The Farwell Family

So, the countdown to the end of school is on which means the end-of-school-year flurry of activities. Monday morning I was in Lincoln’s class again. I helped give a makeup test to a student and then we headed out for a field trip to the conservation department. It started raining soon after we got there, so the field trip had to stay inside. We spent some time in the observation room. Lincoln wanted a picture with the eagle there. I took several because each time I decided my face looked weird and I was beginning to wonder if that is the way I actually looked. One side was puffed up and the other side was flat. I later determined it was the face-shaping software on the selfie-mode that was still on. I thought I had turned all of those filters off-the face-smoothing, eye-enlarging, etc. The kids also got to see and learn about about different Missouri animal pelts and do a butterfly craft project. I had to leave before they were done, as I had to pick up the twins from school.

That night Jackson had baseball and we also had soccer and had the multiple baseball/softball practices on Tuesday night. It would be their last practices since games were starting that weekend. Thankfully the weather was nice, if even a bit warm. Throughout the day, I worked on the end-of-the-year teacher gifts and starting the prep work for Andrew and I to leave town for a few days. Wednesday morning, Ellie and I were up early to get to school for her class field trip to Jefferson City. The kids rode the buses, but us parents had to drive. As I was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot, Makenzie Sampson stopped me to see if I wanted to ride with her and Theresa Melnick. So, I parked my car again, grabbed my drinks and snacks and joined them. It was an enjoyable ride with good conversation. We found the kids once we got to the capitol and started our tours. Ellie brought her camera and was cute trying to take all sort of pictures. We toured the capitol first, then walked to the Archives building where we watched a pretty cheesy show called The Archives Live that was about Missouri’s history and then ate lunch in a grassy area near the governor’s mansion. Then we drove over to Central Dairy to get some ice cream. It is a popular spot for all of the fourth grade tour groups that come to Jefferson City, so the line was very long. It took much longer than expected so we didn’t have time for the last item on the agenda, the tour of the Capitol Museums. The kids got to quickly go through the museum area before getting back on the bus. The day went pretty well and, thankfully, the rain held off until we were almost back to Kirksville. Ellie, Tyne and Corbyn rode back with us and convinced Makenzie to stop at McDonalds in Macon. As we were walking in, the poor kids on the bus rode by, waving at them from the windows.

We had a decent downpour, so Jackson’s baseball practice was canceled that night. Andrew had dropped the boys off at my parents’ house earlier in the day, so Ellie and I ran home, did a few things and then went to my parents to celebrate Molly’s birthday. We ended up skipping soccer practice since it was still kind of yucky outside and the kids were excited to be able to stay for ice cream cake.

 

Thursday was a big day for the twins…their school circus. I was a little nostalgic as it was our last circus after 8 years. We started with Jackson as a strong man, Ellie as a clown, Lincoln as a ringleader and lion tamer and then ended with Miles as a lion (although he liked to call himself a tiger) and Bennett as a trick dog. I dropped them off at school, ran to Wal-Mart quickly and then back to school to help out. They initially had me down to help paint faces, but there were a few other moms there who did a much better job than I could do so I poured soda 😊. The twins did well for their rehearsal, but then Miles started getting hungry (having popcorn and cotton candy around for the audience didn’t help), so I wasn’t sure what he would end up doing. My mom, Mary and Andrew all came to watch and they both ended up doing their parts perfectly. It was all so cute. Afterwards, we picked up some McDonalds to celebrate. 

The rain came again that evening, so Ellie’s soccer scrimmage was canceled. I was okay with it as it gave me a chance to get to Aldi and get stuff done around the house.  Friday we had our first ballgame of the season, Lincoln’s. He had a good game and can be fun to watch…although I need to sew up the pockets to all his pants since he always puts his hands in his pockets whether it is basketball or baseball. He had a couple hits and a couple good stops. 

We were going to eat a La Fuente afterwards, but it was packed so we headed to Sonic. Then I ran to the store since I forgot a couple of items for the Mother’s Day dinner I was doing for my mom and Andrew’s mom the next evening. I was just having a hard time keeping track of all the different items I needed the dinner, our trip, packing up everything the kids needed at my parents (for school, lunches, all their activities which included football, soccer and baseball-a bag with eight pairs of cleats) and end-of the-school-year. Once it got dark, Jackson asked if he could get his glow-in-the-dark Capture the Flag game out that he got for his birthday. They set it up in the LaBeth’s front yard since they had some family in town and they had so much fun. I had the windows open and could hear them all out there laughing and lights moving all over the yard while I worked inside. I went out for a little bit and they said they loved it. Sadly, the two “flags”, which were plastic orbs with lights in them, got dropped and broke. One still worked, but was cracked and the other didn’t work at all. I emailed the company and they sent out new ones for us.

We had a couple more games Saturday afternoon. Ellie and the twins had their games at the same time. Andrew sat over by Ellie’s field most of the time and would come over to watch the twins every now and then. From where I sat at the twins’ field I could see Ellie. Bennett played third base and Miles backed him up. I think they had one play towards them and Bennett was able to field it and get it back to the pitcher. And they each got a couple of hits, but had to bring out the tee sometimes. It is a long game, but entertaining. Lincoln and Alex would come by and watch him every now and then and Lincoln decided he needed to give them some advice about how to put the bat down as you run to first instead of stopping to sit it down 😊.

I didn’t get any pictures of Ellie this time but it looked like she had a good game. She did strike out at bat and I know that frustrated her, but it is always hard getting back into the kid-pitch. She did a good job at third base though. And we had some beautiful weather for the game. Back home, I worked more on packing while Andrew took the kids to the office with him for a little bit. I also cleaned up around the house, made a cake for dinner and prepped what I could for dinner that evening. When Andrew got back, he grilled the chicken for dinner and I got the rest of it ready. We had a nice dinner with a smaller crowd. Molly was out of town and Matthew and Kristin were in St. Louis, so it was just our parents and our family. We also gave them their gifts…the Ancestry DNA kits. Then after they left, it was back to packing up.

Andrew went for a bike ride Sunday morning and then we went to church. I spent the rest of the day packing. The kids had already given me the Mother’s Day gifts they made at school. The twins made picture magnets, handprint butterflies and heart keychains with their thumbprint on them. So cute. Lincoln had a little book about me and Ellie gave me a flower she had planted in a cup she decorated. All very sweet. Jackson had talked about wanting to get something for me, but just didn’t have the means. And he helped me a lot the day before (and whenever I ask) with getting things ready for dinner. We did hit a bit of a bump when Miles got sick. He complained of his stomach hurting before we went to church and then again when we got back. He tried to take a bite of a donut at church and couldn’t do it. I ended up setting him up in our bathroom and he slept most of the day. He had a slight fever, so I gave him some medicine when he woke up. I called my parents about it and they were fine with us still leaving, although I felt bad for both them and Miles. I had thought about leaving earlier and stopping by a couple stores but decided against it since Miles was sick. So, we dropped them off at my parents around 5, said our goodbyes and headed towards St. Louis. I did get a text later that evening asking where the Kindles were because Miles had gotten sick and wanted to rest and watch his. They said he acted better after he threw up though and thankfully started feeling better that night. Andrew and I stopped to grab dinner in Hannibal. He chose Hardees and thought there wasn’t a drive-thru, so we went in. It was nasty-sticky floors, dirty, etc. Best Mother’s Day meal ever 😊.