2016 :: week 38

September 18

Will threw up twice between 7 and 10 am Sunday morning. Will, Elliott and I stayed home and Lauren went to church with Memaw, Pepaw, Melanie and Leah. No matter how much planning and pre-Sunday morning prep I do I always feel a bit of stress trying to get out the door for church on Sunday and occasionally worry if it is worth all the work to go. But when forces outside my control prevent me from going, I am reminded how much I like going to church. Will slept almost the entire 3 hours of church and I watched Once I was a Beehive and emailed my sisters old family photos. When Will woke up from his nap he was totally back to normal--requesting food every five minutes and wanting to play games. I was pretty stir-crazy by the end of the day and Melanie and I went for a walk with Elliott, Leah and Lauren after Tony was available to keep an eye on Will.

September 19

Monday started off rough, but ended up being a day of freebies. Will had to stay home from school because he had thrown up less than 24 hours before. I couldn't go to the gym in the morning (as has become my morning routine since school started) because I couldn't take Will to the child watch for the same reasons I couldn't take him to school. We went to bed too late the night before and everyone was a little grumpy. While I was preparing the kids' lunch I knocked a knife of the table and it landed point-down on my foot! I was grumpy, but then day started to turn around. When I took Will's glasses in to get fixed they were still under warranty and there was no charge to replace them. It was "dress like a pirate day and get free donuts at Krispy Kreme day," which the big kids did received a dozen free donuts each. Because Will was out of school anyway and totally healthy by lunchtime Anthony used free ticket vouchers to take him to the Royals' afternoon make-up game. He didn't even have to pay for parking because he forgot to bring cash. They wouldn't let him in the parking lot, but told him he could park in the grass outside for free. It was a long walk, but they saved $12. That night we planned on using a gift card to pay for Domino's pizza, but then when Anthony went to pick it up it took an extra 20 minutes, so they gave it to him for free. The kids really wanted to eat outside, which we did, even though it was hot and we all ended up with bug bites.

September 20

I took this picture in the morning while Lauren and I watched part of Snow White together during Elliott's nap. I love snuggling with her and enjoy our limited one-on-one time. Lauren is vivacious and fun. She loves Snow White, but gets scared when the Old Hag visits her at the dwarf's cottage. Living with Lauren is a lesson in contradictions. It is either the best of times or the worst of times, very little in-between. Most of the time she is my best friend, concientious helper and animated story-teller. Tuesday was close to being our best day ever, if only she hadn't spilled nail polish on the carpet. Life! ;)

September 21

Leah and Melanie went to the gym with us Wednesday morning. Melanie and I went to water aerobics and Leah joined Lauren and Elliott in the child watch. After our workouts the Starita ladies came over and we tried on dresses for the upcoming weddings. That evening we drove them and my mom to the airport so they could be in Utah to help Emily with the birth of baby Mikey.

September 22

Will checked out some Elephant and Piggie books at the library and read one to Lauren and I at bedtime. I feel like I am constantly tweeking our bedtime routine. Currently I am letting the kids each pick a book for either me to read to them, or for them to read to me as we settle down for bed. I am amazed at how well Will can read now.

September 23

I had to be selective about which "Elliot getting into things" picture I posted this week, because I could have posted on almost every day. Anthony spent the latter half of the week in Norfolk, VA, and I sent him daily updates of Elliott's misadventures. Elliott likes exploring and is constanlty on the move. Constantly! He is little routines he does. In our kitchen he checks to see if the pantry is open. If it is closed he moves over to the fridge and pulls any magent he can reach off. Moves over to the stove and pulls the towels to the ground. Goes over the the drawers and pulls out a few dish clothes, paper products, etc. After that he visits our trash can and recycle and has an uncanny knack for pulling out coloring pages or school papers I deemed not worthy of keeping that upsets Lauren when she finds them. The honorable mention Elliott picture was when he got in the pantry (I accidentally left it open), pulled out the syrup, spilled some in his lap and then crawled through it about 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave to take Lauren to school.

September 24

We went to the parade at the Overland Park Fall Festival Saturday morning. It was a hot, fall morning. The kids collected quite a haul of candy. Will and Lauren each got a kazoo from a political candidate that they have enjoyed using. We had to leave the parade early to get to the first of two baptisms in our ward that day. That night I went to the women's broadcast at the Stake Center. I felt very uplifted. I really liked Sister Bingham's talk about charity. I have been thinking a lot about how she said that being generous in our thoughts and words can help us keep the commandment to love our neighbors, and to use words that build confidence and faith in others. President Uchtorf's talk about the empowerment of faith was also fantastic.