2022 :: week 21

May 22

We hosted a Sunday dinner for local family members. A taco bar was on the menu, with banana creme pie in honor of Jake's birthday for dessert. Most of the kids opted to have freezie pops instead of pie, which left more for the adults. The weather outside was gorgeous. I am feeling excited about the promise of summer. Memaw gifted each of the kids a little summer spending money as a reward for their hard work this school year.  

May 23

Monday was a day of stain removal for me. The last week of school Lauren's class made volcanoes. The kids got it out to use one last time before I threw it away--it was not built to last. They added food coloring without asking and ended up staining the countertops. It was the first stain magic eraser couldn't easily get out. After some internet sleuthing I learned that Bar Keepers friend would work, and it did, quite easily. Phew! Monday is my laundry day and I needed to remove the fresh strawberry juice from Elliott's brand new white church shirt and dirt from Will's white baseball pants. Rubbing alcohol removed the strawberry and Fels Naptah took care of the dirt stains. I felt pretty accomplished, though my arm was a little tired from all the scrubbing. 

May 24

Miles, Will and I went plant shopping with Dana during the storm on Tuesday. It was nice walking amongst the plants while the rain was falling outside. For his birthday last year Dana gave will a plant IOU. He picked out some flowers, herbs and peppers for his garden. Miles liked the various garden statues. He kept giving this budda fives. 

May 25

With rain in the forecast most of the week, I made the impromptu decision to potty train Miles. I've been putting it off for awhile because I didn't really want to deal with the inconvenience. However, between the price of diapers at Costco and dreary weather keeping us home this week I had all the motivation I needed to push ahead. Much to my delight, it has been going awesome! He had only a few minor accidents, most of which were on the first day. He stopped using the "baby" potty on the second, and now exclusively uses regular toilets. He has woken up dry each morning, which is great, but he needs help getting out of his pajamas and into underwear in the morning when he wakes up around 6:20am. I'm going to have to start going to bed earlier if this keeps up! By the end of the week he successfully used the restroom at Lauren's soccer tournament, a restaurant and church. He can now do all his business on the toilet and I could not be more pleased. 

May 26

It rained a lot week. Not all day every day, but for several hours every day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, leaving our yard saturated with water. We used more screens than I'd like to admit, but we also had some fun family family time playing Ticket to Ride, baking cookies, playing sports inside the house and building a long train in the basement. 

May 27

Friday was my birthday and the sun was finally shining! Besides the 6:20am wakeup call to help Miles go potty, it was a great day. I met a friend for lunch, planted some flowers in the yard, read my book and felt lots of love from my family and friends. My mom brought by my favorite birthday dessert, peanut butter and chocolate rice krispy treats. She has made me feel special for 39 birthdays and counting…

May 28

Lauren's soccer team concluded their spring season this weekend at the Kansas City Invitational Soccer Tournament. Her team played in three games this weekend, losing one and tying the other two. It was pretty exciting that her recreational league team could hang with teams that traveled from as far as Illinois! Lauren played one of her best games of the season Saturday afternoon. The other teams they  played were bigger and played much more physically, but she really held her own. After her game the team celebrated a great season at Coach's Bar and Grill. 

2022 :: week 20

May 15

This is life with three boys, no matter where we are or what is going on, a dogpile is always a possibility. 

May 16

Monday morning Jill and I met up at the zoo with Arthur, Henry and Miles. The weather was gorgeous and we wanted to squeeze in one last zoo trip before school gets out. Miles and Arthur have been to the zoo enough to know where they wanted to go and we hit all the non-African hot spots, plus took a ride on the train and carousel. Miles fell asleep on the way home, but woke up when I tried to transition him inside. I'm a little worried how this summer is going to go nap wise. 

May 17

Every day the kids come home with a stack of papers, supplies, competed projects, etc. Their teachers are cleaning out their classrooms and are trying to prevent a huge load on the last day Today Will had his last day of art, and he brought home a huge stack of his art, including a stack of self-portraits he drew over the years. There is a self-portrait from kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade and fifth grade. His fourth grade year was interrupted with covid, and this year the school got a new art teacher who didn't continue the tradition. Will has grown a lot over the past seven years.

May 18

Jill invited me to see Waitress the musical with her at Starlight Wednesday evening. She and Jake got season passes for Christmas, but Jake is out of town this week. It was a gorgeous evening for outdoor theatre. 

May 19

Thursday was the last day of school and the end of an era for the John family. Will has completed elementary school and will be off to the greener pastures of middle school next year, while Miles will be starting preschool. For one school year all of my school aged kids were at the same school and on the same schedule, and I have cherished every minute of it. Also, because Elliott was born and came home from the hospital the day before Will started kindergarten it is a strange full circle moment for me. Anthony, Miles and I attended the 6th grade recognition program in the morning, where Will received the President's Gold Award for maintaining straight As all through elementary school. That afternoon there was a pizza party for 6th grade families on the tennis courts. Will, Lauren and Elliott each got invited to friends' houses after school, so Miles and I returned home to a quiet house. 

