Don't Forget!

The Lord has really been impressing both the Coach and I (don't you love how He does that through different studies of different passages?) about the importance of remembering His faithfulness to us.

The Coach, through his daily Bible reading in Deuteronomy. The Lord keeps telling those stubborn Israelites (who bear a tremendous resemblance to my own stubbornness) to REMEMBER all that He had done. Abraham and Isaac, Egypt, the Red Sea.

Me, through my BSF study of Isaiah. Where God continues to use His past actions to demonstrate His power to a people who are in bondage to a powerful nation, with no visible hope of freedom.

I'm feeling it, today, because it is at the same time Little Man's FOURTH birthday and I'm also online exploring driver's ed options for Son #1 who is almost 15 1/2.

Our youngest and our oldest. (with a lot of crazy in between!)

This blog is my place for recording the faithfulness of the Lord to our troops. The Coach and I have recorded the beginning our family "story" here.

So we don't forget.

He's been faithful to our oldest. And I'm resting in the promises of His faithfulness as we approach driving, a mission trip to Mexico this Summer, and soon his Sophomore year of high school. (Thanking the Lord for His faithfulness in past trips to Africa and Brazil!)

Little Man's entrance into the world was a bit more dramatic. I'm determined to write it all down here, some day. Maybe soon. But if you know the circumstances of his birth, it makes it a bit easier to understand why we dote on him so. Even after four years!

But beyond all of that (and the fact that I have to leave for four dentist appointments in a minute), I'm realizing we need to ALWAYS be remembering. Talking to our kids about what God has done in the past.

When it's so much easier to talk about what we wish He were doing right now.

We serve a faithful God. His faithfulness in the past shows us that He will be faithful in the future.

And THAT, my friend, makes it possible to trust Him, even in the dark.

Isaiah 40:10 "Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God."

Summertime. . . and the living is. . . busy.

Happy Wednesday!

I MISS reading all of YOUR blogs! I haven't really earned any blog reading time, lately. The house is mess. Vacation is looming. We are just too busy having fun!

Today, Perler Beads. They are worth the mess. At least when I'm in a good mood!

We've also been enjoying our "Smore Maker". This was before it got blazing hot. Doesn't even sound good, now!

Here we are on my birthday. We had such a fun time! The Coach and our oldest were at a basketball game - they came back after dinner. I made this for dessert. Yum!

And although this deserves a post all it's own, Little Man has now perfected the skill of climbing OUT of his crib. It hasn't really been a problem. So far. One night last week, though, when Daughter (#2) went to bed (they share a room), she found him here.

In HER bed! With his shoes on over his jammies. Ha!

With the temps in the 100's, we are happy to be leaving on vacation, shortly. Colorado here we come!

Well, that's all of the time I have today. The kids headed out into the heat to play basketball. At least our court is in the shade. Probably only 102 instead of 120. Ha! Better get the cold lemonade and cookies ready.

Happy Summertime, Friends!

Whew!

We LOVE company here at the troops. LOVE it.

Well, I mean I love it. The Coach? He tolerates it rather well. After the company is gone, he's always glad they came. So, see? He loves it, too!

Last night a friend of the Coach's from college came to visit with his wife. They are newlyweds - married about two weeks ago.

First of all, let me say, kudos to them for being brave enough to come stay overnight with us. I mean, newlyweds? They actually KNEW we have eight kids, too!

We had a delightful time. Fun to finally meet this person the Coach has told me about. Fun to meet his new bride - she was really wonderful!

However, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when they left.

Why, you ask?

Well, normally our company comes toting kids. When one HAS kids, one tends to be more tolerant of kids. Understands more what it's like to LIVE with kids. You know!

I so wanted this to be a pleasant and restful visit for them.

Did I just say pleasant and restful in describing our house?

Which would be why I held my breath just a bit while they were here.

Would someone burp loudly at the breakfast table? Run through the playroom without clothes on? Holler from the bathroom, "I NEED TO BE WIPED!"? Sleepwalk in the night and confuse another room with the bathroom? Wet the bed? Or (heaven forbid) GET SICK?

I certainly didn't want them to walk out the front door, look at each other knowingly and agree right then and there not to become parents. Ever. My front porch already has enough history without being responsible for that!

