:(

It's never good when I get a call from the school's athletic trainer at 5:20pm, or anytime for that matter. Brittney's back on crutches and in an ankle boot. Competitive cheer ankle injury. I needed a bit of a challenge in the evening's schedule anyway since football was cancelled and we only had Zeke's and Taylor's school parent night.

Now we have Brit medicated and her foot iced and elevated. I think I'll tell Angela, the athletic trainer, to start calling me just for fun so my stomach doesn't flip-flop every time I see her number pop up on my phone.
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I think the only people who felt worse than Brittney were her two coaches, who now have to figure out what to do for the competition on Saturday without two of their fliers.
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I'm back to work on Wednesdays and Fridays. It's only two days a week so it's much better than all the hours I was putting in during the last school year. Plus, it's at the produce stand so it's not so emotionally intense :)
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Lest you start thinking I'm a good parent with all the fun summer activities, I'll be sure to post some real life stories soon ;)
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Yet Another Round of Random Summer Pictures

I'm bound to catch up on pictures eventually so that they are a little more current.

At least I'm only a month or so behind :)

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Zeke with his friend David on their first day of Camp Adventure

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Trampoline fun with our friend JJ

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Most Tuesday mornings this summer were spent at the library.

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Even Sophia enjoys reading.

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Sophia driving the BATA bus at the Big Trucks Event.

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Sophia and Taylor in a loader.

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Boys hiding in the box under a truck.

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Boys in the boom truck.

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Sophia's first time (and hopefully last) time in a police car.

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Another truck

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Riley & Taylor checking out the ambulance.

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Sophia found another loader.

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Taylor & Anthony

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Riley having fun in the police car.

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Anthony in handcuffs.

I figured this would happen eventually ;)

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Sophia with her bio uncle at her cousin's birthday party.

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I've been hacking away at my emails this morning. Not very spiritual for a Sunday morning, I know. But I do have my inbox down to under a hundred emails now! Kids are waking up so that's my cue to get off the computer.
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Saturday

I didn't even make it on here to wish Brittney a happy birthday! She turned 15 on the 22nd of August. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. The first week before school and the first two weeks of school are always like that. Between sports activities, school open houses, back to school parents' nights, etc. there aren't a lot of spare minutes in the day. Plus, there was just a lot of driving time in the past few weeks. Last week, was in Sioux Falls on Monday, took all the kids to their schools for registration on Tuesday, worked all day on Wednesday, took four of the kids to the Watertown zoo on Thursday, was in Sioux Falls on Friday for an appointment, was back in Watertown on Saturday. Thank goodness we had a really great Laughter Therapy Group on Sunday!

We moved it to Linda's house out of necessity since she had surgery and couldn't make it to Chocolatte. There were actually 12 adults there that morning and it made for a fun-filled morning! It's my favorite part of the weekend.

Today:
Steve works at the bank until noon.
Zeke travels by bus to the Special Olympics Regional Softball tournament all day in Sioux Falls.
Riley has football practice all morning.
Brittney will be gone to babysit until early afternoon.

So for a while this morning, it just Sophia, Taylor, Anthony and me!

Here's a quick picture of Brittney in honor of her birthday :)

She's the one on the far right.

 Happy 11th Birthday Taylor!!!

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(Brittney took this picture a couple of years ago when they were messing around with the camera)

Mini-Training Session

I had a mini-training session this morning.......again. I absolutely hate it when I'm taking a shower and the kids start banging on the door and yelling. I'm pretty sure it happens in most families but in ours it's multiplied by 7. Yes. I'm also counting my husband. He even stoops to picking the bathroom door lock and coming in whenever he wants! All I want in the morning before jumping into life is a cup of coffee with vanilla creamer and a relaxing warm shower. Is that really so much to ask? Apparently. For a glimpse of what this looks like, I described my shower time one morning. http://breakingthroughice.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-peaceful-shower.html

I had to refresh a few young minds this morning. The appropriate times to knock on the bathroom door when it's closed are:

1) You actually need to use the bathroom and are letting the person inside know that you are waiting.
2) There is blood pouring out of a person in our house.
3) The house is currently on fire.

If it doesn't fit one of those categories, then stay the heck away from the bathroom door!!!

