Christmas is Oh So Close!

So last Sunday night my parents got back into town a little after 11 and dropped the kids off.  We were all still up which was surprising. Miles and Bennett were so excited about their tickets and bells and they had to take them to bed with them. So I got everyone to bed, made sure Andrew was taken care of, put the car seats back in the car for school drop-off the next morning and headed to bed.  I am trying to make an effort of still getting my bike/run in each morning even though I am taking the kids to school at the moment so I try to make sure I get up soon after my alarm goes off instead of lying in bed a little longer.  Some things that have definitely made our mornings a little easier this year are the alarm clocks I got Jackson and Ellie that are programmed to only go off on the weekdays (so we don’t have to turn them off on the weekends and forget to turn them back on) and I have started having Jackson and Ellie make their own lunches. It does help free up some time and they know what is expected of them-get ready, make beds, make sure room is clean, do their chore and make their lunch.  Monday morning Andrew actually stuck around a little in the morning so he was fine with me leaving the twins behind while I took the others to school. Then he headed to the office after I got home.  He does a pretty good job of getting around these days but I think it frustrates him that it takes him a while. He said he has spilled some coffee at the office because he tries to get himself a cup and take it into his office. Molly has helped him out a little bit at the office so I said he just needs to ask her to help him with that and she will. And he seems to wear out more easily so he will come home during the day and take a nap and also rest in the evening. Thankfully he came home to rest that afternoon so Molly could run me out to Robertson’s to drop my car off to get serviced and for them to check the parking assist. I didn’t have time to pick it up before I had to pick up the kids from school so I just took the truck. Andrew was resting so I left the twins with him since they were still napping too. After I picked up the kids I decided we would clean out Andrew’s truck a little as a nice surprise. His floors mats were covered in a layer of dried mud and it needed a decent wipe down inside. So I had the kids throw out the trash while I vacuumed it out. Then we took it to the car wash and sprayed down the floor mats and did a quick outside wash.  Then while I was waiting for Molly to pick me up to take me to get my car, I wiped down the inside a bit. And I guess he never noticed! I asked him if he noticed something different about his truck and he said no.  Jackson was quick to point out that he told me he wouldn’t notice.

Monday was Mary’s birthday so we decided to have everyone in and order Colton’s. Ellie wrote a birthday message on the chalkboard for her and I got some cupcakes that I added some Christmas sprinkles and some ribbon flags that I had from a previous party. Kristin ended up keeping Ashlyn and Ainsley at home because Ashlyn wasn’t feeling that great. But we had a nice visit and celebration for Mary.  Then after everyone headed home, Andrew headed into the bedroom to ice his hip. He can get himself in and out of the ice machine now, I just need to fill it up with ice and water at the beginning of the day and empty it at night. I still help him out every now and then because I know it is easier for him. But we got that going, gave the kids a bath and cleaned up from the “party”. Autumn had sent a birthday present for Bennett home with my parents so they opened it that night too. It was a set of Tinkertoys and a book. All of the kids have loved the Tinkertoys and have played with them every day since-with some fighting of course.

Andrew headed to the office earlier Tuesday morning.  After I dropped off the kids at school, the twins and I stopped by the office quickly so I could go through the mail and pull out any bills I needed to pay and get some more work I needed to do. Then we went by my parents’ to pick up some bags I needed. The twins immediately ran towards where the iPad usually is under the couch. So I let them play for a little bit and then we had to head home-they were not happy.  Andrew had physical therapy Tuesday afternoon and then he offered to pick up Jackson and Ellie from school.  Then he headed to the bedroom to ice his leg and rest. I worked on making chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks for our neighbor gifts and then got busy with dinner. I was thankful I had made some freezer meals before the surgery so I was just able to use one of those. And as tempted as I was to just eat on paper plates, we went with our Christmas china.  We only have a month that it is out, so we like to eat on it whenever possible. The plates tell the store of Twas the Night Before Christmas and the kids always like seeing what illustration they get.  Andrew came out to eat with us and then went back to the bedroom again.

The kids helped me clean up from dinner and then we spent the rest of the night doing a variety of activities with baths thrown in. They got out the Tinkertoys again, we read the Christmas story from our Jesus Storybook Bible, played Disney Headbanz and Ellie and Lincoln played with the Snap Circuits. And just as we were all going upstairs for bedtime, Andrew came out. He said it sounded like we were having a lot of fun but he was a little too late J. After the kids went to bed Andrew and I spent some time discussing some things we were trying to figure out for the marriage conference our small group is sponsoring and then I was done-wiped out. I know I would not want to feel the way Andrew is feeling right now and having to deal with all the inconvenience he is experiencing right now, but I am kind of jealous of his nap times J.

