Back to school craziness!

Going back to school comes with the start of the crazy schedules that go along with the school year.  Yesterday was orientation for Bisque to start kindergarten and in the evening was another orientation for Quail for high school. After the HS one, we picked up the Chromebook each student gets, a new thing this year!  Many text books will be available through the computer meaning less books she has to carry around.

The other day at the store, we ran into a friend who has a daughter the same grade as Quail.  The girls are old friends.  She is on the volleyball team and Quail has been wanting to do something so we checked to see if she could join and she can!  Today I got her knee pads and tomorrow is running to the doctor’s office for paperwork for the physical.  She has missed a few practices, but I’m just thankful she was able to join last minute like this.  Hopefully she will enjoy it.  She stopped playing softball 2 years ago and has been looking for something to do ever since.

I also got shin guards for Bisque at the store today because he is signed up for soccer this season.  It’s his first time playing besides a short little program last year through the local recreation department.  Most of those ended up getting canceled anyway because it ran each week when they held practice.  He has been wanting to play for a while now.  Soon practice for that will be starting.

Mommia is signed up for dancing and gymnastics.  We picked up tap and ballet shoes for her the other day.  This will be her first experience with dancing lessons.  I had taken dance from the time I was 5 until I graduated high school so I’m glad she will be taking lessons.  Quail took lessons for only 5 years.  Broke my heart when she decided to quit dance for softball.  I hope Mommia stays with it for longer, but if not, then at least she tried it.  She took gymnastics last year and loves that.  She’s a very active little girl with TONS of energy so I needed to find a creative outlet for fer as soon as possible.  What is really cute is that she keeps putting on the tap shoes (what I did for 12 years!) and tapping around the house.  She can’t wait for classes to start!

The older 2 boys have cub scouts starting soon.  Squeezel is a Weblos this year and Gubs is a Wolf.  Hubby is actually going to be the leader for Gubba, too.  I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot of the planning for meetings since he works a lot and also because I have the experience since I have been Quail’s girl scout leader since she was in kindergarten.  I need to get on that planning!

I have also been to a few PTA planning meetings lately.  I collect the Box Tops and Labels for Education for the elementary school my kids go to and also do the Labels for the intermediate school in town.  I like to be involved but with 6 kids, it’s difficult to do.  I do the tops and labels because it’s a way to be involved that doesn’t take up too much time.  It’s also fairly simple.

To make things even more fun, I also have to do some planning for our mini vacation this coming weekend to Hershey, PA!  We are camping in a tent at the Hershey Campground.  We haven’t been since Bisque was a baby so about 6 years now.  In my teeny bit of free time, I am scouring Pinterest to find any and all tips on camping with kids.  We won’t be at the campground for too long, but if it goes fairly well, we might make it a part of something our family does for bonding.

On top of all this business, all 3 boys have their birthdays in September.  The oldest wanted to have a party all his own since I usually combine all 3 to save time and money.  We have just had a bounce house or a game truck come to the house in the past.  This year, he wants to do Bounce-U with his own small group of buddies.  I plan to do a glow party at the end of the month for the younger 2.  As soon as we get back from our trip this weekend, I plan on putting whatever extra free time I have into planning that.

There’s always something!!

Summer is almost over!

I LOVE summertime!  I love the warm weather, being able to go to the beach or lake, less clothing (no coats to put the kids in before going outside meaning quicker to leave), a less defined schedule, etc.  I try not to plan too many things during the summer just so we can kinda wake up in the morning and say, “What do you want to do today?”  The only things we had planned really were that the 2 oldest boys went to cub scout camp for a week.  And then we have our weekend away, our mini-vacation, next weekend to Hershey, PA.  The school year is pretty busy with everyone’s activities so I try to keep the summers low-key.  It’s the time of year when everyone can be a litle lazy.

I think, however, the kids are getting bored.  School starts in about 2 weeks and I am starting to hear, “What can I do now?”  It’s been pretty humid out lately also so I don’t want them outside too long in the heat.  School notices have started coming about orientation for the oldest into high school and my youngest son into kindergarten.  They are getting excited, and so am I.

The other day Quail had a dentist appointment and I had books for Squeazel and Gubba to read.  They were occupied.  Mommia was in need of a nap because she had been playing outside so I was hoping she would be chill.  NOPE.  She decided to take the time we were waiting for Quail to get her teeth cleaned to get out the last of her energy before nap.  And for a kid who is normally high-energy, this was a lot for her to get out.  Once she decided to not listen to me after I told her to calm down for the third time, she got strapped in the double stroller.  Of course this made her yell, scream and whine.  Then Bisque decided to start to chase around Snip.  I told him several times to stop also.  Soon after I started thinking about waiting in the car, someone came to the window in the area and said to the kids, “Hey guys, can you quiet down?”  That was pretty much it- I was tired, they were rowdy and we all needed a change of scenery.  Not to mention I was embarrassed!  I was slightly annoyed at both the kids and the dentists’ office.  They are kids;z kids make noise.  With a bunch as big as mine, it’s usually a lot of noise, even when a few are just sitting and reading.  Mommia has a good set of lungs on her, and when she wants to use them- watch out!  But I was also frustrated with the kids.  B knew better than to chase the baby when we are out somehwere, especially in the waiting room for a dentist. And he also knew better to stop when I told him to instead of not listen.

That day was very frustrating.  Thankfully the next day was a lot better.  It’s proven that kids really do crave schedules and routine.  They just need to know what happens next.  I’m pretty sure any person works best in that environment.  Even if you aren’t on a strict schedule with a new baby, you can see that they will make their own by taking naps around the same time every day, wanting to eat about the same time each day, etc.  It’s just how we are wired as human beings.  So while I say with a sad face that summer is almost over, I then say again- summer is almost over.  This time with a much more hopefully, happy expression on my face.