2022 :: week 43

October 23

Sunday evening we hosted dinner for local family members to celebrate Lauren's birthday. We had Lauren's choice--creamy chicken and rice--with grapes and raspberries. Dana brought a yummy green salad and I made pumpkin bars for dessert. It was fun to have everyone together and it was especially fun to have Memaw at our house for the first time since before her stroke in May. It was the second social outing for her in two days as she went to Jill's house for the Halloween party the day before.  

October 24

For the first time in a long time we had nothing going after dinner. We decided to have a family game night. Tony and the big kids played Dominion while I played Scrabble Jr. with the little boys. 

October 25

The leaves have changed a lot this month and the trees are starting to fall. Most of the non-oak trees in the neighborhood are gorgeous shades of red, yellow and orange.

October 26

Wednesday afternoon we made our annual pilgrimage to Shakee's pumpkin patch. Shakee's closes at 6pm so we left as soon as Tony got home from work. We had fun going through the maze, searching for the perfect pumpkin and playing on the playground. They humored me and took a picture by the sign too. On the way home we stopped at Costco and got dinner at their food court. 

October 27

I received the kids yearbook photo proofs this week. I won't be ordering them, but I like to have a record of them. I order them each a yearbook and we take annual family pictures so we don't need these too. We are so lucky to have such awesome kids. Each of them are doing really well in school this year, both academically and socially. I look forward to seeing Miles' when he takes his in the new year. My dad had to travel for work, so the kids and I spent the afternoon and evening with my mom. Tony came for dinner and then took the kids home while I spent the night at my parent's house.

 

October 28

Halloweekend has begun! Friday was the first of two trunk or treats, this one at OPC. It was a gorgeous night and the kids had fun spending time with their friends. Tony handed out hundreds of pieces of candy while I walked around with Darth Miles. 

October 29

Saturday was busy! In the morning I took Lauren, Elliott and Miles to trick or treat at Hy-Vee. Will decided he was too old to come. When we got home the kids roasted marshmallows and hotdogs with the Mansinghs. In the afternoon we went to our ward trunk or treat where Miles, Anthony and I dressed up as Baby, Daddy and Mommy Shark. We arrived too late to get a group picture with the Halloween backdrop but I wanted at least one of our coordinating costumes. That evening the little guys and I stayed with my mom while Tony took Lauren to her first indoor soccer game of the season. The Pink Thunder tied! 

2022 :: week 42

October 16

To make life easier for my dad we prepare my mom's pill planners every other week. This week Lauren helped me organize the various pills and supplements. 

October 17

Elliott had his basketball evaluation with Upward Monday night. Previous years Anthony has taken the boys so I didn't know what to expect, except I thought it would go quickly. Apparently they changed the way they offered the parent orientation and that took much longer than in the past. I was getting pretty hangry by the end, but Elliott had a positive attitude and did great when it was his turn to go. I really appreciate his cheerful disposition.

October 18

After school Elliott had Cole and Nicholas over to play. Of course Miles wanted to play with them too. This week Miles and I went on a few birthday-related errands to prepare for Lauren's birthday. In the course of our shopping Miles told me about several things he wanted for his birthday "when he turns 7." I told him he was first going to turn 4, then 5, then 6 and THEN 7. He told me he was just going to be 7. This kid adores his brother Elliott something fierce.

October 19

Wednesday evening it felt like I went back in time and was living my 2014 life. Tony is at a conference in Savannah for the week so I was parenting solo. We met some friends at Scouting Park after school. By the time we were done it was basically time for dinner and we decided to eat at Chick-fil-A. We ate inside and it was the first time the kids were in a play place since before Covid. I would often take Will and Lauren to restaurants with indoor play places when Tony used to travel for the government, especially when it was chilly. After dinner the kids begged to go to the pet store so we did that too. I feel like I spent a lot of time meeting up with friends at the park and visiting pet stores when Will and Lauren were close to Miles' age. Now our evenings are full of afterschool extracurriculars and sports. Both are good. I just felt serious nostalgia while I sat in my booth and watched the kids laugh and play in the play place and again when we walked out of the pet store and saw a beautiful sunset. 

