2022 :: week 4

January 23

Wicked lit a fire inside Lauren and she was reminded how much she likes musicals after we went. He music teacher decided that the 4th grade will put on a musical this spring and she spent the week preparing for the upcoming auditions. Lauren decided to make posters for a few of her "favorites" musicals over the weekend. These are all the musicals she has seen, though she has only seen Hamilton on Disney+. She saw Annie at Tuchahan this past summer, and we saw it at Theatre in the Park a few summers ago as well. Our family has also seen Matilda,  Newsies and Joseph... at Theatre in the Park (though she opted not to make a sign for Joseph because she said it was too hard).

January 24

The boys' basketball league is run through a local Baptist church. Each week at practice they have a devotional and each week during the devotional I get worried at what Elliott might say. He often makes comments and I heard him reference the Book of Mormon at least once. I generally don't want my kids to hide themselves under a bushel, but this doesn't really seem to be the time to "let your light so shine."

January 25

It got cold again and on Tuesday I had to jump Anthony's car again. We had the missionaries over for dinner so I went and picked him up from work when it wouldn't start, then after dinner we drove back to his work and jumped it again. Wednesday morning he took it to an auto shop he likes after the clerks at AutoZone said they wouldn't help him install a new one. I also took our van in for its 100K mile tune up and found out it needs $3K in maintenance. Who said adults have more fun? Side note: the third floor of the building in the background is where Anthony works. 

January 26

Miles wants to be do everything Elliott does. I found him Wednesday afternoon on my bed wearing Elliott's Royals hat, reading Elliott's weekly reading assignment. 

January 27

Friday marked the 100th day of school (for Kindergarteners). With Will and Lauren I was so on top of this milestone and we had their 100th day projects done days in advance. With Elliott I had to run to Target to pick up some M&Ms after dinner on Thursday. 

January 28

Miles had a runny nose so we laid low on Friday and I tried to clean our my closet. I was pretty pleased with how organized my closet was looking until I walked into the TV room and saw that Miles had made quite the mess. Two steps forward, one step back with a toddler.  

January 29

The weather was gorgeous and the kids spent a lot of time playing outside on Saturday. A neighbor's granddaughter who drove on our street a few times came to our house and requested to speak with me. She said she had seen the kids playing in the road and not looking while they crossed the street. I was pretty sure it wasn't my kids who were playing unsafely in the road, but they were playing in our driveway. I had to remind myself that I am glad she cares about the well being these children she didn't know, and that it must take courage to confront a stranger and give them negative feedback. I also told the kids to play in the backyard after that because I just didn't want to think about it anymore.

 

2022 :: week 3

January 16

Sunday was Stake Conference. Between the freezing temperatures and omicron cases on the rise, we opted to watch from the cozy comfort of our basement. The visiting authority was an Elder Firmage who we discovered is second cousins with Anthony (both descendants of Harvey and Lorena Fletcher). 

January 17

We invited the McCalls over to sauna with us on Monday. Anthony was off work and the kids were out of school. We had to sauna in shifts because there were so many of us! Will and Chase got so hot they ran up to the school to play basketball. The younger kids ran around in the snow and a few attempted snow angels.

January 18

Our neighbor stopped by Tuesday afternoon to give me six boxes of mixed gummies. He works in a plant that had overstock and he wanted to share his extras with us. While I talked to him I felt a pang of guilt. In Stake Conference one of the speakers talked about not judging people, and I certainly have judged this neighbor in the past. 

January 19

Miles has been making this scrunchy-faced smile recently. He has so much personality! I have been going to the gym a few times a week. I love water aerobics and this gym is one of the only gyms in town that offers both aqua classes and child watch facilities. We usually go in the late morning to avoid big crowds.

January 20

Thursday night was "Back to the Woods," the night where 6th grade families across the SMS area visit the middle school. Students and their families are able to tour the middle school, attend a short presentation about what the middle school day looks like, and visit booths showcasing the extracurriculars available to 7th graders. I haven't been very excited at the prospect of Will leaving elementary school, but being at the middle school, amongst his peers from across the district I could see that it is going to be a great place for Will. 

