Leap Day

Allison is still in her state of crazy. This morning she insisted on "sleeping" in the closet. She pushed the vacuum and cleaning supplies out, and brought her change table in.

Then, she changed clothes three times before we left the house. I would dress her and leave to do something (get dressed, brush my teeth or hair) and then she'd appear....naked because she didn't like the last outfit she picked.

Today was a sunny and warm 22 degrees! I knew it would get colder this week so I wanted to take advantage. We went to a park in Merriam Kansas (10 minutes from our house) that is new and perfect for Allison's age but is always empty. We bought food and had a picnic before spending nearly 3 hours running around. Another mom and 2 young kids (a boy 5, and a girl, 2) and showed up after we were there for an hour and we had a great talk about kid activities in KC.

After we got home, I got a call from our landlord that someone was coming to check out our internet connection since it wasn't appearing to be registered at TWC.

The guy showed up at 3 and it took him nearly 2 hours to fix the issue. While he was working, Allison was being especially wild. "That's my mom's pen!" "That's our paper!" "That's my mom's computer!" She was so mean to him. I gave her some paper and markers to draw but she immediately started to draw on herself. I told her to stop or she would get a time out, and of course, she continued. I put her in her room for the timeout because she screams murder until she's ready to calm down and I didn't want to frighten the TWC worker. I could tell he was uneasy with her screams when he said, "I don't think my wife and I could have handled a girl."

After she finished crying, I went in to get her and saw that her tears had mixed with the washable markers and the ink was now all over her.

At least one of us thought it was funny.

Neil Sedaka

I've been very lucky the last few years to have won some amazing prizes through local contests. I've won tickets to movies, plays, sporting events, and concerts, gift certificates and a kid's party.  I haven't signed up for anything lately because winning can bring on a major stress - where to find care for Allison. I have wonderful friends who often offer to babysit but they have kids too and keeping Allison out and awake after her bedtime is not pleasant for anyone.

A few weeks ago I saw a contest for tickets to a Neil Sedaka concert. Neil is a singer/songwriter from a few decades back and has songs like, "Oh, Carol", "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", "Calendar Girl" and "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" (just to name a few) in his collection.  I love old music so I put my name in the hat.

I got a call a week later that I had won! I was given the ticket office to arrange the details. When I called the Rose Brooks Center, I was told that I didn't just win a concert, I won two seats at their annual $300 a plate fundraiser which included cocktails, dinner, and concert. I was surprised by such a big win, especially after I googled past events and that is was being held downtown at the Sheraton Hotel. I was also nervous when the woman I spoke with told me in was a "cocktail formal" event.

My first stress was relieved when our neighbor, Charlene, came back from her Miami pediatric rotation and offered to watch Allison. My second (the dress) was a little harder. I have nice things but they are very simple and not "gala-wear." I looked in a few stores but everything was either for a 20 year old or a 40 year old and I got frustrated pretty fast, especially because I didn't want to pay a lot for the dress. On Saturday morning I went to Burlington Coat Factory (similar to Winners or Marshall's) and they had several good options. Trying dresses on with Allison at my feet was stressful but I felt some of my dress stress fade when I went to the dressing room with 6 options.

I picked a simple dark red dress that went to the floor (I didn't have to buy shoes or nylons!) and it was only $29!

Nathan got off a 30 hour shift on Sunday afternoon so he was very tired, but was a good sport about taking me on our date - I even wore the earrings I wore on our wedding day (I haven't been anywhere to wear them since then). We were on our way to the event before I realized we didn't take any pictures so I snapped this one the car.

The event was very well done. We sat with three other couples, a 40 year old couple, a 50 year old couple, and a 60 year old couple. It was a good mix and everyone was pleasant. We found common ground with each couple and had a great time.

I was so excited for the concert, it was simple (just him on a piano) but he sounded just like he did on his records. He was charming and funny and I was a total fan-girl, singing along and clapping like a maniac. He was just so good! We were back home by 10 to get a run-down on Allison's night, but it felt so good to get out together. It felt like a date that we needed (even if we went on it with 3 other couples).

(This image is from the photographer who was working the event).

Animal Tails and Trails

Today our Mom Group went to the Animal Tails and Trails exhibit at Crown Center. CC is a mall downtown KC, and the exhibit is a free kids exhibit that is changed out twice a year. The last one was the children's storybooks come to life.

I met up with our friends there when it opened at 10am and we had about half an hour to play before it got really crowded. The space is incredibly small (I know people with bigger basements than the entire play place) and the women who oversee the space are very strict. If a child even looks like they're about to run, she will loudly chastise him/her. There isn't much room to run or for kids to get into trouble so most of the moms are very relaxed.

 

 

 

 

 

Allison was bored and done with the exhibit after 20 minutes but after reading her books and playing with her in a corner by ourselves, she managed to make it to a full hour.

Our group then went to the Crayola Cafe on the upper floor for burgers and fries. I promised Allison she could have a root beer since pop is her ultimate treat and we never have pop in the house.

She started to get fussy after we ate and were sitting talking, but she really go mad when it was time to go. No matter how I try to prepare her for us to leave, she screams, arches, cries, and finished by laying on the floor no matter where we are. It makes me not want to take her anywhere!

I know she had fun and I'm glad she loves her friends so much but it is exhausting when I know what is coming every time we say goodbye.

Moon Phases

 Allison hasn't bathed in the sink in nearly a year but last week, out of the blue, she asked to go in the sink. She's had 3 sink baths since then. I think she likes being at my eye level while I'm bombing around the kitchen. This has been a hard time with Allison. Her attitude/temper tantrums/whining always comes in phases and we just went through a two month phase where things weren't too bad, but this new wave is more like a tsunami.

