Fall Fun Continues

Last Monday was a beautiful fall day. It was pretty breezy though so it was a great day to have the windows open and the breeze blowing through the house. Andrew took the older three to school in the morning so after I made sure everyone was ready to go for the day I got on the bike. I did have to get off a couple times to wipe the twins. After I got ready, the twins and I headed outside to put up a couple Halloween decorations and to water. When we opened the front door, the twins were excited to see that we had been “booed” and there was a bucket with some popcorn balls and a whoopee cushion J. So then it was our turn to boo a couple other neighbors. I put our Halloween banner up outside and then put some lights on our little hydrangea tree. That was the part the twins were the most excited about. My parents had some up and they couldn’t wait to do ours. While I was doing that, they took turns being a trick-or-treater and answering the door.  They got some good practice. Then they helped me water our various plants and we also put up a few Halloween decorations inside.

While they napped I worked on cleaning up what was left of Ellie’s mess from painting and picking up the basement a bit. They had most of it cleaned up but there was still some paint splatters throughout the basement.

I was able to get a few more cleaning chores done around the house before we had to pick up the kids from school. We had dinner early and then Andrew and Jackson went to football and the rest of us took Lincoln to soccer. We just dropped him off and then we ran a couple quick errands including picking up stuff at Dollar General to “boo” a couple of our neighbors. We got back to soccer practice about 15 minutes before Lincoln was done so they got to run around for a bit. When we got home we got our boo baskets ready to go and then when Jackson got home they dropped them off at a couple of house. They went to the Mareks first and Dan saw Ellie and Jackson running away and said, “Busted!” And then I guess Lincoln called out, “You didn’t get me.” J. Next they went to Jackson’s friend, Gage’s house. And I think Lincoln may have been seen with that one.

Soon after we were done with that it was time for Ellie to go to her tumbling lesson and then time for bed. Everyone was moving slow Tuesday morning. The twins didn’t actually sleep during their nap time the day before so that explained why they were tired. And I heard Ellie taking a bath after she went to bed the night before so I think she was up later. I got everyone dropped off at school and then ran some snacks by the K-Life house. I was signed up to bring snacks for Little K but it wasn’t until the next Thursday. Next week is going to be pretty busy and I already had everything so I went ahead and dropped it all off. Then I went about scrubbing our toilets really well. I took the toilet seats off and used some lemon juice, baking soda and vinegar to clean it and hopefully get rid of the urine smell-especially our half bath that the boys use all the time. I think they should all just sit down to pee ;-).

That afternoon we watched the Cardinals game and Ellie did her I’m Third group call and then headed out to gymnastics. Andrew also got a quick bike ride in and then headed back to the office. After dinner, I went back to US Cellular (after the Cardinals lost L) to try to straighten out my phone situation while Andrew stayed home with the kids and tried to shape up their hair a little since we had family pictures coming up. I finally got the phone thing worked out and was out of there fairly quickly.  The next morning I still got up and started my cleaning even though we didn’t have small group that night. It still needed to be done J. I went swimming after dropping off the kids and decided to change up my usual workout. I usually do a 200 warm-up followed by 2 400s and then a 200 cool-down. Once I started my first 400, I decided to go ahead and just do a 500 but I was feeling okay so I just kept going and did 1000 yards. I did it in 20 minutes and still felt pretty good afterwards so it makes me feel better about the NEMO distance if I actually get to do it next year.

After I got home I got ready and did some more cleaning. When I picked the twins up Bennett started crying quite a bit and said his thumb hurt. It did look a little swollen but I knew there wasn’t much to do so I just gave him some Tylenol. He had forgotten about it by the end of the day thankfully. Andrea came over for lunch and we ordered Jimmy Johns. It was nice to visit and catch up since we don’t get to see each other that much at all. Then before I knew it, it was time to pick up the other kids from school. Andrew and Jackson had football practice that night but we didn’t have anything else going on. I actually started working on designing some stuff for the twins’ birthday. They are having a Polar Express birthday and they are sooo excited. We also spent a little time outside before the cooler weather sets in.

