Prepping for Summer

So I spent some of last week trying to figure out our summer schedule.  I would love to do our schedule like I have done in the past, but we may have to change it up a little as our mornings are going to be a little busier this time.  The place where Ellie was going to take gymnastics this summer ended up not being able to find an instructor, so she isn't going to be able to do that.  She started crying when I told her and really wanted to do softball, but it was already too late.  She did get invited to participate in a writing and reading enrichment program they are having at her school during the month of June.  I kind of tried to talk her out of it since it is every weekday during June from 8-11:30.  That will mean we will have to get up and around just like a school day.  She was excited to do it though, so I signed her up.  I am hoping Andrew will be able to take her most of the time, but it still limits what we can all do together during the mornings, which was usually when we would try to get chores and other activities done.  But she also has basketball camp a few mornings the beginning of June, so she will just go from there to her reading class.  Then she will miss a week while she attends soccer camp but the teacher said that should all be fine.  Jackson has basketball camp for a couple hours in the morning the week after school gets out and then he will do soccer camp with Ellie in June too.  So along with baseball games for Jackson and Lincoln, our June is packed. 

So Monday Ellie had dance and then that evening I went grocery shopping while Jackson was at swim practice.  When he was done, I ran some cake over to my parents house.  It was leftover cake from the birthday party and my dad accidentally gave us two boxes when one was supposed to go to them.  My mom was looking forward to some with her hot tea in the evenings, so I saved it from the kids and brought it over.  But my dad had already went out to get her a Blizzard.  So Jackson and I were talking on the way home and I told him that what my dad did is always a nice thing to do.  Someday when he has a girlfriend and eventually a wife, he could surprise her every now and then with a little something to eat that she likes, be it ice cream, coffee, etc.  He then proceeds to say that he will shoot a turkey for her and if she likes meat, he can get her meat. :-)  Love that boy.  While we were gone Andrew cut the three younger boys' hair.  He sent me a picture of it all swept off and it was a lot of hair! 

The cooler air came on Tuesday.  I am so ready for it to stay warm for a while.  I did get out and replaced our exterior garage light that got knocked down when Andy's ladder accidentally fell.  I was able to find the same one that we had before and it went pretty smoothly.  I thought I had it all figured out, but it didn't turn on.  So I talked to my dad quickly and got it figured out and we were good to go.  Lincoln really wanted to help and was responsible for handing me the screwdriver.  Then we cleaned out the garage a bit.  I found out that afternoon that Jackson had a game the next evening.  The problem was that we had our small group barbecue at the same time.  Andrew then informed me that they mentioned the game time at practice on Saturday but then he forgot to tell me :-).  Tuesday night, Ellie and I headed to her gymnastics class and she is getting pretty close to being able to do all the "tricks" in her routine.  She got her chest roll down which is great.  She was showing it to Andrew and I afterward and she was able to do it several times.  I thought it was just a chest roll, but it is a chest roll that rolls into a back bend and then she pulls up.  I was impressed :-).

Wednesday was another cool day, but we had to get ready for the barbecue.  While I made muffins for Lincoln's snack day the next day and a cake for the barbecue, the twins and Lincoln played with trains.  I had a table set up to take outside, so they liked to play under it.

Miles telling his brother sorry for hitting him with a train.

Then I was so excited to see that my corrected birth certificate finally arrived in the mail.  So I got everything ready to take up to the post office the next day.  While the twins were napping, I finished my cake and worked more on getting everything ready for the barbecue.  Alex came over to play and he and Lincoln were some sort of hybrid super heros wearing pieces from different outfits. 

Andrew came home a little early so he could get the hamburger patties made up and then I took Jackson to his game.  We hated that we couldn't be there, but there wasn't much we could do at that point.  The Wilsons were kind enough to bring him home for us when the game was over and Jackson was excited because they won.  While he was at the game, the barbecue got started and it was chaotic as normal-just kids running around every where.  Miles and Bennett got a hold of some cheese puffs and chocolate and were a mess-they kept me very busy.  They enjoyed themselves though and everyone else did too.  Andrew ended up putting some extra bricks in the bottom of our fireplace and we were able to use it.  It worked out great since it was chilly out and people enjoyed being able to make s'mores.  Eventually everyone started heading home.  Some people were able to help us tear down the tables and bring stuff inside.  Then Andrew gave baths while I continued cleaning.  It took a while to get it all cleaned up and I wasn't finished until everyone else was in bed.  I ended the night by looking for a lost sippy cup using my phone's light.  I eventually found it out by the swing set.  Luckily it ended up raining that night and cleaned things off a little more :-).

