The Farwell Family

We started off our week with a beautiful, unseasonably warm (although rather windy) Monday. It was a big day for Lincoln because he had to get his kindergarten shots. I picked him up from school and we headed straight over to my dad’s office. We had to wait about a half hour in his office before they could get us in an exam room and the twins were a little rowdy. They decided to weigh and measure all of them and the twins were the exact same height and weight and only eight pounds behind Lincoln. Lincoln did a pretty good job with his shots. He cried just a tiny bit with the first two in his arms and then cried a little more on the next two in his rear. He said it hurt and tried not to cry too much because of our earlier “bribe” of getting to pick out a toy and get lunch at McDonalds if he did well. So he did great until we got out to the hallway and he started crying some more because he said his bottom hurt. But that was all quickly forgotten as we got in the car and talked about what toy he wanted to get at the store. He pretty much knew right where he wanted to go and picked it out. It was pricier than what I was wanting (I was hoping for a $10 toy) but I didn’t want to spend any more time looking for something else. He was very excited. Then we headed over to the grocery section and picked up some snacks for Little K and some St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes for Lincoln to take as his school snack the next day. Getting the cart to the car was a tad difficult with the twins in the cart along with 50 bottles of water and some snacks and I was pushing it with one arm and holding onto 2 dozen cupcakes with the other arm so they didn’t get smushed in the cart. We made though without any injuries to us or to cars we passed on our way.

After Wal-Mart we drove through at McDonalds to get their lunch and then ran by the TCC to pick up my race packet for the St. Pat’s 5K the next day. I also was able to sign Ellie up for the 1.5 miles Fun Run/Walk that she decided to do with Briley, Autumn and Julie. Then we made it home, the kids ate their lunch and we got to spend a little time outside before the twins had to take a nap. Lincoln spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out his Power Rangers toy and got frustrated with it. Alex came over and they played with it together.

Jackson and Ellie came home from school and were anxious to get outside and play. But Jackson did help Lincoln out first and was able to put the Power Ranger together for him. Lincoln was very grateful.  Before dinner I made some of my sugar cookies to take to my parents for St. Patrick’s Day.  I knew Molly would be excited.  It was so nice out that the kids ended up in swim suits and got the sprinkler out. Ellie and Faith kept their suits on the rest of the evening and they all got to stay out until after dark and enjoy the nice weather. Then Ellie quickly put together a leprechaun trap before she went to bed.

Tuesday  was much cooler. It was actually in the 50s but the wind was so strong.  The morning started early as the kids were anxious to see if the leprechauns had come during the night. And they did. I had just cleaned up the family room the night before and it was a mess with shamrocks, gold coins and candy laying all over the room. Ellie set out a leprechaun trap but she wasn’t successful.

Andrew went out to move his cattle in the morning so I took the kids to school. Then I dropped the twins off at with my mom and went to get my hair cut and colored. I got done just in time to pick up Lincoln then we swung by the K-Life house to drop off the snacks and the baskets I had made for the silent auction at the 3on3. Lincoln’s class is learning how to memorize nursery rhymes and he told me about Yankee Doodle. He thought it was hilarious that he would “stick a feather in his hat and call it macaroni”.  We hung out at my parents’ house for a bit after lunch and then got back in time to see Andrew before he headed to the office.  

Later that afternoon it was time for Ellie and I to head downtown to get ready for the race.  We got there with just a few minutes to spare and found Autumn and Briley. Then it was time to run. I didn’t realize it at the time but Ellie and Briley decided to run almost the whole 1.5 miles of their race. They did a great job. My 5K was okay. I was hoping to improve my time a little more but it just wasn’t there.  I was faster than I was the same race last year but just by 7 seconds. I found out later that I got first place in the 30-39 Female group and sixth female overall. I saw Andrew with the twins near the finish line and gave them a wave. I met up with them a little while later and he said he may take them home instead of staying for the parade because they were cold. I asked him if he was taking Lincoln too even though I hadn’t seen him. I thought maybe he was standing with Alex or something. But it was at this point that Andrew realized Lincoln was still at home. He had been down in the basement watching Minecraft videos when Andrew got home and I guess for some reason he thought maybe he came with me because he never saw him when he was at home. So he was off to get Lincoln. I was worried he would be at home crying and no one was around. The LaBeths and Vincents were both up at the race. But Andrew said he was still down in the basement and had not realized that he was home by himself. I guess that was good in one way, but on the other hand he was way too absorbed in those Minecraft videos.

After the race, we went to my parents’ house and they had their usual St. Patrick’s Day dinner-green pancakes, green eggs, and some normal breakfast items J. I thought the twins would hesitate a bit with the green pancakes but they didn’t at all. They loved them. Andrew took all of the kids home a little later except Ellie. I took her to gymnastics. With her competition just a month away, we didn’t want to miss any lessons.

I went swimming Wednesday morning and then it was business as usual getting ready for small group. After I did some cleaning, I did my workout video and the twins decided to join me. Even in roller skates (I had the skates set out to send with Kristin for Ashlyn and the twins have loved playing with them).

At small group that night we found out that we had over 80 couples registered so far for the marriage conference which was great. We were able to finalize plans for set up and all of that too. The next morning Andrew went out to the ranch to get some work done since he wouldn’t be able to go over the weekend because of the conference. So the twins and I took the older kids to school and then ran a few quick errands. That afternoon I laid the twins down for their nap early and then we went to my parents when they woke up. Jackson and Ellie had K-Life and Briley got to join them this time. I picked them all up when it was over and I think she had a fun time. We had dinner at my parents that evening and then Sara and her family got into town and Lissy got into town the next day. So we had everyone but Amanda’s family and Caroline and Jared. Not bad.