It's 10:30am and so far we've had cheer practice, two kids registered for school, two kids off to Sioux Falls for Anthony's therapy and a quick drive through for an iced coffee for me before taking Brittney to her High School registration. I saw a mom-friend at Camelot registration and we smiled and gave each other a huge hug for surviving the summer with lots of kids ;)
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Once school starts, I should be able to get back to posting almost every day. Until then, it might be pretty hit or miss. We just got back from a weekend at the lake with Grandparents. It was fun but I always say I need a vacation after my vacation. I'll post pictures when I have a chance to download them.
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Steve took Friday afternoon off and drove with Anthony, Taylor and Riley to Iowa. The boys' grandparents live about an hour south of Okoboji, on Storm Lake. Then on Saturday, I drove down with Sophia, Zeke, Brittney and Gerald. We spent the weekend boating, tubing, skiing, playing at the waterpark and just generally having fun in the water with family.
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When I realized that we'd have to drive down separately and would have plenty of seats, I invited Brittney's boyfriend Gerald to go with us. He agreed, silly boy! Later that night, I apologized to Steve for not checking with him first to make sure he was ok with taking an extra person. I knew he wouldn't mind but I still should have discussed it with him first. "But if it's any consolation," I told Steve, "I didn't ask Brittney either."
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Game Schedules

I never did put the summer baseball/softball schedules on here. So I'm being a bit quicker this time and getting a few late summer schedules posted. Home games/meets are in bold.

Brittney's Competitive Cheer:
Sat         8/31 @ Aberdeen Central @ 11:00am
Tues      9/3   @ Watertown @ 5:30pm
Thurs    9/12 @ Yankton @ 5:30pm
Sat       9/21  @ Brookings @ 11:00am
Tues    9/24   @ Huron @ 5:30pm
Thurs 10/3    @ O'Gorman @ 5:30pm
Tues   10/8   @ Brandon Valley @ 5:30pm
Thurs 10/17 @ Yankton @ 5:00pm
Sat     10/26 @ Rapid City @ State Meet - all day

Riley's Football Games:
Not sure of locations yet.
Sat         9/7
Sat        9/14
Sat        9/21
Sat        9/28
Sat      10/5
Thurs 10/10

Zeke's Special Olympics Softball:
Sat 9/24 Regional Tournament @ Sioux Falls
Sat 10/21 State Tournament @ Brookings
Sun 10/22 State Tournament @ Brookings

Gerald's Football Schedule:
(Brittney's boyfriend and he's family too :)

Aug 31	7:00 p.m. CT	Huron	Tiger Stadium
1	Sep 06	7:00 p.m. CT	Aberdeen Central	Aberdeen
2	Sep 13	7:00 p.m. CT	Spearfish	Brookings
3	Sep 20	7:00 p.m. CT	Brandon Valley	Brandon Valley High School
4	Sep 27	7:00 p.m. CT	Sioux Falls Lincoln	Brookings
5	Oct 04	7:00 p.m. CT	Harrisburg	Brookings
6	Oct 11	7:00 p.m. CT	Mitchell	Mitchell
7			OPEN			-	-	-
8	Oct 24	7:00 p.m. CT	Watertown	Brookings

Home Game    Away Game

I think that gets us through all the fall schedules. Be thankful I didn't post all the practices ;) Any and all the kids would love to have you watch and cheer them on!

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Parts of our Summer

Brittney's already up and gone to cheer practice. She has to be there by 7am but at least now I can just let her take my van and I don't have to drive her. I don't have a lot of words today so maybe I'll just post some more pictures. At some point, I need to write about my new purpose. But I need to put more thought into it and I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee yet. I won't be going back to work at HeadStart this fall, my choice, not theirs :) But God had been putting ideas into my head for a while now and He's affirming it through another's person's purpose also. Might be a big undertaking but if God wants it to happen, then He will put it in motion. And I think He's starting to turn the wheels already!

I also had a co-worker/friend who asked if I would lead a home bible study this fall when the kids are back in school. I think that's going to happen too. Mostly just because I love learning so much.

Today is library day so the kids and I will journey over to turn in our books and pick out some new ones.  I try to take the kids every Tuesday morning. It'll probably be the last time we'll be there since there's only 14 days until school starts. Not that I'm counting ;) 

Here are some more random pictures from this summer:

 

 

Brittney & Sophia making pizzas for lunch

on a Thursday baking day.

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Taylor playing softball.

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Zeke needed new leg braces this summer.