Thursday morning, as the kids were getting ready to leave for school, Andrew asked me if the twins had a rough night the night before.  I said I didn't think so and he said that when he headed to the office that morning, their light and fan were on and Miles was asleep on the floor with his blanket over his head.  I went to bed kind of late and didn't notice any of this so I have no idea when it happened. :-)  The twins and I picked up Lincoln from school that day.  He was excited I brought them into his classroom and then he was nice enough to give them each a leftover muffin from his snack.  I was trying to hold them off until we got home but I knew the screaming would ensue and it would be hard to get them out to the car if I took them away.  Our next stop was the post office to apply for our passports.  Andrew ended up getting there a little later, so we started without him.  Especially since Lincoln said he really needed to go pee as we were driving over there.  We ran into one problem with our paperwork and it was our pictures.  I guess the background had too much shadowing so we had to have them retaken at the post office (for $15 each!).  Miles and Bennett weren't too excited about me stepping a few steps away to take the picture, so the lady offered them some suckers.  They were much happier after that.  Sticky and blue, but much happier.  Andrew showed up after a bit and we were able to get through everything else pretty quickly.  I am so happy to have that done!.

Later that afternoon I started working on our teacher gifts for the end of the year.  I was applying some vinyl to little metal watering cans and making some paper flowers.  I asked Jackson if he wanted to help and he feigned some interest for a little bit before I finally told him he didn't have to help anymore.  So he happily went on his way.  That evening he worked on some pitching and throwing with Andrew.  His coach said he may be pitching at his next game so they had some work to do.  Andrew had me video some of it so they could see how he could improve :-).  Also, Ellie tried to teach Lincoln some of the hand clapping games-he tried to be a good student.

The next morning I was riding the bike on the trainer before the kids got up and Andrew decided to not go to the office and just laid on the bed and watched me ride.  Soon after Lincoln showed up all dressed and with his laundry basket of dirty clothes so I could was them.  He didn't even have school that day and he was up super early.  Then the twins got up early too-I am blaming it on Andrew because he yelled upstairs to wake Jackson and Ellie up instead of going upstairs to do it.  And they were pretty grumpy.  I think once Andrew saw the immediate whining, he realized why I try to keep the house quiet in the mornings.  So our morning wasn't that great.  I got dinner started in the crockpot but then decided to change our plans.  Andrew offered to stay home with the twins while I took the older three to dinner and a movie.  I really wanted Andrew to be able to go with us too and thought maybe he and the twins could at least join us for dinner.  But the more I thought about it, the more I decided to be realistic and know that it probably wouldn't go that well.  So he stayed home and we headed for La Fuente.  We got there by 5:30 but it was already packed and we had to wait. That kind of spoiled my plans of getting our snacks at Wal-Mart though.  So after dinner, we just headed straight to the theater to see Million Dollar Arm.  As we walked into the theater, someone in the back said, "So Mexican and a movie tonight?"  It was dark, so I couldn't really see who it was but they must have seen us at La Fuente.  Then I think it was the same person who came up to me afterwards and told me that I had some very well-behaved kids.  It was very nice of him, but I wanted to tell him he should see the two at home :-).  Overall it was a great night.  The kids were good even though Lincoln was a little loud at the theater and a little bored with the movie.  Jackson, Ellie and I really enjoyed the movie though and thought it was funny.  So thank you, Andrew, for letting us go!

Andrew took the older kids to the ranch Saturday morning and then we all packed up and headed to Jackson's ball game.  He didn't end up pitching but he did do a good job at third and left field.  He also got a couple hits but one was caught and the other barely got him out at first.  The twins did okay but were getting antsy.  Lanie, Andrea's daughter, was nice enough to offer to take them to the playground with Ellie's help.  They had a great time but I think they played on a dirt pile over by the playground instead of the actual playground equipment.   Hopefully the dirt pile will be gone the next time because they were a mess. 