Instead, we really did have a pleasant time. The kids were (as I know they can be) delightful, friendly and relatively well behaved. I didn't hear a loud burp the whole time they were here!

That, my friends is amazing.

They were enjoyable company, as well. Happy to take an interest in the kids, hold Little Man (he makes friends SO easily) and seemed to really enjoy being here.

So, if you're ever in the area and want to stop by, please do! We would LOVE it! I'll even make some homemade cinnamon rolls in your honor.

But please, oh PLEASE excuse us for being a real live family with eight kids. And if you could burp at the breakfast table? That would make me feel much better.

Happy Wednesday!

Just you wait. . .

Can I tell you a story?

A little over six years ago, the Coach and I were thrilled to be given the gift of our third precious daughter. She evened things up at the troops. Three boys, three girls. She came soon after our fifth - they are just 16 months apart.

We should have known.

For starters, she didn't cooperate for the ultrasound.

My labor with her was one of my hardest.

She was, by far, our fussiest baby. By a long shot. She was healthy, gaining weight (even though she started a tiny 5 lb something), but not happy.

Wouldn't take a pacifier. No siree. But unlike our other two non-paci babies, she never found her fingers. She just cried.

In the grocery store.

In her bed.

In the car.

From her very first Sunday in the church nursery she hated it. Hated. Hated it.

She would climb up on my head when I tried to drop her off. Crying and grasping at everything she could get a hold of.

If the food on her plate touched, or heaven forbid, got mixed up, she came unglued.

She didn't like certain clothes because they felt funny or were scratchy.

If she had the tiniest wrinkle in her sock, it was the end of the world when you put her shoe on.

No talking to strangers for her.

Good grief - no talking to anyone! Sometimes not even her daddy or granddads. It was heartbreaking.

Along with her somewhat OCD behavior (wanting things just so), early on we found a pattern. She didn't like men.

It was tremendously upsetting. I began (in my oft-pregnant, always tired, out of touch mind) to worry that something had happened to her. WHY was she so afraid of men?

Finally the Coach, in his amazing wisdom and NOT out of touch mind, helped me see it differently.

Maybe this was God's protection for her. And WHY were we trying to change that?

So, instead of freaking out about it, I decided to work on her obedience and responding to things that upset her in an appropriate way. I began to picture her as a wife and mother. The most important thing I do with these kids is help shape their character into a wife (or husband) that will be a blessing to their future family, someday. Not a high-maintenance, difficult spouse.

When we moved three and a half years ago, she completely freaked out. I just knew something was wrong with this HOUSE, forheavenssake.

Maybe part of it was spiritual warfare. I believe that is a real battle we face. We did a lot of praying on our knees in that room.

But for her, I think a lot of it was the trauma of the change.

Occasionally we could get her to stay in her class in our new church. As long as there wasn't a man teaching that week!

She started Kindergarten last Fall.

It about did us in.

Of course, I began to doubt our decision. But the Coach stood firm. It was the best thing for her, he said, to learn to function without my leg to hide behind. I wasn't so sure.

But after about two months of it being really rough, she began to do better. Began to like it.

Began to thrive.

In the meantime, she's grown into the most helpful, industrious, hard-working little girl we could ever imagine. She is my helper. I know if I ask her to do something, it will be done quickly, efficiently and for a six year old, VERY WELL.

She's an amazing kid. Brings us such joy. Who would have thought?

For about a year she's gone to Sunday school class with the Coach and I. Sat patiently in an adult class rather than go to her own, which is taught by a wonderful couple (which includes a man).

Know what happened this morning?

She asked to go to her own class.

And tonight? When I tucked her in bed? She told me she would like to go from now on, if that's OK.

If I've learned anything, I've learned this. They'll grow out of most things.

I say MOST things because there are some things that deserve your undivided discipline and attention. No child will grow out of disobedience. Or lying. Or disrespect.

Those kinds of things need to be dealt with. The sooner the better.

But there are a whole lot of things that consume us as parents that are simply not going to be a big deal later on.

The trick, of course, it to know the difference.

Your best source of wisdom? God's Word. Godly Counsel. And the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer in Christ, you have the living Holy Spirit in you at all times. It will guide you and give you direction. And peace.

