Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Week With 6 Kids

I'm on night 6 of damage Davidge control.

It's been exhausting, fun, educational, inspiring, frustrating, stressful, exciting, and filled with laughter.

I love these kids.

We stayed on Camp Pendleton, where the Davidges live.  Jack and Lainey have spent all of their time here and Carter has returned with Dad most nights.  They've enjoyed some 'big boy' time watching the Rangers in the World Series, otherwise.

Fun Fact:  My grandfather was a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals for 25 years and Blake's grandfather played baseball for the New York Giants.  They very likely knew of each other, if not more.  So cool to think about.

Back to the "Dabidge boys" as our kids call them.

Holly threw me right into the fire with a Saturday morning 8:30am flag football game for 2 of the boys.





The littlest Dabidge kept busy on the track while his brothers played.

Cheerleaders!  So cute.


Total clowns.


Pumpkin Patch visit came next. 

Jack and Austin are closest in age and are t.r.o.u.b.l.e. together.

More trouble.






Blake braved the hay ride.  Such a good sport.


Bates Nut Farm is a very popular patch in our area.  About 30 miles inland, east of Escondido, I believe.  Hot that day......94 degrees.  Not good for a pumpkin patch visit.

Someone please tell me this group got paid to wear these and were somehow part of the event.

Saw some farm animals.  And, Lainey's polka dotted booty sticking out of her skirt.



Here is a nice screen shot of our week. 

Something chaotic about to happen.
Carter laughing at the whole thing.
Laine, clueless.
Austin going in for the kill.
Jack screaming.

Welcome to my world.

Slumber party.

I don't even remember what we watched.  It's all a blur.



Each night included laying out all the boys' clothes, shoes, backpacks, etc.  Lunches were made.  Everything was in place. 

I didn't know how else to run this show!


Here is what our morning looks like.

Getting these goons to school is no easy task.

Our princess loving daughter turned into a boy this week. 

Two weeks ago:


Two days ago:

I never thought I would say or think this, but I miss my little princess.



Every morning started with wake up, breakfast, getting dressed and then coloring.  I loved watching Austin and Jack work together.

We did our best to keep our sanity.


We multi-tasked.


We had a blast.

Mom and Dad called.  Kiddos were thrilled to hear their voices.


Normal life resumes Friday morning.
Well, as 'normal' as we can do life.
Hope your days have been as adventurous as ours!


13 comments:

Leiah said...

Three great things about this post:

1. I can always count on at least one Starnes kid to be wearing purple & gold. Geaux Tigers!
2. A Meow Meow sighting - woo hoo!
3. Such organization skills. You could give Kate Gosselin a tip or two.

Quinn, Allison, Rylee and Cailyn McNamara said...

Well, my grandpa was a DIE HARD Cardinals fan...so he probably knew of your grandpa too (:

Sarah said...

hahhaha love the before and after shot of Lainey. priceless.

Dee Stephens said...

Impressive!!!
* Love the LSU gear too!
* Is that their backyard when the kids are on the swingset? Wow if so..looks like you could see the beach.
* I know the Dad is in Afghanistan.. was this a R&R trip that you helped out with?
* The bath tub photo is great. Hope these kids stay friends for life. That would be a good one for when they are in college.
* How in the world did Carter cope? He's older and I'm sure 'over it'??

starnes family said...

Dee - Mike hasn't left yet. Not sure exactly where he's going.

Yes, they have an ocean and harbor view. It's gorgeous!

Carter did well. I sent him home with Blake for that very reason....to give him some time off. :)

Brittny said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are a brave and wonderful woman to do this. They are blessed to have you for a friend because while everyone has a lot of friends, there are only a few you would do things like this for.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pic of Lainey becoming a boy! It totally reminds me of Sophie in the early days. You know, when she wore a football uniform to church. (Yes, that actually happened, in the South too. She refused to wear dresses.)

The bathtub pic is classic too! Not sure how clean they ended up, but at least they were rinsed off, right?

You are a supermom!!

Impulsive Addict said...

Holy Hell.

I know a few people who need to live on a nut farm. That's beside the point. Poor Lainey being the only girl. Bless her heart. No wonder she turned into a boy. She didn't have a chance. And she has a REALLY long tongue.

Have you recovered?

Nicky said...

Wow, I can't believe you made it this far with 6 kids. It's incredibly sweet of you to do.

I love that Lainey can go from princess to one of the boys without missing a beat. You could call her Lainey Libre with that mask on. Too funny!

Sara said...

Holy CHAOS. You are my hero. Seriously have no idea how you're handling all of that. Super Woman!!!

Lainey's tongue is seriously long. She should be KISS for Halloween.

Jodee Leader said...

Holy cow! I am soooo impressed with your organizational skills. So glad you survived your crazy busy week! I still can't believe you went out in public with that crew!

Jillian Bennett said...

Love it all... Except for the shoes on the table... But I have serious germ issues.

The Lenzers said...

you are a brave woman and one hell of a friend! I need someone to take my 3 (I wouldn't even do it for a week, 2 days-3 tops)

Wiz said...

Ok, you are super woman!! Two kids stress me out, but you had SIX!! It looks like all the kids had a blast though!