January 21

Elliott had quite the cheering section at this game Friday night. He has eight games this seasons, all on Friday nights, from 5:15-6:15pm. Knox and Gunnar came to cheer for Elliott and Elliott loved the extra fans. The boys took videos of Elliott playing and sent them to other 6th graders. There is a very affordable snack bar at the games and our kids and their friends have enjoyed cheap candy. 

January 22

I made this cross-stitch for Dana and finally framed it. I wanted to make her a cross-stitch that reflected her personality and Dana loves to be outdoors, spade in hand, amongst plants. Every time I work outside with her she is pointing out the species of bird or butterfly, and the scientific names of plants. When she ran her own landscaping business it was called 'The Garden Guru.' It was a fun project for me. I used my Stitch People book to figure out the ratios on her figure, and looked online (mainly on Pinterest) to figure out the ratios of plants and birds. 

2022 :: week 2

January 9

When I tried to start our Optima before church on Sunday it wouldn't start! I was pretty sure it just needed a jump, but Anthony had left a few minutes earlier and I wasn't able to get ahold of him. My dad was able to come over and the car easily started after we jumped the battery. I think the last time we replaced the battery was in 2016, so we are probably due.

January 10

Mondays are my busy housework day, when I work on laundry and tidy up after having the family home all weekend. Miles enjoyed having unfettered access to Elliott's Legos while he is away at school and I am distracted with housework. 

January 11

Most Tuesdays I drive a carpool of kids to the middle school for Honor Band. In the past the honor band was by invite only, but this year all band students are invited to participate to make up for lost instruction time due to Covid protocols. I drive Will, Liam, Ira and Tristan, and Ira's mom drives them home. The timeline is a little tight, picking up the boys and getting them to the middle school before they get out at 3:45pm and the parking lot becomes insane with jaywalking middle schoolers. 

January 12

Lauren and I had such a great time at Wicked on Wednesday evening! The play was held in the Music Hall downtown, across the street from the Marriott. Thankfully I am familiar with parking on that part of town so were were easily able to find a place to park. We got there early to pick up our tickets at the box office. With lottery tickets you have no idea where they are located until you pick them up. I asked an usher to help us find our seats and we were delighted to discover we were assigned orchestra seats,  on the front row and slightly right of center. We could look down and see the musicians in the pit and could easily see the expressions of the actors on stage. Lauren and I had such a fun time! Lauren loves musicals, and has fallen in love with the soundtrack. Her favorite song is "Popular," though I don't think her brothers care for that song anymore. 

January 13

Bath night! Miles has taken to wearing Royals hats. He frequently tell us he wants to go to a Royals game. I told him we can try to go in the spring and now he tells me, "go to a Royals game in the springtime," several times a day.

January 14

Elliott had his first basketball game Friday evening. He did great! They don't call traveling in his league, and there was a lot of traveling...but it was still fun to watch. The coaches are on the court with the team, reminding them of things they talked about at practice, telling them which direction to go, and stick to their person when they are on defense. Elliott was on cloud nine afterwards. He is a real competitor. 

January 15

Will had his first basketball game Saturday afternoon. Anthony had to speak at the leadership session of Stake Conference, so he was unable to attend. I took a few pictures to send to him. I was proud of how Will played. Some of the kids are pretty physical, and this league is fairly hands off with the reefing. Will is smaller than most of the kids, and despite his height disadvantage he was able to juke his opponents and hit layup after layup. He was the highest scorer in the game.

2022 :: week 1

 

January 2

I made the kids take a picture after church while we were waiting for Tony for finish talking to a few people. We don't typically all drive together, but it felt safest to travel in the van. It was very cold and the roads were a slick, so many people opted to stay home and participate via zoom. There weren't enough teachers there to staff primary, and second hour was cancelled. Normally I would be all for that, but I had spent a lot of time preparing my Sunday School lesson and was excited for the potential discussions. 