My point is, don't become discouraged with your kids. They have issues. We ALL have issues. Trust the Holy Spirit to help you pick your battles. Then have the wisdom to know that time does a lot.

I haven't told you half of the things we've struggled through with her. And I know she's only six. We still have a long way to go.

But OH it's worth it. If you could see her happy little self. The joy she has in being my helper. The fun she has greeting and hugging her granddad and papa. If you could have seen her curled up on the couch next to her daddy tonight. Hear her read books to the younger two.

When you think you can't do it anymore, just hang in there.

It's so worth it.

Still here. . .

I know you've been worried.
Wondering if maybe that sinus infection got me.
Or maybe the kids declared mutiny and took over the computer.

Wait. I think they did. But that's beside the point!~

Truth is, SUMMER is here. And not THIS Sumer, (whom I also love), but the one that happens when school lets out for the year.

That delightful time of year when I resort to the following to do list:

1. Eat
2. Make sure the other 9 people in the house eat
3. Exercise (to offset #1 - particularly all of the ice cream)
4. Shower
5. Do laundry
6. Take the kids swimming as often as possible (depending on invitations received)
7. Wash towels and suits from swimming
8. Go to the library
9. Sleep

That's pretty much it! Blogging isn't on the list. Although I have picked up a book or two so far (finishing up When Joy Came to Stay, by Karen Kingsbury). The phone rings until the answering machine gets it. And I don't feel badly about that. Sometimes.

We've been eating food cooked on the grill. And leftovers that were originally cooked on the grill. And sandwiches.

We've taken two walks almost every day - one in the morning, one after dinner. We've watched seasons 3 and 4 of Monk for the second time. Become experts at air popped popcorn in the evening.

The house is dusty. And full of laughter.

Delightful.

And I haven't taken a single picture since the last day of school.

I miss you. Truly, I do.

I'm looking forward to putting the final touches on my money savings tips post.
And the next installment of "How the Coach Won My Heart."

But right now, the hot dogs are ready to go on the grill, a watermelon needs to be cut up and I need to pick up Son #1 at a lawn mowing job.

Life calls!

Hopefully, very soon, I'll be back. . .
But don't bother calling.
I won't answer it.

Almost Over. . .

Well, school gets out tomorrow. At least the Elementary does. For the first time, we have a secondary student - he gets out Thursday. He's grown up a lot this year (here with his cousin and #6 at homecoming in January).

Tonight is 6th Grade graduation for Daughter (#2). Can't believe THAT! Where does the time go? Here she is with her cousin at Mt. Vernon.

Fortunately, I have my handy dandy steam cleaner, because I fell asleep while the kids were watching Zula Patrol (don't you LOVE Qubo?) and woke up to pink yogurt all over the playroom carpet. Seriously! Where did he FIND this?

Of course I can't stay frustrated with him for long when I see him praying like this (in the Kindergarten program last week).

I should explain why I fell asleep at 10 in the morning, I suppose. Went to the doctor yesterday - I've been feeling so badly since I got home from DC. Sinus infection. Of course! Steroid shot. No sleep last night. Coming down off of it, now, and SUPER tired. Apparently there is a pattern here. I haven't seemed to be as productive this time, though.

Went to Chick-fil-A for our weekly lunch date with Grandmother and Granddad. The last time there will just be five of us at lunch for awhile. Actually, there were six - Nana came with Grandmother.

This year has gone so quickly. I'm so proud of all of my students. They have all had a good year - good grades - learned so much. More importantly, made wise choices. God has blessed us so abundantly. I really enjoy 1st grade, especially. Reading really takes root in that year and our #5 has started devouring books. I love Kindergarten, too, although the year started out difficult for #6. She's matured so much, though. And reading? LOVE to hear her reading. (Here they are with their dolls - #6 on the left and #5 on the right.)

Of course the big kids are fun, too. Can't believe #1 is heading into 8th grade. Wow. And our #2 will be in Jr. High next year with him. I'm proud of them, too. Such good kids. The boys (4th and 2nd) did so well this year, too. Great teachers, great classes. And they've grown up so much. Here is #4 with his award winning art work. And #3 at his Land Run - staking out his claim.

