Another Fun, Busy Week

We had quite a week.  I was exhausted by the end of it, but probably not as much as Andrew was.  It started out with a relaxing afternoon/evening on Monday at my parents’ pool. 

Lissy came over to our house Tuesday and we worked on stuff for my mom’s birthday party we were having on Saturday.  She and Sara had done quite a bit already so I just worked on making centerpieces out jars I already had and Lissy made some more of her cute kites to hang in the trees.  While we were working on stuff Lincoln and Alex came downstairs and they were quite a sight.  Alex was in his Buzz Lightyear outfit with a pacifier and Lincoln was just in his underwear.  Lincoln was on the hunt for his Buzz Light year outfit.  I kept asking him where his clothes were but he would never say.  So I asked him if he walked down from Alex’s house in his underwear and he said, “No, I rode Alex’s Gator.”  I wish I had a picture of that! 

Jackson and Ellie had Elevate at church after school on Tuesday.  I picked them up, brought Jackson home so he could change and then took him to soccer practice.  Then it was home to get dinner ready for when Andrew brought Jackson home from practice.  After dinner it was time to get homework and baths done while Andrew worked on finishing up the digging for our outdoor fireplace.  He dug the base earlier and had to finish up the 2 foot deep post holes.  As he was finishing up I took Ellie to her first private gymnastics lesson.  Her class isn’t until 8:15 which is a little late for her, but I think it should work fine.  And the studio moved just down the road to a gym near us, so that is nice too.  Ellie was so excited for gymnastics and loved it.  Her teacher said she is very flexible-doesn’t come from me.  She even learned chest rolls during her first lesson.  It should be a fun year for her.  She is also taking tap and ballet class but those are on Monday and they didn’t have class on Monday because it was Labor Day.  Lissy came over later that night and we went over numbers for my mom’s party, food, and other plans.

We started up small group again on Wednesdays so it was back to doing the major house cleaning Wednesday morning.  I also was in charge of snack for that night and thought I would try the Kamp coffee cake again.  This time I let it bake a little before I put the topping on.  It helped a little, but a lot of the topping still sank.  It was pretty yummy though and most of it was gone by the end of small group.  Small group went pretty well.  We missed those in our group who left to start new groups though.  We did get a new family though-my cousin, Kyle, and his wife, Leslie.  They will be great additions.

The twins and I went grocery shopping on Thursday and it went much better than last week.  Leah came over that afternoon and I worked on a banner and some thank you tags for Zach’s birthday party.  Alex brought Lincoln a pop gun to play with and Lincoln was so excited.  He told Alex he was the greatest friend ever.   I guess his friendship can be bought J.  They had a great time playing with them while we worked though.  Activities after school kept us busy again.  This week was also the first week for Little K, so Jackson and Ellie headed there after school.  Andrew picked them up and headed to football practice.  Then I picked up Ellie from there and took her to soccer practice.  I went home to make dinner while Andrew helped with football practice and then brought both kids home.  I decided we could eat dinner outside that night and it maybe wasn’t the best idea.  It was kind of warm and there were lots of bugs.  Lincoln, as always, was taking longer to eat and was still out there while the rest of us were cleaning up inside and starting baths.  I went out to check on him and noticed he had about 6 bites on his face and several on his leg, so I decided he should be done and head inside.  I think he was happy he didn’t have to finish his dinner.  And despite the bugs, I was happy there wasn’t a big dinner mess to clean up inside.

Andrew got his last bike and run in on Friday.  They were both short ones just to get his body moving a bit.  He didn’t do much this last week-I guess you are supposed to let your body and muscles rest  up and repair before the big race.  When he got back, I went out for a run.  As I was coming back, I was running down LaHarpe and noticed a large group of ROTC people out walking the streets as part of their drills.  They got to the intersection a little before I did and all spread out through the road and had a person posted at each stop sign holding their hands out like they were telling people to stop.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to stop or not, but I just kept going.  I ran in the grass for a bit since they were all the way across the road but then they started moving over a bit and I was able to get back on the road.  It was kind of funny but also kind of eerie because they were all holding their guns and in their fatigues. After that I worked on getting everything ready for the weekend  while the boys played around.  They spend a lot of time informing that people have gone bye-bye.  Especially Bennett, he is always talking about Ellie and Daddy going bye-bye.  They are so talkative these days. 

