2023 :: week 52

December 24

We started off our Sunday at church. The primary kids sang "The Nativity Song," and Miles hid behind Elliott. I was proud of him for even walking up to the stand. In the afternoon we made a few more batches of ginger snaps and delivered them to friends. We had our annual soup potluck dinner with the Cranes (I made corn chowder). The kids acted out the nativity and then we opened one present each. When we got back home we set out our stockings and the kids decided they all wanted to sleep in Lauren's room. Lauren slept on the top bunk, Elliott slept on the bottom, and Will and Miles slept on separate mattresses on the floor. It probably wasn't their best night of sleep, but they had fun. Matt, Anthony and I watched It's a Wonderful Life while doing some last minute wrapping, then set out Christmas for everyone.

December 25

Christmas Day! The kids were up and ready to go at 7am. We could hear them before that, but they graciously agreed to wait until 7am before coming down per Mom's request. We spent the morning opening presents. The kids were so thoughtful with the gifts they got each other, and were very gracious about the gifts they received. We feasted on breakfast casserole, bacon and orange rolls for both breakfast and lunch. We had a family zoom with the Johns scattered around the country, where we enjoyed showing off our wares as well as seeing what our cousins received. That afternoon we made green bean casserole for the family dinner at my parents' house. Around 4pm we headed over and opened gifts from Memaw and Pepaw and the Crane cousin exchange. I did my best to be in the moment and not spend too much time with my phone, so I took way fewer pictures than usual. It was a great Christmas!

December 26

After receiving more baseball cards than he knows what to do with, Miles set up his card shop in the dining room again. His best pull was this Vlad Guerrero Jr., patch card. Anthony took the kids to the gym to burn some energy. In the afternoon Lauren went to Ariana's house and Will hung out with the Bensons. 

December 27

Wednesday I took the kids to Science City. It was fun, but pretty crowded. We expected as much considering it was Christmas break. The kids had fun creating with the supplies in the maker space. That evening we had ribs at my parents' house. Matt said he enjoyed the food he ate while he was staying with us. That night Anthony and I watched Die Hard with Matt and debated what criterion constitutes categorizing something as a "Christmas movie."

December 28

Lauren had her second volleyball practice Thursday night at Okun Fieldhouse. This fall Allie's mom reached out to me and asked if Lauren would be interested in playing on a rec volleyball team this winter. Lauren has never played before, but said she was willing to try. Five girls from Mrs. Koerner's class are on the team, and the rest of the team is made up of girls from around the metro. CL and Allie's moms are the coaches. Lauren felt pretty discouraged after her first practice because she couldn't serve the ball over the net. Anthony took her (and the boys) up to the church gym a few times over the past week and they worked over and over on her serve. At practice this week she was able to do it!

December 29

Friday was TJ's birthday! His main present was tickets to go the BYU game in Lawrence in February. We celebrated him by eating lots of delicious food--leftover breakfast casserole for breakfast (our second of the week) and French Dip sandwiches for dinner. That evening he took Lauren to the temple with friends Katie and Michael Howell. After they did baptisms the dads took the girls to Coldstone for some ice cream. When they got home Anthony, Will and Matt watched Dodgeball together. TJ is a great husband, dad and friend. He is doing good things at his job, spends quality time with all four kids, and listens to me talk until he falls asleep. He has spent hours last week working on updates to our room that only I really care about.

December 30

Saturday afternoon Joi texted me and said they were heading to the park and wondered if Elliott was interested in heading over. Yes! Elliott had his shoes on and was out the door before I could find my jacket. The boys played football for over two hours and Elliott was in heaven. He has such a great group of friends right now. That afternoon we stopped to wish Memaw a happy birthday. We are all so grateful to celebrate another birthday with her.

