One Week Closer to Spring

Our Monday last week was pretty much par for the course except for this week we finally didn’t have anything going on at night. So I actually made a different dinner than one of our usuals and it didn’t include a crockpot. I did my grocery shopping that night and found a great deal. I saw a RipStik in the clearance section and texted Autumn to see if she thought Briley would like it for her birthday. She said she would so I decided to check the price since I didn’t see it anywhere. I know Leah had found a couple a few days earlier for $20 which is a great price for them. But then when I scanned this one it rang up for $7. I was so excited. And it rang up like that at the cash register too. The cashier wasn’t too excited about giving it to me at that price, but she did.

Tuesday morning brought a wonderful surprise. The kids were supposed to bring down their laundry baskets that morning. Lincoln just carried down his clothes telling me that his basket had water in it and he didn’t put it in there. I had a good idea of who did and I was correct. Miles had peed in it. We really need to get that under control. Thankfully we didn’t have any accidents the rest of the day. When Lincoln got home I had some letter activities ready to do with him. He isn’t that great at recognizing his letters even though they have been working on them at school. So I decided we should probably work on them a little more at home. The twins liked doing them with us too and then were excited to get some Play-doh.

Ellie had dance and gymnastics that night. Our copy of Big Hero 6 came in that evening and so we watched that also Tuesday night. The three older kids had seen it in the theaters and liked it but Miles and Bennett enjoyed it too. Ellie learned a new trick at gymnastics and wanted to show it to me before we headed home-a one-handed front walkout. It is crazy to think that this time last year she was just mastering a pull up from a backbend. She has come such a long way.

Andrew had to head to Kansas City early Wednesday morning so the twins and I took the kids to school. Lincoln’s class got to go to the FFA petting zoo at the Vo-Tech but I decided to opt out and not take the twins. I just envisioned them clinging to me and wanting me to hold them the whole time because of all the animals. Lincoln liked it though. Andrew ended up getting home about the time I got home from picking up the kids from school. He decided to call it a day since he had already put in nine hours and got on the bike. I decided to start up the 30 Day Shred workout video again and did that while he was biking. Actually Ellie, Lincoln and the twins decided to do it with me too. Then it was soon time to eat dinner and have small group. We had a bigger number than I thought we would since it seemed like everyone had been sick, but most everyone is on the mend for now.

I was going to go swimming the next morning but they ended up being closed for morning lap swim since there was a potential for bad weather the night before. We didn’t get much though and I really wish I could have gotten my swim in. I don’t get up as early when I am going to swim since I can’t go until Andrew gets back from the office anyways. I had decided to do a bike/run workout but the twins were up early so I got them and Lincoln all ready to go for the day-dressed, brush hair and teeth, and get breakfast, and then I got on the bike. I finished up the bike after the kids had already left for school so I had the twins head down to the basement with me so I could do my run. And I go to start the treadmill and it won’t go because the safety strap is missing. Someone must have pulled it out during small group and now I had to search for it. I had my Garmin watch set for a multisport workout, so it was on transition at this point. I ended up with a 15 minute transition as I had to search all over the basement and finally found the strap in the bottom of one of the big toy bags. I had a few more interruptions once I got started running. I told Andrew I could maybe do an entertaining blog about how to train for a triathlon at home with toddlers. I am too cheap to pay for a gym membership, especially since we pretty much have what I need at home. And then I am just too lazy to bundle up the kids, load them up, drive to a gym, put them in child care and then finally start my workout J.

We are still having issue with Miles peeing in random places in his room in the middle of the night. He peed on one of Lincoln’s blankets that was laying on the floor two nights in a row. I washed it after the first night and I guess Lincoln laid it on the floor near the same area and Miles peed on it again. One night he even took off his diaper, peed, and then put a pull-up on. Some people thought he was sleepwalking, but when I ask him in the morning if he did anything, he knows that he did and that he shouldn’t do it. My mom said I should provide some sort of incentive for him, some reward that he will get in the morning if he doesn’t pee. Oh the joys of parenthood.

Lincoln had a fun Thursday. I picked him up from school and then we headed to La Fuente to meet up with Annie and Josh and Amanda, Benson and Brynley to eat lunch together. I alos had the twins so it was a pretty active lunch. We got there first and I made sure we had plenty of chips and salsa so that the adults wouldn’t have to share with all the double-dipping kids J. Lincoln was so excited and would yell and wave to each kid when they walked in. He loved it. We will definitely have to get them all together again-and do it somewhere where they could burn off some energy. After lunch we headed home to do some of our letter work before I took him out to Alex’s grandma’s. Leah had called me that morning to see if Lincoln could play out there so I told her we would drop him off when we were done with our work. When we got back from dropping him off, the twins and I had some cuddle time on the couch. I could tell they were getting really tired since they were up so early. Miles actually fell asleep leaning against me so then it was time to head up to take a nap.