October 20

Miles and I spent some time with Memaw after preschool Thursday. We helped Memaw take a shower and eat her midday meal. We hadn't seen Memaw since Sunday and she seemed a lot stronger than she had on Sunday.

October 21

Friday we celebrated 11 years of Lauren Jean! The kids had the day of school, but Lauren hardly had an extra free time. In the morning Tyler and Mikey came over so their parents could go to their parent/teacher conferences. Right after they left I went up to the school to meet with Elliott's teacher (she reported that he's bright and kind and a friend to all). When I returned home we went to Lamar's to pick up birthday doughnuts per Lauren's request. We ate lunch and then opened presents and sang to Lauren. In the afternoon her friend Katie came by, she worked on one of her new Harry Potter Lego sets and received a few birthday Marco Polos and facetimes. At 4:30pm she had her piano Halloween Party where she performed "Scary Larry." I picked her up from her piano party and took her straight to the house of a soccer teammate who was throwing a Halloween party for their team plus a few friends. It was a busy day and I think Lauren felt a lot of love. 

October 22

Saturday afternoon the Allred's hosted their annual Halloween Party. What made this party extra notable was that Memaw was able to come! It was her first social excursion from the house since she had her stroke (doctor's appointments don't count). In the afternoon Lauren had her final soccer game of the season. The Pink Thunder won, remaining undefeated for the year!

2022 :: week 41

October 9

The library gods smiled upon Lauren and me this week. The day after we finished reading Key Player I got an email saying the latest Vanderbeeker book was ready for us at the library. Lauren and I have read all of the books in these series and have thoroughly enjoyed them. It did make me feel a little old that Key Player--set in 1999 around the events of the Women's World Cup in the Rose Bowl--events I very much remember!--is considered historical fiction. 

October 10

Lauren and Daphne like to give each other makeovers. Lauren considers kissing Miles and leaving lip prints to be the main reasons for wearing lipstick.

October 11

The Huskies played their final game of the Fall season Tuesday night. They had fun despite the difficulties posed by the season structure. To fit their ten games into 8.5 weeks they often had two games a week. Coming by a field to practice on also proved difficult, so most of their learning came in real time at their games. I was proud of Elliott for being positive and and encouraging teammate. Picture here front row: Ernie A., Tristan H., Townes S., Elliott J., and Colby B. Middle row: Beau A., Breckin S., Cole W., Greyson B., and Elliott G. Back Row "Staff:" Assistant Coaches Andrew S., Ben M., Greyson's Dad, and Head Coach Dan B.

October 12

Wednesday Will had his first middle school band concert. It was a busy night for our family as Lauren had soccer practice at the same time and the little boys bedtime was right in the middle of all that. Anthony took Will to his concert and said it was "pleasantly nostalgic." Will has only been playing the baritone for about a month but is making great progress. Anthony pointed out that seeing Will play the baritone is fun because as a little boy he was really into tubas. It is fun to see him play a very similar instrument years later.

October 13

Thursday evening I told the kids go outside while I made dinner. It is easier for me to work with no one underfoot and they usually have fun together. I love hearing the laughter of my kids while they play outside together. 

October 14

The kids had the day off school Friday and Tony worked from home. It was a overcast day and we spent most of it inside. Lauren had a soccer game in the evening and then a Harry Potter themed birthday party for her friend, Clare. A new Crumbl opened five minutes from our house so we took the boys for  free opening day cookies.  

October 15

We played many, many games on Saturday. Anthony played Dominion with the big kids while I played Go Fish with the younger boys. 

2022 :: week 40

October 2

Sunday morning we hosted a pre-conference brunch with the local family members. Jill made a delicious breakfast casserole, Dad made bacon and I made orange rolls. I struggled to stay awake during the morning session with all that yummy food in my stomach.

October 3

Monday was Pepapw’s birthday and we gathered that evening to celebrate. Jill made a delicious German chocolate cake and we lit 67 candles to mark his birthday. When the candles were all lit up the cake appeared to be on fire. I have never been close to a cake with so many candles before, it was truly a sight to behold. 

October 4

Usually Anthony gives Miles a ride to preschool on his way to work. However, this week Anthony was working out by the airport conducting job analyses for medical assistants and surgical technologists.  NCCT enlists the help of SMEs (subject matter experts) to tell the psychometricians what they do in their jobs. This is just one of many step in the test development process. Because Anthony was unavailable to take Miles I got to take him. It really pushed me to get out the door by 7:45, down a parent to help with breakfast, but we made it on time everyday. 

