The Garrick's have come and gone now for over a week. Yes, I am still on NST, and it sucks, but I am getting a lot of stuff done. ALL thanks to her getting me started and inspired on some great projects. I better start at the beginning to explain how I got on NST.
The Garrick's got to our house on Monday late afternoon. This thankfully, is another aspect of NST. You say morning, but you really end up getting there in the afternoon because you are so groggy even being an experienced NSTer. I say thankfully because at the time, I was NOT on NST and went to bed "early" so I had a lot of things to do before they came. Anyway- as soon as they got there, I put Nikki to work. See, our bedroom has been neglected since we moved here almost 5 years ago. (There will be a post on that soon, but suffice it to say, we still had sheets hanging up in the windows because it "worked".) Finally it was time to get the room done. We left all 7 kids with my WONDERFUL husband and set out to get some ideas.
By the time we got back, we only had about 30 minutes before we had to meet all the "girls" for a Bloggers Night Out (BNO- hopefully it will stick and will continue!). We got the table with a fire pit in the middle I always thought would be soo cool at the restaurant, but it ended up not being so cool to talk across. Oh well, we made it work. I was so glad Caity was feeling better and was able to make it, and perfect timing for Andrea to be here still. Perfect! We (read:I) laughed so hard at Leanne's perfume story,
and she was way too sweet to make little "Try It Tuesday" bags to keep. SOO thoughtful!
After dinner, we went back to Beth's house to have some blogger chat time. It was so fun to be able to "show off" my sister. Poor Nikki is allergic to my house (or michigan, I'm not sure) so she had medicine head, but it was still soo much fun. We laughed until we cried and didn't come home until midnight.
When we got home, all the kids were in bed sleeping and Nathan was reading the last man standing (Jackson) some books and he was ALMOST out. I am so thankful Nathan was so nice to let us have our time. :) I think that night, and this is where it started, we talked and stayed up until around 2:30a sampling Nathan's famous hot fudge topping and eating his fudge cake. Yum.
On Tuesday morning, Nathan got up and made breakfast for everyone. (Honestly! What a guy, huh?) I believe it was French Toast. Again... YUM! We waited for out Mom & Dad to come up and join us for a day at the beach. While we were waiting, Nathan got a little "Study Time" that he more than deserved.
The beach was soo beautiful! The water was clear, an aqua marine color, and warm! Of course all the older kids wanted to go out in the waves with Nathan.
Jackson and I splashed in the water for a little while. It is so funny when he laughs hard, so I kept doing it, just to make him laugh. :) (wow that was a brave picture to post, huh? YIKES!)
Jaleigh and Jackson tried playing a little net ball (?!?) while Grandpa and Grandma soaked in the sun.
Nikki took most of these pictures, so that is why there are none of her her. Thanks Nik! :)
After we ate dinner, we took everyone over to the Muskegon Channel to walk on the beach. It was so calm and peaceful.
We would have stayed there longer if Ruth Anne's wasn't calling to us...
Kobe got the biggest ice cream cookie anyone had ever seen,
and Saroya got a ice cream with eyes.
Everyone got something, and it was all delicious.
Then came stage 2 of NST. By the time we got everyone situated and in bed around 11pm, Nikki says, "Ok, let's get going on that closet that drives you nuts!" Before I knew it, there she was with my whole closet on the floor and she was wiping things down.
I love it when she gets going though, because she is an expert cleaner and organizer. When she leaves my house, everything is a little straighter, a little cleaner, and a little more organized. I LOVE it! Of course I don't just sit back and watch, it really gets me in the mood to clean and organize too. A feeling that doesn't come very often...
Everything was going great and we were debating whether a trip to Meijer might be in order (right then!) to get some organizing things, (around 2:30a) when we hear the all too familiar sound of someone getting sick. It was Jackson. She quick grabbed him and got him in the tub and I quick changed out the bedding. It was kinda nice having us both there to help the situation. I finally went to bed around 3:30a, but she stayed up most the night with him being sick. YUCK!
We decided to let Nikki & Jackson sleep in while Mom, Dad & I headed for the blueberry farm. The berries were HUGE and delicious.