So I gave them a shower when we got home and then they laid down for a nap.  Andrea and I decided at the game that we would go for a bike ride that afternoon.  Neither of us have gone over the 9 miles we did for the TriFAHL and we had just done that basic loop.  Andrew suggested we go out to the Lake which made us a little nervous.  But we went for it.  We decided for the first time, we would just head out to the lake entrance and come back instead of riding in the park, which was just a little over 12 miles.  It went pretty well and I think we both feel more confident with it now that we could go farther next time.  While we were talking after our ride, the older kids came over so Jackson ended up playing with Sammy for a bit and Lincoln with Tate.  Ellie saw her friend Tyne out for a walk, so she caught up with her and got to spend a little bit jumping on her trampoline.  Ellie loved it and was excited to play with Tyne again.  It was such a nice day to ride, that Andrew decided he wanted to go too.  We decided he would go after I got back from taking Jackson and his friends to a birthday party.  I was wanting to get to Aldi before it closed that evening, so he was trying to get back in time for me to do that.  So I took the boys to the party which was a little north of town and Andrew was all ready to go when I got home.  I started getting dinner ready and got a text from my mom saying that Molly wanted to see everyone and they were just getting into town.  So I invited them to dinner and scrounged around to find a little more food :-).  So they dropped off their luggage at home and came over.  The kids were excited to see Molly.  I didn't tell them they were coming over, so Ellie started screaming when she saw her.  I was excited to see her too-it had been too long.  So dinner was a little thrown together, but it worked.  And Andrew showed up part way through.  He had biked hard-he was happy to get out and do it some more but was sore.  So we got to sit around and hear more about Molly's internship.  But she is only here a few days and then has to head to Kanakuk tomorrow for work week.  So Ellie convinced her to have a sleep over but they had to sneak out without Lincoln seeing them.  Lincoln actually didn't notice until the next morning :-).

So Andrew went to the office the next morning and then picked up Jackson and Ellie before he came home for church.  Lincoln was up around six and all dressed for church.  I guess he fell back asleep on the couch but I though I heard up and running around.  I heard these little footsteps and opened my eyes to see Miles running through the hall with a muffin.  I had made muffins the night before before heading to bed and had them sitting out on the cooktop.  So I grabbed him and put the muffin back (they had a streusel topping that was falling off everywhere) and thought I would have him lay in bed with me for a bit.  So I went to make sure Bennett was still asleep only to find him sitting in bed eating a muffin.  So Miles was a nice brother and gave Bennett breakfast in bed and then went back to get his own.  Those two!  So it was time to get up and get ready for church since Andrew had to work the first service.  After church, Andrew and the kids played outside while I went grocery shopping since I wasn't able to go the night before.  I also went by Home Depot to get some chain.  I was trying to find a way to keep our outdoor curtains from blowing in the wind and chain in the hem was a suggestion.  I also stopped by Sonic to get some gift cards for the teachers and picked up lunch for all of us too.  I think Ellie and Lincoln spent most of the day outside while Jackson had another birthday party to go to.  The party was at the ball fields so Andrew took him early and they went to the batting cages.  Then Jackson was at the party from 3-6 which I thought was crazy.  I can only handle an 1 1/2 party so I can't imagine 3 hours.  But he had a good time and came home with some Big League Chew was is always a good thing for a boy. 

After the twins woke up from their nap, we headed over to my parents for Molly's late birthday dinner.  So we got to enjoy some fried chicken and ice cream cake-yummy.  My dad was starting to open up the pool so Lincoln and the twins were a great help-well maybe not.  Lincoln did help screw down the bolts that held the cover but the twins tried to "help" fill up the hot tub with the hose and ended with probably more water on them and the pool deck than in the hot tub. 

Today begins the last week of school.  I have to admit I am nervous about this summer.  The twins are a little harder to handle this year.  I'm also not sure what we are going to do about them napping at my parents house while the others are swimming.  I did put on my brave face this morning though and took them and Lincoln to Jackson's field day for a bit.  I actually prayed as we were driving there that they would behave and that I would actually get to see at least on of Jackson's events.  I really had no information about the field day so I was just winging it.  I decided we would go without pacifiers or a stroller.  So I got them up in the bleachers and started searching for Jackson.  A mom of one of the boys in his class stopped and asked if I was looking for him.  Then she told me they were down on the field getting ready for their 25m relay.  Yay, I was going to get to see something.  So we sat down in the bleachers (or at least I did-the boys spend the majority of the time climbing up and down and dancing to the music they had playing) and got to see Jackson run twice.  They won their heat and then I think they won the final too.  They are having an awards ceremony this afternoon, so he will find out then how he did with everything.  We hung around a little longer and got to talk to Jackson for a bit-he even gave me a side hug :-).  Then it was time to leave-there was a little resistance, but we made it.  Thank you God.  So now I am just trying to finish this up while the twins are napping.  Lincoln has been watching Winnie the Pooh and keeps laughing-I love it.  Now we are going to go out and finish the teacher gifts by planting a flower in the watering cans I vinyled.  Then it is time to hang the outdoor curtains and see if the chain thing works.