He was up early again on Wednesday and to the office. He did come home during the morning though because he thought he needed to ice his hip more than what he was doing, so we got him set up for that and then I ran to Dollar General to get more ice since we had finished the bags I picked up several days earlier. He was about finished and ready to go when I got home (he said showering is too much work these days) and headed back to the office.  While I worked on making peppermint Rice Krispie treats for the neighbor gifts, the twins played some more with their Thomas trains and Tinkertoys.  At one point Bennett was playing on Lincoln’s old Leapster. He was playing a letter matching game and I was impressed with how well he was doing. He doesn’t know what the letters are but he can match them J.  And before we knew it, it was time to load up again and pick up Lincoln. The twins never mind that trip because they love to play in his classroom.  Then after we got home we had lunch and I finished up the neighbor gifts and got them all packaged up. Alex came over to play with Lincoln and after a while they headed to his house so I sent him home with their goodies. I put the twins down for an early nap since I thought they would have to get up early so we could pick up Jackson and Ellie. But then Andrew ended up coming home because he wasn’t feeling good so I just left them at home.  He went back to the office after I got home (it is much quieter there than it is at our house) to try to get some more work done. His secretary, Kelli, came in for a little bit but she wasn’t feeling very good at all and was only able to stay a few hours.  Hopefully they both start feeling better soon.  Later that afternoon I sent the kids out to drop off our Christmas treats to our neighbors and they all went out in different directions and got them all delivered. Miles however did not get to go out on the delivery.

That night we had dinner brought to us by the Marshalls.  It was yummy chicken and noodles which I loved.  Andrew came home just as they were bringing it in, so he ate and then headed to the bedroom to ice and rest. I did some office work and then helped Ellie make the pipe cleaner tree that went along with the Shrinky Dink ornaments she and Lincoln made. Bennett still had his pullup on from nap time and had a bit of an accident so I got him and the toilet cleaned up and then put him in the shower.  I went ahead and bathed Miles too.  By the time I finished up, I was extremely tired and had a bad headache.  Andrew came out to the family room to watch TV so I thought it would be okay to go lay down in the bedroom for a bit. That didn’t keep the kids from coming in to visit me though.  Then Ellie and Lincoln came in and asked if I could play Battleship with them and be on Lincoln’s team. I put it off for a little bit but they really wanted me to, so I headed out to the dining room to play.  We got part way through the game but the light and loud noises were really getting to me.  Miles and Bennett were running around the house in circles holding onto Lincoln’s big Mickey Mouse.  They were laughing and having fun but then Bennett got up on a chair and Miles pulled on the Mickey and the chair tipped over.  So I picked up Bennett and took him into our bedroom to lay down for a bit. Then it was time to get them ready for bed which couldn’t happen quickly enough.  Then I tried to pick up a few things around the house and was off to bed myself.  The next morning I ended up sleeping in instead of working out and we woke up to a surprise of snow.  There wasn’t that much on the ground but it was still coming down. Even though I tried to convince him otherwise, Andrew headed to the office.  Thankfully he made it into his truck safely.  He did call though to tell me that the roads were slick though.  We saw a wreck and several cars off the roadon our way to school.  Thankfully we got everyone delivered safely.  Then the twins and I headed home and quickly did most of the laundry, finished up the deposits for the office, etc. before we had to head back to Lincoln’s school for his Christmas party. 

