2020 :: week 43

 

October 18

Anthony and I have been taking turns reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8 with Lauren before bed. At first we took turns reading every other page, but now the parents usually read while Lauren works on her "cross stitch." She calls it cross stitch but it is really embroidery. She likes to free-style and draw pictures on felt, than fill in the pictures with embroidery floss. It is a fun, cozy way to end the day.

October 19

For the second week in a row Lauren and Will got to attend class in person on Monday and Tuesday. Because they had early morning dental appointments last week on Tuesday it is October 19th and only the second time they have walked to school this year. Crazy! They walk up with the neighbors across the street. They are fine to walk on their own, but I like to walk with them because it helps wake me and sometimes they talk to me about stuff they are too distracted to bring up after school.

October 20

I am starting to run a few errands with the little guys while the big kids are at school. We had to stop by Hy-Vee to pick up some prescriptions and a few other items to prepare for Lauren's birthday. The car cart the boys got to ride in blew Miles' mind!

October 21

Lauren is 9 and boy do we love her! She is full of life and purpose and is a lot of fun. Wednesday afternoon was her final soccer practice of the season. It was the annual family vs. team game and the entire John family had a great time. Miles road around the field on Anthony's shoulder and Elliott and Will got in on the action--Will even scored a goal! During half time at the game Coach Luke led the team in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday!" After practice we celebrated with a yummy dinner of chicken tikka masala and Lamar's doughnuts. It was a great day celebrating our #1 girl. I posted this about her on social media: Lauren lives a purposeful life and is often organizing and planning activities for her brothers and friends. She is thoughtful, quick-witted and smart. She is sensitive to the needs of those around her and quick to help. I have loved being Lauren’s mom at every age. It feels a little bittersweet to say goodbye to 8-year-old Lauren, but I’m looking forward to all the fun we will have with her while she’s nine.

October 22

The weather was all over the place this week. It was chilly Monday and Tuesday, chilly and wet on Wednesday, windy and hot (think 80 degrees!) on Thursday, then back to cold (think 40 degrees!) and wet on Friday. Thursday at lunch Elliott, Miles and I met Stephanie and Kendall at the park for lunch and some playground fun. The park we went to is relatively secluded so there was no one there besides us. I had a reward for a free entrée on my Chick-fil-A app so we picked up some nuggets and water on our way. Miles loves drinking out of a straw and he kept trying to steal my drink. We spent most of the afternoon outside at this park, then at the park after school, then the kids playing outside in the yard once we left because we knew the warm weather wasn't going to last.

 

October 23

Friday was a bit of a blah day. I woke up with a headache, most likely due to the cold--hot--cold temperature fluctuation. I hadn't slept well so I felt drowsy all day. I got behind on my to-do list and just struggled to accomplish much all day. Anthony asked me to speak in church on Sunday, so I worked a bit on my talk, but every time I turned around Miles was getting into something. His new "trick" is that he likes to climb on our table and get into the greenhouse. 

October 24

Will had his final baseball game of the season Saturday. He pitched great and his team won! According to Anthony he pitched a complete game (3 innings) in 39 degrees, 6 K's and only walked one batter with no earned runs. The final score was 7-3. Letting the kids play sports this fall was a bit of a gamble, but it seems to have worked out. And both kids had a great time playing with their friends again.

2020 :: week 42

 

October 11

Every other week our relief society hosts a zoom lesson. At first I wondered why they only did it every other week and then it donned on me, relief society only meets every other week. It has been over three years since I got called to nursery and I forgot that things changed last year. Even though the lessons aren't quite as good as in person lessons, I enjoy seeing the faces of my ward members and hearing their thoughts and insights.

October 12

Exactly seven months to the day Will and Lauren returned to the classroom! Their last day of school before spring break was March 12. For the next two weeks the kids are on a hybrid schedule. The students are divided into two groups, based on their last names. The John kids will be attending school in person on Monday and Tuesday (along with other students with last names A-L) and then will be home Wednesday and Thursday, while and students with last names that start with M-Z attend in person. On Friday everyone is remote. They will be on this schedule for two weeks, then are scheduled to go fully in-person everyday starting October 26th.

