2021 :: week 39

September 19

Sunday we did a lot of walking. We successfully made our way to church in the morning, which was more difficult than we anticipated with various lines not running on Sunday. We left plenty early though, so made it with time to spare. Afterwards we headed back to our room to change into walking clothes. Anthony heard about Big Onion Walking Tours from a co-worker and signed us up for the Immigrant New York tour that took us through the Five Points area, Little Italy and Chinatown. The tours are run by graduate students so they are primarily available on the weekend. We learned about the tenements the immigrants lived in, and the various ways they were exploited. The Feast of San Gennero was being celebrated in Little Italy and we happened upon the parade and festival during and after the tour. We wandered through the festival and then headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. We made a pit stop at our apartment and then headed out to explore. We walked through SoHo and Greenwich Village, stopped at Washington Square Park, then continued on toward the Highline through Chelsea. We picked up some cookies along the way and ate them on the Highline while we facetimed our kids. Technology is pretty amazing. According to my phone we walked 9.8 miles! I sure felt it when we got in bed that night. 

 

September 20

Monday was our final day in NYC. The main item on our agenda was visiting the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Plaza. Back in 2008 we went to the top of the Empire State Building, so we decided to pay a different skyscraper for the pleasure of ascending to the top on this trip. The view was magnificent and I was struck by all we could see. Afterwards we walked to Central Park and picked up a pretzel and knish on the way (thumbs down for both). Of all the many movies and events that have taken place in Central Park, I was most excited to see the sites of Home Alone 2. After we walked through Columbus Circle, across the Gapstow Bridge and took a picture with the Plaza Hotel ("New York's most exciting hotel experience!") we stopped for lunch. We took the metro to the Upper East Side and walked along 5th Avenue and through the center of the park. At this point we were feeling pretty tired, collected our bags and headed to the airport. Our flight home was uneventful and we were happy to see all of our kids--ready for bed, but not asleep--when we arrived at home.

September 21

Happy Fall! We were greeted with beautiful weather when we returned home. Apparently it rained for about 20 minutes in the evening before we arrived home and the storm left cooler temperatures in its wake. At the park after school Miles and Gabriel were hanging out next to the monkey bars, watching the older kids swing. Miles likes to put his shoes on by himself, more often than not on the wrong foot.

September 22

I made tomato basil soup and grilled cheese for dinner Wednesday night. My dad shared tomatoes with us and combined with our harvest I was able to make a decent batch of soup. I roasted the tomatoes, then added some basil (also grown in our garden), onion, garlic, salt, pepper, chicken broth and cream. A few of the kids tried to tell me that tomato soup and grilled cheese was a weird combination, but they just don't know what they don't know. 

September 23

A breakfast scene. Some mornings go more smoothly than others, but a month into the school year and we are doing pretty well. Thursday Anthony left for a conference in Nashville. 

September 24

Will and Curran decided to harvest some of their pumpkins Friday. Will put his on the porch with our other pumpkins. I put cayenne pepper around them because the squirrels have been eating the pumpkin Lauren got at the Cider Mill. 

September 25

I finally got to see one of Will's baseball games! Will and Elliott's games and practices this year have had a lot of overlap. Usually we divide and conquer and I take Elliott to his baseball stuff and Tony takes Will since he helps coach the team. With Anthony being out of town I got to take him and I had a lot of fun watching him play. I know I am biased, but I thought he did a really good job. His team was playing with only eight players, but they held their own. It was their best offensive showing of the season. After walking in the first inning, Will roped a line drive into right field and stole a base in the second. He struck out in the third, but the final pitch looked like a ball to me. It is rewarding to see your kids stick with something, work hard and excel. 

2021 :: week 38

September 12

Sunday evening we had a group of people from the ward over for dessert. The kids had so much fun last time we had people over we decided to do it again. We have had a lot of young couples move into our ward this summer, so we invited some of them too. I am getting so excited by the glimpses of fall we have had this past week. 

September 13

We trekked out to the sunflower farm with the Allreds Monday night to get a few "sunflower pictures," and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds. I felt quite stressed for about 90 seconds when we couldn't locate him Elliott, though he was totally unconcerned. I guess when you can hear people calling your name you don't feel "lost," though for the people that can't see you it's a different story. I really enjoyed our drive home, listening to songs that are family favorites and enjoying the beautiful scenery at sunset.

