Happy 5th Birthday Miles & Bennett!

We started another cold week on Monday. I helped out in Lincoln’s classroom that morning. He gave me a hug and told me my sweater was cozy like the blanket on our couch. I was able to go home for a bit before picking up the twins and I decided to go ahead and decorate for their birthday and surprise them. When I picked them up, Bennett was quick to admit that he had gotten into trouble that day. He sat down during part of their Christmas program rehearsal and then ran out of the church. He seemed pretty remorseful but Miles was quick to also point out to me that Bennett had not been good.  Back at home we had several pep talks before the program and continued the bribe of shakes if they did a good job. We even got some cute pictures.

We got to the church early and got good seats-I think the first time in 9 years. I took the twins back to their room and they seemed all good. That is until it was time to walk down the aisle to the front of church together and Bennett wouldn’t hold Miles’ hand and Miles had to tell me about it. The program was really sweet and the kids had several pretty short songs to sing. The kids did a great job, except for Bennett. He didn’t want anything to do with and stood there with a very solemn face for the whole program. It is hard to describe, but it was pretty funny. At one point, all the kids crouched down on the ground and Bennett was left standing, in the middle, by himself. He went down with them a second time and then when they needed to stand back up, Bennett stayed down and tried to keep Miles down with him. Then Miles spotted me and tried to yell to me that Bennett was being mean. Thankfully he went back to singing and it resolved quickly. We all had tears by the time it was all done. I kept trying to get Bennett’s attention and let him know that he needed to smile and sing and I was motioning like I was drinking to remind him he could get a shake. People probably thought I was crazy. I think Bennett must have thought he lost his chance early on and didn’t attempt to make it any better. I do think he does not like performing in front of crowds.

I found Bennett after the performance and he just put his head down as I approached him. He knew that he blew his chance to get a shake. I did feel sorry for him and gave him a big hug, but had to follow through on what I had said earlier. So, we made our way to Dairy Queen and Bennett didn’t get a shake. It was so sad as he little tears came down his face, when he realized it was really happening. But all was forgotten the next day and he was good to go, especially since it was his big fifth birthday. He and Miles were so excited. I dropped them off at school and they immediately got to start decorating their birthday crowns. I went home to quickly finish cleaning bathrooms and then went back to school to do cupcakes with their class during their snack time. They loved all of it and were really hoping they could get two cupcakes.

I spent some of the day cleaning, doing the final touches on the decorating and cooking. I took the twins to McDonalds for their birthday lunch which always makes them happy. Andrew picked up the other kids from school and then he took Jackson and Ellie to Walmart. They were wanting to cash in their coins at the Coinstar machine to buy Christmas gifts and then Jackson needed to get some stuffing for the pillow he was going to be making in his home ec. class. For some reason, he decided to go for a huge bag and the proceeded to bust it open. He tried to stuff it in a trash bag but I think it was entertaining to watch him carry it into school the next morning. Oh, and Andrew surprised me with some roses J.

The twins couldn’t wait for their party to start but I was able to get a few pictures of them before.

We had a Rudolph theme which turned out cute. I hope I can keep doing Christmas-themed birthday parties for them. I had some of their favorites foods for them-Uncrustables, Danimal Yogurt and macaroni and cheese. But then I made an actual dinner for the rest of us. So, we had dinner and then moved onto opening presents. They loved all of it and were so excited for everything. They immediately started playing with stuff and had to be pulled away to do their cupcakes. Overall, they had a wonderful birthday and really had fun with all of it. We are so blessed got decided to surprise us with them.

The twins were right back to playing with all of their new toys. I had stayed up the night before cleaning out some older toys in the playroom to make room for new ones. I have done several times throughout the year and thought we were good, but the new toys the twins got for their birthday made me a bit anxious about what was to come for Christmas, so I cleaned out more. And then I spent some time putting together their fire station and police station and all the tiny little pieces that came with them. I didn’t realize how long that would take. But they loved playing with them and they played with them most of the day after they got home from school. I swam laps in the morning and then got a few more items marked off my Christmas to-do list. Lincoln is supposed to bring stocking stuffers in for his class, so I did the Frosty the S’mores Man again and put marshmallow snowmen, chocolate and graham crackers in little bags with tags. I also offered to do party favors, so Lincoln helped me bag all of those up after school. And then I gathered the treats and napkins he was supposed to bring and put everything in a big bag for him to take to school. We enjoyed another evening without anything on the schedule. We have been bad about reading Lincoln’s library books, so we spent a lot of time reading with him.

We didn’t have our bible study on Thursday so I was able to work out and do my grocery shopping Thursday morning. When I picked up the twins, they had their presents for Andrew and I all wrapped. They got to decorate their own wrapping paper and Bennett colored flowers on his and Miles did Christmas trees and his family. I loved them. We put them under the tree but I do know that they are their little nativity sets that all of the kids have done. I’m sure they will be so sweet. That afternoon I started some Christmas baking. I made some peanut butter cup crunch brownies to take to a PTA lunch at the Primary school the next day and I made my first large batch of pudding cookies and some pretzel Rolo bites. I had enough to make up boxes for six neighbors and our K-Life leaders.

Sharon had called and said she was making some jambalaya and wanted to know if Andrew would want some. So, when Dan brought that by, I was able to give them their cookies. I had Ellie and Lincoln take the rest to some of our neighbors later that evening.

