2023 :: week 19

May 7

Miles was in a mood during church on Sunday. He gave Will and Lauren a hard time when they tried to put him to bed Saturday night and we all paid the price. 

May 8

Breakfast for dinner has been on repeat at the John house in 2023. We eat it at least once a week, with a few variations on the theme. Smoothies are a must, as are mini tater tots. For protein we usually have eggs and sometimes I'll cook bacon or sausage. We recently made waffles, but sometimes only have time for pancakes. As I write this I'm thinking we are overdue for some French toast... 

May 9

Even though middle school is a notoriously tough time in life, Will has really thrived during his first year at Indian Woods. He received a superior rating on his science fair project at the district R&D Forum and made the Principal's Honor Roll three of the four quarters of middle school (and was literally less than a % away from straight As all four quarters). I was a little apprehensive about what the potential horrors that would enter his life as he moved away from elementary school and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I feared.

May 10

This was the week of Field Trips! On Wednesday the Junior Raiders Choir got to perform for three of the South area elementary schools--Trailwood, OPC and Rosehill. Lauren was pleased they got to visit OPC. I don't think of Lauren as being short, but compared to Simone and Caroline she is! Both of them are already taller than me.

May 11

Thursday I got to go to Science City with the fifth graders of OPC (and about 700 other students from around the metro). In our group was Breanna, Lauren, Joshio, Caroline, Kris and Alex. We had two hours to explore and do as much as we could. Two hours was a little too long for how crowded it was that day, but we still had fun. It rained all morning so the outside area was closed, which was disappointing because these kids had energy to burn. I was pretty impressed with how unflappable Lauren's teacher was, managing so many 5th graders, and her classmates for going with the flow when the rain limited their plans.

May 12

Friday both Anthony and I accompanied Elliott's class to Mahaffie Farm. This was my third time going on the Mahaffie field trip and it was by far the best weather. Elliott's class is pretty small (only 16 kids!) so with the seven parents it was easy to keep tabs on everyone. I have two favorite memories from the trip. 1-Elliott asking me if Pepaw (my dad) played this stick game when he was growing up. I laughed, but texted my dad and asked him and he replied, "yeah." 2-As we were waiting to ride the stage coach the docent told us to be relatively calm and quiet around the horses as not to spook them. Tony noticed his bugle and the docent told him he could take a look at it. Anthony proceeded to blow in the horn and all of the adults chuckled about him forgetting to stay quiet. All in all a fun visit.

May 13

We had a crazy weekend of sports (starting Friday). Six games in three days! On top of a regular season soccer game, Lauren's team played four in the Midwest Mother's Day Classic and ended up winning their division! Lauren scored a goal in each game they played. Each season the Pink Thunder gets more exciting to watch. Will and Lauren played in baseball and softball games at the same time Saturday evening, so we divided and conquered with Anthony taking Will to his game and me taking Lauren to hers. It was one of the hottest, muggiest evenings we have had so far this year and it seemed to be making people go crazy. Will's game ended in a memorable triple-play by Will's team. The outs were the result of the pitcher catching the batted ball (first out) and then terrible base running and runners forgetting to tag up (outs two and three). The assistant coach of the opposing team got so upset he shoved the ref and is no longer allowed at the J! Meanwhile, at Lauren's game her coach asked the ref to enforce pitching rules against the opposing team because their ace pitcher repeatedly took an extra step off the rubber before pitching. The pitcher struggled to adjust and couldn't throw strikes unless she took the extra step. She was understandably frustrated and started to cry. The other team accused our coach of bullying and then some of the parents waited for him to leave and then verbally assaulted him in the parking lot after the game!