Weirdo

It's official.

So far this morning, I've taken Kase to feed the ducks fish at the park across the street and I frosted the rest of the mini homemade Funfetti cupcakes I made yesterday for a neighbor's birthday.

After that I recovered a pillow (?!?!) in our living room then mopped our kitchen with homemade floor cleaner.

Next I made a peach pie.

It's only 10:30.  Yup.  I've officially fallen into Weird Stay At Home Mom With Too Much Time On Her Hands category.  And I adore it.

That said, I'll give you the rest of the story.  Because you know as well as I do that something's gotta give.  If I were to read about someone making homemade floor cleaner, recovering pillows and baking all sorts of things I'd certainly be at least mildly annoyed.  So here's what else is going on.

I haven't dressed in anything besides running shorts/workout capris/t-shirts/tanks all week.  Mostly because it's hot but honestly it's because my wardrobe is seriously lacking.  I spend so much more time and money getting the kids dressed than I do on myself.

I have no make-up on and I probably haven't combed my hair in a week.  Ponytail after ponytail requires little to no effort on my hairdressing efforts.  *Insert imaginary photo of tired-looking mom who hasn't worked out in months.

I spent the evening last night with Kael discussing a little bit of r-e-s-p-e-c-t.  He yelled at me in front of a group of our very close friends (read: I was mortified) "YOU ARE SO MEAN!!!!!" because I had pulled him from a game of kickball for shoving his sister to the ground.  That, I didn't adore.

Next up was a friendly reminder to Kylee that we're a little too young to be having "crushes" at school. Ugh.

So friends, I guess the point of this post is that just when I feel like I've "put in my time" and things are getting easier...well, they're not.

So, here's to a long weekend and fewer "discussions" with the kids and more effort on my part to look any better than as if I've just rolled out of bed.  Hey, at least our house will be clean and we'll have food to eat. :)  Enjoy your Labor Day, friends!

Thankful Thursday

A neighbor knocked on my door at 3:30 yesterday afternoon.

She asked me to come outside and from my driveway, this is what I saw.

Thick, black smoke rolling out of a house very near ours. 

The phone calls and texts started pouring in because friends know I'm home. "Do you know if everyone is ok? Can you tell whose house it is?"

I couldn't. But I could assure my friends that we (their kids included) were all safe here at my place.

My kids were curious, and after my babysitting kids left we took a walk.  

As we got closer the smell got stronger.  And this is what we saw.

Total devastation.  The heat index was well over 100 degrees but I had the chills.

We don't know the family well but from what I understand no one was hurt and so far they don't know the cause of the fire.

What I do know is that we will be praying for this family.  And although devastating seems not strong enough a word, I'm thankful no one was hurt.  I'm thankful for fire crews and emergency response crews who battled this fire in extreme heat.  I'm thankful for the police that safely directed the heavy traffic of curious community members.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to remind my children what to do in a fire.  I'm thankful for the tears that ran silently, unexpectedly down my cheeks- so sad for our neighbors and for the tragedy that struck so close to home.  I'm thankful for the kids' interest in this story- they must have checked my phone for news updates every five minutes last night, hoping to find a reason of what caused the fire- they're definitely concerned. 

Sometimes it's the little things, and sometimes, it's the really big things.

What are you thankful for today?

Weekend Fun

We (barely) survived the first full week of school! Whew! Bodies are tired and emotions are high so we welcomed the weekend with open arms.

Here's what's been going on in our world. 

Kent is playing flag football. The kids LOVE to watch him play, especially Kael.  Me? I just love an excuse to put Kase in a football jersey. 

Kylee had her birthday celebration at school. She was excited to be the first one of the year! She proudly sat in front of her class showing pictures and treasured items from home then answered all sorts of questions from her classmates. Kent and I were dying at this portion of her celebration. My favorite question asked was "What are your favorite pants?" Hilarious. The other highlights were when 1) Kylee boldly announced to the class mid-session that she would not be calling on anyone who had already asked a question and 2) Kylee called on a girl in the corner by addressing her as, "girl in the corner who I don't know". All in all it was so fun to be there with Kylee in her room, especially so close to the beginning of the year where everything is so new. 

Kael has been melting in this heat. He just is a different kid when he's overheated and tired from the demands of a school day. 

Kase gets in the pantry every single day with the goal of sneaking a square of chocolate.

We cheered for some Jaguar volleyball.

We had a little Creme.  Hello, Yellow for him, Peanut Butter Passion for her.

Kase has been teething which means he's a little more clingy fond of me than usual. It also means he eats more ice cream, which he's thrilled about. 

