2024 :: week 25

June 16

Happy Father's Day to Anthony! He's a great dad and our kids are lucky to have him. We had a relatively simple day. I made breakfast casserole. The primary kids sang in Sacrament Meeting. That evening we had a potluck dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks with the local Cranes.

June 17

The John men were pretty excited that the Celtics won the NBA Finals Monday night. We let Elliott stay up late to witness "history." 

June 18

Will is assigned either the "cashier" or "rover" at work. He prefers to be cashier. The rover takes out the trash, sweeps, picks up trash, walks the perimeter to make sure the grounds are clean, etc. Whenever I see him walking around I think in my head "they see me rovin', they hatin'," to the tune of Chamillionaire's Ridin'.

June 19

This week was Elliott's turn for baseball camp and it was hot! Several of Elliott's friends participated, including Elliott G who got sick from the heat. We carpooled with Townes and Cole. Dave was extra nice and got the boys some Gatorades on the way home.

June 20

We left early Wednesday morning to visit family out west. We decided to drive through Colorado and  sneak in a Rockies baseball game. The game started at 1:10pm, so it was hot, hot, hot in the sun. We bought tickets in the bleachers that had no shade. After the first inning (where we saw Shohei Otani hit a lead off home run on the first at bat). We ended up moving to a row of purple seats in the upper deck that were in the shade. The single purple row is located at 5,280 feet above sea level, or a "mile high." After the game we went to our hotel, swam and ate some pizza. We were disappointed with how bumpy the Colorado roads were. As soon as we hit state line, the roads got significantly worse.

June 21

Friday morning we hit the road for Bennington. It took us about 8 uneventful hours. When we got to Bennington we set up camp up Maple Canyon at Camp Bare Toes. We set up two tents for our family, with Will, Lauren and Elliott in one tent and Miles with Anthony and me. The kids had fun exploring with their cousins and second cousins. The Allreds and Wilsons also came out for the reunion, though both of them had been in Bennington for a few days. For dinner we had a weenie roast and s'mores. Then people told stories, recited poems or told jokes around the campfire. 

June 22

I had such a great time at the reunion! It was so good to see family that we don't get to see very often, and it was fun to see my kids explore with their cousins the same places I enjoyed exploring as a child with my cousins. We survived the night camping, even though the ground was rocky and pretty uncomfortable. We went on the beautiful hike up the canyon to the rocks. In the afternoon the kids went on the stick pony hike and participated in the egg drop. In the evening we ate a dinner of sloppy joe sandwiches (my first time going when they did not serve lamb cooked in the dutch oven) and potluck sides. Uncle Melvin's homemade root beer and Aunt Norene's fudge were my favorites, as always. After dinner was the program, where each family does a skit. Our family had all the kids being loud around my dad as he sleeps totally unbothered. Then someone whispered, "While Pepaw is asleep let's throw away the 13 year old ketchup," and he instantly wakes up and says in a grumpy voice, "who's talking about my ketchup?!" 

2024 :: week 24

June 9

Operation new deck begins this week! I wanted to record what our deck looks like before it gets torn down later this week. 

June 10

A few weeks ago Joi mentioned that she would be willing to help me tint and lift my eyelashes this summer. Now that school is out she reached out and asked if I would be available Monday. I already was planning to meet with Charlotte and Michelle about the OPC carnival so we combined the meetings and Joi did our lashes or brows while discussing the carnival, among other things. It was such a fun night! Joi is the ultimate hostess.

June 11

I took Miles to Children's Mercy to get his annual leg x-ray to check make sure his osteochondroma isn't growing. It seems to be stable and isn't causing him any pain so we won't do anything for now. Miles was a little nervous about the x-ray, but he did great and walked into the room all by himself.

June 12

We spent a lot of time at the pool this week. Joi brought freezer pops to share (Miles ate one but did not want to be in the photo). Will had baseball camp at SMS Monday through Thursday mornings this week. He enjoyed it, though he was older than most of the kids there. 

