2022 :: week 11

March 13

Big changes ahead! On Saturday evening our Stake sent out an email letting members know that boundary realignments would be announced at a special meeting next Sunday and four new bishops would be called. Anthony will be traveling for work next Sunday, so it was his last 'normal" Sunday as bishop. It is hard to remember what life was like before Anthony was bishop, our family has changed a lot since he was first called. We took this group photo of our family in the bishop's office when we went back up to the church to clean out the office. I'm pretty sure it was the first time all six of us had been in the office together, the last time we were all in the office together was when Anthony was set apart, but Miles was not yet born. Anthony spent a lot of time in there during his 6 years, 4 months and 3 weeks as bishop. Anthony and I were asked to share our testimonies with the ward before he was released. As I was preparing for church I heard the song "Love is Spoken Here" and the words at the end of the song will forever remind me of the time when Anthony served as bishop. "I can often feel the Savior near, for love is spoken here." One of the great blessings of my life is getting to witness the many quiet acts of service members of our ward have performed, and it is humbling to think that so many people have prayed for our family over the past 6.5 years.

March 14

Lauren and her friends took another sewing class at Harper's Fabric in Downtown OP. The girls learned how to make shorts with an elastic waistband. I love that the girls enjoy being creative and making new things. It was very rewarding to see how proud each of the girls looked when we came back to pick them up. 

March 15

Tuesday afternoon Nana and Papa arrived from Salt Lake City, and as soon as Anthony picked them up from the airport we immediately set off for a spring break trip to St. Louis. Grumpy Miles does what he does best, which is fall asleep in the car anytime we drive anywhere after 3pm. We had a relatively uneventful drive, arriving at Kristine and Mark's beautiful home (friends of Nana and Papa who generously offered to put us up for our trip) in the Central West End of St. Louis around 10:30pm.

March 16

Miles has been talking about going to the St. Louis Zoo with Nana and Papa since we first mentioned plans for their visit last month. Wednesday the big day finally arrived! We had a delightful time at the zoo. Our first four stops to see the grizzly bear, polar bear, orangutans and seals were among my favorite, but we saw many cool animals on our visit. That evening we made personalized pizzas in Mark's gas-powered pizza oven. They were so delicious the pizza oven is now on TJ's birthday wish list. It doesn't hurt that on the Ooni website it mentions that one of the co-founders is Finnish.

 

March 17

City Museum was at the top of our list for Thursday! I learned that I am more claustrophobic than I thought as I squeezed myself into tight quarters. It was very busy, and we were grateful for the 1:1 child to adult ratio. It is spring break in Kansas City, and it was funny to see KC-related clothing all over the place. Clearly we weren't the only people that decided to head east for spring break! That evening while most of the family watched basketball (and Miles was in bed) Lauren, Elliott and I watched the movie Heavyweights in the Hagsplund's theatre room, complete with a popcorn machine. Another fun day!

March 18

Friday morning we packed up and then headed to the Science Museum. It was a drizzly morning, so it turns out we picked the right days to do the right things on this trip. We were all a bit tired from staying up late talking and watching basketball. A highlight of the museum was the animatronic dinosaur and this collaborative Super Mario Bros game. After the museum we hit the road and headed back to KC. We were grateful to arrive safely at home after seeing several car accidents on I-70. That evening we watched some more basketball and ate pizza, as one does in March.

March 19

Saturday morning the kids had fun with their grandparents. Papa bought the boys some baseball cards and they had a "draft." The older boys allowed Miles to have a few of the least desirable cards. Nana and Lauren worked on a stuffed animal sewing project together. Nana and Elise made one recently and Lauren was excited to have a matching bear. Anthony left Saturday afternoon and headed to conference in New Orleans for work. In the evening Nana and Papa took the kids to the park so I could work on my Sunday School lesson. We are enjoying the lighter evenings, though it did make dinner a bit late as I am going to have to adjust my it's-time-to-prepare-dinner cues now that the sun is setting an hour later.

