Spring Break & More

Our week started off pretty normal. I got a brick workout in and as I was finishing up my run, this was my view. He just sat over there for a while playing with the wagon with the blanket over his head.

Lincoln was excited to come home from school and show me his Dr. Suess hat he made at school to celebrate Dr. Suess’s birthday. After lunch we all worked on our letters again then Alex came over to play. Leah had to take Kate to a dentist appointment so I told her it would be okay if Alex just stayed with us. While they watched a movie I worked on designing a few items for our next Bunco night that is going to be at our house and on a tag for Leah to use on some cookie favors for an 80^th birthday party she was helping with. I printed off the Bunco stuff and some things I made for Jackson’s birthday and got them all printed off later that evening. We got to enjoy another activity-free evening at home. The kids spent a lot of it playing in the basement. One of their favorite things to do right now is use the small trampoline to jump over different obstacles and land on the mat. Sadly, one of the legs on the trampoline started breaking last night so I don’t know how much longer it will last. 

Andrew got a bike ride in. And speaking of bikes, after much researching and hesitation, he decided to order a bike through the same bike shop where I got mine. They had shown him one they could order him and it was a great deal. But it wasn’t exactly what he was going for. The bike he has now was a decent bike but definitely a starter bike. He was hoping to move up to a carbon frame bike but we were having a hard time find a good one in our price range. The one I got was carbon but I think it was in our price range since it was deeply discounted because it was a women’s bike. One of those times being a female has its advantages J. The bike Andrew got is a great bike, with great reviews but I do really wish he could have gotten the carbon frame. His is a top-end aluminum which some people said is better than the low-end carbon we were looking at. So I really hope that he loves it once he gets on it. That night I stayed up a little later and worked on some office work and was thankfully able to finish it up that night.

The next morning there was some freezing rain and ice on the ground. Andrew said our driveway and parking lot were a sheet of ice. He even parked down on the street when he came back to get ready and take the kids to school because the driveway was so slippery. I luckily got to stay inside.  And the morning brought another fun surprise from Miles-you just never know. I went up to get Lincoln and the twins up after my workout and Miles had decided to pee on a big pillow we have up in their room. My candy bribe hasn't quite worked. I may just need to stay up one night and see if I can catch him doing it. Lincoln is always asleep when it happens because he never sees it.

The rest of our Tuesday went pretty smoothly (except Lincoln falling on the ice as he was heading to the truck in the morning). I worked on assembling the centerpiece and banner for Jackson’s birthday. And we ran some errands after lunch. Ellie just had dance that afternoon because her teacher wanted to go to a show at Truman that night, so she didn’t have gymnastics. Her teacher did ask if she could borrow Ellie’s mat. One of her students was going to competition and was taking the mats with her and Melody was trying to gather a few mats to use for her tumbling classes she had while the mats were going to be gone. So we dropped those off and paid her competition fees, which makes it official that she will be going to competition in April. I think she is pretty nervous about it.

I got a swim in Wednesday morning and then got on the bike but part-way through my ride the chain came off. I didn’t want to mess up the gears by putting it on the wrong way so I waited until Andrew could do it and watched him. Lincoln got to play at Josh’s house for a little while after lunch while the twins played at home. The twins spent a lot of time riding their pillow racers and chasing each other in circles.  Miles had a rough go when his pillow racer ran into one of the dining rooms chairs and the chair fell over on him. He recovered quickly and then the boys decided to just run around and chase each other. That is until they were coming from opposite ways and ran into each other. They both came to me crying saying they hit their heads. And soon a goose egg popped up on Miles’ head. It didn’t slow them down too much though.

That night we had small group and we had everyone but three people here which was awesome. We hardly never have that many here at the same time. Although I think things got kind of crazy downstairs with the kids, we had a pretty decent discussion and things seem under control for the marriage conference. Later that night after the kids had been in bed for a bit, I went up to check on Miles and he and Bennett went to the bathroom. I was really hoping this would be the night he didn’t pee. And we were successful. He did wake up during the middle of the night crying though and Lincoln brought him downstairs and Andrew had him go to the bathroom. Then Lincoln came down while I was working out in the morning and said he couldn’t quit coughing. He had a headache the night before and then he woke up with the cough and a fever, so he stayed home from school. He was pretty tired too so he just lounged around the rest of the morning watching videos on his Kindle. The twins didn't keep things quiet for him though as they were back on their pillow racers for part of the morning, but this time they had swords.