I've been working on clearing out the sticks/brush at the back of our landlord's property because I don't like how it looks, and because I noticed that all the neighbors (3 houses) that but up against our backyard have been using our backyard as their branch drop-off location. I decided that to stop it from happening, I needed to clean up the space so that they couldn't continue adding to the mess.  I've been taking Allison outside with me (since she loves being outside) but she his a total nightmare. It's a lot of work to get us outside and ready to work but she fusses and whine,s and tries to sneak into the house not mater if I talk to her, bring toys for her, or even let her watch cartoons on my ipad while I work. It's never enough and most morning turn into one long time out - and with me barely getting anything done.

As a stay at home wife/mom, it's important to my self worth and sanity to feel like I'm contributing to the home, and being a good mom is not enough for me. So when these waves come, it's really hard on me to sit still and ride it out. At least I know that it will only last a few weeks/months because we've been through this a few times already. 

 I took this picture tonight after Nathan and Allison went to bed (they go to bed at the same time) of the Snow Moon. It was quite cloudy tonight but it was very bright and beautiful.

Sunday

Today we had our quarterly members meeting at church. After a pot luck dinner, the kids were able to go into another room to watch Inside Out. Allison didn't understand the movie and told me she didn't like it, but I know she felt very cool lying on the floor with the big kids.

The child care leader, my friend Lisa, made little popcorn snack bags for all the kids and they were thrilled.

Small Loves Art

My friend, Eleanor, is a fantastic artist and tonight she had a piece displayed at a new art gallery in KC. The Small Loves Art Gallery is for local artists to display and sell their art while also networking in KC.

I went back and forth about going alone, but when my friend April said she was going, we decided to drive together. I was on my way to her house to pick her up, I was driving straight through a green light when an oncoming car turned left in front of me. I barely had time to slam on the brakes. I remember waiting for my car to hit their car, but somehow we didn't hit. By the time I came out of my mini freakout, I was stopped in the middle of a very busy intersection, at an angle, because I stopped so suddenly. I don't know how I didn't crash, and thankfully no one was behind me or there is no way they could have reacted quickly enough.

I've never been in a car crash before, but I have had 3 near misses with irresponsible drivers. I try not to get mad or upset (although my reaction would probably be different if I had Allison in the car) because I know that accidents happen and if I made a mistake, I'd want people to show me some grace. So while I nearly hyper-ventilated for the rest of my drive, and showed up shaking to April's house, I was just so grateful that the everything/everyone was okay.

April offered to drive since I was feeling a little shaky. It was fun to go to a hip party and while I felt a little out of place (I am not cool), it was fun and we were glad we could be there to support our friend.

It was 18 degrees out so we didn't wear coats and we stood on the balcony of the building while we chatted. It was so strange to be doing that in February!

After we left the event, we didn't want to go home to our families just yet so we went to a little restaurant nearby called Axios. It was a bistro style cafe and we had dessert and cocktails as a special treat. I was home by 10pm but felt like a new person after a little family break.

Wintervacht

I love when people re-purpose things. Whether it's clothes or jewelry or furniture. I think it takes so much creativity to see things in a new way and make it your own. It also plays into my pack-rat nature not to throw anything away.

When I'm bored, I often browse through Pinterest under the heading "Re-purpose" and a few months ago I saw a blanket coat from a company called Wintervact. The company takes old wool blankets and sews them into simple coats. Since I've started following them they've added new styles but because they are made out of old blankets, the coats are really one of a kind. I loved the style and wanted to try to make one on my own (since I don't have the 145 euros it costs for the basic short blanket coat).

The hardest part of making the coat was finding the fabric. I thought it would be easy to go to any thrift store and find a wool blanket but after searching for weeks I was still without fabric. When my mom and I went to a half price sale day at a local thrift store when they were here at the end of last month I finally found a wool throw for $2.25. I loved the material and the colour (and the price), but I was disappointed that it was a small blanket.

I decided that since it was my first time trying out the pattern it made more sense to do a smaller version anyway - so I made a sweater coat for Allison.

 It took 15 minutes to cut the pattern and under an hour to sew it. Working with wool was like working with felt - the finishing was really easy. I used a serger instead of a blanket stitch (like many jackets on the site) and I think it looks comparable to the original inspiration.

Five Years in KC

 Our Thursday group was going to meet at Crown Center for their latest kid exhibit, but when I found out that today had a high of 22 degrees, I moved the party to Loose Park.

Allison has been begging to go to the park all winter and she could barely sit through breakfast she was so excited to go. My friends April, Eleanor, and Meridith came and all the kids are close in age so it was the perfect play date.

After letting the kids play on the playground equipment, we walked around the duck pond. Allison was very upset when it was time to leave and she wailed the whole way home. I can't remember the last time she was that exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open when she screamed.

We had a picnic lunch at the park so when we got home I was able to put Allison straight to bed. After I put Allison down I had some time to reflect on the great city we've called home for the last few years. In fact, today marks 5 years since we first drove into Kansas City! It's been a fun 5 years and we've met (and said goodbye) to some amazing friends, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring this place. We're looking forward to what the next 3 years in KC brings!

Scones

I was looking for a scone recipe that had a muffin texture rather than a (traditional) dry texture so that Allison would want to eat them too.

I found a great dried cherry, white chocolate chip recipe and took it to my friend (and pastor's wife) April's house today.

When I arrived she told me that it was her birthday! I didn't check Facebook this morning (how I usually know when someone has a birthday) or I would have at least brought her a card!

It was a sunny 15 degrees today so we spent most of the morning in the backyard watching the kids play on the trampoline. Allison loves to bounce around and I'm thinking that in the fall I might put her in a gymnastics class. April made us lunch so we could stay later than our usual 12pm departure time.

 

 

I got Allison in the car with a promise that we would soon come back to play on the trampoline.