2022 :: week 10

March 6

We were finally able to celebrate Miles Sunday evening. Memaw got him a cookie cake and we sang to him after dinner. Unlike last year, Miles loved the attention and when we sang the birthday song for him. Miles received a lot of great presents--a basketball hoop, boogie board, dinosaur cars, play doh, Darth Vader vest and mask, and stormtrooper action figure. Miles is a growing into a fun kid! He is resourceful and clever, with an impressive memory, fun sense of humor and very strong will. In his mind, his older siblings are absolutely his peers. He wants to be involved in everything anyone is the family is doing, and he is always the first to demand a "John Hug!" or "CAMEL-W" after we say our family prayers. (Sidenote: CAMEL-W is what we call family hugs, it was the best "word" we could come up with the letters of our first names.) Miles loves to go to the park and is great at climbing, though he rarely goes down slides. Miles' hero is Elliott and he wants to do everything Elliott does, though he will fight him for a seat in my lap. Miles likes to eat whatever is on someone else's plate, but frequently requests hot dogs with ketchup. If dinner isn't up to snuff he usually manages to scavenge something. Miles likes Star Wars and Pokemon and Elmo. He likes Miles has a fun personality and makes us laugh everyday (when he isn't making us want to pull our hair out!). 

 

March 7

Miles dragged various items from the house into the front room so he could dunk on his new basketball hoop from Memaw and Pepaw. When I said Miles was resourceful, this is what I was talking about. He was so pleased for me to see what he had come up with. 

March 8

Tuesday morning Miles had his three year well child check up. He clocked in at just shy of three feet (2' 11 5/8") and 30 pounds (29.4 pounds), which seems apropos for a three year old. This was his first well child check up where they took his blood pressure and he didn't have to strip down to his diaper. He's a big boy now, and this random milestone made me feel a little sad. Our family is growing up! After his appointment we stopped at IKEA to pick up a shelf and I found myself much more patient with Miles and his wanting to do everything by himself. I can feel his babyhood slipping through my fingers, and though I know it is time, it makes me a little nostalgic for my babies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to glamorize babies, they are relentlessly exhausting. But babyhood only lasts for such a small slice of our existence, 

March 9

Wednesday morning Miles and I were able to head up to the OPC playground to witness the 6th grade hot air balloon launch. Will worked on his project with Knox and Peter. Their balloon suffered a rip during the launch from the strong winds, but it still took flight and traveled a short distance. Miles was upset I wouldn't let him join the kindergarteners playing on the playground (it was their recess), but Elliott came over and said hi and that eased his frustration. Lauren's class was outside too, and it was fun to see her and say hi!

March 10

Thursday the kids and Anthony had a snow day. The day started off cold, but the roads weren't bad, so I went to the gym and ran errands in the morning. Lauren spent most of the day with a friend and the boys spent a lot of time playing video games and playing on Miles' new hoop. Anthony had to go up to the church and he took the boys with him so they could play basketball. Miles had fun trying out his new birthday presents this week. He liked to "scare" people with his new Darth Vader mask and vest. Initially I thought it was stupid they cancelled school, but when I went to pick Lauren up from her friend's house I slid three times in my less than a mile drive.

March 11

Friday was the first official day of Spring Break. Lauren went to another friend's house to build with Harry Potter Legos and play Harry Potter Clue--they have bonded over their mutual love of Harry Potter. That evening my parents watched the local grandkids (thank you!) and Jill & Jake and Emily & Matt came to our house and we solved a Cold Case mystery. It was a lot of fun and I'm already looking forward to doing it again. 

March 12

Lauren's girl scout troop walked in the Overland Park St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday. I was hoping to go, but woke up with a bad headache and decided standing outside in 20 degree weather wasn't in the cards for me. I stayed home with Miles while Anthony took Will and Elliott the the parade. They got gobs of candy and St. Patrick's beads. Anthony treated the kids to Buffalo State pizza in downtown OP. In the afternoon Stevie came over and helped us hang up shelves and blinds. It was a fun Saturday.

2022 :: week 9

February 27

Sunday was a long day of travel and I was so happy to get home that night. I had a lot of fun with my sisters and parents, but I missed my kids and Tony too. Tony said Miles was a little disoriented without me around. 

February 28

I spend the day Monday getting back on track after being out of town. Tony did a good job of keeping things going while I was gone, but Monday is always a busy day of odds and ends after the weekend. Elliott and Will had their final basketball practices, and Lauren had soccer practice in the evening. Elliott made this picture for me to welcome me home. He wrote that "Mom loves" the church, made beds, water aerobics, kit kats, the family, reading and Maisie Dobbs books.

