April 30, 2014

Wednesday

I didn't get out walking today. I got up too late and it was too hot. I practiced fiddle with Charlie and then we did school. The big kids had meetings. Tommy and Charlie went to art class at the park. 

I invited TJ and Ang over for supper. I figured they wouldn't have much time to make anything between practice and the Bible study. I made sweet potato blackbean tacos for supper and added apples and walnuts to last night's leftover salad. It was very yummy. 

We went to church for Bible study. Kim, Ang, TJ, Joe, and Ben played in the worship band. Afterwards, Charlie and I stopped at Winn Dixie. Charlie wanted chocolate cake and I bought berries. I bought some fruit for a man that sits on the porch in front of the store but he didn't want it. 

We came home. The big kids stayed at the church to set up and practice for youth tomorrow. Tom wanted to watch hockey but he needed Ed to make the projector and everything work, so he couldn't watch. He really wanted to watch but the boys didn't answer his texts. So he went to bed.

I did an Omnibus lesson and had Garrett and Tommy do the dishes.

April 29, 2014

Tuesday

I made myself go walking. It was a little after 10 am, so I got a little sunburned. I showered, ate, and we hurried off to gym class. Our fridge was pretty empty, no berries, so I dropped the boys off and went to Publix and got groceries. Went back to the park and picked up the boys. 

When we got home I sat on the back porch swing for an hour. Then I headed to Tai Chi. I wanted to stay home, but I'm glad I went. Tommy had some more AV training at church. Tonight was his first night working there.

I came home and sat out on the porch, this time in the hammock chair. The big kids sat around all day. They were playing video games when I got back from my class. That annoyed me. The living room was a mess. Dirty kitchen. That's why I sat on the porch. I gave Garrett the job of picking up the living room. I think Garrett got stuck with dishes too.

The boys went to the park to play hockey. I made the salad and ordered pizza and wings. They came back and we ate and watched...you guessed it! Hockey!  A few of us helped to clean up the kitchen and we went to bed.

April 28, 2014

Monday

Quiet time and walked. I might start running again. I'm thinking about it. After I showered we started school. After about 2 hours I made Kale Soup. I also made a cucumber salad. We ate the soup before we left for Sloppy's but ate the salad while driving to the gig.

I practiced fiddle with Charlie. I enjoy practicing. 

We went to Sloppy's. Ben has a cold so I  walked to CVS and bought him medicine.

We had a great, fun crowd tonight. We had a lot of fans at the show tonight. It was fun talking to them. I'm glad they came and talked to me.i also appreciate the staff at Sloppy's who always take great care of us. Thank you all!

When we drove home Tom went thru the McDonald's drive thru and bought icecream. When we got home I got a second burst of energy and folded a basket of laundry. I made it to bed at 1 AM. 

April 27, 2014

Sunday

Went to church. Relaxed during the afternoon. I watered my plants on the porch and practiced the flute. I haven't played it in months.  I really didn't do anything else.

Tom and I went to church in the evening. Then hurried home so the boys could go play hockey. Rob came up with Ian and Ariel. I made a salad and doctored up some leftover spaghetti. I also made homade baked beans. They were delicious.

We ate and the boys watched hockey. Went to bed a little after 11.

April 26, 2014

Saturday

I started the day with quiet time and then the hot tub. I ate oatmeal with raspberries, then hit the books, bookkeeping, that is. I worked on that till 4, when I had to get ready to go to Schooner Wharf. We watched Jake and Callie too today. Callie hasn't been feeling well and she took a long nap.

I also remembered that we had guests coming tonight and started washing the bed. I had bought pillows for guests, and the kids take them when the guests leave, so I had to scout around for pillows. Grrrr.

Schooner had a pirate costume contest. It was fun. We need to get costume ah for next year. Evalina loaned a costume to Nina and she looked great. Tom, Charlie, and I took a walk and got some pirate things for Charlie.

Our guests, Keith and Happy, met up with us at Schooner and watched the whole show. 

Driving home now. I hope to be in bed by 2 AM. The older kids lead worship in the morning and have to get up kind of early. I can sleep in a little.

April 25, 2014

Friday

I'm so indecisive the last few days. I've had a hard time planning my days, what to do. I pretty much took the week off school. We did a little math and history, but I needed a break.