When they make them, they cast both his legs, wait for it to harden, cut the casting off and then use it as a mold for the braces. This appointment seemed to take longer than usual but I only had two kids along so it still went pretty well.

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Cousins around the table having breakfast.

I love it when my brother's kids are here :)

Notice Tay in the corner taking her own picture!

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Riley and cousin Jake having a gun war in the dining room/Riley's bedroom.

That's when I was still in the middle of switching the kids rooms around and all Riley's stuff was right in the middle of the room.

I know, I know. They shouldn't be pointing guns at each other.

But remember, I pick my battles.

We have some much bigger ones with these kids than that so I'm letting that one go.

They are boys with nerf guns and they are having fun.

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Mondays I make playdough and put a couple of folding tables outside on the deck.

Even the big kids enjoy it and it's been fun to see how creative the kids are

and what they decide to make.

This is Riley with his creation.

I thought it was a wonderful crab

but was promptly informed that it is an alien face sucker from the movie 'Aliens'.

Sigh.

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Taylor made a cute little girl on a chair.

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All about Taylor

1.  Taylor loves to give hug but does not like to retrieve them.

2. Taylor loves to read just like her mom .

3. Taylor know 1 other person how has the same birthday as her.

4. loves to help in the Karen Gardner

5. loves to help her 1 cozen Amber Hobbie

6.  Kent White daughter Kylie in joy play together.
   
   

In just a few hours I'm headed to Sioux Falls for an appointment and then the Beth Moore conference. I'm really looking forward to it! Meanwhile, Taylor wants to blog.............

ATTENTION MOM!!!!

Please show this to dad!

This would make an awesome Christmas gift for Sophia, 

and would be a fun project for retired grandparents to work on together ;)

 

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Sophia Says

Brittney, who is almost 15, was bored one day. She turned to Sophia and said, "Let's give Taylor a makeover!"  After they gathered up the necessary makeup, fingernail polish and hair supplies, they headed downstairs to find Taylor.
Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sophia, who is 3, shared her idea. "Let's shave her head!"
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More Random Pictures

Riley's ready for baseball practice.

Tells how long I've waited to post some of these.

His baseball season is already over and football practice starts in two weeks.

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Taylor and some friends before an orchestra concert.

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Sophia and one of her little friends.

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Feeding the masses on our back deck.

I think only one of my kids made it into this picture!

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Taylor and a friend out for dessert at Cherry Berry.

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I honestly can't remember if this was after one of Riley's rages or Anthony's.

I take the picture to document and then I forget what it is I'm documenting!

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Riley at Cherry Berry.

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Sophia and Cassy.

(Sophia's older half-sister on her paternal side)

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Anthony was NOT impressed with the little dinosaur at the Children's Museum!

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Zeke, however, loved him.

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Riley, Sophia, Cassy and Anthony building at the Children's Museum.

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Davey, Allison and Sophia shopping at the Museum.

(More paternal half-siblings)

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Sophia playing on the phone.

The kids' phones in the museum actually work

and call other rooms in the museum.

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Five of my six kids!

Zeke & Taylor in the back,

Sophia, Riley & Anthony in the front.

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Taylor with a horse sculpture at another museum. 

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Riley with one of his weird hairdo's.

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Zeke loves to wear a tie.

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I have two out of six kids ready for school. Anthony and Zeke have all their supplies. Grandma Sandy is taking Riley on this Saturday. Taylor and Joan (and maybe Andy too) will be going school shopping together. So that really just leaves me Brittney and Sophia in the next 18 days. Brittney says all she needs is pencils and paper until after school starts and she finds out what the teachers want. I'm pretty sure all Sophia will need is a backpack since she's only going to preschool. I don't think she even starts school until after Labor Day.

I was just pulling the hot dish out of the oven tonight when the doorbell rang. It was one of Sophia's half-siblings wanting to play. I sent him back home. A few minutes later, the kids came to tell me that Sophia's bio mom and husband were here. They stayed a few minutes before I sent them on their way so we could have supper. I didn't really have enough patience tonight for all of them. So......I was just about to hit enter on this post when the doorbell rang again. 6:20pm and the boy is back again wanting to play. Sent him on his way again. Now Taylor is chasing Riley around trying to attack him.
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On a positive note, it's Grandma Sandy's birthday today!!! Brittney and Sophia made a cake for her so we'll have a party when she comes over after her supper at BWW's :)
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