2021 :: week 17

April 18

The local families gathered at my parent's house for dinner on Sunday evening for the first time in over a month. It was fun to have most of the cousins together again. It was a gorgeous evening and the kids ate their dessert on the back porch. The weather was so nice that Anthony and I went for a walk around the neighborhood after putting the kids went to bed. We walked for over an hour discussing church and other things.

April 19

It used to be just Will who would play catch with Anthony, but now all the kids head outside to play catch or do other baseball/softball drills with dad after dinner. It made me smile to see the everyone outside playing when I arrived home after going to water aerobics. Matt Ross started offering water aerobics classes last week and it felt SO GOOD when I went this week for the first time in over a year. I missed the pool, the teachers and the classmates who became friends over the past eight years. I stayed after class for about fifteen minutes catching up and it filled my cup with joy.

April 20

April Fools! When we woke up to snow on Tuesday morning I was surprised, even though it had been on the forecast for about a week. It was humid and wet and didn't really feel all that cold, but did accumulate almost two inches on the grass. By the time the kids got home from school it was 75% melted and the next day it was entirely gone. April snow doesn't really bother me because you know it isn't going to stick around very long. Will was bummed because his baseball game was cancelled due to muddy fields. 

April 21

Lauren and Will have piano on Wednesday afternoon and this week they found out they both got high marks on the MAMA festival pieces! Lauren was especially proud because it was her first time entering. Will played The Knight's Tale and A Mingus Among Us while Lauren played Ping Pong and Start Your Engines. Will also aced his theory exam.

April 22

Thursday was the busiest night of the week for us. Will and Lauren have baseball and softball practice at the same time but in different places, and Anthony had a bishop's council. Thanks to help from Will's baseball coach we were able to make everything work. Lately I have been feeling so grateful for the community we live in and the village of people around us that make life better. I am especially grateful for the adults who coach the teams our kids play on. They dedicate a lot of time to helping the kids learn, improve and have fun. Elliott, Miles and I had fun visiting and playing with siblings and parents of Lauren's teammates during practice.

April 23

On Friday night my parents watched the grandkids for two hours while the adults gathered at our house to solve a case. My friend Lindsey passed along an Unsolved Case File and we got to work figuring out who Jane Doe was, how she got to the island and who was her killer. It was a lot of fun, and we are already planning on doing another one next month.

April 24

The kids played outside most of the day, which is the best way to spend a Saturday in my opinion. I snapped this picture of the entire 101st Street gang doing the "Trampoline Conga," but they played catch, basketball, soccer, house and rock store too. In the morning Will and I went with Dana to Suburban Lawn & Garden and spent a small fortune on plants. In the evening Anna babysat so Anthony and I could go on a date. Spring always feels like an awakening, and that feeling is extra strong as the world is slowly starting to awaken from the social distancing imposed by Covid-19.

2020 :: week 16

April 11

Miles has a hard time with our current church start time--noon. This Sunday I made the kids stay for the relief society lesson. It was a bit rough, but I enjoyed the discussion. I was very pleased I was able to easily transition Miles from car seat to crib when we got home. We switched Miles to a forward facing five-point harness car seat shortly after his second birthday last month and it has been a success.

April 12

Elliott and Blaise have been playing together so well lately. They seem to get along best when it is just the two of them and no siblings or other neighbors are around. Both boys are extremely creative and they seem to live in a world of pure imagination when they are together. Renee generously watched Elliott for me while I was getting my first Covid shot Monday afternoon. I signed up for it while we were in Florida and didn't realize the appointment times were listed in Eastern Time. I thought I signed up to get it while Elliott was at preschool, but instead scheduled it at the same time his class ends.

April 13

As it has gotten warmer out Elliott and Blaise have taken to taking their shirts off and laying on the warm trampoline. I watched them play in our backyard while I worked on finishing A Light Between Oceans, the book club pick for April. I did not finish the book in time for our masked up meeting that night. 

April 14

Both Anthony and I got our first Covid shots this week. I got mine at the Hy-Vee pharmacy on Monday afternoon and Anthony went to a warehouse in Lenexa to get his at a clinic put on by the County. We both got the Pfizer vaccine and didn't notice any side effects other than maybe fatigue and headaches. It is hard to know because we are also the middle aged parents of four so fatigue is a major part of our lives right now, and we have both been hard hit with seasonal allergies this year too. Regardless, it is exciting to get one step closer to "normal."

