Savoring the Last Few Days of Summer

Jackson and Ellie were so excited last Tuesday that they got to pull weeds again. I feel like we are making progress though. Then I went out after lunch with the twins and they played on the swing set while I pulled more weeds from the yard and the ones that have grown under the swing set. Then I cut back are rose bushes and knocked down cobwebs. I feel like I am constantly knocking down cobwebs around the house. I don’t know if it helps at all, but I keep doing it. Lincoln spent most the day with his friends, checking in every now and then to tell me where he was going. He got to go fishing with Alex and Ty later in the day.  

Ellie did the same thing as Lincoln…literally all day outside. We had some new neighbors move into Tiffany’s old house and they have twin girls close to Ellie’s age. So they have been bringing them into their group and spent their day going from house to house, playing in the sprinkler, riding all the kid toys, etc. Jackson played with Zach for a while and hung out at home with me.  We have also been spending late evenings outside before the time comes where the kids have to head inside and go to bed earlier.

Wednesday we finished up our “special days” with Jackson and Ellie. I dropped the other kids off with my mom and Ellie was up first. We went to get pedicures and I was so surprised that there was no one waiting when we got there. So we got right in and I got just a pedicure while Ellie got a pedicure and her fingernails painted. She got neon orange polish for her nails and hot pink for her toenails. The guy also put a couple palm trees and birds on her big toes. She loved it. Since we got done early, we ran by the bank and filled up the car before we met Andrew for lunch at La Fuente.

After lunch, I dropped her off at my parents, changed and then headed out with Jackson for our adventure. Up first was some kayaking out at 1000 Hills. We got wetter than I thought we would just from the water coming off the paddle. It was harder than Jackson remember from kamp but he thought it was because the kayak was quite a bit bigger than the ones he used there. We stayed out about 45 minutes just paddling, floating and talking. We forgot sunblock though and I could just feel myself burning. It was a beautiful day though.

My plan was to go grocery shopping after we were done kayaking but we both had wet pants. We tried to soak some of it up with blankets I had in the car and then we had to wait for road construction so that gave things a little more time to dry out. But we did head into Aldi with wet pants. By the time we got to Walmart, though, we were doing pretty well. So we finished our shopping, brought it home, unloaded it, switched the laundry and then headed back to my parents. We stayed and had dinner and then headed home so Andrew could give the twins haircuts. I am so grateful he is able to cut their hair but it is always kind of sad when their hair gets chopped and they look older.

After he was done with one of them, I used my leaf blower (battery powered=not very strong) to blow most of the hair off of them before I took them into the shower. But it was just a little after seven by the time they were done, so they put on their boots over their pjs and headed outside to play.

Thursday morning Jackson and Ellie got the fun chore. Andrew wanted them to clean the grill so they got it done before it warmed up. And they actually had fun spraying each other with the hose and didn’t get mad J.

That afternoon we went over to my parents for a swim date with some of our friends. My mom had taken Molly to the airport in Kansas City because she was flying out to California to meet her roommates from Disney World to go to Disney Land. Back in Kirksville, I ordered pizza and the kids ate, swam, played on the swing set and then swam some more for over four hours. It was a great way to wind down the summer.

We headed home after everyone left. Andrew had to go to a football coaches meeting. Jackson and I played some basketball out back and he beat for the first time in PIG. Ellie joined us for a bit but we ended up cutting our game short so Jackson and Andrew could practice football. The twins played around on the swing set and teeter totter while I pulled more weeds. We eventually joined the others out front to close out the evening, enjoying one of the last few nights where we didn’t have to make the kids come in early. I even let the kids sleep in the next morning. Andrew did an early morning bike ride while I ran on the treadmill. I walked the first quarter mile and then ran the rest of the three miles. It hurt, but it is getting better. And thankfully I didn’t hurt as much after I was done too. Lincoln was the first one up and ready which is pretty normal. So we played a couple games of Candyland before the others got up. Then I went to work doing my weekly bathroom cleaning/dusting/vacuuming, etc. I also spent some time calling the YMCA in Macon and filling out paper work to sign Ellie up as a member there so that I can register her for their gymnastics program. We are doing it with a couple other families so we can share carpooling duties. Ellie is very, very excited. They actually have all the apparatus and a competition team.

