Thursday Stats at "Camp Angie"

I went to swim practice yesterday with my three and the Hyatt six.  The ladies at the pool were teasing me when I walked in with nine children.  After Maddie’s class got started I took the rest of the kiddos downstairs to play on the playgrounds.  Tess stayed at the pool with Maddie and Maren and I took Maron’s older brothers.  I’d been down there not five minutes when another mom friend walked up to pick up her son from basketball camp in the gym.  She was texting on her phone and I said hello as she approached.  She says, “Hey!  I hear you’re having Camp Angie this weekend.”  I almost died laughing. Well, yeah, sort of. 

 

I only had two kids right next to me when she approached so was baffled that she would know anything about it.  She’d been texting with my pool side friends.  Word travels fast.  As I mentioned before, at the time, I had the Clayton twin boys too (the ones who lick my hands in Sunday School).  That makes an even ten kids.  I also had candy I found in my diaper bag from Thailand (they are sort of like Starburst candy) so the kids kept coming and going like swarming flies while I talked with my friend.  She thought the whole scene was funny. And it was, especially because with the humidity the candy has to be individually wrapped and sealed so I had to open every single one of them for all ten kids.

 

So far we’re having a blast at Camp Angie.  A few tears last night from two of the girls that wanted mommy.  Nothing we couldn’t handle. Once I finally decided that Jana’s idea was wiser than what the kids were trying for little Rebecca bedtime was easy.  I put her in her crib and in about two minutes she laid down and fell asleep.  Abby needed some extra love too.  I didn’t get a shower yesterday and smelled terrible so after we said a special prayer together she asked to sleep upstairs near me.  We went up and she laid down on the couch in my room.  I took a less than five minute shower and when I opened the door she was out cold.  Sweet girl.

 

Here is the Camp Angier Schedule for Thursday:

7:30 am 3 Zufelts – wake up, breakfast, home school

10:00 am 3 Zufelts, 3 Claytons – Claytons helper Tess drops the three kids off for a play date of bey blades, wii, Barbie dolls, dress up, bike races and bike car wash

12:00 pm 3 Zufelts, 3 Claytons – macaroni and cheese with carrots and apples

1:30 pm 1 Zufelt – drop off 3 Claytons and 2 Zufelts with Tess (love her)

2:00 pm 1 Zufelt, 6 Hyatts – pick up Hyatt clan downtown to come for the weekend

2:30 pm 3 Zufelts, 6 Hyatts – park at Claytons and walk with them to the school for swim lessons

3:00 pm 2 Zufelts, 6 Hyatts, 2 Claytons – Tess stays with the girls at swim lessons while I take the rest of the crew downstairs for fun on playground #1

3:45 pm 2 Zufelts, 6 Hyatts, 1 Clayton – swap the three boys for the two girls when it is time for the next swim lesson to begin and go back to try playground #2 and the sand box

4:10 pm move to playground #3 to keep the crew happy

4:30 pm 3 Zufelts, 6 Hyatts – walk back with Claytons to get the car at their house, Jonathan and Aaron race us home to our house two streets away while we get the other seven in seatbelts

4:45 pm 3 Zufelts, 6 Hyatts for the rest of the night – finish dinner in the crock pot and shuck eight ears of corn

5:00 pm Skype with Dad in Tokyo, kids were beyond distracted so I finally took the laptop into the kitchen to talk while I wash the lunch dishes

5:30 pm dinner is served

6:30 pm clean up dinner while the kids play, everyone is happy and the Hyatts typically go to bed later than our family so since it’s party weekend I let them enjoy the fun

7:30 pm Jungle Book starts on cable, eight of the nine kids are totally glued to the tv set, Anna is miffed that, “No one will even play pretend with me! Not Emma or Abby or even Maddie.”

8:00 pm whining begins as I tell them I am recording the show for them to watch tomorrow, but for now it’s time to start getting ready for bed, Jacob’s already asleep on the hard wood floors so he’s the first to get a groggy diaper change and deposited in his bed (my actual plan was if they were speedy they could finish the movie and most of them would fall asleep before the show ended at 9:30 anyway but no one moved quickly so I abandoned that plan almost as fast as I thought of it)

8:30 pm play room is cleaned up but no one wants to go to sleep.

9:00 pm half are in pajamas and a handful have brushed – it’s so easy to dodge the adult instructions when you genuinely don’t know where to find toothpaste and it’s so much more fun to goof off with your buddies, just one of those kid things where they are in perpetual slow motion aimlessly walking around a room so as not to attract adult attention by just sitting but not getting a single inch closer to the end goal – any parent knows all about that

9:15 pm scripture and prayer time - everyone is ready to go to sleep (physically at least), beds are made, pillows for everyone have been procured from across the house, pajamas are on, teeth are brushed, no one can stay quiet or stop poking their neighbor (especially Maddie Mae)

9:30 pm the kids thought the best thing for Rebecca was to have her sleep “with” them in their beds, real fun idea but after 15 minutes of her disturbing the boy room and the girl room by constantly going back and forth I took the port a crib upstairs into Ben and Maddie’s room, she cried when I took her away but settled into her bed almost immediately and fell asleep

9:35 pm I check the kiddos downstairs again and find Abby quietly sobbing, we prayed and she came up to sleep on the couch in my room

9:40 pm shower and lights out for me too