Growing Up

 Austin hopped off the bus this week and was excited to show me that he lost his first tooth!! 

Eli lost his first tooth at school last year so I guess school is the magical place for my kids to loose their first tooth. 

I could see his other tooth popping up and he wanted to see it too so I zoomed in for this picture to show it to him. 

On Wednesday evening the youth carved pumpkins. We have a small group of YW, only 5, but I enjoy my calling and meeting together when we can. 

Eleanor is obsessed with all art projects. She does a great job entertaining herself throughout the day. 

Thursday the boys got out of school early and Austin and I ran to the Dr.'s office where he got his cast off! His right hand is now freeeeeeeee. 

Friday the best day. The boys didn't have school. We all slept in and then went to the park to play. It was freezing, but we bundled up and had fun running around the football field and playing soccer with friends from church. Then we went to Barnes and Noble. We miss the library so much so it's fun to explore Barnes and Noble. Aaron and I had parent/teacher conferences with the boys' teachers on Monday evening and the boys are doing so well at school. Eli's teacher said he's eager to raise his hand and answer questions. He is right on track with reading and math and is excited to be at school. Austin's teacher said he is a leader in the classroom and almost knows all the kindergarten sight words! He is a good listener and his friends "wish him well" each morning as he works hard to do his best while using his left hand while he has had his cast on. We're so grateful our boys are able to be in school in person right now, even while wearing a mask all day. Because the boys' teachers gave them great reviews, I let them each pick out a book at Barnes and Noble. 

Friday evening we prepared for the ward Trunk-or-Treat. Eleanor was excited to wear his bee costume that I bought for a few dollars last year after Halloween. 

Aaron was a good sport and removed all the carseats so we could cram in this giant balloon arch and drive it over to the church to decorate our trunk. We had to take two cars, but it was worth it because our car ended up winning for best trunk! We've never won for best trunk. Everyone was impressed with all the balloons and I made sure to tell them that thanks to a thoughtful neighbor who gifted us this balloon arch, we didn't have to do much prep for the contest. :) 

Saturday was filled with painting and house chores. I love these beautiful tree in our front yard that we can see from our upstairs window. I especially love it when the red fall colors appear!

Today we had a great day worshipping together at church. The talks were on prayer, one of my favorite subjects of all time and I teared up during the closing song - Secret Prayer. It's my favorite hymn in the Spanish hymn book and I reflected on how the members of Argentina would sing the song with so much excitement! 

The pandemic numbers have spiked a bit the last few weeks and I realize that our Sunday worship as a ward family may change at any moment. We're grateful we're able to make it to church while we can. 

This week we also hit ONE MORE MONTH until our little baby girl is here. We're all getting more excited each passing day to meet her!!

Cleaning/Camping

These pictures posted in reverse order for some reason. 

Friday: Aaron and the boys went camping out at Grandma and Grandpa Volk's property! They had a great time together exploring and being in the great outdoors. Eleanor was sad not to go, but she had a little cough and we didn't want it to get worse because I need so much help from friends as I go to two Dr. appointments each week. We had a fun girls night and she went to bed at 7:15 p.m. 

I love these pictures Austin's teacher shares with us of what he's doing in the classroom. 

Kansas City Parks and Rec gave out free Halloween kits for families. I guess they haven't used as much of their budget this year for activities so they gave out free bags with crafts, pumpkins and cookies for the kids to decorate. It was a fun surprise when the boys got home from school and Eleanor woke up from a nap. 

I've been exhausted from going to and from so many Dr. appointments. One morning after running some errands, I asked Eleanor if she wanted to go to lunch together. It was a fun little date. I can't believe in one month we'll have two little girls to love. 

Eleanor helped me clean the house this week. She loves to dress like a ballerina (did I already mention that I found this outfit a garage sale?) and she looked extra cute cleaning. 

Eleanor and I washed and folded all the baby girl clothes! It's crazy to me that Eleanor use to wear all these little clothes. People were so generous when Eleanor was born. I'm grateful we can use these clothes again! 

And this balloon arch continues to be in our living room. 

Aaron was gone

Aaron left on Monday for a work trip for the week. We missed him!! It's crazy for me to think about our time in Colorado when he would be gone so much. A week felt like something I could handle, even though I was exhausted by the end of it and very grateful to have him home. 

Eleanor and I continue to try and walk 2 miles a day. She hopped out of the stroller to look at these newly planted mums. 

I had an appointment with my OBGYN on Wednesday morning and my new ministering sister dropped off these treat bags on our porch. My new ministering sister used to be my companion, and although we're sad we're not companions any longer, I'm grateful to have her as my ministering sister because I love her so much already. 

