The next morning was a tad bit chaotic getting ready. And then you add a crying Ellie into the mix and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. She had a little play scheduled for that morning and she kept saying that we didn’t have to come. Then she started crying and it was because she was nervous. She can seem so confident sometimes but then she quickly goes the other way. I was able to get her calmed down and convince her that I really wanted to come see her and she was going to do great. Next I had to figure out how to get two dozen cupcakes and two two-year-olds into the school. I knew I wanted both hands free and I needed a container for the cupcakes that would allow room for the toppers I made. So I ended up taking one of my plastic boxes I keep ribbon in, lined it with some wax paper, put the cupcakes in there and covered it with plastic wrap. Then I put that in my big beach bag and we were good to go. But then my mom, Caroline and Molly ended up coming to Ellie’s play too and helped me get the twins in. Once we got into the school and saw Ellie you would have never guessed that she was nervous earlier that morning. She played the sun and had a few singing parts. I really couldn’t tell you too much what the play was about but she did do a good job and had a smile on her face. The twins kept my attention a little more though. Thankfully I had some help though. And I just had my phone plus we sat towards the back (the twins were the reason for that) so my pictures weren’t really good at all.
So after the play, my family went home and they offered to take the twins. But I knew Ellie would be sad if they didn’t come back to her room for cupcakes. So off we went and all the kids were excited for the cupcakes, especially the twins. We got them all passed out, they sang Happy Birthday and then they all enjoyed the cupcakes. And they always enjoy the twins and trying to figure out who is who. One boy decided he wanted to be Ellie’s brother too. And we even got to take a picture with Ashlyn (it was her actual birthday) when she came in to drop off a cookie for Mrs. Tovar. She said she wanted to give one to Ellie’s teacher. After we were done and got the twins cleaned up, she showed them the hamsters and then made our slow trek out of the building holding hands so they didn’t run away.
Then we headed over to my parents for some leftover soup for lunch and when I got there my cousin, Andrew, was there for a visit. So it was nice to talk to him for a while. Andrew dropped off Lincoln for me and then he had to head to court. Soon it was time to go home for the twins to take a nap. When we got home, Lincoln wanted to show me a drawing he did at school. For some reason Andrew looks different than the rest of us. Maybe it is because he talks about his belly like it is it's own person (it is really not that big). Then that evening we headed out to Matthew and Kristin’s for Ashlyn’s party. Ashlyn loves her horses and Kristin had a cute horse party for her.
The snow started the next morning but we probably got less than an inch. That didn’t stop the kids from going out to play in it though. But first off they had to clean out their rooms. They had to clean under their beds and every place else that had stuffed stuff when I told them to clean up before. Not exactly how they wanted their Thanksgiving break to start, but it needed to be done. I worked on cleaning the bathrooms and the rest of the house while they did that. And I kept adding to my list of what I wanted to do the next day in preparation for Ellie’s birthday party and our Thanksgiving meal. When the kids finally made it outside they worked on making a snowman. They got it pretty big but had trouble getting the head on because it was so heavy. So it fell and broke apart. Then they decided to go sledding in the neighborhood next to us. By the time they got home their snowman had already toppled over.
After we got some stuff done around the house we headed over to my parents’ house since some of my siblings were going to be in town. Andrew met us over there around dinner time. My mom had dinner for all of us and then we just sat around and visited while the kids played. Plus they got to watch Planes and have popcorn.
But then it was time to head home and start getting ready for the Ellie’s birthday/Thanksgiving. I stayed up again for the Kohl’s sale but this time I only had to stay up until midnight and I was able to get it. Andrew went to the office the next morning but then he ended up taking all the kids out to the ranch for a few hours. It was such a great help to just be able to get stuff done that needed to be done before everyone came over. I was able to finish cleaning the house, set up tables (my dad and Andy brought over an extra table and benches for me), finish birthday decorations and start prepping food. They got home around 2 and the twins went down for nap until it was almost time for the party/dinner to start. My parents and Lissy came over early to help me finish up stuff. Lissy did Ellie’s hair for me (and of course took some pictures) while my dad carved the turkey and my mom helped with the noodles and mashed potatoes. Everyone else showed up at 6 and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner. It was awesome to taste the noodles again J. And I made sure to send some of the leftovers home with my family since some of my siblings were grumbling about not getting to enjoy the leftovers J. Then it was time to open presents and have cupcakes. I had a little craft for the kids to make turkey headbands and by all the toys that were out I think they all had a fun time. And Ellie loved her presents, especially the tumbling mat. We had a wonderful night and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone’s help…helping with preparation, bringing food or helping clean up. It was so nice to have most of our family there and to celebrate with them and share Thanksgiving with them in our home. As the night wore on, it was time for everyone to head home. Ellie and Lincoln also ended up going with my parents to have a sleepover with their cousins.
It was a great celebration for an awesome girl. We are so blessed to have Ellie in our family. She is compassionate, caring, funny, intelligent, talented and so loved. She adds the spark to our family in the midst of all these boys. I love my conversations with her whether they are about something silly or something a little deeper like how to witness to others. I love seeing her learn and grow whether it is at school, church or her different activities…she is a talented little gymnast. She definitely has a little ornery side to her but we can’t imagine our lives without her.
