2024 :: week 4

January 21

Will enjoys hanging out with Calvin, and it appears the feeling is mutual. They are currently the oldest and youngest Crane cousins, but on Tuesday Laura is scheduled to have a C-section and Crane grandkid #16.

January 22

Monday was--you guessed it--another snow day! I really wish our district could figure out how to do a delayed start. This bonus day off the Benson boys came over to hang out. They walked with Will to Five Guys for lunch. Will had some Five Guys gift cards burning a hole in his pocket and what better time to walk there than on a cold, icy day off from school.

January 23

Tuesday after school Daphne and Nicholas came over to hang out with Lauren and Elliott. The girls melted chocolate chips and dipped strawberries in them for a delicious snack.

January 24

Wednesday morning Emily and I went over to Jill's house to help her clean her blinds before her baby comes in the next few weeks. 

January 25

Part of Will's ritual when walking into his piano lesson is dunking on Miss Julie's hoop. Lauren finds this incredibly annoying, while Miles thinks it is hilarious.

January 26

Miles is Mr. Responsible. More often than not he picks up Elliott's discarded coat and backpack and brings them to me. 

January 27

It was another busy Saturday, though not quite as bad as last week. Elliott only had basketball, and he played in the new Nike court shoes I found at Saver's on Friday. Lauren had volleyball and Will had church basketball too, but the times were spread out so we could easily make all three events.

2024 :: week 3

January 14

Sunday morning we woke up and were getting ready to head to Stake Conference when we realized our pipes had frozen! We've never had this happen before! We put the space heater near our water main and a heating pad around the pipes under our kitchen sink. Slowly but surely the pipes melted and we had water again. After that we made sure to keep a stream of water running at all times during this artic freeze. The high on Sunday was -1 degrees. 

January 15

Lauren decided she wanted to knit herself a hat, and even though she had never done that before she found a tutorial online and set to work. Monday was a scheduled day off for MLK Day, but if it hadn't been we almost certainly would have had an inclement weather day. Lauren spent the day knitting while watching the new Percy Jackson series on Disney+. 

January 16

Another snow day. For those keeping count this is the 4th snow day of 2024. The kids have only been in school twice since their early dismissal December 21! We watched Henry and Arthur while Jill went to a OB appointment. In the evening we talked about our family goals for the year. One of our family goals is to read the Book of Mormon together. We know we won't be able to read together every single night, so when we are all together we will try to read a chapter or two. Each person reads two verses and we go around in age order. 

January 17

Miles and Elliott like to jump. It is so cold our trampoline is out of commission, making beds the next best thing.

January 18

Thursday evening was "Look at the Woods Night," for all incoming 7th graders. Will and I went with Lauren after piano and before mutual. As a parent I feel pretty comfortable with all the changes that come with middle school, but Lauren was anxious to learn her way around the school. We ran into a few friends from different elementary schools.

January 19

Friday morning I had my annual physical. While I was there my doctor removed a few skin tags for me. They weren't huge, but big enough they would hurt when I wear necklaces. Anthony worked from home and kept an eye on Miles so I could go to my appointment without him. Afterwards we ate lunch at Houlihan's as part of a Restaurant Week deal.

January 20

Saturday was busy! Elliott had indoor football at 9am. Will had church basketball at 10am. Elliott had basketball at noon. Lauren had volleyball games at 12:10 and 1pm. Then there was stake YW volleyball from 1-3pm. In the middle of all this some of Jill's friends hosted a baby shower for her from 12-2pm. Tony and I were able to coordinate taking each of the kids to their various sporting events with Tony doing the heavy lifting so I could make it to the shower. At the baby shower I was embarrassed when I won the game where you had to name various celebrities' children, but not too embarrassed to refuse the $15 Chick-fil-A gift card.

2024 :: week 2

January 7

Lauren has a spot on her bookshelf where she keeps the books we have read together. If the books are part of a series she has just the first book in the series. I have so enjoyed the time Lauren and I spend together while I read to her and she crafts, cleans, organizes or rests. We have read some great books!

January 8

After just shy of three weeks off, the kids started school again Monday. Miles didn't get to go because he had a cold accompanied by a very runny nose. He stayed home from church the day before too. We did stop at the library to pick up some holds, but I mostly stayed in. The Oak Park branch of the library closed in August for bathroom remodeling, replacing the HVAC system, and a few other upgrades. It reopened in mid-December, and it has been really nice having the library so close again.

January 9

Tuesday was a snow day. I had feelings about this. Especially because Miles missed school Monday. It was very cold and windy, in addition to the snow, but our dentist's office was still open and the kids had their scheduled cleanings. 

