The Farwell Family

Last Tuesday morning was a little rough. Andrew went to the office early and came back later to take Ellie to basketball camp. I got out of bed to check on the twins and had Lincoln make sure Ellie was up and getting ready and then I went back to bed for a bit. I don’t know if it was because I did too much the day before or because I didn’t take any pain medication during the middle of the night, but I was hurting. I eventually got myself out of bed and got the twins and I ready. I also managed to stub my toe on my good foot on one of my crutches. It ended up black and blue by the end of the day.  Molly brought Ellie home from basketball and helped out around the house. She found us in the garage. I was having the boys help me organize the mess it had become. My mom showed up a little later and insisted on taking the twins home with her. I felt bad that she was always taking care of them, plus it was their anniversary. I was starting to feel pretty overwhelmed and guilty about everything that so many people had been doing for us over the last several weeks.  I really do appreciate it though. So after they left, the rest of us got some lunch and then it was time for Ellie and Lincoln to go to their VBS. Soon after they left I told Jackson I was heading to rest for a while. I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Although the nights were getting better, I still wasn’t sleeping too many hours.  A couple of hours later, Jackson came into the room to have me come check out the fire truck in front of our house. They were working on the fire hydrant across the street from us.

That evening Rick dropped off a meal for us that Teresa had prepared. It was so yummy. Andrew and Jackson were working on mowing the yard and then we all ate. It was a nice evening out, so the kids played outside most of the evening. They had several games of Hot Box going and by the end of the evening, there were about 10 kids playing it. 

Then it was time for the younger ones to come inside while Jackson and Ellie went over to the LaBeths to play some basketball until around nine. I went to bed hopeful for a good night of sleep but it still didn’t happen. Hopefully someday soon. I thought I heard the twins running around early the next morning but maybe it was just Andrew leaving for the office. I got up and showered and then made sure Ellie was up for basketball camp. As I was getting ready, Lincoln came in with the twins and wanted to know where their clothes were because he wanted to help them get dressed. We got that all taken care of and Andrew took Ellie to camp. Molly brought her home and helped out with some laundry and cleaning the basement. I worked on backing up some photos and making a photo book for the last couple of months.  Ellie went over to the LaBeths to help with baking some goodies for a bake sale they were wanting to have. And Lincoln went to Josh’s house to play for a couple hours. While he was there, we had a pretty good rain shower. Then it was time for lunch and for Ellie and Lincoln to go to their last day of VBS. Andrew is always so sweet to make me a plate for lunch. I do okay getting food for myself but then I can’t carry a plate full of food. So he still takes care of me.

After lunch, Molly offered to take the twins back to my parents but I decided to keep them with me for the day. I turned on Big Hero 6 for them then worked on some laundry. I also decided to try to paint my nails. I had thought about getting a pedicure, but since I stubbed my toe and it was still hurting and discolored, I didn’t want anyone messing with it. Pretty soon it was nap time. We also got a little more rain, so Ellie’s ball game was canceled. I was okay with it since it was supposed to be in Lancaster. Sharon brought us dinner that night. She also brought Ellie some ball pants and cleats that Kiersten no longer used. Ellie was so excited to have a pair of cleats that weren’t hand-me-downs from Jackson. Plus they were Under Armour instead of Payless. Tiffany brought the kids home from VBS with all of their "crafts". She also played mom to them during the family barbecue and let them stay for it and do s'mores.

The next day, all the kids got to go out to Matthew and Kristin’s after Ellie got back from her last day of basketball camp. They were very excited. Andrew took them out and they got to play with the puppies and in the pool again.  While they were gone, Michelle came to clean the house. I worked on cutting stuff out for Lincoln’s birthday, doing some office work and a few other random things. Kristin brought them all back close to nap time. She dropped Ellie and Lincoln off at the bake sale the kids were having down the street. Jackson eventually headed that way too, while I got the twins down for a nap. Molly and my mom picked up all the kids but Lincoln later that evening since Lincoln had a ball game in LaPlata.  We had a little small group reunion at the ballgame since we were playing against the Jackson’s team. It was nice to talk to Karla and Leah for a while. Amanda was there too, but she was working in the dugout. Andrew helped out on the field and in the dugout too. Lincoln actually hit a home run but I don’t think he really even understood what he had done until he we talked about it later. It was an entertaining game with a couple boys sitting on the bases while they waited to run. Lincoln did a good job though.  After the game, we went to my parents to pick up the other kids and headed home.