Ellie and Lincoln had their last Little K of the year after school, so we just had to pick up Jackson. Then we were able to give Wade and Laura their Christmas gifts when we picked up the kids for K-Life. Next up was dinner at Colton’s for Mary’s birthday. We gave her an Echo Dot and Jackson told her he would help her get it all set up. While everyone was still visiting, I took Jackson back to the K-Life house for his small group and when I got back to Colton’s, Ann was sitting near us. I never see her around town, so it was good to talk to her a bit.

Thankfully, Ellie didn’t have dance that night, so we were just able to go home. She hasn’t had it for a couple weeks now and she said she actually misses it. So we didn’t have much going on the rest of the evening except for Jackson having K-Life. I got a text from my mom saying they were making noodles if I wanted to come over and learn how to do it. When I got there, the dough was already made and my dad was using his nifty attachments for his mixer. One flattened out the dough into sheets and the other one would cut the sheet into noodles. It definitely made things easier. I didn’t get to stick around too long though, as I had to pick up Jackson from K-Life. Back at home, Lincoln and I finished up his Magic Treehouse books he could return it to the library the next day.

Andrew had to go cut ice again the next morning, so I was in charge of getting everyone to school.  We had a light dusting of snows and things were already a little bit slick in places. But then Andrew ended up showing up, so he took Jackson earlier and I took Ellie and Lincoln later. I ran Lincoln into school since he had his big bag of Christmas goodies for his parties the next week and I had to drop off the brownies. Then the twins and I ran a couple quick errands dropping off some toys at the thrift store and going by Walgreens before the bad weather set in some more. That afternoon I made some peanut butter bars to freeze for Christmas at my parents and the twins “helped” me wrap their gifts for their siblings. They held some wrapping paper, helped tie the ribbon and wrote their names on the gift tags.

Then we left pretty early to pick up the kids since the roads were getting worse. We slid down our driveway but made it to the school okay. Things got worse as the afternoon and evening went on. I think people were sliding off the road all over Missouri. Andrew got home a little after six and said things were pretty slick. I had made pancakes for dinner before he got there and he was lucky to have any as the kids were trying to claim them all. Then, even though I loved the thought of staying in my warm, cozy house, I got ready for an Ugly Sweater Bunco night at Leah’s. Before I left, we opened the twins’ gifts that they made for Andrew and I and they were the sweet nativity sets.

Andrea walked over and met me and she borrowed one of Andrew’s sweatshirts and we made our way through the tundra to Leah’s house. Everyone visited for quite a while before we even started playing and we only ended up playing one “game” and then called it quits and visited again. The kids were all still up though when I got home, sleeping out in the family room.

Andrew headed out to the ranch the next morning to cut ice and put out hay. He wanted to take the kids but I was nervous about the roads and it was only going to get colder as the day went on. I let the kids sleep in if they wanted to, which Jackson and Ellie did. The younger ones were up and ready to play. I got on the trainer and since I didn’t have anything too pressing to do, I did 20 miles and the kids only came to me a few times to tell on each other and to get help putting together Lego pieces. The snow started picking up later in the morning/early afternoon so they all went out to play in it for a bit. Around that time, Andrew got home safe and sound. But then he was off to the office after he got something to eat. Ellie and I eventually got around to wrapping her presents for her sibling/cousins.

I also made some more treats to freeze for Christmas and then got busy with dinner. After dinner, Andrew offered to drive me so I could do my grocery shopping which was awesome. He dropped me off at the door and then would pick me up. I got through Aldi and Walmart pretty quickly and didn’t have to mess with the cold that much. The next morning the wind chills were 20-25 below but Andrew still had to go out and cut ice. He took Jackson and Ellie with him but he is good about making things fun for them.

Back home I continued my baking and was able to finish up cookies and pretzel bites for our neighbors and the teachers and got those all packaged up.  The kids are still loving roller blading around the house and it creates some chaos. Sometimes it is more like roller derby and they think they need to do it while I’m trying to cook.

We finished up our wrapping with me wrapping a couple last-minute presents and helping Lincoln wrap his presents. That afternoon, we all went to see Moana. We were the only ones in the theater at first and then just a few more people showed up. It was a tad bit long for the twins but we all enjoyed it.

And even though I had hoped I wouldn’t have to go back to the store for a while, I actually forgot a few things and Andrew was kind enough to take me on our way back from the movies. I was in and out quickly though. Back home, Andrew decided he probably needed to clean off the driveway the best he could since we had a Christmas dinner at our house the next evening. He got Jackson and Ellie to help him and the twins were excited to go outside and play. Lincoln went out for a little bit too. I had some hot chocolate ready for them when they came in and was also working on one of their favorite dinners-Dobson Cottage Lemon Chicken. Their little cheeks stayed red for a while after coming in and they went ahead and took their baths to warm up. The kids got out several games to play and ended up with Twister.

Then after dinner I continued my baking and made a red velvet sheet cake for our dinner the next night. I decided to make some chocolate holly decorations and go on top and Ellie really wanted to help.

That night, I was going through some emails and decided to read the Primary School newsletter and learned that Lincoln had won a Kirk’s Kid award for the month and he never even mentioned it.