September 14

Miles and Dad relaxed on the beanbag Tuesday. All the John boys rest with their arms behind their heads. It makes me smile when I see them do it. Miles has taken a liking to Super Why! and requests episodes daily. His ability to recognize letters and numbers has really taken off since watching. We have foam letters for the kids to play with in the bathtub, and he has started calling them his "superletters" as he scatters them around the house. I found a few letters stashed under my pillow this week.

September 15

Elliott has a wonderful kindergarten teacher this year, Mrs. Phipps. On Wednesday she came to his baseball game. Here she is with her students on the team--Elliott, McKenna and Meadow. Elliott decided he needed to start wearing eye black to his games, and he did get some great hits this night, so...it must bring good luck.

September 16

Lauren and Daphne are gearing up for a fall craft sale. Lauren has been working on ghosts, pumpkins and bats in her downtime. It is an enterprising lady and it is fun too see her creative juices flow and entrepreneurial spirit come out. She is very organized and cleans up shop every night before she gets in bed. No needles, buttons or thread are ever left out.

September 17

Friday morning Anthony and I flew to New York City! My parents said they would watch our kids for a long weekend so we could take a trip together to mark our 15th anniversary. We had such a fun time! We have both been to New York before but it had been years. The first item on our itinerary--after buying metro passes and storing our luggage--was the 9/11 Museum. Tony lived in Finland when the attacks happened, so he doesn't feel connected to it the way people who were living in the US do. I was a brand new freshman at BYU when it happened, so it is truly the first major event of my "adulthood.: The museum was very well done and helped me to put together the sequence of events and their aftermath around the country that day. We stopped at the memorials too, which are beautiful and very large. On the birthday of a victim they put a rose on their name. It was humbling to see a few roses and remember that for each person lost there is a community of people who feel their loss every day.

September 18

Saturday morning we headed to Battery Park to catch a ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. I have wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty since I read about it in our blue Golden Book Encyclopedias as an elementary schooler in College Station, Texas. We made a quick visit to Liberty Island, then took the next ferry to Ellis Island where we spent a few hours. Neither one of us have family members that were processed through Ellis Island, but it was a fascinating tour nonetheless. We then took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to the subway which we took to the Bronx for a Yankees game. This was our longest ride on the subway. Tony was pleased that he brought bad luck to the Yankees, they lost 11-3. That evening we got Greek food, then walked around Times Square and down Fifth Avenue via Bryant Park. The New York Public Library looked beautiful--it was set up for a wedding. I looked it up and weddings there start at $60K. Broadway reopened earlier that week and they had Broadway performers  singing at various spots along 7th Avenue and Broadway in an event called Curtains Up! We walked a lot that day, but it was nothing compared to Sunday. Meanwhile at home my parents took the kids to the Louisburg Cider Mill and they had a great time.

2021 :: week 37

September 5

Due to Stake Conference and a 5th Sunday it had been a month since I last taught Sunday School. I am enjoying teaching gospel doctrine much more than I anticipated I would. I've always been interested in church history and am really enjoying the deeper dives I do in preparation for each lesson. No matter how early I start preparing I always start to feel very stressed Friday night and most of Saturday. 

September 6

We made our annual Labor Day visit to the pool. Several good friends from school and church were there as well and Tony made a big pizza run to feed everyone dinner. At least six of Lauren's good friends were at the pool. Knox came and played with Will, (and Elliott too). An hour before the pool closed they turned the water fixtures on full blast. The kids had fun running through the sprinklers. It was pretty disappointing that Bluejacket was closed this year, but after a summer with no pools, each visit to the public pools felt like a gift. 

September 7

Miles looks forward to meeting the big kids after school. At the beginning of the year he wanted to stay and play at the park, but this past week he has wanted to walk with Will when he leaves. Will is a very patient and gentle older brother. I often stay at the park for a bit so Elliott can play. I trust Lauren to play at the park without an adult, but Elliott still needs adult supervision. This means that Will spends the first half hour of his post-school time looking after his 2 year old brother. Miles loves going up to Will's room with him to check on George or heading to the kitchen and getting a snack mom probably wouldn't have given him.

