2024 :: week 12

 

March 17

Sunday evening the boys enjoyed eating some mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert with Pepaw. You have to have green ice cream for dessert on St. Patrick's Day. 

March 18

Monday evening Will made these cinnamon sugar pull-aparts for dessert. He is taking a foods class this semester and seems to be enjoying himself. It has certainly increased his confidence in the kitchen and putting items in and out of the oven.  

March 19

Anthony and Will are participating in two fantasy baseball leagues this season, both of which are run by Darren H. and are populated with family members and friends from BYU. This is Will's third year doing the Yahoo! League, where teams are redrafted each year. It is Will's first year in the keeper league where managers can keep players on their roster over multiple seasons without redrafting them. Will inherited Randon's team because he stopped playing, so he's got his work cut out for him this season. I wasn't pleased when I found out that this draft started at 9pm on a school night. I'm not sure how late they were up, because I was in bed before they were done. 

March 20

Wednesday night we finalized our brackets. Will is so excited, he made a poster sized bracket for our wall. He also filled out several brackets--chalk, Ken Pom picks from 10 years ago, best logo, etc. Lauren's team name is "Lavendar Haze," and has a lot riding on Marquette. Elliott's picks, "ElliottRule$" picked Houston to win it all. "Miles' Picks," were heavily influenced by going to two BYU Big 12 tournament games last week, because he picked BYU to run the board. Like Will and Elliott, I picked Houston to win too. Tony went with UCONN and will probably beat us all because he has decades of knowledge cataloged in his brain from caring about NCAA basketball the entire season (as opposed to March only like me) under his belt. May the best guesses win!

March 21

Will taking his obligatory "dunk" on the way in to his piano lessons.

March 22

When I woke up on Friday I was tired. I didn't really feel like doing much of anything. It was overcast, a little cold, and sitting on the couch watching shows with Miles sounded awfully appealing. Sometimes that is the right answer, but I knew that I would be annoyed with myself if that is how we spent our day. I texted Jill to see what they were up to and if they wanted to meet us at Science City. She was up for it, and we got there a few minutes after it opened at 10am. We had a really great time. It wasn't terribly crowded, so we were able to have fun and give the kids some autonomy and not stay glued to our sides. The skeeball game, indoor playground and slide, train kitchen and farm area were our favorites. Henry's day was made when we heard several trains go by while we played outside.

March 23

It is the lull between sports seasons, and we are enjoying some increased unscheduled time on Saturdays. In the morning Will went over the Bensons to hang out. That night they went to a stake youth activity together. In the afternoon Townes came over to play basketball with Elliott while Mikey came over to play with Miles. Anthony and I ran errands and worked on various to-dos around the house.

2024 :: week 11

March 10

We had a full van coming home from church on Sunday. Tony was in Nashville for work, but Emily and Cal stayed home because they were sick, so we had room to give Tyler and Mikey a ride home. 

March 11

For the first day of Spring Break we decided to get out and do some things in Kansas City. Our first stop was Penguin Park. The park is in North Kansas City (not too far from the temple) and has been around for awhile. In the 1960s large fiberglass animals--penguin, kangaroo, giraffe--were added. Then we headed to the downtown library. Because it was a nice day we played on the roof for a bit. This library has a nice children's section, and we played games and used their building toys for a bit. A few times I felt chocked up, realizing that we don't have many spring breaks left with all the kids at home.

March 12

Tuesday Will spent the day with the Bensons. They spent some time at Shawnee Mission Park and also walked around their neighborhood. Lauren was a lifesaver. I had a migraine and had to rest much of the day. She watched Miles and Elliott for me, and among other things, they watched Star Wars. Tony got home from Nashville late that evening.

March 13

Wednesday we headed to the Big 12 Tournament. We went to the BYU v. UCF game. We had a great time! The Cougars played well and we ran into a lot of friends. Tony and the boys got on the big screen several times--dancing and cheering. I ran into Carrie Diggins and chatted with her through much of the second half. After the game we took the street car to City Market and got Pigwich for lunch. 

March 14

The boys had so much fun at the game Wednesday they decided to go back for more. And they took Knox with them. Lauren and I stayed home. Again, the boys ran into many fellow BYU fans. Unfortunately, the second game didn't go as well as the first. Texas Tech was up most of the game, so there was never a time to get too crazy. Will and Knox walked around and explored the T-Mobile Center as best they could.

March 15

Friday I took Lauren and Ariana shopping. We hit up 5 Below, and Amazon resale store, TurnStyles, Good Will and Plato's Closet. Both girls were able to find a few things they liked. I was grateful for the chairs at Plato's Closet. At that point I was getting tired from all the shopping. My 16 year old self would be disgusted with me.

March 16

Saturday morning we went to the Overland Park St. Patrick's Parade. To be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. We loved going to the parade when it was in the fall, and attended many times over the years. In the fall there are multiple marching bands, which feels more festive. But because marching season is over there were none. It is also usually a bit warmer. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't as good this year.  

