Happy Valentine's Day

So picking up where I last left off, which was last Tuesday. I decided to make Andrew some of those Rolo pretzel treats since I was able to find Valentine candy corn. He actually had to end up hiding them because the kids were eating so many of them. That night at Ellie’s gymnastics class, I got to watch her perform her routine and take a video of it so she can practice it for competition. I love watching her perform.

Wednesday morning, just as I was getting on the bike, Andrew told me I needed to take the kids to school. I went ahead and did my ride and he helped out by getting the kids up and the twins dressed and breakfast so I just had to brush their hair and teeth. The twins are always so excited to get to go to Lincoln’s school. There is a helicopter there that they both love to play with and they started arguing about it before we even got to the school. I told them they wouldn’t get to play with it at all if they were fighting and I swear they decided on a compromise of Bennett getting the helicopter and Miles getting the monster truck. That didn’t work out as planned as they both went for the helicopter and started fighting again. Lincoln’s teachers were so sweet though and even offered to let them take it home so that the “new” could wear off of it. I knew that probably wasn’t the answer to our problem though. The teachers also offered to watch the twins while I went down the hall to get something to eat. The teachers were so sweet and set up a little table with muffins and danishes along with coffee with a sign that said “We Love our Parents”. But I just let the twins play a little longer and then we stopped and each got a muffin. The twins loved their banana muffins. And we picked up registration forms to sign them up for preschool next year.

Ellie had a filling after school so Molly came over to watch the other kids for me. It only took about a ½ hour to get it all done which was great. And Ellie did awesome too-just wish she didn’t have to have one to begin with. After we got home, it was time to finish up last minute stuff before small group later that night. Thursday morning I finished up a couple projuects-some month stickers for Aubri’s new baby girl and some Fireman Sam cut-outs for Owen’s birthday that was coming up that weekend. Then we headed off to Lincoln’s Valentine party. We got there a little late and they were downstairs eating a snack and playing a game. The twins were slightly upset that they couldn’t go in his room and play with the toys. Before we went downstairs we turned in their registration form to Janie Fouch. Neither of us could believe it was already time for them to start preschool. The twins got to play downstairs for a bit and then the party moved back upstairs and surprisingly they didn’t fight over the helicopter this time. They played while Lincoln's class handed out their Valentines and finished up their party.

Later that afternoon, Alex came over dressed as Batman and Lincoln couldn’t get his Superman outfit on quick enough. Then they were off to save the world.

Jackson and Ellie had Little K after school, then we had a quick dinner before I had to take Jackson to his last basketball practice. I did a quick run to the stores and was able to get back in time to see him play a bit. My parents and Molly were there too. I realized I never really got any pictures of him playing and tried to get some with my phone which wasn’t really working with the lighting in the gym.

About 2 in the morning Lincoln came down saying his stomach hurt. I told him to go to the bathroom but he wouldn’t stay in there. It was like trying to talk to a drunk person who wouldn’t do what you wanted them to do. He was wailing and moaning and just walking around everywhere instead of staying by the toilet. He even went and tried to lay down in my bed and just as I was trying to get him back in the bathroom to lay down on some towels, he threw up on the towels and the bath rug-a lovely shade of dark purple. And he still wouldn’t stay by the toilet after that either. Finally we thought he was done and he got in the shower while I cleaned up and started laundry. Andrew woke up in the middle of all of it and was amused by my story. I had Lincoln lay down by the door to the bathroom on some beach towels and he slept for about another hour and a half before I heard a little coughing and then he cried a bit. I turned on the light and saw that he threw up a little on the towel and his pillow. So we got that cleaned up and he was much nicer this time-even apologized that he was sick. I never did get back to sleep after the 2am wake-up call. I had planned on going swimming that morning but decided it would be best if I stuck around home. Lincoln got sick a few more times and just felt yucky the rest of the day. My dad brought by some Phenergan cream to put on his wrist to help with the nausea. And of course he brought snacks for the twins. He had a very busy morning so I was so grateful he did that for us. Lincoln had some funny quotes throughout the day. At one point he was laying on the bathroom floor while I cleaned stuff up and he said, “Mom, you are like my servant.” And then later his belly was hurting and I asked him if he felt like he was going to throw up.  He said, “Mom, do you know how I feel? I feel like I am going to die.” Funny boy, even when he is sick. In the middle of taking care of him and trying to keep the twins away from him, I made some Valentine sugar cookies-the slice-n-bake ones that my family likes and even convinced myself to get a run in during nap time even though I just wanted to take a nap too. And sadly, we didn’t get to go to Ellie’s party at school. She was a little disappointed but understood that I couldn’t take Lincoln or find anyone who would want to watch a kid with the flu. She and Jackson came home with their boxes full (I forgot to get pictures of them-they were just wrapped boxes with big pictures of them on them with their mouths open and the mouth part was cut out) and they ripped into them. 