We got some of the best available chiropractic care in the biz! Rob was doing this cool scan (I'm almost certain that's the appropriate term) where both Kent and I learned some fascinating facts.  For example, from two quick pictures Rob took of me, he could tell that I  always carry Kase on my right side.  Crazy! But it's totally true!

And the weekend's only half over! We're looking forward to a long overdue trip to Collins for Sunday dinner.  How's your weekend going?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful to be back on a routine.

I'm thankful for the children I babysit.  Not only are they well-behaved, respectful children, but they really hold each other accountable.  The other night when Kael thought he didn't have homework, the two girls in his class who come here after school reminded him that he did have homework.  I love this little community we're building and am thankful for how they look out for each other.

I'm thankful for each day that Kase goes to sleep without serious injury.  He's a maniac lately! And I mean that in the best way possible.  He is all boy- climbing, jumping, running.  Turn your back for a second and you're bound to find him on Kael's top bunk, leaning over the railing.

I'm thankful for the (sort of) calm before the storm.  Before we know it, Kael will be having a soccer game and a football game every weekend, four practices a week and Kylee will be starting gymnastics. I like the busy-ness, I really do.

I'm thankful that some of our family has begun to make preliminary Christmas plans.  I love to know which dates we're going which places, even if it is only August.  Control freak, much? You betcha.

I'm thankful for little moments with Kase.  Like how he "helps" me water the plants and trees in the backyard (conveniently while Kylee is at recess so we can wave at her).  And how we always share Wheat Thins and Laughing Cow sitting on the bar stools together at about 9:00 every morning.  This is the only time I allow him to get on the bar stools and you should see how proud of himself he is. Such a big kid, he thinks. And I like how we walk together every afternoon to the mailbox then come home and water the flowers in the front.  And how every day he digs his little chubby fingers in the mud and tries to eat it, then I make a big, fake, goofy deal of it then spray him down with the hose while he collapses in a fit of giggles.  I hope I forever remember how he is right now.

I'm thankful for Kylee's independence.  I walked her to her room the other day (it hasn't even been a full week of school yet, folks) and she gave me a happy smile and said, "Mom, you can go now.  I know how to get my folder out of my backpack and hang it up.  I'll be fine."  I guess no more following to her room.  This mama's going to have to say good-bye at the front door from now on.  And she'll be just fine.

I'm thankful for Back To School Night in Kael's room last night.  The teacher he has this year is just out-of-this world amazing.  I anxiously look forward to seeing a ton of growth from Kael this year!

Happy Thursday, guys!

***I'm thankful for a friend who e-mailed me to tell me I was a day early on the Thankful Thursday post.  I tried to schedule it to post tomorrow but must have messed up somehow.  Oops! Thanks Kimber! :)

Seven Things.

1. I had to use detangler on Kase's hair the other night.  Does that mean it's getting too long? Don't tell Kent.

2. Kylee thinks that a woman principal is called a princessipal.

3. I planted some pumpkins in the garden bed that Kent built for me with absolutely no idea how well they would grow.  Patterson Pumpkin Patch is on it's way to being out of control.

4. On the same day as the first day of school, Kase had shots, Kael had his first football practice and Kent had his Fantasy Football Draft.  Go big or go home, right?

5. Out on the deck yesterday watching my kids at recess, I got waves from both of them. So happy they aren't "too cool" yet. Also got waves from half of Kael's classmates from last year, every single one of the neighbor kids, and even a few teachers. Would anyone like to hear once again how much I love where we live? #brokenrecord

6. Kase sleeps all.the.time.  He's really making up for his lack of sleeping when he was younger.  Lately he's been sleeping all night then taking either a marathon (four-ish hours) nap or two (two hour) naps a day.  And he seems to have no problem sleeping anywhere.  The pack and play on vacation, the crib at Grandma's house- I'm not saying that I deserve it, but I will say that I do feel it's well-earned.  Kent and I clocked some seriously sleepless hours when Kase was younger. Unfortunately, Daylight Savings Time is just around the corner which is certain to rock our world just a little bit as far as schedules go. 

7. Kael used the word implore last week.  Not at school or doing homework or anything, just talking to me.  And he used it correctly in context.  I'm pretty sure I learned what that word meant in 8th grade and my 3rd grader already knows it! 

What's going on in your world today?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kael has been presented with the opportunity to show kindness and patience right off the bat this year at school.  At Meet The Teacher Night, he discovered his locker partner is a kid who did not treat Kael very nicely last year.  Lots of name-calling and the like at recesses.  I've been praying hard about this since Tuesday night.  Praying that Kael is able to say kind things even when kind things aren't being said to him.  Praying that Kael's teacher is aware of the situation and handles it with the wisdom. Praying that Kael is strong enough to walk away.  Praying that there really is a greater plan and that Kael and his locker partner will, beyond all odds, become friends.

