And Winter is Here

So picking up where I left off last week, we made some banana chocolate chip cookies that Lincoln has decided are his favorite cookies ever.  Ellie and I really like them too.  Then Lincoln went out back with Ty and worked some more on creating their “fort”.  They excitedly came to me to ask me to come check it out.  They piled up some branches to construct it and were very proud of it.  I guess it was hard work because shirts were discarded.

Andrew got home that evening and then we headed over to my parents for dinner.  Miles still wasn’t feeling that great but they still had us over and I am so glad they did.  We had a delicious roast for dinner.  Lissy showed up just as I was heading to the store.  Andrew went ahead and took the twins home and I let the others stay at my parents while I did my grocery shopping.  But first I had to get the wrapping paper from Lissy that she had picked up for me.  Yay Lissy!  It took me a little while to get all my shopping done since I was starting to get stuff for the K-Life leaders dinner I had to do the next Sunday.  So after I was done I picked up the kids.  They spent the evening playing Spot It and Slap Jack  which created a few arguments over who was following the rules.  But by this time it was almost nine so they needed to get home and get to bed.  They did help me unload all the groceries from the car when we got home though.  Once I got everything put away and the kids got to bed, I worked on designing some month stickers for Annie and Brad’s new little one who is due in December.  I thought I had enough sticker paper to make them but realized I was one sheet short. 

The next morning Andrew left early to go work his cattle.  He was gone all morning and it appeared he had a bit of a rough ride.  He said he did have to get off his horse and chase some cows through some brush and his clothes showed it.  He had stickers all over his clothes and a huge tear in his favorite work sweatshirt.   Since he was at the ranch that morning that meant that I needed to take the kids to school.  Thankfully Miles was feeling a little better by this point.  So we got all the kids dropped off (it did take a little convincing to get the twins to leave Lincoln’s class room) and then we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart.  I didn’t even put them in a cart since I was just after one thing.  I got the sticker paper and then decided I wanted to look for some ribbon and then try to find some sort of glue to reattach the rubber seal that goes around the back hatch of the Yukon.  It had been falling down since this summer.  I could get it to go back on but it would eventually fall down again.  So we were successful in getting all of that and were making our way back to the front of the store when we met up with Kristin and her kids.  So I talked to her for a bit and the twins entertained themselves with some boxed up remote control cars.  Once I finally got them pried away from those we had to check out Olaf.

Then we make our way to the cash registers to find out they only have 2 open with lines.  Mary was waiting in one of the lines so we talked to her for a bit and made our way down to self check-out and then back to the other side the store where our car was parked.  So we did more walking than I had anticipated but they did fine.  Once we got home I quickly worked on printing off the address labels for our Christmas cards and the month stickers and then got them cut out with my Silhouette.  I really liked the way they turned out though.

I wanted to get it all done before I picked up Lincoln because I needed to drop my computer off when I picked up Lincoln with our computer guy, Steve, to work with it for a bit since it was running kind of slow.  Plus it was a great afternoon to get stuff done outside so I wasn’t going to be working on it anyways.  After lunch we headed outside to start working and we got a lot done.  The twins and Lincoln played out back on the swing set and at the fort while I worked on bringing in the chairs from the outdoor dining set, cut back some rose bushes out back and put out the greenery and wreath on the fireplace out back.  I figured no one could see it back there but us so I would go ahead and do it while we had probably our last nice day.  And it was so nice-over 70 degrees.  I even let Lincoln bring up the plastic Santa Claus from the basement.  Lincoln was such a great help to me during the afternoon.  After I brought the chairs inside to the family room, he brought them over to the basement door while I carried them downstairs.  Then he held the trash bag for me while I trimmed the rose bushes and hydrangea bush and then shoveled some mulch up around the bushes.  He helped me set out the extension cords for the lights out back, throw out the mums and an extra pumpkin and put away the toys out back.  After we put the twins down for a nap then we went to work trimming the bushes out front, cleaning out the car, cleaning out the garage and putting some white lights on our little hydrangea tree out front.  We also put the glue on the door seal and taped that up until it dried.  He helped me with all of it and was happy to do it.  I really hope that continues J 

