I think they had a good Christmas break but I had really
hoped to be better about doing things with them. I am hoping to work on Ellie and the twin’s
birthdays earlier in the year so that they are all done before Christmas season
rolls around, which will lead to me having more time to get Christmas stuff
done, and then hopefully more time to spend with the kids. That is my plan at least J.
I stayed busy at the end of break and as the kids went
back to school with my year-end activities of making a couple DVD copies of our
pictures and videos for the year, making a couple photo books for the year and
the blog book. I kept putting off
cleaning out the basement but finally got around to it. I got the playroom and office cleaned and
organized on Monday. On Tuesday the kids
headed back to school even though it was still pretty cold out. It was kind of a rough morning getting up and
going. I had a filling that afternoon
and Molly came over to watch the younger three.
I was able to get a few errands in too.
I do have to mention that Molly and Ellie have been texting. Ellie got a texting app on her Kindle which
is pretty limited. She can only text to
the numbers I put on her Kindle and she can only do it while she is at our
house on our WiFi. Once she finally
figured it out, she was so excited. I was
running the night she figured out how to do it and I got around 5 texts during
my run. Well her favorite person to text
is Molly-they have a pretty entertaining conversation going. I was numb for a while after my filling so I
just ordered pizza for dinner. Then
afterwards it was feeling kind of sore and sensitive, plus I was feeling really
tired for some reason. I laid down on
the couch for a little bit and the kids were so surprised-they said they never
see my lay on the couch. Jackson even
cleaned up after dinner for me J. Ellie still had gymnastics that night
though. And our emotional little girl got
nervous about getting back to it. She
said that her teacher told her she would have her backbend pull up by Christmas
and she didn’t have it yet. I told she
could practice it before class and then she started crying, saying I told that
I would help her with it. She was also
nervous and crying about her first basketball game coming up on Saturday
because they weren’t able to have her first practice since it was supposed to
be on Monday when everything was canceled.
Well she got a little bit of a boost at class that night when she
surprised herself and did a pullup on her own.
She was excited to come home and show Andrew too. I was so proud of her. (I have to include a couple pictures of when Andrew did something that made Ellie cry-I can't even remember what it was now, doesn't take much. He gave her a hug and then the other boys did too).
Wednesday morning was a little easier on the kids. I finally got to work on the storage area and
started purging and organizing it. It
always feels good to get it all cleaned out and organized again. But my cleaning had to be halted because I
needed to take Ellie to her dentist appointment. It was right after school and they said it
wouldn’t take too long, so I thought it would just be easier to bring all of
the kids. Then my mom suggested that
maybe I should just take all the kids down the hall to my dad’s office and get
flu shots. So that is what we
did-surprise kids! We dropped Ellie off
and then went to my dad’s office. A few
of the nurses got the shots ready for us and we just did them in my dad’s
little office. Jackson was pretty
hesitant at first and tried to avoid getting it. But he finally gave in. I had to hold Lincoln as he screamed. And then Susie and I each held a twin while
they got theirs. They, of course, cried
for a bit but then were okay. Then Ellie
showed up after getting her sealants and was a champ getting her shot with just
a little flinch. Then I brought home a
shot for Andrew and my dad gave it to him that evening after dinner. I was happy to get all of that done
especially with all the talk about the bad flu season we are having. Later that night Andrew and I had some
interesting conversations with Lincoln.
He was getting ready for bed and Andrew told him to come tell me what he
was telling Andrew. And he told me that
he was going to take his hooker out to the ranch and he could use it to pick up
the dead cows in the pasture. But the
hooker couldn’t go in the pond and sometimes they would have to use Daddy’s
hooker. He was talking about a plastic
multi-tool he got in a tool set for Christmas.
It was kind of funny though.
The rest of the week was just the kids going to school
and playing with their friends. Ellie
used her gift card from Grandpa Mike and Karen to get a Ripstik and she has
been constantly riding it in circles around the house. She loves it.
Jackson was hoping he could convince me to let him clean off his and
bring it in too.
While they played, I finished up the storage area and Miles and
Bennett spent a lot of time mad at me.
We went through a rough patch where they were upset and cried a lot but
it seems like things are a little better right now. The do sometimes say “I love you” when I lay
them down for their naps, so that makes it worth it.
We canceled our Dish and reordered cable but
we went the weekend without anything. I
know, the tragedy. We did fine. I spent most of my time going through all of
our baby and kids’ clothes that had been stored away while Andrew and the kids
watched YouTube videos about cats and other random things. I’m glad Andrew shares their sense of humor
because I don’t as often J. I had some sad moments as I sorted through
all of the baby clothes. I put back a
few sentimental pieces and saved a few things for my siblings down the
road. I also went through Jackson’s old
clothes that I had just stored away and got rid of stuff that I was sure the
younger boys wouldn’t end up wearing.
