We're Just Getting Started

I have to admit this past week was kind of rough.  I'm not sure why, but I just felt defeated as a parent.  I do our summer schedule because I feel routine helps us out but we have had trouble getting it started.  The kids are having a fun time playing outside with their friends but I feel like I am always the mean mom that keeps telling them to be quiet when they come inside or to just quit going in and out because I don't want them to wake up the twins.  I used to not be so uptight about it.  Maybe it is because there are two of them.  It also seems like the twins scream quite a bit more with the others around.  It is again all the coming and going of the others and the twins get frustrated that they don't get to go out all the time with them.  Then they get mad if someone is playing with something they want it.  Plus the older three need some attitude adjustments.  So that is what we are going to work on this next week-we are going to conquer this and have a fun and enjoyable summer.

So after my pity party, I do have to say the week wasn't a total failure.  I have been doing stuff here and there to get ready for my parents' anniversary dinner we are having for them while we are on vacation in Florida.  We are all assigned different tasks so I really hope it all comes together somewhat smoothly when we get there.  Monday evening Jackson had a ball game.  We all went and got to catch some of the game in between chasing the twins around.  The game is kind of slow moving with the kids just learning how to pitch, so it works (kind of).  Jackson is still struggling with the new age group.  But we are hoping after a successful baseball camp this past week and some discussion with him that there will be a change in attitude on his part which will result in him being able to play like he did last year.  In no way do we have these really high hopes for him to be an awesome player, we just want him to try hard.  You can tell he enjoyed it more last year and played better.  I think he is pretty insecure about all of it right now and I hate to see him feel that way.

On Tuesday I got to enjoy my Mother's Day gift and have my carpets cleaned.  I finished getting everyone ready as they got started and we played outside until they were done.  Ellie was very excited to have her friend, Tyne, show up.  She lives in the neighborhood next to us and her sister rode her bike over with her.  They only got to play for a little bit though because we were heading to the library.  I had Ellie take her home so she would know where she lived.  Next up was the library which was pretty busy.  The older three got signed up for the reading program which we may or may not do.  My main thing is that they spend some time reading this summer and if we get it recorded, then good.  The aisles are pretty narrow but I was able to fit the stroller down them.  The only problem was that Miles and Bennett would pull books off the shelves as we went by.  We finally made it out with a few books each.

We picked up some Sonic for lunch and then headed to my parents to hang out for the afternoon while our carpets dried.  It was a cool, overcast day so they spent some time watching tv and reading their books.  We've done a good amount of reading this past week.

 

Jackson had baseball camp again in the afternoon.  Even though he wasn't too excited about starting the camp he ended up really enjoying it.  That evening Ellie had a game and I was so thankful my parents offered to keep the others since it was not very nice outside.  So they had fun hanging out with my parents and Andrew, Lincoln, and I kind of relaxed at Ellie's game.  Well Lincoln played with some friends.  We ended the night with a small dance party and some push-ups.

We thankfully didn't have any games Wednesday.  For our What's Cooking Wednesday, I decided we would make some homemade bubble gum ice cream.  We didn't get it started until after Jackson got back from camp and we made a mess initially while heating the milk and cream.  It boiled all over the cook top.  But we were able to get it cleaned up and started over again.  The kids wanted to go outside while we waited for it to cool down a bit before we could do our next step.  They were having a lot of fun, so I just continued without them.  All the kids set up a backstop with the trashcans and set out bases from scraps of shingles that had blown off some roofs during the last storm.  It made me a tad nervous because they were using actual bats but thankfully no one got hurt.  Andrew went for a bike ride after dinner and I finished up the ice cream.  Ellie and I liked it but Jackson and Lincoln didn't.  We'll have to try something else next time. 

Thursday was shopping day.  We were pretty successful at Aldi, but Wal-Mart was a different story.  The plus side was that the kids got to see my mom as we were heading in and Andrew's mom as we were leaving.  But I made a bad decision of trying to put the twins in the double cart at Wal-Mart.  It was horrible.  They still kept sliding down like they did when I tried them in it when they were around 9 months.  They hated it and kept screaming.  Add to that general whininess from the others along with constant requests and I was ready to have that shopping trip done.  Jackson finished up his baseball camp that afternoon and one of the other moms posted this picture of all of the boys on Facebook.

We had to take my car to the dealership again because the engine light came on, so we dropped it off after lunch.  Our timing was a little off so Andrew had to drive across town to pick me up after I dropped off the car and then back across town to take us all home.  Then he had to go back across town again to drop Jackson off at camp, then to the office real quick, and finally to Edina for a hearing.  He got back into to town and headed to Jackson's camp to watch him a bit before it was time to pick him up.  I am so thankful he was willing to do all of it though so I was able to get my car fixed and the twins were able to get their nap in.  But then he sent me this picture of what he drove by on his way home.