Once his friends got home he moved on to play with them and I worked on getting stuff ready for dinner.  I let Jackson and Ellie skip swim team because I wanted them to be able to get out and play since the cold weather was settling in the next day.  And they all played outside until after dark.  I was even able to get Miles and Bennett outside for a bit after their naps.  I guess the girls were doing some dares with each other and Ellie was dared to let Grace put lipstick on her blindfolded.  It was a mess J.  And this picture doesn't do it justice-plus it just got worse.

So as the dark settled in, I finished up dinner and we ate.  Andrew didn’t get home until a little later so he missed dinner.  Then we didn’t have anything else planned for the evening.  So I got everything cleaned up, Andrew did the baths and then I was able to get our Christmas cards all ready to be mailed.  Ellie and Lincoln both wanted to help me with them, so I had them licking envelopes.  They didn’t last that long at that job.  So I got a lot marked off my to-do list for the day which I love.  The next morning I woke up to the sound of the noise maker going in and out.  We did end up having some freezing rain/snow.  The lights kept dimming while I was in the shower so I just hoped I was able to finish before it went dark.  I also had a bloody nose in the shower.  So Miles and Bennett came by it honestly.  I had an ultrasound at the hospital that morning and had to be there at 7:45.  So I had to be ready a little earlier especially since I needed to run the kids across town to my parents beforehand.  Andrew got home just before I left and I actually made it on time to the hospital.  As I was leaving, I had to take a picture of the bikes and toys left out that were covered in snow and ice.  Such a contrast to the beautiful day we had before.

I was having the ultrasound done to just see if we could figure out why I have been experiencing some pelvic pain so not a big deal.  After it was done, I picked up the twins and headed home to start tackling my jobs for the day.  It was a loud afternoon as Miles and Bennett continue to struggle with sharing and playing together.  They can be doing really well and then the next moment they are both screaming and have each other pinned to the ground.  I never know whether to let them work it out or intervene.  Lincoln played with Alex during the afternoon.  They started out at our house and even thought they would play outside in the dusting of snow.  It didn’t last too long though.  Then they were off to Alex’s house to play for a bit.  Once I got the twins down for a nap, I decided to embrace the cold day by making some hot chocolate.  Ellie and Jackson were excited to see it when they got home from school.  That evening Ellie had dance and tumbling.  It is always harder to get back out for those things when it is dark and cold.  I was able to work on designing some “gift certificates” for a couple gifts for the kids while Ellie had tumbling and I cut them out with the Silhouette on Wednesday.  And yes the cold stuck around for Wednesday too.  I think it is here to stay for a while.  So we stayed inside and stayed busy.  I cleaned, rode the bike and worked on prepping some crafts for Ellie’s friend party that morning.  Miles and Bennett stayed busy playing with all their various vehicles.  Then Lincoln came home and was excited to show me his latest Native American craft-a cave painting.  He has done a lot of fun things with this unit.  Then we had small group that night.  The next day was much of the same.  By the end of the week I had pretty much everything ready to go for Ellie’s birthday, a few decorations put together for the twins’ birthday party (going with the same theme as last year as it is just a couple days after Andrew’s surgery and I’m trying to keep low key), presents wrapped for all the birthdays we have during that month between Thanksgiving and Christmas and got the tags done for our teacher and neighbor gifts along with some for my parents’ neighbor gifts.  I also spent some time trying to get everything organized for the K-Life dinner.  I have learned over the last few years of doing it that cooking for 50 people takes a little more prep time than I thought so this year I am determined for it all to go smoothly J.   I kept thinking I was going to get started with Christmas wrapping but I think that may have to wait until next week. 