Then I picked up some McDonalds for them for lunch and went to my parents’ house.  My mom was going to watch the boys for me while I worked at Andrew’s office. Andrew’s secretary was trying to come back to work for a few hours a day and they thought it would be a good idea if I came and helped with some of the copying and mailings so they could get stuff out in a timely manner.  Thankfully Andrew didn’t have much on his calendar anyways since he was possibly going to be out of the office too.  I am glad I was able to help because poor Kelli had a lot of trouble just walking around and turning her head at all without getting dizzy.  I brought some of our leftovers for lunch and I heated it up for both of them.  They were like my patients in a hospital-I had to get them their food and take their plates when they were done. I was able to stay for a few hours and then had to go pick Jackson and Ellie from school. Then we made a couple quick stops by Aldi and WalMart to pick up a few groceries then picked up the younger boys at my parents.  The twins were very excited that my dad happened to be home for the afternoon and he got out the Christmas train for them.  I guess they had a lot of fun but it also caused quite a bit of frustration.  So my parents gave me fudge in exchange for taking the kids home J. The twins fell asleep on the way home since they didn’t have a nap, so I got the groceries out of the car and then got them out.  Andrew was already home when we got home and was using a bag of ice to try to ice his hip since I had not set up the ice machine for that day.  And the LaBeths had just dropped off dinner for us so I got that ready for everyone after I got the groceries but away.  Andrew ate in the bedroom and then took a nap. I was thankful that I got a lot done for Christmas before the surgery so I was able to spend more time with the kids in the evening and I didn’t get too stressed about having to take care of everything with the kids and house along with Andrew since he wasn’t able to help out.  The kids have been pretty good at helping Andrew out too.  They help him put his shoes on, get him stuff to eat and drink and getting various other things for him.

That night we read a couple Christmas stories-we read a new book that Autumn gave Bennett and Ellie read Twas the Night Before Christmas to us.  We watched a few Christmas specials and ended the night with Mickey’s Christmas Carol . A funny thing the twins did was when we went into the bedroom to start baths, Andrew was still sleeping.  So I told the twins to be quiet and they started saying, “Tip toe, tip toe” quietly and doing the “Shh” sign.  Andrew eventually woke up during bath time though as it can get kind of loud.  Ellie has started a new routine this week too. She has learned that if she gets her stuff done the night before then she doesn’t have to rush around doing it all in the morning and can relax. So she has started to make her lunch and do her chore the night before.  We’ll see if it sticks.  Andrew decided to try and go off his pain medication because he wondered if it was what was making him feel nauseous.  He didn’t sleep well that night and tried to sleep in the next morning. I got up and cleaned and then the kids started getting up so Andrew decided to just go ahead and get up and head to the office. I got a bike ride in and then took the kids to school. The twins are getting used to the routine of us taking the kids to school.  So after we drop off Jackson they say it is time to go to Ellie’s school.  Then after we dropped off Ellie, they said that we were supposed to go to “Weencoln’s” school.  Since it was Friday, I told them we weren’t going and they started getting upset.  They love going to Lincoln’s school.  As soon as we walk in the door to his classroom, they run to a shelf of trucks and start playing.   So they eventually got over it and we found stuff to play with at home.  That afternoon I heated up some leftovers and we took lunch to Andrew.  He had a conference at 1:30 and was planning on coming home after that to rest. I know it is hard for him to get back and forth, so I thought it would be nice to bring him something to eat.  On our way there, we heard Away in a Manger and Lincoln started singing away. It is his favorite Christmas song and the day before we heard it on the radio and he wanted me to turn it up for him to sing, but it was cut short because it was actually part of a commercial.  So he was happy to hear it again. Plus he says that Baby Jesus is his favorite. 

That afternoon Lincoln played with Alex a bit and I finished my cleaning chores, worked on making some bags of reindeer food for Christmas Eve and baking gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate the next day. I do the simplest version of houses-I have a pan shaped like a house that I press slice-n-bake gingerbread cookie dough into. So they get to decorate one-dimensional houses instead of 3-dimensional but at least you don’t have to worry about them falling apart J.  Andrew got home just as I was needing to leave to pick up Jackson and Ellie. Also, Rachel from our small group, brought by a meal for us to heat up that night. Ellie went to the high school girls’ basketball games that night with Faith which she loves to do. Andrew spent time resting and icing while the kids just played around the house. We watched A Muppet Christmas Carol earlier in the evening and then The Nativity Story before we headed to bed.  The older kids decided to have a sleepover with Andrew in the family room.

Everyone slept in Saturday morning. It was another dreary day so the sun wasn’t out. I ended up getting up a little after seven with the intent to get on the bike. But then Lincoln got up and got ready so I helped him brush his hair and teeth.  Then Andrew was up and wanted some breakfast. I went ahead and got breakfast ready for Lincoln and the twins too and finally made it onto the bike. The twins got up while I was doing that so they all just hung out in the family room for part of the morning. I decided to go ahead and do a brick workout since Andrew was actually home and I had not done one in a really long time. So after my ride, I went downstairs to get on the treadmill. When I got done Andrew had done a little ride on the bike and his physical therapy exercises so he was ready to ice. I got the ice machine ready for him, ate some breakfast, got the twins ready for the day and eventually got to shower and get ready. Then I started working on the peppermint brownies Jackson wanted me to make to take out to Andrew’s parents for our Christmas out there. Jackson and Ellie helped out and we got them into the oven.  The twins and Lincoln played with their race tracks in the basement while Andrew took a nap.  Before I knew it, it was time for lunch and Andrew emerged from the bedroom right on time J. So I heated up some lunch for him and got lunch ready for the kids. Jackson then proceeded to get out his Z-bow and arrows and they had fun launching them around the house. At one point I was folding some laundry and I knew what they were up to (Andrew laying on the couch with the bow, them whispering) so I closed the door and I heard the grunts of disapproval as they had a great plan to hit me with one of the arrows.