April 15

Elliott and I attended Kindergarten Round up at OPC Thursday evening. It got off to a great start when Elliott confidently told the principal that he knew everything about OPC and then she had to remind him twice before we entered the building his mask needed to cover his nose. Oh Elliott! He had a lot of fun in his assigned classroom, playing games with fellow future-kindergarteners, meeting the Kindergarten and specials teachers and taking an abbreviated tour of the building. We also learned that his preschool classmate Camdyn will be a Husky as well. When I went to pick him up the teachers watching Elliott told me he had some great dance moves. Will said that the gym teacher told him he met his little brother the night before and that he "wouldn't forget him." Elliott was born two days before Will started kindergarten at OPC, so Elliott starting school here will be a very full-circle moment. 

April 16

In the week since we returned from Florida, Anthony and I have been watching The Right Stuff and finished the final episode Friday night. The Right Stuff is a Disney+ series about the origins and growth of the US Space program and the pilots that vied to be the first man in space. The story is very interesting, but some of the episodes were a little tedious. I also started listening to the audiobook The Astronauts Wives Club and have put the Tom Hanks docu-series From the Earth to the Moon on hold. When we get into a topic, we go all in. We are open to any and all space/moon shows and movies recommendations. 

April 17

Though it was their fourth scheduled game, due to rain cancellations and our spring break trip it was Lauren's first game of the season. It was worth the wait though, because Lauren played great! In addition to two assists she also scored her first goal of the year. We had to pick up some doughnuts from Lamar's on the way home to celebrate. Last week Lauren and I were talking about soccer and she told me that the reason she has gotten so much better is because she tries hard. She acknowledged that she is far from the most athletic person on her team, but because she is willing to try she is improving even though she makes mistakes sometimes. Tony and I are so proud of her willingness to try, especially because she is a perfectionist and public mistakes are hard for her.

2021 :: week 15

April 4

We celebrated Easter by having an egg hunt on the beach. Miles' face adequately expresses his feelings towards sand that we were unaware of until this trip. I put all the candy and quarters in the eggs while listening to General Conference and was struck by how accessible everything is now. I remember driving the the chapel to listen to conference at the church building when I was a child because the church had the enormous satellite dish in the back. Now I can listen to conference live on my phone as I sit on a bed at at hotel on the coast of Florida and watch the ocean out my window.  

April 5

Monday morning the ladies (Mom, Jill, Emily, Melanie and me) went parasailing. The dads took the kids to the beach and then we all met up at the pool. That evening we took family pictures on the beach and then went to Fat Donkey's for ice cream. Unfortunately I got a really bad headache right as we started taking family pictures. The bright sun triggered a headache that was simmering below the surface. Our kids cooperated pretty well and I think we were still able to get some good fun pictures. 

April 6

Miles was a bit of a grump on this trip. He did not like sand one bit, and was unsure how he felt about water. I'm sure the change of routine and uncomfortable bed were contributing factors too. I am often reminding my older kids that when they were his age our world revolved around them. Now that we have a wider range of ages to please the older kids and younger kids have to be a little more adaptable and understanding. Tony and I try to plan things for our family that everyone can enjoy, but I think this is one of the hardest parts about having kids with ages that span nine years. We found that even though Miles protested, once I got him in the water he enjoyed being pulled around the pool in this whale floatie.  

April 7

Wednesday at 12:34pm we got to see a launch! Andrew was able to get us passes to watch on the roof of his building on the base. The launch we saw was a Falcon 9 Rocket sent into space by SpaceX at the Cape Canaveral Space Station. The Rocket was carrying 60 Starlink satellites with the purpose of improving broadband internet access to parts of the world where the internet is not readily accessible. On our drive to the base Andrew gave us a great overview of some of what is currently happening with the Space Force and the history of the area. He whetted our appetites to learn more about space and Anthony and I have been diving deep ever since we got home. As it was our last full day in Florida we ate and early dinner and then spent the evening on the beach.

April 8

I was feeling so grateful for these kiddos as we finished up our trip. Will was never a problem and was happy to participate in whatever was planned. It is so nice having an oldest child who isn't "too cool" to have fun with his aunts, uncles and cousins. Lauren was extremely helpful and tried to had fun with all of the cousins. I was impressed when she used her own money to buy her cousin Leah a lei at the souvenir shop so they could match. Elliott overcame his fear of the water and not only put his head under the water, but by the end of the week was trying to "beat his record" of how long he could hold his breath. Miles is an independent guy who has so much of his life dictated to him, I was impressed with how well he rolled with the punches when he clearly wasn't enjoying himself. We left the hotel at lunchtime to begin our travels home. We stopped at Burger King for lunch and had one of the most memorable worst fast food experiences of our lives. The drive to the airport was uneventful, but the walk through the airport was again hellish. The departure signs directed us to the wrong gate in the wrong terminal, and then our flight was delayed. This added to the stress, but did allow us to easily make it to the correct gate in time. When we arrived back in KC it was cold and rainy but we were happy to be heading home to our own beds, with happy memories of a great trip dancing in our heads. 