2023 :: week 51

December 17

Sunday we celebrated 14 years of Will. After church we opened presents and ate dessert. That evening we had an early dinner with the local family. Later we participated in my parents' annual Christmas sing-a-long. Will is a pretty simple guy, he likes good food and sports. Lauren bought him a yard of Twix bars, Elliott got him basketball cards and Miles got him a Costco pack of Nutella. His big gift from Mom & Dad was an iPhone 14. Unfortunately, we messed up the order and his phone didn't arrive before his birthday so he still has to wait a few days. Thankfully for us, Will is a great kid and isn't complaining much. Anthony and I often talk about how he spoils us. He is a great student, who works hard and is diligent about getting his work done. He is a great brother, spending many hours a week playing sports with his siblings and including them in many of his activities. He is smart and has a great sense of humor. He likes history and maps and uses his down time at school to explore cities on google earth. He thinks he might want to study geography or architecture when he grows up. I think his perfect day would be exploring downtown KC, eating a good cheeseburger and then watching the Chiefs or the Royals. He has an enviable metabolism and will eat huge hunks of cheese, large bowls of applesauce and white bread spread with nutella when he is hungry. Will likes going to church and has a great group of friends there. My biggest complaint about him is that he *hates* bedtime. It is starting to hit me how close he is to adulthood and I am definitely not ready for that yet.

December 18

Anthony was able to take a several days off in December because he had a fair amount of PTO to use before the end of the year. One of the ways he used this extra time was to remove the popcorn texture from our bedroom ceiling. I have wanted to make a few relatively simple changes to our bedroom for while and this is phase 1 of the project. (Overall goals include removing popcorn ceiling, painting the ceiling white, installing a statement wall, replacing the blinds, replacing the ceiling fan, painting the walls and replacing Anthony's closet door). He started Friday, but after a few initial hiccups, things went pretty quickly. If anyone reading this ever decides to remove popcorn ceiling, it is well worth it to invest in a dedicated popcorn scraper. They are approximately $25 and make things so much easier to clean up. Another tip is to make sure the popcorn is very saturated. It is much easier to scrape when it is nice and wet. After scraping we patched the imperfections on the ceiling, which was followed by many rounds of sanding. By the end of the week Anthony painted the ceiling white. Now the room revamp project is on hold until after the holidays.

December 19

We have entered a new era. Will's phone finally arrived on Tuesday and we set it up ASAP. I was the proud recipient of Will's first text. Will has been so patient to wait until he was 14 to get his own phone, much longer than most of his friends. That evening Matt arrived from Utah to spend the Christmas holiday with us. 

December 20

Wednesday evening we did our traditional Christmas in Kansas City excursion, and Matt got to join us! We rode the streetcar to City Market at got dinner at Pigwich, then walked around a bit. I was disappointed that the Santa scooter house people either moved or decided not to put out decorations this year. We headed back to Union Station to walk through the Holiday Reflections exhibit. Miles and Elliott rode the mini train twice. It may be Elliott's last year to ride, we will have to see how tall he is next year. The exhibit was pretty nice, there were many holiday themed photo ops. Please note Miles' pose in this picture. It is the Kevin from Home Alone face that Miles has started making in pictures this Christmas season.

December 21

We finally put up Christmas decorations this week. Wednesday afternoon our Christmas tree arrived and assembled it immediately. The past few years we waited until the local hardware stores discounted trees, however this year nothing was discounted below $45. I fell in love with the 9-foot pre-lit tree for $300 at Costco early in the season and decided I wanted one of those if we could get it on sale. The Costco trees sold out, but I found a similar tree for only $200 at Sam's. We decided to go for it, and if it lasts at least 4 years I can consider it a good investment. Thursday the kids were out of school and Lauren helped me set out the rest of our decorations. I love looking at these photos from past Christmases. Wednesday evening Lauren had her first volleyball practice.

December 22

Anthony painted the ceiling and it is looking so sharp! We were able to move a lot of our displaced furniture and tubs with our stuff back into the room from the laundry room. The room already feels a lot brighter.

December 23

Saturday morning we did our winter trip to the zoo. For the first time ever, in our 8 years of having a membership to the zoo, we saw the penguin march. It was pretty fun to see the penguins waddle. We rode the train, sky safari and carousel. We visited the new aquarium for the first time as a family. The Pacific Octopus was on the move and it was really cool to witness! The weather was great and we had a fun visit. After we picked up Matt and got some Chick-fil-A. Lots of NBA games were watched while Matt was here. Tonight the Celtics beat the Clippers with authority.  

