2018 :: week 6

February 4

We got a freak snowstorm Sunday afternoon. It started to snow around 11am. By the time we left for church the roads were covered with snow and I had to drive so slow it took me an additional ten minutes to get to church. The stake sent out an email around 12:30pm telling people to not feel pressure to get to church because of the unsafe roads. I didn't see the email until after church. We still had sacrament meeting, but then everyone was sent home because there were not enough people there to teach all the classes. When we got home Will and I worked on shoveling our driveway and sidewalks. I was proud of Will because he started shoveling our neighbors' sidewalks without my prompting. He reminded me of his Papa and Pepaw who both spend hours shoveling for neighbors and home teachees when snowstorms hit.

February 5

Elliott uses his teddy bear as a pillow. I have offered him a pillow, left a pillow in his crib and tried to take the teddy out of his crib, but each time he rejects the pillow by throwing it out of the crib and demands his teddy. Poor teddy is getting flat, but he gets the job done.

February 6

Will and Lauren really wanted to buy some Pokemon cards. I'm not a fan of them, but to each their own. I convinced them to order cards on Amazon instead of buying them at Target because they could get five times as many cards for the same price. They were supposed to arrive Tuesday and the kids checked the mail several times after school. Will and Lauren ran around the front yard yelling "we want pokemon" while waiting for the mailman. Unfortunately, the cards were not delivered. I later got an email that said there was an "delay." Luckily they were delivered the next day, but in the meantime there were some VERY disappointed John kids.

February 7

I spent about an hour reading in the sun Wednesday afternoon while Elliott napped. The book I was reading is The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Ashford. I got off to a slow start with my reading in 2018, but I have several holds that recently became available so I expect my reading to pick up in the next few weeks.

February 8

Finally a day with beautiful weather! You can tell how nice the weather is by how long there are people at the park after school. On a nice day there people will stay for over and hour. When it is cold and windy the place clears out within ten minutes. In this picture Will is playing on the swings with three friends from Mrs. Martin's class--Porter, Liam and Trevor.

February 9

My nephew Tyler is obsessed with Wall-E. Unfortunately Wall-E came out a decade ago and it is hard to get your hands on some Wall-E paraphernalia that isn't crazy expensive. I decided to make him a Wall-E shirt using a freezer paper stencil. I picked up the supplies I would need to make it and worked on it while watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies Friday night.

February 10

Will had his best basketball game to date Saturday.  He played pretty good defense and scored a couple buckets. In the background you can see Anthony (in more casual attire) with his hands up. "Hands up!" was his clarion call to the team every time they were on defense. Elliott started copying him and would run along the baseline yelling, "Hands up!"

2018 :: week 5

January 28

We finally got to have our dessert party Sunday night. It was cold but some of the 8 year olds went out back to jump on the tramp. We invited ten families from our ward over and five were able to come. One of our "resolutions" for 2018 is to open our home more. I am taking the initiative and inviting more friends over, we are inviting people over for dinner and we are going to have more informal gatherings. At least that's the plan. ;)

January 29

Monday evening the Maxfields skyped us over facebook messenger while we were eating dinner. Time differences can be so tricky at times. The kids had fun talking to their cousins, but even more fun playing with the effects on the screen.

January 30

I went up to Lauren's classroom and got to participate in the 100th day celebrations Tuesday morning. The teacher had several stations set up around the room manned by parent volunteers. Each station had some sort of activity having to do with 100. I was teamed up with another mom named Carrie. We led the kids in 100 exercise moves--10 squats, 10 jumping jacks, 10 hops on your left foot, 10 hops on right foot, 10 push-ups, etc. It was quite a work out! I love getting to know my kids' classmates and their parents.

January 31

I went for a quick walk before Anthony and Will left for mutual and Cub Scouts. These walks do so much for my mental health. I feel so energized and refreshed getting a little exercise and feeling the cold on my cheeks. I like to listen to relaxing music or conference talks, but lately I have been listening to BYU devotionals. I realized there was a "BYU SPEECHES" channel on the iphone podcast app and have listened to several good ones.

February 1

Elliott and I missed our usual Tuesday storytime date because I was helping in Lauren's classroom during that time. Thursday morning we had books to return so we headed over for a bit. Elliott enjoy playing with the toys more than storytime so he was in heaven. He put on a puppet show for me and impressed a librarian with his ability to identify letters. He wasn't 100% accurate, but he was pretty close.

February 2

There are many parenting things I need to do better. Inviting friends over is one of them. My kids want to have playdates all the time, but when push comes to shove I'm a bit of a homebody and would rather wait for people to invite me than to do the inviting myself. Will's buddy Trevor came over for a few hours after school Friday. They were in the same kindergarten class, but have really rekindled their friendship since being put in the same class this year.

February 3

The Ules came over for a few hours Saturday morning. Will had a midday basketball game at 12:30pm. Anthony had to wear a suit to the game because he left straight from the game to preside at a funeral. Several parents from both teams commented on Anthony's wardrobe.