2021 :: week 42

October 10

Sunday we gathered at Memaw and Pepaws house for a big Sunday meal in honor of Pepaw's birthday. Jill, Emily and I split up the food responsibilities with Emily making 72 meatballs, Jill preparing the apple crisp and me tackling mashed potatoes. I made the mistake of buying a bag with tons of small potatoes, so it took Tony and I quite a while to peel them all. 

October 11

We got together with the Staritas one last time while they were in town on Monday morning. All the kids not in school came over midmorning to play, then Memaw treated us to a Chick-fil-A lunch. It was fun to see the cousins play together, and observe the dynamic without all the older cousins around. Miles and Peter "played" basketball for awhile. 

October 12

Will jammed his finger while tossing a football around with Curran. I bought him a brace to help him keep the finger straight. He had to miss baseball practice on Tuesday because it needs time to heal.

October 13

Miles has fallen in love with the trampoline again. He often requests to go out and jump, and if I'm able I am happy to oblige. It is a good excuse for me to sit in the sun and read a book. In the evenings I often request that his siblings go out and jump with him to get him out of my hair when I'm working on dinner. 

October 14

I don't usually order school pictures because we get pictures of the kids when we do our family portraits, but these email proofs had me feeling very tempted. October is parent-teacher conference month in SMSD and as I have had the chance to talk to their teachers I have been overcome with gratitude for these amazing kids. Each one is such a bright light in my life and, as I learned after talking with teachers, a positive asset to each of their classrooms. "Steady," "reliable," "model student," and "responsible" we a few of the adjectives their teachers used to describe them. 

October 15

The kids had no school on Friday and while I debated with to do with the free day, the kids were busy making plans with friends. The kids took advantage of the gorgeous weather and played with friends most of the day, then that afternoon we made our annual pilgrimage to Shaake's pumpking patch in Lawrence. We had a new understanding and appreciation of what it takes to grow pumpkins after Will's mini-pumpkin patch this summer. The kids had fun playing on the playground, observing the animals and going through the maze. 

October 16

Lauren and her friends had their second group sewing lesson at Harper's Fabric & Quilt Co in Downtown Overland Park on Saturday. They finished the bags they started working on two weeks ago. Lauren chose a pretty blue color to match her upcoming Halloween costume.