January 10

Another day, and other snow day. This snow day was harder for me to understand. There wasn't much new snow, but it was extremely cold. The roads in our neighborhood were slick, but as soon as we pulled onto the main road to drive to Chick-fil-A to get our free mystery breakfast items the roads were fine. I know the logistics of getting kids to school is complicated, but I fear we will regret these snow days come May. Elliott was the only John kid who was up for more sledding, and he joined the Svezias at the park in the afternoon.

January 11

Finally the kids 2nd day of school in the past 22 days. We are struggling to get back into a routine, but having school in session definitely helps! While Miles was at school I ran some errands--shopping at Hy-Vee, Aldi and Sams. That afternoon the kids had piano lessons and then the kids had mutual. For the first time in a long time things felt "normal."

January 12

Friday was another "inclement weather" day. This time for bad roads--primarily black ice. We spent a quiet day at home. That evening we had dinner with my mom and I stayed the night. Tony took Lauren  to SoccerTrainrKC for a training session with Mallory Webber of the KC Current. One of Lauren's Pink Thunder teammate's parents gifted the session to team.

January 13

Elliott played in his first basketball game of the season on Saturday. He played well. I watch him play at our house all the time, but I was surprised by how much energy he had when he plays against others. 

2024 :: week 1

December 31

Sunday evening we had the Throssells over to ring in the new year. Tony, Spencer and the kids used the sauna while Stephanie and I chatted upstairs. Matt did a little of both. We all ate yummy snacks. After they sauned, the kids played Smash Bros on the switch. At midnight the kids went outside, cheered and popped confetti poppers. 

January 1

Monday we all slept in a bit after staying up so late the night before. Anthony had the day off work and we worked on laundry and packing for our upcoming Oklahoma City trip. Matt made us his signature no-bakes for dessert Monday night and we ate them over ice cream because that is how we do.

January 2

Tuesday morning after my water aerobics class we hit the road for OKC. About a month ago I had the idea that we should drive to Abilene, KS, and visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library over our extended Christmas break (the kids had 18 days off, including weekends). Will suggested we drive a little bit farther to Oklahoma City and see the Thunder host the Celtics on 1/2. As soon as he floated that idea the kids were all on board. We checked with Matt to see if he would want to go too (of course he did) and bought tickets. We put the presidential library visit on hold for hopefully this summer. The 5 hour drive was relatively uneventful. When we arrived in OKC we first stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was very sobering. Both Anthony and I have memories of learning about it when it happened on April 19, 1994. We stopped for dinner at Braum's because we wanted to eat from a local chain. Then we checked into our hotel and got ready for the game. We were able to walk from our hotel to the Paycom Center. The game was really exciting! The Thunder had the best record in the Western Conference and the Celtics had the best record in the East. Unfortunately, the Celtics lost. The score was close most of the game and it really came down to the final possessions. This was Lauren, Elliott and Miles' first NBA game.

January 3

Because Matt was with us we didn't fit into one hotel room. Anthony, Matt and Will were in one room, and Lauren, Elliott, Miles and I were in the other. Friday morning we ate some hotel breakfast and then walked around Bricktown. (Matt stayed at the hotel to get some more rest because he had trouble sleeping.) Bricktown is a shopping and entertainment district in OKC that is made out of repurposed warehouses. We visited the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Chickasaw Minor League baseball field. Then we road the water taxi through the heart of Bricktown and learned about the history of the area. We learned that the name "Sooner" dates back to the Land Races of 1889. The people that "jumped the gun," aka cheated to get the best land, were called Sooners. We also learned that that Sonic was founded in OK. That afternoon we hit the road and headed back home.

January 4

The kids have played a lot of games this holiday break. Elliott got a new set of Sleeping Queen cards in his stocking because our original game cards are getting bent--this makes them identifiable and changes the nature of the game. Thursday we also said goodbye to Matt as he flew back to Utah.

January 5

Will spent much of the day with Knox. They walked to CFA for lunch, Target for snacks and then hung out at our house. That evening they went to the SMS basketball game. When Will got home after the game he needed a "light" bedtime snack--three slices of white bread spread with Nutella.

January 6

Saturday Lauren had her first volleyball games. She had a fair amount of anxiety about her volleyball abilities, so several times over the break Anthony took her and the boys up to the church. While the boys played basketball she worked on her serve over and over. I was so proud of her when it was her turn to serve and her serve went right over the net and landed in-bounds on the other side. That afternoon the Stake Young Women set up volleyball nets in the gym of the Stake Center for some open play and so she got even more practice in while spending time with church friends.

