The Farwell Family

Tuesday was back to school for the kids. It was a little warmer but there was more snow in the forecast on Wednesday. The twins both had colds and yucky runny noses. They were always wanting to wipe their noses so I gave them the little packs of Kleenexes and let them wipe their own noses. They went several packs but it kept them entertained. Because of the possible snow coming I decided to go ahead and hit up the grocery store. I wish Andrew could have dropped me off again-that was nice J. I ended up going after I picked up Ellie from dance and we got home just in time for her to grab some dinner and for me to put all the groceries away and then we were off to gymnastics. I think she has decided to go ahead and do a competition in April so it is time to buckle down and learn her routine. They finished it and so now it is time to fine tune it.

We had a winter weather advisory Wednesday morning and afternoon. Since I was able to do some of my cleaning on Tuesday, I had time in the morning to finish that up and then get a swim in before the kids left for school. I don’t know if it was the advisory that kept people away, but it was pretty empty which I like. The snow did start later that morning and lasted a few hours. Other schools were letting out early but Kirksville stayed all day which was probably the smarter decision since it finished snowing around 2. I went out to start clearing off everything for small group and Lincoln and Alex joined me. Lincoln wanted to help me for a little bit but quickly decided that playing with Alex was more fun. Jackson and Ellie got home a little after I started so Jackson helped me finish up and put out some ice melt. Small group numbers were down a little that night but not too far off our normal. Just as we were getting started though, Ellie and one of the sitters came up to let me know that Bennett had thrown up. So I got the bathroom and the carpet cleaned up and put Bennett in the shower. He did have a fever at this point but I think he just gagged from coughing and threw up. He wanted to stay in the shower for a while and afterwards I got him set up on our bed covered with beach towels and turned on some Mickey Mouse for him. I got done just in time to join the group again to talk about the marriage conference. We got all of our promotional material in the mail that afternoon so we got to go through that.

A box also came in the mail for Andrew and it was my Valentine’s gift. I had a pretty good idea of what he was giving me so he asked if I would mind going ahead and opening it. They were new cycling shoes. My old ones I got on a Woot deal for a great price a year ago but they always felt a little too small. So I was excited to get some new ones. They ended up being a little small too but I was able to exchange them. Then I surprised him with a new pair of cycling shoes too. When I gave him his last year for Christmas I didn’t realize that they were more mountain biking shoes rather than road cycling. He never complained though. So I thought I would switch his out too. Since we both got new shoes, we decided we would go ahead and try a new style of pedal and cleats too and I got those ordered the next day.

I ended up having Bennett sleep in my room that night since I wasn’t sure how he would feel during the night. He ended up staying up until almost midnight but never got sick again. And then when I got up early to run the next morning, he woke up too. So I put him out on the couch and turned on Disney. He fell asleep in the car while we were running errands after lunch though and took a good nap.

That afternoon Ellie spent some time finishing up Grace’s gifts. She sewed the last buttons on the blanket and then I helped her make a mug. I cut out a vinyl stencil on the Silhouette and showed her how to use the paint pens and then she finished it up. I had to hold myself back from always telling her what I thought she should do and she did a great job.

Jackson spent time revising his Famous Missourian speech and then starting to memorize it. Then Andrew took him to basketball practice so he could watch him play a bit. Miles was complaining about his ear hurting. He was grabbing at it and didn’t like loud noises. I gave him some Tylenol and cough medicine and as I picked him up off the counter after he was done, he said, “Feels better.” That is some amazing medicine.  Then I made some banana muffins and the twins decided they were “moo muffins” (from a Mickey episode) and they loved them. The kids have also been eating up some grapefruit that Andrew got.  He usually buys a box of them from a guy that sells them from Texas. Jackson and Ellie have learned to really enjoy them and the box is emptying quickly.

