2018 :: week 48

November 18

Will and Lauren participated in the Primary Program on Sunday. They each sang well and delivered their parts beautifully. Will read 3 Nephi 27:27 with no mistakes and Lauren said that going to church was a way she learns about Heavenly Father. Hard to believe that Elliott will be up there next year!

November 19

For FHE we went to Chick-fil-A to share Peppermint Milkshakes. We love them! Anthony was skeptical, but he ended up liking them too. Elliott didn't eat his dinner so he didn't get one. He didn't seem to upset about playing int he play place the entire time we were there. I did give him a few little sips as we were getting ready to leave. We had to get home to watch the Chiefs-Rams game. We let Will stay up and watch because it was not a school night. It ended up being a week of disappointing losses for Will's football teams.

November 20

Tuesday morning we went to the zoo and literally had the place to ourselves. We counted 16 other cars in the lot! It was a cold, clear day. We had talked about going to the zoo over Thanksgiving break and the kids were not willing to wait another day. Luckily there are a fair amount of indoor things to do. We watched the "Wings of Wonder" show and visited the Tropics, Discovery Barn, Stingray Bay and Penguin Plaza. After it warmed up a bit (got to be about 35 degrees) the kids played at the playground, we fed the goats and road the carousel. We had a really good time, despite it being our coldest zoo visit yet. I'm trying to instill an attitude in my kids that weather is not an obstacle to having fun. If it's cold, we bundle up! That being said, I often find that I am the one with the worst attitude about cold.

November 21

Almost the entire Crane family came to town for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Allreds arrived Monday night and the Staritas arrived Tuesday night. Only the Toms were missing (due to Laura's poor health). Wednesday was forecast to be beautiful! I think it ended up being almost 60 degrees! We visited my Dad at work and took a photo of him and all his grandkids. We've grown quite a bit in the past few years. Then we went to City Market for lunch and a walk along the Missouri River. Elliott always sequels with excitement when he first sees the Kansas City skyline. He likes to "go on adventures in Kansas City."

November 22

Thanksgiving was perfect. We had a leisurely morning, after a rough night of sleep due to issues with Lauren and Elliott. We watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and worked on our food assignments. Later, Anthony taught Will to play Dominon and Lauren and I went for a walk. I worked on my cross-stitch while we watched Home Alone 2. In the afternoon we went over to my parents and shared a delicious meal that everyone contributed to. If only I had realized the horrific acid reflux that would result from my tiny serving of cranberry sauce.  It was a great day with great food and family time.

November 23

Friday evening we attended the Luminary Walk with the Ule family for the second year in a row. The paths at the Arboretum are lined with lights and musical performers that put you in the holiday spirit. We got to sip some apple cider while waiting to go for a hayride, then paid a visit to Santa. Another fun night!
 

November 24

We spent several hours at the temple Saturday doing temple work for my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents. Anthony and I received endowments for Robert and Caroline Flynn, my namesake. Other siblings and in-laws did proxy work for my grandparents and my mom was sealed to her parents. It was especially meaningful to do temple work for people I have personally known.

2018 :: week 47

November 11

I was taking pictures of the nursery kids for an ornament we are going to make next month. Elliott really struggles to deliver a natural smile on demand. He looks like such a little John kid to me in these pictures.

November 12

Monday we woke up to a falling snow. It snowed all morning and into the early afternoon. By the time the kids came home from school it wasn't actively snowing anymore, but the ground was covered in a blanket of white. This first snow came earlier in the year than usual, so we did our annual survey of winter apparel and I realized that the gamble I made in buying Lauren pink snow pants when she was three and I was pregnant with Elliott but did not yet know if he would be a boy or girl did not pay off. Almost all the pants and shoes we own are gray, blue or black except this pair. Elliott eventually came around, but he was NOT happy to put on "girl clothes!" The kids had fun playing in the snow while I made dinner. On Saturday I turned on my Christmas station on Pandora for the first time and I have been loving it. I usually don't do much Christmas-y before Thanksgiving, but this year it is helping me feel excited about life in the midst of the cold weather.

