That afternoon was swim practice and then we ate another
dinner outside. It was a little chilly,
but it worked. Andrew played with the
kids while I cleaned up and just as it was getting dark I heard crying
outside. Andrew had been throwing the
baseball around with them and I guess he threw a pop fly to Lincoln. Well Lincoln didn’t have a glove plus can’t
really catch like that so it smacked him right on the eye. Andrew brought them all inside and spent the
next half hour applying an ice pack to Lincoln’s eye while he let Lincoln watch
videos on his phone. It took Lincoln a
little bit to calm down and take the ice pack but then they were able to put it
on and off the rest of the night. Here is a picture of it a couple days later-it doesn't quite do it justice :-).
The next day my mom went with Lincoln, the twins and I to
Columbia. I rarely get there these days
so it was nice. The kids actually did
pretty well so that always makes it easier.
Lincoln was really good about helping load up the car J. We did a Sam’s run and then hit several other
stores. I so wish we had some of the
stores closer because I always feel a bit overwhelmed trying to think of what I
should get since I probably won’t be back for quite a while. I finally found some jeans that I think will
work. I have been on the hunt for jeans
for several years now. And my mom just
waited in the car with the kids and movie while I shopped for those. We also ate at Shakespeare’s for lunch which
was yummy. It worked out great because
we were there before noon so it wasn’t busy at all and the kids just played
around on the arcade games. I played for
one game of pinball for Lincoln but other than that they just played without
actually paying for anything. Then I
picked up some AJ’s to take home for dinner.
I decided between unloading and putting everything away plus getting
Ellie to and from dance, it would be nice to just have dinner ready. That night was the Cardinals game where they
clinched their division series. That is
always exciting!
Wednesday morning was the blood moon so I got Jackson and
Ellie up at five to see it. Jackson was
upset he missed the last one so I made sure to put the next one on my
calendar. We probably should have gotten
up a little earlier to see more of the eclipse starting but I think I
misunderstood the timing. So we saw the
last part of that and then it was just the red moon. So the kids looked at a bit and then Ellie fell
asleep on the couch while Jackson actually got everything ready for school and
then vegged out. That night we had a
great small group. More of our group has
been coming the last few times so it really makes a difference. But I think things got a little crazy
downstairs. The sitters do an awesome
job with all the kids but I still had poop to clean up in the bathroom and
blood stains to clean from the carpet.
They apologized that they weren’t able to get it all cleaned up.
We had some rain Thursday morning so I didn’t get to the
store as planned. We just hung around at
home until we had to pick up Lincoln from school. Then I picked up some McDonald’s for them for
lunch because I knew they would be excited about that. I worked for a little bit on my Christmas
list. I think I am getting close to
figuring out what to get most people.
There are always those few that I have a hard time with though. I also worked on getting stuff ready for
Jackson to go on his first church retreat.
It was just one night overnight in St. Louis. He wasn’t too sure about going but I think
the part about him getting out of school early on Friday clinched the deal for
him. He and Ellie went to Little K after
school and we had dinner when they got home.
Andrew took them outside to play for a bit while I cleaned up. They stayed out past dark and then I did my
grocery shopping. I noticed while I was
driving that the Christian radio station I usually listen to was out. I didn’t think much about it until the next
morning when I woke up at 6:45 instead of when my alarm was supposed to go off
at 5:45. Andrew actually couldn’t sleep
and I heard him leave around 3:30 so I knew I still had a couple of hours. But
then before I knew it, I was late. The
kids were still asleep too because their alarms are also set to the same
station. So I got them up and they
started getting ready while I did a few things around the house. Then I got on the bike to do my workout after
they left. And these guys decided to
join me J.
After we got ready for the day we were off to help
decorate for Faith Lutheran’s Fall Festival.
I had the centerpieces that I made for the previous year all ready to go
and the boys brought a bag of trains and cars.
So I thought we were ready to go but I was wrong. They had a small jump house going with some
obstacles in it that they boys were excited to try out. So to make a longer story short, the twins
spent about a half hour just crying and I didn’t get a whole lot
accomplished. At one point another mom
came up with some small bags of Skittles and wanted to know if they would like
some. They were excited but then they
started crying over not being able to get them out or them spilling out of the
bag. Eventually things calmed down and
we were even able to stick around a little longer and help out some more. They helped me stick some decorations on the
wall and had a good time racing their cars.
But then we had to get home for lunch.