So I haven't set my alarm all week. I've had a scratchy throat and cough. I took the morning slowly, had quiet time, and went in the hot tub. Ed made waffles for breakfast so I ate one. I had Garrett start his CAT test and did math with Tommy. I did school with Charlie. Toy and Charlie practiced their instruments and I went to Kim's to weave again. Charlie went with me. We could only stay an hour. Then stopped at Winn Dixie for hummus, cucumbers, and tomatoes. 

While we were gone, Tommy went to church for some A/V training. When I got home I made hummus and veggie wraps for us to eat before we left for the gig.

Schooner Wharf was fun. We celebrated the Conch Republic Independence Day. If you're interested, check this out 

http://www.conchrepublic.com/the_beginning.htm

We got 2 very generous tips from a man who wanted to play the drums on two songs with us. 

Tom was sleepy driving home, TJ was hard to wake up in the van when we got home, and after I had been in the house a few minutes I realized Charlie never came upstairs and was still in the van sleeping. Joe went down and got him. 

Tomorrow is clean the bathroom and bookkeeping day. Yay. :0)

April 24, 2014

Thursday

I took today off and it was a very relaxing day. I had quiet time, walked, and went in the hot tub. I went to Kim's studio and wove 6 feet! I went home and started supper. I made a giant salad and started Ginger, Curry,  Coconut milk, and Carrot soup. Then I went over to the church to check out the OMY youth group. The kids played glow in the dark dodge ball. I watched the kids lead worship and Ben give the message. Then went home. I finished the soup. Rob came up. He, Tom, and Tommy went to the park. When they got back we ate (the soup was delicious and they ate it all-need to triple the recipe next time) and did what we do every night-watched hockey. Charlie stayed over at Shannon's house. Shortly after 11 I went to bed.

April 23, 2014

Wednesday

I had planned to take the day off and hang with a friend, but it didn't work out. I kind of took the day off. I slept in a little. I weeded the side yard with Tommy. A stone yard, stones and weeds. Hmmm.

I folded 1 basket of laundry, then went down to the hot tub. I stayed in a long time, listening to a book on my phone. After that, I spent about 20 minutes on the hammock on the porch. That was relaxing. I corrected Tommy's math test. He got 8 right out of twenty questions. Ugh!!!!

Tom worked on a roof all day with Roberto.

The big kids had meetings at church. Charlie and I went over to church for supper. Bible study. Then we went to CVS and bought two new hairbrushes. 

Before bed I read "Farmer Boy" to Tommy and Charlie. We had a family meeting, called by Ben, and it was horrible. Went to bed but couldn't sleep till after 3 am.

April 22, 2014

Tuesday

I woke up with a scratchy throat and had a slight cough all day. I was going to have a friend take the boys to gym class today so I could slow down a little, but I had commitments for one more day. Our guest, Doug, left this morning. TJ dropped off the kids and he and Ang went to their gig at Blue Heaven. Bobby came over. I had told him that I would go to DMV with him to get a FL driver's license. Mom and dad came over just before we left. So mom finished the sewing on my cushion. 

I dropped Charlie off at his fiddle lesson and took Bob for his license. At the DMV they had a sign in sheet, but instead of calling the next person's name on the list, they just said "next." How silly is that? All of us sitting in there waiting. We don't know who's next. One friendly fellow started asking us our names and figured out who was after who. So weird. I guess the workers didn't want to get out of their chairs and look at the list. 

When I got back, my mom had the cushion in the cover and it was on the chair. Yay! Picked up Charlie and we all got ready to go to gym class, Jake and Callie, and Tom too. 

Callie wasn't playing at the park. She wanted to go back to grandma's house, so Tom and I took her and went to Home Depot. Garrett watched Jake. He has fun at gym class. I forgot to bring a diaper bag and she needed a change. Luckily, she was just wet. We picked up the other boys and drove home. 

I was able to go in the hot tub for 1/2 hour before going to Tai Chi, but Joe came down and talked to me for 15 min. So it wasn't the quiet time I was hoping for.

I was the only student at Tai Chi and I am so glad I went. Came home. Relaxed in my chair.  Started supper while the boys went to hockey. Went to Winn Dixie for a few things for supper. Made a giant salad with romaine, spinach, apples, raisins, chickpeas, and broccoli. Rob brought donuts and I didn't eat any. :0)  I made Charlie eat his salad before he could have a donut. He was being a punk.

