December Daily - Nov 30, 2013

I know, it's not December yet. But there aren't enough days between December 1 and December 25 to get everything done...especially anything involving both kids since Anaya will only be here for about 4 - 6 days in there, depending on the days that you count since she gets her so late on Fridays.


This morning Claire & I went to Bass Pro Shop and took a picture with Santa. I specifically wanted to go today because they had a special, if you donated a toy to Toys for Tots, you got a free photo package that included the digital file. And then Claire enjoyed looking at the fish, and roaming around looking for "wildlife". And we were lucky enough to get there early while there wasn't much of a line for Santa. They also let you take your own pictures of your kids with Santa which so many places (like the malls) won't let you do. I can't decide if I like their picture or my picture better.

Later, I dragged everyone out in the backyard for another attempt at a family picture. I need to figure out someway to tell Justin & Anaya to act like they like each other...and the rest of us. They just stand, stiff, I'm usually attempting to put my arm around Justin and holding Claire's hand (partially to keep her from running away) and then they are just standing there...with about 3 inches between them. I did get a couple of good pictures and I ordered my Christmas cards so I'll actually post the family picture when I do my December Daily page about our Christmas cards.


This afternoon, I also took both girls to Hallmark for our annual buying of a new ornament. I love this tradition because I used to do it with my parents, I have a box in my Christmas closet of all my ornaments from when I was a kid. I also kind of dislike this tradition because Hallmark ornaments are getting SOOOO expensive. We walked out of the store and Anaya was like, "Really, FOUR ornaments cost that much money." To which I could only say, "Well, yes, at Hallmark..."

We also set up our Christmas tree and hung the new ornaments. We didn't get out all of the old ornaments because I just didn't feel like it. I'll probably go dig them out of the closet in a little bit so that we can do them first thing tomorrow morning. I probably won't do any other decorating until Tuesday/Wednesday since we're getting carpet installed on Monday. I know, setting up the tree probably should've waited, but Anaya and Claire wanted to and Anaya really wants to help us decorate it. It isn't going where there is new carpet being installed, but it is where some of the furniture was going to be stored WHILE the new carpet is installed. Oh well, it'll all work out.

And while Claire's outfit today was super adorable. And she managed to wear it ALL DAY without peeing herself. I kind of wish I could've changed her at some point since I have so many different "events" and she is wearing the same clothing in all of them. Oh well.

Fall Family Pictures

Back on October 20th, I finally did something that I have been trying to organize my family enough to do. We took family pictures. A couple of these pictures are proof that if you hand a teenager a nice camera with a fairly good lens on it, you will actually end up with acceptable pictures. (Any that include me but not Anaya are ones that she took.) Ones that include all of us were taken using the timer or a remote depending on if the remote was working at any given time.

I ended up with a total of 91 pictures after deleting the ones that were completely blurry or otherwise unacceptable. When I use the timer, it takes 5 pictures, so some of those are duplicates. I ended up getting a pretty good picture of all the different groupings that I was hoping for.



Now, while this experience was fine. There are definitely things that I learned to make it easier the next time I decide to do this.

1. Definitely have a list of the poses/groupings that you want. I did do this and it helped so much. Particularly since my husband was NOT really into the idea of family pictures anyways.
2. Plan for longer than you think it will take. By the time we were done, we were out of sun light. I have a beautiful picture of the sunset that I took as we were driving out of the park. I would've liked to try one more pose, but it was just too dark.
3. Scope out the location before hand. This is common sense, but I didn't really do it. I knew that there were multiple shelters are this particular park, but I didn't really know which one we would use (we ended up in my first choice area). And even though I had been there multiple times with Claire & Anaya to play at the park, I hadn't ever really looked at the area with the idea of a photo shoot.
4. If you are including a toddler, possibly have another person along to help corral the toddler so that you can take pictures of just the adults. My husband didn't drive over there with us because he was still getting ready, so I had Claire & Anaya there for the first half. Which means the pictures of just Anaya involved me holding Claire with one hand and the camera with the other. The one of Justin & I is one that Anaya took while holding Claire's hand as she was trying to run away.

These pictures were taken using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. I actually borrowed it from my co-worker but now I have my own. It is an nice portrait lens. Definitely not the BEST one, but good cost/quality ratio. Particularly since mine is purely for me & my friends & family (I'm not a professional, nor do I want to be).

Bieber Fever

I had planned to take Anaya to see Justin Bieber. I knew when the tickets went on sale way back in whatever month that was, but I was out doing something at 10am when they went on sale and by the time I got to a computer, all of the tickets were gone. So we looked at "Ticket Re-sellers" which is fancy term for ticket scalpers. And they were so expensive and it wasn't really worth it to me or Justin (my Justin, not Justin Bieber, I don't think he cared at all if Anaya came to his concert although I don't think our Justin cared at all either). And then it got closer to the concert date...and closer...and then it was the night before and there were some OK tickets for a price I would be willing to pay. There comes a point when you stop thinking "am I really paying that much for tickets to a concert" and instead consider it an experience that she will (hopefully) remember for a long long time. But Justin (my Justin) said no.

