JUNE 27th, 2010

10:00 A.M. Church Services - we had them all ready and had them practice the song they sang in Sacrament Meeting - and arrived at the Church EARLY!!!



Aren't they the cutest bunch of kids!



It's 108 degrees out there today - kids are playing and adults are laying around trying to get cooled off in the AC - thank you Lord for Air Conditioning!

JUNE 26, 2010

SATURDAY NIGHT BATH - IS THIS WHAT BIG FAMILIES DO?



Actually, it's a redneck bath night compliments of two toddlers with poopy diapers. The two babies jumped into the pool before we could check their diapers. Upon checking them both, we found they had double contaminated the swimming pool. So we grabbed them, stripped them down, and put them in the tub.


Then we drained the pool, reloaded it with fresh water and half a bottle of bath wash - much to the delight of the contaminatees - they've been playing and having a ball as they wash the pool, their bodies, their swimsuits and their hair.



One of them said "We should let the poopy babies in the pool more often! Bleh!

June 25th, 2010
Friday afternoon - what do 11 kids do in one house? This morning they swam in the kiddie pools, but it's way too hot out there right now.

I'm in the kitchen: Cookie, Riley, Emma, Jude, all playing Uno. There's a lot of laughter and yelling. At one point, Jude gets smacked with a bunch of cards....he tried to throw a sulky tantrum, but the girls shamed him into getting up off the floor and rejoining the game.

Now I've wandered into the Family room: Gabe, Calvin, Eve, and Hyrum are all building and playing the marble game. Calvin and Hyrum are racing their marbles....but Calvin is getting frustrated because Hyrum grabs his marble half-way down and quickly drops it into the finish line cup. I've had to threaten Hyrum with a 4 year old, 4 minute, Super Nanny time-out if he does it again.

G'Thunk has a small marble maze made for him and puts a marble in the top. When it hits the bottom, he does his victory yell while throwing his hand and arm up in the air.

Sarah is strumming on her guitar that she got for her birthday yesterday. She's already learned 4 chords and has a blister on her thumb, so she found a tiddly-wink type toy to strum with to save her thumb. She's got "Mary Had a Little Lamb" down real good now. Now she's working on "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

I've followed G'Thunk into the Dining Room where the piano begs to be pounded on. After doing his duty to the piano, he's gotten distracted by something else that begs to be pounded on - Sweet Pea, the dog. G'Thunk is now climbing under the coffee table in the Living Room, reaching for Sweet Pea, who is making evasive maneuvers.

Jenny is in the Living Room, with earphones on, trying to concentrate on a paper she has to have done and sent in by tonight.

Little Joshua is blissfully asleep upstairs...recharging!

WHO NEEDS A TV WITH ALL THIS ENTERTAINMENT?

JUNE 18, 2010

Liz and I have spent the last two days cleaning and taking care of kids. We've gotten a lot done, but we're both getting pretty tired.

Liz said she wanted the two of us to go up to Saratoga tomorrow, spend the night, and go to church Sunday morning. I've been contemplating it on and off since I got here, but have shoved it aside. But when Liz said "we're going", I couldn't handle it. I burst out crying. It finally came to me - Saratoga is where I left my Tony. I brought a very sick man to Idaho. So Saratoga Springs means Tony to me, and I don't want to go there with him gone. It's hard to explain - I know if I went, I would cry, but deal with it okay. But I don't want to know Saratago without Tony - it would take him away somehow.

I feel the same about the Rigby house - I have the opportunity to go inside it (a friend's daughter now owns it), but I still have Tony in that house and don't want to know it any other way.
So, we're not going to Saratoga Springs - I think I just want to leave Tony there, in my "once upon a time" land.

More pictures taken by Corinne:

Karen and Corinne

Liz, Annie, Brian, Jen and Joshua

June 14, 2010

It's a cloudy, coolish day - very humid. The kids are having a ball playing with each other.

Yesterday we went to Liz's church, then came home and quieted the kids down. Then Corinne and Bill Zembrowski arrived, then Brian and Annie. It was so wonderful to see them again, and since the kids were doing "quiet time", we had some good quality visiting time while we waited for Jenny and her kids to arrive. All I can say is that the Zembrowski's have been our dear friends for 37 years, and they are still the most fantastic people I know!

Jenny got stuck in some thick Sunday traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and was arriving later than planned, so we went ahead and ate - feeding the kids first, then we adults were able to have a kid-free meal. The kids were slowly revving up as they anticipated Jenny's arrival. When Jenny drove in it became a madhouse! Kids, grandma, mothers, all yelling hello's and hugs and tears.

Corinne took some pictures that I'll post when she posts them on facebook. Liz cooked a fantastic Lasagne dinner and Corinne's family brought some exceptional desserts.

Today everyone is just playing, and Jenny and Liz will hopefully get a nap to get rested up for their trip to 6 Flags tomorrow.

June 12, 2010

It's a misty, humid day here in New Fairfield, CT. Liz took Riley and Cookie on the train to New York City to see the sights - I wondered if Jude and Calvin would feel slighted, but they didn't mind at all. Jon mowed the lawn and is running errands, while I watch the grandkids and read.

I found the book"Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis - excited to read the book (which is good) after watching the movie, and assumed it was a real story by Mame's nephew Patrick Dennis. Looked him up on Wikipedia - found some interesting facts (one of which is that Mame is fictional...so sad"). So if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dennis