I started off the week with the blessing of playing the piano for Sunday church services. As usual playing the piano blessed my soul and prepared my heart for worship. It was a blessing to me. As a family, we started off the week by getting away to a cabin. Some friends of ours have a cabin on a lake about an hour away, and they offered to let us use it. We've been trying to coordinate this all summer, but with Roger's work schedule it's been impossible to make it work. We had wanted to stay for two nights, but that wouldn't work as Roger needed to be back at work on Tuesday morning. Instead we left after church on Sunday afternoon. Before heading up to the cabin though we made a visit to a local farm market. This farm market was hosting their annual neighbor night which included a free meal! Whoo hoo! We went with another family that we've become friends with recently. We had a great time enjoying each other's company, watching our kids play, and feasting on a delicious meal that I didn't cook!
We had beautiful weather for our overnight stay at the cabin. It's a beautiful spot on a lake in Maine, and we had such a good time together. The boys slept out on the screened in porch...even though there were plenty of beds in the cabin! We had told the boys that they couldn't go outside in the morning without one of us as we wanted to be aware of where they were at and what they were doing. A few minutes after six am, Garett comes into our room and whispers (loudly) "Dad, we need to go fishing. Can you come outside?" No time to waste sleeping, the boys had things to do! Roger went outside with the boys to go fishing. Within ten minutes a lure was stuck on a rock in the water, and the fishing quickly escalated to swimming! The boys didn't catch any fish that day, but we did enjoy swimming, boating, water tubing, and the three older boys tried water skiing. The boat motor was a little small to pull Garett, but he did attempt the water skiing. Chandler managed to get up on the skis on his second attempt. He was so excited about that! Then Wyatt wanted to try. Wyatt is quite competitive against his older two brothers, and it doesn't seem to phase him that he's quite a bit smaller and younger! Oh well! He tried hard a water skiiing, but after seeing him swallow a bunch of lake water, he thought he would be done with that! It was a fun day with lots of memories. I'm thankful that we had the opportunity to go up to the cabin as I knew the rest of the week would be busy for Roger.
On Tuesday Roger went back to work, and life went back to normal. Actually, I have no idea what normal is so I just go with whatever the day brings! We needed to do grocery shopping, and that's always exciting with five kids. I've learned to try not to go grocery shopping when someone is hungry, needs a nap, or take all the kids. However, usually I don't manage to meet all three of those criteria, so I just deal with it. We managed to stay on budget at least so I'm considering that a win!
We hosted a family get together on Tuesday night as well. We invited several families, and ended up with two extra families joining us for supper. We had eleven kids and six adults, so it was one of our smaller supper gatherings. When you get families with a bunch of kids, that's when the numbers escalate quickly. I'm happy to have people in our home though, and we had a great time of fellowship together. The kids played together nicely outside and inside, and Roger was able to get home to eat supper together with us. We've really come to enjoy fellowship with this family from New York City that is here for the summer. They have four boys, so they will be missed when they return home after Labor Day.
Wednesday was lake day with the Philbrook's at their cabin. The boys enjoy the water, Emma enjoys playing with different toys, and I enjoy the visiting. The Biddy family the family with four boys, also came to the lake. Allison also had other family members at the lake, so we had fifteen kids at the lake. Just another day of fun and memories as well as lots of craziness and food!
Thursday was the open house at the school. Emma had an open house for her preschool class in the morning, and the boys had an open house in the evening. So between the two, we spent quite a bit of the day at the school. Emma is very excited to go to school, and she waltzed into her classroom, gave the teachers hugs, and immediately put on some dress up clothes! She would've spent the whole day there, but I needed to work on a bulletin board. The boys helped a bit with the bulletin board, and cleaning up a few things, but after a couple of hours, it was time to go. I didn't finish everything I needed to do, and I could've certainly made the kids stay and endure the time there. But sometimes it's better just to go and come back later. I had kids that were getting hungry, and that is a volcano waiting to happen. Do you get tired or irritated when hungry? Well, that is about one hundred times worse in growing boys! It was time to go home.
After everyone was fed, it made the afternoon a bit better. The boys had a rough day together today, and no one had a good rest time. It was just one of those afternoons where there just isn't enough coffee to make it all better! We survived it. The boys were excited to go to their open house, visit with their teachers, and see their classrooms. Roger was unable to get to the open house, but that's just the way it is right now. Roger called me shortly after we left the school to say that he was wrapping up work and would be home soon. Since we were already in the area, I decided to drive out to the airport. At least that way some of the boys could ride home with dad. I know the boys love me, but it's probably tiring for them to have mom parenting them a lot! It's goo to have time with dad too, so we try to figure out ways to make that happen. Sometimes it means being creative and driving out to the airport at 8:00 on, so the boys can spend time with Roger. Roger's boss was still at work also, and we had a good visit with him as well. Long hours are hard on everyone, but it's just one of the ways of the summer. In the winter the hours will lessen, and we will be thankful for that too.
Travis turned seven on Friday. How is that even possible?! I remember the day he was born and thinking, "Another boy?" We had the four boys in four years, so when Travis was born Garett was still three. We had three kids in diapers and one in pull-ups! It was a crazy adventure for a few years, and it's hard to believe that those years passed so quickly even though the days were long. Travis is a fun loving, sweet boy. He delights in annoying his little sister, and he is just to quick to love her the next moment. He struggles with school, but he is all about outdoor play! And in the picture below he has on blue gloves...why? It's what he picked out at the dollar store and he has been delighted with all ten pairs! He's filled some with soap, made a few balloons, and has had a wonderful time playing with those. Sometimes it's the simple things in life that are the funnest!