2023 :: week 52

December 24

We started off our Sunday at church. The primary kids sang "The Nativity Song," and Miles hid behind Elliott. I was proud of him for even walking up to the stand. In the afternoon we made a few more batches of ginger snaps and delivered them to friends. We had our annual soup potluck dinner with the Cranes (I made corn chowder). The kids acted out the nativity and then we opened one present each. When we got back home we set out our stockings and the kids decided they all wanted to sleep in Lauren's room. Lauren slept on the top bunk, Elliott slept on the bottom, and Will and Miles slept on separate mattresses on the floor. It probably wasn't their best night of sleep, but they had fun. Matt, Anthony and I watched It's a Wonderful Life while doing some last minute wrapping, then set out Christmas for everyone.

December 25

Christmas Day! The kids were up and ready to go at 7am. We could hear them before that, but they graciously agreed to wait until 7am before coming down per Mom's request. We spent the morning opening presents. The kids were so thoughtful with the gifts they got each other, and were very gracious about the gifts they received. We feasted on breakfast casserole, bacon and orange rolls for both breakfast and lunch. We had a family zoom with the Johns scattered around the country, where we enjoyed showing off our wares as well as seeing what our cousins received. That afternoon we made green bean casserole for the family dinner at my parents' house. Around 4pm we headed over and opened gifts from Memaw and Pepaw and the Crane cousin exchange. I did my best to be in the moment and not spend too much time with my phone, so I took way fewer pictures than usual. It was a great Christmas!

December 26

After receiving more baseball cards than he knows what to do with, Miles set up his card shop in the dining room again. His best pull was this Vlad Guerrero Jr., patch card. Anthony took the kids to the gym to burn some energy. In the afternoon Lauren went to Ariana's house and Will hung out with the Bensons. 

December 27

Wednesday I took the kids to Science City. It was fun, but pretty crowded. We expected as much considering it was Christmas break. The kids had fun creating with the supplies in the maker space. That evening we had ribs at my parents' house. Matt said he enjoyed the food he ate while he was staying with us. That night Anthony and I watched Die Hard with Matt and debated what criterion constitutes categorizing something as a "Christmas movie."

December 28

Lauren had her second volleyball practice Thursday night at Okun Fieldhouse. This fall Allie's mom reached out to me and asked if Lauren would be interested in playing on a rec volleyball team this winter. Lauren has never played before, but said she was willing to try. Five girls from Mrs. Koerner's class are on the team, and the rest of the team is made up of girls from around the metro. CL and Allie's moms are the coaches. Lauren felt pretty discouraged after her first practice because she couldn't serve the ball over the net. Anthony took her (and the boys) up to the church gym a few times over the past week and they worked over and over on her serve. At practice this week she was able to do it!

December 29

Friday was TJ's birthday! His main present was tickets to go the BYU game in Lawrence in February. We celebrated him by eating lots of delicious food--leftover breakfast casserole for breakfast (our second of the week) and French Dip sandwiches for dinner. That evening he took Lauren to the temple with friends Katie and Michael Howell. After they did baptisms the dads took the girls to Coldstone for some ice cream. When they got home Anthony, Will and Matt watched Dodgeball together. TJ is a great husband, dad and friend. He is doing good things at his job, spends quality time with all four kids, and listens to me talk until he falls asleep. He has spent hours last week working on updates to our room that only I really care about.

December 30

Saturday afternoon Joi texted me and said they were heading to the park and wondered if Elliott was interested in heading over. Yes! Elliott had his shoes on and was out the door before I could find my jacket. The boys played football for over two hours and Elliott was in heaven. He has such a great group of friends right now. That afternoon we stopped to wish Memaw a happy birthday. We are all so grateful to celebrate another birthday with her.

2023 :: week 51

December 17

Sunday we celebrated 14 years of Will. After church we opened presents and ate dessert. That evening we had an early dinner with the local family. Later we participated in my parents' annual Christmas sing-a-long. Will is a pretty simple guy, he likes good food and sports. Lauren bought him a yard of Twix bars, Elliott got him basketball cards and Miles got him a Costco pack of Nutella. His big gift from Mom & Dad was an iPhone 14. Unfortunately, we messed up the order and his phone didn't arrive before his birthday so he still has to wait a few days. Thankfully for us, Will is a great kid and isn't complaining much. Anthony and I often talk about how he spoils us. He is a great student, who works hard and is diligent about getting his work done. He is a great brother, spending many hours a week playing sports with his siblings and including them in many of his activities. He is smart and has a great sense of humor. He likes history and maps and uses his down time at school to explore cities on google earth. He thinks he might want to study geography or architecture when he grows up. I think his perfect day would be exploring downtown KC, eating a good cheeseburger and then watching the Chiefs or the Royals. He has an enviable metabolism and will eat huge hunks of cheese, large bowls of applesauce and white bread spread with nutella when he is hungry. Will likes going to church and has a great group of friends there. My biggest complaint about him is that he *hates* bedtime. It is starting to hit me how close he is to adulthood and I am definitely not ready for that yet.