November 13

We walked to school this morning. I didn't check the temperature before we left, but could tell it was pretty cold. Usually there are a dozen or so families that walk up the back way. On Tuesday we only saw one other kid. I checked the temperature when Elliott and I got back home and it was 15 degrees!

November 14

What a difference a day makes! The sun came out Tuesday and Wednesday and by Wednesday afternoon most of the snow had melted. We stayed at the park and played for about 45 minutes after school got out. Lauren and her friends jumped off this bench over and over.

November 15

Thursday was a day of getting stuff done! The older kids are out of school all next week, so I tried to run all the errands I could done with just one kid instead of three. We got Will's glasses fixed, the oil changed at the Honda dealership, picked up flowers for the kid's teachers and grabbed some groceries. The dealership has Otis Spunkmeier cookies and a kid room that plays PBS kids, which makes the wait much more pleasant. 

November 16

To commemorate the first anniversary of my Grandmamere's death, Mom, Emily and I went to the temple Friday morning to start doing her temple work. We were baptized, confirmed and did initiatories for my grandmother Joan LeBaron and great-grandmother Caroline Hopwood.

November 17

Elliott and his crew (Blaise and Bennett) rode toys and played out front while Anthony worked on the lawn and I did chores in the house. Our neighbors are great and I feel so blessed to live near families with similar values. As is becoming a recurring theme, we couldn't find Elliott at one point in the late morning. Anthony, Will, Lauren and I all thought he was with someone else in the family. It turns out he went inside Blaise's house and when I knocked on the door they didn't hear me so we searched the street for about five minutes trying to find him. I was fairly confidant he was at Blaise's house, so when they did not answer their door I got really scared. When I called Renee (Blaise's mom) she answered her phone and said they were playing in the basement and didn't hear me knock. We are all  going to have to be more vigilant in our supervision of him. Will tells me when he is going to play in the basement of our house. Lauren never goes outside without telling me. Elliott walks out the door and into the neighbors house without a second thought. I appreciate his independence, but I am starting to wonder if I need to get him one of those GPS watches so I can track him at all times. In the afternoon Anthony officiated a wedding. It was the most unique wedding he had ever participated in.

2018 :: week 46

November 4

Sunday morning was wonderful! Not only did we get to sleep in a bit because of Daylight Savings, but we had an Area Conference broadcast at 11am. The meeting meant we didn't have regular church and Anthony didn't have his regular pre-church meetings. He did have to go up to the church for a few hours in the afternoon, but that wasn't so bad because the conference ended at 1pm instead of our usual 4pm. We were lucky this year and the time change did not wreak too much havoc on our children. Elliott came in and snuggled with us for a bit after he woke up and it was heavenly.

November 5

Elliott loves the music from The Greatest Showman. He can hardly be bothered to sit still for the actual movie, but he requests songs whenever we are driving anywhere. We had a few friends over for dessert Sunday evening and while they were here the kids got into our dress-up clothes. Elliott came across this Abraham Lincoln souvenir top hat that Anthony and I bought when we went to Washington DC together in 2014.  He has been wearing it ever since claiming he is "The Greatest Showman." He also thinks we should name our new baby The Greatest Showman. This boy has an active imagination, that's for sure.

November 6

On Tuesday evening I took the kids to Hy-Vee to meet the KC Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt. My brother-in-law Matt was going and offered to take Will too. Lauren was devastated when she learned that Will was going to get to meet somebody famous without her. So a few minutes after Will left with Matt, I loaded Lauren and Elliott into the van and we waited with them in line to meet Kareem. Elliott and Will were both excited to get their footballs signed.