I cleaned up the dishes, talked to a friend on the phone, and went to bed.

April 21, 2014

Monday

I had the boys do chores this morning. Some slept till noon. The living room and the carport were really bad so we concentrated on them. 

My mom and dad came over and mom helped me recover the bottom cushion of my chaise lounge. We cut out the fabric and had it almost sewn together but had to leave for Sloppy Joes. We had all of us, Doug Yeomans, and my mom and dad in the van. 

Sloppy's was busy all night. I took the kids to Duetto's. I got take out food from the Cafe on our way home, Unwing Dings and a veggie burger.  Super tired. When we got home Doug and Ben picked together for a while so I stayed up to listen but finally had to go to bed.

April 20, 2014

Sunday

The band had to be at church at 7 am. I woke up at 8. We took Tommy, Charlie, Ian, and Ariel over to church at 10:45. I ate oatmeal at home and treated myself with breakfast at church. We couldn't do Easter baskets before church since the big kids had to leave so early. 

The service was great. Different with a lot of activity, a lot of people up and down, walking around. The kids played in the worship band. After church there was a ham dinner. The line went out the door and into the parking lot. There were so many people.

The line was so long I didn't get food. I wasn't hungry anyway since I ate breakfast twice. Then we did a concert. I helped Ang watch Jake and Callie. Our pew was a mess! :0)

We made it home around 2 o'clock I think. I put the Easter bags together yesterday. Nina, Cody, and Jonathan helped me put candy in plastic eggs for the little kids to hunt. We had the little ones hide out in the boys room while we hid the eggs and the 3 littlest ones' baskets. I didn't use baskets. We used Easter bags. I have no room to store them. Easter gift bags fold up and don't take up much room. 

Rob and Anastasia came up. We had fun with some little plastic bunnies on springs that you pushed down on the table and waited for them to pop up. When they popped up the little kids tried to catch them in a basket. Callie loved them.

Some of the boys went to KW. Everyone else went to the park to play hockey. I did the dishes, went to Winn Dixie, and picked up some things for supper. I came home and made mushroom burgers and salad. I cut up a watermelon. They all came back from the park and ate. TJ brought Angelica over and it was fun hanging out. Grandma Fran and Grandpa Gary were at our house all day too.

Got to bed nice and late again.

April 19, 2014

Saturday

Woke up the boys and some of us went to the Beach Baptism BBQ at Bahia Honda. Garrett, Tommy, Charlie, and Jonathon went. My parents went too. Kim was there, TJ and Ang went too.

A big, gray cloud looked discouraging. It rained for a few minutes, then stopped. The wind blew the cloud away and the sun came back out. We sang, people were baptized, then there was food. I stayed on the beach afterwards. 

I went to the evening service with my parents to watch some of the boys play. Before the service, during practice for Sunday's concert, the boys were fighting. That ended the practice and stressed us all out.

After service, my parents, Tom, and I went to Bistro 31 to watch Doug's gig there. The Yacoes met us there too. Joey watched their boys and our little boys at our house, two blocks away. Ben played with Doug and TJ joined in too.

The days are so busy, so full. Stayed up too late, again.

April 17, 2014

Thursday

TJ dropped the kids off at 8:30 am so they could go to Ang's dr appt. I was ready for them. Fed them breakfast. Then Kurt watched them so I could go for my walk. 

We did school and I made coconut milk yogurt. I haven't made it in a long time. Too busy. Tommy had a guitar lesson. The big kids were at church all day setting up for youth group. It takes so much time because they transform the gym into laser tag craziness. They also practice music for it.

Rob came up with Anastasia and Vika. They all went to the park with Tom, Jake, Callie, Tommy, and Charlie. Doug and TJ went to play at Blue Heaven. I went to pick up Bobby and took him to inquire about a job. Dropped him off and stopped at CVS. I ordered pizzas and picked them up on my way home. 

My mom and dad just arrived from Punta Gorda when I got home with the pizzas. Then the crew came back from the park. I was lucky to have leftover salad from the night before. We ate and visited with my parents. Then took them to our friends' house where they would be staying. After midnight I changed Tommy and Charlie's beds and picked up too many blankets and sheets off their bedroom floor. I folded some laundry. 

We had lots of guests last night. Doug, Emma, Jewel, Jonathon, Cody, Naomi, and Bree. 

