2022 :: week 44

October 30

Sunday was our primary program. Lauren and Elliott did a wonderful job singing and reading their parts. It felt a little bittersweet because it was Lauren's last program. Lauren didn't have her own part, but got to read the parts for kids who were not there. Elliott shined when he gave his part. He talked about how he is stands for righteousness by including everyone when recess kickball gets competitive. The primary in our new ward is so much bigger than the old OP2. 

October 31

Halloween finally arrived Monday! All four kids celebrated at school. The middle school hosted gradewide parties in the afternoon where Will got to play games and eat treats with the 7th grade. Lauren and Elliott had class parties before the costume parade at the end of the day. Miles had a small class party at preschool. He wore his skeleton pajamas because he needed to be able to use the restroom himself and he can't do that with his Baby Shark costume. That evening the four kids went trick or treating in three different groups. Will went with some buddies from church in their neighborhood. Lauren went with her gaggle of gal pals on the east side of our neighborhood. Elliott and Miles went with Nicholas, Gabriel and their crew.  The weather was gorgeous, the kids had a great time and returned home with more candy than we know what to do with. Halloween is fun, but I am excited 

to move on to the winter holidays. 

November 1

Miles' preschool is doing a unit based on the book Go Away Big Green Monster, which he loves.  I ended up checking the book out from the library later in the week.  Miles has been drawing a lot of "monsters" as well. He draws them with the purple hair and yellow eyes. He likes to cut them out and then hang them on the fridge when he is done. Thankfully we have a substantial supply of kid safety scissors. You can see a slice of banana bread on the island next to Miles. I overbought bananas last week and ended up making four loaves this week.

To help me focus on gratitude this month I am going to list of something I am feeling grateful for each day. Today I am grateful for our kitchen island. I love being able to work on one side while Miles is does his thing on the other. 

November 2

Lauren got to compete in her first Math Club competition Wednesday with her friends Ella S and Cora Lane R.  They competed against other eight other 5th grade teams from their own school as well as from Rosehill and Brookridge. They didn't place in the top three, but Lauren feels good about it. Anthony picked up the 6th grade questions and enjoyed doing the worksheet when he got home.

Today I am grateful for the great group of families in our community. Raising kids is a lot of work, but it helps to know I'm "in the trenches" with so many good people.

November 3

Miles and I tried to meet up with the ward playgroup after preschool Thursday, but most of them had left before we got there. Miles still enjoyed climbing up the slide over and over until I carried him away from the park. It was really windy as the weather started to change. That afternoon I worked on my upcoming Sunday School lesson. One of the teachers asked me to sub and it was fun to dive into the material more than I usually do. 

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to teach. I always get more out of my study when I am preparing to teach.

November 4

Jill and Jake spent the weekend in Utah at a funeral for their nephew and we watched Arthur and Henry for them while they were gone. Anthony decided to take the day off to help me with the boys, which made things much more fun. We knew that it was supposed to rain starting midmorning, so after breakfast we walked the boys to the park. Then we went for a bit of walk to burn some energy. When we arrived home we felt a few sprinkles and were glad we were able to get out while we did. 

Today I am grateful for our van that kept me dry and safe while I ran errands and took Arthur to and from preschool.

November 5

I was most nervous about bedtime while watched the Allred boys, but things went pretty smoothly. Miles loved having two extra playmates around. Anthony did most of the childcare on Saturday. In the morning I went to our relief society "Super Saturday" craft activity. In the evening Will had a friends from church over to watch the BYU v. Boise State football game. It was fun to have the house full of people, but I was also a little relieved when everyone went home and the house was quiet. 

Today I was grateful for our new ward. I love our old ward, but Will is really thriving with the larger deacons quorum. I also enjoyed getting to know a few of the women in my ward better at the Super Saturday.