The Farwell Family

The kids got to enjoy a four-day weekend and didn’t have school on Monday. The temperatures were still nice, but it rained off and on throughout the day. We went to the Lego Batman Movie in the afternoon. Jackson seemed to pick up a nasty cold, so I felt sorry for the guy sitting in front of him (thankfully, not directing in front) as Jackson coughed and sneezed throughout the movie. He ended up taking a nap when we got home. Ellie made some oobleck and tried to make some more slime, but it didn’t quite work out. That evening, Molly came over to watch the kids for us while Andrew and I went to a K-Life meeting. Then it was back home to clean up, have the kids put away their laundry and get ready for school the next day.

We had another beautiful day on Tuesday. I did a run in the morning and then a bike ride out to the lake over lunch while Andrew watched the twins. Then it was off to the dentist for Miles to get his last fillings. I didn’t tell them where we were going, but they became concerned as we pulled into the parking lot and asked what we were doing. When I said we were going to the dentist, Bennett immediately started crying and I said it was just for Miles this time. Bennett was all smiles after that while Miles started crying and continued to whimper until they were done…just little tears coming down his face. But it was pretty quick and we were out of there in less than ½ hour. And we got shakes again after we picked up the kids at school and dropped Ellie off at basketball practice. The kids played outside most of the afternoon after school. I worked a bit in the yard pruning bushes (especially the ones Buddy has decided to mark that are dying L). Andrew came home a little early and started up a football game out in the backyard while I finished up dinner.

After dinner, I had to go to a TriFAHL meeting where I had been asked to share my experiences. There wasn’t much of a turnout the previous year, so I didn’t expect much this year. And I was correct, there were just two other people there besides myself and the coordinator. We still went over everything though. While I was gone, Andrew worked on relacing an old catchers mitt my dad had given us. Then he replaced the chain on his old bike. We realized the chain hadn’t been replaced since he got it as his Father’s Day gift about 5 years ago.  Then when I got home, Jackson and I got to work making his friend banana chips for his Honduran project.

Wednesday morning, I woke up not feeling that great but thankfully started feeling better after I got moving a bit. Andrew had court out of town, so I had to take all of the kids to school. I got that done and then went to swim laps and felt pretty wiped out. Since it was our last day of really nice weather, I had wanted to get a run in too, but it just didn’t happen. I cleaned the bathrooms and Andrew picked up the twins for me. Jackson had basketball after school and the others played outside some except for Ellie. Her stomach was really bothering her and she even ended up skipping basketball practice. Andrew took Lincoln to his practice and then I picked him up and took Ellie over to see my dad since she wasn’t feeling any better. After listening to her abdomen, he thought it may be that she was having bowel spasms and called her in some medicine we were able to pick up on our way home. She was finally able to fall asleep about an hour or so after we got home. Thankfully, she felt better the next day and the rest of the week.

Amanda and her kids got in on Thursday, so we went over there after school and ate a quick dinner before getting Ellie to her last home ballgame at MI. The younger kids had fun playing out in the hallway while the games were going on, although they got a little rowdy at times. Ellie got in a couple times and then we had Jackson’s game next. He was still battling a cold and seemed a little sluggish.  After the game, he went with me to Wal-Mart to help me pick out a new tv and get some dog good. We tried to get our old tv fixed, and after having it a for almost a week, the repairman said that it would cost $300 to fix it. So, a new TV it was. I had one picked out online and it was available at the store. While I was talking with a guy about loading it, I sent Jackson just down the aisle to get the dog food. The guy asked me where my cart was and I told him my son was putting some dog food in it. We look down the aisle to see Jackson struggling to put the dog food under the cart, from the back while the cart kept moving around. He asked if Jackson needed help, and I just giggled and said he would figure it out. Another employee came along and showed him how to put it through the front and placed the cart so it wouldn’t move J. But we got everything loaded up and paid for and went home to get the new tv set up. Friday, we eventually made it over to my parents after I made a dessert to take over and got a couple workouts in. The kids went right to playing and Miles informed me that Grandma could “keep an eye on us” while I picked up the other kids from school, so that they didn’t have to go with me. Andrew actually ended up picking them up and bringing them by my parents. Then by the time I went to pick up Jackson from small group at 4:30, we had a nasty winter mix coming down. It sure made me miss the warmer weather from a few days before. My mom made fried chicken that night and the kids were super excited. They ate it up.  Later that evening, Molly taught Ellie and Carson a clapping game that they had a lot of fun playing. Ellie can’t wait to show it to her friends. Then the younger boys wanted to stay for a sleepover. After I got them situated, Ellie and I went home.

Saturday morning, we were over at my parents to pick up the boys around 8:15. Lincoln had a game at nine and I had to bring all their clothes over to change into. My parents offered to let the twins stay and play since Amanda wasn’t leaving until around lunch. That was great because we had four games and Ellie had a makeup dance class, all before one. Ellie stayed too and my dad took her to dance at 10:30 while I took Lincoln to his game. Andrew and Jackson met us there and then Andrew took Jackson to his game which started at 10:15 and I waited until Lincoln was done and he passed out his snacks he was in charge of for that game. He was very excited about his game and did a great job staying tough on defense and even scored 3 baskets.  After we were done, we headed to the middle school and got there just in time for Jackson’s game to start. Jackson was still pretty sluggish, ended up with a bloody nose and the team didn’t do well overall. We went back home after the game, got some lunch and then I picked up Ellie from dance and took her to her game that started at noon. Andrew stayed with Jackson and Lincoln and we had some talks with Jackson about hustling and being aggressive at his next game. I didn’t get to see it, since it was around the same time as Ellie’s, but Andrew said he was much better. Ellie had a great game, but seem disappointed for some reason.

After we were all done with everything, Andrew went out to the ranch to put out hay, Jackson went to Joe’s house with the rest of the boys from his team to have pizza and hang out, and Ellie, Lincoln and I went to my parents to pick up the twins. My mom sent a picture a little before we got there of the twins knocked out after the Bobziens left. I think they played hard.

Back home, I got a run in and Andrew rode on the trainer. Ellie finally got around to making a special treat for a janitor at her school. He gives the kids candy and she is always talking about how nice he is, so she wanted to do something for him. She made him dynamite out of Rolos with a tag that said "You are the bomb". 

We ended up ordering pizza and had a lazy night watching a movie together, Hoovey. All the kids actually sat and watched it even though it wasn’t an animated film. Sunday morning, Andrew put some hay out before church. I went grocery shopping later and got a text from my dad asking if he could come over and see if the Sweepovac would fit at our house. He came a little after I got home bearing the inflated bop balls, the Sweepovac and a bag of peanut butter cups. Lincoln and Ty immediately took the bop balls out to play. Sadly, the sweepovac didn’t fit in our kitchen either. That evening we had Andrew’s family in for dinner and didn’t worry too much about staying up later since the kids didn’t have school the next day.