2016 :: week 43

October 16

Carly graciously made Lauren an early birthday cake to go with Sunday dinner. Lauren was so pleased! It met all of her criterion for a perfect birthday cake: chocolate with pink frosting and lots of sprinkles. Save a few issues between Lauren and Elise, our kids get along really well with the Nielson girls and had a great time playing together Sunday. Sunday was truly a day of rest for us as we prepared for our trip back to Kansas.

October 17

On the road again! We hit the road as the Nielson's were leaving for school Monday morning. It had rained in the early hours of the morning and there was snow in the mountains as we left town. When we stopped in Wyoming for gas and to use the bathroom there was some slushy snow on the ground! It was also incredibly windy. There were signs up warning of 30, 40 and 50 mph winds in the area. Not much else of note happened during this day of driving. We did finally convince Will and Lauren that the time passes faster when you fall asleep.

October 18

We only had 7 hours to go Tuesday. About an hour into our drive Anthony got pulled over by a Nebraska State Trooper. He only gave him a warning, which was a relief, but also put us on edge the rest of the way. There were cops out all along I-80 in Nebraska. We eventually arrived home around 3pm.

October 19

The way things worked out, with the timing of the wedding and the school district's schedule for end of quarter and parent teacher conferences, Will only went to school three times in a two week period. He was DYING to go back Wednesday morning for his one day of school this week. We stayed at the playground for a bit as he played tag with some friends.

October 20

Thursday was the first day of parent/teacher conferences. I had great meetings with both Will and Lauren's teachers. They are both doing well in their classes and getting along with their classmates and teachers. We had planned on meeting the Throssells at the park at lunchtime, but then Elliott was acting a little off. We met up at the park after naptime instead. The kids had fun playing and I enjoyed catching up with Stephanie. We see them all the time at the pool during the summer, but because we go to different schools we don't see them nearly as much the rest of the year. Elliott ended up throwing up at dinner, so clearly there WAS something off about him earlier in the day.

October 21

Happy 5th Birthday, Lauren! Elliott only vomited the one time at dinner Thursday, but it put a damper on our birthday plans. My kind friend Tabitha offered to take the older kids to the park so they could get out of the house after lunch. Lauren wanted a pink pig birthday cake so I did my best to deliver. Lauren is such a blessing on our lives. She brings light and life and joy into our home.

October 22

Our Saturday was packed! Until Will woke up early Saturday morning to vomit. And Lauren followed suit in the afternoon. The family softball game, trick-or-treating at Hy-Vee and date night for mom and dad were all cancelled. Instead the kids watched movies and slept throughout the day. Anthony raked up thousands of acorns and started prepping our yard for fall. I took care of the kids and helped Anthony a bit when all kids were sleeping. We appear to have caught a 24-hour bug. Elliott is back to his usual self already and the other two are on the up and up as well.

2016 :: week 42

October 9

Sunday evening we hosted a BYD (Bishop's Youth Discussion). Anthony shared some of his dating experiences and some suggestions to help make dating in the teen years more enjoyable. 1. Take your time, there is no rush to serious dating. Mosiah 4: 27 (And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength). 2. When you start dating date in groups. There is significantly less pressure. One-on-one dates are critical when you're looking to get married, but you aren't "playing for keeps" in high school. 3. Realize most people look back at themselves when they were a teenager and think, "Man, I was an idiot!" Don't put pressure on yourself to please other people when it comes to dating because everyone is figuring things out and probably doesn't know as much as they want you to think they do. The Church has given you great guidelines (For the Strength of Youth), but they aren't commandments. Please keep coming to church and taking the sacrament even if you go on a date before you're 16. :) 4. It is a good idea to go on group dates before college or a mission. Going on dates enables you to learn about the opposite sex and feel comfortable around them. 5. No Secrets! That doesn't mean you have to tell your parents about every crush, but problems and guilt fester in secrecy and loneliness. 6. It won't work out. Don't be discouraged by failure. Every dating relationship you have will end in some sort of failure until the one that doesn't. Bonus tip: Don't be coy with people that you like. Don't pretend you don't like people you do like. It's confusing and not worth the trouble. Anthony listed these ideas on the whiteboard. After the discussion while the youth and leaders were eating dessert Will took to the board and shared his thoughts. Apparently he thinks "Bishup is crazzy."

October 10

We painted the pumpkins we got at the KC Pumpkin Patch for FHE Monday night. Lauren had been begging to do this for days beforehand, but things just kept coming up. It was fun to see everybody's creative sides come out. Lauren painted a multi-colored witch, Will did a scary monster-bat, Anthony did a green and white Celtics basketball and I painted a face on the pumpkin that Lauren initially painted pink, then decided she wanted something different. Elliott supervised and played with paintbrushes and cups of water.