Lincoln ended up staying home from school on Thursday.  He started to sound like he had a bit of laryngitis Wednesday night and woke up with a slight fever on Thursday.  He was sounding worse by Thursday night.  He even woke up at one point and I think his throat hurt so much that he was gagging himself and he threw up a little bit.  Andrew got him to the bathroom before anything came out thankfully.  Then afterwards I gave him some ibuprofen and cough medicine and had him lay down with me.  He eventually settled down and we got some sleep.  The 5:45 alarm clock was early though-so I hit the snooze button a couple of times.  My dad came by the next morning and decided that he may have had bronchiolitis like Miles had just had.  He didn’t let him stop him too much though.  He still wanted to help me with different things and he also found ways to antagonize the twins.  Speaking of the twins, they have been a handful lately.  I feel like they are into something they shouldn’t be or fighting with each other quite a bit.  Miles has also started biting Bennett when they are fighting and Bennett has a couple of marks to prove it.  Definitely need to get that one under control.  Plus the potty training still takes quite a bit of time.  They are doing pretty well but they still do have an accident now and then.  And then they think you should go to the bathroom with them about anytime they go.  So even though I have been getting stuff, it takes probably three times as long to do it.  But I do eventually get it done and it is a good thing I am getting started on stuff earlier.  I really do hope to be pretty much done with most of it well before Christmas so we can just enjoy that time (and take care of the crippled patient J). 

Andrew took the three oldest kids out to the ranch Friday after school.  Annie and Brad and their kids were getting into town and were actually there when Andrew got out to his parents’ house.  Ellie has been so excited to see Lauren again.  And deer season started on Saturday so Andrew and Jackson were out early for that.  I didn’t even realize that he had taken Ellie until he told me on the phone later that morning.  I just assumed she was still sleeping since that girl loves to sleep in.  Our morning didn’t start out the best as the twins managed to dump the leftover coffee from the coffee pot onto the counter, floor and drawer.  Thankfully it didn’t burn them or they didn’t break anything.  I finally got it all cleaned up and ended up putting the twins in the bathtub to entertain them for a bit.  But when I took off Miles pj pants I noticed he didn’t have his pull up on and then I noticed his pants smelled like pee.  He took off his pull up during the night so I went to check his bed and it was wet.  So I guess he really did need a bath. 

I spent the rest of the day trying to get stuff ready for the dinner the next day and doing some other stuff around the house.  Lincoln was, of course, my helper.  I made a couple desserts and browned the hamburger for one of the pasta dishes. 

 

Then it was time to head out to Andrew’s parents for dinner with his family.  It had snowed off and on throughout the day but I didn’t expect the roads to be slick but they were.  There were two trucks off the highway as I was just getting started.  I was about ready to turn around and head back home and have Andrew pick us up.  But we trudged on, slowly, and eventually made it.  Ellie had been having all sorts of fun with Granny and Lauren.  And Jackson was settled in, relaxing after a day of hunting.  They didn’t see much but Andrew was hoping for better luck the next day.  Jackson, on the other hand, was looking forward to sleeping in a bit. 

 

Mary had a yummy, early Thanksgiving dinner for all of us and the rest of the evening was spent visiting with the kids runny around playing.  Miles kept trying to sneak drinks of Mary’s McDonald’s Diet Coke she had on the counter.  Then when I went to get him to get ready to leave, I found him in on e of the back bedrooms and I noticed a smell before I even got there.  I noticed he had his hands clasped together and that is when I realized he had sprayed primer spraypaint on his hands.  I didn’t notice it anywhere else in the room but Ashlyn did mention that he sprayed it in her hair-oops!  So it was about time for us to get out of there.  But Ellie, Lauren and Ashlyn were having a sleepover together and they had plans for some different activities they wanted to get started on. 