I'm thankful for a side of Kylee that I often don't see.  She keeps saying that she's so excited for school, but I was a little caught off guard at her shyness at Meet The Teacher Night.  One of her tasks was to introduce herself to a classmate and I saw a very sweet, bashful, innocent, almost self-conscious side of Kylee that reminded me how little she still is sometimes.  Kylee has always seemed so grown-up compared to her peers and watching her be even the slightest bit unsure of herself opened my eyes to how she must be feeling.

I'm thankful Kase has been taking really good naps lately.  I've had time to get some French Toast Sticks, some meatballs, and some Breakfast Sandwiches in the freezer.  I've also got a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in the fridge, ready to make so the kids come home to fresh, warm cookies on their first day of school.  Being a stay at home mom really has some advantages.  I've also got some PB & J's in the freezer (I had heard you can freeze them.  Rumor was true.  You totally can and they taste the same.) for future cold lunches.

I'm thankful that drop-off went well this morning.

This is seriously how we walked to school this morning.  What a crew!!! 

I'm thankful for my Lone Ranger.  It sure is quiet around here without Kael and Kylee- luckily I've got Kase.

Speaking of quiet, I'm so thankful for where we live.  I was kind of moping around the house, sort of unsure of what to do with myself when all of the sudden.  I heard it.  The greatest sound.  Recess! Tons of kids came running out and Kylee was among them.  I watched her for awhile, resisting the urge to shout, "Kylee!" Soon enough, she looked over at our house, smiled, shouted, "Mom" and gave me a big wave.  Life.is.good.

I'm thankful that I have laundry done, a clean house, dinner planned....a stay at home mom's dream right? Only it's not.  I'd rather the big kids were here so I could remind them to be quiet when Kase sleeps.  To shut the door.  To stop tracking muddy shoes across the floor. I'd rather be wiping sticky mouths and hands and making macaroni for the zillionth time.  I guess I'm a little more lonely than I was prepared for.

How did Back to School go for you?

Birthday girl

What can I say about Kylee that I haven't already said? My heart is just filled with so many emotions as I reflect on my six year old's birthday.  

She's spunky, she's smart, she's a people-pleaser to the core. And Kylee will surprise you.  Maybe it'll be a quick response that you didn't anticipate, maybe you'll see her monkey her way to the top of the playground with ease, maybe it will be her beautiful smile, or maybe it will be her grown up way of speaking. But with Kylee, I've definitely come to expect the unexpected. 

I really wanted to make her birthday special. Six is a big deal! Especially since she'll be starting kindergarten in a few days. Weeks ago we started talking about what she'd like to do on her special day and she decided she wanted to go to Climb Iowa.  Shortly after she'd made her decision, she went to a friend's house who had "two Build-A-Bears and tons of other cool stuff" so I offered to take her to Build-A-Bear on her birthday, if she'd rather.  

"Nah.  I've already got lots of cool stuff.  Maybe I'll do that another year but this year I'd rather go climbing!" Perhaps we don't have many years left until she starts wanting things that all the other neighbor girls have, but my guess is that she'll never be that into material things.  And I love that about her.  

So after an early morning Starbucks run (materialistic, no; sweet tooth, yes), gift opening, and a visit to Aunt Tammy at the new high school, we went to Climb Iowa and this was the first time we've been that Kylee got all the way to the top! So cool to see her be successful.  

Kylee's reaction to her gifts was absolutely priceless.  The emotion and energy that she exudes is something about her that I adore about her.  I know that same emotion will probably cause some pretty good drama between her and I, come the teenage years, but for now I'm just loving it for all that it is.

I have never tasted a better chocolate chip cookie in my life.  Made with such love and shared with such pride.

Her dinner request was a simple one: grilled burgers, sweet corn, watermelon and macaroni.  I would have made her a cake, but she isn't too excited about frosting these days, so we rode bikes to Orange Leaf.  What a lovely way to finish our evening.

We are so blessed to have been able to celebrate with both sides of the family, and friends/neighbors too.  Here are a few miscellaneous pictures from all the birthday fun! (In no particular order.)

This one actually wasn't taken on her birthday.  But my mom took a few pictures of Kylee a month or so ago when we were over there and Kylee was playing dress up.  So sweet. 

Six is going to be GREAT!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful no one commented on how not "quick-ish" my last post was.  Besides Kent, that is.

I'm thankful for a fun-filled birthday weekend ahead.

