The Farwell Family

The good thing about the time change is that it gets lighter earlier in the morning which makes it easier to wake the kids up. Since the twins didn’t have school, Andrew was able to take the others. So I made sure they were all ready and then did an hour bike ride. The twins toy of choice for the day was the big bag of cars that they spread throughout the family room. We had an early dinner that night since Andrew and I had a K-Life board meeting to go to. Molly came over to watch the kids which we were grateful for. My mom had surgery earlier in the day to have a cataract removed so I didn’t want to bother her. It was a pretty quick surgery and went smoothly so that was great. While we were at the meeting, the kids played in the basement and then they put on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and made some hot chocolate and popcorn. And soon after getting home from our meeting, Ellie and I had to head to her tumbling class. I was able to do our some of our small group reading while I waited on her. Andrew had the kids in bed when we got home because he was heading out early the next morning to look at some bulldozers up in Des Moines.

So Andrew left a little before four and was up in Des Moines at a decent time despite the fog we had. I was a little nervous about the fog because I had planned on doing a bike ride that morning (side note on the fog, Jackson heard me talking to Andrew on the phone that morning and he heard me say there was a fog advisory-he actually asked if we were going to get out of school because of the “advisory” J). Actually I had planned to get my car detailed and was going to have Andrew bring me home after I dropped it off. Well since he had to go up to Des Moines, I decided to just pack up my bike and go for a ride after I dropped off the car. I took it to Community Opportunities which employs mentally and physically handicap people.  It ended up working out pretty well since it was right on Osteopathy and I headed out to the lake for my ride. I still get nervous riding outside but it was a good ride. I got home in time to clean out the garage a bit since the car was out of it and get ready. Kristin was nice enough to pick me up and we picked up the twins and Luke together at school and then she took us to pick up my car. It wasn’t quite ready yet but we didn’t have to wait too long. I had heard mixed reviews about where we got it detailed so I was pleasantly surprised with how they did. Of course it wasn’t perfect, but it was still pretty good. I was bummed that their carpet shampooer was broken but they still cleaned the floor mats.

Andrew got home around lunch time and got to eat lunch with us. And it was time to put the twins down for a nap about the time he headed to the office. While the twins napped I picked up, finished laundry, worked on a couple quick things for Ellie and the twins’ parties and cleaned the kids’ bathroom upstairs. The time always goes by so quickly and it was time to get the twins up and pick up the others from school. The kids quickly put their school stuff and laundry away, finished up whatever homework they had and headed outside. We have been loving these 70 degree days in November. Ellie had to do her I’m Third conference call and then we left for gymnastics in Macon. I actually ran to Dollar General and Wal-Mart quickly while the girls were at their lesson and then picked up some AJ’s to bring back for dinner for us and my parents and Molly. Jackson left for basketball practice just a little before we got home so he had to wait to eat until after practice. He made me promise I would save him three chicken strips. We had more than enough when he got back so he was happy.

Wednesday morning I got up cleaned the bathrooms before taking the kids to school. I had set out the Spiderman and Captain America shirts for the twins that I had bought off another mom of twin boys. Once Lincoln saw that, he switched up his shirt and put on his Superman shirt. After I dropped everyone off, I went to the pool. I decided to try the NEMO Tri swim distance and just see how it would go even though it is still 8 months away. I actually figured out how to use my good old Timex watch to count my laps. I needed to do 26 50s plus a 25 to equal ¾ mile. One time I pressed the lap button, I didn’t hear it beep so I pressed it again. When I went back to look at my times, I realized this so I was actually a 50 short.  I was still pleased with my time, which would have been around 24:30 if I added in the extra 50. I kept a good pace, made a couple quick stops to see what lap I was on and still felt pretty good when I was done so I think I can definitely improve on it.