I worked on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids’ table at the party and then Lissy and Caroline came over to finish up some other stuff.  Lissy and I cut up watermelon in wedges to put on popsicle sticks for the party while Caroline scooped my dad’s homemade ice cream into individual containers for dessert.   Then they came back over later to finish up some stuff.  We headed over to my parents because Sara, Ryan and their kids  and Caroline had already gotten in town for the weekend.  The twins napped and Lincoln swam and played with Bella and Ryan.  My Grandpa Mike, Karen, and a couple of their friends stopped by to visit for a bit.  Then Andrew and Jackson headed to the football game a little early and I brought the kids later.  It was another hot one.  Caroline and Jared came for a bit to watch him play.  I didn’t even try to take pictures this time though.  Lissy and Sara had dinner about ready when we got back to my parents.  Actually my mom had made spaghetti sauce the night before and decided to save it for her birthday dinner J.  Sara and Lissy just got everything put together for us.  After dinner some of the kids went swimming and then we celebrated my mom’s 60^th birthday with her favorite cake-German Chocolate Cake.  I had given her a little gift earlier in the day.  It was a photo book that included letters from each of her kids and drawings by each of the grandkids.  I thought it turned out pretty neat.  Then Sara put together a picnic basket for her that different things in it like a replica life preserver with a whistle and grape soda to let her know that we were doing a party for her at Baring Lake the next night.  She used to lifeguard there, hence the life preserver.  She also always talked about drinking grape soda there and how grape soda always reminds her of Baring Lake.  She had told us she didn’t want a big party for her birthday, but I think she was happy about her surprise.  Well, kind of a surprise.  She knew we were doing something, she just wasn’t sure what.

Saturday was a busy day from the beginning.  Andrew went out to help gather/work cattle for a sale they have coming up.  I gathered up stuff for the party and moved everything from the basement out to the garage.  I wasn’t going to be able to help set up stuff for the party, so it was the least I could do.  Surprisingly, Andrew got back in time to go with us to the soccer games.  Thankfully Jackson and Ellie had them at the same time.  Their fields were right by each other so we could stay in one place and watch both of them.  Heidi even stopped by a bit since she was in town.  It was one of the few times we were both able to meet up, so we just visited at the game.  It was great to see her again since we don’t see each other that often these days.  Jackson and Ellie both did well.  It took Ellie a little bit to warm up, but then she got in there.  Jackson scored a goal and was pretty pumped about it.  And I imagine Lincoln will realize soon that some of his friends are playing and will ask why he isn’t.  I just thought I would give it another year before we added another kid to the schedule. 

After the games we headed home and got there just as my sisters were showing up to load up everything and take it to Baring to start setting up.  Andrew got his bike ready to take to his bike check and I took the kids over to my parents where the dads were in charge since all the moms were gone J.  Andrew came by after he got his bike checked for the triathlon, we all ate some lunch and then he took the twins home for a nap.  I was hoping he would get one too but I guess he spent some time in an ice bath since his legs were so sore from horseback riding earlier.  Usually you lay low the day before the triathlon,  but you do what you have to do.  While he was doing that, the kids swam for a little bit with their cousins.

