What Did We Do Last Week?

I can't really remember much of what we did last week.  I do remember that I spent some time purging some closets and a few cabinets.  I was able to sell some stuff on Swap Shop and take a couple bags to the thrift store.  I had the kids pick out a few toys to give away and it took a few tries to get something besides an old toy their younger siblings play with that was originally theirs or a McDonalds' toy.  I have also been working more on getting Christmas under control-trying to figure out what to get everyone.  It is hard to believe it is just a little over a month away. 

We are trying to get Jackson back into swimming but the practice times haven't worked out that great the past couple of weeks.  He has only been able to go to one practice a week but I think he will finally get to two or three the next couple of weeks.  This is a good thing because I think he has his only winter swim meet coming up the beginning of December.  On Monday we took a meal over to the Harrison's.  They had a new baby a couple of months ago but a friend just set up a meal calendar for them.  Then we got to go enjoy dinner at my parents.  Then we kept busy with our weekly activities.

Ellie got a surprise on Wednesday.  She has been asking Lori Ann if we could all go to La Fuente together.  Well, Lori Ann sent me an email on Wednesday asking if she could take Ellie after school.  I think they had a fun time together and it was very sweet of her to do that.  We are hoping we can all go during Christmas break. 

My mom and I took the twins with us to do some shopping in Columbia on Thursday.  And Leah was nice enough to take Lincoln for the afternoon.  My list kept growing, so I tried to move as fast as I could.  Miles and Bennett aren't too fond of shopping and had quickly had enough.  I think they expressed their anger towards me during lunch at Macaroni Grill.  It seemed they would take turns glaring at my mom and I and throwing things-whatever they could get their hands on whether it was food, crayons, paper they ripped off the table.  I felt like my mom and I spent a lot of time keeping things out of their reach-those tables are kind of small with a lot of stuff on them. 

Andrew took the three oldest out to the ranch after school on Friday.  They were working calves on Saturday so he was getting things ready for that.  Friday was a blur to me as I was trying to get so much done.  They got home around 6:30 and I didn't even have dinner started.  So I quickly made dinner (I thought it would be nice for Andrew and the boys to have some leftovers to eat while Ellie and I were out of town) and worked some more on my to-do list.  I ended up not going to bed until 1 and then we were up at 5am on Saturday.  Andrew took Lincoln and the twins out to the ranch with him and Mary watched them while Andrew worked.  Lincoln was so excited to show us that he had his cowboy shirt on for Halloween and his old jeans with holes like his Dad's.  They were his "working" jeans that he only gets to wear to the ranch because they are pretty short.  While they were out there Mary took the boys for a four-wheeler ride and they all had fun.

 

Then Andrew sent me a picture later that evening to show proof that he was taking care of the kids and keeping them clean.

Then they headed back out to the ranch Sunday morning to do a little more work.  They had fun climbing on the hay bales until Lincoln fell down in between a couple.  I think he is proud of his scratches from it :-)

Andrew also sent me this picture of one of our trees out back.  I had noticed it earlier and it being a buck rub crossed my mind but I didn't really think that is what it could be.  Andrew said it was very obvious it was.  So I guess some buck was trying mark our back yard as his territory :-)

Andrew stayed busy with the kids Saturday and Sunday and even got some stuff done around the house.  He put up our new backboard (even though his chest/ribs were still hurting him from his fall from the tree) and mowed the yard.  He also brought he bike in and put it on the trainer so that we could use it inside as the weather gets colder.  I was happy he got that stuff done.  He did warn me that the house was a disaster though. 

Jackson had a busy Saturday too.  He actually spent the night with Zach Friday night since we all had to be gone early Saturday morning.  He was in the K-Life Dodgeball tournament on Saturday and his first game didn't start until 9.  He was supposed to go home around eight that morning and brush his teeth and get something to eat.  He was not supposed to turn on the TV or computer.  He asked if he could make some toast and we wouldn't even let him get the toaster out.  Then he was to head immediately to the Wilsons who were taking him to the tournament and keeping for the day until Andrew got home.  I called Andrea around 8:45 and Jackson still wasn't there.  He showed up a few minutes later and they barely made it to the tournament on time.  They were actually supposed to be there around 8:40.  Come to find out, he somehow left his team shirt at the Vincents and had to go back and find it.  They ended up getting 5th out of 6 teams for the tournament but he said he had a good time.