After the twins went down for their naps, the older kids got to decorate the gingerbread houses. They each had a different idea of what they wanted to do.  Jackson was hoping to do something with Minecraft but couldn't find enough green gumdrops. So they worked on those for a while before they declared their masterpieces finished.

The kids and Andrew spent most of the afternoon watching Duck Dynasty reruns while I worked on finishing up the brownies and getting stuff ready to go out to Tom and Mary’s.  Then it was time to load up the car and head out there.  I drove and Andrew has a hard time with that J.  When we got there we were trying to figure out the best way for Andrew to get to the house without getting his crutches too dirty because there was a lot of mud. He ended up just holding his crutches and hopping on one leg. Thankfully he made it to the front door without hurting himself. Each of the older kids was responsible for carrying something in. I got the twins into the house and then headed back out to get all the presents. Andrew’s uncle, Buzz, joined us too.  Mary had a delicious ham dinner that the kids were anxious to finish so that we could get on with unwrapping presents. And then once the unwrapping began, it was a frenzy. The older kids knew what they were getting from Tom and Mary since they got to pick them out at Wal-Mart so they were excited to finally get to play with them.  The twins’ first presents were some trains and they were satisfied with those. We opened up the other toys for them which they played with a little and then went back to their trains. But they will eventually get around to playing with all of it-they always do. So it was a wonderful evening and the kids had a lot of fun. Now Tom and Mary are free to head up to Michigan when they get the call that Annie is in labor, which they hope is soon.

I ended up going to Wal-Mart after I got the twins down for bed. I just had a few things to pick up and thought I would rather do it while it was less busy at night than during the middle of the day the weekend before Christmas. The next morning Andrew headed to the office while I got the kids ready and we made it to the early service at church. Miles and Bennett were not happy when I left them behind but they were happy when I picked them up and one of the volunteers in their room said that Bennett got out of one of the riding cars and told Miles he could have it and Miles was able to pull up his jeans by himself after going to the bathroom-a great day at church J. Plus Jackson was already getting their jackets on them when I went to pick them up.  After church we ran by home quickly and I heated up some lunch for Andrew and then we took it to him at the office. We also collected all the trash around the office and Jackson sat it out at the curb for Andrew since neither he nor Kelli can do it now and it has been taken out in a couple of weeks. I guess it is good that about all of their trash is paper so it doesn’t smell.  Then it was time to head home and work around the house. Well I worked while the kids played with their new toys. Jackson got the Zoomer dino and it is pretty neat. I’ll consider it Jackson’s pet dog for now. Ellie got a doll dress design kit from Matthew and Kristin and she started drawing out a design for a dress and cutting out some fabric for it. She was really excited about it. I was supposed to help her with it a bit when the twins went down for a nap, but then her friends came by so she spent the rest of the afternoon playing with them. They also gave her a devotional book and she was reading it before she went to bed the night she got it. Then the next morning I noticed she had a piece of paper on her mirror with a verse-I think it was a little project they mentioned doing in the devotional. Lincoln got two new Power Ranger toys that he and Ty spent most of the afternoon playing with. He also got a remote-controlled helicopter that he and Andrew had fun playing with.

I spent some time picking out outfits for all the kids for the next few days and ironing everything. It helps to just have it all picked out and ready to go since things getting pretty hectic with everything going on. Then I did a quick clean out of the car and garage.  Jackson and I also played a few rounds of the new game Matthew and Kristin got for us, Bounce Off.  He was much better at it than I was. Then he was off to play with Zach. Andrew came home around 4, so he was able to stay at the office longer than he had before. But then he rested the rest of the night as the kids played more with their new toys. But then we had to get ready for bed and for the upcoming week. Jackson and Ellie still have to go to school a day and a half and then we are all off for Christmas break!