2024 :: week 10

March 3

Sunday our ward held another linger longer. This time the theme was "cereal." The ward provided milk and orange juice. Everyone else brought a box or two of cereal to share and enjoy. A few people brought muffins and yogurt. It was surprisingly fun. I ate some Kellogg's Corn Pops for the first time in at least a decade. 

March 4

Elliott and I made a quick trip to Target to pick up a few things for Miles' birthday. We had a really great time shopping together. Elliott is such a happy go lucky kid (most of the time). I had fun pushing him on the card while he stood on the cart in front of me. 

March 5

Miles is five! To celebrate turning 5 on the 5th we had a special shopping trip at 5 Below and had burgers for dinner from Five Guys. Miles has been looking forward to this day for weeks, and I *think* it lived up to the hype. Miles is an important part of our family—he keeps things real and makes you earn his respect. He loves to climb pretty much anything, and swing as high as he can on the swings at the park. He plays endless amounts of basketball and baseball in our front room. He enjoys coloring and making lists of all the words that he can spell. He has a near encyclopedic knowledge of mascots—though Slugger and KC Wolf are dearest to his heart. His favorite part of the day is the hour after the elementary school gets out where he gets to play at the park with neighbors and future classmates.

March 6

Will sent Anthony and me this picture and the following texts: "Made these in foods today. We kind of messed up. They're orange mini muffins. They were mid." 

March 7

This photo is my latest submission for the "random places Elliott reads" gallery. Here he is, using his feet to keep his Big Nate book open when he brushes his teeth. 

March 8

Friday was the first day of Spring Break. Unfortunately I didn't think about then when I scheduled Miles' five year check up six months ago. Friday morning Miles and I headed to the doctor for his appointment. Miles had to get four shots and he was very brave. I held him on my lap while two nurses administered the shots simultaneously. Afterward he got an otter pop, three lollipops and three stickers. It was an overcast day, and Miles was feeling a little drained from the shots, so we spent the rest of the day at home. 

 

March 9

Saturday started out with a chilly soccer game for Lauren and the Pink Thunder. The Thunder were dominant and won 9-0. In the afternoon Miles got to go on his first birthday shopping trip with Memaw and Pepaw (they start birthday trips when kids turn 5). He got some fun Spidy and his Amazing Friends action figures, baseball cards, an Eevee Funko Pop, a book, some candy and gum. In the evening Tony flew to Nashville for a work trip. He ran into two family friends flying fun places for Spring Break. 

2024 :: week 9

February 25

Lauren is so good with her baby cousins. Calvin is a tough customer, but he likes Lauren. And finally, after 12 years, another local girl cousin for Lauren!

February 26

We had a fun experience Monday night. Monday morning Tony saw that BYU alumni and friends were invited to watch the basketball team shoot around that evening. We weren't really sure what this would actually entail, but we had a free evening and decided to drive to Lawrence and see if we could meet the team. We ended up having a great time! There were only about 30 other BYU fans there, most of whom were from our stake. We waited around outside the field house for about 20 minutes, then the team arrived. Once the team was inside we got to watch while they shot around for about 20 minutes. Then we were able to go down on the court and meet the players and ask for autographs. Will and Elliott walked to Academy and bought cheap basketballs to get signed. Miles brought his Cosmo pennant. All the kids were able to get a few autographs--Dallin Hall, Coach Pope, Trey Stewart, Spencer Johnson, Noah Waterman and Fousseyni Traore--which made them very happy. Elliott was excited because he made a basket while we were there too.

February 27

I got TJ tickets to the BYU-KU game in Lawrence for his birthday. I bought them from a friend of our neighbor. They were up in the top corner, and we had to duck under a beam to get our seats. We were surrounded by KU fans, but it wasn't a problem because they were nice. It was an exciting game! Tony nearly lost his voice cheering loudly. Coming down the homestretch, when it really looked like BYU was going to win it was a little surprising how quickly the KU fans cleared out. I guess they aren't used to losing at home. After the game we waited around for a bit, congregating with fellow Cougar fans. TJ was pleased that we made it into The Cut: At Kansas.

February 28

Renee texted me Wednesday and asked if I could pick Gemma up from preschool for her. She was out running errands and had a popped tire. Miles was excited to get Gemma and have her over for a bit. We brought her home and they shared some snacks while Renee got her tire fixed. 

February 29

I still enjoy going to water aerobics. My favorite teacher/class combo is Sarissa's Aqua Surge Class held Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings at 8am. 

March 1

Friday night Lauren was busy! She left the Girl Scout World Fair a bit early to attend her soccer game. Luckily her game didn't start until 8:45pm, so she was able to do both. I think this will be her last year as a girl scout. It has been a fun run, and Charlotte is an amazing leader.

March 1

Elliott had his last basketball game of the season Saturday. He played well and had a lot of fun. This may be his last  year playing with Upward. It is a good program, but Elliott needs to be pushed a little harder and he has never had coaches that really understand basketball. We didn't stick around for the end of season party because Kendall was getting baptized. Kendall has been one of his best buddies since birth.