20118 :: week 45

October 28

I thought the kids were looking really cute on Sunday so I had them pose for a picture as we walked into church. It is also worth noting that we were ten minutes early to church! We are usually on time, but rarely that early.

October 29

On Sunday evening we went for a post-dinner family walk. On our way home, Elliott tripped and smashed his face into the ground. He split his lip and bled all over the place. Luckily nothing was seriously injured, but he was uncomfortable and had a hard time sleeping. His lip got really fat, but the homemade popsicles Memaw made and brought over Monday really helped soothe the pain.

October 30

Lauren had her seven year old well child check-up Tuesday morning. She got a clean bill of health and a script for some very expensive topical oil to help with her eczema. It is so rewarding to see Lauren do so well after her failure to thrive and sick euthyroid issues as a baby.

October 31

Halloween! Finally! We invited several friends (Steiners, Meachams, Ules, Wilsons, Mansings, McFalls) over for a driveway party of hot dogs and chili before trick-or-treating. There ended up being a lot of 1st grade girls so at moments things were a little chaotic, but it was still lots of fun. Anthony bought a fire pit to keep us warm and he enjoyed burning our yard refuse throughout the night. Another fun Halloween season in the books!

November 1

Our sad news of the week is that one of Will's classmates (Drake) passed away over the weekend. It came as a complete shock and the OPC community has rallied together to support the family. On Thursday evening his Cub Scout leader organized a gathering to collect Halloween candy to donate to service men and women in honor of Drake. After a moment of silence the kids lined up to drop their candy into a big box and then sign a card. It has been a somewhat emotional week realizing how fast things can change and big reminder to make the moments you have with loved ones count.

November 2

Friday evening after we went to the visitation for Drake we hung out with the Mansings for a bit. Renee recently built a fire pit in their back yard and they are working to burn up a tree they cut down this summer. We roasted marshmallows and chatted about life before heading home and going to bed. We are so blessed to have such great family-oriented neighbors.

November 3

Saturday was a busy work day. Anthony and Will helped a family in our ward load their moving truck while Lauren, Elliott and I tidied up at home. In the afternoon we walked to the library, gave haircuts to the boys, and worked in the yard. In the evening we had dinner with the Githins. After a delicious dinner we played this fun Harry Potter card game.

2018 :: week 44

October 21

Lauren is 7! She is as sensitive and kind and smart as she is beautiful. She makes her parents smile everyday. She pays impeccable attention to detail, builds amazing Lego creations and has a generous heart. Her quick wit keeps us on our feet and her thoughtfulness is inspiring. We are grateful for her everyday, but especially today on her birthday. We celebrated by eating donuts for breakfast and opening gifts--mainly lego sets and LOL dolls--before church. She got sung to at church in primary AND by the youth at our house during the BYD that night. Sunday birthdays when you have afternoon church and your dad is the bishop make it a little hard to have the day just as you'd like it, but Lauren handled it well.

October 22

Anthony and I met Lauren for lunch at her school to close out our birthday celebration weekend. She requested a McDonald's Happy Meal and we obliged. We hear some strange rumors about rules in the lunchroom, so it was fun for us to see what it is actually like.

October 23

Elliott and I met Kendall and Stephanie at a new-to-us park (Santa Marta) Tuesday morning. We discussed going to story time at the library, but decided with the idyllic weather we were experiencing this week, it would be more worth our time to get outdoors. The kids had fun climbing and playing some game that involved moving rocksfrom one area of the park to another.

October 24

Will is such a great sport! When he accompanies us to Lauren's soccer practice he often ends up entertaining the younger boys. Elliott loves soccer practice. He is guaranteed at least one and often two or three of his buddies will be there. There are rarely any siblings Will's age at practice, but he is nice to play with the preschoolers and keep them out of their parent's hair.

October 25

The boys played with Legos Thursday evening after baths. Will seems to have caught the viral cough that has been going around their elementary school. That night we tried every natural remedy we could come up with to help soothe his symptoms--steam shower, Vicks Vapo Rub, swallowing a small spoonful of honey, humidifier in room. It seemed to help him feel better, but it didn't get rid of the all the pain.