Andrew was picking up Jackson and met us at home. Then we ate a quick lunch, Andrew went back
to work and the boys and I took Jackson over to the church to meet up with the
rest of the group. I had to talk to him
about being polite, kind, enthusiastic, don’t spend all of your money, you are
going to have to order your own food (again be polite), etc, etc. I was really praying that he would have a good
time and make the most of it. The group
going were some 4th-6th graders at our church. They had a girls van and a boys van so I
think they had a around 14 kids going and four adults. After Jackson got in the van and we were
getting ready to head back to our car, Miles started crying asking where
Jackson was. He was very upset. So we went back to the van so he could tell
Jackson goodbye and he had such a sad look on his face. But Polar Express made it all better.
Then
nap time couldn’t come soon enough. The
twins were pretty grumpy. So while they
napped I put up some Halloween decorations and caught up on some things. And of course Lincoln helped me-most of the
time he loves being my helper. And we
worked on writing his name. He is
definitely getting better at it although I do think life would be easier if I
gave my boys shorter names J.
Then it was time to get the twins up, load up and pick up
Andrew from the office for the Fall Festival.
The kids ate a quick dinner there and then got to do some games. I tried to get Miles and Bennett to do
some. I decided to start little and do
the duck game where you just pick up a duck and the mark on the bottom
designates your prize. Miles got a star
so he could get a bouncy ball-he didn’t want anything to do with it. Then I couldn’t even get Bennett to stick his
hand in the water. He ended up with some
sour worms so that is what Miles wanted to.
And then after a while they both decided they didn’t like them. So we settled for the sucker grab where you
just pick a sucker out of a pumpkin and get a prize-simple enough. Lincoln and Ellie played a few games and then
we dropped them off at church for Parents’ Night Out. Andrew and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at Ruby
Tuesday’s which was nice. Then it was
time to pick up the kids and head home. A
funny thing happened when we were picking up the kids. I had Bennett and was going to find Ellie and
Lincoln when I was stopped by our friend, Kylee. She tried to guess who I was holding and she
guessed correctly. But then Bennett said,
“No, I Miles.” Little stinker! It is already starting. So we headed home, the twins went up to bed,
Lincoln stayed down in the family room with Andrew and Ellie joined me in our
room to watch an episode of Project Runway that I knew she would love. The designers were each given an American
Girl doll that they had to use as inspiration to make a girls’ outfit. Ellie loved it.
The next morning we had Lincoln’s last soccer game. I was prepared for another cold one and it
really wasn’t that bad plus Lincoln scored a goal. So overall we had some pretty decent weather
for soccer season. When we got home, I
took Ellie and the twins with me to run some deposits by the bank real quick and
then we came home to eat lunch while I finished up some other office work. Andrew and Lincoln went to MFA and then out
to the ranch for the afternoon. While
they were gone and after I got the twins down for a nap, Ellie got to work on
some paintings that we will be using for the centerpieces for her art-themed
birthday party next month. Gracie showed
up part way through so she joined in on the painting too. It was all going well until they decided to
get really creative and splatter and soak their pieces in water. That didn’t turn out so well.
My dad also came by and put the shelves for our
mudroom/study room. They didn’t quite
fit at first so he had to take them back home and take off a little bit. I am so excited that it is all pretty much
done. I just need to do some touchup
painting and make some curtains. My dad
did such an awesome job and I love it!
It is so nice that the kids know where their stuff should go-I love,
love, love organized spaces.
While they were all doing that I worked on dinner and
made a peanut butter fudge cake for my first Bunco night that I was attending
at a neighbor’s house that night. After
we ate dinner, Andrew and Lincoln went to church to pick up Jackson and I
finished cleaning up. I just got to talk
to Jackson a bit before I left but it sounded like they had a good time. His stomach hurt (probably from all of the
junk he ate) so he was ready to just go take a bath and get ready for bed.
So Andrew was in charge of everyone (thank you!) and I
headed down the street for Bunco night.
There were seven girls from our neighborhood there and they hope to try
to do it every month at different houses.
I had never played before but I eventually got the hang of it and it was
nice to visit with the others and just enjoy a relaxing night.
Now we are getting ready for another week. It is a dreary Sunday. We got out to church early (Lincoln again pulled out his tie and dress shoes for church) and then I did a
very quick grocery run. Andrew was doing
the communion message so I had to get back home so that he could head back for
the second service. Then he went to the visitation
of an old family friend. Lincoln helped
me put away the groceries and then got everything ready for me to make his
lunch. He does this almost everyday J.
Jackson spent some time decompressing while Lincoln and
his friends did what they do best up in his room-imaginative play. This time it was Lego Chima. Miles and Bennett have their trains all over
our family room floor and Ellie and Grace are making a home for some
caterpillars out of a cardboard box and duct tape. Then they will be back to painting after the
twins go down. So I guess the rain doesn’t
slow them down too much.
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