The babbler

**I tried to post this last night, but it didn't work for some reason...let's hope you can view it this time.**
Kensley has a new thing this week. She talks ALL of the time, but this week she has discovered how to make the noise when you run your toungue in & out of your mouth. Here's a sample:

She is so funny & I just laugh every time I hear her do this. Sometimes she's sitting quietly in the corner & then busts out with this noise. She's even pulled off from nursing to do it. I guess it's like every other new, learned task & they want to do it all of the time.

We are heading out of town tomorrow for vacation with Corby's family. I should have some great things to talk about next week.

The sequel to the bus "ordeal"

Okay, I got it out of him today... Carter, that is, and his bus "story". This kid swears up & down to something that is so far left field and NOT true. We were sitting in the pick up line today to get Chandler (they stagger start & Carter went Mon but not today) & saw the new buses pull out & Carter says "that's the bus I got to ride on". So, I asked him again what happened & I get the same story. So, I said that I would ask his teacher about it tomorrow when I drop him off.... he hung his head & the bottom lip pooched out. I knew right then I had him. I said "Carter, did you really ride on the bus yesterday?" His response: "no, but I was just so excited about the new buses & I wanted to ride on one. we did get to look at them though... the whole class walked outside to see them". A-ha!!!! Finally the truth is revealed.

Back 2 School

Ready for school with backpacks on!
(this has become our ritual "picture taking place")


Chandler is in Mrs. Thurkhill's class

Carter is in Mrs. Cooke's class

Well, today was the first day of school... YAY!!! (did I say that out loud)....It's been a crazy summer & I'm looking forward to some peace & quiet around the house for a while. I'm sure Kensley will be crawling around looking for them when she gets up from her nap. The boys were both excited this morning. Chandler started 2nd grade. He wasn't as "hip-hip-hooray" as Carter because he knows what school really entails. Carter started Kindergarten. He goes today, not tomorrow (they stagger start) and then the rest of the week. Carter has several buddies in his class so I know he will be fine. He was most excited about having homework tonight... (what is he thinking!) It's still hard to believe that I have 2 in school though. I think they will have a great year & they are glad to be together at the same school again. I'll let you know later how things went today.

UPDATE....

It was a success! They boys had a great day at school. Carter wasn't near as "glazed" as Chandler was his first day of school. I guess because he's used to the go, go, go lifestyle we have. Carter did tell a little story that I still haven't completely figured out. He said that they went on a field trip today. (knowing better... i still entertained the idea & asked more questions) He said they went on a field trip on the new bus to the corn maze. As I asked more questions, it wasn't a field trip, but they just went to sit on the new bus. Then I asked who all went and first it was his class, then it narrowed down to just him & the PE teacher... no one else. Hmmmmm... so I asked more. The PE teacher came & got him out of his class & took him to sit on the bus... just them two... and he cranked it up. Hmmmmm.... "so why was it just you & him Carter?" I asked. He said, "i don't know, my teacher just says I'm lucky". You never know when to believe the little red-head. I don't know if he really sat on it or not... and if he did... why???? Chandler had a great day too. It's kind of old news to him though. They didn't have homework tonight. That's a great sign.

Multi-tasker

I've had a lot on my mind the past couple days, so I've got to catch up from the past week. If you get bored with my ramblings, I apologize. Last night I was thinking about all the multi-tasking that only a Mom can do or understand. This is really my daily routine... all day, just with different stuff. It's pretty amazing when you look at it written down. Here's my story from last night starting about 7:40 pm:

I started to cook pancakes for supper, the baby pooped... pour pancake...change diaper...put baby back in high chair... wash hands... flip pancake... feed baby pears... plate pancake... pour another...cut up pancake into bite size pieces, pour syrup, serve kid #1... flip pancake... "mom, I need some drink"(kid #1)... get milk out of fridge... flip pancake... "no, I don't want milk...gimmie water..hurry I'm really thirsty!"(kid #1)... get water bottle out of fridge... plate pancake... pour another...serve another pancake to kid #2... flip pancake, serve almost empty glass of milk to kid #2... "i'm done mom (kid #1)...."okay, go brush your teeth & put on PJ's (me)"... plate pancake... "I want another pancake"(kid #2)... pour another pancake... serve more pears to baby banging sippy cup on highchair... flip pancake... make more batter... plate pancake #2 to kid #2... pour another pancake... go down hall to check on kid #1 who is running around in his underwear wanting to wear long-sleeve, long pants to bed... explain why you don't wear long pj's to bed in summer... try to find pj's that he won't fuss about, but unsuccessful... go back to kitchen to flip pancake... "mom, i want another pancake (kid #2)"... go to laundry room in search of clean pj's... plate pancake, cut into pieces, pour syrup, serve pancake #3 to kid #2...pour another pancake... serve more pears to baby... back to boys room to search for shorts to match pj top... back to kitchen to flip pancake... "mom, i need some drink"... pour OJ to serve kid #2, plate pancake... pour another pancake... give baby a toy to play with until bath time... yell at kid #1 to "have you done what i've asked you to do"... kid #1 still running around in underwear chasing kid #2... flip pancake... chase both kids to their bedroom... "get ready for bed... it's in 10 min (me)"... pour another pancake... (grrr... kid #2 is back in the kitchen & is getting baby out of highchair... I'm not ready for her to be out yet)...yell to husband, "can you help out for a minute"... husband reply "to do what?"... my reply "get the boys in bed"...hear the yells of kid #1 "high school musical is on!" (thinking...they've seen it 3 times already)...hear boys running through the house to leap onto my bed to watch the show... hear sounds of husband playing with kids on the bed & thinking, it's past their bedtime & we are trying to get on a schedule for school...flip pancake... go to bathroom to run baby's bath water... yell to husband to get baby ready for bath...back to kitchen to plate last pancake & cover in hopes they will still be warm when I eventually get to eat... give baby a bath...sidetrack with wet baby to boys bedroom in another attempt to get them in bed....dry off, lotion & pj's on baby...yell at kids one more time to get in bed & be quiet...pick up baby...back in boys bedroom for goodnight kisses...to living room to nurse spastic baby who's ate too many pears & would rather play...baby nurses while climbing me & stretching me in way's I shouldn't be stretched...baby to bed... back to boys room because i hear lots of giggles... looking in bottom bunk for kid #1 who's missing... still hear giggles...kid #1 & kid #2 are both in top bunk begging to sleep together & promising to be good (yeah, right... this adds at least another 30 min before they go to sleep)... at this point, I say "sure I don't care" because I'm hungry for pancakes...back to kitchen to fix & eat my pancakes...which were really good by the way... end time, 9pm