I'm thankful that Kase slept through the night last night.  Hopefully that means he's feeling better.

I'm thankful for letters from the kids' teachers.  Each little thing like that is helping to get them more excited and ready to go (back) to school.

I'm thankful for a fun shopping day with Cindy yesterday that included one of the best ever Dairy Queen stops.  It was just a funny day all around.

I'm thankful for beautiful weather.  Why couldn't it have been like this all summer?

I'm thankful for the option to print Instagram-sized pictures from Walgreens from my phone.  Makes my life so easy.  I recently printed a few to hang in Kylee's room and I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

I'm thankful that I remembered it was Thursday in enough time to write something today.  Post-vacation I'm all messed up on days.

What are you thankful for today?

You can find me in St. Louis...

Hi friends! How was your weekend?

I'll just say it.  Ours was great.  Better than I could have imagined.  My (and Kent's) apologies for flooding your Instagram feed these past few days but that and Vine proved to be the fastest and easiest way to quickly capture memories from the weekend.

Have you and your family been to St. Louis recently? If not, you should!  The whole reason we decided on St. Louis this year was that one of Kent's customers at work offered him Cardinals tickets, then we sort of planned our trip around that.

Here's a quick-ish overview of what all we did! We fit a TON of stuff in!

We decided to leave town on Friday afternoon so we could stop in Ottumwa and see Kevin's new house and spend a little time with him since we would be missing his 33rd birthday bash the following day.  Kev and Katherine spoiled the kids with millions of quarters at the Happy Joe's arcade which brought back sooo many fond memories of when I used to go to Happy Joe's when I was little.  Why isn't there a Happy Joe's in Ankeny?? Keith and Cindy came too then we all went for ice cream and the big kids stayed at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa while Kent, Kase and I stayed at Kevin's.

We hit the road early Saturday morning. I couldn't believe how smoothly the ride from Ottumwa to St. Louis went.  I had seen some fun ideas on Pinterest about making little surprise bags to keep the kids entertained along the way so I made a few, but they each ended up only opening one of their bags.  We were having lots of fun looking for license plates and all the other classic road trip things.  Kase had a short nap and before we knew it we were in St. Louis!

Had a picnic lunch in Forest Park, where the kids had fun running up and down the giant hills.  Then they spotted some guys setting up a tightrope between two big trees and soon the guys, some local college students, asked Kael and Kylee if they wanted to try.  They, of course, did.  Super fun and the guys had some good recommendations of things to do while we were in town.

Headed to our hotel, where we were very thankful to be able to check in early. We stayed in the Spring Hill Suites just outside of downtown. The hotel provided free passes to a nearby waterpark that also had a Jester Park-type outdoor playscape which the kids enjoyed.

Tired and hungry, we searched out a Mexican restaurant.  The food there was definitely not our favorite and the service was super slow.  The parking lot was a total zoo and we were all so thankful to just get out of there.  Until I realized we had left the diaper bag at the restaurant.  Doh! We had to fight parking lot traffic again but thankfully they had the diaper bag.

We decided to just drive around downtown for awhile and sort of scope everything out when Kylee needed to use the bathroom.  We didn't really know where to take her but we were near the City Museum so we just hopped out and ran in there quickly.  If you've ever seen the St. Louis City Museum from the outside, you know there is absolutely no chance you're going to get a kid to just run in and use the bathroom and leave without letting them play.  See, the word "museum" is a bit deceiving in this case.  It's more of a quirky, giant indoor/outdoor playplace.  Not like a McDonald's-type playplace but more like...well just check out their website for a better explanation.  It was a totally unanticipated stop but it ended up being so fun!

Sunday morning we planned to head to the Zoo.  We knew that several things (Carousel, Children's Zoo, Sting Ray City) were free the first hour the zoo was opened so we made sure to get there ASAP, which turned out to be doubly beneficial because Kent was able to find a parking space super close to the zoo without having to pay the $15 zoo parking.  Score! Admission to the zoo is free anyways, so we literally spent nothing and the kids got to do all sorts of fun stuff! If you're going to St. Louis, go to the zoo and go early! Totally worth it!

Back to the hotel for a quick lunch then loaded up again and headed to Grant's Farm.  For me, this was an ok stop, but not my favorite thing we did.  The tram was cool, but the farm was sort of anticlimactic since we had been at the zoo all morning.  The kids were kind of like, "OOh. A cow from Spain. Neat." They didn't say that of course, but I could see it in their faces.  We hung out long enough to get Sno Cones for the kids and free Budweiser samples for us, and then we were ready to get back to the hotel.