Friday morning I got a bike/run brick workout in and then I decided to go ahead and sign up for the TriZou. It is in the beginning of May so it is time to pick up the pace a bit. My dad came by to check Miles’ ear and of course he had to bring them some snacks from the hospital. Thankfully Miles’ ear looked fine. They spent the rest of the morning running around with their swords.

When Jackson got home he asked if I could put the first Harry Potter book on his Kindle since he had finished his last book. He loves reading it. I actually started reading a book this past week too and finished it up Friday afternoon. It was called All the Light We Cannot See and it was good read. I also made a cake to take to Bunco night later that night. We went to my parents’ house for pizza before I went though. Lissy was in town so she joined us at Bunco night too while Andrew watched the kids. While we were at dinner, I mentioned to my kids what Autumn had put on Facebook about Briley. She said that Briley got up with the two younger kids one  morning, got them breakfast, cleaned it up and started getting ready for school while Autumn got to sleep. So that night I came home to this sweet note from Ellie.

She had been asking me some questions about what the twins like for breakfast and how to make Lincoln’s oatmeal on our ride home from my parents’. And then I noticed this on the chore board the next day.

Andrew went out to the ranch Saturday morning to put out hay. Ellie came in about 6:30 to ask me what channel Disney was on and then she came in to let me know the twins wouldn’t let her brush their teeth. I think she eventually gave up because I came out to find her laying on the couch watching TV. She did get the twins and Lincoln breakfast though. I spent the morning rushing around getting everyone ready, cleaning up and starting laundry. Molly came to watch the other kids while I took Lincoln to his basketball clinic. When we got back it was time to load up and head to Ellie’s game. Lissy came to the game too and brought a sign that said “Go Ellie” which then embarrassed Ellie. She also brought some Starburst which all the kids, including Tisha’s kids, enjoyed.  Then when we got home, it was time for Ellie to get ready for Grace’s birthday party. Andrew got home a little before we did and then he went to the office in the afternoon. Jackson spent a lot of the day reading. And he even offered to make lunch for the twins and clean up afterwards-sweet boy :-). Lissy and Molly came over for dinner that night and got to enjoy a little dance party in the basement. It is always fun watching Jackson try to do Ellie’s gymnastic moves.

Andrew was back at the office the next morning and then we went to the early church service. Then we were signed up to do registrations for the marriage conference after the service. We only got two after our service, but hopefully they got more after the second service. After we finished that up I did my grocery shopping. Andrew headed back to the office after I got home. Ellie was excited to show me a routine she made up on the beam to “Uptown Funk” her new favorite song.  Jackson did his speech a few more times and we also did a “dress rehearsal”. We had a wig for him but decided to not use it because it was so poofy and frizzy. So Andrew was put on the task of making his hair gray/white. He used some gel and flour. It wasn’t exactly a “Mark Twain” look but it was definitely better than the wig. Lissy actually brought by some baby powder the next day that was supposed to work a little better.

My new shoes came in Monday along with the new pedals and cleats so Andrew worked on putting the cleats on our shoes over lunch and did the pedals later that night. That afternoon I watched Alex for a few hours. He and Lincoln played outside for a bit and we played a few rounds of Candy Land. But then I had to work on dinner because I we needed to eat early, get Jackson ready and have him at school before 6. They had all the fourth graders lined up around various areas of the school and the gym. Each kid had a circle sticker on their hand which was their button that you could press and they would give their speech on who they were. Jackson did a great job. He looked less than enthused sometimes while waiting but it was neat to see him give his speech over and over as new people came up to press his button. I didn’t really go around to see any other kids because it was actually kind of hard to hear them (I waited until we got home to take of video of Jackson doing his speech because it was so hard to hear) and Miles and Bennett were attached to my legs along with Lincoln who thought he had to grab on every now and then. But the whole thing was just 45 minutes so it didn’t last too long. Then it was time to head home and get all of that baby powder cleaned up. I worked on some office work the rest of the night while Andrew got took care of the kids.