Lincoln crashed around lunch time. He started to eat and then asked if I could just put his sandwich in a bag to save for later and he went in our room to lay down. He slept pretty soundly for a couple hours even with the twins wreaking havoc just outside the bedroom before they took a nap. Lincoln woke up feeling better and was frustrated I wouldn’t let him play with anyone.  I had to get some work done for the office so he watched a movie while I did that. Jackson and Ellie had K-Life after school. Andrew picked them up from that and we had dinner when they all got home. Then I went grocery shopping. The next day was about getting the car cleaned, car seats out and everything ready to go up to Des Moines for Jackson’s early birthday present/”party”. So the twins, Lincoln and I took the car through the car wash, filled it up and ran by the bank. I worked on cleaning out the car and packing while the twins napped. That evening we had dinner at my parents since Lissy was in town for a quick photo shoot. She brought the kids those hiding eggs that they had a lot of fun with. They loved for Lissy to hide them and then try to find them. It took them a little bit to figure out how to actually cover their eyes and not watch her hide them.

The next morning, Andrew, Lincoln and the twins headed out to the ranch while Jackson, Ellie and I headed out to pick up Jackson’s friends and drive up to Boone, Iowa where the ski place was. Zach and Gage went with us and Leah did too. It was a pretty easy trip up there without any toddlers in tow. We stopped in Pella so they could grab a drink and snack. I had a bag full of snacks but was running low on drinks. I know I was always excited when my parents would let us pick out something from the gas station when we went on trips so I decided to be the fun parent. We got to Boone at about 10:30, changed into our ski pants and headed in to get our lift tickets and ski rentals. It was a beautiful day-the sun was shining and the temps were a little warmer. I was glad to have my coat and ear cover in the morning but the kids shed their coats and I put on a lighter-weight one after lunch. The kids were pretty excited but Zach was a little hesitant. It was funny that when I was putting his lift ticket on his pants, he asked me what it was and I told him it was his lift ticket. He said, “I’m not lifting anything.” I told him it was for the chair lift to which he responded, “Oh no. I’m not going up on those.” Next up was getting our skis and snowboards and then we headed out to the slopes and got to the instructional area just in time for Zach and Gage to get in on the free snowboard lessons. Jackson and Ellie went down the bunny hill a couple of times to get used to things again and then headed over to the big ones. Zach and Gage joined in soon after. After a little bit, Ellie was ready to go in and get some lunch and Gage approached me about switching out his snowboard for skis. But Leah had him go one up with the others and keep working on it and he got the hang of it. They went for quite a while before they were ready to take a break for lunch. And then they were ready to head back out. Ellie was Miss Independent and would just go up and down as she pleased. Sometimes she would wait for us and sometimes she would just go on her own.  At one point they had some gates set up on one hill so she tried those out too. I got to go up on the chair lift and ski with both of the kids which was fun. They all did such a great job and had a fun day.

We finished up around 4 and headed down to Kaitlin and Zane’s. Owen and Lola were glad to have visitors. Kaitlin had ordered pizza to get there around six so Zane stayed at home with the boys while Kaitlin drove us girls to Target and TJ Maxx for a quick shopping trip. Then we ran back to the house, ate quickly and then headed out to SkyZone.  But before we left Owen did make sure we got a cookie since we had eaten our dinner. I ordered tickets online for an 8pm jump time so we got there a little before that, they got to look around a bit and then they were allowed to start jumping.  We didn’t see much of them for the next hour except to come get a quick drink. Ellie enjoyed the area where you could flip into a foam pit while the boys spent a lot of time at the dodge ball area. When it was time leave they were a sweaty mess. So it was into the showers when we got back to the house and then Kaitlin turned on a movie for them and it was time for bed. I got to sleep with Miss Ellie which is always an adventure. Needless to say, there wasn’t much sleep involved for me. Ellie said she slept great but she tossed and turned quite a bit and kicked me.

The next morning everyone was slow getting around.  At one point, Zach and Jackson were playing on his DS and Lola brought down her mom’s phone which was playing All About That Bass and just stared at Zach showing it to him. I think she wanted him to dance J. We decided to go somewhere to eat a big breakfast since there wouldn’t be any good place to stop for lunch on the way home. So Kaitlin and Zane took us to Village Inn and we all enjoyed a yummy breakfast before we headed back to Kirksville. Once we got home Jackson had just a half hour before he had to leave for a birthday party that was at the Depot Inn in LaPlata. Joe took Jackson for us along with Zach. Andrew did a good job of having the house cleaned up when I got home. I was really impressed. He even had a load of clothes in the washer. He headed to the office while I worked on unpacking and doing laundry. The twins were napping and Ellie and Lincoln went outside to enjoy the nicer weather with their friends. Then when they woke up we all got to enjoy playing outside.

