2017 :: week 43

October 22

We are usually one time for church. Not necessarily early, but on time. Since school started and I started waking up earlier to exercise I decided that we could try to get there at least 5-10 minutes early each week. We have the 9am-noon session right now and leaving the house by 8:35am isn't a crazy proposition. I am happy to report that we've been early for over a month! It is nice to not feel so stressed in the morning and to be able to visit with people before church starts. I don't get to see as many people now that I am in nursery.

October 23

Lauren's wildest dreams came true when she went on her first official kindergarten field trip. The ninety kindergarteners and their teachers (bless them) piled into two school buses and traveled about twenty minutes to Johnson Farms. They got to participate in the typical pumpkin patch activities--hayride, jumping pillow, corn pit, etc. This is a picture of Miss Ringgenberg's 2017 kindergarten class.

October 24

Anthony traveled to New Orleans to attend an accreditation conference. It was the first time Anthony has travelled since changing jobs and we survived the week fairly well. Anthony sent me pictures of the fancy suite he stayed in and the delicious cuisine he sampled throughout the week. I ate frozen pizza for dinner twice. Sometimes life just isn't fair. ;) Putting the kids to bed by myself is my least favorite side affect of his travels and it was as draining as I anticipated. I know I am doing a fair amount of complaining, but overall it wasn't that bad. But it did make me more grateful that he is not traveling as much as he did with his previous job.

October 25

Halloween festivities have begun! On Wednesday evening we joined other families from the OP-C community and trunk-or-treated in the school parking lot. The kids got a good start on their candy haul and I learned that Elliott is scared of people dressing up as animals and masks.

October 26

Elliott and I stopped by to say hello to the Wilson boys while we were out Thursday afternoon. Elliott is so lucky to get to play with some of his cousins so regularly.

October 27

Friday evening was our ward's Trunk or Treat activity. This time we all got dressed up! Anthony was Bert Macklin, FBI (from Parks and Rec), Lauren and I were black cats, Will was a vampire and Elliott was Daniel Tiger. The YM/YW put on a carnival in the cultural hall and after a costume parade the kids went trick or treating to the various trunks.

October 28

Our costumes got a lot of mileage this week. Memaw and Emily took the cousins to trick or treat with the Overland Park police Saturday afternoon (Elliott was there too). It was a busy Saturday of running errands, working on the yard, attending a baby shower, and getting ready for the week ahead.

lauren's birthday

Lauren has never had a "friend birthday party." We've celebrated with others before. We've invited family friends over for dessert, shared donuts with friends at the park and celebrated with family, but never sent out invitations and invited her peers to come celebrate with her. For her sixth birthday, this is all she wanted to do and she has been talking about it for months. So we did. Lauren even made it "easy" for me by planning most of it herself. It was just up to me to execute the details. And buy everything. ;)

About a month before her birthday, Will and Lauren started making plans. Will helped make lists of what she wanted on her special day.

The latter half of October gets busy with fall festivals, sports and trunk or treats. Being that her birthday was on a Saturday we decided to go ahead and have her party on her actual birthday. We invited all the girls from her class and ten friends came.

The main activities were painting pumpkins, destroying a pumpkin piñata, eating cupcakes and dancing to Kidz Bop radio. We were successful on all counts. However next time I will get a baby-sitter for any two year old brothers. Elliott managed to get into the cupcakes while we were painting and into the paint while we were hitting the piñata.

Lauren had a great time! It wasn't perfectly executed or without hiccups, and I definitely learned some things I'll put into use for future parties, but I would say the party was a success!

Lauren's friend Daphne and her dad and brother hung out with us for awhile after the party. Both dads are big sports fans and had a lot to talk about with the pending World Series and first week of the NBA season in the books. We went to the Hy-Vee Trick or Treating activity together. I love the bags they give out and look forward to getting them each year!

That evening we celebrated with local family members.

We had the Wilsons and Memaw and Pepaw over for Lauren's favorite meal: Creamy Chicken and Rice with raspberries and edamame on the side. We had brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was a very sugar-filled day. Will told me that his teeth were going to be mad at him for eating so much sugar.

Birthday selfie with my special girl. Lauren and I are good friends most of the time. She is confident, observant, and has very sharp wit. She has an amazing memory and enjoys anticipating and planning for the future. She is nurturing and kind and loves to create beauty. I am so grateful to be her mom and hope I can help her cultivate joy in her life.

2017 :: week 42

October 15

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of pork chops and rice at my parents house Sunday evening. Lauren volunteered to help do the dishes afterwards. Lauren has always been very proactive and responsible. As she is maturing she is getting better at noticing what needs to be done and pitching in to help. 

October 16

 For FHE we watched the Weird Al movie UHF. It was weird, but had some genuine LOL moments. Afterwards we played some more Ticket to Ride and I finally won a game! We have played four times since Saturday evening and I lost every game. The kids are starting to pick it up and should be able to play on their own (as opposed to on a team with Anthony or me) soon. Playing games is one of my favorite family past times.

