2023 :: week 11

March 12

Anthony and I taught our youth class this Sunday. This week the topic was gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. At one point in the lesson we had the kids divide into small groups and find scriptures in that testified of Christ. Class attendance is up this year (about 25-30 kids per class). I let Tony do most of the prep work for this class because I spoke in Sacrament Meeting after being asked on Wednesday night.

March 13

I didn't plan much out of the ordinary for Spring Break and I was already paying for by way of "I'm boreds," and "there's nothing to dos," by Monday afternoon. I took the kids to the library to pick up some books and DVDs and while we were there Will helped Elliott and Miles fill out their brackets. It was hard to tell who was having more fun filling out the brackets, Will or the younger boys?

March 14

One of my goals for the week was to check off a few longstanding items on my to-do list. A few weeks ago we set up Lauren's new book shelf, and she had been patiently waiting for us to build the drawers that went inside. I started this cross-stitch of the Salt Lake Temple around Christmas and needed to stitch the French knots that would be the flowers on the bottom. There was a lot of water build up on the glass in our sauna and so I deep cleaned the sauna seats, floor and glass. I also applied another coat of RainX to keep the glass clear longer. Mikey requested a letter M shirt based off  Alphabet Lore on Youtube. I used freezer paper stenciling and patience to get it done. Each task took less than 90 minutes, and I felt so good after getting them accomplished by the end of the week I have some positive momentum towards more time consuming projects I've been putting off around the house. 

March 15

A few years ago my mom started taking the kids on a one-on-one birthday shopping trip for their birthdays. This past year she was out of commission, but lately has been feeling good enough to get out of the house more. Wednesday after her OT appointment we met up at Target for Elliott, Lauren and Will to do their 2022 birthday shopping trips. Squishmallows, sports cards, and Lego Sets were purchased, along with a book and pack of gum each.

March 16

Thursday we got together with the Diggins family for the first time in almost a year! Carrie made us pancakes for lunch and her and I chatted for a few hours while the kids played. We only scratched the surface of things to talk about. 

March 17

Lauren had been asking all week if we could decorate sugar cookies. I was more focused on getting jobs done than starting something new, and finally got around to it Friday. When the Ules came over Lauren and Daphne went through out cookie cutters and had a lot of fun decorating the various shapes. The littlest brothers saw how much fun their sisters were having and decided they wanted to decorate too. Friday marked Miles' first official playdate with Gabriel and they did awesome. Elliott and Nicholas played at the Ules and were happy to partake of the freshly decorated cookies when Jolie came to swap kids.

March 18

The John boys watched a lot of basketball this weekend. The first weekend of March madness has so many basketball games and now that Will and Elliott are invested in their brackets basketball is on even when TJ isn't home. This week Anthony worked a few evenings (including Saturday) working with SMEs to work on item writing for tests. 

2023 :: week 10

March 5

Miles is 4! It's hard for me to believe that he's that old. It's hard for him to accept that he's that young. In the months leading up to his birthday he wanted to turn seven like Elliott. Miles is one of a kind. He is very social and loves being around people, but he's also shy and does not like getting too much individual attention. He has a fantastic memory, and regularly catches me off guard with what he recalls. Miles loves sports--basketball, baseball, soccer--basically whatever the older kids are doing. Miles is fascinated by mascots and can tell you the name of every mascot in the MLB and many in the NFL and NBA. He looks forward to 3pm every weekday so we can meet the big kids at the park to play for awhile. Miles has recently decided he wants to say every prayer every time our family prays and he gets quite upset when we let anyone else take a turn. When Anthony drives Miles to school in the morning they listen to "Daddy's music," which has lead to him requesting "they're going for speed" aka "The Distance" by Cake and a variety of Beatles songs. Miles hates going to bed, probably due to his terrible FOMO. You can't blame him for feeling like he is always getting left out of stuff because he siblings do do a lot of activities. Miles has a fun sense of humor and loves to laugh, but he suffers no fools. 

