The Farwell Family

Last Tuesday brought some lovely freezing rain. The temperatures did warm up just a bit though so we just had regular rain. Andrew had an online CLE to do most of the day so the twins and I had to pick up all the kids from school. I walked into Faith Lutheran talking to Annie as the twins ran ahead of us yelling at each other trying to beat each other into the school to play with the toys.  The funny thing is that they each went for a different toy once they got in the room so it they were fighting for no reason. I let them play while Lincoln finished his last center. I also had to reschedule our Parent Teacher Conference since it was schedule around the same time as Shirlene’s funeral. I was also supposed to volunteer at Jackson’s school for their Laura Ingalls Wilder Day that morning but needed to cancel on that too. 

After I got the twins down for a nap, Lincoln and I worked on his letters for a bit and brought up the last of our Easter decorations. I only put the Easter tree out for a little bit because it is pretty fragile. And then we brought up the Resurrection Eggs to count down the days until Easter. Then I got a call from Alex’s grandpa wanting to know if he wanted to go with them to check on some cows in LaPlata which Lincoln was excited to do.  Later that day Ellie made a special art project for me. She did a basketball court with a girl shooting that had my old high school number on her jersey :-). Then that evening Ellie had dance and gymnastics and then it was time to call it a day.

Wednesday was just a normal day of school, work and small group prep. I did get some office work done and we made a trip to the bank.  The twins played some basketball while I cleaned up the basement.

Andrew was able to get a quick bike ride in before small group began. He has been trying to hit it hard and even did 30 miles the other day. The temperatures still make me hesitant to get outside to ride or run so I’m sticking to indoors for now. Thursday I started getting clothes ready for the visitation and funeral. I also did a quick grocery shopping trip while Andrew was home for lunch. I picked up a couple things that I hoped would keep the twins and Lincoln quiet during the funeral on Friday along with some stuff for the Bunco night I was hosting on Friday. And I worked on prepping some of that stuff while the twins slept since Friday was going to be busy with the funeral. Then that evening we went to the visitation and then had dinner at my parents. Sara and her family were at the visitation but left after that. Amanda got into town the afternoon with Preston and Grayson and Lissy came into town too.

Friday morning went by very quickly as I was trying to get some stuff ready for that night. Andrew went to the office for most of the morning and then stopped by home so we could head to the funeral in Edina. The funeral was nice and the kids did pretty well. Andrew did end up taking them out towards the end because one of them needed to use the restroom. After the burial they had a lunch at the KC hall and it was nice to get to visit with some of the family. We got back to Kirksville just about the time for me to go pick up Jackson and Ellie from school. Andrew decided to head out for a bike ride. When we got home from pick-up it was time to start getting serious about getting stuff ready for Bunco night. Jackson said he had fun at the Laura Day’s. We were so proud that he won the seed spitting contest J. But actually it was very sweet. He got to pick out a prize and he picked out one of her books to give to Ellie. Ellie was so excited. She said she hugged him so tight.

As I was trying to get things ready for Bunco, Andrew realized that it was hard for me to keep things clean while the kids were around.  So he ended up leaving a little early. He picked up some McDonalds for them for dinner and then headed out to the ranch. They checked their cows and then went to Andrew’s parents for the rest of the night. For me, everything ended up coming together. I set up three tables to play, set out some drinks, cut up my cake and made the caprese tarts. We ended up having a small group from the night but it was a fun group. Amanda got to come over and of course she fit right in. We actually didn’t even get through one whole game. Tab had four wins after four rounds so we declared her the winner and she got the fun prize. It was a tulip plant in a tin bucket that had a teal chevron pattern on it. I made a tag to go on it that said “Think Spring” since that was kind of the theme for the night. I stuck a little pinwheel in the plant and a little bird card holder that had a gift certificate for Dairy Queen. Andrew and the kids got home just as we were finishing up and they were very tired kids. I was able to clean everything up pretty quickly-I guess that can happen when kids aren’t involved.

Saturday morning, Andrew had a small group leaders meeting. Ellie and Jackson both signed up for a program at Truman called Science on Saturday. They had a variety of classes for them to choose from and they spent a few hours there going to these classes.  Ellie went for 2 ½ hours in the morning. Her classes were Genetics, All About Blood and Electricity. It was fun to go back to the old Science Hall. It is now Magruder Hall and it has been completely renovated and has had some additions. Their classes were in the new part. I took a little bit of time to walk around when I went to pick her up and I couldn’t figure out where the old part was-kind of sad. Seeing the labs and different rooms did kind of make me nostalgic and a little excited. Ellie had fun with the classes and is wanting to go again next year.