March 1

The first Tuesday of the month admission to the Overland Park Arboretum is free. Jill and I took the boys and we all had a great time. Miles and Arthur had a lot of fun climbing on the caboose in the train garden. We also spent a lot of time exploring the model of downtown Overland Park and pointing out the various elements. It was such a pretty day! We ate a picnic lunch and then ran around a bit more before Arthur had to head to preschool. 

March 2

Miles and I met up with a few friends from the ward for a park playdate Wednesday. Miles loves to climb and he climbed up this curved ladder over and over. I have been reflective this week as we approach Miles' birthday. I felt a wave of nostalgia as we walked around the park. I spent a lot of time with Will and Lauren at this park when they were in the preschooler/toddler phase and Tony traveled a lot for work. Those days were so exhausting, but as the kids have gotten older and we are busier than ever I find myself longing for the how much more simple things used to be. In a lot of ways I feel like at 38 I am the mom I desperately wanted to be at 30. 

March 3

Miles got to start his birthday celebrations a little early when his buddy Gabriel brought over a gift for him. Miles received a Paw Patrol backpack with lots of fun accessories. Gabriel was too interested in our other toys, but the big sisters were happy to help Miles open his gift. 

March 4

Parents are finally allowed back in the schools! It has been almost exactly two years. On Friday Anthony got to be the first Mystery Reader for Elliott's kindergarten class. He brought in The B Book by Jan and Stan Berenstain. He got rave reviews for his animated reading. 

March 5

Miles turned three on Saturday and Lauren celebrated by scoring 3 goals at her first soccer game of the season! It was Lauren's first hat trick...and no one from the family was there to see it. :( Anthony's boss passed away Sunday and her funeral was at the same time in KCMO. It was the busiest day of 2022 so far and I'm still feeling a bit tired. 

2022 :: week 8

 

February 20

The kids were dying to play some more One Night Ultimate Werewolf, but it gets a little old when you only play with five people. We took it with us to Memaw & Pepaws house and played with more family after dinner. It was the first time we got together with everyone at my parent's house in over a month! We celebrated Dana's birthday a bit early since so many of us will be traveling for Uncle David's funeral over the weekend. 

February 21

School was out for President's Day and the weather was gorgeous! The high was 70 degrees and the last of the snow melted. The kids spent much of the day with friends. Lauren went with Hailey to Urban Air in the morning, and then spent the afternoon playing at her house. Will and Elliott met Gunnar up at the school playground to play basketball. Then then came to our house for lunch, a homerun derby, jumping on the trampoline, a few video games and more basketball. The evening was busy as Lauren had her first soccer practice of the spring season! Elliott had basketball at 5pm, Lauren had soccer at 6pm and Will had basketball at 8pm. Thankfully we only have two weeks of triple-practice-Mondays!

February 22

The weather has been up and down all month, and keeping with the erratic weather theme, the temperature dropped almost forty degrees overnight. Tuesday we met a bunch of friends at the community center pool and pretended there weren't snow flurries outside. Knox and Will mostly played basketball, while Lauren and Elliott played with their buddies. Miles and I waded around the shallow end and threw a ball back and forth. 

February 23

We had a nothing going on Wednesday evening (our ward does mutual and primary activities the first and third weeks of the month), so we decided to play a few games. Clue Junior and Uno are on heavy rotation. Miles desperately wants to play too, so he rolls the die for me when it is my turn.

February 24

Elliott came home from school with these pictures he drew of himself and his siblings. I love the simple details he included. The chain on Will--that he only wore for his Halloween costume, Lauren's pink thunder jersey--and that he remembered that she wore #12, Elliott saying, "Let's Go!"--something he says all the time, and Miles wearing a Salvador Perez shirt--and that he gave Miles brown hair.

February 25

Friday afternoon the 7 original Cranes headed to St. George for attend a memorial for my Uncle David. My parents, Jill, Emily and I flew together from Kansas, Melanie (and Rosalie) flew from Boston, and Laura (with Trevor and Hannah) drove from Salt Lake. The travel was rather pleasant. We stopped and got In-N-Out for dinner and made Emily's dreams come true. The weather in Boston was awful, so poor Melanie's flight was delayed five hours.