March 6

Spring was in the air on Monday and it felt amazing! Elliott, Miles and I met up with several ward friends at Meadowbrook park after dropping Lauren off at choir. The boys had a great time running around and playing with their friends. Unfortunately, as often happens to me when there are dramatic temperature swings, I had a pretty bad headache by the time we headed home. That night I had to lie down while Anthony drove Lauren to and from soccer.

March 7

Matt has been traveling quite a bit for work over the past three weeks. I have been going to the Wilsons once and sometimes twice a day to help Emily walk her dogs. Sometimes I stay at the house and keep an eye on Calvin or else I push Calvin in the stroller and walk with Emily. If the kids are home from school Elliott and Miles like to join me and play with Tyler and Mikey while Emily walks and I watch Cal. Tuesday afternoon it got chilly and wet, but that didn't stop Elliott and Tyler from building nature "beds" out of the Wilson's woodpile.

March 8

Wednesday evening Will played in a band concert. The concert was fairly short because only the 6th and 7th grade bands played. Will switched to playing the euphonium because there about twenty trumpets. He is the "first chair," of the seven euphoniums. Apparently when he was in 8th grade Anthony played the baritone for a few songs. 

March 9

Thursday night was the OPC Open House and 5th Grade Wax Museum. The fifth graders spend the third quarter working on their "American Hero Project." The project entails researching and an American citizen that is a positive role model who is known for making the world a better place. The kids prepare a two minute speech they memorize and deliver to their class and then the school community at the open house while dressed up as the hero. Due to covid-related precautions this was the first Wax Museum at OPC since 2019, which means that Will didn't get to do it when he was in 5th grade (he still did the research and delivered the speech to his class). Lauren chose Eleanor Roosevelt as her subject and did a great job capturing her determined and compassionate spirit.

March 10

Friday was the first day of '"spring break." It was overcast and cold and all I wanted to do was read my book, but the kids were expecting more. They were sorely disappointed in my lack of plans. We ended up having a fun day.

March 11

We have been working to revamp Lauren's room and Saturday afternoon we went shopping to pick up a few things to help her organize. Organizing is one of Lauren's favorite pastimes. A new Five Below just opened up and Lauren was excited to check out the new location. 

2023 :: week 9

February 26

Tony's good friend Beth Guterman-Chu was in town Sunday. She was staying at the Westin, so we met her in the lobby and then walked to Crown Center. The kids played and ate ice cream while the adults caught up. That evening Anthony and I went back downtown to watch Beth and the symphony play at the Kaufman Center. My favorite part of the concert was Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. I had never heard it before, and am not familiar with the poem on which it was based, but could feel the range of emotions. Beth and the other musicians were so talented, it was a privilege to hear them play.

February 27

Miles and I found a spot along Indian Creek to throw rocks after running several errands. The weather was gorgeous and I wanted to do something fun with Miles after he accompanied me on several less fun to-dos.

February 28

On Tuesday Anthony and Elliott visited  Allen Field House for the first time with friends Stevie and Nicholas. The Jayhawks defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 67-63. Elliott had a blast, but said his "ears were crying it was so loud." He said his favorite part was the fact that everyone was jumping up and down and having a good time. And that Anthony bought him a hot dog and large Gatorade.

March 1

I could not find Miles at the park after school and momentarily panicked. I was afraid he had started to walk back home by himself, which he has done before. I didn't even notice him sitting with this group of 2nd grade girls. His two main playmates--Gabriel and Hudson--weren't at the park so apparently he made some new friends. Miles let these girls read him a book every day after school for the rest of the week.

March 2

Jill and I took the boys to Science City Thursday afternoon. In the three hours we were there we visited almost every indoor exhibit the boys. Miles has fun with this cousin-buddies. 