October 13

Miles is such a determined little guy. He loves "brushing his teeth" AKA chewing on whatever toothbrush he can get his mouth on and squeezing and sucking on tubes of toothpaste. Multiple times throughout the week when he found the bathroom door had been left opened he seized the opportunity and found a toothbrush and the toothpaste and helped himself.

October 14

Matching baseball brothers at breakfast. Will and Lauren were back at home for school Wednesday through Friday. 

October 15

Emily took our family pictures at Shawnee Mission Park Thursday evening, and this picture I snapped on my cell phone has me very excited to see what she was able to do with her artistic eye and nice camera. The kids cooperated very well. Miles started off strong but he tripped on the tall grass and never really recovered. We treated ourselves to Chick-fil-A for dinner afterwards.

October 16

Friday morning I panicked because I couldn't find Miles. During the day I keep most of the doors closed to limit where he is able to go. I can't even remember what I was working on when all of the sudden I realized I couldn't hear Miles playing anymore. I checked all around our main floor and then walked upstairs to his room. I couldn't see him and checked upstairs in his room--the only open door. I didn't see him at first, but then he grunted and I noticed him in the corner behind the shelf reading books while sitting on my old rocking chair. My grandpa made this chair and I remember playing with it when I was a child. I love seeing him using it now.

October 17

I have continued to spend a lot of time this week watering and keeping leaves off our yard. It has been surprisingly satisfying. I like to turn on an audiobook while I work and the time passes pretty quickly.  It turns out that when you spend a lot of time working on your yard your yard looks nice. I have been shamelessly fishing for compliments from our friends and neighbors. Also, on the tree you can see Snowy, the white squirrel that lives in the oak tree in our front yard. 

2020 :: week 41

 

October 4

We went on a pre-Conference walk along Indian Creek with the Wilsons and Wally Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, absolutely perfect. We were able to stop and skip rocks in the creek and enjoy the crisp air for about an hour. It felt great getting out and getting some movement in before we sat and watched four hours of conference. The biggest nuisance was Miles thinking that he is a big kid and trying to walk straight into the water. Conference was nice too. I especially enjoyed the talks given by Elders Renlund and Holland Sunday afternoon.

October 5

Elliott's new preschool has a carline drop-off. When we get in the carline I put the car in park and unbuckle Elliott so he can sit in the front seat and wait to get his temperature taken. He loves having access the the radio station and pushes the buttons in hopes of finding "Savage Love" or "Blinding Lights." He is really enjoying being in Ms. Tracy's class this year and it is so rewarding seeing how much he has matured. I really appreciate how much closer this school is too. Last year I was spending so much time driving back and forth. I am spending about a third of the time in the car that I was last year.

October 6

The highlight of my Tuesday was watching my good friend and college roommate Candace give the BYU devotional. I was filled with friend-pride as I listened to her speak. 

October 7

The Allred's moved in to their new home in Olathe on Wednesday evening! This spring, in response to COVID-19, Jake began to work remotely. At the time Jill and Jake were looking to buy a house in the Salt Lake area. When his work told him he could continue to do his job completely from home they decided to expand their housing search to include the Kansas City area. We are excited to have them here for however long they decide to stay.

October 8

My friend Sara is in charge of compiling the yearbook and she sent out a request for photos of kids "doing recess at home." Will often comes downstairs and shoots hoops in our family room during his recesses and "brain breaks." This was the kids' fifth week of remote learning. Next week they will move to hybrid, attending in person on Monday and Tuesday and working at home the rest of the week. I am excited for them, but it is going to strange having them gone after spending the past seven months together.

October 9

Miles and I had a much happier week together. I noticed that his left bottom canine cut through, so I am assuming that helped. I also set aside time each day to specifically do things with him. He loves being outside and playing on the school playground. Anthony and the older kids walked up to the playground after dinner to play kickball on the blacktop. After I finished watering the grass Miles and I walked up too. Miles especially seems to enjoy the adaptive playground. He still isn't talking, but is very effective at communicating how much he likes to swing. Baby giggles will forever be one of my favorite sounds.