January 3

Because the boys were going a little stir-crazy, I sent them to shovel the driveway Monday afternoon. We have had a great break from school! We've done lots of fun things together as a family with Anthony was home for a solid week. Usually when he takes that much time off from work we travel somewhere, so it was nice to enjoy some relaxing time at home. However, by Monday afternoon the kids had really started to bicker and bounce off the walls. That night Elliott and Will had their first basketball practices. I totally dropped the ball and remembered Elliott's 5pm practice at about 5:30pm, but he made it and is excited.

January 4

Another witching hour, another picture of my boys outside expelling some energy. Over the past month Miles has really fallen in love with jumping on the trampoline. It is his favorite thing to do, especially with Elliott.

January 5

Just some Dad/Elliott/Miles wrestling. Like I said before, the kids are going a little stir crazy and Dad is good for a wrestling match now and again to distract the boys while I make dinner. The big kids went back to school today. They were excited, but it was a little disorienting for Miles to be stuck with just mom all day.

January 6

I snapped this picture of the kids hanging out on the couch after dinner. The kids have started watching Phineas and Ferb, and it is a pretty clever show. They are enjoying being back in school and seeing their friends, but struggling to adjust to their comparative loss of free-time. 

January 7

When I saw that Wicked was coming to Kansas City I wanted to go, but wasn't willing to pay $100+ per ticket. I decided I would enter the lottery and if I won tickets we would go. On Friday morning I got a text that I did! I was able to buy two tickets to the show at $30 a piece. 

January 8

We had a pretty quiet Saturday. I ran some errands and in the evening we watched the Chiefs game. Lauren and Tony spent some time in the afternoon reconstructing Lauren's Lego set. They are almost done collecting the pieces of the Hogwarts castle from the Whomping Willow Lego Set she received a few years ago. Now that she has the clocktower she can connect the section of Hogwarts in this set to the section of Hogwarts in the clocktower set. They have spent hours digging through our Lego bins searching for pieces. Sometimes I read to them  while they are searching. Lauren and I are currently reading A Grimm Warning, book 3 in the Land of Stories series.

2021 :: week 53

December 26

We had a wonderful Boxing Day. Church was only one hour long and we had a beautiful musical testimony meeting. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying our new Christmas gifts. 

December 27

Tony was able to take the entire week off work! Monday was Lego day. He spent hours working with Elliott and Lauren, helping them build sets they received for Christmas. Elliott got a cool x-wing from the Salazars and Lauren got the Hogwarts' clocktower from Nana and Papa. 

December 28

Tony and the kids sauned in the afternoon. I decided to skip because I have had a dull headache all week. Stevie and the crew came by and installed the new window in our kitchen. It looks awesome!

December 29

It's Tony's birthday! We celebrated by going out to eat with my parents and the Wilsons at Red Robin. After dinner we shared a cheesecake with Memaw since her birthday is the following day. That night after the kids were in bed Tony sauned with Stevie and Joey. They day was laid back and simple, but full of a few of Tony's favorite things--yummy food, family and friends. 

December 30

A benefit of having Tony around all week was that we could divide and conquer. Nana and Papa paid for part of a Union Station membership for Miles' Christmas present. Thursday afternoon Anthony took the three older kids to Science City. Miles will get plenty of chances to go to Science City this year while the kids are in school, but it was fun for them to go and enjoy the exhibits that are much less fun with a 2 year old in tow. He also took the kids to a baptism and picked up Frosty's afterwards.

 

December 31

I had a coupon to Savers that expired at the end of the year, so Lauren and I made a quick trip Friday. Savers is one of Lauren's favorite places to buy books and she found a few good ones on this trip. She also received several books for Christmas. She mentioned to me that she was going to rearrange her bookshelf. Not even an hour later she called me up to her room to show off her "library." She has categorized her books into different genres and used her new washi tape to make the labels. I admire her ability to complete a task.

January 1

We started the year off with a movie--Sing 2! Between the snow that fell overnight and the early showing we chose, there was almost no one in the theatre with us. We splurged and bought popcorn, something so unlike us that Lauren had to write about it in her journal. Elliott has been watching previews for the movie for over a month and so he was ecstatic to finally see the movie. It was pretty good, though I think I liked the songs from the original Sing a bit better. That evening we had salmon soup and sauned--the perfect start to a new year. Also, three saunas in one week--it must be winter!