June 13

Our deck is gone! They started tearing it out on Tuesday, and finished the job today. Thursday evening we "cleaned up" all the junk that was hiding under the deck and did our best to fit what we could in the dumpster. The dumpster filled up faster than we anticipated, so we are going to have to figure out an alternative way to get rid of some of this junk. 

June 14

Friday was the Pink Thunder's final hurrah. Her teammate Madelyn's dad has a connection with the KC Current and was able to schedule Lauren's team to be part of the pre-game ceremonies at CPKC stadium. The girls got meet players before the game, walk onto the field with the players at the start of the game, and then stand on the field during the National Anthem. The only downside was they had to wear blue "Amazon Prime" shirts when they walked onto the field, because the game was broadcast on Amazon Prime. We were hoping that family at home could see her on the field, but apparently Amazon Prime doesn't broadcast the opening ceremonies. It was a fun game to watch with the Pink Thunder family. The Current tied the Chicago Stars 2-2.

June 15

Miles is loving his new bed. He often perches at the top of the ladder reading books. I am tickled every time I hear him reading to himself in that spot.

2024 :: week 23

June 2

Elliott is still our #1 snuggler, and there is no where he'd rather snuggle and read than on Mom and Dad's bed. In the background you can see our newly painted accent wall.

June 3

It's the first official full week of summer! Elliott started basketball camp and Will had to work. We went to the pool, but it was a little overcast and almost chilly when the sun was behind the clouds. The pool is more fun with friends, and hardly anyone was there because it wasn't that hot. Lauren and Miles had fun being silly together.

June 4

JAW Lawncare is keeping busy! On Tuesday I drove the boys to KCK to mow Sarah's lawn. I always enjoy chatting with Sarah while the boys work.

June 5

A big project we've been working on the past few week is getting Miles' and Elliott's room deep cleaned and bunk-bed ready. For the past few years Elliott has slept on a twin bed on one side of the room and Miles has slept on the other side first in a crib, then a twin mattress on the floor. The boys have a lot of stuff and really struggled to keep the room clean and it was driving me crazy. Talking to Charlotte, I found out she was preparing to have her girls move into separate room and would be getting rid of their relatively new bunk bed. She offered to sell it to us at a deep discount and so Wednesday after piano we picked up the bed and Rob and Tony reassembled it within an hour. Yay! Miles is now the top bunk buddy and Elliott will be sleeping on the bottom full-sized bed. We have an extra twin mattress that we will keep under the boys bed (a "trundle") that we can pull out when we have company. The boys have been a big help getting the room ready. This weekend Anthony will put together their new IKEA dresser, we will move the Lego storage over from Will's room, and we are passing our old bedroom set on to friends from church.

June 6

Elliott had a fun week at the SMS Sunflower Basketball Camp. He made a few new friends, and had a great time with Townes and the Wilson boys. 

June 7

Friday was a very Royals day. A few weeks ago I got an email from Elliott's baseball league letting us know about an event the Royals were hosting for young baseball players in the community. Teams in the MLB host "PLAY Clinics," to promote a lifetime of healthy activity for youth. In the email it said there were limited spots, but all kids that came would receive complimentary tickets and parking passes for their families to the game that night. It sounded like it would be something Elliott would like, plus free tickets to the game was something the entire family would enjoy. Friday morning after stopping at Lamar's and Krispy Kreme for free "donut day" donuts, we headed to the K. I asked the event coordinator if Will and Lauren could participate in the activity too and she said they could. After the entire group--including parents and younger siblings--listened to a lecture about the dangers of fentanyl, the kids split into three groups and went on the field to learn about nutrition, strength & conditioning, and injury prevention. A Royals player was at each station--Michael Wacha, Michael Massey & Kyle Wright. The kids were excited to get their shirts and hats signed and Will took pictures with each player. Miles and I waited in the bleachers. That evening we went back to the game. We arrived early enough to get the free t-shirts and hung out for a bit in the Kid Zone. The game got off to a rough start. The Royals' starting pitcher pitched through the entire Mariners lineup (10 total at bats) in the first inning and the score was 0-7. The next few innings were pretty slow, though the Royals made a bit of a comeback in the 4th and brought the score to 4-8. After the 6th inning it was 7-9. When it started to rain and there was no runs scored by either team in the 7th or 8th I all but assumed the game was over. However, in the bottom of the 9th the Royals came back and won after a clutch triple from Bobby Witt Jr., tied the game, followed by 2 intentional walks and a walk-off fielder's choice from Nelson Velazquez. It was the most exciting baseball game I've ever been to in person! The crowd was electric and people went crazy (especially Will). After the game was a fireworks show.