February 26

Saturday morning was Uncle David's memorial service. Several LeBaron cousins attended, as well close family friends. My sisters and I sang "My Way," together. The lyrics reminded our family of how Uncle David lived his life. People shared memories of David and it became obvious that David was an independent, charismatic, gentle, creative man that had to ability to make people feel good about themselves. Afterwards we met at Uncle Steve's clubhouse for a light luncheon and were able to visit with family and friends. It is always sad when people pass away, but I do love how funerals almost forcibly bring loved ones together. I inherited some barstools that David reupholstered for my grandparents decades ago. They were barstools my mom had in her house growing up. I like having these tangible pieces of family history in my home, and knowing that my children are nourished on the same seats that their LeBaron progenitors used. 

2022 :: week 7

February 13

When Lauren and I went to Target last Thursday they were already sold out of Valentines! On February 10th!?! We decided to go the homemade Valentines route because I didn't want to guess and check at various stores around town. Will opted to not exchange Valentines this year so we only had to worry about making Valentines for Lauren and Elliott. For both kids we cut pieces of construction paper into squares. We got out our collection of stickers and Elliott put a sticker on each paper and then signed his name. Then I taped a Starburst on each one. Lauren personalized her Valentines by drawing a simple picture for each classmate. She drew soccer balls for her soccer loving friends, a stack of books for her bookworm friends, etc. Then we taped a few Starburst to each card. I feel like other parents have ruined this holiday for me. After spending $15 on ring pops and stretch pop toys for class gift bags my kids wanted me to spend more money on treats to pass out with their Valentines, and were disappointed that I would only buy one bag of Starbursts. 

February 14

When Luke and Gemma dropped off a Valentine for Miles Monday morning he was thrilled!  

February 15

When we gather to do Come Follow Me, or are all sitting together on the couch, it is almost guaranteed that Elliott and Miles will fight over my lap. I enjoy it more than I would like to admit. As our time with very young kids is winding to a close I am appreciating more than ever the sweet feeling of little bodies on my lap. All our kids are very sweet, but Elliott and Miles are probably the most cuddly. We sometimes joke that if there is two inches of space on the couch between people, Elliott will do his best to wiggle his body into the space. Over the past few months Miles has become increasingly territorial of my lap real estate. I held a baby for a friend a month ago at church and he ran from across the room and yelled, "I'm the baby!" at me. 

 

February 16

The most "exciting" thing to happen to us this week happened on Wednesday. After a busy lunchbreak helping a member of the ward avoid eviction Anthony got word that the bumper was ripped off his parked car. Apparently as a larger car attempted to leave the parking lot, it clipped the bumper and ripped it completely off! He told Anthony it sounded like tinfoil. Eeeks! Our car was towed to a body shop and we are awaiting news as to when it will be repaired. In the meantime we have a rental car, both things being covered by the insurance of the man who did the damage. We feel pretty lucky, all things considered, but it is discouraging that even when the responsible party does all the right things, it is still terribly inconvenient and time consuming to deal with the aftermath.

February 17

We were told we'd get a snowstorm and we got a pretty big one! I was a little dubious when I got the text that school was cancelled when it was 65 degrees and clear, but the schools made the right call. We never put out a ruler, but neighbors reported between 6"-8" of snow. It didn't start snowing until a little before sunrise, but it snowed until lunchtime. I don't remember the last time we had that much snow fall so quickly. We had a pretty quiet family day at home as Anthony didn't have to work either. We played several rounds of One Night Ultimate Werewolf in the morning and sauned in the afternoon. I baked some chocolate mint cookies, which we ate while we watched Olympic figure skating in the evening. It was a very cozy day.

February 18

Friday Anthony had to go back to work, but the kids had another inclement weather day. The Wilsons came over for a bit and more games were played. It was much warmer on Friday and a lot of the snow melted. That evening life was "back to normal," and we were able to go watch Elliott play in his weekly basketball game. 

February 19

When I got home from the gym Saturday morning I was a little confused as to when the Primary Friend to Friend was going to be on. I forgot that the listed time was for the Mountain Time Zone, and so I had the kids re-watch the previous Friend to Friend. Lauren was really enjoying the drawing instruction and decided to keep drawing. She drew this picture of Elliott referencing a picture I took of Elliott earlier in the week. Our kids are much better artists than I ever was.

