Before school started we took a little excursion with some colleagues and our 6 kids!












It wasn't near enough time to enjoy the sites, but we'll take what we can get!

Brennan and Reegan have a classmate that is from India.  We were invited to her birthday celebration a few weeks ago.  Yes, a few weeks ago.  Don't remind me how far behind I am in the blogging department!  Ha!
Even face painting! We had a fun time!

We get up.
Eat breakfast.
Watch some tv.
The kids decide they don't want to watch tv, so I turn it to a channel of MY choice.  How often does that happen?!
I turn it to Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
Sob my eyes out as they make a new home for a Marine who fought in Iraq (who lost a limb) and his 4 kids.
Do mandatory reading with Karis.
Read "Marley & Me" to her and Reegan and decide we need to watch the movie.
I forget how emotional this movie is at the end, thinking I can handle it, and end up sobbing my eyes out even harder than Extreme Makeover Home Edition!!! 
Over a dog!! 
Gotta love a blubbering cry in front of the kids!  Ha!
Try to do some cleaning up of the coffee table where school papers have taken over! 
Lucky I did it today and found the medical forms for 3 kids that are due at school tomorrow!!
I start lunch.
Karis tells me the form has to be turned in to her teacher. 
I tell her the form says to turn it into the front desk. 
She argues with me. 
I pull the form out of the envelope and have here read it with me that it needs to be turned in to the front desk. 
She then proceeds to lose it and tell me that her teacher will be mad at her if she doesn't turn the form in to her. 
I assure her that she will not and to come talk to me if she does.  That I have to follow the directions on the form.
She is still not happy, sobs herself and I get frustrated because she doesn't believe me.  Her teacher's word is GOLD!  That's great and I'm SO glad she wants to please her teacher, but I'm her mom!  Trust me, girl!
She then comes into the kitchen as I finish up lunch, gets water, still a bit pouty where I explain to her that it is upsetting to me that she doesn't trust me.
She walks away and I get angry that she walks away while I'm talking.
She proceeds to spill water on herself sending her into another sobbing mess!
I tell her to chill (well, I didn't say that exactly, but something to that effect).
She says something mean to brother and sister and goes to her bed.
I tell her to stay in her bed until she can change her attitude.
She tells me her sister is always mean to her.
I remind her that she is sometimes mean to her sister.
We go over "...do to others what you would have them do to you..." Matthew 7:12 that she has been learning.
Hope she calms down before I come to get her.
I get Brennan & Reegan started on lunch and go get Karis.
She is found messing with the light fixture because she wants her pillow to glow (Sounds a bit crazy, huh?  Nana made Halloween pillow cases and used glow in the dark thread to spell their names on the pillow).
I tell her that she is sitting in a different spot at the table because Brennan is watching a show (Yes another one.  Don't judge! ;))
She's not happy about it and pouts a bit more telling me she always sits in that spot.
I tell her she won't be sitting in that spot again for awhile (we have a system at our house based on a "first day" rotation).
Make a mental note of rotating this spot (that is not the first day spot.  Confused??)!
She finally calms down and eats.
The funk is fading!!
Mama is drained from all the tv sobbing and challenging morning!
Kids are now all happily playing together.
All before 2 pm!
How many days until daddy returns!!

Did I mention daddy is on a long trip??

My new friend and colleague, Christina, took my around town one day.  I should have taken a ton more pictures as she showed me some pretty cool things, but I get wrapped up in my surroundings and conversation that the pictures are forgotten.
We stopped at a downtown grocery store, a chain we know well, not realizing that this particular store took things to a whole new level!  Christina went in to get a banana and we were drawn in by the hot food and salad bars.  So, we decided to eat an early lunch!
The next day Christina, Julie and I hopped in a car and headed to Bratislava, Slovakia.  Sounds like we took quite a trip, huh?!  No, only an hour drive!  We hit a couple of our favorite stores that we (me & Julie) knew from living in Prague (Marks & Spencer and Tesco) and HAD to eat at Pizza Hut!!

I realized I didn't include a picture of the cellar/dungeon that we discovered last week.  The entrance to it anyway.