Kids swam for awhile then we looked for a fun place to eat.  We ended up on The Hill, an Italian neighborhood in St. Louis.  Lots of restaurants were closed on Sunday, but Kent noticed a little corner restaurant that looked open so we gave it a shot.  So happy we did! Kent said it was the best pizza he's ever eaten.  Check out Guido's if you're in The Hill!

We had pre-purchased tickets to the top of the Arch for first thing Monday morning, knowing full well that our kids would be awake.  We had breakfast and were downtown by 7:15! Kids got a kick out of being the first ones in line and LOVED the little egg-like ("egg-avators" the kids called them, like "elevators", get it?) contraptions we rode to the top of the Arch in.  I, myself, was extremely claustrophobic which the kids got an even bigger kick out of. :) It was really neat to be on the Arch and point out some of the places we had already visited, and show the kids the stadium where we'd be going later that night.  Back at the bottom of the Arch, we wandered through the Westward Expansion museum, where Kylee had fun playing photographer.  Girl got nearly 200 pictures on her little camera this weekend.  So fun.

Back to the hotel for a nap for Kase, and one last swim for the big kids.  Then it was off to Fitz's! I had seen this place come up on several of my pre-trip searches so I figured it was worth a stop.  Totally was.  Kids loved the bottled soda and the root beer float we shared at the end of the meal was epic. Epic, my friends!

Back to the hotel one last time to pack up and check out.  Thank heavens for late checkout.  They let us stay until 2:00 which proved to be absolutely perfect since we'd be hitting the 6:05 game later that night.  In the meantime we had a few hours to kill and a baby that needed to sleep.  Kent found the Science Center (again, free admission, people!) so I took Kael and Kylee in while Kent found a parking spot and let Kase sleep in his car seat for awhile.  The Science Center was fun but the highlight was definitely picking out souvenirs in the gift shop.  Kylee was absolutely determined to spend her own money (she'd been carrying a purse around all weekend) and was really concerned about finding something special for the small amount of money she had brought.  I kept telling her I would be happy to buy something for her, but she was not interested.  She finally found this little snake that cost $1.49 and she kept talking about how much fun we'd had in the Reptile House at the zoo and how if she could just buy the snake she would always remember the Reptile House.  She looked at me with wide eyes and asked so seriously if her "one dollar bill, two quarters and four pennies" would be enough??? I didn't have the heart to tell her that tax would put her over the $1.54 she had, so I told her she had enough then I secretly slipped the cashier and extra buck and she smiled, gave me an understanding wink, and told Kylee that she'd even get some change back. Kylee was so happy and proud.

(To be fair, I'd offered to buy Kael something too (and Kase, of course, but he was still sleeping) but Kael politely declined.)

Then, f-i-n-a-l-l-y for the whole point of the trip: The Cardinals game!!! The tickets we had been given included a parking pass- we felt like such VIPs.  We found our seats and you guys, we were only 7 rows up on the first baseline! Amazing seats and such a beautiful night for a game.  I knew the kids were tired going into the game so I didn't have high hopes of lasting the whole game, but they were awesome.  Kael really got into the game.  Kase was a little squirmy so Kylee walked with him and me and we just explored for awhile.  Back in our seats we lasted 'til the bottom of the fourth which I thought was pretty good.  Kent wanted to get going anyways, since he had to work the next day.

Tired and happy, we loaded up and left St. Louis around 8:00 PM.  The kids slept basically the whole way home.  We stopped once for coffee and got home at 1:30.  The last couple hours of the trip were a little grueling, but we made it! (Kent can't be away from work on Tuesday afternoons, for those of you wondering why we made the crazy decision to come home in the middle of the night. :)

I can't believe the amount of stuff we fit into just a few short days.  I was also pleasantly surprised about the amount of free stuff St. Louis has to offer for families! I waded through all my photos and tried to find the ones I hadn't already posted.  They are in no particular order.

Ballpark peanuts.

Cheers!

Bird's eye view of the ball pit at City Museum.

Oh Kylee. (She's on a tightrope over water, faking that she's falling.)

This was just the outside of the City Museum! There were more climbing structures on the top and tons more inside.  

Unforgettable Mexican restaurant experience.

Too big. 

All aboard! The tram around Grant's Farm.

Take 1.

Take 2. 

Third time's a charm.

And one more for good measure.

See! I was there too!

Kase checks out Busch Stadium from above.

I had to fit in there too.  Tight squeeze!

Looking at the Arch.

My little photographer. 

My wild child exploring literally every inch of the museum. 

That's all, folks.  It's only 9:30 and I am more than ready for bed.  All that fun wore me out!