The concert was tonight. And at about 6:30pm, Anaya's friend texts her and says that that Sprint Center website had tickets available (for normal, non-scalper price)! I went upstairs to look and there weren't any tickets available anymore. But then I got to looking around and found tickets that were still over priced, but not as much as the other ones that I had seen. The concert started at 7pm, we missed the entire opening act. Carly Rae Jepson was playing her very last song as we were walking up the stairs in the Sprint Center. About 30 minutes later, Justin's part of the concert started - so at least we didn't miss any of that. And our seats were pretty good. We were in the back row of our section, but I kind of liked that there was no one sitting behind us, kicking our seats, and wishing Anaya would sit down.



As we were driving to the Sprint Center, Anaya called/texted all of her friends to tell them. They were excited for her, but they all hated her too. Their parents probably hated me too because now their kids were all irritated. The concert started and Anaya screamed. Justin came out and Anaya screamed. Justin sang and Anaya screamed. It is really quite amazing that I can hear at all. At one point, Justin asked all the audience to make some noise, and EVERYONE screamed. Then he said the Chicago concert audience was louder, and everyone screamed LOUDER.



Anaya had her experience. Now let's hope she remembers it for a long long time. Because it will take a long long time to convince me to ever do such a thing again.

RenFest

Last weekend we went to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. RenFest is one of those things that I lived perfectly happily without for years and years and years. It truly did not even occur to me to go. Until Anaya wanted to go and that was two years ago. So this is our third year going to RenFest and I could still probably live without it, but Anaya likes it and sometimes you do things for the kids that you personally could live without. Plus on scale that weighs the kids enjoyment versus the painfulness to me, this one is definitely more enjoyable for the kids that it is painful for me. (Worlds of Fun is currently more heavily weighted on the painful to me side which is why regardless of how much Anaya has begged we still haven't gone. I'm mostly hopeful that someone else will take her and I won't have to.)



We all had a pretty good time. I was done way before Claire or Anaya were done, but that's probably because I was the one that kept having to pay for everything. And wrangle the toddler. One funny thing did happen while we were there...the children grew tails! Very strange.



And Claire loved the fairy garden. She has all the sudden become interested in TinkerBell & fairies. We've watched TinkerBell movies, we've read TinkerBell books. Now she is saying that she wants to be a Fairy for Halloween instead of Doc McStuffins like we've been talking about.



I probably could've let the kids ride more of the rides. Anaya rode the Crow's Nest by herself and then again with Claire. I was just hesitant to put Claire on them. But oh well, we had fun and spent more money than I meant to, but that's what RenFest is for...right?!?!

Apple Picking

A few weeks ago...back on September 9th...the girls and I went out to an Apple Orchard way far away from here. It seriously took about 45 minutes to get there. And 35 minutes to get to a Starbucks after leaving there. But we had a good time. We picked about a 1/2 bushel of apples. That's why there were so many apple recipes happening last month, because we had a LOT of apples.



I had almost planned to go on a weekend when Anaya wasn't with us, and I'm glad that I didn't for two reasons. 1) Anaya told me that this is one of her favorite fall activities. 2) I wouldn't have picked anywhere close to a 1/2 bushel if I'd been there with just Claire. Evidently having a teenager along can be helpful.



We went to Alldredge Orchards, although I have since found out there is one a little bit closer that I would've liked to try - Cider Hill Family Orchard.

Fall Softball

We have spent 3 of the 5 Saturdays in September at Anaya's softball games. This is her first time playing softball, or any sport for that matter. She has really enjoyed it and wants to play again in the Spring when they have their full season. This was just a short 4-week league with two games every Saturday.


During her first game, she hit the ball and got to second base. Well, her second game but during her first weekend of playing. Which was funny because she was actually playing against her step-sister from her mom's house.



This also gave me an excuse to borrow my dad's telephoto lens. I wanted one earlier this year and then convinced myself that I didn't need one since I'm not usually more than 4 feet from my subject. However, if the kids are going to play sports then I'm going to need to either get my own lens or commandeer his lens for every game.

Happy Birthday to the Kiddo

Anaya turns 13 today. We drove over to her mom's house last night to take her out to dinner and buy her some more school supplies that she needed (completely un-related to the fact it was her birthday). We have actually already celebrated her birthday 3 times (once with her friends, once with just us, once with Justin's parents).

Anyways...

Happy Birthday Anaya!

Right now...