All the kids were home Friday morning since Ellie was done with basketball camp. Lincoln is usually the first one up with the twins following him. He came in early morning (or at least early for me these days since sleep is hard to come by) all dressed wanting to brush his hair and teeth. The twins were with him, naked. They wanted to brush their teeth too but I told them they had to get underwear on first. Then Lincoln told me he wanted to work out and did some pushups and jumping jacks. I finally got up and brushed the twins’ teeth. Lincoln asked me if I got my beauty rest :-).

After I got ready, I got Ellie and Jackson up and we all did some picking up around the house. My mom and Molly stopped by later that morning and ended up helping me change out some of my spring décor for the summer stuff.  Then we went with them over to my parents’ house so the kids could swim. Tiffany met us over there with her kids. The water was a tad chilly but that didn’t stop them too much. They did spend more time in the hot tub though so a few fights erupted from all of them being crammed in a small space.  My mom took Ellie and I home after swimming so that she could get ready for her game. Karla brought us dinner early so that we could eat before Ellie’s game. Then Andrew, Ellie and I headed to the ballpark so that she could have team pictures done before the game. Lissy and Molly ended up bringing our other kids to the game. Lissy was in town to do a wedding the next day. We all thought Ellie did a good job but she was a tad disappointed because she didn’t get on base one time. After the game, Andrew took the all the kids but Ellie home. She was staying the night with my parents since she was going with them the next day to Briley’s dance recital. I had my dad drain the hematoma on my leg again. I think we are close to being done. While we were there, Andrew sent me a video of him giving Jackson a buzz cut. It is the shortest his hair has even been.

Saturday morning Andrew took the kids to the ranch. I worked on picking up the house and getting laundry started. What would have normally taken me 20 minutes, took me over an hour. I was missing my helpers J. I made my way upstairs to collect clothes options to decide what we would all wear for family pictures at the beach. It took me a couple trips, but I got everything thing I wanted downstairs.  I also spent some time during the day working on some designs for shirts for the kids to wear to camp. Andrew and the kids got home from the ranch around lunch time and that is about when I started feeling sick. I had some leftover pasta for lunch and it just didn’t set well with me. Andrew waited around for a bit to make sure I was feeling better and then he went to the office. He put the twins down for a nap before he left and the other kids spent a lot of time playing outside with their friends. Tiffany brought us dinner that evening. After dinner, Jackson and Andrew did some grocery shopping. They did a pretty good job too. Ellie got home later that night and it was time for bed. I having started sleeping a little better  but still wake up early and have a hard time going back to sleep. I have decided it is a good time to do a new bible study I started. It is from a group called She Reads Truth. They have several different studies going on at the same time and the one I am doing is a nine week study for over the summer on women in the Old Testament. I get daily updates through an app on my phone and I also ordered a study book for it.

Andrew went on a long bike ride Sunday morning and he went on another one with Ellie later that morning. Ellie really wanted to go out for one but she I think she made the mistake of not eating or drinking anything before she went. Plus it was already a hot and humid morning.  They went over to the hospital, around some streets near there and home. She had a couple bigger hills to conquer, which she did. But she also got sick a few times and had to stop and threw up a little. She was all smiles when she got home though.  I’m not sure when she will be doing that again.

After their bike ride, we all had lunch and then we went to my parents’ house to swim. Well all of us except Ellie. She ended up going with Faith to Baring Lake. The boys had fun swimming though. Jackson continued to help Lincoln with swimming along with Andrew. He is getting it and is so proud of himself. All the boys liked jumping to Andrew too. Even Jackson wanted to try it out.

After the swimming, Andrew and Jackson went to baseball practice, the twins went down for a nap and then my mom and I went shopping. I decided to go ahead and get as much as I could of what we needed for vacation and my mom was the lucky one who got to help me do it. We went to Aldi and Wal-Mart and got toiletries, nonperishable food items, beach stuff, and much more. It was quite the shopping trip and I was pretty sore by the end of it. At least it is done now. I know there are a few more things I will need to get, but I was so thankful that my mom was able to help me do it. Now hopefully I won’t have to bother her too much when she is trying to get all packed up. Andrew picked up the kids from my parents after practice and took them home and then my mom took me and all my groceries home. Andrew and Jackson helped bring everything in and it is just sitting in our closet for now. I hope to box it all up into some plastic totes and we’ll just pack it that way.

A thunderstorm was moving in that evening. Jackson and Andrew sat out back watching it come in. Leah brought us dinner and they were rushing to get it to us and get back to their house before it started pouring. They were close, but they made it. After dinner, I ended up renting Penguins of Madacasgar for the kids to watch while the storm rolled through. The movie really kept their attention and then after a lot of rain (with a river running through our back yard and down the side) Andrew took the kids outside to play.