October 17

Will checked out a drawing book from the library and struggled with the sparse directions. He was very frustrated so we turned on a tutorial from Kids Art Hub on youtube and Will was able to whip up this husky on his very first try. Yay! The husky is his school mascot so he was excited to learn how to draw one. He is also a perfectionist, so he struggles when things don't come easily and perfectly. He also sees the world as "sum zero," meaning that is Uncle Ben is the best artist in the family, that means no one else can be good at art at all. We had parent/teacher conferences this week and discussed ways to work with Will and his intolerance for mistakes. He is such a smart and capable kid, but really gets down on himself when he fails to meet the high standards he sets for himself. His teacher is awesome and has the phrase, "Making mistakes is how we learn!" on her wall. Hopefully we can help Will come to believe that too.

October 18

We made our annual trek to Shaake's Pumpkin Patch in Lawrence Wednesday. We found just the right size of pumpkins for Lauren and her friends to paint at her pumpkin themed birthday party Saturday, I got to get a picture of the kids next to the "How Tall This Fall" sign and the kids got to play. It was a great evening. I made Sweet Willy Chili before we left and it was waiting for us in the crock pot when we returned home. We have been eating a lot of soups and stews lately.

October 19

The Olathe schools were off on Thursday and Elliott and I joined the Throssells at Science City for a few hours in the morning. It wasn't very crowded and we were able to visit most of the exhibits. Elliott is really into digging and dinosaurs, so we spent a lot of time here. The helicopter is still Elliott's favorite exhibit in the entire place and he ran off a few times trying to get to it. Of my three kids, Elliott is the most willing to run away from me in public. Will and Lauren both stuck closer to me when we were out and about when they were two, and still do.

October 20

Friday was Dad day. Anthony met Will and Lauren for lunch at school in honor of Lauren's upcoming birthday. He brought them Arby's, which is apparently the only food our kids want us to bring them when we meet them for lunch. Then, Anthony and Will went on the ward's Father/Son camp out Friday night. The Orionid Meteor Shower peaked while they were camping and they got up at 2am to watch for a bit. Anthony said it was very cool and Will reported that he saw two shooting stars. Will also said he had never seen so many stars in his entire life.

October 21

Lauren turned six on Saturday! All she really wanted for her birthday was to have a party and so that's what we did. She planned most of it herself and it went pretty well, though I'm not sure if I felt more relief when I gave birth to her six years ago or after her last friend went home after the party. Six year old girls are very excitable and there was a lot of energy in the house! We painted pumpkins, had a pumpkin pinata and the girls danced to kids bop radio.

2017 :: week 41

October 8

If the opportunity presents itself Elliott will climb into the front seats of our van. This usually happens when the older kids leave the van doors open. Two year old Elliott is a little rascal.

October 9

Will and Lauren have been spending a lot of time "doing art" in the evenings. This is a self portrait Will drew of himself at a Royals game. I love his attention to detail. A few years ago he got a set of arm sweatbands in his Blue Crew package and he even included those, as well as some arm hair.

October 10

Tuesday was cold and rainy. I drove the 350 feet to the pool parking lot to pick up the kids after school because I had not sent them to school with an umbrella and the rain was coming down hard. That evening we all hung out on my bed and Will did his xtra math while I braided Lauren's hair. Tony is reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to the kids and we got in a chapter of that too.

October 11

Elliott ended his hunger strike Wednesday evening and actually ate the chicken and broccoli dish I prepared! For the past two weeks Elliott has been refusing to even try dinner. Up until then he would always at least try a bite before sliding his plate off his tray (eye roll). And thankfully this was not just a one time thing! He ate most of his dinner every night the rest of the week.

October 12

The Sanners joined us for dinner after they went car shopping Thursday afternoon. The Sanners lived about a mile from us up until April when they moved a whopping 6 miles north. They've joked that we are their "Ismael" family because we have a corresponding boy/girl match-up if we ever have to head off to the wilderness. After we ate we sat out front and chatted as the kids played in the front yard for a bit.

October 13

The kids did not have school on Friday (end of first quarter) and I took them up to Anthony's office for lunch. Will and Lauren had not yet visited Anthony since he changed job, so it was their first visit to this work space.

October 14

Anthony and I spent the day tackling chores around the house. We de-junked both the garage and basement, made two trips to Home Depot and did so much vacuuming our vacuum temporarily stopped working because it overheated. The kids did a lot of work too, and it warmed my mother-heart when I overheard Will reading books to Elliott to keep him out occupied. After dinner we introduced Will and Lauren how to play Ticket to Ride. A fun moment was when the Beatles "Ticket to Ride" came on our Spotify Station while we were gaming.

2017 :: week 40

October 1

Elliott helped me roll out the dough for dinner rolls Sunday morning. It was a low-key day of conference watching, neighborhood walks, naps and an early Thanksgiving dinner at my parents in honor of my dad's birthday. I know if every Sunday was so low-key I'd acclimate to that and it wouldn't be so satisfying, but man I wish every Sunday was that quiet.