May 20

Friday marked the first day of "Summer Vacation," though it didn't feel much like summer. A cold front came in, giving me a headache and causing the temperature to drop about twenty degrees. In the evening we went strawberry picking at Stone Briar Market in De Soto. I forgot to bring cash, so we ended up driving for longer than we picked, thankfully everyone was patient with my mistake.

May 21

Lauren had her last regular season soccer game Saturday. They went into the game tied for first place in their league, and lost to the team they were tied with. It was a disappointing game, but the girls have a tournament next weekend to look forward to. That afternoon Elliott went to a birthday party at Pump-It-Up where he was reunited with many of his classmates. You would never have guessed that school only ended two days before from the joyous reunions. Will had a baseball game, and it was early enough that the entire family was able to watch. Another busy Saturday!

 

2022 :: week 19

May 8

We had a pretty low-key Mother's Day 2022. I pulled the "it's Mother's Day card," when Miles came into our room around 7am and then proceeded to sleep until after 8:30am, it was glorious! The kids accommodated me with a quick pre-church photo shoot. Church was fine. I am not someone who struggles with Mother's Day, but because so many do I wish that other than the primary kids singing there was little to no mention of it. I feel like just as my kids are growing up and into themselves, I too am growing up and into my role as their mother. I am much more comfortable with being my own brand of mother than I was ten year ago. I am so grateful for my four wonderful children, who regularly try my patience but also make me laugh. They have made me a better person, and I hope I am raising them to be confident in themselves. I am also grateful for my own mother, who continues to nurture and help me be the best version of myself. 

May 9

Just Elliott making a great play at first base during his game Monday night. Elliott is getting pretty good at catching. He also learned the hard way that you have to run through first base. He slowed down approaching first, and got thrown out himself later in the game for the first time this season.

May 10

Shopping with Miles is always a treat. He has strong opinions about what we should buy and loudly states what member of our family likes whatever it is we decide to purchase. "Will likes that," when we buy Nutella. "Dad likes those," when we go past the soda aisle. Another recent Miles-im is using the word anything when he means nothing. When he is feeling grumpy and I ask him what he wants to do, he often replies "anything!" in a very dissatisfied tone. Or when I walk into a room and he looks suspicious, if I ask him what he is doing he will say, "anything." Toddler malaprops make me laugh!

May 11

Lauren got to attend a soccer clinic at SMS Wednesday evening. The high school soccer players ran the clinic, running drills and scrimmages. Lauren had a great time!

May 12

We are down to the final weeks of school, and as such the school days are mostly full of fun. After a two year hiatus Field Day is back, just in time for Will's 6th grade class to help run the show! Monday through Wednesday they led groups of kids and facilitated activities for the younger grades. Elliott had field day Monday, while Lauren had field day Wednesday. On Thursday the 6th graders from the entire SMS area gathered at Indian Woods for the Olympic Festival, which was more outdoor group activities. Will had a lot of fun, but got a bit of a sunburn. At the end of each day they got bomb pops and sprayed with the hose. We had close to record high temps--in the 90s Monday through Thursday--so the refreshment was very welcome. Lauren's class has a countdown where they do something out of the ordinary each day--wear tie-dye/silly socks, eat lunch outside on the picnic tables, airplane races, watching a movie, etc. Elliott's class has started a countdown as well.
 

May 13

Life can get a little hectic when you have three kids playing spring sports. This spring the boys are each playing baseball and Lauren is playing softball and soccer. Despite being beholden to four practice and game schedules, it is very rare to have all three kids with an event at the same time. Friday Lauren and Will each had a game at the exact same time, luckily at adjacent fields. Elliott's game started an hour later and was across town, so Tony and I split up. We've had so much rain this season this was actually Lauren's first softball game. Her team started off a little rusty, but show great signs of promise. Lauren has been playing catch and throwing the ball against the wall like her brothers ever since.

May 14

Elliott has been begging to play Monopoly Junior for weeks. Saturday afternoon we made his dreams come true. My dislike for the game was reinforced--so much of the game is pure luck! A funny moment was when we all wanted the game to end and Will was down to only a few dollars. We started to cheer, "bankrupt the billy goat!" Unfortunately, luck was in Will's favor and he went on a streak of making serious dough. I finally set a timer to end the game. I enjoy playing games with my kids, and I have had fun playing regular Monopoly in the past, but Monopoly Junior might be my least favorite game.

