Lolli-Palooza

It's nice to make every day a little bit special! When you have kids, it really isn't too difficult to make an ordinary day fantastic. I'll often hear Kyrie exclaiming, "this is the BEST day of my life!" because of things that most of us would take for granted. (On the flip-side, she will also moan, "this is the WORST day of my life!" over the smallest upsets.) Though I am far from the best mommy in the world, I do try to find ways to make my children smile. When I found these giant, swirly lollipops at the store, I knew they would love them.

 Degen fell asleep in the car, still sucking on his giant lollipop! Too cute!



It's My Kid In a Box

 Recently, we had a large box delivered to the house, which is a pretty rare occurence. The kids had so much fun playing with the box that Darren commented that we should have one delivered every week. The box was all sorts of fantastical things for them. Kyrie even got out her crayons to decorate it. Later that evening, I noticed that we hadn't seen Kyrie in a while. When I found her, she was curled up in the box asleep.

I would have let her sleep in there all night (because that's the kind of mom I am), but she woke up as I snapped this last photo!



Mr. Golden Sun Please Shine Down Me

Seasons in the midwest are rather indecisive. One week of brisk fall weather will have you preparing for winter and the next oh-so warm week will have you back in shirtsleeves basking in the sun! We took advantage of last week's nice weather and headed out to the city parks every day!

 This park in the nearby city of Westerville is one of Kyrie's favorites!

 Degen was completely thrilled with himself after he poured handful after handful of woodchips over his head. He had it in his ears, his shirt, his diaper....

Operation Christmas Child

As the holidays approach, we try our best to teach our kids not only about how grateful we are for all we have, but also that we should share what we have with others. This year, I was excited to learn about Operation Christmas Child. This program asks participants to fill shoe boxes with small gifts, candy, school supplies & toiletries. The boxes are gathered and sent to children in need throughout the world. As soon as I saw this, I knew it would be a great project to do with the kids. We chose to fill boxes for children who were Kyrie's & Degen's ages respectively. This really helped put the activity into perspective for Kyrie. When we went shopping, I asked her to pick out items that she herself would like to receive. We completed our project by filling our boxes, bagging candy and decorating cards for the recipients. No matter the charity, whether you give of your time, money or talent, I encourage everyone to find a way to share what you have with those in need

 Degen decorates his card.

 Kyrie is excited to see how full her box is getting.

Kyrie fills a bag of candy to complete her box.

Costume Change

Kyrie is continuing with dance classes at the community center as we round out the fall. One of her favorite things about taking dance is, of course, the costumes! I am not going to mention how many dance outfits Kyrie has because I think I would be embarassed by the number. On our recent visit to Kansas, Nana Billie & Grandma Ida both had new dance costumes for her. No matter what she wears, she is having fun!

 Kyrie & Belle shake their groove-things!

 "Mommy, I can do it by myself." Kyrie puts on her ballet shoes.

 All smiles!

Best friends! Beautiful dancers!

Grand Parade (Neewollah 2010)

 A true highlight of our Neewollah trip is the Saturday morning grand parade! It is an all-American family tradition! We meet the gathered family downtown that morning before the parade starts. The streets are already lined with cars, people and chairs. Kids sit on blankets on the ground waiting to catch candy. Vendors call out, selling bags of cotton candy. Uncle Danny & Aunt Ange always treats Kyrie to a bag before the parade begins!

 Aunt Suzie stakes out our spot early that morning! She has the chairs and blankets and treats to share! Her turkey topped pumpkin is filled with "bacon & eggs" that she offers not only to the family, but to everyone around us and even passers-by. She's also got a stash of Halloween trinkets that she hands out to the kids in the crowd while we all wait.

 Waiting for the parade to start is always a fun time for me. Everyone finds their spots and we get to catch up and recall the festivities of the past. Degen was ready for a nap, so he wasn't in any mood to socialize. He did sleep for part of the parade and perked up when he heard the bands.

 Kyrie, however, really understands what's going on and she gets excited for the coming parade. Here she is showing off her best, cheerleading moves before the parade starts.

 Everyone feels better after a few "bacon & eggs" or other treats. The parade begins near lunchtime, so a snack helps tide you over... at least until you can start catching candy. Kyrie & Degen have a Grandma Ida, Aunt Suzie, Aunt Ange and Mommy all hootin', hollerin' & waving to get them candy. This year, we really got some candy! Degen was handed a whole bag and Grandma had a whole bucket poured in her lap!

Kyrie enjoys the parade more & more every year, but she gets a little nervous about the loud noises. Grandma Ida promised to cover her ears if it got too loud.

I think our family is one of the most boisterous in the whole crowd. We are a friendly and oftentimes raucous bunch. Aunt Suzie leads the way with her duck whistle and enthusiastic praise of the passing bands. We wave and clap and call out our appreciation to everyone in the parade. There is a lot of laughter and good-hearted teasing. After the 2-hour parade, we're pooped and ready for a family lunch at Grandma Ida's.

 See you next year!

The Great Costume Escape

So, the Neewollah Kiddie Parade is fun, but often fun in a crazy way! The men always walk the float up to the parade site and the women & children follow. I don't know how it happens this way, but almost every year it seems like we wait too long to leave or something unexpected happens and the women & children end up rushing like mad to get to the parade. This year the crowd was huge, so we were battling time & traffic (yes, I do realize that the idea of traffic in a town like Independence is laughable, but just consider traffic to be a subjective concept). As usual, all our rushing around lands us at the parade with more than enough time to spare. Then we have to keep the kids occupied and happy in their costumes until the parade actually starts moving. Here's Degen's pre-parade action:

FIVE MINUTES PRE-PARADE: GOOD LUCK KISSES FROM MOMMY

 FOUR MINUTES PRE-PARADE: DEGEN TAKES OFF HIS FROG HEAD AND STARTS TO UNZIP HIS COSTUME

 THREE MINUTES PRE-PARADE: DEGEN BREAKS FREE

 TWO MINUTES PRE-PARADE: DEGEN ESCAPES THE LAST OF HIS COSTUME

 ONE MINUTE PRE-PARADE: COSTUME PANIC

 THE PARADE BEGINS: MOMMY DISTRACTS DEGEN WITH FOOD & A MOVIE WHILE SLIPPING ON HIS FROG HEAD. A MOMENT LATER SHE SLIDES HIS LEGS INTO HIS COSTUMES. AS THE FLOAT ROLLS ALONG, SHE PULLS HIS ARMS INTO THE SLEEVES.

WHEW! THE PARADE IS UNDERWAY WITH ONE, HAPPY, LITTLE FROG PRINCE!