In between taking Ellie and Jackson, Andrew got home from his meeting and then he and Lincoln headed out to the ranch. Andrew actually noticed a cow the evening before that was trying to give birth but the calf was too big and got stuck and had already died. So they had to go out and take care of that situation. So who better to get in on that deal than Lincoln. But that did have some positive experiences while they were out there too. They actually got to see two calves that were just born.

While they were gone, I took Jackson over to his classes. He took Genetics, Rodents, Reptiles & Amphibians, and Dracology. He found Genetics kind of boring but had fun with the rest of them.  While he was gone I got the twins down for a nap and eventually got around to doing my long run for the week. Thankfully Joe was picking Jackson and Zach from the science thing so I didn’t have to be done by then. I watched a movie on Prime called Grace Unplugged and Ellie joined me for most of it. It was a good movie with a great message and I think she enjoyed it. It definitely made my 9 mile run a little easier.

When I came upstairs from my run, Andrew was home and out using his new chainsaw to cut up some branches that had fallen down and clear out some of our neighbor’s brush.  So I got to work making dinner and then later that night he made a huge fire in our fireplace outside. It got a little crazy. Later that night Lincoln and I ended up watching the last part of the Kentucky/Notre Dame game. Lincoln decided to teach me how to slam dunk. He showed me how you hold onto the hoop with one hand and shoot with the other while jumping off the ottoman.

Andrew worked at the office Sunday morning and then we went to early church service. I went grocery shopping when we got home then rushed home to put away groceries. Andrew was really hoping to go on a bike ride together so I checked with Molly on the way to the store to see if she could watch the kids and she could. Andrew had lunch ready for me and had fed the kids. After we got the groceries put away, I prepped some stuff for dinner that night and Andrew helped by getting the potatoes ready to go in the oven. Then we were on our way. It was kind of chilly out and pretty windy. But it wasn’t too bad since we got to go out together. Although I do think Andrew is disappointed in my drafting abilities. I get nervous to get too close to him while he is ahead to get much effort and then he said I don’t block much wind while he is trying to draft off of me. I think he misses our former neighbor, Jeff, who he used to bike with. Andrew got on Strava when we got home to check out his different times. I got the ham and green beans into crockpots for dinner that night. Andrew took Jackson to his first ball practice with his traveling team, the NEMO Venom, that afternoon. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. That night my parents and Molly came over for dinner and we got to visit for a bit. They brought over some cookies which were disappearing quickly. They also brought over some leftover pancakes for Ellie.

Monday was just one of those days when things were just off. Our front door knob broke. It wouldn’t open from the outside so I started taking it apart to try to figure it out when the random screw fell out. I was seeing if I could find some information about it online when I noticed a review on Home Depot that mentioned the exact same problem I was having and Kwikset responded to the review and said to call them because it was under warranty. So I did that and they sent me an email to submit some pictures of it and hopefully I will hear back from them soon on getting a new one. I tried putting a door knob from our laundry room closet on it but it didn’t fit. So for now we just have some painters tape over the hole and are using the dead bolt. The kids have had fun with it though, especially before we put tape over the hole. They liked talking to each other through it.

Monday night we had a K-Life board meeting so the kids got to go to my parents. They had all sorts of fun playing outside. My dad let Jackson drive the lawnmower and pull the younger boys in the wagon behind it. Then they got to get some shakes from Sonic. After we got them home I worked on filling eggs for our neighborhood Easter egg hunt on Wednesday. I was also in charge of the golden egg. I couldn’t find one so I had to spray paint one.

Tuesday was a beautiful day. Andrew took advantage of it and went on a 30 mile bike ride. The kids got to play outside.  The girls are big fans of pogo sticks these days. And Ellie has been spending some time trying to sell cookie dough to people in our neighborhood. I was able to get some yard work done while the kids were playing. Then that evening I got to watch Ellie at her dance class. Her tap dance is to Supercalifradgiliciousexpealidocious and is super cute. Her ballet class is a little rowdy so they are still working on that routine. Since we were there for 1 ½ hours, I brought my laptop so I could finish up this blog. And that is where we are now-watching his last class, jazz.