We had some friends over on Friday morning also, so the boys were excited about that. Wes and Levi won't be returning to school with the boys, so we will have to be consistent in maintaining that friendship. The boys had a great morning repelling out of trees, jumping on the trampoline, eating, and enjoying ice cream cake in honor of Travis' birthday. I enjoyed visiting with Bethany, and it was a fun morning.
I had made an appointment for Chandler with the doctors office that morning. They were able to get him in at 4:15pm. He has a toe that seems to be infected, and it's been getting worse. I was able to take the other three boys to the airport, where Roger's boss graciously allowed them to stay there while Chandler, Emma, and I went to the appointment. Chandler has a toe that has the beginnings of a staff infection, and it is painful to walk on. However, it also hasn't stopped him from climbing trees or being adventurous, so it can't be that bad! We did get a prescription to prevent further infection, and he should feel improvement soon. After the appointment we went back to the airport to get the other boys, went to get the prescription filled, and snagged a quick snack.
We had plans to meet up with a few other families at a church activity at one of the local churches. The boys were excited because their friends where coming, but I don't think I realized all that this activity was going to be! The announcement had said that the doors would open at 5:30 pm, and the event would start at six pm. I took that to mean that we should be there early to get a seat. I arrived with the kids at about 5:45 pm. We were greeted at the door and told to sit anywhere and someone would be by to take our order for refreshments. (Yay for food, right?!) There were plenty...plenty...of open seats, so we picked a table and waited for our friends to arrive and for someone to take our refreshment order. This was a "coffeehouse" event that a local church was hosting. The idea is to give a commmunity event and invite them to hear gospel singing, enjoy refreshments, and get to know people. After sitting there for over twenty minutes and still waiting for our friends and for refreshments, I was wondering what we had got ourselves into. The first hour was the "open mic" event where the church people are invited to sing, play instruments, etc. Then at seven pm., there was a main event singer who is a professional singer. Our first friends arrived at about 6:15 so that helped the children enjoy it a bit more. The waitress also arrived to take our refreshment order...hooray! Unfortunately, she just asked our friends what they wanted, and I had to ask her if we could also get something. (At the beginning of this event, the host had announced that refreshments were free and to enjoy as much as you'd like.) She told us that there was nachos, popcorn, root beer floats, and various other drinks. Now take in mind that the waitress was a sweet older lady, so it was probably a bit confusing with those orders! She came back with three root beer floats, but we had seven children at the table. Oh dear! Chandler and Travis were among those that didn't get a root beer float. We received some nachos to share and bowls of popcorn, but we were still missing a few root beer floats. We asked the waitress about the root beer floats to which she replied, "oh, we are getting more ice cream." (Like out of the freezer or at the grocery store?) Meanwhile another of our friends arrives with their four children. The waitress comes back and the kids are multiplying! While all of this is going on, various church people are singing in the front. So we are trying to manage small amounts of food, eleven children, and be quiet! As well as having children whisper in my ear, "mom, where is the rest of the food?" "Mom, they said we could eat all we wanted to, and I'd like some more." "Mom, is this it? This is what we came to do?"
And all things considered, I thought the eleven children we had there did very well for being in an environment that wasn't their favorite! (And I can be pretty picky about good behavior!) Around seven, the host event announced that the serving of food would stop when the main singer was singing, and they would serve food during intermission. It was then that we realized that this event actually was scheduled until nine pm! I politely stayed for several of the main singers songs, which she did a great job at singing, and then excused myself to take our tribe outside. I had eleven delighted children outside, and I was also thankful to be out of confinement. I don't think I do a terrible job at single parenting, but it's not my favorite, and I miss Roger at events like these. The adults stayed inside a few more minutes, but then they came outside to join us. Another family had planned to come to the event, but they were delayed by an activity at their own church. By the time they arrived with their four kids, we were already outside! But now we were up to fifteen kids, so it was time for a walk. We walked towards the harbor which meant walking through downtown. I can't imagine what the tourists were thinking as fifteen kids, all 12 and under, and seven adults paraded down the sidewalk towards the harbor! It was a good chuckle, and the kids were delighted to play in the harbor for a bit. All things considered, it was a great evening. Much of that was due to the laughs and giggles as memories were created with our friends and family. Poor Travis was a bit disappointed about his birthday evening, but he said that was mostly because, "Mom, the food was good. I just wish they had given us more!" As usual with the boys, it's not the event they remember, it's the food that went with the event! We have plans to do something as a family when Roger has a day off of work again to celebrate Travis' birthday.
On Saturday we enjoyed the morning at home and then attended a birthday party in the afternoon. The party was at a lake, so the boys enjoyed swimming with their friends. I'm glad that we've made friendships over the last year that provide opportunities such as this one to get together with our friends. This has been a very busy week for Roger, so I'm looking forward to enjoying his days off next week.
Today marked the beginning of yet another week. Since the pastor's family was away on their vacation, I had the privilege of playing for the church services. Roger and the three older boys went to a local air show this afternoon. Travis and Emma stayed with me, and although Travis was disappointed at first, we had a good day together. We were invited to have lunch with our friends from New York City, the Biddy family. We enjoyed lunch and fellowship together. Travis, Emma and I spent some time just being together as the three of us, and it was a good opportunity for me to interact with them on a more one-to-one level. Roger and the three boys had a great time at the air show and it was a good time for Roger to spend time with the boys...they've missed him!
Tomorrow marks the last day of summer break! School resumes on Tuesday, and everyone seems ready to get back at it. I'm looking forward to seeing God at work in the lives of our children as well as our lives this school year. God is so good and faithful, and we are so blessed.
Our love,
Sarah
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