When Andrew came home for lunch he gave Ellie the job to clean up the yard and then Jackson’s job was to mow it. He was almost done when he came in to let me know that a wasp was following around. So I went outside around the area and did some work cleaning more cobwebs and pulling weeds until I saw one fly around and was able to get it with the wasp spray. So he headed back out to finish. That afternoon while the twins napped (and Lincoln played with Alex) I let Ellie and Jackson have free reign with a basket of dollar store crafts I had. Ellie tried out an airbrush marker set, some Shrinky Dinks, some thing where she filled a plastic star with little balls that expanded with water and a crystal-growing kit. Jackson tried out the crystal-kit too. It is still to be determined if they will actually grow crystals. I actually took some time to read a new book I added to my Kindle, Running for My Life. It is a true story about a “lost boy” from Sudan who ends up in America and runs in the Olympics. I really like it so far.

After dinner that night, Andrew and Lincoln went to pick up some mineral for the cows while the rest of us cleaned up. When they got home, Jackson and I went to see who was going to be in their class for this upcoming school year. Ellie originally wanted to go but was playing with her friends at the time and didn’t want to leave. Leah had let us know earlier in the day that she had gone by to look at the list and she told us that Jackson had Mrs. Chapman and Ellie had Mr. Landon. We have heard that Mrs. Chapman is a good teacher (I know who she is, just don’t know her very well) so that will be great for Jackson. Ellie was super excited because she really wanted Mr. Landon. Her spirits dampened a bit when we told her who was in her class. She had a great year last year with a great teacher and several of her friends in her class. This year she knows some of the kids in her class but isn’t really friends with any of them. Plus she was the most upset about a certain boy who she said is mean and picks on the girls. But she has only known him from out on the playground, so hopefully her teacher will be able to keep him under control in a classroom setting.

Saturday morning, Andrew took the kids out to the ranch. They took mineral out to the cows and he sent me this picture J.

I spent the morning doing laundry, cleaning the floors, just picking up around the house, getting a bike ride in (I should have gone for a ride outside but I want Andrew to check over my bike before I do and I forgot to ask him before he left), and prepping for our back to school dinner. I decorated the table and chandelier and started prepping food. Then I ran a couple quick errands to get paint swatches for Ellie’s room and pick up some parsley I forgot for dinner.  Andrew and the kids got home around 4 while I was prepping dinner. They all took showers and vegged out for a bit. They were a tired bunch. My parents joined us for dinner. Our theme for the year is the same of Kanakuk’s theme-Game Changer. The verse is Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I wanted to talk to the kids during dinner about the theme but things were kind of hectic. So I waited until later that night and we talked about what it means to be a game changer and how they behave, how they act towards others and the Christian example they set could be a game changer for those around them. And we are hopefully going to be a game changer as a family for one kid by saving up money throughout the year to send a kid to Kids Across America. I have a jar set out that we can all put money in throughout the year. I started it off with some money and my dad put a 10 in too for us J. In the midst of everything I didn’t get a picture during dinner but I did get some before.

That night I finished up my book before I went to bed. I thought it was a great book, with a great message. I even think I will have Jackson and Ellie read it. Sunday morning Andrew went for a bike ride and I got a workout video in before we headed to church. Then I did some grocery shopping, picked up some paint samples and picked up some swim trunks and puddle jumpers at my parents. When I got home, Andrew and Jackson went to the office for a bit before Jackson’s first football practice. I finished up laundry and tried some paint samples in Ellie’s room before we headed to a back to school pool party some families were holding at the Country Club. Ellie and Lincoln were so excited. It took the twins a little bit to warm up and I had to get in the water with them for them to actually get in. They lasted longer than I thought they would but we did end up leaving a little early. Ellie and Lincoln did get to stay thought and ride home with their friends. I thought about laying the twins down for a nap but opted to just turn on a movie and have them lay on the couch. I thought they may drift off, but Andrew and Jackson were there and I think they turned up the volume on the movie so no one slept.

Andrew ended up going out to the ranch to get stuff ready for everyone to work his cattle the next day. Jackson helped me make some pancakes for dinner and after everything was cleaned up we headed outside for our last official night of summer. As it got darker, we brought out some Chinese lanterns we had leftover from vacation (we learned that they don’t really work on the beach J). We decided it was our way of saying goodbye to summer. We had varying luck with them. The first one did okay. The second one had a small hole and we didn’t think it was going to take off. I went to get some water to douse out the flame and when I got back, it had taken off. The last one took off really well but then started coming down, then back up and then finally it came all the way down near the Hickman’s back yard. The kids and I followed it down the street and I still had my little watering can with me, so I was able to put out any flame that was left on it when they retrieved it from the yard.

But then it was time for everyone to head inside, do baths and go to bed L. The summer went by so quickly. It is hard to believe it was just three months ago to the day that I had my accident. School was still in session and summer seemed to stretch out far in front of us. And just like that, it is time for school again.