2022 :: week 6

February 6

Weston created a Pokemon kahoot (quiz) and invited his Pokemon-loving cousins to take it Sunday afternoon. We got on zoom and the kids could see the quiz questions and also hear what their cousins were saying., it was really fun. Lauren was pleased to come in 2nd place. Elliott struggled to keep quiet with his answers. Miles was just happy to be there.

February 7

The first half of the week we enjoyed some gorgeous weather. Miles and Lauren ran around the tennis courts while we played at the park after school on Monday. 

February 8

Will and Elliott each had a buddy over for about an hour after school and they all shot hoops together for a bit. A lot of basketball is happening at the John house right now.

February 9

Miles has recently taken notice of the various security feeds at stores and loves seeing "Momma and Miles on TV." When we were at Hy-Vee this week he started making funny faces towards the feed. When we walked out of Hy-Vee I walked past our van and towards an almost identical--but much cleaner--van. When I realized the filthy vehicle was ours we drove straight to the car wash and got the most comprehensive wash. Then we spent close to an hour cleaning the inside. We vacuumed, threw out tons of trash, scrubbed the hard surfaces and washed the interior windows. It felt so good as we drove home, I love driving a clean vehicle. 

February 10

Something Anthony wanted to do when he became bishop is meet with the missionaries on a weekly basis. They come to our home and he talks with them about how things are going--how are they doing, how are their investigators doing, how is the ward doing at supporting them, etc. Once a month they have this meeting in the sauna, much like Tony did on his mission to Finland. He currently meets with the missionaries on Thursday evenings at 8pm, but over the course of his bishoping has met with them at different times. He met with them on Saturday evenings for the first few years he was bishop, which I didn't like as much. I have had mixed feelings about this "extra" meeting that he has decided to hold, on top of his other required responsibilities, but as we reach the tail end of his time as bishop I can see that it is a good thing. Missionaries in our ward report high levels of satisfaction with serving in our ward and I know that Anthony is genuine in his desire to help. We occasionally hear that OP2 is a coveted ward to serve in the mission because the bishop is so awesome. In this photo are Elders Hansen, Barney, Hawk and Hansen (yes, 2 Hansens).

February 11

Tara (Landon's mom) took a group of OPC boys to the SMS basketball game Friday night. They also went and watched a basketball game at the middle school this week. Will and his friends are all in on basketball right now. Friday was a busy night with Will, Lauren and Elliott each having plans of their own. Elliott had a basketball game and then a birthday party at Main Event. Lauren had a Valentine Party with a few friends from church. We did a lot of driving that night, and I know that we are just starting the era of our kids having more weekend plans that Anthony and I do. It makes me happy that our kids have such good friends and can enjoy fun activities together.

February 12

Saturday we got to participate in Tyler Wilson's baptism. One of the greatest benefits of living close to some family members is that we get to celebrate special times together. This year we have four other cousins getting baptized--one already has--and we wish we could be there with them too. (Adelaide in VA in September 2021, Camille in UT in April 2022 and Derek and Nolan in OR in April 2022).

2022 :: week 5

January 30

Dana stopped by with a belated birthday gift for "the good bishop," as she refers to Anthony. She knows his vices well. We are only a few weeks in, but having church at 10:30am after a year of 12:30pm is wonderful. Our afternoons as so much more relaxed!

 

January 31

There's nothing like that fresh-from-the-dryer-softie-blanket feeling. Miles gets very excited when we pulled his fresh blankets out from the dryer. Actually, he gets pretty excited when we pull any of his clean clothes out from the dryer.

February 1

Meteorologists around the metro were forecasting a big winter storm would hit Tuesday night. I spent the day preparing for the potential snow day ahead. Miles and I ran a few errands, including a trip to the library where we picked up a Boss Baby movie that he has been requesting. We stopped at Home Depot to pick up a toilet fill valve for our basement toilet, and picked up an shovel too. We are inexplicably missing one of our shovels. We also filled up on gas and picked up an extra gallon of milk so our milk guzzler (Miles) could survive. While Miles took a nap that afternoon I did a quick cleaning in our garage. I swept out some debris and threw away a few things that had collected over the past few months. When the crew was working on our kitchen they kept a few tool in the garage and now that they are done we didn't have to have stuff quite so squished together. It feels good to have extra room to move around in there again. 