...she is starting 7th grade at a new school.

...she is IN LOVE with Justin Bieber (and I am keeping evidence so in 5 years I can tease her about it).

...she is also obsessed with Glee and can't wait for Season 3 to show up on Netflix.

...she is trying so hard to grow up so much faster than she needs to.

...she can't wait to get a Facebook account.

...she is looking forward to playing Softball - hopefully she will get to.

...she loves all her little sisters...even when they annoy her.

...she loves driving her parents insane, but we drive her insane too.

...did I mention how much she LOVES Justin Bieber.

...she wants to learn to be a photographer.

...she is reading the 2nd Hunger Games book.



In two years, she'll be starting high school. In three, she'll be able to drive (stay off the roads!). In 5 years, she'll legally be an adult but will just be starting her senior year of high school. In 6 years, she'll be starting college (I hope). Justin doesn't like it when I point out these things to him, it just shows how quickly his "baby" girl is growing up.

Vacation Day 3

Today we made the almost hour long drive to Powell Gardens on the other side of Kansas City from where we live. Then we went to a movie - Madagascar 3 - back on this side of Kansas City.

Powell Gardens

7 years ago this November, Justin and I got married in the chapel at Powell Gardens. It is a gorgeous chapel. I went there a couple of times when we were preparing for the wedding but I haven't actually been there since getting married. Today was the first day of their Butterfly Festival and they have Fairy Houses and Forts built around the gardens. This activity had potential to be a lot of fun, but then Claire decided her favorite word today was NO and that if something wasn't going her way (which was everything) she was going to scream about it. In general, that is not fun, it's even less fun when you're struggling with her out in the 85-ish degree humid heat. Also, Claire has a bit of love/hate feelings about butterflies, she LOVES to look at pictures of them, but show her the real thing and she flips out. This is actually kind of new because at the beginning of the summer there were a couple of butterflies that she would chase around the side of the house. Anyways, it was kind of fun, but it was hot and I had a screaming toddler with me (sorry everyone else). Within 5 minutes of getting in the car to drive back home she was sound asleep. I ended up sending Anaya into a Subway to buy us lunch because I wasn't about to wake Claire up.

Madagascar 3

I let Anaya choose which movie to see between Madagascar 3 and Ice Age: Continental Drift. We ended up at Madagascar 3 which was good. I think as a whole that series is easier for a toddler to understand than Ice Age. Claire kept wanting to talk during the movie and not in a whisper. But she was in a better mood for the most part. And she ate most of a movie theater bag of M&M's because she missed lunch since she slept from just after noon until 1:15pm while we were driving.

At Home

We spent the rest of the day at home. We watched one of the other Ice Age movies and played with Barbies. We ate dinner (pancakes, cantaloupe, fake sausage). Then I collapsed on the couch and Anaya played on the computer and Claire played on the iPad. I eventually dragged the kids outside again by giving them ice cream. Then we sat on the driveway and attempted to get Claire to play with the Cicada shells. And after Claire went to bed and I finally cleaned up the kitchen, Anaya and I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt. It won't be ready to eat until tomorrow but it looks delicious.

I think this is the end of our Kansas City Vacation 2012. I don't have anything planned for tomorrow and I'm not really planning to plan anything.

Vacation Day 2

Today was a lazy day. In fact, I left the house once for about an hour and Claire didn't leave the house at all.

Disney & Donuts

We started out the day laying around in my bed watching the Disney Channel and eating donuts until 10am. Did I mention that we were lazy? Then I made Anaya start her chores and I did a few things that aren't her chores and needed to be done.

Pedicures

Around 11:15am, Anaya and I headed out to get pedicures. I usually get one or two during the summer and Anaya has been asking me to take her with me because her mom hasn't been taking her recently (probably because it is freaking EXPENSIVE, I think my normal place has raised the price since May). But now my feet are all nice and soft and our toes have pretty little flowers painted on them. And sometimes you just need something pretty.

Homemade Ice Cream

Before my mom left for her trip that caused this little Kansas City vacation, I borrowed her ice cream maker. After sending Justin to the store for the 2 ingredients that I was missing, Clarie & I made Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. It is so delicious. We made it about 3pm and by 7:30pm when we were eating it, it was still pretty runny. Hopefully it continues to solidify tonight/tomorrow. I think it probably needed to stay in the ice cream maker a little longer, but we had some issues and it stopped for some unexplained reason. But it's still delicious, it's just more like soft-serve ice cream which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Shopping

Anaya went birthday shopping with Aunt Kimbi. It sounds like they had fun. I stayed home with Claire and made ice cream and watched...something? I can't even remember what I did for the 2 hours that Anaya was gone. Except lay on the couch.

