) LOVE the sign! He was working his subs pretty hard - but he was working harder - and they got to go home, and he didn't...and they were all complaining. The sign is hard to read from this pic, and I can't remember what he said he wrote exactly, but it was to the effect of

"No more whining. Just get your job done, or replace yourself with someone who can"

Apparently, it really worked:-)

The job was at a hospital in the area, and the rush was that today they start seeing patients there again - and when things started not to go well - subs starting taking too much time and not getting things done in an efficient way, they needed 'round the clock monitoring and help. Brian said, basically, as soon as he would leave - no more works gets done at all. So he couldn't leave - and due to a family emergency with another co-worker, there was no one at Woodard to take his place, so he could leave and sleep.

It was a huge project, with a tight turn around (10 days), and he got it done. Pretty incredible. We are really proud of him.

Normally, not showering a minimum of once a day is completely out of the question for him, and he previously balked at my dry shampoo. But I think he's converted now;-) It really does have it's place when it's necessary!!

1:26am Monday Aug 19: to Brian: Anyway. Be good. Get some sleep. Don't use all my dry shampoo

Grey is fairly convinced that Daddy lives in a hospital now. It's been a crazy crazy week for our boy! I'm don't really know what scope of work he has coming up next, but here's hoping it involves sleeping. In a bed, at home, preferably:-)

New Camera Shots

My friend Chae just gave me a new-to-me camera! It is really neat - it's slightly fewer megapixels than my point and shoot, actually, however, it's a real camera with manual zooms etc, so I am having so much fun learning how to use it correctly! Here are a few pics and stories from me trying out the new camera!

Buzzy Bee!

When we got home from Canada in July, we got quite a shock. Full on CORN growing in our front flower "garden". The term garden is used rather loosely. It's a smattering of weeds, rocks, grass, and rose bushes:-)...but certainly no corn!! I was remembering back to when the kids planted popcorn to see if they could grow popcorn - did it work??!! Or Brian suggested perhaps squirrels or raccoons, getting into old food or something dropped some kernals and they grew? No idea. But super weird and kinda cool:-) We forbid the kids from eating it, although they begged! We thought it was best that the animals got it

A fallen bloom from my beloved Crepe Myrtles

My Lleyton Grey. His one of a kind personality lights up our world!

We LOVE living on a cul-de-sac in a quiet community. Truly truly love it. We also love having great neighbours with wonderful children of similar ages to ours. Playing on the circle has definitely been a summer time fave. With our lack of decent yard and grass, "the circle" expands our usable space quite a bit, and it's one of our fave "features" of this house.

Rain boots on a clear day? Well, they are Lightning McQueen, so why not:-) A rock wall masterpiece is in process here

Cutest face in the world

...yup. Definitely the cutest

It's our Live Oak, or Larry's Tree. It's healing and recovering still from it's accident, but its a beautiful tree

Bamboo fencing

Finding things in the yard that don't belong:-)

Those grubby little fingernails make me happy!

Art time, out in the sun

Our trampoline is quite the draw with the neighbourhood kids too. We are the only ones who have one, and they all love it!

Drawing and colouring

Summer's Over?

A pic from during our power outage this weekend, outside splashing in the puds! I am totally on the hunt for a cool pair of rainboots for myself. I'm tired of getting soaked to the knee in storms...it's only been 9 years, and I've finally had enough to cave a buy the stinking boots! Looking for something cute & classy:-)

Guess who's starting pre-school this year?...

Sonny & Grey!! I took their pictures this morning so I could finish up their school binders. Don't these pics say it all?...

Sonny is sweet and Grey is a cheesy ham. LOL.

We aren't quite ready to have Sonny & May back yet - but soon! Summer flies by! I am watching them for today only (a teacher work day). It's been a great day. It's interesting to see what we'll have to work on the first few weeks - Kenna micro manages May to the point of complete annoyance (mine & May's:-) - May is a screamer when excited (the forever rule in my house is absolutely no screaming. Ever. I don't care if you're playing or dying). Grey seems to have gotten better with his sharing (at least on the 1 day trial, haha!!), and Sonny has gotten better with keeping his attitude "up"!

So, all in all, I am really encouraged for this school year! It will be a veeeeery different system than we've ever done before - Very scheduled and actually somewhat "rigid" - you know me, I'm never THAT rigid - and there will be room to change it around some, but with 1 teacher (me), and 2nd, 1st, & pre-K to teach, and a toddler to entertain - not to mention the days when we will have Ardyn AND Alice her brand new baby sister (born end of July - I will have them about 6 days a month) - It will be much more scheduled than I've been in the past, or nothing will get done, I am sure of it.

We'll see how it goes, and I will be updating as I go...