2020 :: week 4

January 19

Sunday was Stake Conference so I had to document one of the half a dozen Sundays a year that we get to sit with Anthony at church. It is so much easier to listen when someone else holds Miles. He is loud and likes to move and gets frustrated with attempts to contain his curiosity. Sunday afternoon Anthony had one of the YM over to watch the Chiefs game with us.

January 20

We took advantage of Anthony's day off and went to IKEA on Monday. The older three kids spent an hour in Smallville while Anthony, Miles and I shopped. We are trying to find a couch that will fit the funny shape of our family room with the layout I have in mind and it is proving much harder than I hoped.

January 21

I took Elliott's picture with the Patrick Mahomes life size bobble-head at Hy-Vee Tuesday. KC is going a little crazy for all things Chiefs and Mahomes. I'm sure this won't be our only photo-op between now and the Superbowl.

January 22

Wednesday we met with our ward preschool group. The theme was Winter and we had a lot of fun with it. We read Snowy Day and The Mitten, made "snow globes," and had a giant indoor snowball fight. Elliott got really into it. He kept pelting everyone, but especially me with snowballs. He kept yelling "direct hit!" even if it got nowhere near his intended target. Kids are funny.

January 23

Currently Miles is our best eater. He eats everything, and I mean everything I make for dinner. This week we had alfredo, sweet chili, spaghetti, pork chops & rice, and white chili. He loved all of it! He grunts when he runs out of food and slams his hand on his tray as soon as we load him up with more. Thank goodness for these plastic bibs that collect the food he drops. He makes us laugh when starts digging in the "trough" desperate for more food. I am going to soak up this era of appreciative eating, because if he is anything like his older siblings he will go through a long period of not trusting what I serve for dinner. Also his second top tooth cut through this week, bringing his total to four.

January 24

Due to overnight snowfall and slippery roads school was cancelled Friday morning. Every time they cancel school the curmudgeonly side of me that lived in North Dakota for three years comes out. I was pretty annoyed this time because it wasn't a big storm (it snowed about 3 inches), it wasn't that cold (right around 30 degrees) and all the major roads were clear. But it seems our district has decided to exercise extreme caution and does not want to take on the risk of sending buses to pick up children on side streets that are not cleared. I can respect that, but I do find it excessively cautious. We made the most of the day by watching "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur" on PBS Kids, shoveling the driveway, going to an hour of open gym at 360 Gymnastics and making cookies. I let Lauren and Elliott do it *almost* completely by themselves. I made sure they measured out the correct amount of each ingredient before they dumped them in the bowl but the rest was all them.

January 25

We had a busy Saturday that started off with Will's basketball game. They played against a much more experienced team and lost by quite a bit, but Will held his own. After the game I went to the temple for the first time in several months. I felt like I needed to prioritize a time to go while listening to the talks in Stake Conference. When I checked the schedule to plan my visit I realized that the temple would be closing for most of the month of February--so I couldn't dawdle! While I was gone Anthony made a white chili for the ward soup and bread dinner. That evening we had a lot going on. In addition to the church activity Lauren went to a friend's birthday party and then we all went to our neighbor Mark's 50th birthday celebration. I remember thinking that Saturdays were relaxing, but not that special when Will and Lauren were young. Now I am never bored and often overwhelmed at all we get to cram in. It is a very fun stage of life, I'm just always tired.

2020 :: week 3

January 12

Each night when we tuck our kids into their beds we try to spend a few minutes with them to find our about their day. Each kid can tell us a "happy" and a "sad, but sometimes they switch those out for "scary," "excited," or "silly." If we have enough time we will sing a song with them too. Currently "Nephi's Courage" is a favorite choice, though "Silent Night" and "Love One Another" get picked a lot too. We recently put some pink twinkle lights on Lauren's bed to help combat her fear of the dark. My main concern was that the lights would make it harder for her to fall asleep, but so far they have not.