Thursday morning a got a run in and then took the kids to school. One of the things I love about rding with them is when they start singing along to the songs. We pretty much always have the Christian radio station on unless it happens to be out so they hear a lot of the same songs. Even the twins like singing along and are probably the ones that do it the most J. We also enjoy trying to figure out the “secret sound” that the radio station plays in the mornings. After I got everyone dropped off I did my grocery shopping and got dinner started. Andrew had a trial that actually ended up being settled which made him happy. Although they settled at the last minute so he still had to prepare. Lincoln was excited to tell me that he finally got purple on his behavior chart at school. Purple is the highest he can get and it is very rare to get it. He has only had one bad mark at the beginning of school and he quickly learned his lesson and has done great since then.

That night Ellie had her dance classes but nothing else was going on so it was nice to not have to rush dinner plus Andrew was home (besides going out on a quick bike ride)so I didn’t have to load up the other kids to drop her off and pick her up. Lissy stopped by later that evening to pick up a garage door opener for my parents’ house and to get the kids wound up before bedtime-candy included J. They were pretty excited to see her though and attacked her when she came in the door. On Friday Andrew took the older three to school but I got a picture of the three youngest in their matching tractor shirts that Amanda got for them. They loved them.

I got a bike ride in before the twins and I had to head out to help decorate for Faith Lutheran’s Fall Festival. They asked me to be the “unofficial” decoration chair. After several emails trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing, they told me to just bring what I had, show up and I would have some people to help me. So I loaded up my centerpieces, table runners that Ellie painted and the boys scooters and headed out. First we stopped by the school to see if we needed to take anything and they just gave us a few desserts. Then we headed out to the fairgrounds and got to work. I haven’t had the best luck in the past taking the kids with me but came more prepared this time. They had fun riding their scooters around the big building and eating the snacks I brought for them. There were a couple teepees there that were part of the auction that they liked playing in also. I had another girl help me out and we got the eating tables decorated fairly quickly. But from there I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I borrowed a hay bale and put some stuff outside the front door. A couple more ladies offered to help and just started taping up random decorations in the front hallway and sticking stuffed scarecrows where they would fit. I have to admit it was kind of hard for me because it was looking pretty tacky but we just had to work with what we had J.

When headed home close to noon and we stopped by to get the twins some McDonalds. Andrew was home for lunch when we got home. The twins ate and then went down for their nap. Leah came over a little later for lunch. It was nice to visit with her since but she is so busy that she had to leave pretty quickly too. Soon it was time to pick up the kids from school and then start getting ready for family pictures. It always seems that things, like hair, just don’t work quite right when you are getting ready for pictures. But eventually we were all ready and headed out to the lake to meet up with Lissy. She already had a spot down by the water picked out that worked out great. We did a quick family picture, one of Andrew and I, some of each kid and then moved onto one more spot for a family picture. We were done in less than an hour and then we went to La Fuente for dinner. Lissy always does such a great job!

Dinner quickly got messy as Bennett spilled almost a whole bowl of salsa. I guess Mexican can just be messy. We just came home after dinner instead of trying to go to the Fall Festival which I felt a little guilty about. The next morning Andrew went to the office and then got home in time to help get everyone bundled up for Lincoln’s last soccer game which was at nine. It was our first cold game so I made my first batch of hot chocolate and took some to the game. We played against Ashlyn and some of Lincoln’s friends so he was excited. He didn’t act like the cold bothered him at all and got right in there. Their team scored several goals so it was probably the most exciting game of the season for them. Miles and Bennett were cold and were ready to be done with the game pretty early on. But overall it was a great game for the end of the season and Lincoln’s coach did a great job with them. He even set it up for them all to meet at Pizza Hut so he could buy them lunch to celebrate the end of the season. But Andrew wanted to take all the kids out to the ranch so Lincoln missed out this time. I told him I would take him another time.

While they were at the ranch working and exploring, I got busy cleaning-cleaning the floors, vacuuming, cleaning windows, doing laundry, and just picking up in general. I also had some office work to get done. It is also that dreaded time to start getting all our information in order to give to our accountants so we know where we stand on the year and what we need to do tax-wise before the end of the year. Andrew did send me a couple of pictures while they were gone including this one next to his old truck that he had from high school through the last year of law school. And I guess Ellie ended up in something “that was worse than quick sand” and thankfully had some leggings on under her pants since they got all muddy. 