October 5

Will has started recording what he does each day on his calendar. I like seeing what he marks down at the "main event" of each day.

October 6

On Thursday mornings Will has late start. They don’t have their “wolf pack” (home room) and instead of starting at 8:45am they start at 9:20am. The bus schedule stays the same, so usually he just rides the bus and waits in the gym. Today he came with me when I dropped off Miles and we made good use of the extra time. We stopped at Great Clips to get him a haircut and then hit up Chick-fil-A for breakfast. I dropped him off at 9:10 and he was able to walk straight to class. Will has really seemed to thrive as a middle school student. 

October 7

Elliott’s baseball season is drawing to a close. Friday evening he had his best slide of the season. We have missed some of his sliding this season. In kindergarten baseball each child got to bat, regardless of the number of outs. This year outs count and that has put a limit on how much sliding we’ve seen. He was proud of his cloud of dust. 

October 8

When I got home from water aerobics Saturday morning I wasn’t sure where the kids were. I could hear laughter coming from Lauren’s room and when I went in to investigate I found Lauren snuggling with her little brothers. Lauren is a great big sister. This Saturday we did a deep cleaning in the bedrooms. Lauren’s room didn’t need too much because she’s regularly reorganizing, etc. The boys rooms needed more attention. We washed bedding, dusted, threw away a lot of trash, organized bookshelves and vacuumed. 

2022 :: week 39

September 25

Sunday evening Lauren's received an "owl." Her friend Clare--a fellow Harry Potter fan--is turning 11 and invited Lauren to a Harry Potter themed birthday party. Sunday our bishop hosted his first BYD. Will enjoyed it, but I did feel a little sad it wasn't at our house. I always enjoyed having all the youth come to our house.

September 26

Miles mimics the things he sees his older brothers do. He has started to line up baseball cards into teams and is pretty accurate with his sorting. Sometimes he tells me he is making the National and American Leagues, but he is much less accurate about that. 

September 27

Doug and Tina stayed with us for one night as the passed through on their way home from their epic road trip. We did the things we usually do when Papa and Nana are in town--ate barbeque, played games and visited. Nana played several rounds of Bananagrams and Papa played Clue Junior. It was a fun bonus visit!

September 28

Lauren has been working really hard at soccer this year and it shows. Her coach emailed Anthony and me to compliment Lauren on her hard work and focus at practice, telling us she is "absolutely dominant" in their scrimmages. He also told us that her foot skills have really improved and that he would be starting her in their game Saturday morning. We felt so proud of Lauren and her hard work. She ended up playing really well in their game and had a great assist for the go ahead goal in the game.

September 29

I took Miles to a ward playgroup meetup after his school got out on Thursday. It was at a park I used to frequent when Will and Lauren were little and I felt a little nostalgic for those times. My life was a lot simpler then and park meet-ups with friends were a lifeline and highlight of my week. My life has gotten a lot busier and in the past few years I haven't prioritized park meet-ups like I used to. It was nice to spend an hour watching Miles play with friends while I got to know new friends better. Also, the weather has been amazing this week!

September 30

Friday evening we watched Father of the Bride. I've had a hankering to watch it ever since we finished Only Murders in the Building. I told my kids it was hilarious and, while funny it definitely was not hilarious. In my defense, Father of the Bride Part II is much funnier, but we didn't have time to watch both. It was my first time watching the movie since I related more to George Banks than to Annie and I found myself feeling a little verklempt at several points in the movie. 

October 1

Saturday we ventured to the Louisburg Cider Mill and we were in good company. It took us close to an hour to drive the final mile. At first we thought there was an construction, then maybe an accident, and then we realized it really was that congested and it was going to take awhile. There was talk of cutting our loses and turning for home, but all was forgiven once we were inside. The doughnuts and cider were delicious, and the kids had a lot of fun playing in the corn crib, bouncing on the jumping pillow. They had oversized playground equipment and Elliott had fun crossing the monkey bars while Lauren used the super high swings. All four kids came close to falling asleep on the drive home, a sure sign of a great time.