 

 

Then we headed home so Andrew could go to his pre-race meeting.  When we came home I found him sitting out back.  I was totally baffled as to why he would be sitting outside like that because it was HOT!  And that is when he told me he had done the ice bath.  Then he did a hot bath later that night after the party hoping to save his legs for the race.  I got stuff ready to head to the party while he gone and was about ready to get the twins up and ready so we could help finish up some stuff in Baring when Andrew called to say he was done and on his way home.  Molly and I ended up taking his truck so he could stay behind and take the kids a little later.  As we were leaving we got a call from Amanda saying they were just getting home from setting up and could we stop by the office and get my mom’s old bike that her brother refinished.  Lissy wanted to use it as part of the decorations.  Then we also stopped by and picked up Lissy.  She showered and got ready really quickly so she could head back over with to finish up.  They were all there working all afternoon in the heat getting as much set up as they could.  When we got there, Lissy and I finished hanging the lights and bunting which involved me standing on a step stool on top of a picnic table because the lights went on top of 10ft PVC poles.  Molly set out the table runners and centerpieces.  Lissy did an awesome job of coming up with some really cute ideas for the party.  We were still trying to finish up everything as everyone was arriving.  Of course it wasn’t until after the party that we realized we forgot to get the bike out of the back of the truck and we also left the huge container of watermelon wedges in our fridge at home.  But everything else was wonderful.  There is just something so nostalgic about Baring Lake.  Most of the people at the party were from my mom’s family and I just kept hearing how they loved being back there and how many memories they had there.  My grandparents used to have fried chicken picnics there that my mom just loved and so that is what we tried to replicate for her.  Hy-Vee brought most of the food and Lissy had it all set up to give it a picnic feel.  A lot of the food was placed in big baskets and crates.  Sara brought back her lemonade stand to use for the kids food and the desserts.  The desserts were mini pies, sugar cookies, and my dad’s homemade ice cream.  The kids had fun playing on all the old playground equipment that has been around for ages…the metal slide, wooden teeter-totters and merry-go-round, and the big tires.  It was a great night celebrating an amazing woman.  We were all tired by the end though.  Andrew took the twins home early so he could get to bed.  We got stuff cleaned up and were actually headed home before 10.  We dropped off Jackson and Lincoln and some stuff at the house, picked up the watermelon to take to my parents from everyone to enjoy, and headed over there.  Ellie was spending the night over there, so I got her situated, unloaded a few more things and headed home.  I finally got to bed around midnight.

 

It was an early morning.  Andrew wanted me to set my alarm for 5 to make sure he didn’t oversleep.  He didn’t and was up before five.  He also got up around 1:30 to drink a fruit smoothie-something that is recommended by the triathlete people.  He had a list by the garage door of everything he needed to remember to take and left around 6 since check-in started at 6:15.  I got ready, got Jackson up to get ready, and then got Lincoln and the twins up, left them in their pjs, and loaded them into the car around 6:30.  I dropped the younger ones off at my parents, picked up Ellie, and headed to Thousand Hills.  We had to park down by the marina and walk to the point where they set up their bikes and stuff for the transitions.  The race didn’t start until 8, but we wanted to see Andrew before he got on the bus that took them to the beach to start the swim.  I have to tell you, I was so impressed with Andrew.  I would have been intimidated in that environment.  You have some pretty intense competitors there with some pretty fancy gear.  A lot of people had the tri-suits or expensive running gear with their GPS watches.  There were some very expensive bikes there.  Andrew was the only one there in sweat pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt.  He just wanted to keep his body warm before getting in the water.  He just biked in his jammers from swimming and a compression shirt from Wal-Mart.  He didn’t have the special clip pedals on his bike and cycling shoes.  Even though he loves his bike, it is a low-end, heavier bike.  Plus he didn’t get the rest the day before and was starting with sore muscles.  But none of that bothered him, none of it intimidated him.  He wanted to do well, but he was mainly competing with himself.  First of all, wanting to finish, and secondly, pushing himself hard.  He also remained very calm.  I would have been a nervous wreck.  I was nervous and praying for him when I heard the canon go off to start the swim.  It was so neat to see the first group of swimmers come around the bend.  The lead guy was quite a bit ahead of everyone else.  Andrew thought it would take him around thirty minutes to complete the ¾ mile swim.  So we headed down to where they came out a little while before that.  It was really hard to tell who was who as they were coming out of the water.  He ended up finishing a little quicker than he thought he would which was awesome.  After he got out we ran up to the transition point too so we could talk to him just a bit while he was getting ready for the bike and get some pictures and video.  I think the transition took him a little longer than he thought it would but then he was off on his bike for 18 miles.  It was going to take around an hour so I had packed a bag with snacks, water, and games for the kids and I to play.  The kids were occupied playing by the water, on the swingset, and exploring the little area of woods by the Point.  Their friend, Zach, was there since his mom was competing too and they played with him too.  It was getting pretty warm by this point.  I had thrown jackets into the car for us to use in the  morning but it was already almost 80 degrees and humid by the time the race started so we didn’t need them at all.  I think the heat was hard on the competitors though.  Andrew got the bike done in just over an hour and was off on his least favorite part, the run.  It was probably close to 90 degrees by then and the five miles was pretty long for him.  He said he stopped and walked for a bit a few times, mainly around the water stations.  He thought it would take him around 45 minutes, but it ended up being closer to an hour.  But he finished strong.  Actually, Andy and Lissy showed up with Lincoln as he was finishing.  He passed them on the road as they were walking to the Point and Lincoln tried to run with Andrew for a little bit J.  Again, I was so proud of him!  I thought he did an awesome job.  He trained hard in between long hours of work at the office, weekends at the ranch, and helping take care of our five kids.  Lots of early mornings.   They gave each participant a medal as they crossed the finish line and everyone put theirs on except Andrew.  I think his is in the truck somewhere and I need to find it.  We just found out his official time yesterday and it was 2:21.  Better than what he thought but he is already planning for next year and what he can do to improve his time.  It would definitely help if it isn’t so hot.

