2024 :: week 34

August 18

Lauren's lot in life is that almost no matter what group she is in, she is usually outnumbered by boys. This photo of her Sunday School class was posted on the ward Facebook page. Our ward has so many more boys than girls. Like 40 YM verses 16 YW on the official ward roster.

August 19

Monday Elliott cashed in his birthday present-Royals ticket from Will, and Tony took both him and Will to the Royals game. The Royals were playing the Angels and they won 5-3. The boys had a fun night--they went early to watch batting practice, got free t-shirts and a random person sitting near them offered them an extra "taste of Kansas City" box that included a baseball taco--made with birria meat and peanuts and cracker jack, and fries. They also ran into a few friends--the Derus from church and the Datus from the neighborhood. Meanwhile Miles and I went to Matt Ross to swim in the indoor pool for a bit. Lauren went to volleyball tryouts and declined the pool trip, but did join Miles and I for dinner at the Costco food court. Her and Miles both love the chicken bakes. 

August 20

After weeks of hot weather it is finally pleasant. Tony left in the morning for a conference in Nashville. In the evening I went to the relief society pool party. It was too cool to comfortably swim, but I did have good conversations with ladies from the ward. My dad gave Lauren a ride to soccer practice and then I went to pick her up. Her team is currently practicing twice a week.

August 21

We got the proofs for Will & Lauren's yearbook photos back this week. They both look so grown up to me. 

August 22

Joi texted this picture of the "carpool crew." Every morning Joi picks up Isaac, then Lauren, and then Liam as they head to Indian Woods. The boys are nice and crowd in the back, allowing Lauren to be the "passenger princess." This situation is much preferable to riding the bus to school every day. 

August 23

Mrs. Phipps sent this picture of Miles and his classmates in their pajamas. Miles LOVES school. He liked preschool, but he LOVES kindergarten. 

August 24

TJ took Lauren to see West Side Story at Starlight Saturday evening. It was very nostalgic for TJ, as he was cast as "Action," in the 1997 Belmont High School Spring Musical. For days after both of them could be caught singing various songs from the play.

2024 :: week 33

August 11

Sunday we celebrated Elliott's birthday. Sunday birthdays have never been my favorite, but he took it in stride. We had Stake Conference and the primary sang "I Will Walk with Jesus," which is increasingly becoming one of my favorites. That evening we had delicious rib dinner with the Crane family (including the visiting Staritas). Elliott's main birthday presents were a big box of baseball cards, a Bobby Witt Jr. shirt and a ticket to a future Royals game from Will. On instagram I wrote: Happy 9th birthday to Elliott! Elliott is sunshine personified. Not only does he wake up with the sun every morning, he also has boundless amounts of energy and brightens every room he’s in. He is the ultimate hype-man, competitor, snuggler and friend. We are so glad he’s belongs to our family. 

August 12

Monday we found out which teachers the boys we will have for the upcoming school year, and that night we got to drop off school supplies and meet the teachers in person. I was pleasantly surprised that both boys were placed with teachers already familiar with our family--Miles will be in Mrs. Phipps' kindergarten class (she also taught Elliott), and Elliott will be in Mrs. Dearing's 3rd grade class (she also taught Lauren). During the day we spent time with the Staritas, went to Matt Ross with the Hagmans and Will hung out with the Bensons.

August 13

Tuesday was the first day of school for the three oldest kids. Elliott had a half day, but Lauren (7th) and Will (9th) had full days. The 7th and 9th graders were the only kids in their respective schools for a day to help them get familiar with the school before the older students return and potentially overwhelm them. We jumped right back into our regular activities with both baseball (E) and soccer (L) practice in the evening. 

August 14

My parents and the Startias came to Elliott's baseball game Wednesday evening. It was so hot, so we especially appreciated them making the effort to come. 

August 15

Thursday was Miles' first day of kindergarten. His tablemates are Miles G, Mateo and Frankie. I had mixed feelings. Mostly excited and happy for him, but a little sad for me that era of fifteen years as a full-time stay-at-home-mom has come to an end. Don't get me wrong, I am also excited for this next chapter of our lives. I met up with friends for yummy brunch at Urban Egg, then met Stephanie to train for the part-time job I am starting this month. I will be doing invoicing with her for the fracking company where her brother is the CEO. Meanwhile, Miles had a fun first day and looked so grown up as he walked down the hill with Elliott wearing a "first day of kindergarten" crown. That night Tony made smashburgers at my parents on the Startias last night in town.

August 16

Friday was Will's first day of seminary. TJ and I have bemoaned that it is the first day of the next 13 years of our lives. If my math is correct, Miles graduates in 2037. Friday night Lauren and I went shopping to look for something she could wear for school pictures Monday. I thought the sky looked like the cover the Taylor Swift's Lover album, and tried to take a pictures, but she wasn't in the mood.

August 17

Saturday I took Will to get measured for his marching band uniform. I hope he has a fun year!

2024 :: week 32

August 4

Will & Lauren played their pieces for the MAMA Festival. Will and Lauren played a duet together, and Lauren also played two solo pieces. We had hoped for Will to do solo pieces as well, but he ended up being busier this summer than ever before and did not have enough time to perfect his songs. Both their duet and Lauren's earned superior ratings--good work! That afternoon we drove back to OP.