March 3

Friday night was busy! Will went with Knox to watch some state tournament high school basketball. The rest of us went to Lauren's first soccer game of the spring season. Lauren's team moved up a division, and though they played well, they lost 5-1. A girl from our stake played for the other team. Lauren scored the Pink Thunder's only goal of the night at the end of the game to avoid a shutout. Her coach had her playing both forward midfield. After the soccer game we picked up Dana and drove to Strawberry Hill for Sarah's house warming party. It was fun to see her new place as well as run into a few friends. We also met a friend of Sarah's who served his mission in Finland, is from the Boston area (Hingham) and has kids that go to the same high school ours will. 

March 4

Anthony and Lauren went to a Daddy Daughter dance put on by a girl in our ward this weekend. They had fun. Lauren and her friends danced together and got the crowd going. Tony injured his knee while doing some solo interpretive dancing (he wanted Lauren to dance with him but she was more interested in dancing with her friends). While they were gone and after the little boys went to bed I worked on making Miles a birthday cake.

2023 :: week 8

February 19

One of the perks of your dad being a high councilor is that you may be called upon to speak with him on semi-short notice. The ward they spoke in was my parents ward that is filled with many of our friends from our old ward so they boys had a friendly audience. All three John men did a great job.

February 20

Monday the kids had the day off school, but Anthony had to work and I had a late morning PT appointment so we were limited in what we could do. Lauren got invited to go swimming with a friend, so the boys and I went to the zoo. To say it was crowded would be an understatement, I have never had to park so far away from the entrance. Elliott predicted he would see three people he knew and we did in fact see three people he knows and a few others as well. We got to see the crocodile, which both Miles and Elliott were excited to see because they have been enjoying the new Lyle Lyle Crocodile movie on Netflix. 

February 21

The gorgeous weather continued and the boys played for over an hour at the park after school on Tuesday. While we were there someone from the city showed up and went into the pool office. He told us they are planning to open Bluejacket this summer--yay!

February 22

I went to a water aerobics class at Matt Ross on Wednesday and the instructor took a picture and posted it on social media. Not the most flattering photo of me, but water aerobics has been a big part of my life over the past ten years and it is fun to have a picture of me in the water. My kids and grandkids or whoever looks at these photobooks I make can see where I spent many hours of my life exercising. 

February 23

Thursday night we went to OPC for the Kindergarten and 1st grade music performance. Each class sang one song, Elliott's class sang "Teddy Bear." After the performance Anthony took the big kids to a multi-stake youth devotional about religious freedom and I walked home with the little guys. The moon and Jupiter and Venus were so bright! The school sits on a bit of a hill and we could see them very well from that vantage point. It was a bit of an adventure because even though we've walked this route many times before, they've never walked home when it was so dark. Miles especially was nervous.  

February 24

Calvin hasn't been sleeping well. Friday afternoon we watched Calvin for a few hours so Emily could take a totally uninterrupted nap. In keeping with our theory that kids are usually worse behaved for their parents than other adults, Calvin was pretty easy for us. Calvin enjoyed watching Miles play basketball and laughed when Uncle Tony tickled him.

February 25

Another busy Saturday. Elliott played his best basketball game of the season in the morning, scoring 12 of his team's 24 points. Lauren went to her friend Ethnie's Harry Potter themed birthday party. When I picked her up from the party we stopped at Hy-Vee where she inadvertently ingested hazelnut that was in a sample. I gave her Benadryl right away and watched her like a hawk, but aside from a stomach ache and tingly lips she had no other symptoms. In the afternoon Anthony took the kids plus cousin Tyler a Lego exhibit at the Central Library, the Baseball Card Store and Collectors Cache. I went to my parents are prepared my mom's pill minders for the next two weeks. In the late afternoon we drove to Kaw Point Park, a park in KCK where the Kansas River joins the Missouri River. If you look closely at the photo you can see the converging currents. It is also one of the places where the Lewis and Clark expedition camped on their 1804 expedition. The kids have had elevated interest in learning about Lewis and Clark because many of the clues in the National Treasure tv show centered around the expedition. I thought we would spend most of our time walking along the trails, but the kids really liked skipping rocks. Miles liked throwing rocks in the water so much he threw a bit tantrum when I made him move on.

