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.