You've got to check out this link!

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Catching up...

Okay, I know it's been a while since I've posted. It's been busy, so I'll have to catch you up on what's happening here. Sunday night Chandler was baptized! Yay! He was so excited all day & he did great. I didn't get any pictures (they took some at church & will mail to us) but I took a couple clips from the video I filmed.


Last night at church was our grand finale of VBS. We had a 7 week program on Wednesday nights... the theme for the summer was Wild Man Will's 7 World Wonders. Corby was "Wild Man Will"... the main character. He did great & I finally got to see a performance last night (I was behind the scenes taking care of registration all the other weeks). Here's a pic from the performance (that's him in the middle with the vest & hat on). You can check out a video clip the Shelby Star did on it.


Also last night we had an exotic animal trainer come & do a show. His name was Dan Breeding & he was great talking about the animals he brought, but he also talked about how God makes & uses the animals and put a Christian emphasis on the whole program. He brought a huge owl, some kind of sloth/monkey, a porcupine and an alligator. All the kids had a chance at the end of the program to pet the alligator.




Kensley has been a spaz all week. She yells all of the time & does this claw thing with her hand and growls. She is SO loud! (she doesn't get it honest... ya think?) She's also got a new "look" this week if she is remotely displeased with something. It's very funny. I've tried to capture with a picture, but it just doesn't do it justice. Here's a few pictures of it.


The boys had school orientation tonight. They went to their classes & met their teachers. Chandler has no clue who his teacher is despite the fact that I've told him at least 50 times. I really don't think he cares. He's still in summer vacation mode. She seems really nice & I've heard great things about her. He doesn't have any of his buddies from the past 2 years in there, but he's a social butterfly & will do fine. Carter really likes his teacher. We actually went to church with her for several years when we were at Zion. He knows about 5 kids in his class, so he should feel really comfortable in there. He's ready to go to kindergarten. I really don't think we've made as big of a deal with him like we did with Chandler. I guess because he's the second & we've "been there, done that". They both start on Monday.

My daughter is hilarious! The older she gets, the funnier she is. Tonight she was very spastic for some reason. She pretty loud in general (runs in the family I must say) but tonight she kicked it up a notch. She took a late nap & maybe that was the culprit, but she was hollering & carrying on... growling, screaming, laughing, doing this thing where she put her fists out, tightened her body like she was really mad & got really red in the face... and then laughed. The more we laughed at her, the more she put on. The whole night she was all over the place... up & down, down the hall & back, crawling over everything, burying her face in pillows & stuffed animals. She didn't go to bed until 10pm! She was having lots of fun with her brothers today too. She's really going to miss them when school starts. She has accomplished another word... the Oh in "Uh-oh"... for the longest time she's always said "uh-uh". She has also started saying "bee-bee" which I think is baby. I'll be able to tell better in couple days. Kensley had her first popsicle today... she loved it!

The boys had their first sleep-over last night... somewhere other than family. They had a kids lock-in at the church. They had a lot of fun & were really tired when they got home. They both took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. They've had quite the imagination this week. Here's some pictures of them dressing up & playing various roles.

Corby came home the other day & the boys were outside playing. I just happened to walk outside when he pulled up & saw this at the end of our driveway. The boys were sitting in the wagon which was attached to the mailbox post & a sign on the mailbox that said "2 kids for..._____ fire or sall" ... it's been a while, but I guess they've heard me say more than one time when they are being bad that I'm going to sit them on the side of the road & put a For Sale sign on them if they don't behave. Thing was, it wasn't a bad day that day. When I asked Chandler what was going on, he said they were just playing pretend and they knew they had not been bad that day. But it was really funny. I wonder what our neighbors were thinking?!