2023 :: week 7

February 12

I took this photo when the Super Bowl was over and Chiefs were *officially* Super Bowl champions again. Will was screaming into the bean bag and Elliott was jumping for joy. It was a very happy moment in the John house.

February 13

I got an unexpected call from the nurse Monday afternoon. I assumed it would be about Lauren, who had been sniffling the night before, but it was about Elliott. During recess he had been playing a hide and seek type game and hit his head on a bolt holding the playground equipment together when he was "found." There was clearly a lot of blood even though he was pretty cleaned up by the time I came to get him. Apparently the teachers made everyone vacate that section of the playground while they waited for the janitor to come clean the area and Lauren said she heard from her classmates who went to the nurses office after lunch for their afternoon pills that the nurses office was temporarily closed because there was so much blood. When I washed out Elliott's red shirt in the sink the water turned very red. That afternoon evening I got several texts from concerned parents of Elliott's friends, wishing him well. Rumor spread that he had been sent straight to the hospital. Elliott loved his 15 minutes of 1st grade fame. Thankfully he had no signs of a concussion and didn't need stitches. The wound healed relatively quickly, but we didn't let him play any contact sports for the rest of the week to make sure it healed. 

February 14

Miles was super jazzed about his Valentines bounty, and I felt a little like a cheapskate, after preschool on Valentine's Day. I feel like every year the Valentine's candy and toys get bigger and bigger. 

February 15

Wednesday was a "Red Snow Day," or the day they cancelled school because so many people would be at the Chiefs parade. Because we elected not to go this year, we felt like we needed to let the kids do something fun instead. Will invited Jude, Adrian and Elliott W over for smash burgers and sauna. Anthony made smash burgers, then the boys used the sauna and ran outside in the cold go cool off. After they finished using the sauna they watched sauna competitions on YouTube until their parents came to pick them up. I think they played video games too. 

February 16

We haven't gotten much snow this  year. Miles was jumping for joy that he could "make footsteps" aka footprints in the snow.

February 17

One of the ways our new ward is fostering friendship and unity is facilitating optional dinner groups. Anthony and I met with Greg & Barbara and Greg & Andrea for dinner at Texas Roadhouse Friday night. We had a fun time, even though we got paired up with two couples we know rather well. The Githins live in our neighborhood and Greg served with Anthony in the bishopric. Will has become fast friends with the Benson twins and we've gotten to know their parents pretty well through that association.

February 18

Saturday was the end of the Stake YM basketball season. Will's team was the lowest seed and we expected them to play one game and then be done. However, their first opponent forfeited. No one from that ward even showed up. They just scrimmaged and waited to play a game in the second round. The team they played in the second round had beat them handily during the regular season. However this time a kid from our ward hadn't been able to play in the early season games was there and with his defensive work was able to keep the game competitive. At the end of the game our ward team was up by two point and the other team quickly fouled Will to get the ball back. Will--the youngest and shortest player on the court--sank both of his free throws, ensuring that his team would win. He was super excited, but I don't know if I have ever seen Anthony so proud. The Oak Park Ward boys went on to the win the championship game that afternoon.

2023 :: week 6

 

February 5

During Sacrament meeting Elliott made a list of his current favorite primary songs to sing, which is very similar to the list of songs we sing with the boys at bedtime. We rotate back and forth with Elliott and Miles getting to chose a primary song we sing together each night. "I Lived in Heaven," and "Gethsemane" are chosen the most frequently.

February 6

Lauren participates in an honor choir that meets weekly at the high school. Typically I drop her and a friend from our ward off at the school and his mom brings them home. However, next  week they will practice at Indian Woods, then sing the national anthem at the beginning of the boys basketball game that evening. 

February 7

This semester Will is taking P.E., which he really enjoys. Recently Will and his handball team came in first in the handball tournament. Phoebe and Landon are fellow OPC kids.

