2021 :: week 20

 

May 9

Mother's Day was a quiet affair this year. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mom, for my own mother, and for the women who have mothered and mentored me throughout my life. I often find myself in awe of my children. They are bright and full of energy and help me see the beauty in the things around me.

May 10

Lauren's class is having an auction at the end of the month. Each student is supposed to bring in a gently used item from home that they think a classmate could use. Mrs. Dearing informed the students and parents about this awhile ago so we could be thinking ahead about what to bring. Throughout the year they earn "Dearing Dollars" and then cash them in to buy various privileges and toys. The auction is to use all their extra money. Lauren decided she wanted to make a Husky stuffed animal for the auction. I helped her design the pattern and she started cutting working on it this week.

May 11

Thanks to the miracle of vaccines and Hillary and Ben helping with Bobpa, Papa and Nana were able to come and visit for the first time since Lauren's baptism in 2019. The forecast for their visit was full of rainclouds, and our weekend schedule full of youth sports, so we hit the ground running once they arrived. After school we boarded the streetcar to the City Market. We walked along the Missouri River and then picked up dinner at Pigwich (very good!). 

May 12

While the big kids were at school and Tony was at work, Papa, Nana, Elliott, Miles and I took advantage of the nice weather and went to Deanna Rose. It was essentially Miles' first visit, and he had a ball. It was a busy afternoon/evening with piano, soccer practice and a meeting for Anthony. Tony made smashburgers for dinner while I drove the kids to their activities. After dinner Papa and Nana played a lot of games with the kids while they were here. Papa was a good sport to keep playing Sleeping Queens with Elliott after Elliott told him he was going to make him "feel the pain." Talking trash is an art in the John household. 

May 13

Thursday was a quieter day. Elliott didn't have preschool, so we went to the park in the morning. It was quiet at first, but then an entire preschool class and their parents descended upon us for an end-of-the-year picnic. We didn't stay long after that. Elliott and Miles were happy to spend time with Papa and Nana at home. Miles loves "singing" along when Anthony plays the piano, and he enjoyed singing with Nana too. That evening I took Lauren to softball practice and Papa and Nana went to Will's baseball game. Will was starting pitcher and it did not go well. He was frustrated and embarrassed, and the team was not fielding well. It was a tough outing for Will.

May 14

Friday was a fun day. We picked the kids up at lunchtime and headed to the zoo. We were able to do a lot because it wasn't very crowded. We rode the train, sky safari, shuttle and carousel. We saw a lot of fun animals--koalas, elephants, gorillas, crocodiles and rhinos to name a few. When we returned home we ate some delicious Chick-fil-A and then used the sauna. Miles and Elliott are only in briefly--children under six can use the sauna for a limited amount of time. 

May 15

We lucked out with the weather and were able to have a full day of sports. Lauren had a soccer game around lunchtime, and then Will and Lauren had baseball and softball games at adjoining fields that started 45 minutes apart. Lauren played great in both her games, and Will pitched very well in his baseball game. He was feeling pretty good, especially after his previous game. We recently made the connection that one of the young men Doug worked with in the Linn Asian Branch in the 90s is in our stake. They invited us over for lunch, so everyone but Lauren and I went over and was able to spend time catching up.