February 2

I got the text that school was cancelled around 7:30pm Tuesday night. All the districts in our area were closed Wednesday. Anthony's work is also cancelled when Blue Valley Schools close for inclement weather. It was nice to know ahead of time that school was cancelled so we could all sleep in, though no one really did besides me and Anthony, and we were both up and out of bed before 8am. We had a truly relaxing day. I read most of a book and lots of video games were played. In the afternoon the kids went sledding with the neighbors. Anthony took the big kids to piano in the afternoon and I shoveled the driveway. It was nice to veg out most of the day, but my body needed to move!

February 3

School was cancelled again on Thursday. It seems a bit of a stretch to me, but the kids already had Friday off for Parent Teacher conferences, so it wasn't a big surprise when the "no school" text came. We met the Wilsons at the OPC parking lot and went sledding at the hill between OPC and Holy Spirit. It isn't the best sledding hill in town, but it is great for our kids. We lasted about 30 minutes--it was very windy and the wind was cold!

February 4

Miles and I picked up a jumbo box of graham crackers while we were out shopping on Tuesday and suddenly graham crackers and milk have become the snack du jour at the John house. Good thing we picked up the extra milk!

February 5

The kids like to pile on Anthony. He is a fun dad and will usually wrestle upon request. Not related to the picture, but I made enchiladas for dinner on Saturday. The kids don't really like enchiladas, but Anthony and I do so I only make them about once a month. I told the kids they could use their own money to buy a hot dog from the concession stand at Will's basketball game if they didn't want to eat the enchiladas, and ALL THREE of the big kids chose to do that. Oh well, more for us. 

2022 :: week 4

January 23

Wicked lit a fire inside Lauren and she was reminded how much she likes musicals after we went. He music teacher decided that the 4th grade will put on a musical this spring and she spent the week preparing for the upcoming auditions. Lauren decided to make posters for a few of her "favorites" musicals over the weekend. These are all the musicals she has seen, though she has only seen Hamilton on Disney+. She saw Annie at Tuchahan this past summer, and we saw it at Theatre in the Park a few summers ago as well. Our family has also seen Matilda,  Newsies and Joseph... at Theatre in the Park (though she opted not to make a sign for Joseph because she said it was too hard).

January 24

The boys' basketball league is run through a local Baptist church. Each week at practice they have a devotional and each week during the devotional I get worried at what Elliott might say. He often makes comments and I heard him reference the Book of Mormon at least once. I generally don't want my kids to hide themselves under a bushel, but this doesn't really seem to be the time to "let your light so shine."

January 25

It got cold again and on Tuesday I had to jump Anthony's car again. We had the missionaries over for dinner so I went and picked him up from work when it wouldn't start, then after dinner we drove back to his work and jumped it again. Wednesday morning he took it to an auto shop he likes after the clerks at AutoZone said they wouldn't help him install a new one. I also took our van in for its 100K mile tune up and found out it needs $3K in maintenance. Who said adults have more fun? Side note: the third floor of the building in the background is where Anthony works. 

January 26

Miles wants to be do everything Elliott does. I found him Wednesday afternoon on my bed wearing Elliott's Royals hat, reading Elliott's weekly reading assignment. 

January 27

Friday marked the 100th day of school (for Kindergarteners). With Will and Lauren I was so on top of this milestone and we had their 100th day projects done days in advance. With Elliott I had to run to Target to pick up some M&Ms after dinner on Thursday. 

January 28

Miles had a runny nose so we laid low on Friday and I tried to clean our my closet. I was pretty pleased with how organized my closet was looking until I walked into the TV room and saw that Miles had made quite the mess. Two steps forward, one step back with a toddler.  

January 29

The weather was gorgeous and the kids spent a lot of time playing outside on Saturday. A neighbor's granddaughter who drove on our street a few times came to our house and requested to speak with me. She said she had seen the kids playing in the road and not looking while they crossed the street. I was pretty sure it wasn't my kids who were playing unsafely in the road, but they were playing in our driveway. I had to remind myself that I am glad she cares about the well being these children she didn't know, and that it must take courage to confront a stranger and give them negative feedback. I also told the kids to play in the backyard after that because I just didn't want to think about it anymore.