Vacation Day 1

We're having a Kansas City Vacation. Except it's even better because we get to sleep in our own beds at night and when we all get on each others' nerves we can go to our separate spaces.

Day 1 was Crown Center & Union Station. We had fun. But it was exhausting.

Science City at Union Station

Claire may be a little young for Science City. Definitely something I will have to remember for when she's a little older. I think some 3 yr olds would be fine with it, but not mine. Anaya liked pretty much everything, I think if we didn't have Claire with us, we probably would've stayed longer, but she was done and Anaya had seen everything even if we hadn't spent quite as long as she would've liked at some of the stations. I think Claire's favorite thing was this spinning table in the Astronaut zone. I really thought she would like the water table, but we could barely get her to look at it. It took us about 2 hours to see everything and if I hadn't already decided we were going to do a lot more, we probably could've been done downtown after that.

Crown Center

Since Megan at The Nerd Nest always talks about d'Bronx pizza and we don't have one near our house, I decided to take the opportunity of being at Crown Center to give it a try and it was MUCH cheaper than Crayola Cafe which is where Anaya wanted to go. (She ended up being happy with my decision and has declared d'Bronx her favorite pizza place.) Since we're being vegetarians for the week, I ordered a tomato, onion and green pepper slice (half of which I removed so Claire would eat it) and Anaya ordered green pepper and jalapeno. Then we went down the hall to their free Dinosaur exhibit. It was nicer than some of the other free children's exhibits they have had down there.

Kaleidoscope

Anaya specifically requested that we go to Kaleidoscope this summer. I have to tell you though...I kind of hate that place. And Claire seems to agree with me. But Anaya LOVES it so I managed Claire while Anaya ran around and made a ton of crafts from leftovers from Hallmark. I actually like the IDEA of Kaleidoscope, but in reality it's just too loud and busy and Claire was just not interested to the point that I was picking her up off the floor from a screaming and kicking tantrum TWICE. I could understand her frustration but she wasn't understanding the concept of just deal for 20 minutes and then we'll do something you'll enjoy. Anaya left with a bag full of crafts and Claire had a bag with a fish she colored, a piece of paper with Chipette stickers on it and a 2 black light drawings that I mostly did.

SeaLife Aquarium

What Claire was wanting to do when we were in Kaleidoscope was go to the Aquarium. We got season passes back in April and this is the fourth time that Claire has been there. She saw it earlier when we were eating and all she wanted to do was go see the fishies already. She was making fish faces at me and saying "please" and she just wanted to see the fish. Anaya did not want to see the fish, but Claire dealt with Kaleidoscope so it was Anaya's turn to deal with Claire's favorite activity. We flew through there in less than 45 minutes. (And I took only 19 pictures. I mean, it is our FOURTH time there, how many pictures of fish does one really NEED and we'd already been doing STUFF for 5 hours at that point - I was done.) Claire knew what she wanted to see and where everything was and would stop when she wanted to look but otherwise just kept right on going. Then we had to get cookies at Panera because that's what you DO after going to the Aquarium according to Claire.

So, I just realized as I was looking through my pictures for this post that I had left my camera on the P setting most of the day which lets it pick the Aperture and Shutter Speed and I really should've had it on Shutter Speed Priority because I have lots of pictures where Claire is doing things and her hands are blurs.

Baseball Game

I was planning to work on my Project Life layout last night, then at 4pm, our company receptionist/office manager sent out an email about Royals tickets for that night. I called Justin to make sure he didn't mind and sent in a email to try and "win" the tickets. They do a drawing I think of all the people that say they want the tickets, I'm not sure if not very many people wanted them or if I was just lucky, but I won the tickets. So after a quick dinner, we headed out to Kaufman Stadium for our once a year baseball experience.

I've been spoiled by the company tickets, they are in the Diamond club. There are seriously FOUR actual rows in front of us and then a few rows of dugout seats and then the field. And in the Diamond Club, they have people that come down and take your order for food and drink. There's no way I would spend the amount of money required to buy these tickets - we enjoy going, but not THAT much. This picture - from my seat, no zooming.


I wasn't originally planning to take Claire, but she would've been so sad to stay home while Anaya, H and I went. And I had four tickets. So she got to come too! And she did MUCH better than I thought she would do. I did take the iPad so that she could play with it when she started getting antsy. She and I also went on a walk around the entire stadium.


We ended up staying until the beginning of the 9th inning. At that point, the Royals were ahead 8 to 2 and Claire was crying because everyone was screaming and yelling because someone hit a home-run that got 3 runs in. Then Claire looked at me and said "All Done" and did the sign she does when she's all done at dinner time (hands out facing up and kind of shrugs). So we packed up our stuff and went home, it was about 10pm at that point.


By the time we got home and put Claire in bed and took H home, it was too late to work on PL. Maybe tonight?