Jackson and Ellie had Little K after school so Andrew picked them up when they were done then we had some dinner. We decided to cash in our pitcher of coins and Jackson and Ellie wanted to join me. I was joking with Andrew that I wish one of them could drive and drop me off at the door since it was so cold. And surprisingly, Andrew offered to take us. So we all loaded up and headed out. He dropped me off at Aldi first and I told them to time me. I was in and out in 6 minutes but I forgot my bags in the car and had to stand out in the cold and bag it all up. Then Andrew dropped Jackson, Ellie and I off at Wal-Mart. We went to the CoinStar machine first to cash in our coins. It said that if we got cash, we may be charged a 10% fee so I had planned to get an e-gift card since there wouldn’t be a charge. But the choices for the gift card at this machine were very limited. We decided to just go with the cash and pay the fee. We had all taken a guesses before we went and we quickly passed up my guess of $111. In the end we ended up with $253 and when we took the voucher to cash it in at the customer service counter, they didn’t charge us any fee.  The kids were very excited. Jackson was our closest at $200.

Friday Andrew and I got to go to Columbia for the day. We took Jackson and Ellie to school and dropped the other three off with my mom who was nice enough to watch them for us for the day. Our main goal for the trip was to check out some new bikes. We went to two different bike shops and spent some time looking around and trying out a few bikes. The second place we went to, the owner was actually able to find a great deal for me on a women’s bike. He had to order it though, so I have to go back later to pick it up and get it fitted. He had a couple options for Andrew but nothing quite what he was going for. Andrew also had on online he was interested in so I think in the end he was leaning more towards that. I am very excited about trying out my new bike though-first I have to get it and then it needs to warm up! While weighing our decision on what to do about the bikes, we got a late lunch at Murry’s. Murry’s is actually where we ate the night that Andrew proposed to me and we had not been back there since. So a fun little nostalgic moment. I also convinced Andrew to let me shop at a few other places. A shoe store, Ultramax, was having their big sale so I wanted to go by there. I was hoping they would have some tri gear for a good price but I still felt like everything was still pretty darn expensive. Considering most of my workout clothes are from Walmart, that may be my problem. So I walked out without anything. I also went to Hobby Lobby and a few clothing stores while Andrew just waiting out in the car for me. 

Then we headed home and picked up some chicken strips for the kids and onion rings for my parents at AJ’s. So we ate some dinner at my parents and visited for a bit before we headed home. Then Andrew and I spent the rest of the night researching bikes (looking at options for him and getting a better look at the one I had ordered) while the kids played down in the basement. They were chasing each other and had some sort of game going. I especially love hearing Jackson interact with the twins and help get them involved with their games.

Saturday morning, Andrew and the kids headed out to the ranch while I got some stuff done around the house. I also got my longer run in and I got up to 8 miles this time. I watched the last part of Catching Fire and I felt like it was a great movie to keep me distracted while running. Andrew texted as they were getting ready to head home to let me know he had some hungry kids with him, so I went ahead and got lunch ready for them. Then they all had to tell me that Bennett threw up.  Lincoln blamed it on the hard cow patties they were bouncing all over in the truck. And thankfully it was not in my car but out on the road.  So I gave the twins baths when then got home and Ellie had to shower and get ready for a friend’s birthday party. I dropped her off at the party and then ran a couple of errands. When I got home, Andrew headed to the office for the afternoon. And that night we didn’t have anything going on-it was pretty nice. I told Andrew that I sometimes feel guilty when I don’t sign our kids up for everything but it sure is good to have some down time. Like just these past couple of weeks I had three moms ask me if I was signing Lincoln up for spring soccer. We haven’t done spring soccer in a while because it is usually cold and wet and it is just not fun dragging all the other kids out in that. But then I started feeling bad that Lincoln’s friends were doing it and we weren’t going to. They YMCA even called and left a message reminding me that I still had one more day to sign him up if I wanted to.  I stuck with my decision though. The weekend activities are just hard on us since Andrew pretty much always needs to get work done out at the ranch on the weekends plus several hours at the office each day. So we enjoyed our lazy Saturday evening, well except for the snow. I have had enough of the cold and snow.

Andrew went to the office Sunday morning before church and then we went to first service. After church, Andrew worked the registration booth for the marriage conference while I put out information flyers about it on the seats in the sanctuary for the next service. Then the rest of our Sunday was pretty normal...me working around the house (plus defeating Jackson in a game of Battleship J), Andrew working some at the office and the kids playing with their friends. Overall it was a pretty good week.