2018 :: week 40

September 23

Sunday I got a substitute for nursery and drove to the stake center to get my temple recommend interview with a member of the Stake Presidency. When we got home I harvested a handful of cherry tomatoes from our garden. Our garden did not produce well this year due to the dry, hot temperatures we got in June and July. We've had more rain these past few weeks and we are finally getting a few.

September 24

Monday morning I went to the school district office to get fingerprinted. The school district implemented a new policy that requires all parents/adults that want to volunteer at the school or participate in school sponsored events (such as field trips or class parties) attend a training regarding appropriate behavior and submit to a background check. Part of the background check involves getting fingerprinted. To maintain control the district requires you to get fingerprinted in their office, which only has the capacity to fingerprint one person at a time. It takes approximately 5-10 minutes per person. The district only offers the service for about 15 hours a week on two days. On the days that fingerprinting is available parents end up waiting hours. In my opinion it has been a real boondoggle. We had to wait about 2.5 hours, but luckily a few fellow OPC moms were also there waiting to get fingerprinted too, which made the time pass much more pleasantly. Later in the week the school district approved an alternative way to provide training and background checks that doesn't involve fingerprinting at the district office. Of course! After school we played at the park, as usual. I enjoy watching my kids interact with their friends. Here Lauren was leading her friends in a game of some sort. She has some real leadership qualities. On Thursday I will join her class on their field trip to the Louisberg Cider Mill--the reason I spent almost three hours at the district office that morning.

September 25

Lauren practiced her spelling words via Spelling City Tuesday evening while I tidied up from dinner. As I looked over and watched her study I felt like I was playing house. Every once in awhile I have these moments where it is hard to believe I am actually a mom and I am responsible for the well being of other human beings. My life is far from perfect, but I feel very grateful for the simple moments like this.
 

September 26

Lauren had soccer practice Wednesday night. It was much cooler than last week, which made it much more pleasant. I love watching the girl's line up and do their drills each week.

September 27

Thursday I went to the Louisberg Cider Mill with the OPC first graders. Every time I go on a field trip I am reminded that elementary school teachers are vastly underpaid. The kids were pretty good, but it is a lot of work to keep 20+ 6 and 7 year olds entertained and on task. I have been on the tour a few times before, but it is always fun to see the way the apples are cleaned and then pressed into cider and to watch the doughnut making process. After we ate our doughnuts and drank our cider we rode on the tractor trailer to the play area. The kids ate a quick lunch and then jumped on the giant pillow and played in the giant bed of corn.

September 28

Practicing spelling with my kids is not my favorite thing to do. I'd much rather read with them. Spelling comes easily to Will, so I haven't had to do as much with him over the years, but Lauren needs a little more guidance. This week was the third week of both kids got all of their words correct! Spelling seems to be helping Lauren read better too.

September 29

Saturday morning was cool and a little damp. While Anthony and I debated whether or not it was worth it to go to the parade, Elliott kept asking when we were going to the parade. We decided to go for it and I am glad we did. Even though it was 48 degrees when we left the house, it warmed up quite a bit as soon as the clouds blew past and we had a great time. The last few years when we went to the Overland Park Fall Festival were hot! It's an election year so there was A LOT of candy. Elliott--and the other kids too--were in absolute heaven.

2018 :: week 39

September 16

Laura wanted to visit the sunflower field while her and Trevor were in town. Sunday evening we drove them to Grinter Farms and explored for a little while. The sunflowers were a little past their prime, but were still pretty magical. The kids were pleased to find hundreds of caterpillars.

September 17

Lauren had a Girl Scout meeting Monday evening. She has a new leader this year that is doing a great job. The girls talked about respecting the environment and ways to take care of the earth. They went on a quick nature walk and picked up some trash on a trail and talked about things they can do to make the earth a better place. Lauren said she'd "pick up the trash her brothers throw on the ground." I'm not sure her brothers actually throw that much trash on the ground, but the answer was a little more creative than the "I won't throw my trash on the ground," answer that most of the other girls gave.

September 18

Everyday after school Will, Lauren and now Elliott ask me for playdates. We are lucky the kids have so many friends that live close by, but sometimes I find it overwhelming. The hardest part is trying to juggle who gets to have a friend over each day with what evening activities we have going on and who has to go to them. Knox is Will's good buddy and they are in the same class again this year so he is a regular guest in our home.