It is pretty blurry, but the kids just couldn't resist the dirt and mud of another new house build.  I love Gracie pushing Alex and his tractor out of the water/mud pit.  Soon it was time to get cleaned up, pick up my car, and go to Ellie's game (we had five games this past week).  When I picked up my car, they originally charged me $75 and said the other part of it was under warranty.  But when I asked the lady what was wrong with it, she had the repair guy come out to explain it to me.  He explained that it was part of a problem that GMC sent out a bulletin about so it was under warranty.  And we all soon realized that I didn't have to pay for any to.  Glad I asked what was wrong even though I had no idea what he was talking about when he tried to explain it to me :-). 

We all went to Ellie's game and things seemed to be going well with keeping the twins in the stroller.  But we went through snacks quickly and when I got back from getting a jacket out of my parents car I heard them screaming.  They all blamed it on my dad for letting them out of their stroller.  Someone brought their little Gator and the twins were fighting over who got the driver's seat.  They had to be torn away and my parents took them out in the field behind the ball field.  They had about had it when my parents offered to take them to their house.  But I got to see Ellie bat one last time as I was taking them to the car and decided I would just go ahead and take them.  The game was over by the time I got them all strapped in the car and ready to go.  Then we went to my parents for dinner.  They take care of us.

Andrew's parents took care of us by buying Andrew some cattle while they were at a sale in Kingdom City on Wednesday.  It was a pretty late night for them-we were very grateful.  They even went back the next day to bring some back.  Andrew tried to rearrange his schedule so that he could go pick them up but his parents had already left.  Jackson was up early Thursday morning with a nose bleed but he told me he got it all cleaned up.  I didn't realize until I was cleaning the bathroom upstairs during the weekend that his idea of clean was way off.  It looked like he just smeared blood all over the counter and toilet.  And I guess it didn't bother any of them that there was blood all over their bathroom.  Thursday morning I had the kids sit down and we discussed our expectations for the summer as far as attitudes, behavior, chores, etc.  I think it helped a bit, but there is more to do.  The kids were good after that about doing their chores and workbooks.  Since they did a good job, we went ahead with out plans for our Something Fun Friday-bowling.  We signed up for Kids Bowl Free which is a program that allows the kids two free games of bowling each day during the summer.  Originally we were going to go around 12 but the passes don't let you go until 2. This kind of messed up my plans of taking the twins since it was going to be right in the middle of their nap time.  I hate asking my mom to watch them too much.  I don't want to use her and I want her to just be able to enjoy her grandkids instead of having to watch them.  She is always so willing to help out though.  I did try to find another sitter but was unsuccessful.  But thankfully it was during the twins nap time, so I just laid them down over at her house and they got up a little before we got home.  Bowling was a little chaotic.  We went with the Vincents and the Jacksons and a few more kids so we had 12 kids bowling.  Lincoln was super whiny and would argue with the other kids about whose ball was whose.  I told him he doesn't get to go the next time we go because of the way he acted.  I think Jackson and Ellie had a good time though. 

After bowling it was time to get ready for two games that night.  Andrew had to go out to the ranch to work his cattle so I was trying to figure out how to get Jackson and Ellie to their different games at different parks.  I had planned on taking everyone since my mom had already watched the twins while we bowled.  I had my bag full of snacks and toys.  Jackson had a game at 5:45 at Patryla but had to be there at 5:15.  Ellie's game was at 6:45, but I thought it was at 6:30, at North Park.  I wasn't quite sure what I would do about picking everyone up but I knew I could take Jackson, watch him for a bit, and then take Ellie.  I thought about skipping Ellie's game since it was her third one of the week, but she was in charge of snacks that game so we definitely couldn't skip out.  My mom insisted that I just leave Lincoln and the twins at their house and take Jackson to his game then pick up Ellie later for hers.  I had planned to take everyone home, order some pizza on the way, get ready for the game and go.  Since they were staying at their house, I ran home to get the uniforms and totally forgot the cleats.  So Jackson and I ate some pizza quickly at my parents, ran back by the house to get the cleats, and then to the field.  We were a little late, but not too bad.  I didn't get to see much of the game though.  He was up to bat when they got their last out.  Then he was out in centerfield and there wasn't much going on.  Andrew ended up getting done about the time I had to leave to get Ellie.  So he was able to run by home, clean up, and get to Jackson's game so he could take him home.  I guess while Ellie was at my parents she approached my dad about the lemonade stand he is supposed to make for me for my belated birthday gift.(back story-my parents gave all of us tickets to Silver Dollar City for our birthdays last year and we actually got them refunded since the park was super buys that day.  So now my dad has been making super cute lemonade stands for us girls as our gift.  Totally unneccesary but that is how my parents do things :-)). I guess she went up to my dad and said, "So Papa, about that lemonade stand.  When is it going to be done?"  She is eagerly awaiting it but my dad has been pretty busy.  I know he will get it done sometime though and Ellie will love it. 

