Fun With Fingerpaints

It is summertime! Time for fun sleeping in and fun in the sun! I have been looking forward to my very first summer home with the kids. It is something that I could only dream about being able to do when I was a working mom. I thought if I was only off I could take them to the pool and to the zoo and to Worlds of Fun, etc. I only thought about all of the fun things we could be doing out and about and never thought about how much work it takes to keep them busy in between the all of the fun outings.

Last October we took Kaleb to Worlds of Fun for his birthday. They were running a deal that if you bought Gold passes to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun (that included free parking!!) for the upcoming 2012 season for $89 you would also get into the park free that day. Since we were about to pay $40 a piece just to get in that day and just paid $15 to park it was a really sweet deal. Here it is not even June yet  and we have already used our passes several times. They really did pay for themselves! Besides the gas it takes to get there it is a virtually free activity we can do as many times as we want this summer. I even bought this big drink cup thingy for $12 that you can refill as many times as you want for $1!!! The best thing about having the passes is that you can go for 3-4 hours at a time (which is the MAX I can handle with Lilah) and you don't feel like you have to stay there all day like you would if you bought a day pass. Anyways as fun as it (minus the toddler tantrums and whining from the 8 year old that we have to spend most of the day in Planet Snoopy) we can't go everyday. Once or twice a week is about as much as I can handle.

So now what do we do? If I let him Kaleb would play video games ALL DAY LONG! Seriously. All day. When I tell him he's been on long enough and it is time to move on to something different what does he do? Watch TV. Sigh. Now the kid loves to play outside but if there are no kids to play with he has no interest in being out there. Can't say that I blame him. The problem is there are no kids home during the day around here. I have made the realization that my biggest job this summer is going to be keeping him busy. So yesterday I got on the internet and went on the hunt for fun activities for the kids to do that won't cost me a small fortune.

Bingo! Man the internet is awesome. I got a few ideas to get me started and wasted no time working on the first one....an art project. Now Kaleb usually rolls his eyes when I mention anything about arts and crafts but this one he really enjoyed!


I have a roll of paper so I started by rolling out and cutting two large pieces. Then I took masking tape and  spelled out their names on the paper. Luckily my kids have mostly straight line letters in their names or this might not have been so easy. The B in Kaleb's name was a bit tricky but we are not creating Picasso's here!

Then I got out the finger paints and told them to have at it. Anytime finger paints are involved you will have happy kids!

I had to help Lilah with this project for it to turn out how it was supposed to. She was only painting in one corner of the paper! Once they were done painting I set them out on the deck for fast drying and then very carefully peeled off the masking tape. And ta da! We have awesome little personal pieces of art to add to my art wall. :) Oh and it kept the kids busy for a whole 45 minutes! Double sigh! It is going to be a long summer!

Family Ties

We had a busy weekend! Not only did we have a family wedding but because of the wedding we had a bunch of family in town from Chicago. Now I have never mentioned this before but Josh has a gigantic family! His father Al is one of 14 children. Those children have children and some now have grandchildren. Al's father Al has 6,7,8 siblings himself (I have no idea how many I just know it is a lot)!

This family is very rich in tradition and history. One of my favorite memories is sitting with Grandpa Al and listening to stories of growing up in Strawberry Hill 80 years ago and how he sold newspapers on the street when he was just 5 years old. How all of the immigrants settled in the area worked hard to give their families a good life and how they all learned to speak English which is something you don't see too often these days.

In the late 70's Al moved his very large family to Chicago, IL where he worked to take care of his with Elizabeth (Betty) and his 14 children! When I think about the sheer volume of laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc. that had to be done to keep this family going it seems very daunting. Grandma Betty passed away last summer and when we traveled to Chicago for her services we were pleasured with stories of her spunky, no nonsense approach to motherhood and how even though she had 14 of her own kids to take care you would often find places set at the dinner table for the friends of her children as well. She was quite a legend in their town so much so that she was featured in the local newspaper several times in her life!

Hands down what is most remarkable about this family is how close they all are. I have a very small family on both sides and sadly we are not very close. Entering this family was like entering a whole new world for me. I always get such a warm, loving feeling when we get to to be with them. Unfortunately it is not too often but when we do it is always an amazing time!

