Happy 3rd Birthday Lincoln!

I know I keep saying this, but it is so hard to believe that summer is coming to an end.  Since school would soon be upon us and our last couple of weeks of summer are busy, I decided to go ahead and do special days with Jackson and Ellie.  For Ellie, first we got a pedicure.  There was a younger girl working there that did Ellie’s nails and she put some neat flowers on her big toes and Ellie loved it. 

After that, we had to go to my dentist appointment.  She enjoyed her freedom of being able to run down and see Papa at his office since it was right down the hall.  From the dentist we grabbed a quick lunch at La Fuente and then went school supply shopping.  We were able to get everything and then dash off to the Paragon to get her hair cut.  We had a great day together.  While we were at Wal-Mart, we picked up a backpack for Lincoln and he loved it.  He wore it all around the rest of the day.

That night, Andrew took the older kids out to the ranch to get some work done, while I started getting ready for Lincoln’s big 3^rd birthday the next day.  I usually like to do it while they are asleep so they are surprised when they wake up, but I had a good time to do it earlier.  He was really sleepy when he got home anyways and went straight to bed without noticing.  And so Wednesday, our little red head turned three.  He was so excited about his birthday.  I wish I was better with words and could explain how much joy he brings into our lives.  He is so amusing and entertaining with the funny things he says and does.  He is quite the helper too and independent.  He will come downstairs sometimes in the morning already dressed except his shirt that he still has trouble putting on.  He wants to make his own oatmeal, brush his own teeth, etc.  And I love that he talks about himself in third person a lot and calls Jackson and Ellie “my brother Jackson” and “my sister Ellie”. He LOVES spending time with his dad whether it is just riding in his truck, running by the office, and especially going out to the ranch to check the cows and get on the tractors.  He is a compassionate boy and likes to make sure we give each other hugs.   To celebrate his birthday, we had our families over for dinner and cupcakes.  So that morning I took the kids to Hy-Vee to pick up the cupcakes, balloons and a few other items.  We were lucky to get the balloons because I guess there is a nation-wide helium shortage and when I called the day before, they weren’t sure if they would have enough.  But we were quite a sight.  Ellie and Lincoln both had a little cart and I had the babies in a big cart.  We picked up all of our food stuff first and then during check-out, I had Ellie and Lincoln return their little carts and had Jackson get another big cart to put the food in.  Well Lincoln decided to hang out on one of the motorized scooters by the doors while I was trying to pay and then also pick up the balloons.  And then I hear him screaming as Jackson is trying to drag him across the floor to bring him to me.  Luckily I had everything I needed and we were out of there-me with a cart of babies and balloons and Jackson with a cart of cupcakes and other food.  But Lincoln had a fun day and a fun party with his family.  It was smaller than usual, but it was still nice.  He liked all of his presents (well actually one of them, a mega-blocks table that I got on clearance after Christmas, he didn’t pay too much attention too and never opened the box, so I put it back downstairs in storage to give to him for Christmas J) and it was hard to get him to keep opening them instead of playing with them.  Then he was excited for his cupcakes.  We all gathered around and he said, “Now you sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me.”  We ended up having a kind of a late night as I wanted to get everything cleaned up and put away since the rest of our week was busy.  Jackson and Ellie ended up staying up too and I don’t think the three of us went to bed before midnight.  But then Lincoln was up before seven heading down to the playroom to find his new toys. 

Thursday was Jackson’s special day.  We met Andrew for lunch at La Fuente.  I tried really hard to get him to choose someplace else since I had already been there with Ellie, but that is what he wanted.  Then he was lucky enough to go with me to Aldis.  But he helped out a lot.  He pushed the cart for me, helped bag up groceries, put the cart away and even opened my car door for me.  Since it was Think of Others Thursday, I had thought we could put quarters in the carts at Aldis, but I forgot to get the quarters before we left.  I had several in my purse, so we just used those.  And then it was onto Wal-Mart to do his school supply shopping.  After that we went bowling at Leisure World.  I let him chose a treat at Wal-Mart to take bowling and he decided on mint gum.  He said it gets him going and would help with his bowling.  On our way to Leisure World he said, “I can taste it through my nostrils.”  I love that kid.  So onto the bowling-I am a horrible bowler and Jackson loved that he beat me the first game.  But then I came back and beat him the second game, so we were all good J. 

And during all of these special days, my mom watched the other kids and I was sooo grateful.  Thank you Mom!  We still have to do one with Lincoln but we will keep it kind of short.  I was waiting to get his list.  We got it the other day and found out he has a totally new teacher.  The teacher that Jackson and Ellie both had ended up taking a different job and is no longer at the school.  We will get to meet his new teacher the Sunday before school starts. 

On Friday, I was up and at them early to get things ready for my good friend, Kim, and her boys, Evan and Caleb, to come to town.  We hardly ever have house guests, so the kids were very excited.  We made some desserts and got the room all ready for them.  They got there in time for dinner.  We had the kids’ favorite, chicken scallopine, and then headed over to my parents for an evening swim.  Ellie then stayed the night with my parents and went to Kansas City with them on Saturday.  For her birthday present, Andy and Autumn got her a ticket to go see Peter Pan at the Starlight Theater.  Sara and Bella got to go too.  It was such a neat gift idea and Ellie had a great time.  And we had a fun time at home too.  The kids just played in the morning and went swimming in the afternoon.  It was wonderful getting to see Kim and talk with her.  It has been a long time since we got to hang out together that much.  And our kids got along well too and enjoyed playing together.  Lissy got back into town that afternoon and came over to eat some Paglias with us.  Andrew was gone most of the day working at the ranch, but then he kept our kids while Kim and I took her boys over to campus to walk around.  It had been a long day so her boys ended up not being too happy to be there but we got to see most of it and get some pictures.  There have been so many renovations over there since we left around 13 years ago (yikes!) but most of the buildings were closed so we didn’t get to see many of them.  The next morning we all went to church together and then they headed home.  Thanks so much for coming to visit Kim.  We loved having you guys here and you are welcome back any time. 