October 10

I know this won't look like much to most people, but to me it looks like hours of work finally paying off. Because we don't have a sprinkler system I have spent a lot of time over the past two weeks watering our yard. I was feeling really discouraged at the end of last week because my hours of watering hadn't seemed to yield any results. Apparently when experts tell you it takes a week or two to see any results, it actually takes a week or two to see any results. Our leaves are starting to fall, so every few days Anthony and I use the leaf blower to blow the leaves off the grass and onto the pavement where we then scoop them off. We are going to great lengths to protect our baby grass. 

2020 :: week 40

 

September 27

Elliott had a zoom call with his primary class Sunday afternoon. I was a bit doubtful about how well it would go, but he loved it! It wasn't long, less than 10 minutes. The kids took turns introducing themselves (a new boy moved in to our ward last month), sharing their favorite primary song and animal. Then they talked about the wise man and the foolish man, sang that song and waved goodbye.

September 28

I spent A LOT of time working on our yard Monday. We hired someone to aerate, verticut and seed our yard and he came Monday morning to do those things. I forgot to buy the seed ahead of time, so I made a quick drive to grass pad to buy a 50 lb. bag. We still have a few patchy areas (and leaving a pool up all summer certainly didn't help!), but our yard is looking so much better than it did a year ago in the fall. We don't have a sprinkler system, so my dad helped us set up three post sprinklers next to our fences. Between the three we are able to hit most of our yard. I set a timer and then go outside and move the hose to next sprinkler. The noise the sprinklers make reminds me of visiting Bennington, ID, in the summertime. 

September 29

Miles has started climbing and now nothing is safe. He climbed on our kitchen bench and pulled down this huge box of Honey Bunches of Oats. Thankfully he didn't spill much because it was a brand new box. 

September 30

Now that the big kids are busy in their rooms much of the day doing school work and Elliott is at preschool Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings Miles and I are getting a lot of one on one time. It has been a bit challenging for me. The time when Elliott is gone is also the best time for me to run errands and get stuff done. I feel best about myself when I accomplish things and cross-things off my to-do list. Miles is often right behind me making messes or destroying work I have just done. He likes Daniel Tiger so I will sometimes turn that on to distract him, but he really only likes the music so it's not very effective. I am learning to put value on sitting and spending time with my kids. You would think with four kids I would have figured this out before now, but I guess I am a slow learner. 

October 1

During her free time during school Thursday Lauren created a John family Jeopardy Game. Categories included "family," "crazy times," "math," and "do something." The big kids and I played after I put Miles to bed and while Anthony went to his first in-person church leadership meeting since March. Will was annoyed when Elliott and I found two "free point" tiles in a row and he got "lose a turn." Lauren likes to play by her own rules. The highlight of the day was that my baby sister Laura had a baby herself! Hannah Joan Moana Tom was born in the early afternoon after a long and painful pregnancy for Laura. 

October 2

We had pizza and cake with my dad Friday night to celebrate his birthday a night early. Early Saturday morning Anthony drove my dad to the airport so he could help Jill and Jake with their move. My dad is a good man. He is a hard worker and is happiest when he is helping his family. He is strong, loves to laugh and is a great problem solver. My mom is sick so she did not get to celebrate with us. She has had a rough summer. After a botched endoscopy this summer she seemed to be on the up and up, however she has had a fever everyday for the past two weeks! She tested negative for COVID last week, but is waiting on the results from bloodwork taken later in the week and will most likely take another COVID test next week.

October 3

Lauren played her best game of soccer Saturday. It is fun watching the girls play as their comprehension of the game and skills have really progressed this season. Lauren again came *this close* to scoring, but the goalie got to the ball just in time. She is playing more assertively and proactively. I love watching her play and witnessing her hard work pay off.