maxfield's come to town

This past weekend we got the opportunity to show off Kansas City to the Maxfields. Steven had a residency interview at UMKC and Meredith and Weston came and made a long weekend out of it. We had a great time!

We wanted to show them what a family-friendly area we live in, and also take advantage of the remaining days of beautiful weather we had over the weekend.

Our first stop was the Power & Light District for the Fall Festival. We arrived at the tail end of things, but we were still able to have a good time. We were able to indulge in a few caramel apple slices, Will got lost in a maze, and the kids got to ride ponies.

We were all a bit surprised when Will said he wanted to ride, but we didn't want to stifle his "courage," and the line wasn't too long, so we waited. We were pleasantly surprised that the babies could take a ride too.

After the festival, we watched the BYU game and then headed to Oklahoma Joe's to drown our post-game disappointments in some Z-Man's. It's hard to eat BBQ without getting a little messy, so when we got home we put the kids straight in the tub.

Obligatory cousin bath photo.

Sunday was Lauren's birthday. It was fun having more people around to help us celebrate. 

Will was so excited he danced all over the place, Risky Business Style.

 

For dinner we had pork chops and rice, Lauren's favorite. She seemed pretty pleased about it.

Weston turns one in just four weeks so Lauren gave him some ideas of what presents he might like to get.

Due to her allergies we opted for a rice krispy cake. Again, she didn't seem to mind. 

Monday we started out slow after the birthday celebrations. Will and Weston got into some (supervised) mischief together while Lauren was at her 1 year doctor's appointment.

We went to Deanna Rose in the afternoon where Will acted as tour guide/know-it-all.

Feeding the baby goats.

 Weston's whole face lights up when he smiles. I'm really excited that Lauren has a cousin that will be in the same grade as her.

Deanna Rose tired us out, so we went home and rested for a bit. After dinner we headed down to the Plaza to walk and window shop.

Here we are in front of the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain.

Will really enjoyed spending time with Meredith. He insisted on holding her hand and was her shadow most of the time she was here. He was very sad when he woke up and she was gone Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday Steven had his interview and TJ had to work, so Meredith and I took the kids to Crown Center. We ate lunch by the fountains and then let our creative juices flow at Kaleidoscope.  It was so nice to let Will do art projects without having deal with the hassle of setting up and cleaning up like we do at home.

Meredith read to Will and Weston in the book nook while I changed Lauren's diaper.

 

 Missing this kid already!

Wednesday morning came way too fast.We had such a fun time showing off the city and visiting (we stayed up much too late every night talking). Best of luck to Steven with his interviews! Can't wait to find out where you end up next year!

happy birthday, lauren!

weekly picture post

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. After naps (for the kids) we spent some time together at the park. After walking along the trail and trying to scope out good spots for our upcoming family photos, we stopped at the playground. This girl loves to swing, so the girls hit up the swings while the boys climbed on the rocks. Both kids have gotten much more willing to try new things lately and it makes going to the park more enjoyable.

Monday evening our friend Lauren took some pictures of our family. Along the way there is some construction, so traffic is temporarily down to one lane. Some cars were whizzing past the line of cars that had moved over and it ticked TJ off. He decided to take things into his own hands, so he pulled into the middle of the two lanes to block the "cheaters." Despite his blockade, a few cars still zoomed past, so Anthony honked at them. The guy in the truck in front of us misunderstood our honks, and thought we were honking at him, so he vigorously gave us the finger. At that point the executive decision was made to get back in the lane and just let the people pass. Road rage is crazy.

Somebody really smart (me) neglected to secure the cover on our sand table. The kids didn't seem to mind. This was the first time Lauren really got to enjoy things. She has been pulling herself up on everything lately, as you will see below. 

Anthony observed recently that Lauren's arms seem to be getting (relatively) muscular. It's no wonder, when she pulls herself up all over the house. She loves the magnets we have on our fridge, and I have been finding them all over the house, as she climbs up, pulls them off, and then crawls away with them.

Lauren pulling herself up again. Both kids love our computers. Will frequently tells me he needs to check his email, and before I took this picture Lauren was banging away at the keys.

 

Friday evening our ward held the annual Soup and Bread Night. I made a white chicken chili that is pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

The Maxfield's are here for the weekend, so we went downtown for the Fall Festival at the Power & Light District. Will and Weston posed with Big Bird after enjoying some delicious caramel apples. I tried to think of a good political joke to make about Big Bird, but my creative juices are zapped, so I'll leave that up to you.

weekly picture post

Anthony's mini-me. We went for a walk after conference and these two just happened to match. It was not planned.

Will hoards the bath toys. Luckily Lauren is pretty easily pleased.

These kids like their beverages. If left unchecked Will could drink half a gallon of milk each day. Lauren is getting pretty good at drinking out of a bottle now, which makes my life so much easier.

This is big. Will has been wanting to climb this ladder for quite awhile, but on Wednesday he actually did it!

Since I posted about 10.11.12 already, there weren't many photos to choose from this day. Will took a series of photos of our messy family room while I was reading, including this one. I know I mentioned it already, but life with Lauren taking a bottle is awesome.