June 8

We had a "lazy" day Saturday after our late night. TJ worked on the dresser for the boys room. Lauren went to Cat & Sally's house. I took the boys to the pool. Will mowed some lawns. 

2024 :: week 22

May 26

At dinner we celebrated both of the upcoming birthdays--mine (5/27) and Matt's (5/31). Earlier that day at church I taught a combined Primary lesson while the Sunday School president did a teacher training for the primary teachers. The theme of the lesson was "hearts knit in unity," from Alma 18:21, and it went really well.

May 27

Monday was my birthday, and it was a good day. The kids didn't have school and TJ didn't have work so it felt like a "bonus" Saturday. In the morning TJ worked on assembling our new dresser from Ikea. The pool was open and I got to see many friends. Charlotte asked the cashier to wish me a happy birthday over the intercom which was fun, albeit embarrassing. That evening we went to Sar Ko Park for a ward party that wasn't well attended. The ward didn't provide food, just rented the shelter, and not many people came. It was still fun to see people. My parents stopped by to wish me a happy birthday in person, and my dad made my favorite peanut butter rice krispy bars that my mom has made for me throughout the years. I felt very loved.

May 28

Tuesday was Miles' last day of preschool. Here he is with his teacher, Miss Emily, and favorite classroom aide Miss Amanda. Miles has grown so much this year, and has really come out of  his shell. The fact that he let me take this picture is evidence! Last year not only did he refuse to take a picture with his teacher, he refused to take a picture at the school and didn't want to stay for the field day activities. This year we took this picture AND stayed and participated in most of the field day activities. 

May 29

Wednesday was the last (half) day of school. I somehow missed getting a picture of Will before he left to catch his bus. Miles, Anthony and I walked up to the school and lined the sidewalk to clap out Lauren and the other 6th graders. There are always a lot of emotions involved with "endings," but I think Lauren is ready to move on to middle school. She had great teachers and made many good friends at OPC. Immediately after school a bunch of kids headed straight to the pool. Unfortunately, Lauren could not as she had to head to the church to depart for Girl's Camp 2024. The stake was hopeful that SMSD would move their last day to before Memorial Day, but they did not and the SMSD girls had to leave basically as soon as school got out for camp. It was the only week the campground had available, so the stake leaders snagged it and hoped for the best.

May 30

Elliott slid into home during his baseball game Wednesday. He has really grown as a played this year and has made some great plays!

May 31

Will had band camp Thursday and Friday, and with Lauren at Girl's Camp, I decide to do something fun with Miles and Elliott to celebrate the start of summer. We went to Crown Center and explored the Daniel Tiger exhibit. It was pretty fun! Though Elliott was a little older than the target audience. We are a Daniel Tiger family and so we enjoyed the details. After enjoying the exhibit we ate a yummy lunch at Spin Pizza.

June 1

Lauren arrived home from Girl's Camp Saturday evening. She had a good time, though probably not quite as much fun as she had last year. This year the stake wanted to focus on ward unity and had the girls divided up by ward. (I was disappointed with this approach). They did have "sister wards," and Oak Park was sister wards with Mill Creek.

2024 :: week 21

May 19

Sunday evening Anthony and I joined the John Family adults for a discussion about the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. We had a good conversation about the various concerns we have for the increasingly digital/online world our kids are growing up in. We shared examples (both good and bad) of ways we've seen digital childhood (verses play-based childhood) affect our families, and tried to brainstorm ways to help our kids be as successful as possible in navigating this new frontier.  