February 8

Even though skating was a big part of my childhood, I have done a poor job passing on the love of skating to my children. When both Lauren and Elliott wanted to go to the school skating party on Wednesday night I couldn't say no. Both kids endured some painful falls, but I was proud of them for getting back up again. I spent most of the night working with Elliott and by the end of the evening he was able to make it around the rink a few times without my help (still using the aid of the skate mate). I took a few laps around the rink myself which was a lot of fun. I think I might need to go skating more often this year. 

February 9

When I got up Thursday morning I had no idea it was a snow day. It wasn't until I got a text about needing to rearrange plans that I figured things out. Luckily we hadn't done too much to get ready for school yet and were able to have a relaxing morning. It rained overnight and the rain froze in the early hours of the morning, so the roads were very icy from approximately 5-9am. After that the sun came out and melted things rather quickly. Our school districts really should look into implementing late starts. Regardless, we had a fun "day off." We met up with some ward friends at the church for a Valentine's Party. Then we met the Throssells for lunch at the Costco food court. Then Kendall came over to play with Elliott and Miles, Will and Holden traded cards at Collectors Cache, and Lauren went shopping at Target and Old Navy with Gretchen and Stephanie. 

February 10

Everyone but Will had the day off from school Friday due to parent/teacher conferences. After I got home from visiting with Lauren's teacher Tyler came over to play for a bit. In the afternoon we spent some time with Memaw. Lauren and Will walked to Target together by themselves to buy some candy and soda.  In honor of Tyler's birthday, that evening we watched his basketball game.

February 11

Another busy Saturday. The day started off with two basketball games--Will's at 8am and Elliott's at 10am. Both boys enjoyed themselves, despite their teams coming up short. Elliott had a tough defensive assignment, he was matched up with a second grader a full head and shoulders taller than him. In the afternoon I made some cookies for a RS service project and Tony took Lauren to IKEA to pick up some new shelving for her bedroom. We spent the evening with my mom, eating stir fry and watching Star Wars. 

2023 :: week 5

January 29

I love technology. While the rest of the family watched the Chiefs/Bengals game, Lauren visited with Elise. We had a busy Sunday. Church, then Anthony and I taught our first youth and temple prep class of 2023. After the class we dropped of Lauren at her YW leader's home to watch the Worldwide Youth Devotional. They also had root beer floats and played games after the broadcast. Will went with Uncle Matt to watch the AFC Championship game with their fantasy football league. Anthony stayed with me and the younger boys and ate dinner and watched the game at my parents. My dad is out of town for work, so I spent the night with my mom. Tony did lots of driving back and forth.

January 30

Since January Anthony has been busy working on creating job analyses for the eight positions his company certifies. There are many steps to creating these certification exams, this is step one of many. Two days a week for the past three weeks subject matter experts have gathered to KC from across the country to work to together to make sure the various job analyses are accurate as they prepare to update the content on the exam. Tony and his fellow psychometrician Neil have spent so much time together lately, they showed up in matching outfits totally unplanned.

January 31

Tuesday we met Hudson, Gabriel and their moms for lunch to celebrate Hudson's 4th birthday. The boys had a ton of fun playing in the play place--climbing up the slide, playing hide and seek and driving the cow car. 

February 1

I took Elliott to the library after dinner Wednesday evening to pick up a few books I put on hold for him. Even though I have taken Elliott to the library many times throughout his life, he was full of wonder when he saw the stack of CatNinja books. That night Anthony started reading the first book to Elliott and Miles complete with accents. 

February 2

Lauren and Will went to the temple with our youth group on Thursday evening. There were 33 kids in attendance--quite a change from our old ward! Afterwards the leaders took the kids to Freddy's for ice cream.

