Plugging Along

Well this week we just kept plugging along.  The kids went back to school on Tuesday and then later that night my parents came over to watch the kids while I went to a K-Life board meeting.  Andrew was in court all day and didn't actually get done until after the meeting, so he didn't get home until after nine.  I let the kids stay up a bit and they were excited to see him before they went to bed.  Wednesday was the 100th day of school for Jackson and Ellie.  The kindergarteners always celebrate by dressing up in cowboy/cowgirl gear.  Ellie really wanted to wear her pink cowgirl boots but realized they are now too small.  Jackson has some similar ones that were blue that fit her but it took her a while to finally give in to wearing blue boots.  She did have a pink hat though.

That day when Lincoln got home from school, he asked me why I didn't get his lunch ready while he was at school.  And I told him it was because I was reading my bible to which he asked why.  I then told him because Jesus wants me to and because I want to know him better.  Lincoln then said, "But Jesus is in my heart." :-). 

On Thursday, Lissy decided she wanted to surprise Jackson and Ellie by picking them up from school.  She took them to Dairy Queen and then her and Molly ate dinner with us that night.  Andrew took Jackson to basketball practice and headed to the office for a bit while Lissy and Molly helped clean up from dinner and get the kids bathed.  Jackson got to try out his new basketball shoes.  He was using some old shoes for the last game and was sliding around everywhere.  I had a $10 off $25 coupon to Payless, so we picked up some high tops for him.  He totally reminded me of Andy when he was younger and he got some Reebok Pumps.  He thought he could jump higher and run faster in his new shoes. 

Friday afternoon, Leah came over with Alex and Kate.  Lincoln is always so excited when he gets to play with Alex.  Then I ended up going to my parents for Lissy's girls' night.  She just had a couple friends over later that night and had invited me to come.  Even though I hate to say it, the twins have been a handful lately.  I hope it is because they are teething and they now have colds.  There has been quite a bit of crying lately and general grumpiness plus they wake up crying at night too.  We had a full day on Saturday and it didn't start out the best.  Lincoln came down crying saying his belly hurt.  Then he said it felt like he was going to throw up.  I laid some towels on the floor and had him lay down.  After an initial scare, he fell asleep.  And when he woke up later he said he felt much better but then started complaining about it again.  Jackson had his ball game so Andrew ended up staying home with Lincoln and the twins while I took Jackson and Ellie to the game.  Lissy and Molly came too along with Andrew's parents.  Lissy was taking some pictures, so Ellie decided she wanted to take pictures with my camera.  Almost all of them were blurry except this one.

After the game, Jackson ended up going to La Fuente with Lissy and Molly and I took Ellie over to the Primary School for the Tigerinas dance clinic that was put on by the high school dance team.  She was there for a few hours while I came home and started working on dinner for that night.  We were having the Truschingers over for dinner and were going to eat early so that we could attend a K-Life even that night also.  When I picked up Ellie that afternoon, I got to watch some of the dance she will be performing on Tuesday.  She had a great time is excited for the performance.  She didn't smile that much though and she said it was because her loose tooth would hang out :-). 

Andrew was home most of the day on Saturday and didn't know what to do with himself.  He is usually at the ranch and the office but with the running back and forth and trying to get dinner ready, I was glad he stuck around.  I did find things for him to do though.  He and Jackson took down the Christmas lights on the house and he worked on his truck.  He also cleaned up my hair cut jobs on Miles and Bennett.  We joked that Miles looked a little Amish after I cut his hair because it was kind of a poofy bowl cut.  Thankfully Andrew did a good job.  And then I had a very non-supermom moment while finishing up dinner.  I tried locking the bottom oven door because Bennett was trying to open it but while I was trying to lock it, I guess I turned off the ovens without realizing it.  In the end, I don't think my roasted vegetables cooked long enough and were a little hard for dinner that night.  Brian and Amanda tried to convince me it all tasted good though.  And then I was making some cinnamon rolls for dessert, a fairly easy recipe with yummy results.  It calls for the frozen Rhodes cinnamon rolls and you make a sauce to put on them while they are rising.  I noticed after a few hours that the rolls weren't rising but I went ahead and put them in the oven.  And they didn't even rise while they were baking either.  I have made these before and they were almost popping out of the pan.  But yet again, my gracious guests said they were good :-).  I tried one later that night and they were not good.  I actually threw the rest of them out.  I think I had just had the cinnamon rolls too long.  I guess I won't make that mistake again. 

After the dinner, the kids played for a while downstairs while the adults (and the twins) got to visit for a while, which was nice since we don't get to see them very often.  But then it was time to head out to the K-Life celebration.  We just got there for the last part of it but the kids still had fun playing some games.  And then after we got home, Lissy joined us for a sleep over she had promised Ellie.  So the three oldest and Lissy headed up to the bonus room and I could still hear them up there close to midnight.  The next day Andrew had to work a booth at early service, so the kids had an early morning after the late night.  We got some freezing rain during the night so things were kind of slippery.  Lissy did not like it at all.  She demanded Andrew back her car out of the driveway for her because she was afraid she would slide straight in the the trailer that is parked across the street from the end of our driveway for the construction across the street.  And she was terrified to step out onto our driveway since it is sloped-she knew she was going to bite it.  She provided some entertainment for all of us :-).  And then we had another chuckle as we pulled into the church parking-there were hardly any cars there.  We actually make it on time for Andrew's "job" and no one is there. There did end up being a decent amout of people eventually show up though.  And then I headed out to get some groceries after church.  When I was leaving, Andrew realized that is was getting close to lunch time and said, "You can't leave.  It is almost lunch time."  I told him he could handle it and he did, except for the mess that was left behind :-).  He was going to head out to the ranch to put some hay out for his cows and Lincoln was excited to go.  But Matthew, being a very nice brother, offered to put it out for him.  So he took Lincoln to the office instead.  Now he is attempting to start my Christmas gift-putting tile in our half bath.  We'll see how this goes.  He has some great helpers. 

And just a couple more pictures from the week.  As I was taking this first picture I was holding Bennett because he and Miles got in a big fight over the Mickey Mouse laptop.  And Ellie decided it was easier to color when she actually sat on top of the table instead of in the chair.

And a last picture of Miles.  He likes kicking his feet up when he eats.

And I forgot to add this little bit from Jackson. It was a piece of writing that came home from school. They were working on character inferences... "When I feel happy, I smile. When I feel relaxed, I sleep and play games. When I feel exhausted, I sleep and watch TV. When I feel frustrated, I tackle my sister. When I feel joyful, I tackle my dad. When I feel overwhelmed, I freak out." Oh my!