May 20

Will enjoys plants and has been watching Creative Explained--a life hacks account--online and got the idea to attempt to grow blueberry, apple and strawberry plants from seeds. He has dutifully been watering them for the past few days and is hoping to see some sprouts soon.

May 21

Tuesday evening was Lauren's 6th Grade Promotion. It was a simple program, a few kids gave brief speeches, then each of the kids was recognized by their teachers. Lauren's soccer coach compiled a slideshow with both a baby and recent picture of each kid. The slideshow also highlighted the 8 sets of twins in their grade. The class of 2030 at OPC is made of up 94 kids! It is bigger than all the other grades by at least 20 kids. Afterwards there was a reception with cake and popcorn and lots of picture taking. Lauren has had a great experience as an OPC Husky. She has had wonderful teachers and made friends for life. 

May 22

Wednesday afternoon was Will's final band concert of the year. They scheduled it early--4:30pm!--because the gym gets really hot and the district graduations were happening that night. Anthony attended the concert for our family and for the first time had a good angle on Will. He could tell that Will was playing the correct notes. Their big finale was a compilation of Michael Jackson songs. Meanwhile, Elliott had a baseball game at 6pm. He played well, though his team lost by double digits. Lauren went swimming with her friends at Brena's house. Later that night I went up to the church for a "donation swap." Several ladies in the ward and I saved up our stuff that is still usable, but that we don't need anymore. We brought it to the church and then let the others "shop" our stuff. At the end of the night we loaded up the extras toys to donate to a daycare and the other stuff to be taken to Savers. After the boys were in bed Anthony met some friends to play pickleball. It was a busy night for the John family!

May 23

Thursday was Will's 8th grade recognition night held at the high school. Will and I went (Lauren had YW and this wasn't an event for Miles or Elliott). Will was recognized with a "certificate of scholarship," "Presidential Award," (awarded to students with a cumulative GPA above 3.75), and "Science Award," (awarded to students in the top 10% in the advanced science classes). Will is a great kid! All the time Anthony and I feel like he's spoiled us into thinking we are great parents because he makes parenting pretty easy. He knows who he is and is comfortable with himself. He has chosen great friends--his BFF since 1st grade was given one of two grade level awards for citizenship. After the ceremony Will and I went to CFA to get nuggets and I had such a great time with him. 

May 24

School is winding down, the weather is great and the kids have been spending a lot of time with friends at the park after school. I have enjoyed visiting with other parents and avoiding making dinner for as long as possible. That evening Kendall came over to play with Elliott and Miles, then TJ and I hung out with Stephanie and Spencer for over and hour when they came to pick her up.

May 25

Saturday was a work day! Tony has been working on updating our bedroom for my birthday off and on over the past few months. This weekend we had no games, practices, graduation parties or church commitments so he was able to finish most of the painting. He worked on the ceiling and walls while I specialized on the trim. The Svezias had Elliott over for most of the day, while Will spent the day mowing a few yards and then hanging out with the Bensons. In the evening Miles and Elliott asked TJ to push them on the swing along with neighbors Steffi and Mable.

2024 :: week 20

May 12

We had a pretty quiet Mother's Day. I got to sleep in, then Anthony made me scrambled eggs, toast and a yogurt parfait for breakfast. At church the primary kids sang and Miles not only went up with the other kids, but he sang! Anthony bribed him beforehand and told Miles he would make him a dessert of his choice if he would sing. The kids did great! I was proud as both primary president and mom. I took a bit of a nap when we got home and then we went to my parents' house for dinner. I feel like I am entering a new phase in my "mom-ing." I am proud of the responsible, capable kids Anthony and I get to parent. But as they get older and more independent they need me less (while at the same time my own parents need me more). For the better part of the past fourteen years I have had at least one very young child around me most of the day that relied on me to meet many of their needs. In a few months Miles will be starting all-day kindergarten and my days of getting things done with a toddler in tow are over. I used to look forward to the kids bedtime as the beginning of some "me time," but now my older kids go to bed around the same time I do. Any time I get to myself is during the day while they are at school. I guess the point of all of this is to say that the only constant is change and I while intellectually I know that to be true, I think I am finally starting to really believe it.