2023 :: week 50

December 10

Our stake is wanting to make Sacrament Meeting more engaging for youth and primary aged kids. Anthony has been taking our kids on his high council speaking assignments. This month he brought Lauren with him to Hickory Hills. She spoke about  gospel principles found in movie Elf, which include: 1-Family First, 2-Give Your All, 3-Choose to Spread Cheer, and 4-Know Who You Are. Lauren did a great job! Tony spoke about the scriptural admonition to become childlike.

December 11

This year I am doing my best to stay on top of gift wrapping. A few years ago I spent a long time wrapping on Christmas Eve and was so miserable and frustrated I vowed to never let that happen again. I do most of it on our kitchen island so I don't have to sit on the ground and hurt my back. Man am I getting old! Miles likes to "supervise," aka attempt to sneak a peek. Lauren is a big help with wrapping too. We haven't set our tree up yet, so I have laundry baskets full of presents in my room. It is much easier for me once the presents are wrapped because I don't have to worry about keeping them hidden.

December 12

Lauren and her friends have been horsing around on this adaptive swing when they play at the park after school. It looks wildly uncomfortable to me, but they spend time on it regularly, so they must not think so.

December 13

My dad was traveling this week and I stayed overnight Monday and Tuesday evenings with my mom. He got back late Wednesday evening so we had dinner with my mom after attending Elliott's flag football game. I left the game early to pick up CFA, but the kids had fun running on the field after with Townes and Theron. Joi sent me this picture of the kids being cute together. After we ate dinner and vacuumed up our many crumbs Tony took the kids home and my mom and I watched a Hallmark movie together. I left at bedtime, and my dad got back around midnight.

December 14

After 1.5 long years Will and I finally finished reading the Old Testament together. We started reading it in April 2022. Since February 2020 Will and I have read all for our the standard works together. We did it in an unconventional order (Book of Mormon, New Testament, Doctrine & Covenants, Old Testament). I have really loved spending this time with Will, and I feel very proud of us.

December 15

Friday morning I took Miles to the Candy Cane Hunt at the Lenexa Community Center. He was excited to go, but terrified when we got close to Santa. He allowed me to hold him for this photo, but this was as close as he was willing to get. We stayed for part of the program, but Miles got a bit bored so we left early. We had plenty of things to do, including buying supplies for smash burgers. Friday evening Knox came over for dinner and then Tony took him and Will to the SMS basketball game.

December 16

Saturday was a very musical day. In the morning we met up with a few families in our ward and sang Christmas carols for the residents of a nursing home. In the afternoon we went to the Neighborhood Church for Lauren & Will's piano recital. Will and Lauren performed "Angels We Have Heard on High" together. Lauren performed "Carol of the Bells" with Breña. Both performances were great! That evening we headed to the Stake Center for the Oak Park Ward Christmas party. During the clean up period Will and Lauren played their song and got invited to play their duet in Sacrament meeting on December 31.

2023 :: week 49

December 3

Lauren sketched this manger scene during Sacrament Meeting. 

December 4

Monday evening we took our annual Santa picture at Bass Pro. We coordinated our photo time with the Allreds so the cousins could have fun exploring around Bass Pro after pictures together. Miles was so excited to take a picture with Santa, he even volunteered to wear his new Santa pajamas for the picture. But when it was go time, he got scared and I had to hold him. 

December 5

Tuesday was a very musical day for the John Family. TJ took the day off work and drove Will down to Crown Center in the morning for Tuba Christmas. Now that he plays the euphonium he can participate. Not only did he get extra credit, he also fulfilled young Will's dream. Before Covid Tuba Christmas was indoors, but it moved outdoors a few years ago and has yet to move back inside. Unfortunately for Will it was extremely cold and windy. I picked up Lauren and Elliott from OPC, then we picked up Miles en route to the concert. The concert itself was fun, though the conductor inserted a few too many vanity pieces for my taste. That evening we headed to SMS to hear the Junior Raiders sing with the other South Choirs in their annual Holiday Concert. It has quickly become my favorite concert of the year. The Junior Raiders sang "Somewhere In My Memory," from Home Alone and "El Gato Blanco." 

