Busy Saturday

The Barnes went out the morning for some yard sale runs. We went to Sophia's birthday party. We came back home for lunch and a nap then Daryl took out the two big boys for bowling and geocaching. They had a good time and were out for a good while. I took Andrew out for a while to Walmart and to the Parent Teacher store. While I was gone Rachel cleaned up the kitchen which was super nice. I took dinner over to some friends that just had a baby and the Barnes went to the park for a picnic playdate with the Kohrs. We are just hanging out now watching some TV relaxing from the day.

Hiking Gone Wrong

So the dads decided to take ALL the boys out tonight for a hike. We should have had second thoughts about that when one fell on the way down the driveway before they got started. About 20 minutes later they called us to come get the little boys. We were on our way and then Jacob started getting in trouble so he was sent back as well. About a minute later the rest of the gang ended up coming back as well. It wasn't the most successful of trips.

Daryl is Home!

After being gone for almost a week, Daryl is finally home. Yay! So happy to have him back. Hez and Rachel let us get out after the boys were asleep. Thankfully we got home just in time for Jacob to wake up after peeing the bed.

Yard Sales and a Haircut!

I got to go out today and get my haircut. So nice that I could do it during the day and Rachel watched the boys for me. I ran out in the morning to check out a few yard sales. Got some stuff but there were not very many.

Date Night at Home

Tonight Daryl was gone so Hez and Rachel stayed home instead of going out for date night. We instead watched some recorded shows and Rachel made some yummy spinach and artichoke dip. It was a nice evening.

Free Time for a Trampoline

One of Rachel's friends has a neighbor that might be giving away a trampoline. That was a very confusing sentence. Anyway, I ran over there with the two little ones and checked it out. It was really nice one and would be awesome to have but I don't know if they are going to get rid of it or not.

Rachel took out the three middle ones and did a few errands including getting a milkshake. :)

Increased Motivation

I don't know why but while the Barnes have been living here my motivation to do housework and such has been higher than normal. I don't know fully if that for a good or bad reason. I don't know if it is because I see a need and just do it, if I want to serve the others, or if I just want to look good and get praise. Truthfully it is probably a lot the last one. That is a pretty sad reason but hopefully part of that motivation will continue when they leave.

One Week!

One week from today the Barnes close on their house. Wow! It has snuck up on me. I have mixed feelings about it. I mean on the one hand it will be nice for us to be just our family again. The noise level will be less and I think we will be able to relax a little more.

But, I really have enjoyed the companionship of Rachel. It is really nice to have another adult around to talk to during the day and to help out with chores. And when all the kids are in bed it is nice to just hang out and visit. Kind of a throw back to college days!

I think it will be interesting to see how our relationship will be. I wonder if we will see/hang out with each other more or less than before we lived with each other. There were some people saying not to live together because it could hurt our friendship but I don't see that being the case. At least I hope not! I have definitely gotten to know them better over the past month and a half. It has been really interesting and I feel like I have learned a lot from them as well as about myself.

Words

I really enjoy random words of affirmation and love. This morning Rachel sent me an e-card and it was very sweet.

I'm so grateful for this season in our lives. I'm not sure that many would see this time as an opportunity, but rather an inconvenience. I am learning to be a better wife, mother & friend. You are inspiring and my heart is changing because of you. Thank You for this opportunity and I pray we have many, many more <3

Warmed my heart and made my morning!

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Today is Hez and Rachel's 8th Anniversary. I tried to be extra nice to Rachel today. She got to sleep in, I made her breakfast, brought her lunch and then I went out so they had some alone time in the evening. This was my date night so I went to eat at Jimmy John's and to Goodwill. They had their favorite pizza from Old Chicago.

This morning I took the three boys to the dentist. They ended up doing really well and there were no cavities! Yay!