January 13

The kids and I did not see any other people walking to school Monday morning. It snowed quite a bit overnight Friday into Saturday and then throughout the day Saturday. I wanted the kids to walk up to school because neither of them had gym that day and I knew the school would have indoor recess--the kids needed to get some movement in while they could! The kids aren't allowed to play on the equipment if there is snow on it(!?), and they are not allowed to play in the grass when there is snow on the grass(!?!?) or if it is wet. Too many playground rules in my opinion, but I am not in charge, nor do I want to be. Throughout the day the temperature rose, hitting 46 degrees for the high. By the evening the snow was almost completely melted.

January 14

As Alexander's mom says in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, "Some days are like that." Tuesday was "like that" for me. I woke up with a headache. Miles only napped for about an hour total and was pretty grumpy throughout the day. When I went to change his diaper and put him to bed I didn't realize he had pooped and ended up getting poop all over my hand and shirt. In the evening while the kids were trying to make their lunches the Costco bag of goldfish ripped and spilled all over the floor. Tony didn't know about the evening mishaps, but thoughtfully brought me a peppermint milkshake he got at Chick-fil-A on his way home from church meetings, a bright spot for the day.

January 15

Will had his second Mathletics competition Wednesday afternoon and it went much better than his first. He was teamed up with Addie and Adelyn and they got 1st place for 4th grade, earning them a spot in the regional competition. This is Will's first year doing Math Club. At our school Math Club is an extracurricular for kids in 4th-6th grades and meets twice a month after school for about a hour. Once a month there is an area Mathletics competition where teams from three elementary schools compete for a spot at regionals.

January 16

My eyes were bothering me around Christmastime, so I scheduled my first ever visit with an optometrist. Despite my fears that my eyes are giving out on me because I am getting old, it turns out I have really dry eyes and an incomplete blink. My tears evaporate after about three seconds, and normal is closer to ten. The doctor advised me to wear a bruder mask for about 10 minutes a day to help open the oil glands in my eyes. When there is more of your natural oils in your tears they don't evaporate as fast. I usually wear the mask at night before I go to bed.

January 17

Due to icy participation and low temperatures school was cancelled Friday. I was a little disappointed, but we ended up having a pretty fun day. We watched two Star Wars movies and used the sauna in the early evening. When I checked Miles' gums that afternoon I felt that one of his top teeth finally cut through! Maybe he won't be so grumpy this upcoming week.

January 18

The Hornets won their first game Saturday afternoon! They had a rough pre-season, but things seem to finally be coming together. The boys remembered to keep their hands up and get between their man and the basket. Unfortunately, Tony was not able to be at the game. An elderly member of our ward passed away last week and her funeral was at the same time. It was a busy church day for Anthony. Double missionary baptism in the morning, funeral in early afternoon, and then Stake Conference leadership meetings in the afternoon and evening.

2020 :: week 2

January 5

We took a family selfie to commemorate the first Sunday of the new year. A new year means a new church time, and for us that means 9am. It's a bit of a struggle for me to get the four of us out of the house and to church on time, but we did it and arrived a full ten minutes early! Anthony now has pre-church meetings starting at 6am. Despite the earlier mornings and push to get to church on time, getting home by noon feels amazing. All of us have been dealing with a head cold in the days since Christmas, with Anthony being the latest victim. His first counselor sent him home from church after their meetings because he didn't want to sit next to him on the stand. He definitely sounded worse than he sounded. Anthony credits he regular sauna habit with preventing the cold from getting very bad.

January 6

For the most part our school doesn't assign homework beyond spelling words and special projects. Lauren is supposed to practice her spelling words each day and she can do so in a variety of ways. Monday afternoon she wrote them on our driveway using sidewalk chalk.

January 7

Lauren has been begging to do gymnastics for months. Maybe years. I finally relented and signed her up for a weekly class with one of her best friends, Daphne. Her class is totally recreational--they work on a variety of skills using different mediums--with the goal to stay moving and happy. She loved her first class and is looking forward to more in the future.