After my swim, I made a quick stop at Aldi. I’m sure I looked lovely with my hair up in a mess of a pony tail after being in the swim cap and goggle lines around my eyes. They don’t open until nine and it is kind of funny how people start lining up outside their door a few minutes before. I just waited until they all went in and cleared out of the front aisle before I went in and I was still out of there in 5 minutes. It was a smaller shopping trip for me though. When I picked up the twins from school a little later they were telling me that they were going to go home and eat peanut butter and jelly, apples and macaroni and cheese which has been their favorite lunch lately. They don’t like Kraft Mac-n-Cheese but they do like the “recipe” my parents used to make which is just Velveeta and milk with the noodles. They expect it every day now. After lunch they got out just a few cars to play with on their mats before it was time for naps. After nap time we picked up the kids and finished getting stuff ready for small group. It sounded like the kids had joined a band downstairs during small group but at least we didn’t have any crying. Our chapter talked about “holy discontentment” and how we should never be satisfied with where we are as far as knowing God-there is always more to know.  

Thursday morning I did a run on the treadmill then got ready, made sure everyone else was ready and then we were off to school. After we dropped off the older three, the twins and I ran back home so I could change out the laundry. Then we went to their school and got ready for Papa to come visit and talk to their class. They were a little unsure about what he was doing there but eventually warmed up to the idea and sat in the circle with the rest of the class. My dad did a great job talking with the kids. He even brought his otoscope and looked in their mouths, listened to the twins’ hearts with a doptone and then handed out surgical gloves, masks and hats for all of them. It was a fun time J.

After we were done with that, I went to meet up with Andrea, Tiffany and Leah to just visit for a bit. We were supposed to meet at a coffee shop, Sweet Espressions, but they happened to be closed for just those couple of hours we were wanting to meet up. We didn’t have many other choices and settled on McDonalds. I really don’t think I had been inside the McDonalds since they renovated it. The time went by quickly and it was soon time to pick up the twins from school. They were excited to bring home all the stuff that Papa brought them and now realized that he is also called Dr. Early.

Jackson and Ellie had K-Life that afternoon so Andrew picked them up and also picked up some McDonalds for the kids because we were going to the Lifeline banquet. Molly watched the kids for us and Andrew and I got a night out. My parents were at a table next to us while we had the Madsens, Marshalls and Matthew and Kristin at our table. It was another great night. They had two nights for the banquet this year since they have had such great attendance the years before. They said that there were going to be over 300 people there each night.  It is so neat to see that many people from the community support the organization. The speaker actually missed her flight and was late for the banquet. She made it in time (the lady from Lifeline that picked her up actually got pulled over a little north of Macon) and came in during the director of Lifeline’s presentation. The main speaker was a lady who owned and operated a couple abortion clinics previously and it was startling and very sad what all she had to say.  I am glad we were able to attend again this year and hope that it was a successful fundraiser for them again.

Thursday morning I got the kids up and ready, did some birthday stuff and then got on the bike. Andrew had cleaned the chain on the bike that is on the trainer and it was amazing how much smoother and easier the ride was. After the ride, I spent part of the day trying to plan out the next couple of months. It looks like it is going to be pretty busy and I am hoping to stay on top of everything. Starting with our gathering/meals…the K-Life leaders meal next weekend (cooking for around 40 people), Ellie’s friend birthday party and then her party with the family on her actual birthday (all of our families will be in town which means we will have 47 people in our house), a small brunch after Ellie’s baptism (very excited for her decision) that same weekend, our small group Christmas dinner, and the twins’ birthday party. Then there are all the other things that come with the “season”…Christmas presents-deciding, buying and wrapping, Operation Christmas Child boxes, teacher gifts, neighbor gifts, decorating, four other birthdays in the family, end of the year office work/taxes, and taking care of stuff around the house before the cold sets in like pruning bushes and putting away patio furniture. I imagine it is a lot like what many others have going on. I just always get a little anxious that I am going to forget something.

Andrew came home from the office early Friday night and played basketball with the kids while I cleaned our windows and then finished up dinner. After dinner we all sat down and watched The Sandlot which none of the kids had seen. They really enjoyed it and thought it was funny. Then it was time for bed. I ended up staying up past midnight working on some billing for the office. Andrew let the kids sleep in until almost seven and then got them up to head out to the ranch. I guess they had quite the adventures out there walking along the “bad pond” where one of the twins got stuck on the bank and Andrew fell off the side. Jackson and Ellie got to shoot Jackson’s gun. Ellie was a little nervous at first but Andrew said she did a good job.