I found these sticker mats at Ross for a few dollars and I never imaged the kids loving this activity so much. It kept them occupied for days. Aaron is still chipping away at painting our house, hence the primed wall in the background. 

Austin is a champion and keeping up with his school work while using his LEFT hand!! He was nervous about going to school with this arm situation and I told him he could bring home any of his work and we could do it together at home. He brought his work home completed and legible. :) 

On Thursday we finally made it in for his follow-up appointment where he picked a red cast. We'll go back in 2 weeks to see how everything has healed up. He's cried a few times, especially when he found out he can't participate in gym and recess, but I've reminded him that we can do hard things. I'm currently taking an insulin shot each night and measuring my blood sugar 2 hours every meal by pocking my finger. We talked about how grateful we are for our bodies and what they can do! 

I take a nightly walk after dinner when the kids are in bed, but since Aaron was gone, we ate dinner a little earlier and then we all enjoyed a nightly walk. 

More of Austin's work with his left hand!!

And here's our baby girl. I see a high risk dr every week now so I get to see an ultra sound of her every week! So far she's growing and doing just fine in there. Can't wait to hold you little one in 6 more weeks!

On Friday, Eleanor and I went to the park with our church friends. When the boys got home, we jumped in the car and ran to Science City. My pass to the museum officially ended on Saturday so we squeezed in one more visit. We've loved having a pass! 

Saturday: our cute neighbor Kim delivered this Chief's balloon arch for our kids. It's huge! Then the primary had a pop and popcorn activity at the church 

I loved capturing this moment of Eleanor watching her dad work away on the house. 

Saturday afternoon the kids were excited to play at the park with their friends in celebration of a birthday! 

We are now blessed to attend church every WEEK! Yay! We had our first YW lesson over zoom, which we'll continue to hold virtually for now, but then we are able to attend Sacrament meeting weekly. It was so lovely to be all together! 

Austin's teacher shared this picture of Austin painting away with his left hand! 

General Conference

We found these pumpkins and stickers for a few dollars at Wal-mart and Eleanor played with them all afternoon. She's a star at entertaining herself although she is extremely happy to have other friends around any time!

Austin and Eli returned home from school and also decorated pumpkins that now decorate our windows. I love seeing their artwork. 

On Wednesday evening the youth put together bouquets of flowers to give out to the elderly people in our ward. Eleanor went with me to deliver these flowers to Judy and Judy loved them! She invited us in and we enjoyed chatting while Eleanor played with the toys in Judy's basement.  

On Friday we went to the park with our church friends. Eleanor was brave and climb up on this big rock. 

The weather was so beautiful on Friday that when the boys returned home from school, we decided to go back to the park to enjoy a little hike to see the leaves turning colors. The leaves can take their time for all I'm concerned! I love fall and want it to last forever. 

GENERAL CONFERENCE!! We were all SO excited for General Conference weekend!! We cleaned the house the day before and did all we could to be able to focus on the talks given. Aaron was potentially going to be gone for work so we we're grateful we could spend the entire weekend together listening to the talks given. 

On Saturday evening, I wanted to go out to dinner as a family before the Women's session of conference. Since I knew Aaron would be gone all week, I thought a family dinner date would be fun. Aaron had a quick church call to take care of and the kids were playing in the basement. Austin was on the roof of our playhouse and when I noticed him being silly on the roof, I started to tell him to get down. I didn't and went upstairs. A few minutes later, I heard Austin screaming and he ran upstairs holding his right arm. He told us he fell off the roof of the playhouse and I was positive it was broken. We discussed a plan and decided to go to the Children't urgent care that was opened until 8 p.m. I listened to the Women's Session of conference in the car with Eli and Eleanor while Aaron took Austin into the urgent care. Austin really wanted me to go with him, but since I'm pregnant and knew I couldn't go into the x-ray room with him anyway, I said we could all drive together to the urgent care, but it would be best for dad to take him in. As we waited, Eleanor fell asleep in my arms. I love holding my children as they sleep peacefully. 

We were grateful Austin could get a sling and splint. Exactly three years ago, he broke his left arm. Thanks to this little journal, I was able to go back and read about him breaking his other arm. Poor kid hated the sling and just wanted a cast. Because of the pandemic still happening, we weren't able to get into the dr's office for days. 

We took a pre-General Conference walk on Sunday morning and our friends were so nice to deliver this balloon and "medicine" container filled with candy for Austin to take each day. He felt so loved!!

General Conference was so uplifting. So many of the talks were about making it through hard times, like this pandemic, and I truly felt like Heavenly Father is aware of us right now. How grateful I am for a living prophet that I know receives modern-day revelation for our time. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Volk come and spend Sunday with us.