Where Did Our Warm Weather Go?

This past Monday morning, the kids actually had school, which also meant I got to help in Lincoln’s class. After I finished up there, I ran some quick errands that included dropping off all of our information to finish our taxes. I was so happy to get that delivered. Although it was windy out, the temperature was warmer, so the kids played outside in the afternoon. I was dragging a bit with my cold, but I got everything prepped for dinner and then went out for a little bit too.

We had storms coming that night and even though we had a severe thunderstorm warning, we got off pretty nicely. Several towns throughout Missouri ended up with damage as the line of storms stretched almost of the whole length of the state. Tuesday morning, a guy came to replace the blower in our tub and was here most of the morning. The kids got to get outside again that afternoon and I had to make sure dinner was ready early since Ellie had her Famous Missourians Wax Museum that evening and had to be there at 5:45. Molly came over and did her hair for her and I put a tiny bit of makeup on her before we walked out the door. I didn’t realize until talking with another mom, that Ellie’s grade is the largest in the district with around 240 kids in the class. That made for a busy event. My parents and Mary came to watch Ellie and she did a wonderful job. Her speech was a little longer than others, but she had it memorized well and projected well with a smile on her face. She impressed many, including Andrew and I’s old math teacher, Mr. Lee.

I had a rough night Tuesday night and was up coughing quite a bit. I hoped to not wake Andrew and went into the closet, but I had already woke him up and he came in with some hot tea and a jar of honey. He swears that the honey helps with the cough. I took a couple spoonfuls and eventually my cough settled down and I was able to go back to sleep. The morning came early though. Thankfully, the kids were pretty good about getting ready. I had a lot I wanted to do that morning, so I tried to moving along quickly. I got most of my bathroom cleaning done before school drop off. Then it was off to the pool. I didn’t have quite enough time to finish, so I shortened my cool down because I needed to be home and on the bike by 9:15. I decided to do my first group ride on Zwift and I kind of messed it up. I should have started out faster and then I had to get off the bike and turn on the fan, so I got dropped from the main group pretty quickly. It was  a longer ride than what I had originally though and ended up being just over 23 miles. It was definitely a learning lesson. But I was exhausted after the swim and ride thanks to my cold and lack of sleep. Andrew picked up the twins from school and then it was time for lunch. It was hard to motivate myself to do much else, but had to keep going to prepare for small group the next day and get the house cleaned. The twins have been having funny conversations about school drop off and pick up. It has to do with who is first, last, etc. and how many. They are trying to decide if they are considered one since they are twins and are the “same”.

Jackson started weights for football after school. I was picking up Ellie and Lincoln went I got a text from him that he needed a waiver signed, so we stopped by the high school so I could sign it for him and he could get started. Back at home, the kids went outside to play again as our forecast wasn’t looking so hot. Leah came over to borrow my hedge trimmer to cut down her grass. She was right, that it was a good time to do it. The wind wasn’t too bad and it was just going to get colder over the next week. Andrew picked up Jackson from weights and got home about the time I decided to start cutting our grasses. I got the small ones out back and he did the front ones while I trimmed the other bushes out back and threw everything away. It was nice to get that crossed off the to-do list. Then it was time to finish dinner as Ellie and Lincoln had their last basketball practices. Ellie was first and then I dropped off Lincoln when I picked her up and we went grocery shopping. Leah brought Lincoln home for me since I was still shopping. He brought home a bag of candy that his coaches gave him which was really sweet. His coaches were Truman students and would be on spring break for their last game.

When Ellie and I got back, I put away the groceries and started working on the coffee cake for small group snack the next day. I just made the topping and prepped everything so it was quick to mix up and bake the cake the next morning. I wanted to serve it warm. So, the next morning I got up and got the cake ready to go, got on the treadmill, ran a mile, put the cake in, made sure everyone was up and moving and then went back down to finish out my run. When I got done with the run, I put the crumb topping on the cake and put it back in the oven for it to finish baking. I was so happy when it was done and the crumb topping was still on the top. That was the first time it has actually stayed on the top when making the Kanakuk recipe. Then it was time to finish getting ready, get the kids to school and then home for bible study. We had to stop bible study a little early because I had to be at Ellie’s school by 10:05 for her RAP presentation on Thailand. It wasn’t long at all and I was in and out of there in 10 minutes. She basically just read from a poster she had made about the country. She does a pretty good job at public speaking though and it was nice to see the RAP classroom since I had never been in it before. I went to the bank after I was done at the school and finally deposited the kids’ money into their savings account. They have been saving it since Christmas and Lincoln also included the money he just got from collecting tubs for Mary. 

That afternoon, Ellie and Lincoln had Little K and then Ellie had dance afterwards. I started going downhill that afternoon and ended up laying down for a bit in the afternoon and going to bed early. I was hoping I was starting to feel better, but maybe my workouts didn’t help my recovery. Thankfully, Andrew took care of the kids the rest of the night. But then he had to go out to the ranch Friday morning to move his cattle, so I had to get moving and get the kids to school. I laid around some that morning while the twins played and then I turned on Paw Patrol for them and made myself get on the bike. The twins kept checking to see if Ty was home, so they could go out and play with everyone. Eventually, I made myself get on the bike and got a ride in. Jackson had small group that afternoon and Andrew picked up the others from school. That evening was pretty low-key. Saturday morning Lincoln and Ellie had their last Y basketball games and they went out with a bang. Ellie had really gotten a handle on the fast break layups and was having fun with them. But she did a couple other things I was proud of…great defense, making sure to pass the ball off too so others on her team would get a chance to shoot and setting screens for teammates so they could drive in.

Andrew and the kids went out to the ranch after the games and I went grocery shopping, did laundry and got a run in. Ellie had a last-minute birthday sleepover for a pair of twins in her class that evening, so I had to find presents for them and get them wrapped up. Andrew and Lincoln went to the office for a while that evening and Jackson, the twins and I made some shakes.

My coughing started up again that evening and it wouldn’t stop. I was up a lot during the night. I tried cough medicine, cough drops and honey to no avail. I laid in the closet for a while hoping to not wake anyone up. Needless to say, I was beat the next day. Plus, we woke up to a little bit of snow on the ground. I wasn't too pleased. Andrew went out to put out hay and we didn’t go to church. I was afraid to start into a coughing fit while we were there. I laid low part of the day, gave up my plan to bike and run, and spent some time reading. I did a quick clean out of the car and garage, vacuumed around the house and did laundry. The kids all had to dust and vacuum their rooms and then they actually spent a lot of the day playing outside even though it was cold. They played “gun games”, rode on their scooters and played basketball.

I picked Ellie up from her sleepover that morning and then she ended up falling asleep while cleaning her room. That afternoon, I loaded them all up and we made a quick trip to Home Depot to get a few things. I figured it was good to get out of the house a bit. We got a small piece of drywall to patch up the hole in our wall from getting the blower in our tub replaced. I got to work on that when we got home and got the piece cut to fit in the hole and then Andrew showed up and took over while I worked on dinner and dessert. He cut spare pieces of trim to attach the piece of drywall to so that we can remove that piece when we need to access the blower again. After dinner, Jackson went over to Zach’s for a sleepover and the rest of us laid low, ready for bed.