August 5

Monday was the last time our entire family was at Bluejacket pool together and I made the kids take a pic. I am feeling very sentimental about it. The proximity to the pool was a big selling point for me when we bought our house. My kids and I have spent many summer days at this pool. I used to joke that my parenting style in the summer could be summed up in one work--pool. I've gotten to know many people in the neighborhood sitting on the side of this pool. It has served me well and I hope the city will rebuild. It will be at least a year before the city decides what to do with this site, so I will do my best to advocate.

August 6

 A piece of my heart really did break Tuesday night. About two weeks ago the city announced that at the end of the pool season Bluejacket Pool would be permanently decommissioned. Apparently because it needs too many expensive repairs and the city is moving away from the neighborhood pool model, the city has decided it is time to close. Will worked earlier in the day, but was off before close, and he went with TJ to the Royals game that night (it was the LDS night at the Royals, and they were playing the Red Sox). The city held a "celebration of life" for the pool, by allowing everyone in the community to come to the pool for free after 5pm. Over a thousand people came to the pool that night! The "regulars" agreed that the pool is more fun when it isn't quite so crowded. We stayed in the pool until the very last second, visiting with friends and reminiscing about how much the pool means to our community. Elliott "saved" some water in a reusable water balloon. 

August 7

Miles got his cast off Wednesday! He was very happy about it. All he has to do is wear this brace while he is awake for the next three weeks, but his arm should be good to go. Kids heal so quickly!

August 8

We celebrated Arthur's 6th birthday Thursday and the Staritas are in town! It is especially fun to celebrate a birthdays with extra cousins in town. Will went the the Raider Rally that night. It is very trippy having a child old enough to go to the same high school I did.

August 9

We spent Friday afternoon at Clinton Lake with the cousins. It was chilly, but the only day that worked for everyone, so we made do. We had the beach almost completely to ourselves, which made it pretty easy to keep an eye on the kids. Jake & Jill brought their paddleboards. We brought a bunch of snacks--TJ especially enjoyed the cinnamon & sugar Dot's pretzels--and  tried to fit in some visiting too. 

August 10

Even though we had a busy church-adjacent day, we made time midday to go to Tomahawk while the Staritas are in town. In the morning we went to Ethan Manning's baptism. In the early afternoon we took the kids swimming. After swimming the cousins hung out at my parents' house and ate pizza and watched a movie. TJ and I were busy with the leadership meeting and adult session of Stake Conference. My sisters and parents were gracious to help out so our kids could have fun with the cousins too.

2024 :: week 31

July 28

Post church snuggles. That evening we went to dessert at the Prices, so I baked a blueberry pie in the afternoon. 

July 29

Will finally got to work with Knox again. They haven't gotten to work together as much as they had hoped, so it is always fun when they get to. Monday afternoon I took Lauren thrifting and then Cat & Sally spent the night.

July 30

The Ule boys came over for a few hours Tuesday morning. They left for a few weeks right as we got home from being out of town so it had been awhile since the boys could all play together. Miles and Gabriel had a great time time collecting cicada carcasses around our yard. They found a shocking number! That afternoon I took Will to SMS for the "Raider Roll-Out," where he picked up his laptop and got his school picture taken. Later I went to a parent meeting for marching band. Will should have a fun year!

July 31

Wednesday evening Tony and I went with Stephanie & Spencer to the Jewel/Melissa Ethridge concert at Starlight. We carpooled and listened to Jewel music on the way to prepare. Her set was really good! Joi & Dave were there too, and we stopped and said hello between performers. It was quite hot, but not miserable like I feared. We went for Jewel, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Melissa Ethridge. I forgot she was from Leavenworth and is a big Chiefs fan. She was really engaging interacting with the crowd. I was disappointed when her set got cut a little short because a storm was rolling in. We ended up making it home right around the time it started to absolutely pour rain. 

August 1

Cat & Sally came over, then the girls walked up to the pool. It has been so wonderful having the pool close enough that the kids can walk over and meet up with friends so easily.

August 2

Dinner in the summertime is hard for me. Especially when we have been spending so much time with friends at the pool. I never want to leave to cook!

August 3

We left Saturday morning to head to St. Louis for the MAMA Festival. Because Will had band camp Thursday and Friday so we weren't able to leave as early as we would have liked. We only had a few hours to do something "fun" in St. Louis, so we decided to go to Grant's Farm. We've never been there before and it was quite the experience. Grant's Farm was originally owned by Ulysses S. Grant, but is now owned and operated by the Busch family (Anheuser-Busch family). It is now home to the Budweiser Clydesdales--they're huge!--and hundreds of animals from all over the world. We rode a tram through deer park and saw lots of cool animals. Then we went to an animal show. Each of the kids got to go on a camel ride, which they said was fun. When we were done at the Farm we met up with the Datus at Imo's Pizza. There wasn't a lot of room to sit down so we went and hung out in the Hagsplund's backyard (where we were stayed for the night). We had fun laughing and talking with the Datus for hours.