And I didn’t have too much to do with the girl clothes. Lola has most of the baby stuff and Bella has
been taking Ellie’s old clothes for a while.
In the end, I ended up with around 7 bags of clothes for our thrift
store.
Jackson and Ellie had their first ball games on
Saturday. Andrew made a quick trip out
to the ranch beforehand along with his trusty sidekick.
Jackson’s game was first.
Ellie was really nervous about her game, so Jackson told her to watch
him and he would work with her during half time. It was very sweet of him, but he didn’t get
the chance. Jackson made a few baskets
and said he loved it, had a great time.
I hope he can keep that enthusiasm.
Miles and Bennett weren’t as excited.
They both wanted me and they spent the majority of the game climbing all
over me upset about one thing or another.
Miles kept trying to lay his head on Bennett and Bennett was not having
it at all. I was trying to take pictures
with my new camera and it just wasn’t working out with their assistance. After Jackson’s game, we had an hour before
Ellie’s so we rushed home and fed the kids lunch. Leah had offered to take the twins during
Ellie’s game (she sat right beside me during Jackson’s game, so she knew that
they didn’t like being there) and Andrew convinced me to take her up on her
offer. So we dropped them off at their
house on our way back to the YMCA.
Things were much calmer watching Ellie’s game. She was very timid for most of the game and
kept messing with her shirt that was too big or the wristband she had to wear. But she got to throw it in once and also
dribble it down another time and then you could tell her confidence was boosted
a little. Her coaches are nice and I
think she will end up liking it. She was
excited for Monday and practice to get here.
 |
| You can't really tell but this was his first basket of the game. |
 |
| Praying before the game. |
 |
| A pretty intimidating bunch. |
The weather was nicer over the weekend so Andrew took the
Christmas lights off the house while I took them off of our small tree and was
finally able to bring in Santa and the Holy Family. I also got some stuff listed on swap shop and
have sold a few items. It was great that the kids could finally get
out and play and they loved it too.
Jackson said he and some of the others were working on building a dam on
a little creek that runs through their fort.
And I’m not sure what Lincoln and his friends were up to.
Monday was a busy day for us. I was able to get by the thrift store and had
around 10 bags of stuff to drop off. Ellie
had dance after school and then Andrew came home early so I could go to a
TriFAHL meeting. I took Jackson with me,
we picked up Ellie, and then we headed to the meeting. They had basketball practice that night and I
knew it would just be easier to have them going with me to the meeting and we could
leave from there. Ellie was able to do
her homework and they both played on their Kindles for a bit. I was able to get them on teams that had
similar practice times which was great.
Ellie practices at 6 while Jackson practices at 6:15. I got them in there and then ran to Wal-Mart
to pick up a couple things they didn’t have earlier that I was needing for
small group snacks later this week. I
actually had to go to Wal-Mart and HyVee to just get two different items. But I got back in time to catch some of their
practices and then I had a surprise for them.
They both had awesome grade cards (straight As again for Jackson along
with great marks for Ellie since they don’t get letter grades yet) so I took
them to the new yogurt place in town, TruYo.
They really liked it and Jackson is still thanking me for taking
them.
Some of my friends and I were trying to plan a girls
night out but it just wasn’t working with our schedule. So we decided to just get together Tuesday
afternoon. We met at my house since the
twins could nap and Lincoln and Alex just played together. Andrea wasn’t able to make it since one of
her kids ended up getting sick. But it
was nice to just have some adult conversation and see them for a while since it
has been hard to see anyone during the winter.
The kids had Elevate after school and since the twins were still napping
I decided to get a bike ride in. I
usually do it in the morning before the kids get up, but with my cold I was so
tired and couldn’t convince myself to get up that early. Andrew had a hearing in Columbia and he also
ended up buying a few suits. I don’t
think he has bought a new one in around 5 years and since he wears them almost
every day he was definitely due some new ones.
Some of his old ones are pretty worn so I know he will be excited to
have the new ones when they are finished altering them.
So that gets up caught up. It is now Wednesday morning. I was up from 3-5 this morning coughing so
now I am once again trying to convince myself to exercise, which is supposed to
be running this morning. I also just
want to go back to bed J. But we are starting up small group again
tonight so I have a house to clean (thankfully I did a couple of the bathrooms
yesterday), snacks to make, and all the other prep that needs to be done. Oh and those two little sweet/ornery boys
that need to be loved on.
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