Ellie was sad she had to go to school on Friday while the rest of her cousins got to stay at Grandma and Papa’s. Andrew had a trial that day, so I had to take the kids to school. Since Lincoln doesn’t have school on Fridays and I didn’t have to actually see anyone as I was taking the kids to school, I did an indoor bike/run workout before I took the kids and just showered when we got home. I got a few things done around the house and then we went over to my parents for the kids to play a bit before nap time. I felt like I was fielding calls, texts and Facebook messages most of the day in preparation for the marriage conference which started that evening. It was all coming together pretty smoothly though, which was great. There was a lot of prayer for that.

Lincoln got to stay at my parents’ while I took the twins home for a nap. I knew they had a long weekend ahead and could definitely use the nap. While they slept I finished getting stuff ready for the conference and before I knew it, it was time to get the twins up and pick up Ellie from school.  Jackson actually got to leave school early that day and got to go to Legofest in St. Louis with some friends. They were just going for the afternoon/evening and coming home that night. Andrew got finished with his trial early and got home a little before we left. He decided to get a bike ride in before we had to leave for the conference. After I picked up Jackson and Ellie we headed over to my parents and then I had to be at the church at 4:30 to start getting stuff ready. Our group did a great job of getting everything ready. They got some donations of water, soda, cookies and donuts for our break periods. So we helped in getting that all set up and getting things ready for people to check in. I also ordered some pizza to be delivered to make sure everyone had dinner while they helped out. A few of our church staff were a great help too, which we really appreciated.  Our speakers showed up a little after 5 to make sure everything was in order and we got to visit with them for a little bit. Then people started showing up a little before six. We had around 86 couples and 3 individuals signed up although only 75 couples ended up showing up. We were still very pleased with the turnout though. 

The conference went through 9:30 Friday night. I stayed behind to help pick up while Andrew picked up the twins from my parents. 

Ellie and Lincoln stayed the night there with their cousins. Ellie actually got to go to the late showing of Cinderella. I guess they all had a hard time staying awake but still loved seeing the movie again. They didn’t get home until later and I think didn’t get to bed until after midnight. Jackson didn’t get home until late too. I thought I would try to stay up but couldn’t keep my eyes open. I wrote a note for him to let me know when he got home and taped it on the baby gate on the stairs going up to his room.  And he was a good son and let me know around 12:30 that he was home and he had a good time. He said he stayed up until 2am putting a new Lego set together so he was pretty tired when we got him up at 6:30 the next morning. And everyone at my parents’ house was tired because they were all still in bed when we got there a little after seven. The door was still locked, so Miles rang the doorbell, which made Max start barking and then you could hear kids start crying-oops.

There was a little bit of set up to do before the conference Saturday morning, but not too bad. The conference ran pretty smoothly and aside from a small AV issue, our only more concerning issue was a sewer back up in the women’s restroom and outside of the church. I wasn’t aware of it until Tiffany mentioned something during one of the breaks before lunch. But a couple of the church employees got right on it. We decided to open up the kids’ area so that people could use the bathrooms back there and I went back to open them up and turned on the light and made the fun discovery that they had not been cleaned. So Biscuit, our worship leader, mopped the floors while I wiped down the toilets (one had crusted poop on it-lovely) and the sinks. But other than that, things went well and I think we will consider it a success. The message presented was a little different than what I was expecting. But the more they walked you through it, the more I could see where it could be beneficial in a marriage. So I really hope others found some benefit from it too.

The kids had all sorts of fun at my parents. They got to play outside a lot and help pick up sticks and acorns. My dad decided to burn some of his tall grasses and they got to watch all of that happen. Bennett had quite the problem with peeing his pants though and I think they went through several pairs of pants with him. But we were so, so thankful to my parents for taking care of them so we could do the conference.  We finished up the conference at 3 and went to work cleaning everything up and got done around 4. We dropped stuff of at the house and then I headed to my parents while Andrew went to the office. Andy and Autumn had Baylor’s birthday party that night. He had decided earlier that the twins couldn’t come since they tried to steal his trains a few weeks earlier but I guess he forgot about it. We did joke with him about it being Sara’s birthday party since her birthday is on Monday, but he wasn’t very fond of that idea. He had a baseball party like what I am doing for Jackson and it was very cute.  Baylor decided he wanted fireworks for his party too and, of course, my dad obliged and found some fireworks to shoot off for him. After the party was over, Andrew took the twins home since they had not had a nap and were getting pretty cranky. I stayed a little longer with the other kids and then we headed home a little later. It was only around 9 but I think we were all exhausted. And when I came home, I found two very tired little boys.

Andrew had to get a lot done out at the ranch on Sunday so he was out there most of the day. The kids and I went to the first service of church. Then we headed over to see everyone before they left but the house was empty. I texted Molly and she said they all left early so the rest of them decided to head to church. So we just went home and got stuff done around the house along with enjoying some time outside.  The played outside most of the day. Ellie and her friends decided to get creative with our sidewalk chalk and turn it into paint to paint their faces along with some of the boys. I didn’t get a picture of the boys, but it took several scrubbings to clean it off Lincoln’s face.

I was able to cut our grasses and clean out the flower beds. It wasn’t as exciting as my dad burning his grasses but ours are too close to our house. Andrew got home in the evening and played some catch with Jackson and Ellie. We had a late dinner since I was trying to get a workout in. And then we had to eat kind of quickly and get things cleaned up since I was running out of time to get to Aldi to do some grocery shopping.

Everyone was pretty tired Monday morning. Andrew didn’t even go to the office in the morning before he took the kids to school. That hardly ever happens.  They day has just been spent getting caught up on normal duties around the house. We did get some sad news though…my Aunt Shirlene passed away this morning.