Has it really been a year?

I pulled this up tonight, mainly to reminisce, and realized it has been exactly a year since our last post. It  is cliche, but it really is hard to believe the speed at which life accelerates sometimes.  It doesn't seem like that long ago our biggest engagements were kids' birthday parties and the occasional sporting event, and now there are weeks when it feels out of our control.

In addition to our kids becoming more active and engaged in the world around them,  we have been getting to know many of our fellow parents at St. E's, which means our social life has finally risen from the basement of the last few years as well.  We've gotten to know many very good people in the last year and are better for it.

Trying to accurately think back to all we've done this year is impossible - the main reason we started this in the first place was to document the early years so our kids would have something to look back on, as it occurred.  But we can at least recap a bit.

During the year, our kids learned to ski and camp in Colorado, play basketball, soccer, baseball and swim in Missouri.  Noah learned to read like crazy, and Elliot finally learned how to ride his bike like the big boys.  They both learned to pray, and Noah wore a tie for the first time in his life.

We joined Cub Scouts (technically Noah, but really our entire family) as well as a bowling league, and Mandy started classes to learn what being a Catholic was all about.  We added a family member (Mo), rebuilt our backyard, survived survival school as well as a couple of car accidents.  We got robbed, spent many days at the pool, along with many mornings making pancakes.  We went to Houston for a second opinion, to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion and many places in between.

It has been a year, in many ways, just like those before it - a lot of unexpected events, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of work and a lot of reward.  But above all, we are really grateful for the life we have, and the people we have in it.  

To be a kid again.

We had yet another beautiful fall weekend.  Yay, global warming.  It was the weekend, so of course the kids woke up around 5:30 AM, raring to go.  We've given up on trying to figure out our kids' sleep habits.  Put 'em to bed early, they get up early.  Put 'em to bed late, they get up early. And cranky.  No matter the tweak we try, they get up early.

When they get up early and are tired, after about five or ten minutes of sweetness in the morning, they eventually turn on each other.  Each boy tries his best to irritate the shit out of the other, and each has an admirable success rate.  Our best bet is to keep them busy and on some task once they do get up, so they aren't left to their own devices.

Saturday morning, Mandy went out for coffee with a friend, while I kept the boys busy for a bit.  It was chilly early, and we biked to Borderstar school while it was still in the low 40's.  I stuck a basketball in the main diamond of my mountain bike, and off we went to practice some basketball and play on the playground.

After pushing E on the swing and playing a furious game of b-ball with Noah (who was quickly up 3-0), we played hide-and-seek in the nature maze next door.  We took turns finding each other and "scaring" each other when we did.

After biking home, we packed up some backpacks for a hike in Swope Park again, determined to be more prepared than we were last time. This time, we took a different trail, and headed up towards an  area more saturated with limestone bluffs - perfect for climbing and exploring.  Noah was in heaven, but had a "the grass is always greener" mentality about wherever we were.  The path itself was not sufficient, he had to climb off-path, and explore the possibilities.  This would be ok, if we never wanted to get where we were headed.  Eventually, we did plenty of exploring, and plenty of climbing.

In a busy world, it is frequently difficult to put yourselves back into the minds of your kids, and remember just how fun it is to explore, with no agenda, no timeline and no fear.  Occasionally, you nust need to be quiet, and let them run.

Playing basketball

Pure joy, spinning around

Playing hide-and-seek in the "maze"

Getting ready to scale the cliffs.

Picnic stop

Elliot and his walking stick.

Another snack break

Imparting some brotherly advice

"Bluffy", as Noah would say

Yes, they ignored it, and went down anyway.

November Warmth

This fall has been flying by much faster than even we thought it would.  There are not enough free days to do all we want to when the weather turns this nice, and weekends fill up quickly.   This weekend we decided to avoid any real obligations and just enjoy some family time.  And today was a perfect day for it.  It is atypical November weather - 75 degrees, warm and windy.  Shorts and t-shirt weather.

I made pancakes for breakfast, something I used to do practically every weekend, but haven't in quite a while.  Noah told me, "You're still make the best pancakes, even though you haven't practiced in a long time."  After playing outside for awhile, Mandy suggested a trip to Crown Center's Ice Terrace - an outdoor skating rink open from November to March.  

We thought it would be a good time to try teaching the kids to skate, rather than doing it while bundled up in freezing weather.  Turns out, it was harder than we remembered.  Neither of us had skated since we went did it at the highest outdoor skating rink in the U.S. at Keystone in Colorado, back when we were still dating.  