October 26

Will performed in his first piano recital Friday afternoon. His piece was "Frankenstein's Waltz" and he performed it perfectly. He had it memorized and played it with a nice, even tempo. I was a little worried because at home he would sometimes "jazz" it up a bit, but when his time came he played beautifully. The students all dressed up in their Halloween costumes, which was convenient, because our ward's Trunk or Treat started right as we finished.

October 27

Lauren played in her last soccer game of the season on Saturday (her team has one more game Sunday). She had a great year! She continues to improve and gain confidence. She is a good teammate and friend. Anthony and I are trying to convince her that it is okay to play with full intensity. When she plays she seems to be pacing herself, only giving about 75%.

2018 :: week 43

October 14

Lauren and Elliott shared a sweet hug with Memaw after church on Sunday.

October 15

For FHE we made our annual trek to Shaake's Pumpkin Patch in Lawrence. It was a little chilly, but the sun helped keep us warm. The kids had a great time playing on the playground, wandering through the vines to find the perfect pumpkin, and watching the chickens eat old kettlecorn. I told the kids I wanted to get one quick family pic before we left, and he just couldn't handle it. Three year olds, am I right?!

October 16

I tried to be sneaky and get a better picture, but she caught me. Lauren likes to play school with the younger neighborhood kids and she has them sit on our outdoor loveseat while she bosses them around teaches them.

October 17

Lauren caught a wounded butterfly after school on Wednesday. I wasn't very excited about it, because butterflies are fragile, but it never tried to fly away.

October 18

I love this beautiful tree. I look at it everyday as we walk to school and it makes me feel good. We've had gorgeous fall weather this week and it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

October 19

This house is on our Meals on Wheels route and Elliott and I see it each Friday. I call it the "Halloween House," and he calls it the "Spooky House." Regardless of what you call it, the yard is full skeletons at a carnival.

October 20

We spent Saturday afternoon at the zoo with the Ules. We wanted to have a fun family day in honor of Lauren's birthday the next day. It was perfect! The weather was idyllic, we were in good company, and the kids were well behaved.  We ran into Hagman twins, saw Elephant and Piggie, touched rays and rode the sky safari. It was a fun day.

2018 :: week 42

October 7

We had a great day watching conference. In the afternoon we went to my parents house for a potluck dinner. Lauren and Tyler were very pleased with the BBQ beans. Our conference weekend was quiet and relaxing. We had planned on fitting in some yard work between the Saturday session, but the cold, rainy day forced us to stay inside and it was a nice change of pace.

October 8

On Monday afternoon Lauren and I walked home from the park together after school. I went to Will's parent-teacher conference and the boys were home with Anthony. Lauren played at the park with a few friends and their moms kept an eye on her for me. As we walked together hand in hand, she started singing and laughing and I just wanted to capture her sweet childhood innocence. The picture I got didn't quite capture the magic of the moment, but it was a moment I want to remember.

October 9

This has been the week of rain! I think we had rain five out of the seven days this week. On Tuesday it was only drizzling, so we were able to walk to school.

October 10

I took the kids up to the park after dinner Wednesday. Anthony had several meetings at the church and I wanted to get out of the house for as much of the evening as possible. Each kid brought the riding apparatus of their choice and we rode, scooted and propelled ourselves around the smooth surface of the tennis courts.

October 11

Thursday morning we pulled the kids out of school early--it was a half day anyway--to have the kids join me at my 20 week appointment. We found out that we will be having another BOY join our family in March of 2019! Lauren only cried for a minute. I was a little surprised too. We are mostly grateful that he is growing just as he should and all his vitals, measurements, etc. look great.

October 12

Friday we went out for an early dinner at Red Robin. We had a lot to celebrate! A healthy boy and great reports from both Will and Lauren's teachers about how well they are doing in school, both academically and socially. Getting close to the end of a particularly busy church month (Anthony had to go help with a massive move later that evening).

