Getting Closer to Christmas

Monday morning we were back at it. I helped in Lincoln’s classroom in the morning and then picked up  the twins from school. I had great intentions of running on the treadmill, but it never happened. I also kept thinking I was going to get started on wrapping Christmas presents, but it didn’t happen either.  I got some stuff sold on swap shop and met up with the people that bought all of it. That evening, the twins were really excited about dinner, again. I’ve been thinking about taking a similar picture every meal and make a book out of it J

We finally got around to doing our random act of kindness from Saturday, which was making cookies for family or friends. The kids decided they wanted to make cookies for the K-Life leaders. Jackson has been cooking in his home ec. class, so he really wanted to take the lead on making the cookies. Ellie wasn’t about to let him upstage her though. I was impressed that he did properly measure out the flour without me saying anything.

Ellie made a note to attach to the cookies and Tuesday morning, we dropped the cookies off at the K-Life house during our school drop-off run. Lincoln ran them into the house and made sure he wasn’t seen.

Tuesday morning I also got to go with Lincoln’s class to Fouch’s Tree Farm. I thought they were leaving earlier then they had planned, so I got to the classroom early. Which means I got to help the kids get all bundled up for the trip. Amanda rode with me out there while the kids rode the bus. Janie did a great job with the kids having them run from one part of the tree farm to another. She tried to explain some different aspects of what they do on the farm but I’m not sure if any of them were listening. I found it somewhat interesting though. And then I was sad to hear that the family planned on getting out of the business. I remember going there about every year when I was a kid to get a tree and then the as a married couple/family until the twins were born. Many great memories there.

After the field trip, I had a bit of time to run home and put away some packages that came in the mail. When I got back to school, they were in the church practicing for their Christmas program. It was so cute. Miles did great participating and Bennett was doing a little until he saw me and then wouldn’t do a thing. So, I think some bribery is going to be needed. Back at home, I got things ready for our little surprise trip to Columbia. I had some treats that I put together for the kids and got all of their stuff for the car ride ready. Then Andrew came and we went together to pick up the kids and head down to Columbia. It was a surprise but I have now realized that as the kids get older, they aren’t as excited to see Santa. It was nice to get out of town for a bit though. Our first stop was Texas Roadhouse for dinner, then we drove by the Magic Tree (they weren’t too interested in stopping to get a picture) and then we went to Bass Pro to see Santa. Meeting Santa was pretty quick. The twins got to talk to Santa for just a bit but they rushed them along even though there really wasn’t a line and the Santa wasn’t very talkative. Andrew and I joked that they save the better ones for the weekend. The kids did have fun playing some of the games they had set up though and Andrew enjoyed looking at guns. But then we were back on the road and home by 8:30.

Wednesday morning we were a little slow getting around. I still tried to clean some bathrooms before we left and then I went swimming. Next I did my grocery shopping with wet hair and goggle eyes. I just know people were wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I tried to move quickly though and got home, got everything put away, finished the bathrooms and got on the treadmill at 10:30, ran three miles and got off just in time to pick up the twins from school-again not looking very hot. I had already started the bribes with the twins for their Christmas program (they get shakes if they do well) and they were happy to tell me they sang during their practice.

That evening we didn’t have anything going on which was so nice. We actually have a few weeks without that many activities-dance was canceled a week early, basketball is over, soccer is over and our next activities don’t start until after Christmas.  I had to prep for our last bible study before we took off for Christmas and then it was time for me to concentrate on wrapping and finishing all of my Christmas to-list items. I wrapped until about 10:15 and then I cleaned the basement in prep for the next morning. Everyone was asleep when I got back upstairs. The next morning, it was a nice chilly 13 degrees. It actually ended up being beneficial as I rode the bike with the window open. The freezing temps also make the Faith Lutheran parking lot more bearable and not a sloppy mess. So I guess the cold does have its benefits. I got the kids dropped off and then went home, made some hot chocolate and waited for everyone to show up for small group. It was our last discussion for our study about the first 500 years of the church and it went better than I expected. And they are always just a nice group of ladies to chat with. After they left, I cleaned out the garage a bit and unhooked hoses, which I forgot to do before the cold weather set in. Then it was time to pick up the twins. I spent the afternoon working on designing some “gift cards” for Christmas before picking up the older kids from school. That night all we had was Jackson’s small group and K-Life, so it was another quiet night at home. Andrew took Jackson to small group at 6 and then just worked at the office until it was time to pick him up after K-Life at 8:15. I put on some Christmas shows for the kids and tried to do some wrapping, coming up to check on them every now and then and to do baths.