So Summer is upon us. With all of it's basketball camps and football camps and VBS and weekly trips to the library (we never have enough books for all of these kids!). Vacation in Colorado with the Coach's family and hopefully lots of time swimming and just hanging out with cousins in the back yard.

I'm glad next Fall doesn't mean starting another child in school. We've had three Kindergartners in three consecutive years and it's nice to think about a year off. #7 and Little Man will still be home with me next year and I'm glad. (Here's #7 with her #6 in her Kindergarten class last week.) Life's never boring with those two around.

And now to clean the carpet and take a rest with my girl. We're exhausted. Whether from the sinus infection or the whirlwind that is the end of school or BOTH.

We've had so many urgent prayers needs in our circle, lately, and I've been reminded to be constant in prayer. Faithfully crying out to the Heavenly Father for His divine working in the lives of so many who are hurting or needing His touch.

I'm glad God is good. All the time. And that we can trust Him. We know that this side of heaven there will be pain and suffering and outright battles! But we also know that He has overcome this world. And ultimately, our victory is sure. In Him.

Praying that you will have a blessed week, Friends! Maybe Summertime will afford me some more blogging time. Ha! I'm really wanting to dig into those money saving tips that I know you could share with me.

Then again, I imagine the eight kids, the house, going to the pool and the various FUN things to do will keep us pretty busy! What are YOUR plans for the Summer?

Happy Tuesday!

Kind of Scary

My mother does an amazing thing. Well, MANY amazing things, but one in particular. She writes a letter to each grandchild on their birthday. Throughout the year, she keeps track of significant things in their lives and our family. Then she tries to capture their little personalities, funny stories, etc.

It really is quite a gift.


Since the baby books aren't particularly up to date.


I'm just sayin'.


Anyway, one of the things she does with the older kids, is to interview them and write down their responses to some questions. Such as . . . favorite food, favorite color, best friend, favorite toy, etc.


It's so fun to have all of this down! Each letter is in plastic sheet protectors and we add them to a three ring binder as she gives them to us. Each child has their own notebook and they love to look through them. They can read about the day they were born, what they were like at 2, etc. She also includes significant world events and leaders.



SO. . .



Last week was Son's (#4) birthday, as you know, and he turned 9.


I was intrigued by the answer to one of the questions my mom asked him.


Grandmother: "What do you and your siblings usually fight over?" (this was a bonus question, I suppose)


Son #4: "Nothing. We just fight for fun."


Grandmother: "Why is it fun?"


Son #4: "Because you get to beat them up and they get to beat you up."

And THAT explains a alot.

Monday in Pictures

We had a FUN Easter weekend here at the troops.

Well, actually, we spent most of it at the Farm!

Grandmother brought ingredients to make Resurrection Cookies.

We celebrated Son's (#4) 9th birthday!

I always let the birthday kid pick their meal and dessert for our family celebration.

He picked lasagna for dinner and root beer floats for dessert.

And no boy's birthday is complete without Legos!

We took a lot of Ranger rides - even though it was chilly.
(They don't wear helmets on the Ranger, but Little Man and Daughter (#7) LOVE to put on the four-wheeler helmets and just SIT - waiting for a ride!)

We had a glorious Easter back at home, with early service and a quiet afternoon.

Here's the Lily that my Daddy brought me last week. Isn't it pretty?

Later, we went to my parents with my brothers and all of their family for Easter dinner.

In the rain!

We still have a big hole in the wall in the dining room.

(for the soon coming hutch)

We got a gift from Grandmother of a BIG world map and plastic to cover the dining room table. We are having FUN finding things on it and deciding who gets to sit by Antarctica every night.

After we got back from the farm on Saturday, we reorganized the garage.

Moved all of the coats and shoes and backpacks outside - to create more space in the laundry room.

So nice.

Of course, this morning it looks empty with everyone at school.

And here are the two little ones.

Watching Curious George.

While I blog.

It's their favorite 7:00 AM pastime.

As soon as the big kids leave for school, Little Man runs in the house saying, "George, George."

And it's time for me to get going, too.

The dishwasher and dryer are humming, George is long over and the grocery store is calling.

Happy Monday, Friends!

I pray you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday, celebrating the hope of eternal life that we have in Jesus Christ.

