2018 :: week 18

April 22

Elliott is such a snuggly little guy. One of my favorite feelings in the world is when he climbs behind me and puts his arms around my neck. Anthony and I both appreciate how easy he makes his bedtime routine. He occasionally will cry or whine, but that is the exception, not the rule. As long as he gets his scripture story and a book to read, he's game.

April 23

Will had his first baseball game of the season Monday night. It was a gorgeous evening to play and watch. Will spent most of the game playing third base. He got thrown out at first, but made a lot of contact with the ball and fouled several times. When we got home from the game and I was trying to round everyone up for FHE, Will wanted to stay outside and play a post-game round of catch with Anthony. Will is at his happiest when he is playing baseball.

April 24

Lauren being Lauren makes me happy. She had a Girl Scout meeting Tuesday evening and made sure to put on her "cape" and Daisy shirt before we left. The January meeting was the same day as Kansas Day where the kindergarteners dressed up like cowboys. She turned her handkerchief into a cape that night and has been wearing it ever since as though it is part of the uniform. As she rode her scooter into the gym and waved to her friends I wished for her that she would always feel so confident and secure with who she is.

April 25

Wednesday afternoon I watched the Wilson boys while Emily went to a primary presidency meeting. It has rained earlier in the day, but the older boys insisted they wanted to play outside so I let them. They ran around the yard and I could hear them yelling, though I couldn't tell you what they were saying. When I asked Elliott what they were doing he told me they were playing "tormatoes," and that tormatoes can "kill us!" At first I thought Elliott was saying they played with our tomato cages before I remembered that Tyler is obsessed with extreme weather. Anthony left a bag of mulched leaves in the backyard that fell over and the boys started grabbing handfuls of it and throwing it around like confetti. I put a swift stop to that.

April 26

 Thursday evening Will and I read a few chapters in an Encyclopedia Brown book. I found the book on a "free" table and thought it might be fun to read with Will. He is a fast reader, and doesn't always read for comprehension. These stories have been good to work with Will and his attention to details.

April 27

Friday evening we went to the Oak Park Carpenter Carnival. It is a biggest event/fundraiser of the year and it requires a lot of volunteer hours to make it happen. Anthony and I each took a turn manning a game and also taking the other kids around to the various games and activities. Will and Lauren each found friends to play with, which made it easier on the parent in charge of Elliott. Elliott was a little grumpy that night, which we attributed to the noise and excess sugar.

April 28

We started our morning at Lauren's soccer game. Her team is really starting to gel together and they played their best game yet! They ended up tying 4-4 and Lauren scored her first goal. When her team met together for the first time at the end of March Lauren had never played soccer before. She had expressed interest in learning how to play, but had never actually played beyond what is done at recess. It is so fun seeing her learn a new skill and her confidence grow as she gets better. The rest of Saturday was spent at baseball practice, working on the yard and getting ready for Sunday. We had plans to go out to eat, but about fifteen minutes before we were going to leave Elliott threw up. :( At this point we started to wonder if Elliott's behavior the night before was due to his potentially coming down with an illness.