Friday morning, the twins destroyed the playroom while singing Jingle Bells and I tied up some loose ends on presents I needed to gather/print/cut.  And I got the four youngest packed up to go to St. Louis the next day with my parents for Annie’s baptism. I was glad it was a productive morning but I didn’t make it onto the treadmill until closer to lunch.  Speaking of Jingle Bells, Miles did ask me the other day in the car if I liked singing Christmas songs because he did J.  That afternoon, Andrew and I discussed who was going to pick up the kids because he was also wanting to take them out to the ranch for a little bit. We had decided that I would pick them up and then he would come home to take them out. So I had been waiting in line for a while and it was just about time for Ellie to come out, when I got a call from Andrew asking me if I was in line to pick up Ellie-he was about 7 cars behind me. Thankfully, he was able to get out and he picked up the boys while I got Ellie. They all headed out to the ranch to put out some mineral while I got busy getting everything ready for our own version of the Polar Express. Since it has been so cold lately (and that isn’t changing anytime soon) the kids got to do a bit on ice skating J.

I prepped the hot chocolate, made up some goodie bags and got lights up in the car. Then I made dinner and had it ready to go when they got home, so we could eat, clean up and then get on our way. While we were cleaning up dinner, I ran downstairs and started the hot chocolate. Then a little later, while Andrew distracted them, I put the hot chocolate in cups, boxed those up and took them out to the car. I told them I was going to go grocery shopping. Then I got the car on, the lights on and the Polar Express music going while Andrew told the kids to go check in their rooms where I had placed their tickets. We didn’t do it once they changed into their pjs because we had a surprise at the end where they needed regular clothes. I love how they are still excited about doing this and were full of smiles. Andrew donned his conductor hat and punched their tickets and then we were on our way. After driving around town and checking out the lights, we headed over to Truman because I had tickets to see the Holiday Laser Light show at the Planetarium. The kids were excited about it-about seeing the show and about getting to check out the reptiles in Magruder Hall, which we had time to do since we got there a little early. The laser show was decent but definitely too long. It could have been 15-20 minutes and been fine, but it was closer to 45 minutes. Andrew actually left a little early and started the car because he couldn’t take it anymore. The kids did seem to enjoy it though. And they got to see the python that wasn’t in its’ “cage” earlier as we were leaving. And we were lucky enough to be there at dinner time-it was eating some large birds. It was disgusting but the kids thought it was great. So it was a great night overall.

The next morning, Andrew took the kids to the ranch again. He had to cut ice and he took them by to see his mom. Jackson actually helped her set up Echo so that she could use it to turn on some of her lamps. He is happy when he is able to help people out like that. While they were gone, I picked up around the house and got started washing all the kids bedding.

Then I got on the bike and while I was riding, I got a text from Jackson saying that Granny was bringing them home. They all showed up a little later and knew that their next task was to clean their rooms-dust, vacuum, trash, etc. Then we finished getting everything ready for them to go to St. Louis. My parents picked them up around 12:30 and we were finally able to give my dad his birthday present. The kids were anxious to get to St. Louis though, so they went on their way. Andrew had already gone to the office at this point and stayed most of the day. Jackson and I ran some errands and went by Aldi. We also put up the Christmas tree in Andrew’s office. He didn’t necessarily want it up, but I thought his secretary would appreciate it. Back home, Jackson worked on recreating some of his Lego sets. He said when he has to dust his dresser and book case (which he sets his Legos on top of) things usually break so he goes ahead and makes new stuff. I waded through the many loads of laundry and also got some more wrapping done before we went out to eat at Maxwell’s. It was a busy night and we were lucky we didn’t get there any later or we would have had to wait. Then after dinner we watched The Martian, which we thought was pretty good. Then it was back downstairs to wrap while the boys went to bed.

The next morning, we woke to the news that Mike’s truck across the street had been broken in to. They broke his passenger side window. Andrew leave his truck unlocked just so that doesn’t happen. Plus he doesn’t leave anything of value in his truck. It didn’t seem like anyone else had anything happen to them. The cops came and checked everything and talked to several of us neighbors then I went to Wal-Mart. I had some more grocery shopping to do and I had to pick up the cupcakes for the twins’ birthday. I had asked for all white icing since I’m not crazy about the mess colored icing leaves, but they did them in white, red and green. I didn’t feel like waiting for them to fix them, so I just left it as is. Jackson didn’t want to go with me this time. He was watching a Star Wars movie when I got back. But he helped me get everything out of the car and then I started on some chicken noodle soup after I got everything put away. My main goal for the day was to tackle most of my wrapping and by 6 that night, I was pretty much done. I had Jackson wrap up some of his gifts and he still has a lot to learn. I wrapped seven presents in the time he wrapped two because he was done with it. He had four presents to wrap but I ended up wrapping two of them for him and just had him do the name tags. Now I just have to get the rest of the kids to wrap up their gifts for their sibling and cousins. Andrew helped out by putting together a couple things for me at the office.

The kids got home around 7 and my parents and Molly grabbed some soup for a quick dinner and then went on their way. They all had a great time, so I’m glad they got to go. I got their stuff unpacked while they did baths and showers and then I got a text from my mom that Miles’ coat was underneath everything and was still in their car. I had some stuff to drop off over there anyways, so I went by to pick up the coat and visited with my parents a bit. Plus my dad gave me some of his homemade peppermint ice cream. Everyone was in bed when I got home, so I headed that way too.