April 9

Lauren and Anthony went to Play It Again Sports to buy her a glove for softball. We like to get our kids' gloves there because they are already worn in. Lauren and TJ spent some time playing catch and TJ reported that she made his glove pop a few times with her throws. It was the last day of Spring Break, so Will and Lauren did not have school, though Anthony had work and Elliott's preschool was in session. It was a quiet day to ease back into real life after our trip. 

April 10

Saturday was full of errands and household chores to get us up to speed after our week away. Saturday evening we walked up to the park to expend some energy before bedtime. Elliott was pretending to fall down a hole while he was playing on the slides. The Ules walked up as well and we visited with them as the kids ran around the playground together.

2021 :: week 14

March 28

This is the only picture we took during our Girl's Weekend, and it is missing Hillary! Carly and Meredith dropped Alicia and I off at the airport for our early afternoon flights. When I got to the check-in kiosk I had trouble getting my boarding pass to print and when I asked a clerk for help he told me, "they don't let you check in more than 24 hours in advance." Turns out I bought the return ticket for Monday! I debated what was the best course of action and decided that getting home ASAP was the best possible option. The kind clerk got me on the last flight of the day to KC and didn't charge me. Carly and Meredith came back to the airport to pick me up and took me to Bobpa's. I spent the afternoon with the Johns and even got a short nap. Unfortunately my flight didn't arrive in KC until 1am, so by the time I got home and into bed I was totally exhausted. The exhaustion was worth it, I had such a great time spending time with the John women. Many thanks to everyone that made this weekend possible. 

 

March 29

Elliott made this cute giraffe headband at school. He frequently arrives home with all sorts of fun projects. There are many reasons I am grateful for preschool teachers, but in this case I am grateful for the crafty things they do with my kids. I like to craft, but I don't really enjoy crafting with my little kids. When teachers do the things I am not good at with my kids it helps me feel less guilty that I don't enjoy it and instead spend time doing things I enjoy more with my kids. It is much easier for me to devote time to reading or playing games with my kids than to do art projects or play with play dough. 

March 30

It is the end of an era in the John house, our noisy fridge has been replaced. When we bought our house in August of 2011 the previous owners told us we were welcome to keep the fridge as they didn't need it where they were moving and it wasn't worth selling. Being that we were moving from an apartment and had no fridge we decided to keep it. Our original plan was to buy a new one in a year or so when we had saved up some more money or when it finally gave out. It has been loud as long as we've had it, but in recent months it has gotten even louder. It is loud enough that people notice. Once Elliott was on a zoom call for his primary class and his teacher asked who had a blender going in the background. We have heard about inventory limitations on fridges and supply chain delays due to Covid, so we decided to bite the bullet and get a new fridge on our own terms. On Tuesday morning the deliverymen brought us our new fridge and took the old fridge away. Our new fridge is so much larger and quieter, I almost can't believe we waited so long to replace the old one. The old one had a lot more character though.

March 31

Elliott has a habit of taking of his shoes in random places and then struggling to find them later. He takes them off at the table and whoever is sweeping finds them later. He takes them off at various places in our yard, in our basement, in the bathroom before he gets into the bath. Wednesday I found them at the foot of the slide while he was on the monkey bars at the other end of the playground! 

April 1

Lauren is playing softball this year and Thursday evening they had their first practice. They decided to call themselves the Bombers, and the name seems apropos. Lauren's practice is at OPC, which is very convenient because Will has practice at the same time at Pawnee Elementary. Our plan is for me to walk with Lauren and the little guys up to the school for her practices while Anthony drives Will to his practices. Elliott and Nicholas had a grand time running around the grounds playing some live-action Pokemon game they've been playing together for the past few weeks. 

April 2

Anthony organized an impromptu Finnish missionary reunion for Good Friday. Apparently there had been some chatter on the Finnish Missionary Facebook group and Anthony decided to make things happen. He had the day off work and it worked for him to moderate the gathering. He reconnected with his mission president and several other people he served with as well as people he knows through their shared affinity for Finland.

April 3

Florida! On Saturday we took a mid-morning flight to Orlando and were on the beach before dinnertime. This trip is a family reunion with the Crane family that had been postponed from summer of 2020. My mom wanted all of her grandkids to visit Cocoa Beach and get to witness a rocket launch before the Staritas move this summer. Looking at this picture of the kids frolicking in the waves with their cousins almost makes me forget the hellish twenty minutes we spent trekking back and forth across the airport with our luggage, bulky car seats and a grumpy toddler as we attempted to find our rental car.