Andrew got home around 5:30 and stayed with Lincoln while I took the others to my parents’ house since Sara and her family and Kaitlin and her family were coming into town. Brady was sad to hear that Lincoln wasn’t able to come so he decided to ask Owen if he knew how to play Mario Kart to which Owen just stared at him J. Ellie ended up staying the night so she could play with Bella. And of course there was cookie making with Papa.

We made it through the night without any incidences which I was thankful for. Lincoln woke up around 6:45 on the floor in our room and asked me if it was morning. Then I asked him how he felt and he replied, “I feel great!” He got up and took a shower and was ready to start the day. I still thought it would be best if he didn’t go to his basketball clinic that morning though. Ellie and Bella got to go to the hospital with my dad while he made rounds and they got to see two new babies he had delivered. Then he dropped Ellie off at the house so she could get ready for her basketball game.  The kids got to open their Valentine’s presents before we left. The older ones got a movie package-a Redbox promo code, popcorn and candy. The twins got a few Starbursts and a couple Thomas trains for the bathtub. 

Andrew got home from the office a little before we had to leave. Then after the game, Andrew took Jackson and the twins out to the ranch to put out some mineral and hay for the cows. Ellie and Lincoln wanted to play with their cousins so they stayed with me. I finished up some stuff around the house and then we went to my parents’ house. The kids played while I helped a bit with getting a few things ready for the party. Andrew got back a little before the party started but the twins didn’t have time to take a nap so they were kind of cranky. But they did enjoy playing with some of Owen's new toys that he got during his party. Andrew took them home a little early while I brought Jackson home later that night. Ellie got to have another sleepover along with Lincoln.

I got another wake-up call around two Sunday morning and this time it was Jackson. He said he got sick and threw up on his bed and floor. And I was counting on him to at least make it to the toilet if he got sick. That was not the case. It was a shade of dark purple on the carpet beside his bed. He got sick again while I started cleaning up. Then he took a shower. It took me a while to get everything cleaned up and the carpet is still stained so we’ll have to have someone come and try to clean it. I got the sheets changed, started laundry and made sure Jackson was taken care of then headed back to bed closer to 4. Jackson got sick again a little later but just stayed upstairs and was quarantined up there for the rest of the day.

Andrew had to do the communion message so he headed off to church. Jackson started feeling better later in the day but we still made him stay upstairs. Ellie and Lincoln ended up staying at my parents most of the day. They think Lincoln actually threw up on himself at some point during the night but seemed fine. I started feeling a little queasy and thought I was getting sick. Luckily that never happened. I was just nauseous, tired, and light-headed the rest of the day and Andrew felt a little queasy too. We both actually laid down while the twins were napping.  Then when I got up it was time to start working on taxes-fun. Thankfully we didn’t have to get around too early the next day since the kids didn’t have school.  Andrew spent part of the day at the office and then took the kids out to the ranch. We needed to have a count on the cows for taxes so they headed out to count cows. I’m sure the twins were very helpful with that. While they were gone I cleaned, ran some errands and got a workout in. I also picked up a couple movies that Jackson and Ellie picked up to use their Valentine’s gift. That evening Ellie had her last basketball practice.

Tuesday was back to school. It was an early morning for some of the kids. One of our fire alarms had a low battery and would beep loudly every couple of minutes. It was down in the basement, so I replaced the battery but then the beeping wouldn’t stop until I pressed the test button which means all the alarms went off throughout the house along with a voice that said, “Fire”. I was getting ready to get on the treadmill next and heard some footsteps upstairs. Jackson and Ellie were both looking for me, a little scared. So they got to go back to bed for a bit. I never heard anything out of Lincoln or the twins, which worries me a bit. After the kids headed off to school, I worked on a freezer meal to take to Andy and Autumn when they have their baby. I was also able to finish up all of our tax preparation to hand over to our accountants. It is always nice to have that done.  The twins spent time playing with their trains and “making dinner” which means they bring up their grills and all the play food and utensils they can manage and spread it all over the family room floor. Then they like to get out our real measuring cups and spoons and use those too.

Ellie had dance and gymnastics while Andrew had a K-Life meeting. I left Jackson in charge for a bit while I picked up Ellie but Lincoln tried to convince me to leave him in charge. In between dance and gymnastics I was able to finish cleaning the bathrooms and give the younger three a bath. Andrew usually does baths and it is usually an in and out job. So I let them play with their new bath toys which required some intervention after a few squirts in the eyes. Andrew got back in time for me to take Ellie to gymnastics and he had the kids in bed by the time we got back.