Ellie and I got to go to Dallas for the weekend for my cousin Lucy's wedding.  My parents picked us up a little after 6 Saturday morning along with Molly and we were off to the airport.  We thankfully had enough time for me to stop by Hobby Lobby and grab a lantern I wanted that was on sale that week.  We met Kaitlin and Zane and Andy, Autumn, and their family at the airport and all flew to Dallas together.  Briley got to set with Ellie and I on the plane and they enjoyed each other's company which made the flight go by quickly.  I was able to get quite a bit done with designing Ellie's birthday stuff while on the road, the plane, and the hotel.  Ellie did struggle a bit with her ears hurting on both flights but it wasn't too bad.  We met up with Lissy and Caroline at the airport and headed to the hotel.  Amanda and Sara and their families were already there.  Amanda's kids were trying to take naps since they had a long day the day before and Carolina was in the wedding.  Sara, Andy, and their families headed to the Stock Yards while the rest of us found a bite to eat.  The hotel was in downtown Fort Worth and it was a nice, walkable downtown.  They had cute shops and restaurants and it just looked really cute.  Ellie was really tired by the time we finished our late lunch and just wanted to go back to the hotel and rest, so that is what we did.  She kind of actually got a bit of a second wind though and ended up not sleeping.  She did get Lissy to paint her nails for her though.  We were just enjoying our break when my parents called and said they were ready to go-we were just starting to get ready so we rushed around to get ready as fast as we could.  They had taken Amanda and Carolina to the church and had just gotten back and didn't want to valet park the car again.  The wedding was nice, Carolina did a good job, and the bride was beautiful.  We had to stick around a bit afterwards for a quick family picture and I probably should have taken the time then to talk to more people because I wasn't able to later.  We got back to the hotel and headed to the ball room for the reception when Ellie started complaining of her stomach hurting.  So we headed straight to the bathroom when we got there, then grabbed a napkin off the table and tried to get back to our room as quick as we could.  Ellie came close to throwing up in the napkin a few times on our way back.  We had to go up an escalator and then down another one and then use the elevator to get to our room.  Then she spent the next half hour or so by the toilet kind of dry heaving but not actually vomiting.  I changed out of her pretty dress and into her pjs.  She got into bed and fell asleep after a bit.  I laid towels all around her and squeezed into bed beside her with pillows in between us since she always kicks me when we share a bed.  They were just full size beds so it was an even tighter squeeze.  Thankfully she didn't have any more problems that night.  I cleaned up the room a bit from our rush earlier and contemplated ordering room service.  The dinner they had at the reception looked great but I wasn't able to get any.  So I just ate some trail mix.  I finished up most of the stuff for Ellie's birthday as I was trying to stay awake since I wasn't sure if Lissy or Caroline had a key to our room.  And they didn't.  Just as I was falling asleep around midnight they knocked at the door.  Ellie woke up feeling much better the next morning.  We had to meet down in the lobby around 9 and then head to the airport.  So we were in Dallas less than 24 hours.  It was great getting to spend time with Ellie.  I do wish I could have spent more time with my family and talk to some cousins, etc. that I don't get to see very often.  I was very appreciative of my parents letting Ellie and I tag along with them.

Sleeping on the way to the wedding.

Poor girl.

We were back to Kirksville by four and then it was time to unpack and clean the house.  I had my grocery list made up before I left, so after dinner I was able to get all of that done.  Then Monday it was back to work for Andrew and back to school for Jackson and Ellie.  I decided I would try to get the Christmas lights up that afternoon before it got too cold.  I didn't get around to it though until close to three so the temperatures were dropping and the wind had picked up.  I had the first string up when Andrew brought the kids home from school and he ended up helping me with them.  I was pretty excited to have the help and it went so quickly.  We don't put too many lights up so it only took around 15-20 minutes to get them up.  Then he took Ellie to dance while I put a few strands of lights on our small tree out front.  That night as I was giving the boys a bath Lincoln kept saying, "Me first. Me first."  I told him that it was selfish to talk like that.  Then he started talking about how he had seen that fish before :-).

And now we are finishing up a busy day around here.  I worked on cutting out and assembling Ellie's party decorations.  Jackson worked on his class project of making clothes that resemble what a Cherokee Indian would wear.  It is part of a heritage project.  He has been working on a report at school and the clothes are his homework.  He decided to do more of what they wear for celebrations today.  He worked on making fringe for pants and hot glued them onto a pair of old khakis.  Then he made a headband with feathers.  He has learned that Cherokee Indians didn't actually wear the big headdresses except to please American tourists.  So his just has two feathers.  Next he is going to make a ribbon shirt but I need to find a shirt first.  I looked at the thrift store today when I dropped stuff off but they didn't have anything.  Ellie helped me out and put together the favor bags for her party.  And she had some exciting news today.  She won an art contest at school.  I think a boy and girl from each grade won and their drawings are being submitted to an international contest.  I haven't seen her artwork yet but I know it has something to do with space.  She was a happy girl because her prize was a big box of crayons.  And I just got an email with a link to her painting that she submitted.  I think it is pretty cool :-)

 

And here are a couple pictures of the twins to end this post.  They have enjoyed putting on sunglasses lately and are kind of fond of the princess ones.  They keep me entertained and busy every day.  They are constantly asking me to watch them and whatever they are up to.  They are talking more and have even started to tattle on each other a bit-probably not a good thing.