For some reason it makes me smile that every time I walk into Lauren's room when she is crying she is always standing at the foot of the crib like this.

Saturday it rained a lot. The rain cancelled our fun plans, so we were forced to do lots of indoor activities, like puzzles. Lauren likes taking the pieces out more than putting them in, which is very distressing to her brother.

10.11.12

Dates like today don't come along very often, so I thought I would document our day.

The day started off with Lauren waking me up just after 7am, and me stepping on Will as I got out of bed because he was lying there waiting for me to wake up.

Will threw a fit at breakfast because we didn't have orange juice (we rarely have orange juice) so I offered to make him some scrambled eggs. Normally I don't make a habit out of pandering to him, but I was feeling generous.

After breakfast (Will only ate about 4 bites of the eggs, sigh) I turned on PBS kids while I got ready for the day and checked my email. I laid Lauren down for a nap, which only lasted about 30 minutes. I fear she is giving up her morning nap. Double sigh.

We went to playgroup at South Lake Park, and had a really good time. It wasn't too cold and lots of our friends were there. The kids all wanted to take a stroll around the lake, so the moms agreed. Personally, I like it when Will wants to go on walks because it tires him out. We ended up walking around the lake 3 times, each time taking longer than the last.

 

When we got home I realized that Lauren's diaper wasn't able to contain all that she produced, and I had to strip her down. Never one to be left out, Will took his clothes off too, crawled around, and told me he was a big baby. 

After the park we came home, ate a light lunch, and had some "quiet time." I spent some time reading this month's book club pick The Glass Castle. Will watched some Caillou and made a huge mess threw blocks around the living room and played with window clings. Lauren drank a bottle and took a brief nap.

Post quiet-time we did some shopping. First stop: Hy-Vee. Will loves the cookie club cookies, so he always behaves when we shop at Hy-Vee. Today was the first time Lauren got jealous of the cookie. The tear on her check is real. :(

Second stop: Aldi, which Will found to be an appropriate venue to showcase his acrobatic talents.

Third stop: Home Depot to pick up paint. Will was very excited they had their holiday decor out, and pointed out every Frosty, Santa, and reindeer he saw to Lauren and me. Sidenote: If you want to stimulate the economy, start a home improvement project. I have about 30 receipts (some are return slips) from HD over the past two weeks.

When we came home it was time to start dinner. Will helped TJ brown the pork chops for our Pork Chops and Rice. We have had this meal a lot since we found out about Lauren's allergies. It is simple, but still really good.

Pork Chops and Rice

Brown 6 pork chops in frying pan.

Spread 1 1/3 c. rice in greased 9x13 pan.

Pour 1 cup of OJ over rice.

Set pork chops on top of rice.

Pour 1 small can of chicken and rice soup over pork chops.

Cover and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes.

Uncover and cook for 10 minutes.

While dinner was cooking, we had a true milestone. Lauren stood on her own! Will and Lauren were playing with TJ and Lauren started to stand up. She has seemed to really grow up lately.

After dinner we bathed the kids and read some books. Both kids were asleep by 7:30pm. An early bedtime is the payoff for poor napping.

We tidied up a bit, worked out, watched some of the VP debate, watched some playoff baseball, painted, and then went to bed.

Even though the date was unique, it was a pretty ordinary day.

weekly picture post

After the drought this summer I was afraid we were going to lose most of our plants. We didn't exactly water our plants on a regular basis, and my dad informed me they looked stressed. Thankfully it's rained a bit more the past few weeks (and we started watering our plants) and what do you know, blossoms. I love the pops of color when we walk out our front door.

On Monday Tony got off work a bit early and we went to Deanna Rose. It was the first time TJ's gone with us this summer, and Will enjoyed being his tour guide. We probably spent the most time at any one thing with these bells.

Sometimes Will isn't very compliant when I want to take his picture. This photo also illustrates that he typically isn't very compliant when I try to comb his hair.

On Wednesday we visited the Louisberg Cider Mill with a group of friends. We went on a hayride, took a tour of the facilities where they make cider and doughnuts, and visited with friends. However, the apples are what Will remembers best. He kept bringing up the dump truck full of apples for days. Mmmm, those apples smelled so good.

Thursday we went to Antioch Park for playgroup, and then spent some time walking around the lake together. It wasn't crowded, so I used our camera's timer to get a shot of me with the kids. It's not my best picture, but the kids need some proof they spent time with me during their childhood. We were glad we spent as much time at the park as we did, because the weather got much colder as we got closer to the weekend.

Friday was kinda rough. I had a lot of sinus pain Thursday, so I took a decongestant that night. Well when I woke up Friday my nose wouldn't stop running and everything was making me sneeze. I get pretty bad fall allergies, so I'm fairly certain my discomfort was related to high levels of ragweed or something like that, but it was annoying nonetheless. Despite feeling a bit under the weather, we got out and ran some errands early in the day, but ended up cutting short or cancelling all other plans. With that preface, Will was very excited when Tony finished work and was able to play.

Lauren is pulling herself up on things all over the place these days. Saturday was a pretty low-key day hanging around the house with lots of conference listening, cleaning, and relaxing.