January 8

Lauren and her friends love to barter after school. They bring various trinkets and craft projects they've produced and trade their wares. She's come home with everything from a new keychain to a charm bracelet someone made with shrinky dinks. She likes to trade toys from our "donate" box--fidget spinners--or gum or her perler bead creations. Though it drives me a little crazy because she refuses to leave until she's made the "best" trade, I am impressed by the girls' bartering skills and ability to make others want their junk.

January 9

My kids know my favorite TV show is Jeopardy. I like to watch it while I prepare dinner during the week. I was very excited for the GOAT challenge, though the timing was not ideal. I like to put my younger kids to bed by 7:30p, which was right in the middle of the show. Thank goodness for Hulu so I could watch at my leisure, pause and rewind as needed.

January 10

Stephanie and I took our kids to the Foundry Church to play in their gym Friday afternoon. We knew it was going to snow over the weekend and we wanted to let the kids run around while they could. While we were there we each got a variety of notifications about various weekend activities that were being cancelled. Elliott had fun shooting hoops and pretending to be Kemba Walker.

January 11

We had a warm, cozy Saturday at home because the entire town shut down. Everything was cancelled! It rained most of the day Friday before snowing that evening, so everything was covered in ice and snow. Anthony made us some delicious fries, which we ate in between Star Wars Episodes II and I--which we watched in that order! Lauren's favorite Star Wars movie is Attack of the Clones because Padme Amadala is her favorite and she has a great battle scene in that movie. After we watched Attack of the Clones the other kids wanted to watch Phantom Menace so that's what we did!

2020 :: week 1

December 29

Sunday was Tony's birthday. It was a 5th Sunday and he had to teach and also deal with a weird situation in our ward. This what I posted on instagram: It's Tony's birthday! He’s one of the best—a great husband, father, son and friend. When I first met him I liked that he included everyone and lived his life with integrity. Fourteen years later I’m even more grateful for those traits. He models how to be a good citizen to our children and helps them to love learning, music, sports and most importantly, God. I’m a better person because of him.

December 30

Monday was a day of family fun. Anthony had the day off due to his birthday the day before, so we took advantage of the "winter break special" at Main Event. We spent the bulk of the day playing laser tag, bowling and doing a ropes course. After lunch I took Elliott and Miles home and Anthony stayed with Will and Lauren because Elliott was too small to fully participate in the "funner" activities the older kids wanted to do. That evening we brought Chipotle to my parents house to celebrate my mom's birthday. A fun, full day.

December 31

We ended the year doing chores and cleaning up Christmas. I enjoy taking down Christmas almost as much as I enjoy putting it up. Putting our decor out is exciting and ignites the anticipation for Christmas. The house feels bigger and brighter after we put it away and it feels like a clean slate for the new year. That evening we had the Throssells over for pizza and a family sauna session. We haven't gotten to just hang out with them in months and it was so nice. Before they came over I went for a walk and soaked in the crisp, cool air and the beautiful crescent moon.

January 1

New Years Day was nice and quiet. We slept in, played video games, read book and general hung out around the house. Anthony and I went on a walk together and talked about some of the things we want to accomplish together this year. That evening we went to our neighbors house for chili and football.

January 2

Lauren and Miles took a bath together Thursday evening. If I bathe Miles by himself I bathe him in the kitchen sink. If one of the other kids is bathing I'll have Miles get in with them. Lauren is such a great helper with Miles. She loves him and dotes on him and gives him attention when I have responsibilities to attend to.

January 3

Lauren took a ton of pictures on my phone to play an "eye-spy" game. I thought it was kind of fun to see the different colors and textiles in our home.

January 4

This is Lauren in her element. Lauren likes to lead and entertain and be in charge and she is doing all three of those things in this moment. She has instructed these four younger neighbors to sit down and listen to a silly story she was making up in real time. The kids were sitting attentively and laughing and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. I asked her about the story and she said it was about Peppa Pig and some characters Tony made up a few years ago.