October 11

Elliott loves our vacuum. Our vacuum was out a lot Tuesday because I did a ton of cleaning in preparation to leave town Wednesday to go to Jill's wedding. I got so wrapped up in cleaning I put of packing until evening, which stressed me out a bit.

October 12

We spent most of Wednesday on the road. We left around 8am and drove 640 miles, arriving in Cheyenne, WY, at approximately 5pm. It was a relatively uneventful day. We listened to many podcasts, drew many pictures, watched many movies, requested many snacks and didn't make many stops.

October 13

We drove another 450 miles Wednesday and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley by midafternoon. We stopped and visited the Wilson fam in West Jordan and got to meet baby Mikey. All three kids were very excited to be out of the car. Will and Lauren ran around the Wilson's backyard and tried to play kickball.

October 14

Friday was a super busy day. I hit a personal record on my fitbit. We visited BYU campus, hiked the Y, ran some wedding errands then went to the BYU football game. One of the highlights of visiting campus was meeting Uncle Matt for lunch at the Cougareat. We saw quite a few people we knew (it was homecoming weekend), including a woman who had served as a missionary in our ward almost two years ago.

October 15

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding day for Jake and Jill. The weather was gorgeous, the kids were well-behaved and everything came together nicely. I love seeing my sister so happy and spending time with people I love.

KC Pumpkin Patch

Saturday morning (10/1) we visited the KC Pumpkin Patch. My mom was able to get us in for free courtesy of her real estate agent and friend. I had heard of this pumpkin patch before, but hadn't gone because of the price, and was excited to check it out. We all had a great time. There were a lot of fun things to do. 

Happy baby!

Will (and Anthony) couldn't resist throwing some balls.

2016 :: week 41

October 2

We spent our Sunday watching General Conference. To help the kids pay attention we chose three words to have them listen for during the talks. Each time they heard one of their words they made a tally mark. During the songs they added up their tallies and got a some skittles. I really enjoyed listening to the talks and ended the day feeling very uplifted. We invited people from our ward over for dessert that evening to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

October 3

Monday we celebrated my Dad's birthday with cake and ice cream. Will and Lauren are always willing to help blow out candles. I never thought I'd end up living so close to my parents while raising my family, but it is pretty awesome.
 

October 4

When we visited Utah this spring Aunt Carly made the kids "black-eyed bananas" for snack one day. Will and Lauren request them daily.

October 5

Will and Lauren went to mutual with Anthony and did yoga with the YW on Wednesday night. Lauren was introduced to yoga last year in her preschool class and really likes it. Our friend Becky White teaches free yoga classes at the church on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings. I've gone a few times and learned a lot. I love stretching. I can't believe I spent so much of my life resisting stretching out.

October 6

I spent a lot of time this week getting ready for our RS activity. It was a GNO-Ghoul's Night Out--with lots of opportunity to talk and eat treats. We had a few service projects to choose from and a craft. I coordinated the gathering of supplies and treats as well as the set up and take down. The hard work paid off! We had our most successful night of the year with over 30 people coming! As with any calling there are ups and downs, but I have had a lot of downs this year so it was very satisfying to have this go so well. The only downside was book club was the same night so I had to go late.

October 7

Elliott has taken a few steps here and there over the past week, but Friday he started walking! He took steps several times over the course of the day. I wouldn't say he is full on walking--crawling is still a much faster mode of transportation at this point--but he is standing up and taking steps on his own. At just shy of 14 months he started walking a few weeks older than Will and younger than Lauren.

October 8

Big week for Elliott. He also rode a pony for the first time. After a busy morning of chores and trip preparations we went to the Sprint Family Fall Festival at the P&L District. We went a few years ago and had a lot of fun. This year wasn't quite as great. We watched the BYU-Michigan State game in the afternoon, then watched the Cook kids for our October babysitting exchange. It was a full, busy day.

constant vigilence

This post is mostly theraputic for me. I know that there are tons of kids out there who are much more difficult than Elliott and make much bigger messes, as well as parents that have survivied their childhoods. However, Elliott gets into more mischief and makes more messes than my other kids did, and is currently making my life more difficult than it has been in the past. His shenanigans need to be recorded. I tell myself he gets bored just sitting around and has an active and curious mind that wants to explore and experience new things. In the meantime I'm mopping my floor multiple times a week and have rearranged parts of my home to accomodate his explorations.