This weekend several came down to KC for the wedding and then the next day we all traveled to "The Farm" and joined the rest of the KC family for a small family reunion. I only say small because it was said  that next year they were going to have a "big" reunion. There were over 50 people there so it seemed pretty big to me! Something I should mention is that this family has what I call "Super Genes". You can't look at any of them without seeing the face of another. They all look remarkably alike and there are several sets of dopplegangers all along the generation lines. There is even a baby girl cousin on the the KC side that looks just like my Lilah! And here I thought she looked just like me!

We had a wonderful time going on a hayride with Grandpa Al his brother Joe and Joe's two daughters playing instruments and singing old Croatian tunes and sing along songs all along the way. Kaleb learned how to skip rocks and had a blast playing in the sand at the little beach at the pond and getting his feet wet in the water. Lilah and her cousin Summer (here all the way from San Diego) ran around hand in hand and even did the Hokey Pokey while Grandpa Al and his brother Joe played the guitar and sang. At dusk a fire was lit and the kids and adults alike roasted marshmallows and made smores.

It was a truly wonderful time and was sad it had to end! I can't wait to we get to see them all again.

Here Comes the Bride

The much anticipated nuptials of my sister in law Brandi and her fiance Joe finally took place this Saturday May 26th! All of the dreaming and planning and stressing by all involved came together and the day was perfect. With its exposed brick walls and elegant light fixtures the venue was very romantic and chic. The flowers were beautiful and the wedding color palette of pink and gray complimented the venue.

We started off our day at the salon getting our hair done and then off to the bride's home where we had our makeup professionally done. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay to have my makeup done but oh I am so glad I did. The artist Mary was fantastic and we all looked great. The hair stylists and Mary all commented on what a laid back bridal party we were. Apparently there are some real uptight brides and bridesmaids and mother of the brides out there! 

We made our way to the venue to meet the photographer and get the pictures done before the ceremony was to start. Once we got Brandi into her dress the excitement really began. I can't begin to explain how beautiful she looked. That dress! Oh the dress was so spectacular. We finished up with all of the posed pics and then we were ushered into the bridal room as the guests were starting to arrive. As we all lined up to take our walk down the aisle Brandi started to get tears in her eyes which started the tears for Karen and I. We dabbed our beautifully made up eyes with tissues and the music began. We all walked down to Angel by Jack Johnson. My Lilah was the flower girl and in her true diva fashion be bopped down the aisle escorted by her brother Kaleb. Everyone stood for the bride who was escorted down the aisle by her father and her step-father. The ceremony was very beautiful and went off without a hitch. 

After dinner there was lots of mingling and dancing and all around good times. I even stumbled through a toast. I really did have a great speech planned but when the time came to give it I couldn't remember much of what I had planned to say! Lesson here...right down your speech no matter how short it is! I loved watching my kiddos dancing all night and was even lucky enough that Kaleb danced with me three times! I even got a slow dance out of the husband which in all of our 14 years together is probably the 5th time! The man will not dance! He will also not smile in photos unless intoxicated but that is a different story! :) 

Getting the bride in her dress

Brandi and Karen

Logan, Kaleb, Lilah and Lane before the ceremony

Me and the bride

The bride and her momma

The adorable flower girl! ; )

The groom and the girls 

How cute were my babies!

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Toasting

Me and Josh (him not smiling!)

Karen and Brandi getting down on the dance floor

Josh and his dad

The bridesmaids

My Boy

Kaleb is hard to get up for school in the mornings. Like hide under the covers and whine for 10 minutes followed by 20  minutes to get dressed hard. I usually go in prepared with some kind of positive "Hey hey hey it's Friday" or "Woot Woot I'm making pancakes for breakfast" to get him excited to wake up and get dressed. This morning's positive greeting was easy! "Wake up! It's the last day of 2nd grade!". He jumped up and got dressed probably the fastest I have ever seen him do it. He is super excited to start his summer vacation. And why wouldn't he be... he gets to spend every day all day with his mother! ;)

