Getting ready for school

Caleb playing at the playground at the school

Joseph is excited about painting the basement

Travis left early Monday morning to go out to the field, so he wasn't home until the weekend, we missed him, and were very glad to get him back.  We fed the sister missionaries that night.  It was nice to have other adults who like my food, (my kids are stinkers about eating dinners) they said they love my healthy cooking, and even took the leftovers home.  Both Monday and Tuesday we had the air conditioning people here installing the air conditioning unit, it took them forever, and the kept having to call in more guys to help them figure it out.  They ended up completely redoing our furnace, and ended up messing up our doorbell, and were unable to turn the furnace back on, so they had to keep on trying to fix things.  Finally on Thursday, an electrician was able to come out and fix everything, and now the a/c people are coming back tomorrow to start the system up again.
On Tuesday I took the Betsy and Samuel to do some school testing at their new school, I thought it might be 20-30 minutes at the most, but after waiting for an hour and a half, I asked how much longer it was going to be.  They told me it would still be a while, so I told them I was taking the rest of the kids to the library real quick and would be back, they said that was fine.  When we got back to the school, they still weren't done, but they told me that Samuel had gone MIA right after I left.  Apparently he didn't want to take any more tests, because he took off and left the school, the teacher was able to find and catch him, and get him to finish his tests, but I guess they were worried for a little while.  It figures the minute I leave is when Samuel takes off, oh well, at least they know what they're getting into with Samuel.  We were still there for another hour before they both finished.  
On Thursday we went to Betsy and Samuel's new school to buy their uniforms.  I couldn't believe how much money it cost.  Last year I spent $150 on clothes for all the kids combined, and this year I spent $400 on uniforms for just Betsy and Samuel.  That evening we went back to the school for orientation, and ended up waiting in the required registration line for almost 2 hours, just to have them verify I had turned in all paperwork, and gave me the parent/student handbook and carpool number.  I had to break up a big fight between Samuel and Caleb, and had to send them outside with Austin to play on the playground, while I waiting in line.  I barely even heard the orientation presentation, because Caleb and Malachi were so whinny. I even had to leave and take Joseph to scouts and then come back and get in line.
Friday, after having everyone do their chores, I ended up needing to spend the rest of the day, organizing all my papers, and bills.  I ended up losing our insurance check for the basement, and had to spend hours looking for it, and I still haven't found it.Yesterday we went to golden corral for Malachi's birthday breakfast (they only have breakfast on the weekends) even though his birthday isn't until Wednesday.  Malachi loved eating the food there, he especially loves the broth from soups.
After breakfast we went to a chapel on post to get some free backpacks and school supplies for the kids.  We waiting in line for about an hour, and were then able to get the supplies, the kids loved getting them, and Caleb was able to get one, and really wants to got to pre-school this year.  I told Caleb that he had to be potty trained if he wanted to go to school, and he has been doing much better, with potty training. Malachi has been walking a lot more, and is starting to get the hand of it. Austin started having a terrible headache in the afternoon and evening, and ended up throwing up in the evening too.  Caleb started having diarrhea, and Betsy complained about her stomach hurting, but never threw up.  I ended up staying home from church with the sick ones, until primary, then Travis and I switched, and he came home, so I could go and play piano for primary.