October 13

Saturday evening Anthony and I went to the wedding and ring ceremony of a family friend. Anthony officiated the ring ceremony. We had a nice evening. The reception was at Pinstripes and we were able to get in a few frames of bowling before we had to head home. It was nice to spend an evening together, it has been a pretty busy month.

2018 :: week 41

September 30

We have started taking the nursery kids to the gym after snack time. The older boys--specifically Jedidiah, Elliott and Emmett--really need to burn some energy. We usually play a game where each kids gets to pick an animal for everyone to pretend to be. In this photo the kids are being snakes. We also play a few rounds of Ring Around the Rosie before lining up and getting a quick drink at the drinking fountains.

October 1

I don't know how I did it, but I accidentally locked Elliott in the car Monday morning with my keys and phone in the van! I think the locking sensor on my key fob is sensitive because there is no way I could have opened his door without first unlocking the driver's door and when I tossed the keys to my seat to buckle him in I triggered the lock. Luckily I was at Emily's house and was able to borrow her phone to call Anthony, and Anthony was able to come pretty quickly and rescue him. Poor Elliott was so confused.

October 2

This was the week of weird car issues. On Tuesday evening I was driving to the gym with Lauren and Elliott. As we were about to exit I saw a 5 gallon bucket rolling up the lane in front of me. I was next to the cement barrier on my right and there was a large van to my left, so there was really nowhere for me to go. I hit the bucket and dragged it with me until I was able to pull over at a nearby parking lot. I got out and was able to pull the bucket off. The van drove fine, but smelled like burning plastic. I took the car in to the dealership the next morning and they told me everything was fine, and that they tried to scrape as much plastic off as they could. Unfortunately, the rest of the plastic would just have to burn off as I drove. Whenever I get out of the van it smells like a birthday candle to me. Oh well, considering that was the only "damage" I'll deal with it.

October 3

Wednesday was a gorgeous fall day. I snapped this picture in the morning when Elliott and I were walking home from walking the kids up to school. Lauren and Will could walk to school by themselves, but I enjoy spending a few minutes with them in the morning. It wakes me up and gets me going for the day.

October 4

Thursday night Anthony, Will and a bunch of young men and leaders from our ward went to the SMW v. Olathe East football game. Boys from our ward suited up and played for both teams. They crew spent half of the game cheering for each side to be fair. It's hard to say if they were good luck or bad luck. The team they were cheering for went scoreless while they were rooting for them. Anthony is in his element at sporting events.  The evening was very cold! The temperature dropped twenty degrees overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

October 5

Temperatures were much nicer on Friday. We took a family walk after dinner and ended up at the park for awhile. We would have liked to have stayed longer, but the sun is setting so much earlier.

October 6

It rained like crazy overnight Friday into Saturday and then much of the day Saturday. Lauren's soccer games were cancelled, so we spent a cozy day at home watching General Conference. In the afternoon the Ules came over to watch some baseball. Then I went to the Women's Session that night at the Stake Center. After the meeting I went to Sheridan's with some good friends.

2018 :: week 40

September 23

Sunday I got a substitute for nursery and drove to the stake center to get my temple recommend interview with a member of the Stake Presidency. When we got home I harvested a handful of cherry tomatoes from our garden. Our garden did not produce well this year due to the dry, hot temperatures we got in June and July. We've had more rain these past few weeks and we are finally getting a few.

September 24

Monday morning I went to the school district office to get fingerprinted. The school district implemented a new policy that requires all parents/adults that want to volunteer at the school or participate in school sponsored events (such as field trips or class parties) attend a training regarding appropriate behavior and submit to a background check. Part of the background check involves getting fingerprinted. To maintain control the district requires you to get fingerprinted in their office, which only has the capacity to fingerprint one person at a time. It takes approximately 5-10 minutes per person. The district only offers the service for about 15 hours a week on two days. On the days that fingerprinting is available parents end up waiting hours. In my opinion it has been a real boondoggle. We had to wait about 2.5 hours, but luckily a few fellow OPC moms were also there waiting to get fingerprinted too, which made the time pass much more pleasantly. Later in the week the school district approved an alternative way to provide training and background checks that doesn't involve fingerprinting at the district office. Of course! After school we played at the park, as usual. I enjoy watching my kids interact with their friends. Here Lauren was leading her friends in a game of some sort. She has some real leadership qualities. On Thursday I will join her class on their field trip to the Louisberg Cider Mill--the reason I spent almost three hours at the district office that morning.