2022 :: week 18

May 1

On Sunday we were again grateful for the late weekend breakfast, because we all slept in. The Salazars invited us to go to a park with them, but when they got there it was closed for a "event." They found a different park for us to go to, and then gave us a ride there as well. The kids had fun playing in the woods and stream as well as in the sand, on the playground and on the basketball court. I didn't take a single picture, probably because I was still feeling so tired from the day before. It was fun visiting with Ben and Hillary and filling each other in on what was new in our lives. That afternoon we visited Ford's Theatre. Will did a book report on Chasing Lincoln's Killer and was excited to visit the scene of the crime. That evening we went back to our hotel and watched National Treasure and ate delicious ice cream. We joking called this our "Nation Treasure Trip," because we were going to visit both DC and Philadelphia. We went to bed early because of lingering fatigue. 

May 2

Monday we met the Merrills at the zoo. I really wanted to see the pandas, and the Pandas lived up to the hype. They were outside, moving and playing. They were very cute. We have been to the National Zoo a few times on previous visits, we didn't have enough time to explore the entire park, but we hit most of the highlights. That afternoon we headed to Union Station to board our Peter Pan bus to Philadelphia. We had hoped to take the Amtrak, but waited too long and when we went to buy our tickets the lower fare tickets were all sold out. We decided to save the money and bought bus tickets instead. It was still a pleasant way to travel, the seats were comfortable and there was plenty of room to spread out and sit where we wanted. When we arrived in Philly we walked to our hotel. It was located in the heart of the city, across the street from the gorgeous City Hall. 

May 3

I was very excited to take the kids to Independence Hall and to see the Liberty Bell. Our tour guide described the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed as the "most important room in America." After spending the morning exploring the Old City, we got lunch at Sonny's. It was so good! Anthony, Will and I got cheesesteaks (with Cheez Whiz--oddly delicious!), and everyone else got burgers. That evening we headed to City Park to see the Phillies take on the Texas Rangers. Philadelphia fans are knowns for being passionate, and among the meanest in America, and that certainly tracks for the game we attended. The booing felt wrong to my Midwestern sensibilities, but Anthony and the boys thought it was funny. To get to and from the game we had to figure out how to navigate the SEPTA. Besides the rides from friends in DC, we totally relied on our own feet and public transportation on this trip.

May 4

When I got back from eating breakfast Tuesday morning, I had a text from my sister Melanie that they were en route to DC from Boston, but currently a little over and hour away from Philadelphia. We made plans to meet up for a bit. We packed our belongings and walked to Reading Terminal Market. We bought delicious donuts from Beiler's Amish Doughnuts to share with the Staritas. Then we walked to Logan Square and the Philadelphia Temple and waited for them. When they arrived we walked to a small park next to the Franklin Institute. As is our way, the kids played and the adults visited. The Staritas had to continue on, and we went over to the Free Library. We had hoped to go to the Franklin Institute, but it was closed due to an award ceremony the next day. I was too tired to walk another 1-2 miles roundtrip to the Art Institute to run the "Rocky Steps" and see the Rocky Statue. One of my biggest disappointments of this trip is that we were so tired by the time we got to Philadelphia that we didn't get to explore as much as I would have hoped. The Free Library was huge, with crafts and toys in the children's area and various board games upstairs. We spent a few hours there before eating a final meal at the Reading Terminal Market, then headed to the airport. We flew through St. Louis to KC. When we arrived home that night we were all happy to be back in our own beds.

May 5

I was hoping to sleep in a bit Thursday, but all the kids were up and at 'em around 7am. I spent the day unpacking, grocery shopping, and getting recalibrated to "real life." That evening Tony and I saw Fiddler on the Roof at the Music Hall. It was my first time watching the play (previously I have only seen the movie) and it was a great performance! 

 

May 6

Miles and I spent some time outside Friday. Miles is following in the footsteps of his older brothers and becoming increasingly interested in baseball. He spent half and hour swinging his bat at pretend balls, then throwing the bat, running the bases and cheering for himself. His little fingers pointing up at the sky like Elliott does when he celebrates himself were killing me. He pays attention to everything Elliott does.

May 7

We had a busy, productive, fun Saturday. Yard work, haircuts, baseball games, and Saturday chores. April was pretty rainy, but now our grass is so green and thick. That evening Anthony and I went on a double date with Carrie and Chris. It was a gorgeous evening! We were able to eat outside at Pigwich. Then we walked on the bridge to the Missouri River where we saw some otters swimming in the river. We had a wonderful evening. It was also great to arrive home to a clean house. Lauren and Will "babysat" for us and did an excellent job getting their little brothers to bed and cleaning up the kitchen. It was the perfect pre-mother's day treat.