While they were gone I had great intentions of doing a lot of office work but got distracted and ended up cleaning the floors, vacuuming, going through toy baskets and clearing out toys for the thrift store, laundry, running on the treadmill, physical therapy exercises and prepping my shopping list that included most of the items I need for the leaders’ dinner next weekend. After lunch I ran by JC Penney to pick up some shirts I had ordered for Andrew, picked up some more stuff at the office to work on and tried to drop off a few bags at the thrift store but they had a sign up saying they weren’t accepting donations that day. Andrew and the kids were home when I got back and he already had the twins down for their nap. The older three vegged out for a bit, Andrew went to the office and I spent the rest of the afternoon working on office work. I was able to get a lot done which I was happy about. Ellie was excited to learn that I finally got their laptop set up to our printer and she couldn’t wait to create something and print it off. She worked on that for a while after she took a bubble bath. Jackson has started a new book series he really likes and spent some time reading that. Andrew mentioned mowing the yard to him, so I sent him out to do that but he couldn’t get the mower started. I guess he just wasn’t doing it the right way but I honestly don’t know how to start the mower either J. I finished up my work in time to get dinner started.  They were all so excited we were having sloppy joes, but it works. After dinner I needed to go to the store so Andrew offered that they would all clean up and I could just go ahead and go. Since I planned on getting a lot of my items for cooking the K-Life dinner, I knew it would take a while. They all came out to help bring in groceries when I got home which was very nice. And the kitchen and dining room were actually clean too. Very exciting. Ellie helped me put away the groceries, which was a bonus. Then we didn’t do much the rest of the night.

Andrew left for the ranch early Sunday morning to stack hay. The kids and I got up and ready and headed to the first service at church. The sermon was about injustices and compassion and it really spoke to me. I had been thinking for a while, and even mentioned it to our small group, about a phone call I had received earlier in the week. Since I didn’t know the number, it went straight to voice mail and it was a lady asking about signing up for food for her family. I have had several calls like this the past few years and I have never done anything about them. But I have been thinking that maybe I should, maybe God is nudging me again and again with the random phone calls. And then the sermon really hit it home. We had planned on going to Wal-Mart after church to pick out stuff for our Operation Christmas Child boxes so I decided before we went I would run home and call the number that was still on our phone from the lady who left the message. On the way home, I explained to the kids what we were doing and they were all in agreement that it was the right thing to do. When I called the lady, I told her that she had left a message with us but it was our home phone number and that I wanted to see if she was able to get any food. I think she was going to have to wait until Wednesday so I asked her if I could help her with anything they would need now. She said they could just use some essentials-bread, milk, eggs and some cereal. She asked how she could pay me later and I told her that I just felt like God was telling me I needed to do this for them. She also said they could use some meat. I told her we had some in our freezer I could bring to her and we agreed to meet a little later in the parking lot. At Wal-Mart, we picked up their groceries first and then eventually made our way through picking out everything for the boxes which is always an adventure. I texted the lady, Jessie, to let her know when we were checking out and she met us a little later. As I was carrying her groceries over to her she gave me a hug. She said she was taking care of her four grandkids and said we were such a blessing to her. I left her know about when our church has their food pantry and we were on our way home. I am so glad that I finally followed through on listening to God’s nudging.

We ate lunch when we got home and then Ellie and I started switching out all of her small hangers for regular-sized ones. Then we worked on assembling their Operation Christmas Child boxes. We have a couple more things coming from Amazon-deflated kick balls and pumps for them-and then we can get them sent off. 

Andrew surprised us and showed up earlier than we thought he was going to be home. But the kids ended up not being too excited about it when he said they were going to clean the office. He did get them snacks though. While they were gone, the twins helped me carry our mums out back to throw in the brush. Then it was time for them to go down for a nap. While they were napping I took down our outdoor curtains and put away part of our patio furniture down in our basement.  When Andrew and the kids came home we went out back to play some basketball and then started working on dinner. We had what is kind of our weekly Sunday dinner of steak, fruit, roasted veggies and rolls. Everyone loves it. Our fruit selection has slimmed down since the summer though.  After cleanup and baths, I made some cookies (the kids were very excited) while they rest of them started watching Kung Fu Panda. It used to be one of Jackson’s favorites but it has been at Andrew’s office for several years. They brought back some movies he has had there when they cleaned the office.