December 18

Anthony was able to take a several days off in December because he had a fair amount of PTO to use before the end of the year. One of the ways he used this extra time was to remove the popcorn texture from our bedroom ceiling. I have wanted to make a few relatively simple changes to our bedroom for while and this is phase 1 of the project. (Overall goals include removing popcorn ceiling, painting the ceiling white, installing a statement wall, replacing the blinds, replacing the ceiling fan, painting the walls and replacing Anthony's closet door). He started Friday, but after a few initial hiccups, things went pretty quickly. If anyone reading this ever decides to remove popcorn ceiling, it is well worth it to invest in a dedicated popcorn scraper. They are approximately $25 and make things so much easier to clean up. Another tip is to make sure the popcorn is very saturated. It is much easier to scrape when it is nice and wet. After scraping we patched the imperfections on the ceiling, which was followed by many rounds of sanding. By the end of the week Anthony painted the ceiling white. Now the room revamp project is on hold until after the holidays.

December 19

We have entered a new era. Will's phone finally arrived on Tuesday and we set it up ASAP. I was the proud recipient of Will's first text. Will has been so patient to wait until he was 14 to get his own phone, much longer than most of his friends. That evening Matt arrived from Utah to spend the Christmas holiday with us. 

December 20

Wednesday evening we did our traditional Christmas in Kansas City excursion, and Matt got to join us! We rode the streetcar to City Market at got dinner at Pigwich, then walked around a bit. I was disappointed that the Santa scooter house people either moved or decided not to put out decorations this year. We headed back to Union Station to walk through the Holiday Reflections exhibit. Miles and Elliott rode the mini train twice. It may be Elliott's last year to ride, we will have to see how tall he is next year. The exhibit was pretty nice, there were many holiday themed photo ops. Please note Miles' pose in this picture. It is the Kevin from Home Alone face that Miles has started making in pictures this Christmas season.

December 21

We finally put up Christmas decorations this week. Wednesday afternoon our Christmas tree arrived and assembled it immediately. The past few years we waited until the local hardware stores discounted trees, however this year nothing was discounted below $45. I fell in love with the 9-foot pre-lit tree for $300 at Costco early in the season and decided I wanted one of those if we could get it on sale. The Costco trees sold out, but I found a similar tree for only $200 at Sam's. We decided to go for it, and if it lasts at least 4 years I can consider it a good investment. Thursday the kids were out of school and Lauren helped me set out the rest of our decorations. I love looking at these photos from past Christmases. Wednesday evening Lauren had her first volleyball practice.

December 22

Anthony painted the ceiling and it is looking so sharp! We were able to move a lot of our displaced furniture and tubs with our stuff back into the room from the laundry room. The room already feels a lot brighter.

December 23

Saturday morning we did our winter trip to the zoo. For the first time ever, in our 8 years of having a membership to the zoo, we saw the penguin march. It was pretty fun to see the penguins waddle. We rode the train, sky safari and carousel. We visited the new aquarium for the first time as a family. The Pacific Octopus was on the move and it was really cool to witness! The weather was great and we had a fun visit. After we picked up Matt and got some Chick-fil-A. Lots of NBA games were watched while Matt was here. Tonight the Celtics beat the Clippers with authority.  

2023 :: week 50

December 10

Our stake is wanting to make Sacrament Meeting more engaging for youth and primary aged kids. Anthony has been taking our kids on his high council speaking assignments. This month he brought Lauren with him to Hickory Hills. She spoke about  gospel principles found in movie Elf, which include: 1-Family First, 2-Give Your All, 3-Choose to Spread Cheer, and 4-Know Who You Are. Lauren did a great job! Tony spoke about the scriptural admonition to become childlike.

December 11

This year I am doing my best to stay on top of gift wrapping. A few years ago I spent a long time wrapping on Christmas Eve and was so miserable and frustrated I vowed to never let that happen again. I do most of it on our kitchen island so I don't have to sit on the ground and hurt my back. Man am I getting old! Miles likes to "supervise," aka attempt to sneak a peek. Lauren is a big help with wrapping too. We haven't set our tree up yet, so I have laundry baskets full of presents in my room. It is much easier for me once the presents are wrapped because I don't have to worry about keeping them hidden.