May 13

Lauren and several of her friends walked to our house after school to play some knockout. It seems that basketball has become the activity of choice during recess for the 6th grade girls. Most of them have never played on a team before, and they are having fun learning how to dribble and shoot together. 

May 14

Will's appetite has really grown this past year. Most nights between 9 and 10pm he starts jonesing for a snack. He often settles on either a huge bowl of applesauce, several ounces of cheddar cheese, or three slices of bread slathered with nutella. Sometimes he has more than one snack. But he always eats them while watching baseball on his phone.

May 15

Miles and I met Stephanie for lunch at Costco Wednesday. We've enjoyed many lunch dates at Costco over the years, and as the school year is coming to a close realized this might be the last one with just the three of us. Undoubtably we will meet up this summer, just with more kids. And when school starts up again Miles will be gone all day too.

May 16

Thursday after school Miles and I met Jill, Henry and Claire at Wonderscope and had a great time! It wasn't too crowded and the boys were able to play at most every exhibit.

May 17

Friday night the John family was spread out. Anthony took Will and the Benson twins to the Royals game. The boys paid for everything themselves--including Anthony's ticket!--with money they have earned mowing lawns this spring. Lauren spent the night at the Hagmans. Elliott had baseball practice, and Miles and I hung out at the park visiting with friends and playing. Afterwards we got McDonalds and paid a quick visit to Memaw and Pepaw. At bedtime Miles was sad and said he didn't like it when the whole family wasn't home together. 

May 18

Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for my friend Amanda. I am so grateful to be part of such a great community of moms. I love them and their kids. In other news, Anthony worked on painting the wall in our bedroom and Will went to a four hour training at Bluejacket for his cashier job.

2024 :: week 19

 

May 5

This year the primary children are singing "Mother, Do You Love Me?" in Sacrament Meeting on Mother's Day. The kids are singing the first verse, and Barbara is singing the "mother" verse. To make practice more engaging Kasey brought hats for each of the kids to wear while they sang. Each hat represented one of the many hats a mom has to wear--a graduation hat because mom's are smart, a police hat because mom's have to lay down the law, a ball cap because mom's spend a lot of time watching their kids play sports, etc. 

May 6

Cat and Sally came over for awhile after school Monday. Lauren crafted "nails" for them out of tape. Silly, creative girls.

May 7

Tuesday afternoon Miles and I met Jill, Henry and Claire at the Arboretum after school. The first Tuesday of every month the arboretum offers free admission, and because of this, these first Tuesdays are very crowded. I wasn't in the mood for so many people, but it was nice to be outside and enjoy the sunshine. I actually got a little burned on my neck, but the SPF in my face lotion did it's job and my face was fine.

May 8

Our flowers are starting to look pretty good. The excessive rain we've had this past month has made our yard look extra beautiful. The flowers look especially good against the bright green lawn. I finally got around to weeding our beds while I talked on the phone. Now we need to get new mulch and repaint the fence. 

May 9

Thursday evening was the first annual Indian Woods History Fair. Each of the 8th graders in Advanced Social Studies picked a historical topic to reseach during the 4th quarter. Kids chose things like Genghis Khan, Alexander Hamilton, the Battle of Verdun, the Chernobyl disaster, etc. Will chose the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The kids had to have "artifacts" that represented their event. One of the artifacts Will used was a boot because when John Wilkes Booth jumped out of the presidential box and onto the stage his spur ripped the Treasury Guard Flag. He also printed some theatre tickets and "aged" them. He read Chasing Lincoln's Killer as part of his research. I read the book many years ago and remember enjoying it.