October 2

The NCCT board was in town for the week and Monday evening the company leaders and their significant others met them for dinner at J. Gilberts. The food was delicious and I learned more about the work Anthony is now doing and the people he spends time with every day.

October 3

Elliott was very pleased with the monkey stamp he received at the end of story time. Since school started I taken so many more pictures of him than of the older kids. It's almost like he's the only child seven hours a day!

October 4

Wednesday was wet and cold. I spent the better part of the afternoon baking and preparing a wild rice soup. This soup is my current favorite, and I would  make it more often if my kids would tolerate it. I have a dream that someday in the future my then-adult children will be hungry and preparing their own food and look back fondly on the food I used to make them. They just don't get how good they have it now. ;)

October 5

A few remaining treats from our garden. I also met my friend Holly for lunch at Panera and then visited with her at her house for a bit, but didn't get a picture of that. I'm grateful for the friends I have all over the metro that still make an effort to get together with me.

October 6

Friday evening we took the kids to the SMS homecoming football game. We ran into Will's buddy Jason and the boys had a great time together talking football, eating candy, and running around the bleachers. I left with Lauren and Elliott after the first quarter. Anthony felt like it was too quiet in the crowd and took it upon himself to bolster the cheers. He got so into it some of the other parents asked him which of the players was his kid. (insert crying emoji) I don't know what I find more amusing, that Tony could have a high school aged child, or that he got that into a mediocre high school football game. Regardless, Will and Jason had a great time.

October 7

Saturday we put a major dent in our to-do list. With the help of our friend Steve, Anthony installed our water softener. I bought Will some new sneakers, worked on the grass in our yard and a few other chores. That evening we went to dinner with the Throssells at Grinders and then visited Water Fire at the Plaza. I have wanted to check it out for years but it is always the first Saturday in October, which is typically when the priesthood session of General Conference is happening. It was a pretty night and watching the fires floating on the water was pretty mesmerizing. There was also some great people watching. We used a new-to-us babysitter and did a great job and gave us a cute checklist of what they did while we were out.

2017 :: week 39

September 24

Sunday evening we went to an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Ian Kirk in our ward. Elliott audibly gasped when he saw the Wilsons walk in. Elliott really likes his cousins. After the ceremony while everyone else was eating dessert Elliott and Mikey ticked the ivories.

September 25

Several neighborhood kids came over and played with our toys Monday after dinner. There are nine kids 10 and under (1 ten year old, 1 seven year old, 1 five year old, 2 4 year olds, 1 three year old, 2 two year olds and one 6 month old) on our end of the street. It's fun to watch them enjoy each other's company. I always envisioned living in a neighborhood with lots of kids and I am so grateful that we do. Will and Lauren have several classmates that live within a block as well.

September 26

Elliott and I walked to the toddler story time at the library Tuesday morning. It rained the night before and the temperature dropped quite a bit. Unfortunately it was much more humid than I anticipated and I worked up quite the sweat as we walked. I felt a little self conscious about how sweaty I was when we walked in a few minutes late. Next time I'll plan an extra few minutes to cool down. Elliott had fun at the story time. There was a 2:1 song to book ratio, which is a nice fit for Elliott's attention span.

September 27

Elliott's hair has a lot of body. After I bathed him Tuesday evening I combed it and thought I did a good job of taming it. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it sticking straight up Wednesday morning.

September 28

Will and Tony were living a charmed life Thursday evening. About two weeks before the end of the season we remembered we had two ticket vouchers for view level cheap seats that we didn't want to go to waste. When we looked at our calendar we determined that Thursday night was the best option and Anthony took Will after he got home from work. When they pulled up to the gate, the attendant gave Tony a prepaid spot in the reserved lot. Because they didn't have to pay for parking Anthony decided they could get some food (hot dog and pretzel) and because there was confusion on the hot dog size Will ordered (regular or foot long) the manager decided to just comp their order. The game was not crowded and the boys moved down, eventually sitting right behind the home team dugout. Will was not used to seeing the players at such close range and told me, "I'm used to the players looking like action figures. Tonight they looked like giants." He also got his best hit ever in the Little K. Pretty fun and memorable night for those two!

September 29

Friday Elliott and I tagged along on the second grade field trip to the KC Zoo. My extensive zoo knowledge came in handy as navigated the zoo and attempted to see everything in four hours, which is just not possible. It was a gorgeous fall day and Will had a lot of fun. Will was grouped with Walker and Porter, and both of their mothers were there as well. My favorite part of field trips is becoming more familiar with Will's classmates and their parents.

September 30

We made our second annual pilgrimage to the KC Pumpkin Patch Saturday morning. Anthony did not go with us because he was overseeing a viewing for the daughter of some good friends in our ward. I attended the funeral later that day. The kids had a great time playing and riding the animal train was a highlight.