Ellie and I ended up being early to her game.  She was excited to see her friend, Ryan, playing though.  Lissy is determined that they will get married when they are older.  Ryan actually invited her out to his house for fireworks that evening.

Ellie had a fun game.  She did well hitting without the tee and made some good plays when she was playing third.  No one is ever out in this age group but they still teach them to step on the bag.  And Ellie was even more excited to share snacks with her teammates.  When we finally made it back to my parents house around 8:30 the twins were excited to see me and hugged my legs.  I picked one of them up (sad that I can't remember which one) and they started waving bye-bye to my mom.  They were actually ready to go home. 

Andrew took the older three out to the ranch again on Saturday.  He was going to be out there all day doing some brush hogging so they got to hang out with Granny which they love.  She sent me this picture of Jackson and Lincoln.

The Sparks were out there too letting Violet ride the horses.  Jeff said Lincoln never got off the horse-he loved being on it.  He just loves being out there.  An interesting ranch note...Andrew just recently bought a bull at a sale in Edina and it actually ended up being one of my late Uncle Bill's bulls. 

I got a lot done around the house Saturday morning.  We had a guy come spray for bugs earlier in the week so I was happy I was able to vacuum them all up along with all of the dust and cobwebs down in the storage area.  I also reorganized things down there a bit and up in Ellie's room.  That is also when I came upon the nasty bathroom upstairs as I was cleaning all the bathrooms.  Miles and Bennett were much quieter without the others around-less screaming.  They enjoyed one of their usual activites-playing with their cars in the window sills.  It was a beautiful day and perfect for having the windows open.

 They are both signing "thank you" now along with "more".  We are still working on please.  Later that afternoon Mary brought Ellie by so she could go to a birthday party.  She was bringing Jackson and Lincoln back too but they wanted to go back out to the ranch and come home whenever Andrew did.  Jackson said he was busy trying to find kittens for Granny and still had work to do with that.  So back out they went.  I then had a bit of a problem with getting Ellie to the party.  The twins were napping and would probably sleep another 2 hours so I didn't want to get them up.  I was actually going to leave Jackson at home while I ran Ellie to Memorial Park for the party since I knew it would probably just take me around 15 minutes.  I was going to give him strict instructions to not leave the house or let any friends in or he would be in BIG trouble.  Since he went back out to the ranch, I had to find another plan.  So I asked Tiffany if she wouldn't mind keeping their monitor with them while I ran Ellie to the party and she was good with that.  But then she realized she had to run Addi to a party at the same time.  So in the end Mike ended up with the monitor and I was so thankful I didn't have to wake them up.  While Ellie was gone I was able to get started answer the questionnaires for the twin study we signed up for.  I had to watch a video and answer a lot of questions.  I had to do Bennett first and then had to do Miles today.  For some reason they wanted you to answer the questions on two different consecutive days. 

Andrew and the boys got home around dinner time and Andrew grilled some steaks while I finished up everything else.  We even enjoyed dinner outside (except for the flies and the twins always wanting to climb on the chairs) which helped a bit with clean-up. Then the kids played outside for a bit.  I guess Ellie and Faith both had notebooks and were writing songs.  I haven't seen them yet but I guess some of them were country and some of them were pop :-). The train came by so Jackson, Ellie, and Faith jumped on.  Lincoln didn't want to for some reason.  Ellie actually tripped and fell as she was running to get on it and scraped up her knee.  She didn't cry about it until it was shower time and then she was hysterical.  She kept telling me that I didn't know how much it hurt.  And I kept telling her that if it hurt that much then she wouldn't have been running around with Faith after it happened.  She is a dramatic little thing. 

Today was pretty laid back.  We went to the early service and then Andrew took his bike to a repair guy to see if he could work on the gears.  Andrew has been trying to figure out how to do it himself but still isn't quite sure about it.  After he got back, I headed out to do a little grocery shopping.  Andrew fed the kids lunch while I was gone.  He warned me that it wasn't all cleaned up but he did get some of it.  When I joked with him about it being a mess (he didn't think I was joking) he had to make sure and let me know that he fed all the kids, cleaned up some of the mess, changed two poopy diapers, and wiped Lincoln after he went to the bathroom :-).  Then he was off to the ranch again with the older three to put some mineral out.  It rained a bit while he was gone.  It was actually a nice thunderstorm.  Nothing violent, just a decent shower and rolling thunder.  Kind of peaceful.  But it didn't last too long.  Andrew got home soon after and decided it was drying up quickly so he headed out for a ride.  I got to track him again and I think he is doing an awesome job.  After dinner, baths, and watching a little Karate Kid, the kids are in bed and I should be too.  I have some sort of head cold-a little stuffy and sore throat that aren't too bad.  But I'm pretty tired.