May 10

When Miles and I are out running errands, one way I try to curry favor with him is to let him climb in the van via the trunk. He likes to climb over the back seat and then up to his chair. It is quite possibly the least efficient way of executing this task, but that seems to be the way he likes to do things lately.

May11

Graduation season has begun, and this weekend we went to two graduation parties. In the morning we went to Derek's, and in the afternoon we went to Spencer's. My favorite part of graduation parties (besides celebrating the graduates), is running into mutual old friends. The snacks are fun too. In the evening I took Lauren shopping at Turn Styles and Plato's Closet to find some new shorts. Will mowed a lawn. TJ caulked our basement shower. It was a good day.

2024 :: week 18

April 28

Sunday evening I insisted on taking a quick photo of the boys with their freshly cut hair. Over the weekend I cut Anthony, Miles and Elliott's hair. Tony took Will to Great Clips for his cut because his style requests exceed my abilities. 

April 29

It is rare to have an evening go by when some combination of our boys aren't outside playing a quick game of baseball. Miles is starting to hold his own when he's up to bat too. It makes me feel so happy when I see the boys having fun together. I know I'll miss this when they're older and have more going on.

April 30

In 2020 Dana gifted me this clematis plant for my birthday. Every year since it has only produced one flower. This year it has already bloomed three flowers and there are a few more that look ready to blossom in the next week. I love spring flowers!

May 1

Miles loves to swing! I love watching him swing and I also love that he can pump and have a good time on the swing without me having to push him. He is becoming increasingly independent, for better and worse. I love the swing independence. I do not enjoy his insistence on buckling his own car seat independently at all. 

May 2

Lauren and the OPC choir performed Thursday evening. They sang four songs. "Are You Ready," "Let it Be," a Taylor Swift medley created by their choir director/music teacher, and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," in round. They did a great job! Choir has been a bit of a grind this year. They meet Wednesdays and Friday before school from 7:30-8am, whereas last year they met after school once a week for an hour. Their choir director is very young and has a pattern of biting off more than she can chew. They spent so much time working on the Taylor Swift medley that they had to scrap their fourth song and sing "Row Your Boat," which many of the kids were upset about. 

May 3

Friday evening I took Will to KCK to cut our friend's lawn. A few months ago Will and his buddies Jude & Adrian came up with the idea to start a lawncare business to earn money to go to Royals games this summer. They made a flyer and website, and handed out flyers to neighbors in both our neighborhood and theirs. Anthony and I shared their flyer on facebook, and they posted their flyer online at Nextdoor and on the community board at the library. We love their initiative and willingness to work! They have been pretty successful too. This weekend alone Will worked on 3 lawns and earned over $100. 

May 4

We had a busy Saturday morning. I went to water aerobics. Anthony went to our ward EQ's "Men's Conference." Will had training for his pool cashier job. Elliott had a baseball game (he went 2 for 3, scoring twice and also pitched his team to victory). Saturday afternoon was the final hurrah for the Pink Thunder. We met at the green space behind Indian Valley Park for one last families vs. team scrimmage and picnic. The scrimmage was intense, with John family members scoring on both sides (Lauren-2, Dad-1), though ultimately the girls came out on top. There was plenty of delicious food, including two large plates of chick-fil-a nuggets that the John boys happily devoured. Genny's mom Heather collected photos from parents and "favorite memory" cards from the girls to make scrapbooks for Coach Luke and Coach Travis. Being a member of the Pink Thunder soccer team has been an amazing blessing and experience for Lauren. She has really grown as a soccer player. He coaches pushed and her and helped her gain confidence in herself. Her teammates have become great friends. I have learned a lot about soccer, including the rules. Pretty much the only rule I really knew before Lauren started to play was "no hands." Pictured in the team pyramid photo are Bottom--Genny B., Grace D., Kenzie M., Mattie S., Allie C., and Lauren. Middle--Taylor P., Annabelle R., Madelyn W., Reese P., and Sofia C. Top--Ella S. and Dailey F.)