September 8

Guess who's back? Back again? Pokemon's back, tell a friend. Blaise and Luke got some new Pokemon cards and the boys have dusted off the binders and started trading again this week. Elliott and Blaise made a few trades this week that then had to involve parents and trade-backs so now all trades are off limits. Miles has been the excited recipient of all the "trash" cards the older boys no longer want that were cluttering up space in their binders. Never before have such useless cards brought so much joy to a little boy.

September 9

The OPC Huskies played two games this week and Elliott did great in both of them! On Tuesday night the entire family was able to go, as well and Memaw and Pepaw and the Allreds. He is a lucky boy to have so many people to support him. Thursday night just Lauren, Miles and I were in attendance, but Elliott still had fun. Thursday he got to play catcher, which is the position that his Papa played so he was very pleased with himself. At this point he might have the best throwing arm on the team. Elliott continues to keep us entertained while he plays with his MLB-highlight-reel style of celebration when anything positive happens to his team.

September 10

Friday morning Miles and I went with Emily to walk around the World War I Museum. Emily is going to take our family pictures at the end of the month and we were scoping out venues that might work. Miles enjoyed walking around and "jumping" on the many steps. We saw a few firefighters climbing the many steps around the memorial in remembrance of the 110 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center. It was so humbling when we realized what they were doing and why they were doing it. Friday was an exciting day for Anthony because BYU officially became part of the Big 12. 

September 11

Saturday afternoon I took Elliott to a birthday party for his new friend, Camille, at Meadowbrook Park. Elliott has made a lot of new friends since school started and it is getting harder for me to keep track of all of our kids, their friends and their desired social engagements. We are trying to savor all the outdoor social time we can while we can before it gets cold. Who knows what the upcoming winter has in store? I have everyone but Tony scheduled for a flu shot within the next month. 

2021 :: week 36

August 29

Everyone was understandably obsessed with George on Sunday. It was his first full day as member of our family and the kids--especially Will and Lauren--were anxious to interact with him. The pet store clerks advised us to avoid picking him up for at least a week so he can adjust to his new home. Will and Lauren took turns feeding him sunflower seeds. It was surprisingly cute watching him grab the seeds, then crack it open and eat the meat. Usually Will and I read together downstairs, but on Sunday we read up in his room to be close to George. Will is a doting and proud hamster dad.

August 30

My extroverted children have been loving all the social time they get during the school day and at the park afterwards. I find myself spending Miles' nap time prepping for or preparing dinner so I am able to better accommodate their social needs. After dinner the kids cuddled together and watched a little TV. Lately they have been into watching the Super Why! (Miles), msmojo's Disney Top Ten lists (Elliott) and Family Reunion (Lauren).

August 31

We met up with the Wilsons at Matt Ross and went for a quick swim after school Tuesday afternoon. This is the last week our summer pool pass is valid and the kids wanted to go one last time. I took this picture as we were riding the elevator upstairs post-swim.

September 1

Elliott made his youth recreation league debut Wednesday evening! He played "pitcher," short stop, first base and left outfield, got hits 3 of the 4 times he was up to bat and crossed himself, then pointed to the sky when he crossed home plate. If this is what watching Elliott play baseball is going to be like I am here for it.

September 2

Miles and I are enjoying getting out together in the morning before it gets too hot. We met up with Em and Mikey and played a the park for awhile Thursday morning. I helped Miles troubleshoot where to place his feet and he climbed up this tower over and over. He would walk down the steps, the run around and climb back up over and over again. 

September 3

I spent a few hours on Friday cleaning out my gmail account. After ignoring several "your gmail storage is an insane% full" emails for weeks, on Thursday I was no longer able to send emails or use my google documents. Miles copied me and got out his computer and punched buttons for a bit. He has been very particular about his clothing and accessories lately. He added the winter hat himself, and chose the croc/sock combo himself. 

September 4

Tony took the kids up to the park to practice hitting and catching, but the field was muddy from rain. They went to the field and had batting practice for close to two hours. Curran and Bennett joined in on the fun too.