He is growing so fast! I love it and hate it all at the same time. I love seeing his personality develop and how smart and funny he is. I love that he has his own mind and opinion (I also hate that part as well sometimes) and that we can have interesting and intelligent conversations. I hate it for the obvious reasons. He is not a baby anymore, not even close. He can do almost anything by himself and needs no help from mom. He does not appreciate all of the parental rules and demands that I impose on him (like do your homework, take a shower, turn off the video games, eat your vegetables, comb your hair) and gets mad at me and brings out the attitude. But as a parent I know that is all part of the job and although it is tough and not at all fun it is just part of the growing up process. Sometimes the only thing that gets me through it is thinking about how much he will love and appreciate me when he is an adult and understands how much I love him and that everything I ever did was for a purpose..to grow him into a man for him to be everything that being a man means. I hope he grows up to know that anyway! 

So this morning I dropped him off and said "Have a great last day of 2nd grade!". I drove off and I cried for a good minute or so on the way home. I think it was just a combination of being sad about the rapid pace in which he is growing up and the pride I feel when I think about what a great kid he is. He is a sweet, funny, smart and loving boy and I love him so much. When I pick him up today I will be officially be the mom of a 3rd grader! Man that makes me sound old! 

Welcome to the world Kaleb Robert!

Momma loves those big blue eyes!

My crazy toddler

Big boy on a skateboard!

Too cool for Pre-K graduation

Horsing around

Kaleb becomes a big brother!

Lost his first front tooth!

First day of 2nd grade

My handsome boy 

Word to your Mother

Ah Mother's Day. The one day of the year where moms get recognized for all of the things that they do. All of the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, snot wiping, diaper changing, butt wiping, sibling refereeing, boo boo kissing goodness. That doesn't even cover mother's of pre-teens and teens. Yikes! I don't even want to think about all of the fun that is going to come with that. I am seriously already stressing about those days and have already put my doctor on speed dial to get my prescription of Xanax ordered up for those days. I shudder just thinking about it. I have heard it said a million times from a million different sources that being a mom is the hardest job on earth. Agreed.

So why in the hell do so many women sign up for this crazy ass job? Why are most women hardwired to yearn for motherhood? Why do babies have to smell so good? To tell the truth I stated through most of my teen and early adult years that I never wanted to have children. I wanted to live my life and be free and didn't want to be tied down to some needy little human calling me mommy. Then came Kaleb. Our happy little surprise. Something else I have heard a million times from a million different sources is this: you never know true love until you become a mother. Agreed. I suppose this is also true about becoming a father but this isn't about them! :)

It is not a feeling that can be explained but only felt. I sat for a few minutes and tried to put it into words but I just couldn't find the right combination of words to justify the feeling. It is just amazing to be a mother. That is the simplest way I can put it. We have the amazing job of growing a baby in our bodies, to feel them move and grow, to bring them into our world and love them like nobody else ever will. It is a beautiful gift that I am so happy and proud that I have been given not once but twice!

As nice as it is to have a "Mother's Day" to get some special recognition for all I do for my family, it isn't really necessary. I get joy every day from my kids. Those little crazy, sweet, whiney, stubborn, beautiful kids. All I need is a smile, a giggle out of happiness, an "I love you Momma" or a stolen kiss while they are soundly sleeping. Motherhood might be the hardest job on earth but it is also the BEST job on earth.

And hey, guess what? I got a new camera for Mother's Day! Remember I said in my last blog that I broke mine at my sister in laws bachelorette party? Well I got a new one today and it is waaaaaay nicer than my last camera. Yeah! We celebrated Mother's Day with dinner at my mother in laws house (prepared by my wonderful father in law Doug). We brought my mom along and we all had a really nice time. I love my mother in law like my own mother so it was nice to be able to be with my mom and Cindy (MIL) both today. My mom isn't in the best health and we had a real scare with her last summer and almost lost her. So it could go unsaid that it was a huge blessing to be able to celebrate Mother's Day with her this year. But I said it anyway because she reads my blog and it will make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Love you mom. :) I took lots of photos today with my new camera. Check em out!

Me and my momma

Momma and sis

Sis and Ma Cindy

Sis and Ma Debbie

Cindy and Brandi

My FIL Doug and his mom Roberta

Me and my babies

Brandi and her boys