September 25

Lauren practiced her spelling words via Spelling City Tuesday evening while I tidied up from dinner. As I looked over and watched her study I felt like I was playing house. Every once in awhile I have these moments where it is hard to believe I am actually a mom and I am responsible for the well being of other human beings. My life is far from perfect, but I feel very grateful for the simple moments like this.
 

September 26

Lauren had soccer practice Wednesday night. It was much cooler than last week, which made it much more pleasant. I love watching the girl's line up and do their drills each week.

September 27

Thursday I went to the Louisberg Cider Mill with the OPC first graders. Every time I go on a field trip I am reminded that elementary school teachers are vastly underpaid. The kids were pretty good, but it is a lot of work to keep 20+ 6 and 7 year olds entertained and on task. I have been on the tour a few times before, but it is always fun to see the way the apples are cleaned and then pressed into cider and to watch the doughnut making process. After we ate our doughnuts and drank our cider we rode on the tractor trailer to the play area. The kids ate a quick lunch and then jumped on the giant pillow and played in the giant bed of corn.

September 28

Practicing spelling with my kids is not my favorite thing to do. I'd much rather read with them. Spelling comes easily to Will, so I haven't had to do as much with him over the years, but Lauren needs a little more guidance. This week was the third week of both kids got all of their words correct! Spelling seems to be helping Lauren read better too.

September 29

Saturday morning was cool and a little damp. While Anthony and I debated whether or not it was worth it to go to the parade, Elliott kept asking when we were going to the parade. We decided to go for it and I am glad we did. Even though it was 48 degrees when we left the house, it warmed up quite a bit as soon as the clouds blew past and we had a great time. The last few years when we went to the Overland Park Fall Festival were hot! It's an election year so there was A LOT of candy. Elliott--and the other kids too--were in absolute heaven.

2018 :: week 39

September 16

Laura wanted to visit the sunflower field while her and Trevor were in town. Sunday evening we drove them to Grinter Farms and explored for a little while. The sunflowers were a little past their prime, but were still pretty magical. The kids were pleased to find hundreds of caterpillars.

September 17

Lauren had a Girl Scout meeting Monday evening. She has a new leader this year that is doing a great job. The girls talked about respecting the environment and ways to take care of the earth. They went on a quick nature walk and picked up some trash on a trail and talked about things they can do to make the earth a better place. Lauren said she'd "pick up the trash her brothers throw on the ground." I'm not sure her brothers actually throw that much trash on the ground, but the answer was a little more creative than the "I won't throw my trash on the ground," answer that most of the other girls gave.

September 18

Everyday after school Will, Lauren and now Elliott ask me for playdates. We are lucky the kids have so many friends that live close by, but sometimes I find it overwhelming. The hardest part is trying to juggle who gets to have a friend over each day with what evening activities we have going on and who has to go to them. Knox is Will's good buddy and they are in the same class again this year so he is a regular guest in our home.

September 19

Wednesday was hot, hot, hot! I think it ended up being 91 degrees. We had to get Lauren to soccer practice fifteen minutes early for team pictures and it was a stressful endeavor. I'm not proud of how I let my frustrations get the better of me. I'm grateful to have such patient and forgiving kids. After getting their pictures taken the girls worked hard for an hour. I'm impressed with how much they improve each week.

September 20

Elliott had a playdate with his buddy Nicholas Thursday morning. Those boys get along so well, it makes me happy. After the playdate we stopped at Target to pick up a few things. Shopping with Elliott can be fun. It can also be a drag, but today it was fun. The dollar spot had a lot of Halloween items that we enjoyed testing out.