December 6

We celebrated the Finnish Independence Day with our traditional meal of Salmon Soup, pumpernickel bread and blue berry pie (Mustikkapiirakka). After dinner we headed to Union Station to watch Elf on the big screen. We ran into Lauren's friend Hailey and her family while we were buying popcorn. Elf was hilarious, as usual. We have hit a lot of things on our "Christmas bucket list" this week.

December 7

Miles and classmate Oliva worked on gingerbread art at school this week. Olivia has quickly moved to the top of Miles' list of "favorites."

December 8

Miles and I ran a few errands on Friday afternoon, including a stop at Michael's. Miles looked so cute when he tried on this Santa hat. That evening Anthony and I carpooled with the Olson's to the Stake Council Christmas party. For the second year in a row it was held at the Messner's home in Edwardsville. We had a fun time. 

December 9

Elliott continues to enjoy his flag football classes. His favorite position to play is RB to buddy Townes' QB. They do seem to work well together. It was another busy Saturday. Lauren hung out with Ariana Olsen. I went to Jenny Mitt's baby shower. That evening Anthony and I went to Charlotte's 50th birthday party at SERV. We played a little pickleball, which definitely whetted my appetite to play more once it gets warmer. 

2023 :: week 48

November 26

The storm hit the Midwest Saturday night, but driving conditions were fine on Sunday. We didn't even miss church because church got cancelled in our area due to the storm. We had a fairly uneventful drive home, arriving around 4pm.  Anthony and I listened to the American Scandal podcast seasons about Purdue Pharma and the Oklahoma City Bombing. We had such a great trip, but it felt pretty great sleeping in our own beds that night.

November 27

Monday was business as usual. Miles and I got the van cleaned and vacuumed after I picked him up from school. Usually we try to get the Tuesday deal, but Lauren requested we get it cleaned ASAP. We give Ella and Allie a ride to the Junior Raiders choir practice at SMS on Mondays, and Lauren was concerned the van would still be full of road trip detritus. 

November 28

This is not the first time I caught Snowy eating the pumpkins on our porch. I admitted defeat--it is almost December!--and moved the pumpkins to the base of our tree when I finally got around to doing leaf removal in our yard. Lots of leaves fell while we were gone.

November 29

Lauren has been busy making friendship bracelets to exchange with her friends. Many are Taylor Swift themed, but she also does sports themes, names, initials and the like. She crafts while I read. We are currently in the middle of The Vanderbeekers Ever After, the final Vanderbeekers book. We paused on our reading while we were in Utah, so it has been a little slow going. I have really enjoyed this series. My friend Sang and her daughter shared the first book with us when we were quarantined for covid back in early 2021. I am sad to see these books end, but this last one felt like it was a bit rushed and could have easily been fleshed out a bit into two books, but that's just my opinion.

November 30

Thursday night we went to the 1st and 2nd grade music program, "The Joy of Music." I preferred the way our previous music teacher did the programs, with each grade (K through 4) getting their own night. It does make for more evenings the music teacher has to be at school. But the gym is packed to standing room only and it is really hard to see your child unless you get there extremely early. Regardless, Elliott is always fun to watch. After the program the older kids went to mutual and I took the kids to my parent's so we could show them the video I took of Elliott's class singing. 

December 1

We take such wonderful photos. Friday night was NCCT's holiday event at the New Theatre Restaurant. The play this year was "Catch Me If You Can," starring Jim O'Heir of Parks & Rec fame. The play was enjoyable and Jim played a very different character than Jerry Gergich.

 

December 2

Saturday Elliott and company had their first indoor touch football class. When I failed to get Elliott signed up for fall baseball I decided we'd let him do football while it was cold. I recruited a few friends to sign up as well, and Elliott has been looking forward to this day for weeks!  To say he was amped would be an understatement. Elliott, Townes, Cole and Ian regularly play football at the park after school, but have no formal understanding on what constitutes to rules. Here's to hoping they learn a thing or two.