November 7

Wednesday was an unexpectedly pleasant day. It was supposed to cold this week, so we enjoyed as many moments outside as possible until it did. The leaves in our neighborhood have been brighter and more colorful this year. I feel like I'm walking in a fall wonderland.

November 8

Lauren worked on her "Grateful Feather" this week. Unfortunately I recycled ALL of our magazines and catologs this week, so she was limited to Friend magazines for her collage. Luckily, there are lots of pictures of good things to be grateful for in said magazines. It was really cold when we got up Thursday morning. Below freezing. By noon it was snowing!

November 9

Friday was a busy day. Anthony arrived home after an hour delay from a 3 day conference in Austin, TX. I got a call from the school nurse asking if I could come pick up Will about 90 minutes before school was to get out. He had a terrible headache. It was hurting him so bad, he was moaning. I think it was a migraine because as soon as we got home he threw up and then fell asleep within two minutes and slept for over and hour. When he got up he was fine. That night was movie night at the school, and I volunteered to work the concession stand during Christopher Robin. Will stayed home with Tony and Lauren and Elliott came to the movie with me. It was a packed house!

November 10

Saturday Anthony left bright and early to go to with the youth to Omaha for a temple trip. It has been a week without much dad time. It ended up being extremely cold again--barely 30 degrees and windy--so outside activities were out. I decided to take the kids to Science City and we invited Tyler to join us. I lost about five years off my life when I lost Elliott for about ten minutes. He wandered off while I was helping Lauren and Tyler roll up their sleeves at the water exhibit. The first few minutes I wasn't worried, but when I couldn't find him after five minutes I started to get really scared. We eventually found him wandering out from behind a counter in a closed exhibit. The counter was too high for us to see him. After that things calmed down, thankfully!

20118 :: week 45

October 28

I thought the kids were looking really cute on Sunday so I had them pose for a picture as we walked into church. It is also worth noting that we were ten minutes early to church! We are usually on time, but rarely that early.

October 29

On Sunday evening we went for a post-dinner family walk. On our way home, Elliott tripped and smashed his face into the ground. He split his lip and bled all over the place. Luckily nothing was seriously injured, but he was uncomfortable and had a hard time sleeping. His lip got really fat, but the homemade popsicles Memaw made and brought over Monday really helped soothe the pain.

October 30

Lauren had her seven year old well child check-up Tuesday morning. She got a clean bill of health and a script for some very expensive topical oil to help with her eczema. It is so rewarding to see Lauren do so well after her failure to thrive and sick euthyroid issues as a baby.

October 31

Halloween! Finally! We invited several friends (Steiners, Meachams, Ules, Wilsons, Mansings, McFalls) over for a driveway party of hot dogs and chili before trick-or-treating. There ended up being a lot of 1st grade girls so at moments things were a little chaotic, but it was still lots of fun. Anthony bought a fire pit to keep us warm and he enjoyed burning our yard refuse throughout the night. Another fun Halloween season in the books!

November 1

Our sad news of the week is that one of Will's classmates (Drake) passed away over the weekend. It came as a complete shock and the OPC community has rallied together to support the family. On Thursday evening his Cub Scout leader organized a gathering to collect Halloween candy to donate to service men and women in honor of Drake. After a moment of silence the kids lined up to drop their candy into a big box and then sign a card. It has been a somewhat emotional week realizing how fast things can change and big reminder to make the moments you have with loved ones count.

November 2

Friday evening after we went to the visitation for Drake we hung out with the Mansings for a bit. Renee recently built a fire pit in their back yard and they are working to burn up a tree they cut down this summer. We roasted marshmallows and chatted about life before heading home and going to bed. We are so blessed to have such great family-oriented neighbors.

November 3

Saturday was a busy work day. Anthony and Will helped a family in our ward load their moving truck while Lauren, Elliott and I tidied up at home. In the afternoon we walked to the library, gave haircuts to the boys, and worked in the yard. In the evening we had dinner with the Githins. After a delicious dinner we played this fun Harry Potter card game.