When they got home they had a late lunch and then the twins went down for a nap. Lincoln and Ty played together and Jackson spent time constructing new creations with his Legos until it was time for him to get ready for his game. Andrew and Jackson had to leave about 3:45 and we left about an hour later. I tried to be prepared for the cold weather but the sun was shining and the kids were ready to take off their coats during the first part of the game. And they were a little ornery the first part of the game but eventually settled down a bit. And I finally let them get something from the concession stand after half time. Ellie was in charge of the order and Lincoln helped her carry it. Jackson’s team had a good game and Jackson did great. They won 22-6 and then a few of them stayed behind to play the other team’s 4^th graders. Jackson played and got to try out the quarterback position again. A funny moment was when he was on defense and the play was over but the offensive player who was blocking him just kept at him while Jackson was trying to shrug him off. I told Jackson it looked like they were dancing.

Lissy made it to the last quarter of the game and then helped us out by taking the kids home. Andrew and I were supposed to work the concession stand during the 6^th grade game. Partway through Jackson’s second “game” I realized he would need to go home to, so I texted Lissy. She actually had taken the kids to Pancake City because she wanted an omelet. She was a brave girl. She said she would just pick Jackson up on their way back home. So after he was done, we were just going to have him join us at the concession stand until Lissy got there. There were a lot of people already there when we got there so the lady in charge told us we didn’t have to stay. Andrew shot out of there as quickly as he could while I tried to show a little more concern, making sure they were okay as the other workers who got to stay probably shot us dirty looks J.  I was happy to get out of doing it though. So we headed home, had random things for a late dinner and waited for Lissy to show up with the other kids. She showed up a little later disappointed that my kids didn’t want to eat Pancake City with her. She did stop by Sonic to get shakes which made them happy.

Sunday morning Andrew had to go out to the ranch so he could start stacking hay for the winter. The kids were kind of dragging and a few were acting a little sick so we stayed home from church. You could tell Jackson didn’t feel well at all. I was almost wondering if he had the respiratory flu. He had a bit of a cough, runny nose and was just really tired and achy. He spent some time in the basement watching the Harry Potter movie marathon. Lincoln also had a cough that sounded a little croupy but got better as the day went on. Since we didn’t make it to church I listened to the sermon while I ran on the treadmill. For lunch Ellie has decided she likes grilled cheese so I walked her through making grilled cheese for her, Jackson and I.

After lunch I worked on cutting out some vinyl for my mom and it didn’t go as easily as I had hoped so it took longer. I eventually got some good cuts that I think we’ll be able to use. After the twins went down for a nap, Andrew called to let me know he would be home soon so I headed out to do my grocery shopping.  He left a little before I got back to do a quick ride. Then a little later Lissy came by and picked up Ellie because she wanted to help with photo shoots and Lissy had one at 5. While they were gone I made cookie bars for dessert and got sides ready for dinner that night. I also learned that the laundry room while doing multiple loads of laundry is a great place to let rolls rise. Lincoln played with Alex in the afternoon and spent some time jumping on their trampoline. While the twins were still supposed to be napping it sounded like one of them was crying. Andrew went up to check on them and soon after Bennett came downstairs crying. He was upset because he had been coughing and then you could tell he wasn’t feeling good. At some point he acted like he was going to vomit so I had him go to the bathroom. I ended up bringing towels in there for him to lay on and then he wanted to take a bath. After he was done he laid down in our bathroom for a while but kept crying saying his belly hurt. So I tried to tend to him and make sure dinner was ready to go. Andrew got the steaks going on the grill and I made sure everything else was ready to go. Lissy and Ellie showed up right on time for dinner. I had hoped to eat outside but it was getting cooler by that point. Jackson ate some steak and some of the cookie bars but then retreated to his room and was asleep by 7:30. And a little later Bennett started feeling better for some reason. I still had him sleep down in our room on the floor by the bathroom, just in case.