This last week some people from our small group and church volunteered with the Food 4 Kids program.  It is a program started by the Methodist Church that feeds lunches to kids in our parks during the summer.  It is a wonderful program and I am glad we got to help out.  The only problem with volunteering is getting someone else to watch my kids.  So thanks again Mom!  I helped out Monday-Wednesday.  I brought Jackson, Ellie and Carson along to help on Wednesday since I was picking up the food for our park.  There weren’t as many kids as I thought there were going to be and we ended up having a good number of volunteers, so they just played instead of helping out too much.  Also this past week, Amanda and her crew came into town.  So we spent some time over at my parents with them.  Jackson and Ellie had a sleep over one night and we also had a movie night.  And my friend, Deanna, was back in town for work on Wednesday and came over that night to hang out with us for a bit.

I think I wore them out

I can't remember why Carson was mad, but it was kind of amusing.

And then it was time to pack up and head down to Cassville for Andrew’s family reunion.  This was actually our first overnight trip with all seven of us.  The kids and I went down to Dallas for spring break, but Andrew didn’t go.  Even though it was only for one night, it still took some planning on my part to figure out bottles, formula, baby food, etc. for in the car and the hotel.  We stopped in Columbia on our way down to make a trip to Sam’s (only had one can of formula left) and Old Navy.  Then we made it the rest of the four hours without stopping.  And surprisingly, the kids didn’t really sleep that much.  We got to the hotel and realized our room only had one king bed instead of two doubles plus the guy at the front desk said it was against fire code to allow all of us to sleep in one room.  Thankfully we were able to get another room because it was going to be a tight squeeze with two pack-n-plays and five more of us.  After we got settled, we went to eat dinner with some of Andrew’s family and then it was back to the hotel to try to rest for the night.  Annie, Lauren, and Savannah hung out in our room for a bit.  This was our first time meeting Savannah and she is such a cute, little thing with the most fun head of black hair that sticks up.  At the end of the night Ellie and Lauren convinced us to let them have a sleepover in Lauren’s room.  Andrew and Lincoln went to our other room and Jackson, the twins, and I stayed in the bigger room.  It took a while for the twins to settle down and then there was a knock at the door-Ellie wanted to sleep with me.  It ended up being a long night.  Bennett was  pretty restless and cried off and on through the night.  One time he was inconsolable and it took a while to calm him down.   Then Miles cried a little bit and then Bennett pooped.  I had to change a poopy diaper at 4 in the morning.  And before you know it, Andrew is knocking on the door a little before seven and Bennett was up again.  The three oldest threw on some clothes quickly and Andrew took them to breakfast with Tom and Mary at McDonalds.  And then he took them to Roaring River State Park to check out the fish hatcheries like they do every time we are down here.  They had a fun time feeding the fish and hiking the trail.  Back at the hotel, both the boys ended up waking up as the others were getting ready, so I gave them their bottles, took a shower, packed up, bathed them and let them play for a bit before it was nap time again.  After an interrupted, much-needed nap time, it was time to head to the family reunion.  They have it at the high school in town, which is great in this heat.  When I first started going years ago, it was at a park and it was always hot.  The kids had a fun time just chasing each other through some of the hallways and everyone was happy to see the twins and Savannah.  We had some nice visits with people, ate lunch, took a big family picture, and listened to a little family history and then Miles and Bennett let it be known that is was time to get in the car and take a nap.  Unlike the ride down, they were all asleep pretty quickly.  And we decided to just do the whole 5 ½ hour trip without stopping.  A lot of my family was in town for the weekend, so we headed over there to see them for a little bit. 

Andrew had to be at both church services on Sunday to do the communion message and I stayed busy unpacking and getting started on the mountain of laundry.  We just missed one day of laundry, but it quickly adds up.  At church, Andrew thinks it may be time to put the twins back in the nursery.  They aren’t loud, they just don’t stop moving and are always twisting and arching and bending.  They are very active little boys.  Andrew put Miles in his car seat before he went up front to do the communion message and I was holding Bennett.  Well though both love to kick their legs and get the seats rocking and a lady from our church came up to see if I needed help with them.  I think she thought Miles was getting upset since he was moving around so much.  I am pretty sad to put them back in the nursery though. 

After church we had lunch and then headed over to my parents to swim and say good-bye to everyone.  It was such a nice day compared the hot summer we have had.  Sunday night we went to the Aquatic Center for our church’s VBS kick-off.  Ellie got to jump off the diving board for the first time.  She was nervous at first and kept letting people get in front of her in line, but once she did she was very excited and Jackson was excited for her too. 

Miles and Bennett are getting more active.  They still can’t sit up (they are getting a little closer), but they do practice their planking J.  I was at Sam’s looking for bulk baby food because they are starting to eat more.   But sadly, they don’t sell it.  Amazon has some, but it is more expensive than just buying it at Wal-Mart.  They are close to the point of each wanting their own jar at lunch and dinner which will make it almost 30 jars a week.  And another fun point, both of their bottom teeth came in at the same time.  They are a little grouchy with teething but it could be much worse.