House Update

So Hez and Rachel got all the details worked out for their new house. The sellers are going to meet all their demands so that is awesome. Their appraisal came back really good too. So, they are good to go. I think their closing is going to be around May 26th but they may stay here some after that to do a little work to the house before they move in.

Sunday

Daryl headed out this morning to go to TechEd in Atlanta for a week. The rest of us went to church. I had to serve this morning in the 4 year old room. After church we went over to my mom's house for lunch. The Barnes went to Zappos again. I got some rest before LifeGroup. When we got back we ate leftover dinner together. We put the boys to bed and then Rachel and I went to see the movie Bridesmaids. It was really funny. Had some crude parts but I was laughing so hard during most of it. Had a good time.

Quiet Day

Daryl had to work this morning and so the Barnes and I went out to yard sales separately. We both found some good stuff (toys, baby backpack carrier, clothes, etc.). Then the Barnes went out Zappos for some shoes so we had a quiet afternoon with just my boys here. It is funny how having just 3 boys now seems like a break. :)

This evening we let Hez and Rachel go out to celebrate their anniversary that is actually next Tuesday but Daryl is going out of town so tonight worked best. They went to Chuy's and then PF Changs for some takeout dessert. They even brought us back one! Score! When they got back we all watched the movie Salt.

Girl's Night Out!

We had a fun Girl's Night Out tonight. We ate at PF Chang's and then went bowling. Half of the bowling was Cosmic so that was fun. It was fun to laugh at each other and just act goofy. The only problem I had is that it ended too early. I think we were home by 10. We then played a game of Hunter/Barnes Dicecapades. A funny part of the evening was Rachel testing out the reverse camera on the rental Yukon.

Zoo a No Go

Rachel and I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo today. Well, everyone else in Louisville thought so too. We got there and they were already parking people on the grass and they said there were 3000 school kids. We decided to skip that and went to a pet store instead. They had some cute little puppies that the boys liked petting. The other animals were a hit as well (fish, baby turtles, snakes, parrot, mice, etc.) After there we went to Joe Creason park and played at the playground and had a picnic. I think it worked out really well and the kids had fun.

Thursday recap

Today was Jacob's last day of school. Honestly I will miss the break. He had an end of year party with games. Andrew was acting funny about it and didn't want to do anything and just acted shy.

Tonight Hez and Rachel went out for date night. They went to California Pizza Kitchen and then Barnes & Noble. I think they had a good time away.

Andrew is driving me nuts!

So the biggest problem child in the house is Andrew for sure. Seems like I am telling him NO or putting him in time out every other minute. Most of his offenses are: hitting, pulling on shirts, trying to grab Judah, chasing people, emptying the wipes case, trying to climb on the stools, eating other people's food, stealing toys, crushing towers, etc. I have started to put him in time out immediately when he hits. It seems like he is doing that a little less now but it is still an issue. He wears me out and I feel like he needs constant supervision. Maybe it is because there are more kids in the house for him to annoy. He also feels like he is the boss of them. He tells Uriah no and tries to move him when he is in front of the TV. He wants to be big so bad and do everything the big kids do. I feel bad for Rachel since he is constantly annoying her kids. Ugh!

Discussions

I brought something up to Rachel today that was starting to frustrate Daryl and I. I didn't want it to turn into anything that started to eat at us so I wanted it out in the air. I really do not like confrontation. I guess I always worry that the issue is not worth bringing up... that the result of discussing it would make the other person feel upset or annoyed that it was an issue to us. Hopefully it will not cause any problems like that and we can move on.

I feel like it has been pretty easy to get along and work out who does what with them here. I think it helps that they are pretty laid back about things. We couldn't live with them for a month and a half if they weren't that way! There are some people in the world we could let live with us and there are lots of people we couldn't deal with. That is for sure!

More Home Stuff

Today is the day that Hez and Rachel turned in their list of demands for the sellers to fix and address from the inspection report. It is a little bit of a large list so they are a little nervous but I hope they can all come to a middle point of compromise. The seller has 3 days to respond.