December 12

Lauren and her friends have been horsing around on this adaptive swing when they play at the park after school. It looks wildly uncomfortable to me, but they spend time on it regularly, so they must not think so.

December 13

My dad was traveling this week and I stayed overnight Monday and Tuesday evenings with my mom. He got back late Wednesday evening so we had dinner with my mom after attending Elliott's flag football game. I left the game early to pick up CFA, but the kids had fun running on the field after with Townes and Theron. Joi sent me this picture of the kids being cute together. After we ate dinner and vacuumed up our many crumbs Tony took the kids home and my mom and I watched a Hallmark movie together. I left at bedtime, and my dad got back around midnight.

December 14

After 1.5 long years Will and I finally finished reading the Old Testament together. We started reading it in April 2022. Since February 2020 Will and I have read all for our the standard works together. We did it in an unconventional order (Book of Mormon, New Testament, Doctrine & Covenants, Old Testament). I have really loved spending this time with Will, and I feel very proud of us.

December 15

Friday morning I took Miles to the Candy Cane Hunt at the Lenexa Community Center. He was excited to go, but terrified when we got close to Santa. He allowed me to hold him for this photo, but this was as close as he was willing to get. We stayed for part of the program, but Miles got a bit bored so we left early. We had plenty of things to do, including buying supplies for smash burgers. Friday evening Knox came over for dinner and then Tony took him and Will to the SMS basketball game.

December 16

Saturday was a very musical day. In the morning we met up with a few families in our ward and sang Christmas carols for the residents of a nursing home. In the afternoon we went to the Neighborhood Church for Lauren & Will's piano recital. Will and Lauren performed "Angels We Have Heard on High" together. Lauren performed "Carol of the Bells" with Breña. Both performances were great! That evening we headed to the Stake Center for the Oak Park Ward Christmas party. During the clean up period Will and Lauren played their song and got invited to play their duet in Sacrament meeting on December 31.

2023 :: week 49

December 3

Lauren sketched this manger scene during Sacrament Meeting. 

December 4

Monday evening we took our annual Santa picture at Bass Pro. We coordinated our photo time with the Allreds so the cousins could have fun exploring around Bass Pro after pictures together. Miles was so excited to take a picture with Santa, he even volunteered to wear his new Santa pajamas for the picture. But when it was go time, he got scared and I had to hold him. 

December 5

Tuesday was a very musical day for the John Family. TJ took the day off work and drove Will down to Crown Center in the morning for Tuba Christmas. Now that he plays the euphonium he can participate. Not only did he get extra credit, he also fulfilled young Will's dream. Before Covid Tuba Christmas was indoors, but it moved outdoors a few years ago and has yet to move back inside. Unfortunately for Will it was extremely cold and windy. I picked up Lauren and Elliott from OPC, then we picked up Miles en route to the concert. The concert itself was fun, though the conductor inserted a few too many vanity pieces for my taste. That evening we headed to SMS to hear the Junior Raiders sing with the other South Choirs in their annual Holiday Concert. It has quickly become my favorite concert of the year. The Junior Raiders sang "Somewhere In My Memory," from Home Alone and "El Gato Blanco." 

December 6

We celebrated the Finnish Independence Day with our traditional meal of Salmon Soup, pumpernickel bread and blue berry pie (Mustikkapiirakka). After dinner we headed to Union Station to watch Elf on the big screen. We ran into Lauren's friend Hailey and her family while we were buying popcorn. Elf was hilarious, as usual. We have hit a lot of things on our "Christmas bucket list" this week.

December 7

Miles and classmate Oliva worked on gingerbread art at school this week. Olivia has quickly moved to the top of Miles' list of "favorites."

December 8

Miles and I ran a few errands on Friday afternoon, including a stop at Michael's. Miles looked so cute when he tried on this Santa hat. That evening Anthony and I carpooled with the Olson's to the Stake Council Christmas party. For the second year in a row it was held at the Messner's home in Edwardsville. We had a fun time. 

December 9

Elliott continues to enjoy his flag football classes. His favorite position to play is RB to buddy Townes' QB. They do seem to work well together. It was another busy Saturday. Lauren hung out with Ariana Olsen. I went to Jenny Mitt's baby shower. That evening Anthony and I went to Charlotte's 50th birthday party at SERV. We played a little pickleball, which definitely whetted my appetite to play more once it gets warmer.