2017 :: week 2

January 8

On Sunday afternoon I had a RS committee meeting immediately following church. Elliott was in great need of a nap, and my dad generously offered to drive my kids home for me rather than make them stay and wait for me to finish. Rather than move all three car seats to my dad's truck we just swapped cars. I was a bit apprehensive about driving the F-150, but it wasn't as scary as I feared.

January 9

The weather took a turn for the warmer (yay!) and I woke up with a pretty bad headache Monday morning (boo!). Thanks to a migraine pill and some caffeinated soda I was still able to get out and meet my friend Holly for lunch. We had some great discussion and maybe next time I'll get a picture of the two of us so I won't have to post pictures of my dinner. That's not to say that the dinner isn't worth talking about. I made the Skinnytaste Beef and Barley Soup. It's that time of year where soup always sounds good and I'm on the lookout for new recipes. Four out of five Johns ate more than one bite, which counts as a success in my book.

January 10

I was able to take a few more walks this week and caught this gorgeous sunset Tuesday night. It is amazing how rejuvenated I feel just by walking  around the neighborhood for 20-30 minutes.

January 11

TJ and I were both craving for some treats after we put the kids to bed Wednesday. I told him what to do and he made a pretty great batch of cookies. I read and he played some Dr. Mario on the NES Classic. I have been on a reading binge lately. This week I read Wonder by A.J. Palico, Book of Mormon Girl by Joanna Brooks and Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody.

January 12

It got cold again, and Anthony generously dropped Will off at school on Thursday morning so I didn't have to load everybody up in the van. Both boys were wearing BYU Cougar hats so I had to snap a pic before they left.

January 13

Will had the day off Friday. The kids spent several hours playing with their Legos. I found a knock-off Lego storage container with building plates at Aldi earlier in the week and it has made their building so much more pleasant. We have two other building plates, but Lauren likes to leave her stuff up for days. This limits how much Will can do when he gets home from school. It was nice to peek in on them and see them happily collaborating. Friday evening we babysat as part of our babysitting exchange. The kids had a great time, as usual.

January 14

The news was full of warnings about "Ice Storm 2017" arriving late Saturday night. We had our date night planned for two weeks and I was getting anxious that we'd have to reschedule. Luckily, the weather held off and we were able to meet some friends at the Legends for some dinner and shopping.

2017 :: week 1

January 1

Family selfie on the first day of the new year. It is somewhat satisfying having the year start on a Sunday. Our ward switched to the 9am-noon schedule (yay!) and we only had sacrament meeting (double yay!), which made for a very long afternoon. I took an epic nap. I feel asleep so hard I woke up face down in a small pile of drool and wasn't sure what time of day it was as I was first waking up.

January 2

Lauren lined up her "kids" to protect her Monday night. Lauren is a very imaginative child and has an endless supply of excuses for why she cannot go to sleep at bedtime.

January 3

Winter is not my favorite season. I love sunshine and the freedom of being outdoors. I made to goal to get out and move more this winter in the hopes of eliminating some of my winter blues. Anthony's work schedule made it easier for me to fit in walks than it would be typically, and I was able to get out for a walk five of the seven days this week. I noticed a positive effect on my overall outlook and mood from just the 20-30 minutes of walking and listening to uplifting music.

January 4

Lauren and Will have been doing a lot of building this week. Because Lauren gets very upset when Elliott "completely destroys" her creations we let her use the dining room table from time to time. It doesn't take long for her to take over the dining room table. Sometimes they are there for days. I had a RS meeting Wednesday evening and was going to need the table back, necessitating a dismantling of her amazing store/home/Hagrid's hut structure. We take pictures of her masterpieces before we clean them up to preserve their memory.

January 5

Our elementary school holds four activities for incoming kindergartners the spring before they start school (I was unaware of this when Will was 5). Anthony and I took Lauren up to the school and got to do a few crafts together while getting to know some of her future classmates. I really like our elementary school community. Also, it has been SO AWESOME having Anthony in town this week. This is the third week in a row he has been in town. We are coming up on three weeks in a row where he will be gone 3-4 days, so I'm basking in the awesomeness while I can.

January 6

Will and some schoolmates had a snowball fight after school Friday. It was about ten degrees, and even though I sent Will to school in a hat and gloves he chose to participate without them. When we got home he was crying because his hands hurt so bad.

January 7

Saturday morning Will had his first regular season basketball game. At his practice the night before the coach told him he needed to be more aggressive and he was...he fouled twice! He played better defense than he has all year. The boys on his team are pretty good, even in my non-expert basketball opinion I can tell they are improving. After the game Anthony took Will to Academy Sports to get a clip to hold his glasses tightly against his head while he plays and a new pair of sneakers. Look out next week!