The Garrick's had never been to Silver Lake, so we all went to check it out. It was a perfect day with clear blue skies. Of course Dad brought his kite.
We are dinner at a local spot and then went over to Craig's Cruisers for some Go-Cart racing. We gave the camera to my Mom to take pictures and then waved when we got by her. Unfortunately, she got only a few of us and a couple of other racers that were not in our party :) We must have been too fast!
When we got home, we had the annual bonfire complete with camp songs. The kids had to get in one more game of Ghost in the Grave Yard before we sent Mom and Dad back on their way home. Needless to say, it was in fact ANOTHER late night getting the kids to bed. Once they were, Nikki says,"So what are we going to work on tonight?" and it was another 2am night. :)
By the time they had left us on Thursday, we had made so many memories and gotten so much accomplished. I am so thankful to them for coming because I know it is not the easiest trip to make, and then with her allergies and Jackson getting sick on top of it all... We all wish they lived closer. We will take NY though, it is a lot closer than other places.
So, here I sit as I have since the 21st of July at 1:42am with NST. But along with that, I have a bedroom that is totally finished, a toy room that is totally organized, and I have been getting rid of things left and right that I have had since my wedding day that I never liked. In some aspects I am thankful to have NST and wonder how long it will last. PLEASE don't call me 1st thing in the morning though! ;) Goodnight!
5 comments:
Well, here I am, just about to finally get off the computer and go to sleep ( it is 2 am on the dot now)... but one last check of the email shows that you've just posted. Again you have beaten me to another blog post that I need to do too. I may just have to put a link to your posts instead of writing my own story.
I can't pull late nights like I used to anymore. Once school starts I can only manage 2-3 a week.. since then I have to get up at 6:30 am. Yikes, I am not looking forward to that again!
I tried to call you again today, but you didn't answer. Guess you're sick of talking to me daily! :) Still trying to pull it all together for camp, but the shower was cancelled. (Molly went into labor this morning!)
Anyhow... geesh! I should be writing this on my blog and call it a post!
Thank you for not putting any pictures of me at the beach or up inside your closet! Glad you're getting so much done. I'm excited to see how the bedroom looks now! You also need to take pictures before everyone arrives when the house is all neat and tidy and FULL of beds and chairs!
BTW- did you crop that picture of Dad? :D
Ok, it's 2:12 am, I'm exhausted & tons to do tomorrow and logging off finally.
Nite.
PICTURES of your newly decorated and organized house would be so fabulous!
But also more bathing suit pictures, because what woman wouldn't want more of those all over the internet? :) You look great, don't worry.
Great post! I have to admire you guys at all for being able to stay up until 2am and function, even barely. Dan does this regularly; he'll often stay up until 2 or 3am working on freelance, then get up to start his "real" job at 8:30 or so. Beth gets a SERIOUS case of the crankies if I'm up that late.
Maybe that's why my house is disorganized and 70% of the rooms aren't finished. Hmmm.
Ghosts in the grave yard...We totally played that all the time but I can't for the life of me remember how to play it.
Sad I missed the campfire with camp songs. I can't believe that none of my girls knew "Fried ham" at camp. When we sang it for the stake only a handful of girls knew it in the STAKE.
That picture of Dad looks like it should be in a magazine or something. AWESOME picture of you entertaining Jackson on the beach. CLASSIC!
Wish we could have been there too!
This post is great! I remember Ghosts in the Graveyard too, but like Sunny, I can't remember how to play it.
I can't wait to see the changes in your house either Holly. Although I've never looked in you closets. lol.
Thanks for the fun blogging night. It was fun to just gab, but I missed the last part at Beth's. Sounds like it was the best part too! Oh, by the way, I FORGOT my left over food at the Hearthstone that night and was sooo mad! I only ate half just so I could savor the flavor the next day. Duh.
I'm proud of you for showing off your swim suit photo! You look great Holly :)
Still EXTREMELY jealous about the BNO. I can't believe we've been gone over a year and I still miss you like crazy. Gah!
NST sounds like RST. Wonder what Nikki and I could accomplish after 11pm!
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