A couple weeks ago, Ellie got to participate in the middle school basketball shootout. She joined the 7th and 8th graders to play multiple 30 minute games against other middle school teams. They would have 3-5 games a day, Monday through Thursday. It made for busy days, but I enjoyed watching her play. She was nervous and unsure of her self at first since pretty much every other girl had more experience than her, but she got more comfortable throughout the week and finished off the week by swishing a couple free throws to seal the win for one of the games. The younger boys would sometimes stay home with Jackson and sometimes they would all go with me. Jackson had weights in the afternoon, so he would come back and forth from there. He also mowed Robin's yard one afternoon and just walked over to the school when he was done.
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| Wearing my old number, playing in the Pit :-) |
After games one rainy afternoon, Andrew met us at the movie theaters and we saw Incredibles 2. It was a cute movie, but our biggest surprise was when we got out of the theater and Lincoln had dried blood on his arms, shirt, shorts and face. We didn't notice anything bleeding at the time, so we rushed him outside to get a better look and were still perplexed. He had no idea he had been bleeding. He said he thought it was just water and he said it happened towards the beginning of the movie. I looked in his mouth and nose with a flashlight when we got home and that didn't seem to be the source. I had him undress and still couldn't find anything. And he felt fine. I was baffled. I had him get in the shower and wash off and I put his shirt in cold water in the sink and the water turned red. Once all the dried blood was washed off, I noticed a new stream of bright red blood coming down his arm, from a tiny spot. It was crazy how much it would bleed, but it did eventually stop. It started up the next day at the basketball games, but once it stopped, it didn't happen again. So crazy.
And our other activities continued. Ellie and Jackson had their basketball workout with the Truman players, Ellie had swim team practice and we had some baseball games. They also played a lot of Knock Out and King of the Court in the LaBeth's driveway. Mike made sure they all knew he was King of the Court, which was pretty funny.
The twins and Jackson had a game that Monday night and finished up in the rain. I took the twins early from their game to go watch Jackson bat, since they were done since they were at the top of their batting lineup. But then another mom texted me to let me know they were doing their medals even though it wasn't their last game and it was raining. So, we watched Jackson finish up and then ran back to their field just in time for them to get their medals.
Then the twins had their actual last game the next night while Lincoln also had a game. Again, it wasn't Lincoln's last game, but they went ahead and had their medal ceremony. He had his last game the next week, but I missed it because I was in Quincy for Ellie's swim meet. Andrew said he hit two home runs :-).
Jackson ended up having last-minute game the week before last in Novinger. Andrew had decided to drive the tractor back out to his pasture before we knew about the game and I had to drive out to pick him up. I took the twins and Lincoln with me, which maybe wasn't the best idea since we had to move quickly to get back in time to get Jackson to his game and Lincoln ended up getting sick. It ended up being a good night for a ballgame though. Jackson had another game the next week, the same night as Lincoln's last one and when I was in Quincy. But the game didn't start until 8 and since Ellie's swim meet ended up finishing up around 7:30, we were able to make it to the last part of the game. It wasn't the best game for his team. They finished up around 10 and we finally headed home after a long day.
As I already mentioned, Ellie had another swim meet and this time it was at Quincy Country Club. They had a pretty small team, so they meet went quickly. Ellie was able to improve a little more on her times. And she joined a 13/14 medley relay team that consisted of her and the others were all siblings...and tall :-).
The meet and games were last Monday and as I mentioned, it was a long day. Andrew, Jackson and Lincoln were out of the door around 4:30 in the morning to help gather and sort calves they all sold to load out. It was a hot day, so they wanted to get it done early. I went for an early run and then took the rest of them out to help with the loading. I guess it all went pretty smoothly and they were happy to get it done more quickly than usual.
With the 4th of July approaching, that meant that the K-Life Fireworks tent was up and going. We worked two days. The first evening was the Sunday before the 4th. Our shift was from 5-10, so I ordered some pizza to be delivered and Ellie and I went at the beginning. Andrew and the boys showed up a little later and had some pizza, but since Wade and Laura were both sticking around, everyone ended up going home except Jackson and I. My parents came by at one point and took the younger boys to their house to swim. It was a steady night, but not too busy. We were supposed to work until 10, but Wade told us we could head home a little after 9. Then we worked again Tuesday morning. That shift was supposed to be from 7-12, but Wade said nothing would be happening at 7, so to not worry about coming that early. Then he texted me Tuesday morning, saying it wasn't too busy if we wanted to wait a bit to come. Jackson and Ellie had basketball that morning at 9, so I told him we would just come by after they were done with that. And we brought Joe along with us too.
Family started coming into town Tuesday afternoon. Amanda and her family, Caroline, Jared and Emmie and Lissy all came into town that night. Kaitlin and her crew came the next morning. I was trying to get things ready to go for vacation, kamp and Lincoln's birthday, so we got over to my parents around 4:30, but then I had to leave soon after pick up Andrew and meet up with Heidi and Jeff for dinner at Colton's. We had a nice dinner and conversation and after a couple hours, decided we needed to get back to the kids. They were all swimming when I got back to the house and that is what we did a lot of over the next few days. They had races, played sharks and minnows and got creative with all the inflatables. We had some pretty hot days, so the pool was the best entertainment. And sleepovers. All the kids except Jackson spent a couple nights at my parents and filled up the basement.
Except I did have them sleep at our house the first night because we were supposed to do a lemonade stand on the morning of the 4th to help raise money for Kids Against Hunger. I quickly made some rice krispie treats and bagged them up. We borrowed a jug from Sharon and made some lemonade, rolled our lemonade stand down to Leah's house and they got to work. Ellie even decided to use her great skills and offer braiding and other hair styles. Sadly, it wasn't too busy and was hot, so we shut down around noon. They may have ended up with $100 with some generous donations. I think they drank more lemonade than they sold and hardly any of the treats sold. That worked out well for me, though, as I was able to bring ours to my parents for their little party that night.
Ellie always likes to get a hold of my phone and take selfies. She had quite a variety this last time.
My parents' party on the 4th was much smaller this time. The Powells,Teresa and Tom were the only ones that came, but we didn't really invite anyone else. Except for the traveling ultrasound technician from the hospital. She is from St. Louis but was working in Kirksville over the 4th, so my parents invited her :-). But, it was a nice low-key event where we enjoyed visiting, the kids played and shot off fireworks and then enjoyed the display after dark. Miles was our first and only burn victim with a little burn on his hand. My dad put burn cream on it and wrapped it in gauze and he was good by later that evening.
Jackson had his last game Friday evening. It was the first game of their tournament, but since the rest of the tournament is while we are on vacation, that was it for Jackson. After being in a batting slump, he had a couple of great hits along with some great plays in the field and we were so happy for him.
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