September 19

Wednesday was hot, hot, hot! I think it ended up being 91 degrees. We had to get Lauren to soccer practice fifteen minutes early for team pictures and it was a stressful endeavor. I'm not proud of how I let my frustrations get the better of me. I'm grateful to have such patient and forgiving kids. After getting their pictures taken the girls worked hard for an hour. I'm impressed with how much they improve each week.

September 20

Elliott had a playdate with his buddy Nicholas Thursday morning. Those boys get along so well, it makes me happy. After the playdate we stopped at Target to pick up a few things. Shopping with Elliott can be fun. It can also be a drag, but today it was fun. The dollar spot had a lot of Halloween items that we enjoyed testing out.

September 21

Friday evening we went to the Shawnee Mission South homecoming football game and pregame festivities. There were carnival games were the kids earned candy, tatoo and cans of soda for prizes. We were able to meet up with a few of Will's friends--Trevor and Jason--to sit with at the game. Lauren, Elliott and I left after the first quarter. After Anthony and Will got home Anthony and I dragged our three superfluous couches to the curb. Saturday was large item pick-up and I was too cheap to pay to throw the couches individually at the dump.

September 22

Saturday was jammed packed. We started the day at the Ernie Miller Nature Center for a Cub Scout hike. Then we drove to the Louisburg Cidermill for a Customer Appreciation Event put on by my mom's Realtor. In the afternoon my dad helped Anthony replace our garbage disposal. Then we went to the Wilson's to sing Happy Birthday to Mikey and eat cake. After the party we drove to the West Bottoms to shoot our annual family photos. We rounded off the day with Chick-fil-A for dinner. It was a fun, but very full Saturday.

2018 :: week 38

September 9

Lauren had a big day in primary. She was assigned to read the 5th Article of Faith and did it mostly without help! Then she got to dress up as King Benjamin during their sharing time lesson about how the prophets teach us how to serve others. Aunt Emily is in the primary presidency and she makes sharing time extra fun.

September 10

Elliott graduated to a "big boy bed" Monday night. I found a good deal on a toddler bed on facebook marketplace and we picked it up as soon as Tony got home from work. Elliott was so proud of his new bed. Unfortunately we could not find the allen wrench that came with the crib to take it apart so the bed was wedged in his room for a few days. This was very frustrating to me because I have kept it in the same place since we got the crib for Will eight years ago and I spent a lot of time searching for it. Oh well.

September 11

Elliott and I took advantage of the nice weather and walked to the library Tuesday morning. Storytime has started up again and we plan on attending regularly. Elliott didn't participate much until the parachute came out, then he was all in.

September 12

 Wednesday morning Emily had Elliott over to play with Tyler and I ran a few errands. As we attempted to return home around noon we were stopped as about twenty police cars and officers surrounded our block. Apparently one of our neighbor's adult sons was involved in a hit-and-run with the mother's car and then engaged in a stand-off with police. He has struggled with alcoholism and was apprehended without force, but we were not allowed to return home for about two hours. The interactions we have had with him throughout the years have been benign. When Anthony and I were speculating about who or what was going on neither of us suspected him. We had good talks with the kids about how drinking alcohol makes it hard for you to make good choices and can ruin your life.

September 13

Aunt Laura and Uncle Trevor came to town and we went to a Royals game on Thursday evening in their honor. The weather was gorgeous and we arrived early enough to spend some time at the Little K, carousel and playground. Because it was a school night we left early, and of course all the exiting plays came from the Royals while we were listening on the radio on our way home. It's always a gamble staying out late on a school night, and we were pleasantly surprised by how well all three children behaved, both that night and the next morning.

September 14

The older kids had an early release day and Aunt Laura and Uncle Trevor came over to play with the kids for a bit. By this point in the week it was hot, hot, hot again, making the shaded trampoline the only bearable outside play space. Laura wowed the kids we a few trampoline tricks and Trevor engaged in a tickle war. That evening TJ took Will to an Olathe East football game that some youth in our ward were playing in while Lauren, Elliott and I had a movie night.

September 15

Saturday ended up being a very busy day! Anthony spent several hours at the temple with a couple receiving their endowments and then getting sealed together. Will had a birthday party that overlapped with Lauren's soccer game. Then in the evening we had a block party and meet up with the Crane family at the River Market. There was barely enough time for to watch the BYU game! The block party was great! We feel so blessed to have such great, family friendly neighbors who genuinely look out for each other. There was lots of great food shared by all. In addition to this driveway full of people eating, our driveway was full of kids playing basketball and drawing with chalk.