First week of school

I know I'm a bit late on this but here is a picture from Eric's first day of school.

I actually forgot to take my camera to the bus stop on the first day of school so these bus pictures are from the second day of school. Would you believe that I have to drive him to the bus stop? It's rediculous! It only takes me 4 extra minutes to drive him to school but he loves the bus...cranky bus driver and all!

The first day of school was awesome! After we got Eric off to school David and Levi decided to be polite to each other and act like the best of friends for the rest of the morning. This is shocking because when Eric is around David is too cool for Levi so they fight. After lunch Levi went straight to sleep. David asked to do a workbook page and then asked to take a nap. It was too funny because it was like he had been waiting all summer for Eric to go back to school so that he could take a nap. They both slept for nearly 3 hours. I had to wake them up at 4:00 to go get Eric off the bus. While they slept I read my Bible in peace and then I walked around the house picking everything up and putting where it belonged. I complained all summer about not being able to get the house "picked up" and I did it all in 2 hours.

The problem with really great things is that they just don't last! Napping was scarce the rest of the week which was frustrating because I feel like I have so much work to do to get ready for MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) this year. Check out our website http://www.oakridgemops.org/ Our leadership team should probably have had the whole upcoming year pretty much planned out by now. But seeing as we have 18 children between the 7 of us we didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I mean really you just have to laugh at that!! However, now it is crunch time...we start September 12th. I lothe the feeling of being behind and letting others down because I am not on track. I've got to let it go. God will provide for this group of women and their children despite what I in my own strength am able (or unable)to accomplish...I am banking on it!

Personality

I don't know how acurate this is...I am NOT an interior designer. I mean I have bare white walls and maybe 3 decorative items in my house. I am NOT a chef either...just ask Kem about dinner tonight!! I have done several of these blogthings now and they all say I am creative. My mom always says that too but I just have not figured it out yet. At any rate...here goes:

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways.In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions.Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time.You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's" Your Personality Type?

bedroom switcheroo

Well, we switched all the boys around. Eric moved into Levi's room so that he could have a room all to himself. Now he can stay up a little later and read without keeping David up. David, with a little cajoling headed up to the top bunk and now Levi is on the bottom bunk.

WHY on earth did we decide to do this the night before the first day of school? Everyone is awake and having a hard time getting to sleep. Levi is used to being in his quiet room alone so now he has David right there above him to agitate. They are making so much noise that they are keeping Eric awake in the next room.

I sure hope day 2 with new beds goes better!

It is sort of sad that we have no more baby beds in the house. the crib went a while ago and now the toddler bed. Just another reminder of how quickly they grow up!

Pennsylvania- part II

We drove north to Grammie Carey's house and it was cooooooooold and rainey! The kids had the time of their life playing in the rain with the umbrellas.

Grammie got in on the action too...she's so much fun!
After the umbrellas were broken the kids did a pinata in the garage. Those five boys (the cousins were there too) screamed so loud I am sure the entire neighborhood heard.
Conner made out like a bandit! Token(Canner's cat) is Levi's new bestest friend to squeeze in the whole wide world
We had fun but a little less rain and some warmer weather would have made it better. Who knew it would be in the 60's in August. I shivered the whole weekend...threatening to go buy warm clothes but I never did. I was glad to get back to the heat on the Eastern shore!

Pennsylvania part I

It seems like we've beeen spending a good bit of time in Pennsylvania lately. Last weekend the boys and I went to my moms house to celebrate Steve's birthday. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. Happy Birthday Steve!

Then this past weekend we went back...Kem came this time! We took a very long and scenic trip through Lancaster county on the way to Grandmas house. Steve came to see us there.

Grandpa came too.

Why is it that boys get such a kick out of throwing stuff in the water?

Grandpa with the boys!!

Group pic

First Day New Cleats

Eric had his first soccer practice tonight. He was reluctant to play at all but we talked him into at least giving it a try. After Dad took him out to buy all his new gear he got really excited. For the last couple of days he has had his shin guards, socks and cleats on and off and on and off. He was a little nervous tonight but was surprised at how much fun he had. He was beaming when he was finished. You could tell he was proud of himself for doing it. He didn't look half bad out there either!

Frazzled

OK, so the novelty of summer has officially worn off as of tonight! My house is upside down and inside out. Some people may think that's fun but unfortunately for me my brain tends to be in the same state as my house. Therefore my brain is also upside down and inside out. There are piles of stuff everywhere. My purse is overflowing with receipts and coupons and flyers which I generally have a handle on but they have gotten the best of me. I have piles of papers for MOPS(mothers of preschoolers) everywhere and I keep writing notes then writing them again and again because I cannot figure out where I put the first three. I keep cleaning and no less than 38 seconds later everthing is a mess again thanks to the three monkeys living here who are bored to tears with summer. They even do chores and turn around and undo their own work. I considered taking pictures of the messes to post but I am too exhausted and it just makes me want to CRY! Right now I am looking at the computer screen and trying not to notice total mess all around this desk because the boys have "shuffled" everything again. Did I mention that for the 122nd time today the couch cushions (all 10 of them) are on the floor sliding around in the yogurt that was not supposed to leave the kitchen! You cannot walk around this house without shoes because you will surely step on a lego and scream like there is no tomorrow. Eric is bawling because he spent his hard earned $$ on candy which he hid...and David and Levi found and ate! Eric is demanding that they pay him back but you cannot even understand him because he is irrationally upset. Levi is throwing a tantrum strictly because Eric is upset and he doesn't want to be left out of the party. David has another nosebleed (btw, did you know the leading cause of nosebleeds is digital trauma? (thank you Jon)) and not one of the 18 boxes of tissues can be located at this moment because David likes to hide them! Why does a kid with so many nose bleeds hide tissues and then cry when they cannot be found? I have no idea! Why am I the only one who lives here that is uncomfortable in the mess. I used to be proud of the fact that I was an organized and tidy person. Now, I aspire to be a person who can live and function and be content in total chaos. They tell me this will end one day and I will miss it. I fear I'll be in the looney bin by then so it won't matter!! I'd like to think that things will get better once school starts and we get back into a routine but that is guaranteed to bring it's own frustrations. For now I think I'll have to continue hanging desperately onto God! and I guess I could go clean now that the boys are finally asleep but all I really want to do is fix my blog template which is turning out to be an exercise in futility!!

Sun Fun

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Summer fun

We've been rather busy "doing"summer. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Mommy finally talked dad into letting us get a pool! (Thank you Grammie)

The National Aquarium in Baltimore...this is Chesapeake the dolphin!
Dressing up like Batman with those stretchy fabric book covers...who knew?
Waiting not-so-patiently for crabs
Loving the Beach
Who can resist being buried in the sand?
Loving Grammie...at the beach...and uncle Steve even though he is missing from this picture

Captain Underpants!

He's so very proud of himself for conquering the truck...and mighty comfortable in his underwear I'd say!