Monday was a fun day for Andrew and I because we got to pick up our new bikes. But first we had to stop by UPS and pick up our pedals. The package had been delayed in shipping because of weather in the south. Thankfully they were finally able to find it and we were on our way. The bike shop was the first stop. We got there just as they opened and took turns get our bikes fitted to us while the other one watched the kids. The kids did pretty well as we were there about an hour. In the end, the owner asked if it would be okay to offer the kids some of their water bottles and they were all excited. Especially Miles and Bennett. They held onto those things the rest of the day. Andrew got our bikes loaded up on the car and we headed to Shakespeare’s for lunch. We went to the south one and got there a little after they opened. There were only a few other people in there which was great. The kids entertained themselves by acting like they were playing the arcade games (my mom always said you ruin it when you actually give them a quarter to turn it on J) until our pizza was ready. They all loved it and we almost made it out without a mess. Bennett ended up spilling red Gatorade on him and we had to change out his shirt. Up next was a trip to Bonkers and we were surprised to see Kristin and her kids there too. They were meeting up with some friends, but Ellie and Lincoln were happy to play with Ashlyn and Luke for a little bit. The twins started in the toddler area, but quickly moved onto the bigger play area. Their siblings were great about helping them out and they all had a fun time. But as soon as they were ready to take a break, Andrew said it was time to head home.

Andrew headed to the office for a bit when we got home while I laid the twins down for a little nap and cleaned out the car and did laundry. But Andrew couldn’t resist it any longer and came home to try out his new bike. It was his first long ride since his surgery and he loved getting out there again. I just did a test run around the block to get accustomed to the new bike. The kids spent the rest of the day playing outside as we were getting to experience some wonderful weather. And I got a chance to get in a bike ride the next day when Andrew came home from the office a little early. I loved the new bike and it was fun to notice the improvement.

Wednesday night we had Andrew’s family in for dinner. Ainsley ended up being sick so Kristin stayed home with her. But it was a nice dinner and nice to visit with his family. After they left, I needed to finish getting Ellie and Lincoln ready to go to Louisville the next day with my parents. They left the next morning and picked up Bella and Brady on their way through St. Louis. Even though it rained a lot while they were there, they had a lot of fun. Amanda and Todd are always great host. They got to see Cinderella and go bowling among other things. And then they always just have fun playing with their cousins. They stopped in St. Louis on their way home to have lunch with Sara’s family and Lissy. Then they went to visit my Aunt Betty who had just been in the hospital. It was so nice of my parents to take them and it was a fun end to their Spring Break.

The rest of Jackson’s Spring Break was a little different. He had a cold and was feeling kind of wiped out. So I did let him spend a good amount of time just vegging out which included renting Mockingjay to watch one night. He did go out to the ranch a couple times with Andrew to fix fence and check on the cows. Then there was playing catch and basketball. He also did some babysitting for me. I thought I would take advantage of the nice weather and get a workout in outside so he stayed with the twins while they were taking a nap and I did a brick workout outside. I rode 14 miles and ran 3 miles just like I’ll had to do for the TriZou and it went okay. When I started my run after the bike I was really wishing we lived in a flatter area of Kirksville J. Then Andrew and I actually got to do a ride together another day while the twins were napping. While we both enjoy biking we haven’t been able to enjoy it together. We did a 20 mile ride out to the Lake. He gave me pointers on descending and climbing in preparation for the TriZou. The bike route has a couple really long hills and you have to do them twice so I need all the help I can get. Andrew put the GoPro on his bike and it was fun to watch some of the video. It is definitely something we will have to do again.

The twins weren’t napping all of Spring Break. They did get to enjoy some time outside whether it was riding their scooters, four-wheelers, tractors, etc. They also tried to play catch, some basketball, color with chalk, paint with water and do some swinging. They love getting out there. Andrew took them to the ranch on Saturday which is always fun for them.

Along with some great workouts, I got a lot done around the house too. I worked on reorganizing the garage. I got rid of some of our older stuff we don’t use anymore. I just set it out by the curb and listed it as free on swap shop. We got some shelves and totes to store some of the random toys then I hung several of the bikes. Andrew I definitely wanted a place for ours to be out of the way and then I wanted spots for most of the other bikes to go during the winter so Andrew has a better chance of getting his truck into the garage. The garage definitely looks better.

A couple other projects I did were repairing the wall in the stairwell to the basement. It had quite a few big dings in it so I repaired it with some joint compound, got some paint matched at Sherwin-Williams and repainted. It isn’t the best repair job, but it’ll do. And my last project was doing some lighting over our TV built-in-the cheap way. I just used a strand of Christmas lights I had and was going to put them on top of the built-in. But the top was flat instead of recessed like I thought it may be, so you could see the lights. So I went really Hoosier and used duct tape to stretch out the lights and tape them down so you couldn’t see them. The other problem was the outlet was on the other end of the mantle. So I got a small extension cord to connect to the lights at the top of the built-in and then painted some cord covers that had a sticky back on them to match our trim and ran that along the back of the mantle and up the side of the built-in. Jackson approved so we may be okay J.

So overall the past couple of weeks have been great. I will hate to see the nice weather end for a bit. I wish it was here to stay, but it isn’t. Now it is time to get ready for another week of school and our marriage conference is coming up this next weekend.