 

 

We didn’t stick around after he finished for the lunch and awards ceremony.  We headed to my parents for a lunch of leftover fried chicken from the party.  Andrew was so hungry since he didn’t have much to eat before the race.  Amanda and Caroline had already left by the time we got there and then Sara and Kaitlin left after lunch.  While Andy left a little later that afternoon.  Lissy planned on leaving Sunday too until she discovered that Amanda had her car keys.  Amanda was able to send them through Fed Ex but they aren’t getting here until today.  Andrew went home after lunch to rest a bit and then headed to the office.  We spent the rest of the afternoon out by the pool with the Powells with a little time to cool off inside.  It was such a hot day for September.  It was an exhausting, but great weekend.  And we all slept hard Sunday night.

I spent Monday catching up on everything, especially laundry.  I added a couple more small things to Lincoln’s room that Amanda brought back.  When she got the dressers for me, she also picked up some drawer organizers but couldn’t find them for a while in the midst of the move.  So she brought them back this weekend and I put some in Lincoln’s dresser.  He was actually very excited about them and thanked me for putting them in J.  Amanda also brought back some lamps she picked up a while ago that were on clearance at Wal-Mart.  The lamps and lamp shades were just $1 a piece.  I spray painted both the lamps red.  I had some navy spray paint left over from doing the picture frames and decided to paint a stripe on the lamp shades.  I taped off the shades and everything was going well until I decided to try to get the bottom of the shades.  Spray went up in the shade and it is definitely noticeable when the lamp is one.  I also decided to do a little touch up on one side and didn’t realize the nozzle had fallen off of the can and when I pressed the button down, paint splattered on the shade.  I put that part of the shade against the wall so you don’t notice it too much.  They will do for now until I find something else.  I really wanted it to work though since they were such a great deal.  I’ll keep my eye out for more clearance lamp shades though. 

Ellie had her first dance class of the year Monday after afternoon and Jackson went to Zach’s birthday party.  Then we got to head to AJ’s as a last-minute birthday dinner for Lissy.  Her birthday is actually today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISSY! Since she ended up having to stick around town, we got to celebrate with her a bit.  Now I need to get to work putting away all the stuff we used for  my mom’s party.