2018 :: week 52

December 16

Anthony's parents have been working hard to get their house in order and sent Anthony a box of pictures and other memorabilia. Sunday evening he got out his old scrapbook and the older kids enjoyed looking at pictures from Anthony's past.

December 17

Monday we celebrated Will's 9th birthday! It's hard to believe I we have a nine year old child. I can remember so many things about his early life so clearly, but time has obviously gone on because some things I can hardly remember at all. Thank goodness for journals, blogs and photos! Elliott, Anthony and I met Will at school with Arby's for lunch. That afternoon we played at the park and then outside at our house for awhile. We ate an early dinner and then Memaw, Pepaw and the Wilsons came over for presents, cake and ice cream. Anthony and Will had to leave at 6:45pm to get to basketball practice. Will got a Chiefs hat and hoodie, Lego set, Dog Man book, baseball cards, tennis rackets, Pokemon cards and a lot of gum.

December 18

I made the mistake of scheduling a dentist appointment for Will on the same day as his 9 year check-up, which meant Elliott and I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms on Tuesday. To make matters worse, I incorrectly remembered the times and we arrived at the doctor's office 45 minutes earlier than we need to. It's not like I had nothing else to do this week. Oh, well. Will read books to Elliott to help pass the time and it was pretty sweet. All of our visits went well. We learned that Will is in the 10th percentile for height and 17th percentile for weight. Later he got sealants put on four of his teeth without issue.

December 19

On Wednesday morning I went up to the school and helped Lauren with her "gingerbread" bakery. During the fall the first graders learn about communities and then each choose a building in the community to research, draw plans for and then build. Lauren chose bakery and was very thoughtful about the Dot/Airheads benches for her Sour Patch Kid customers. She also had a play date with her friend Hailey for the first time after school that day.

December 20

Continuing with things I didn't want to do on my last kid-free week of the year theme, I took my 3 hour glucose test Thursday morning. I have never had any trouble with these tests in the past, but I suppose I'm due. When I got home from the test I was so tired. Twelve hours of fasting with only a very sugary drink led to a major energy crash. My major accomplishment was getting Elliott to rest with me. He is very resistant to naps these days, but if we read a few books and snuggle I can still get him to sleep about half of the time.

December 21

Friday evening Will had his first piano recital. He played his piece, "Jingle Bells," from memory and played well. His only mistake was skipping ahead to the second verse, but he recovered well. He has a good musical ear and it is fun seeing him grow both his musical knowledge and confidence in performing in front of others.

December 22

After a busy morning we went to Crown Center and Union Station to experience "Christmas in Kansas City." The kids played on the toys next to the Mayor's Christmas tree, then we walked to Union Station via the Link. All three kids rode the mini-train and Elliott was in heaven looking at all the model trains. His favorite was a set up that included Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol and the Conductor from Dinosaur Train. Will and Lauren like looking at the Lego scenes for inspiration. After we finished up at Union Station we headed to Red Robin for Will's birthday dinner.