I was unsteady at first, and never really regained the knack for it.  Mandy was wobbly and unsteady.  Elliot was a hot mess, but still enjoyed trying it.  Noah, our little perfectionist, did better than we expected for his first time but eventually started to get frustrated when he couldn't skate as fast as some of the others did.  Since it was so warm, there was a watery spot on the ice as he entered the rink, and he immediately fell face down, getting soaked.  Didn't phase him any though, and he got out and kept going.

We grabbed a bite to eat at Crown Center afterwards, then decided to do some hiking in Swope Park (whose benefactor also had an interesting history).  Despite it being the 29th largest public park in the U.S., we haven't spent much time in areas other than the Kansas City Zoo and the soccer fields on which Noah plays, but the 1,800-acre park is mostly undeveloped and has several trail systems, which are mostly used for mountain biking. It was a perfect day for it, and we let the boys loose to do some exploring and rock climbing.  After a couple of hours, it was clear the boys were running out of gas, so we headed back to the car.   

Tomorrow morning, a cold front is expected to come through and temperatures will drop to the 30's with lots of rain, and a possibility of sleet or even snow.

Edit: And this morning, we have this:

Ring Master

Elliot:  "Mom, do you remember Aunt Sam's wedding?"

M: "Yes, I do"

Elliot "Do you remember that I was the ring master?  That means I'm like in charge of the whole thing"

Noah: "Elliot, you were the ring BEARER, not the master"

Elliot" Mom, was I the ring bear?"

Elliot's first field trip

I was so excited to chaperone Elliot's very first field trip! We got to ride the school bus and went to Deanna Rose Farmstead. Elliot was nervous about the bus, but of course he loved it. I had 4 three year olds, one of which was a bit of a flight risk. I think I was almost as tired as Elliot when the day was over, but it sure was a lot of fun. We teamed up with another mom and her four kids and stayed together as a group.

Elliot's first time on a school bus!

All of the students in Miss Susan's class 

Add caption

Following the leader as we attempt to keep the "runners" with us :)

Lunch 

A buffalo that was peeing.  For a long time.  These kids were CRACKING UP!

Cute, cute, cute!

Me and my boys

I read a blog that several of my friends posted on FB recently about how mom's never get in the pictures because they don't look good enough. And it really highlighted how ridiculous that is, and of course the boys will want to look back on pictures of their parents, not just themselves. So from now on, mom and dad are going to be in more pics. Here's a few of me and my sweet boys.

They are so fresh and handsome after haircuts and a bath

Cuddled and snug watching Noah's soccer game together trying to stay warm

Noah graded Elliot's workbook pages

The other day Elliot was doing pages in his workbook and Noah decided to grade it. He wrote on several pages the sweetest things. Here are a couple of my favorites.

That is wonderful

Awesome Job Elliot

Pogo Stick Record

Noah is an old pro on the pogo stick.  Within less than one week get jumped over 1000 jumps in a row.  He wanted to set the world record.  I googled and saw another 6 year old did 1,290 jumps in a row.  Guiness Book of World Records doesn't publish by age, so their record for an adult is over 200,000 jumps in a row.  We knew he could beat 1,290 and he likes pogo'ing on Grandma Lois & Grandpa Gene's back patio because it's totally flat without cracks and bumps.

Once he got to 1,290 I told him he broke it and he kept on going..... until he hit 1,449.

The funny thing is he had been playing hard all day.  And we walked from my  mom's house to my grandparents house and he pogo'd a lot of the way there (470 in a row before he fell on an acorn or something).

Noah's excited to be the unofficial 6 year old world record holder of most consecutive pogo stick jumps in a row.  Way to go, Noah!

Sporting KC with our soccer team!

I think it was almost two years ago that the major announcement was made that KC was having a new professional soccer team:  Sporting KC.  I remember the day because it was the same day that on my run I saw a couple of guys pushing a a GIANT soccer ball down Meyer to Ward Parkway to hype up this "big announcement" coming that day.  It is memorable, because it was the same day that Paul got attacked by an owl.  I thought the name was weird and not being a big sports person, never went to a game.  I've only heard good things about the games.  Everyone loves them, the team is actually really good and the stadium is beautiful.  So, when it was Brookside Soccer Club night, we jumped on it and went with 3 other families from Noah's soccer team.  Paul ended up going to San Antonio that weekend so he missed out, but we had a blast!

I've been to Royals and Cheifs games, but the energy doesn't even compare.  Not to mention, they WON!  The kids NEVER got bored and we stayed until the end.  Elliot was really tired though and asked to go home so he could go to bed several times, but he was easily distracted.

Paul & I are going to the last regular season home game in a couple of weeks.  It's on a school night, so I just bought the two of us tickets.  It took the boys a few days to recover from that late of a night.

Dinner at the Jazz

Kid's section

Instant fans (and aspiring Sporting players)

First goal of the night!