Random Vomiting

So Nathan tonight randomly threw up. He had been complaining of an upset stomach but then played Wii and was bouncing around like normal. Then he laid down on the couch as he and I stayed home from LifeGroup. He threw up all over the couch. Yuck! He has been fine since though.

Happy Mother's Day!

We woke up and Hez made French toast for the crew. That was nice! The kids gave us the cards they made. We went to church and the Barnes went up to Indiana to visit Rachel's mom and family. I got in a great nap. We were on our way to LifeGroup and Nathan threw up. Woo... back to work for me.

Yesterday Rachel got a Mother's Day massage. Sounds like she really enjoyed it.

Shopping!

So in order to make up for some of the clothes that were given away from my wardrobe a few days ago, Rachel and I went to Old Navy today to get some replacements. It is nice to have a fashion advisor! I got a lot of cute things. It was fun but also kind of awkward.

Guys Day Out

The dads just took out the 5 big boys and went to Home Depot to build a flower pot thing for Mother's Day and for a hike at the park. It is so quiet in the house with just the two little ones. It is hard to remember what it was like when I just had one kid!

Inspections Passed

Yesterday were the inspections at the Barnes new house. Overall everything went pretty well. Hez was happy with the inspector and felt he was really thorough. There were a few issues that came up but for the most part they are happy... no deal breakers at least. They still need to work out the details about getting a few things fixed but hopefully that will be the easy part.

Repeated Phrases

So we decided we should have a recording playing at all times in the house. It would include the following:

• Andrew, don't hit!
• Uriah, sit down!
• Nathan, stop repeating!
• Hunter boys, quiet and go to bed!

Reason #4

Reason #4 it is awesome that the B family is living with us: When I am not feeling well Rachel is here to help me out by making the kids' lunches and letting me take a nap!

Oranges from Hell instead

So Hez's theory on why he and I got a yucky belly is from eating tainted oranges. He and I were the only ones to eat them and we both ate them a day or so before we got sick. Not for sure but we threw them away to be safe!

Case of the Blahs

So I think the adults are dropping like flies. Hez is still not quite right with his stomach, my stomach is all messed up since mid morning yesterday and now Rachel is not feeling well and is at the urgent care place. Blah. Thankfully this is Thursday so 3 of the kids are at school. Hope they get to feeling better so they can have date night tonight.

Today's Recap

Today I took the twins and Andrew to the Pegasus Parade preview. I think they had fun. There were floats, balloon characters, horses, and you went around to different tables to get stamps and then at the end you got a prize.

Tonight was date night. We went to Goose Creek Diner. While we were out Rachel clean up the house like a mad woman. That was nice. I could get spoiled to that!

Hez stayed home again today but seems to be feeling a lot better tonight. Daryl is out working right now.

Hez on the mend

Hez went to the doctor last night and got some meds. He is doing a lot better now thankfully and has been playing with his birthday present, Bucky Balls, and Rachel has been crushing his creations.

Making up for lost rest

Two oldest boys are off to school and Hez and Rachel are getting caught up on some much needed and missed sleep. I know Hez was up all night with his stomach issues. Not sure how he is doing this morning but hopefully he is feeling better. Don't really have anything on the agenda today so that is good.

Taco Bell From Hell?

So today for lunch the Barnes had Taco Bell. Apparently their colons do not like it at all! Hez has been in agony for the last 6 hours or so going to the bathroom every minute. I feel bad for him. Then Judah has been waking up every few minutes and so has Uriah. It has been a bad start to the evening. I hope that they all get over it quickly because it is getting late and could make for a long evening.

Party!

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Andrew and Nathan. We were going to have it at Hounz Lane Park but it was too muddy Nd crowded there. Instead we had it at AB Sawyer Park and it was a great place. I think we all had a good time and the kids had a blast playing. The menu was hot dogs, chips, pretzels, pasta salad, fruit salad and brownies.