Snow Days

I guess we had the calm before the storm as we had a couple of free nights.  Jackson didn't have swim practice on Monday because of the holiday and I just decided Ellie could skip dance and we enjoyed an evening of not having to rush through dinner and keeping things low-key.  Lissy was here on Tuesday and came over for a bit.  I had mentioned how I probably needed to get to the store some time that day because I was signed up to bring a meal on Friday to a family in our small group that just had a baby.  I had planned to go to the store to get everything I needed on Thursday but that probably wouldn't work with the snow coming our way.  So she watched the kids while I made a quick trip to the store.  I did make her some hot chocolate to be nice though :-).  Tuesday night was another relaxing night.  I don't think we turned the tv on all night.  I taught Ellie and Jackson how to do buttercup rolls (at least that is what we call them).  Ellie caught on to them quicker than Jackson did.  I think her flexibility helped.  I think Jackson inherited his lack of flexibility from me. 

They had fun learning the move though and then Ellie broke out her karaoke machine for some family fun.  I don't like singing into a microphone but my kids do (and Andrew).  Wednesday was a fun day of cleaning, office work, and prepping for small group.  The snow was originally forecasted to come early Thursday morning but then was changed to the afternoon.  So the kids had school until noon and then were let our early.  The twins and I picked up a Redbox movie and ran by the store real quick in the morning to grab a few things and then ran by my parents' for a bit to see Kaitlin and her kids.  Andrew picked up Lincoln from school and we ate lunch at my parents.  Then I took the kids to pick up Jackson and Ellie.  It is always crazy doing pick-up when they let out early.  The snow was coming down pretty good at that point, so it was good they didn't wait to let out any later.  When Jackson got home, he started doing his homework right away but realized after a while that he may not have to turn it in the next day since there was a possibility of school being cancelled.  So we battled that out a bit and he finished it.  I then let the kids get in our tub with their swimsuits.  They think it is a little more fun that way.  After their "swim" I made some popcorn and they watched a movie, the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Jackson gave me a hug when he saw what it was.  I cherish his sweet gestures.  And while they were watching the movie, I made cookies for the meal I was taking the next day.  Andrew had a busy night that night because while I cleaned up from dinner, he gave all the boys hair cuts and gave baths.  Then he took Jackson out to shovel the driveway.  Ellie and Lincoln ended up switching out of their pjs and heading out to help/play too.  But they worked hard and got it all done.  And then they finally called off school for the next day because we ended up getting even more snow.  Jackson and Ellie helped me shovel off the extra snow the next day in between playing. 

It was kind of a rough day with some bad attitudes and fighting along with the twins not napping well because the others were going in and out so much.  I also ended up starting my meal for the Jacksons later than I was hoping because the shoveling took longer than I thought it was going to.  But it all worked out in the end-we picked up some pizza from Milanos for us, then drove to LaPlata to drop off the meal for the Jacksons and see their precious new baby boy, then headed out to Andrew's parents to eat the pizza with them and hang out for a bit.  The snow was kind of deep on the gravel roads so it was kind of a wild ride at times to make sure we didn't high-center and get stuck in the snow. 

Andrew worked at the office for a bit Saturday morning and then we went to Jackson's last basketball game.  I didn't take any pictures this time, but I forgot to post these from his game last weekend.  It was just the twins, Lissy, and I.  I really didn't get any good pictures of Jackson playing but I did get one of him resting and also what it is like watching a game with the twins.

Miles thinks Jackson should share his water.

Trying to watch the game

Playing with Lissy

Exhausted-they didn't have any subs

How dare Aunt Lissy take her phone away from them!

Andrew had to go put out hay after we got home from the game.  Lincoln keeps telling him that when he gets big he will put out the hay and it will make his daddy happy.  I ended having Lincoln take a nap and Jackson and Ellie played outside.  They were outside playing from around 1:30 until 5.  Towards the end of their day, the Vincents came over and they all went sledding in front of their new house.  They had a blast and I was happy they played outside so long.  Jackson said he loves winter.  Ellie played until she was soaked through and came in crying.  We had her take a warm shower before dinner and she was much happier.  They both also had a little sun burn on their cheeks.  I was inside working on dinner because we had Kaitlin, Zane, and their family, and Caroline and Molly over for dinner.  I also made banana muffins and by the time everyone left their were only 2 left of the 15 we started out with :-).  This a good thing because I probably could have eaten all 15 of them myself.  While I was working on dinner, Lincoln came in crying because he had fallen on the concrete and scuffed up his hands.  After he calmed down, he wanted to go back out.  I told him he couldn't because it was almost time to eat dinner.  He started crying until I asked if he would help me get some stuff ready for dinner.  He immediately stopped crying and helped me get the booster seat out of the basement for Owen and proceeded to help me with a lot of little things from there.  He is definitely my "big helper" as he puts it.

Today started out with Andrew at the office again in the morning (he's a hard worker) and then he came home in time for me to get to Aldi and Wal-Mart before we went to church.  Now he has the older three out sledding at the ranch and I am enjoying the quiet as the twins nap.  I have the tv to myself and I don't even turn it on because the quiet is calming to me right now.  So now I need to finish laundry and a few other things.  I was going to make dinner but Lissy convinced me that we should just order Mexican.  So we'll do that and I think I'll just make a dessert and enjoy the break.