He lives!

The "Why" and Banana Bread

Although this blog isn't full of great photography, amazing writing skills, or even particularly useful information, it DOES have a purpose.

Motherhood, with all of it's joy and wonder, can be rough. For one thing, I never knew it would be such hard work! Physical WORK. And tired? I didn't know it was possible to be as tired as I've been over the last 14 years.

If you're like me, you love your kids, pour your life into them, pray and train them to be used by God for His glory. You believe that being a wife is an amazing opportunity to support, encourage and help your husbands.

All of that has tremendous rewards.

But some of those rewards take awhile to be seen.

And in the meantime, we have to LIVE this life of a woman, wife, mother.

With the sickness, the dirt, the laundry, the food, the budget, the baby weight, the selfish children and good grief - the relationships!

Then there is THE GUILT.

Let me get rid of it for you right now. No one has a perfect life. No one. That's why we need Jesus.

And our desire to do it well - this thing called motherhood? That's a GOOD thing, when we take it to the Lord and ask Him to show us what needs to change, be let go, be a higher priority.

THAT is what this blog is about. My desire to let you see me, our home, our family FOR REAL. The growing, learning, changing, seeking.

That we can be thankful even when things go wrong. That God is working His will out in our lives every day. Even the rough ones, when the sun doesn't shine, no one says thank you and the house is dirty.

My life is amazingly blessed - but it's not perfect.

So that's what it's all about here at Mrs. Troop. Running this race for His glory, praying God's will for our kids while training them to obey the Lord and serving our husbands so they can be successful by God's standards. I've got a long ways to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK. Here's the promised banana bread recipe. I've tried tons of them. This is our favorite. Enjoy!

Banana Carrot Bread

Beat in electric mixer:
1 C mashed ripe banana (I use three)
1 C sugar
3/4 C vegetable oil
2 eggs

In a separate bowl, measure:
2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet.

Fold in:
1 C finely grated, peeled carrots (I use baby carrots that I've grated in my food processor)
1/2 C chopped pecans.

Pour into two greased, medium sized loaf pans.
Bake at 350 for appox. 55 min - test for doneness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And while I'm keepin' in real, here at Mrs. Troop, today, I should mention that I was up most of the night with my two year old. Don't know why. He was just screaming. Always fun.

The sad part is that the kids had a late start to school today because of a banquet we had last night. My opportunity to sleep in was lost. I finally gave up at 5 and just got up with him.

So while you are making banana bread today, go ahead and forgive me if my eyes took a long blink and I forgot something (even though I've checked it over and over!).

Little Man has fallen asleep on the couch. At 8:30 in the morning. Which gives you an idea of how tired he is.

Think I'll join him.

Happy Friday!

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Hebrews 10:35-37

ESCE

Here are my four girls (they aren't this little, anymore!) after the 2007 ESCE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's that time.

I dread it twice each year.

If only I could put it off indefinitely.

But I can't.

They have to wear SOMETHING. Easter is coming up quickly.

You DO know what I'm talking about, right?

the Extreme Spring Clothes Exchange.

Not to be confused withe the EFCE (Extreme Fall Clothes Exchange).

You who know me well, know how much I hate switching out the kids clothes. It's an overwhelming and long process. Yet it must be done.

I'm also working on getting over having everything ELSE caught up before I tackle the clothes. Because if I wait until then? It won't happen!

Today I'm going to be grateful we HAVE clothes to switch out. Grateful that my list of "to buy" needs is always short. The Lord's provision? It's abundant.

(Pictures to come.)

Laugh or Go Crazy

We are reading through the New Testament together as a family.

The older five take turns reading. When it was Son #3's turn (he's 10) he started reading - I'll admit I was more focused on helping Daughters #5, 6 and 7 sit still (it's a great training time - ha!).

Until I heard, "And they were carried away to baby lawn."

Baby lawn?

What in the world?

"Son," I interrupted him, "What did you say?"

He repeated, "Carried away to baby lawn."

"Could it possibly be Babylon?" I asked.

Hmmmmm.

Sweet Girls and Happy Birthdays

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's 12th birthday.

As in, TWELFTH.

Wow.

She's as sweet as can be. And although I'd love to tell you all about her (maybe someday I will), for today, I'm going to show you how we celebrated.