Tommy put dishes away and Garrett was supposed to wash but didn't. Tisk, tisk, tisk.

April 16, 2014

Wednesday

I was so tired this morning and slept in. I was able to get some quiet time since everyone else slept in too. Laundry, breakfast, and school took up most of the day. Ed spent the day programming lights for the Easter concert at church. 

Kurt had a photo or video gig one day this week. Apparently someone interrupted the "shoot" with a gun. I think someone was mad at one of the people in the shoot. I don't think too much came of it because I didn't hear a lot about it. The police came. Weird.

Doug had a gig at Mangrove Mama's. Nina had a gig at Sunset Pier. Ben, Kurt, Emma, and Jewel went with her. The rest of us went to church. I took both the dresses I made for Callie and her new shoes, to give to TJ. She wore one of them at church. The other is for Easter. 

When I got home from church I folded laundry, and put it away, with a little help from Joe. Ugh! It took longer than I wanted. I hoped to get to bed earlier. Tommy put dishes away but I had to wash because Garrett and the rest of the big kids were at church setting up for youth group tomorrow. They will probably have a game of laser tag before they come home.Tom and Joe watched hockey and I wrote my blog (two days' worth) and went to bed.

April 15, 2014

Got up early and went for my walk. I had to go to Winn Dixie because we were out of berries and bananas for oatmeal. I filled my cart with produce and at the checkout something amazing happened. A rep from Earthbound Organic Farms spotted me emptyingy my cart on to the belt and interrupted me. He said he noticed that I bought some of their produce and they wanted to thank me for eating healthy by paying for my groceries! It was amazing! Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. It was $216 and made my day.

Came home, put the food away, and ate breakfast. Then packed up for  field day at gym class in Marathon. Jake and Callie went with us. The kids had a blast. Lots of games and a big slip and slide. Then they turned on the sprinklers at the park. It ran later than usual. Luckily, my Tai Chi class was cancelled. I wouldn't have made it in time. It also gave me extra time to make supper. 

I cut up two watermelons and made a giant salad. I made spaghetti while most of the kids went to the park to play hockey. TJ, Ang, and Doug Yeomans went to Springer's for a gig. When everyone came back from the park Rob took Callie over to Springer's. Tom, Jake, Ariel, and I walked over too.

Got home just before 11. TJ and Ang picked up the kids. Tommy and Garrett did dishes and I went to bed.

April 14, 2014

Monday

I set my alarm for 7 this morning and got up. Quiet time and I went for my walk. Ate oatmeal with blueberries. I picked up a little and cleaned half of the kids bathroom. It's embarrassing to have a gross bathroom when you have guests. 

Did school with Garrett, Tommy, and Charlie. Then made a salad and got out the leftover quinoa and mango. A few of us ate. Then I packed lumch for Tom and Ed.

We all piled in the van, Emma and her friend, Jewel, too. Had a very good night at Sloppy's. Rob took the kids for icecream. Then we walked over to Mallory square. Got home at 11 and folded a basket of laundry before going to bed. So tired.

April 13, 2014

Sunday

I woke up before my alarm again. Too early, but had to get myself ready before I started waking everyone up. We were presented with a wonderful breakfast. Very thankful!

Went to the church. Sound check. Great service. Our new friend, Mark, played the organ. It was so cool! There was an adult choir and a children's choir. It was exciting for me to see and hear, and to watchtower crew watch. We don't see this ever. Also, the windows in the church were so pretty. 

After church we had lunch. Hung out in the choir room. Charlie participated in an Easter egg hunt. They had to move it into the sanctuary because it was pouring. 

The kids set up and practiced. I did some embroidery and played piano. I wish I had my music with me. I would have played for hours!

I noticed on Facebook that our friend, Keith, and his wife, Happy, were in Fort Lauderdale, so I sent them a message telling them where we were and they came to the concert. Also, our friend John, who lives in Vero Beach came. Another old friend of Tom's came with his family. He was vacationing in FL.

There was a reception with cookies :0) then we packed up and were treated to dinner. A family with 6 kids took us out, 18 of us all together. 

Thank you everyone! Nervous Nellies, The Pink Church, Mark, Ken, Steve, Maryanne, Hines, and Gabby. And everyone who came, and everyone who helped make the weekend possible. 

We should be home by 11:30 pm.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that our friend, Doug Yeomans, joined us yesterday, too.