September 21

Friday evening we went to the Shawnee Mission South homecoming football game and pregame festivities. There were carnival games were the kids earned candy, tatoo and cans of soda for prizes. We were able to meet up with a few of Will's friends--Trevor and Jason--to sit with at the game. Lauren, Elliott and I left after the first quarter. After Anthony and Will got home Anthony and I dragged our three superfluous couches to the curb. Saturday was large item pick-up and I was too cheap to pay to throw the couches individually at the dump.

September 22

Saturday was jammed packed. We started the day at the Ernie Miller Nature Center for a Cub Scout hike. Then we drove to the Louisburg Cidermill for a Customer Appreciation Event put on by my mom's Realtor. In the afternoon my dad helped Anthony replace our garbage disposal. Then we went to the Wilson's to sing Happy Birthday to Mikey and eat cake. After the party we drove to the West Bottoms to shoot our annual family photos. We rounded off the day with Chick-fil-A for dinner. It was a fun, but very full Saturday.

2018 :: week 38

September 9

Lauren had a big day in primary. She was assigned to read the 5th Article of Faith and did it mostly without help! Then she got to dress up as King Benjamin during their sharing time lesson about how the prophets teach us how to serve others. Aunt Emily is in the primary presidency and she makes sharing time extra fun.

September 10

Elliott graduated to a "big boy bed" Monday night. I found a good deal on a toddler bed on facebook marketplace and we picked it up as soon as Tony got home from work. Elliott was so proud of his new bed. Unfortunately we could not find the allen wrench that came with the crib to take it apart so the bed was wedged in his room for a few days. This was very frustrating to me because I have kept it in the same place since we got the crib for Will eight years ago and I spent a lot of time searching for it. Oh well.

September 11

Elliott and I took advantage of the nice weather and walked to the library Tuesday morning. Storytime has started up again and we plan on attending regularly. Elliott didn't participate much until the parachute came out, then he was all in.

September 12

 Wednesday morning Emily had Elliott over to play with Tyler and I ran a few errands. As we attempted to return home around noon we were stopped as about twenty police cars and officers surrounded our block. Apparently one of our neighbor's adult sons was involved in a hit-and-run with the mother's car and then engaged in a stand-off with police. He has struggled with alcoholism and was apprehended without force, but we were not allowed to return home for about two hours. The interactions we have had with him throughout the years have been benign. When Anthony and I were speculating about who or what was going on neither of us suspected him. We had good talks with the kids about how drinking alcohol makes it hard for you to make good choices and can ruin your life.

September 13

Aunt Laura and Uncle Trevor came to town and we went to a Royals game on Thursday evening in their honor. The weather was gorgeous and we arrived early enough to spend some time at the Little K, carousel and playground. Because it was a school night we left early, and of course all the exiting plays came from the Royals while we were listening on the radio on our way home. It's always a gamble staying out late on a school night, and we were pleasantly surprised by how well all three children behaved, both that night and the next morning.

September 14

The older kids had an early release day and Aunt Laura and Uncle Trevor came over to play with the kids for a bit. By this point in the week it was hot, hot, hot again, making the shaded trampoline the only bearable outside play space. Laura wowed the kids we a few trampoline tricks and Trevor engaged in a tickle war. That evening TJ took Will to an Olathe East football game that some youth in our ward were playing in while Lauren, Elliott and I had a movie night.

September 15

Saturday ended up being a very busy day! Anthony spent several hours at the temple with a couple receiving their endowments and then getting sealed together. Will had a birthday party that overlapped with Lauren's soccer game. Then in the evening we had a block party and meet up with the Crane family at the River Market. There was barely enough time for to watch the BYU game! The block party was great! We feel so blessed to have such great, family friendly neighbors who genuinely look out for each other. There was lots of great food shared by all. In addition to this driveway full of people eating, our driveway was full of kids playing basketball and drawing with chalk.