Started with Ear Piercing on Saturday:

Then lunch at the Tea Room with SWEET friends and Grandmother:

Family birthdays at my brother's house on Sunday - February is busy around here:

And our "birthday girl selected" menu dinner with grandparents last night:

Happy Birthday, Girl! You are such a blessing - we love you so very much.

In a stroke of genius. . .

Those of you who know me IRL (you know, "in real life") already know that I've been a bit overwhelmed, lately. So much so that the Coach made me promise him something. That I wouldn't take on anything "extra" for two weeks. In the interest of keeping some kind of sanity in this house, I agreed.

However, the list, it's long. I'm pretty sure we've been behind on things around here since Little Man arrived. And he's almost two (gasp). No matter how many things I say "no" to, I'm not going to get it all done. There's no way to do that. So I enlisted some help.

My kids!

Now you already know they all have regular jobs. They help out a lot. The house stays relatively clean and orderly - mostly. So the daily things - not so much a problem. The weekly/monthly/yearly jobs? It's been awhile.

I started to make a list:

1. Lemon Oil all kitchen/bathroom cabinets and woodwork.
2. Shampoo carpets in living areas.
3. Organize toy baskets in playroom
4. Hand scrub dining room floor
5. Mop kitchen (this should be a regular job around here. But I'm keepin' it real. It's been awhile.)
6. Move all eight "birthday books" to larger binders.
7. Date and put pictures in order for albums.
8. Clean out "craft" cabinet in sunroom.
9. Dust baseboards and ceiling corners.

It goes on - I'll spare you the rest.

So you can see why I don't have any hope of actually DOING all of these things.

I attached a "price" to each job - what I'm willing to pay the kids for doing it well, thoroughly and as instructed. Then a chart, to keep track of who has done what and what they have earned. When something comes up that they want (it's all about Playmobil around here, right now), they have an amount to spend and I am the "bank".

So far - so good. The motivated kids are working hard. The house is looking better.

Only Daughter (#7) has had to be reminded that there is not "price" for regular jobs (like brushing her teeth, for instance). But she's excited to earn some spending money, too.

And the Coach? He's worried. Thinks they might earn all of my grocery money. I told him we can do without food for awhile if we have a clean house.

After all, it's all about priorities.

Oh, I jest.

Sort of.

Homecoming - Round #5

In January of 2003, we had our first experience with one of our kids being in Homecoming at our wonderful school. Each winter, they pick a Kindergarten boy and girl as the elementary attendants for basketball's homecoming. Son (#1) was homeschooled in Kindergarten, so when Daughter (#2) was in Kindergarten, she was our first to be asked. I called a sweet friend who had older girls, borrowed a dress from them, curled her hair, and off we went.

It was fun!

Two years later, Son (#3) was asked.
Two years after that, Son (#4).
Then Daughter (#5).
And this year, our sixth little one, Daughter (#6) was asked.

However, we have a Jr. High student this year, Son (#1), and he was nominated by his class and teachers to be the 7th grade attendant.

So for the first time, we had TWO in Homecoming!

And again - FUN!

We have been so blessed with family and friends who help out a LOT! My sweet sister-in-law loaned us the dress for Daughter (#6) and the coat, shirt and pants for Son (#1).

It was a great evening. My sweet little girl surprised us all. She's been more of a momma's girl than any of our kids. Often timid - most often stubborn! I never would have imagined in a million years that she would do what she did tonight. Amazing. Without a flinch. We've seen SUCH growth in her this year. After the first ROUGH weeks of Kindergarten, she's really matured. I'm so proud of her.

Here is the evening in pictures!

First the hair:

I thought I'd try to replicate this hair do.

It was ambitious of me - not being a hair dresser and all.

And yet - it turned out lovely!

Here she is, ready to go!

Waiting. . . waiting. With her fellow Kindergartner and her handsome big brother.

It was DARK in the gym - the pictures aren't great. But they both did wonderfully! And more pictures after.

The homecoming court (or most of it).

Daughter and her friend.

Son and his fellow 7th grade attendant.

With their cousin who was the 8th grade girl.

Brother and sister.

And before bedtime - my sweet girl and I. So much fun!