February 3

A woman in our stake teaches an exercise class at the church on Friday mornings. I have been meaning to go for several weeks but for one reason or another wasn't able to make it work. Last week I totally forgot about it and regretted it because Miles really needs things to do on the days he is home from school. Bored Miles=Destructive Miles. This week we went and both had a good time. My legs are sore from all the squats we did, but it felt good to move. Miles loves bouncing balls and running around on the stage in the Cultural Hall with the other kids. After the exercise class one of the mom's does a Music Makers class. Miles acted like he didn't want to participate, but he had a fun time doing that too. 

February 4

Saturday was a busy day and I took very few pictures. Saturday morning Tony took Will to his church basketball game while I took Elliott to his Upward game. After basketball I took Will to get his hair cut. The Great Clips was right next to Collectors Cache (card store) so we quickly popped in for Will to get the free Pokemon packs they give out for good grades. He also decided he wanted to sell some of his Pokemon cards for cash, so Anthony took Will and the younger boys back to the Cache. Lauren and I ran a few errands, then her friend Caroline came over to hang out for a few hours. Will went to a birthday party for his buddy Knox. In the evening I cut Elliott, Miles and Anthony's hair. Then we roasted marshmallows with Renee and her kids.

2023 :: week 4

January 22

Miles was asked to give the opening prayer in primary and ended up being too nervous to do it, so Anthony said they prayer while holding him. Miles wasn't very excited to stay in primary after that, but he loves music and was willing to stay for singing time. I snapped this picture when I saw him and his classmate Leo holding hands and walking to the classroom. I helped out in the CTR 4 class.

January 23

I can't remember exactly how I came across the book Our Only May Amelia. I was scrolling on instagram and a person I follow was talking about how life changing winning a Newbery Award can be for authors. I started looking at past Newbery Award winners and came across this book I had never heard of that was a Newbery Honor book in 2000. When I read in description on our library website I knew Lauren and I had to read it. "As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899."

January 24

Jill watched Miles for me while I went out to lunch with some friends from my ward. I did next to nothing social in the ward in the months after my mom's stroke, and am just finally feeling like I am genuinely friends with women from my new ward. We met at Twisted Fresh and visited for almost two hours! Miles had a great time playing with Arthur and Henry and keeps asking me when he can go back. 

January 25

Wednesday was a snow day. We got less than an inch, it only stuck to the grass (none of it stuck to the roads/sidewalks/driveways), and it was about 30° F. The snow day didn't really make sense, but it was nice to have a "day off" from normal responsibilities. I had a PT appointment in the morning, and when I returned home the kids were watching the National Treasure show and I found a pile of books that Miles had cut the covers with scissors. I decided we needed to get out of the house ASAP. After eating a quick lunch and prepping some chicken for dinner we headed to Science City. It was almost empty. The kids could do whatever they wanted without having to wait. We spent several hours doing everything--I don't think we missed a single exhibit. We even went outside for about two minutes, but it was too wet to safely climb and when the wind blew it was quite cold. It was my most favorite visit ever, and I was in such a good mood that when the kids asked for Frosties on the way home I couldn't say no.

January 26

Soni was in town from Chicago and Miles and I met up with her and Naomi at Chick-fil-A. Miles was too grumpy about leaving to be in the picture, but he had a great time too. It is always great to catch up with longtime friends, and now we have even more in common with aging/ailing parents to worry about. 

January 27

Elliott has been playing a lot of football with his buddies after school. Miles reminds me we need to bring "Elliott's football to the pa-wk" as we leave to meet the kids after school. We had gorgeous weather Friday--around 50 degrees--so the kids spent most of their after school hours playing outside. The temperature would drop 30 degrees overnight. 

January 28

Saturday was full of friends and basketball. Both Will and Elliott had basketball games before lunch.  Lauren went to her soccer teammate's (Kenzie) house for a few hours. Elliott went to a stake primary activity, then Tyler came over to play for a bit. Will had Jude and Adrian over for basketball, sauna and videogames. Miles joined in on the fun as much as he could. It made me laugh when the boys walked upstairs to go outside and cool off and Miles trotted up the stairs and marched outside behind them.