It was another slow trip back home as it was snowing at the moment so the road was pretty much covered with the snow blowing towards the car making it a little difficult to see.  And our driveway was slick when we got home so Andrew had to park in the street.  He and Jackson put out some ice melt while I got the twins ready for bed.  Lincoln ended up sleeping in my bed that night since he was going hunting with Andrew the next morning.  He decided to sleep with me instead of in the family room because my bed was “comfy cozy”.  He had quite a bit to talk about before he went to sleep.  One topic was death, surprisingly.  He said that he was excited to die because then he got to see Jesus.  Then he asked me if I was excited to die.  I told him that I was excited to see Jesus too but I also still wanted to spend some time with my family and friends here.  But he did remind me that I would get to see them in heaven too J.

He eventually fell asleep and was in a great mood when Andrew got him up the next morning.  He was so excited that he got to go out hunting with him.  So they got dressed and headed out.  Andrew ended up shooting a doe.  Lincoln told me he was really quite like his dad told him to be J.  I got up a little later and got the day started.  I had a schedule all planned out to make sure I got all of the food done on time.  But first Jackson, the twins and I went to church.  We finally got our Operation Christmas Child boxes dropped off.  Then it was back home to start getting everything ready.  Ellie stayed out at Tom & Mary's all day and had tons of fun.  She got to play with Lauren and Ashlyn and Mary had several fun things for them to do.  Ellie loved the pottery wheel they got to do and I think she ate quite a bit of icing :-). 

 

Andrew texted me to let me know that he may actually be home in a couple hours.  He had previously said he wasn’t sure if he would be home in time for the dinner, but then he started feeling bad J.  So I got one of my pasta dishes started in the crockpot and did laundry before he got home.  Then I decided to go ahead and do my grocery shopping which I had planned to do after the dinner.  I decided it would probably be good to pick up some more of the bread and salad for the dinner so I went ahead I did it in the afternoon.  Andrew had offered to help with the kids or help me with the dinner since he was home but then he got a call from someone that was needing to meet him at the office.  I figured I had everything under control since I wasn’t planning on him being there anyways so it was okay if he went.  I let the twins stay up for a while because I knew I would rather having them napping as I was trying to pull everything together than while I was just prepping stuff.  I eventually enlisted Jackson to help me out by having him cut potatoes.  He wasn’t the happiest about it (it was 10 lbs of potatoes) but he kept working at it and it was actually very helpful to me.  Of course I had to find some jobs for Lincoln since he wanted to help, especially since Jackson was. 

 

But everything went pretty smoothly for me (well except for the part where one of my crock pots had not turned heated up.  I am just glad I checked it although it had been a couple of hours.  I was able to turn it on high for a bit though and all was well) because I think finally got things figured out after doing the same meal for three years.  I definitely planned more time for things to cook since they were such large quantities.  And I worked on it most of the day and was able to clean things as I went.  It was nice to not have much to clean up when we got home after the dinner.  Andrew got home about 20 minutes before we needed to head out so he got the twins ready to go and helped me finish loading up stuff in the car.  It was a lot of food!  And we even got there before six and had everything set up by six.  We haven’t been able to do that before.  Tom & Mary met us there and dropped off Ellie so she got to join us too.  I don’t think there ended up being 50 college students there but it was close.  I was thankful we had enough food since we have cut it pretty close in years past.  There was even enough that we were able to eat this year and leave some leftovers with the guys that live at the K-Life house.  Everyone was so nice and grateful.  And we are happy we were able to provide them with a home cooked meal.  They are a great group of kids who give so much of themselves to kids in our community.  Miles and Bennett had fun running around with Charlie although Miles did wander a little too far a couple times.  He made it back into one of the apartments one time and another time he tried to follow a girl into the bathroom and yelled at her when she tried to close the door.  She tried to explain to him that the boys bathroom was across the hall J.  But then it was time to get things cleaned up and head home.  I was worn out by the time we got home. 

Andrew did baths while I cleaned up and put away stuff from the dinner.  Then it was time to rest for a bit.  The kids and I finished out the evening by watching Home Alone and then we were all ready for bed.