Family Archives - Page 9 of 42

An Unexpected Homeschool Monday

September 23, 2013/0 Comments/in Family, Fun /by Megan

We are having a homeschool day today, since Lu feels good, but still is home sick. It is making me want to homeschool all the time. Definitely blog post worthy...if I can find the time to write anything!

My poor little family can’t catch a break. After about two weeks of fevers and colds, yesterday we found out that Lulu’s persistent cough had turned into early stages of pneumonia. And while Tate is finally feeling much better, now I seem to have contracted Lulu’s stomach bug from last week. Positive? Due to the weeks of sickness, my pants are fitting much looser. Negative? I’m freaking hungry.

Today, even though Lulu was feeling 90% better due to antibiotics and an inhaler, she couldn’t go to school. Yesterday evening she still had a slight fever, so she can’t go back to her 2nd grade class until tomorrow. But after so many weeks being stuck inside with one kid or another, we were all ready to pull each others hair out. So after the millionth argument over the iPad, I decided we needed to get out of the house and at least spend an hour or two in the sunshine.

We decided to take a picnic and head over to Deanna Rose Farmstead, an incredible, free destination in Overland Park (suburb of Kansas City) that has animals, parks, food and everything else you’d ever want on a beautiful fall day. We are big Deanna Rose fans, and have spent many fun days there, but today was a little different. Lucy and I decided to make it in to a homeschool experience, seeing if we could cover all her school subjects in one day. Between the Native American lodge replicas (a huge hit, and a great social studies lesson), the mining area (mining for stones covers both history, science AND math) and some time at the huge playground (can’t forget recess!), we had a great, educational day. When we got home, Lu spent about an hour reading and then gave me a mini book report. She also worked on some new jewelry and gifts for friends, a perfect art project.

While today was more of a fun experiment, I have been thinking about homeschooling more and more lately. Unfortunately, this year Lulu’s grade is overcrowded, but a few children short of adding another teacher. While in the past she has had around 20 kids in her class, this year it’s more like 27 kids. And that’s WAY too many 7 and 8-year-olds for one teacher. Lulu has been coming home tired, worn out from the chaos of her class. Teachers are having to be more strict, and Lu has even complained about her favorite subjects “not being fun” anymore. This breaks my heart, but I am not sure what more I can do, other than advocate for her to the district. Lu is creative and free-spirited, and I often wonder if a more laid back homeschool schedule would benefit her. I think the hands-on learning would be so wonderful, and I believe she would excel. I’ve been reading up on homeschooling blogs, like Pioneer Woman and Bleubird, and dreaming up all the fun we’d have at our little homeschool.

But, for now, Lulu still loves school. She loves seeing her friends everyday and thinks her teacher is awesome. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love her heading off for the day so I have time alone with Tate and to work. While we had fun today, I know both the kids are looking forward to tomorrow and fun at school with kids their own ages. And I really, really can’t listen to another fight about the iPad.

So what do you think? Is homeschooling something you could ever see yourself pursuing? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your opinions!

The Color Run

June 5, 2013/2 Comments/in Family, Fun, Happiness, Kansas City /by Megan

Last year was the first time the Color Run came to Kansas City, and I wanted to go more than anything! Have you heard of the Color Run? It’s the happiest 5K on the planet! Basically it’s a 5K fun run, and at every kilometer you run through a tunnel where people throw colored powder all over you. By the end you’re a multi-colored mess, but it’s such a blast! When the race is over, you run across the finish line and straight into a huge dance party, where everyone throws more colored powder up in the air during countdowns led by the Color Run DJ. Here’s a video explaining the whole, crazy thing:

Last year the race filled up so fast, we didn’t get in. But this year they decided to do two Color Runs in one weekend, so there were a few more spots and we snatched them up. My sister and her whole family decided to run, so we joined up with them and ran as a team. The dads and older kids all ran together, while my sister and I stayed back with Lulu and Tate (who was riding in our jogging stroller). We definitely did more walking than running, but it was still super fun. Here are some pics from race day (all taken with the iPhone since I didn’t want to bring the fancy Canon 60D in to that mess):

Some tips for running the Color Run with kids:

– Make sure the kids and adults know who they are sticking with during the race. It’s a bit chaotic and since everyone is wearing the same thing, it can be scary if someone gets separated from the group.
– Plan on bringing your cell phones both to take pics and keep in communication, but be sure to wrap them up in a plastic ziplock bag. Since we had the jogging stroller, we threw our phones and other items in there, but people (like my sister) were rocking fanny packs and armbands to carry their essentials as well.
– At two-years-old, Tate is a bit sensitive to big crowds and got pretty upset during parts of the run. He didn’t like the colored powder being thrown on him at all, so the jogging stroller was a godsend. We just put down the sun canopy and he was mostly protected. You’ll notice he’s quite a bit cleaner in the photos, and that’s why 🙂
– Bring a change of clothes or something to cover up your car seats so you don’t get the colored powder all over on the ride home.
– Speaking of the colored powder, it’s just corn starch and food coloring, so it’s non-toxic and won’t hurt you if you accidentally swallow some. Wear sunglasses or another eye covering to keep the dust out of your eyes (we even saw some younger kids wearing swim goggles). The color washes out, but if you’re blond, like myself, my sister, both my kids and her daughter, it was recommended to cover up your hair. I had someone who ran last year warn me it took six weeks to wash the color out of her blond hair, so we pulled out all the stops, with bandanas, hats and sweatbands. We still did end up with some in our hair, but it washed out within a few days.
– Before you leave, find the guys with the giant leaf blowers that will hose you down and get a bunch of the loose colored powder off you before you get to your car.
– You will get a t-shirt to wear for the race, but make sure the other clothes you are wearing are ones you don’t mind being ruined. I ended up buying a pair of $10 shorts from the Color Run shop and wearing old sneakers. Not great for running, but it didn’t matter if that were gross after it was over.

The Color Run will be back in the Kansas City area for a race in Lawrence in September. If you’re available, you should totally do it! Such a fun race, and something both the kids and the parents really enjoyed. Happy Color Running!

Happy Memorial Day!

May 27, 2013/2 Comments/in Family, Happiness, Photos /by Megan

The kids and I picked wildflowers for my uncle's grave. The Veterans Cemetery is a beautiful and somber place today. Thanks to all who serve. #memorialday

This is the grave of my sweet uncle who passed away a month and a half ago. We spent the weekend at the family farm, and yesterday Tate and I wandered the open fields picking flowers, which I left for my uncle today. It made me happy that he was so honored at the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery and that I was able to be there. Thank you, Veterans’ and acting service people! You are amazing!

Here are a few other iPhone Instagram pics from our weekend. You can follow our fun on Instagram at @crazy_bananas!

Summer time!!! First trip to the neighborhood pool and she's graduated to the diving board!

Happy Weekend : The Last Before Summer

May 17, 2013/1 Comment/in Family, Finding My Path, Lucy, Tate, Work /by Megan

Today was a little funny around the Crazybananas house, it’s the last Friday before summer break. In less than a week, school will be out and our first summer with me at home (more) will commence. I am so very excited. In the past, summer’s have been sort of hard for me and the kids. With my old work schedule, and Lucy’s school schedule, all “summer” meant was scrambling even more to get childcare. It certainly never felt slower than the school year, in fact, it was probably more chaotic. Two summers ago we had a nanny full time, which was WONDERFUL, but so expensive. Last year Lucy went to daycare back at the place where she went to preschool, and where Tate goes, but it was still hard. She wanted to sleep in and hang at the pool, but our schedule just didn’t allow for that. I hated her missing out, and dreamed of late wake-up calls and lazy days in the summer sun.

This year is so completely different from where we were before. I will still be working two days a week in the office, and our fabulous former nanny Amanda will be with us on those days. But three days a week plus weekends it will just be me and the kids! I know it won’t be easy, and there will be days when I wish I could escape to an office, but hopefully those days will be few and far between.

The one thing I will miss are my mornings alone with Mr. Tate. For the past two years he’s been tagging along as we’ve run Lulu to this or that activity, with little regard to his wants or schedule. But while she was in school this semester and I was home, we finally got some time to hang out alone. Today we had our last lazy Friday, laying around in our PJs and playing trains, taking breaks only to watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was lovely.

Next week it will all change. Again. That seems to be a theme in this here life of mine. So far, change is good. Let’s hope we keep the streak going!

Easter in the Mud

April 3, 2013/1 Comment/in Family, Fun, Happiness, Photos /by Megan

I know I’m a few days late, but I wanted to share a few photos from our family Easter at the farm. We had such an incredible time, mostly due to the fact that it finally felt like SPRING! After all the snow we’ve had the past few months, it was so lovely to be out in the sunshine for two entire days. We worked on Lucy’s tree fort, dug in the mud for worms, ran around in circles until we were dizzy, laid in the grass watching the clouds and stomped around the lake shore in our rainboots. In fact, we spent most of the weekend in our boots, since along with the snow melt, we had a glorious thunderstorm on Friday night. I am in constant awe that my children are growing up with memories of this beautiful place and watching them live out their childhoods at the farm is so magical. I hope you had as much fun during your holiday and ate approximately 300 jellybeans (like I did, whoops!).

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