did i wake up early?

Ha. I am such an idiot. I thought all the kids were waking up TOO early this morning when I heard them right after Paul got up....but it was 9:45 and he is staying home today! I thought it was seven o'clock....he twisted his ankle yesterday and it is swollen, he can barely walk...so he is working from home....which is interesting all in itself....the kids have to be reminded not to ask Daddy to make them an egg, or if he wants to see a picture of Charlotte Claire and Danielle.

I am taking Mali again to get her permit. This time we will remember to bring her I.D. The thing is, I have taken six kids to get their permits, I should know these things.....

We are also going to buy some candy for the church summer conference candy store.....and some cheap school supplies at Staples. And we are stopping at Walgreens to print up some pictures. I need to bring some children with me so that it is more peaceful here. I am driving the minivan since it is here, it gets better gas mileage and has air conditioning. That means Mali and I can only bring five other kids.

Benjamin was a nice big brother last night, he brought Margaret, Kathryn, Evelyn, and Suzanne to the drive-in. They went in the pick-up truck, so they sat in the back on sleeping bags. They arrived back home at 2:30 am, which woke up Rosie, which woke up Charlotte Claire....but they had lots of fun.

Uh-oh, Camille is being bratty. She doesn't like the dress Kathryn got out for her. I had let her wear it around the house the other day, so now she is saying, "That is NOT a bye-bye dress!"

Kathryn is brushing her hair now, Camille has decided she will wear the dress and be a good girl.

Jonathan is trying to ride the trike around, and it scares Rosie, so she barks when he gets too close. He wants to put her outside...I told him he should just go outside and ride his real bike. He says it is too hot. I told him to set up the slip-n-slide...he said that is too cold. (It connects to the hose....)so he is riding the trike and Rosie is barking.

Now I need to get going.....perhaps one of these days I will write something more interesting than this.....(like how I am trying to excercise, ha, and how I am trying to resist things like ice cream cones...how much I miss my kids who are out of the country...how much I really love Paul...how nice it was that Emily came over last night....how absolutely funny my older kids are....How sometimes it drives me crazy, the things that need to be done around here but I just ration it out in my mind that it doesn't really matter, and I make myself come to peace about it.....how most of the time I really enjoy our home and it is fine how it is.....how we cleaned under all the furniture yesterday and found pennies and matchbox cars and hair clips and dollhouse people.....how much I enjoy it when the older kids take time with the younger ones.....how sweet it is when Rosie-The-Pain-In-The-Neck puts her head on my lap for a cuddle.....)right now Charlotte Claire has a red pen and a green dollhouse bike. She is using them as stop and go signs for Jonathan, who is cruising around quite spiffily on the little trike.....she must be feeling a bit better.....

And now I REALLY need to get going....