After everyone left, Andrew got the kids to bed while I worked more on cleaning. Then I convinced he and Jackson to help me put our tree up. We got a new one and I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to put together. It ended up being easy enough and they helped me fluff the branches. But then Andrew was done for the night. He decided to sleep in the basement since I was going to be working up stairs. We worked on bringing up all the Christmas decorations earlier that day so they were all stuffed in our bedroom. That definitely made it easier to set stuff out. So I spent the rest of the night working on finishing up the cleaning and decorating for Christmas. I kept messing with the tree hoping it would be a little sturdier so that took a little time. I love it though. We went with a narrower tree and it fits much better in our space. I only put the lights on it because the older kids like putting their ornaments on it and talking about what they were from. But I put almost everything else out and it was 2:30 by the time I was done. I have done this the past few years and it is actually kind of nice to do it while everyone else is asleep because it goes so much smoother. I was hungry again by the time I finished up, so I heated up some noodles, snuggled into bed and enjoyed them before I fell asleep.
I didn’t sleep in as long as I wanted to the next morning which I thought I would. So I got up and finished up some cleaning that I couldn’t do the night before since I would have disturbed Andrew. We headed over to my parent’s after lunch while Andrew was at the office. Then he came by to pick up the twins and take them home for a nap while the rest of us stayed. Actually Ellie went with him too because she was excited to tumble on her mat again. She even put on her new leotard and shorts we gave her. Andrew also sent me a picture of Miles trying to “sled” across the garage floor. He said he scooted across the whole floor about 6 inches at a time.
Jackson, Lincoln and I played Christmasopoly with Lissy, Caroline and Molly for a little while until we all gave up. Then I worked on editing pictures from Ellie’s party while trying to keep my eyes open. Andrew came back with the other kids around dinner time. We spent part of the day Saturday over there too. Andrew kept the twins at home though so they could get their nap. He took them outside for a little while though since it was actually pretty nice out. And he was super awesome and actually cleaned out the garage for me. Some of us adults took the older kids to see Big Hero 6 which they really liked. They actually had it in their small theater and it was pretty crowded. Some of the family started heading home on Saturday. Caroline and Jared started their drive home that morning while Kaitlin and her family headed back that afternoon. We stuck around for a little while and then Andrew took the kids home while I did some grocery shopping. I got home and put the groceries and then realized I had left a bag at Wal-Mart that had some stuff I actually needed. So I drove back across town to get it and they still had most of the items up front. Andrew put the kids down soon after I got home and then I was ready to get to bed. I somehow hurt my back while bending down to pick up a sippy cup so it was pretty sore. I have no idea what happened but I did have my dad work on it a bit. And that night, I heated up my heating bag and laid on it for a while.
Andrew actually stuck around Sunday morning instead of going to the office which is rare, and nice. So he helped get everyone ready to go to church. He also had to do the communion message so he had to go back for the second service and then he headed to the office for a little while that afternoon. He sure works hard for us! After church, the twins got out almost all of the Hot Wheel cars we have around the house. Our family room floor was covered in them and they liked to push them around and scoop them up with their big trucks. The older kids were anxiously waiting for the twins to go down for their nap so we could decorate the tree. It was one of the last things we needed to do with the Christmas decorations and I knew it would probably be best to do it without them around. So Jackson helped get out our Christmas books and put them on the bookshelf while Lincoln colored some pictures and Ellie had her friends over to do some tumbling on her mat. Lincoln drew a couple pictures of him and his dad. One is of them with their cups of tea and the other is of Lincoln roping.
I finally got the twins down so I made some hot chocolate, turned on the Christmas music and we got started on the tree. Lincoln has learned some of the songs at school and it is so sweet to hear him sing along to them. I have each of the kids own ornaments in their own ziplock bags so they were able to put them on the tree…with a little direction or else they all would have ended up smack dab in the middle. Ellie was still at Faith’s house when we started so she came by for a bit, put hers up and then went back to play with her friends. We have so many ornaments though that I pick and choose each year which ones to put up-some always go up and some are on a rotation J.
After we got done with the tree and got all the boxes put away I started working on dinner. I heard Lincoln talking to himself and found him playing with one of our nativity sets. At one point I noticed Lincoln holding baby Jesus up high and heard, “No, Jesus. Don’t fall!”
Andrew got home around dinner time. We had spaghetti which always means a decent mess. So Andrew did baths while the kids and I cleaned up. Then he cut Jackson’s hair and spent some time on the bike. I worked on putting away everything I had used for Ellie’s party decorations, with some help of course. Ellie and Lincoln worked on learning how to climb the support poles in the storage area of the basement. I wish I could have gotten a picture but I didn’t have my phone with me at the time. Then Andrew turned on Grumpy Cat’s Christmas for he and the kids to watch while I did some office work. He quickly decided it wasn’t that great but the kids wouldn’t let him change it J.
No comments:
Post a Comment