2016 :: week 35

August 28

Will and I went for a walk while Anthony hosted a BYD at our home (postponed from last week). I sat and watched Will work on his monkey bars and a family play Pokemon Go. One of the kids playing Pokemon starts yelling "Look up! Look up!" I assumed it was some Poke-thing, but then Will told me to look too and when I did I was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.

August 29

For FHE I took the kids to Pump-It-Up! for one last time before our Groupon expired. The kids, especially Lauren have gotten so much more adventurous this summer. The last time we went (earlier this month) Lauren wouldn't even attempt these jumps, and Monday night she conquered the whole thing!

August 30

Lauren's preschool had an Open House Tuesday evening. She enjoyed showing off her classroom, Elliott enjoyed dumping out as many buckets of toys he could get his hands on, and Will peppered everyone with lots of questions. Lauren's teacher this year is Miss Diana. We really like her. Each week they have a theme and do some amazing enrichment activities and learn fun new songs. I was really missing TJ (he was in DC) this night. I do a lot of things with the kids by myself, but this night I was tired and was missing my backup.

August 31

I am still figuring out how to manage our time in the afternoon. We arrive home from picking up Will between 3:15pm and 3:30pm, and I aim to have dinner on the table between 5:30pm and 6pm, which leaves me with approximately 2 hours to manage. This "witching hour" has long been my second most frustrating time period in mothering (bedtime/nighttime is hands down the hardest). The kids need attention, are hungry, fatigued and often bored. They also really want to play out front with the neighbors, but I am uncomfortable having them play out front without adult supervision. It is a lot of work watching Elliott out front because he wants to put everything into his mouth, and it has been really hot, so I hadn't let the kids play out front for several days. Wednesday afternoon Elliott kept me company as I sat in my camp chair and tried to read the book club book (Pivot Point by Kasie West) while the kids played soccer with our neighbors.

September 1

During the three week period after most of the outdoor pools close and the Tomahawk limits their hours the our pool passes are valid at the indoor pool inside Matt Ross. We fit in a few visits this year, with the lazy river being our favorite spot. Anthony was finally able to utilize the new sauna's that were installed earlier this year and gave them a thumbs up.

September 2

Friday after dinner we trekked over to Grinter Farm in Lawrence, KS. The sunflower field just before sunset was gorgeous. It was quite crowded, but we were still able to have fun. Elliott has grown up so much since our visit here last year.

September 3

Saturday was a low-key day. We did work around the house and I prepared for the RS lesson I was giving Sunday. I convinced everyone we should go to the outdoor pool (as opposed to the indoor) and we had fun, though the water was very chilly. That night Anthony went over to my parents house to watch the first BYU game of the season.