Play Ball!

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing #20 for the Jr Olathe Cardinals, Kian Payne!

Great weekend at the ballpark for these kids and they all played so good and had a ton of fun. Let the "games" begin.

Urban Gardening

Yesterday we went and picked out some flowers for the yard and flower pots to get ready for spring. Ki ran across this strawberry plant and instantly went nuts over it. He asked if he could buy a small pot to plant it in, but like normal I seem to take it to the next level. I didn't take it too overboard though, just a little bigger than a small flower pot. I basically used cedar fence pickets and built a basic box and lined the bottom and edges with plastic. I thought it would be fun to make this little project truly his so I put his name and the year it was established on the box as well. He helped with the whole thing and already ate one strawberry from the plant (he made sure he found a plant with an already ripe strawberry on it)

This will be his little project so we'll get to see if he gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor.....get it, fruits of his labor, because strawberries are......nevermind. I'll keep you up to date.

Make Some Memories

This morning I woke up quite a bit earlier to get a head start on the morning commute and hopefully an earlier start to a half day of work. It was the normal routine, shower, shave, coffee, etc. But this morning had a different, familiar feel to it. As I backed out of the garage a sense of calmness and deep satisfaction overwhelmed me. It wasn't until I was on the highway that I figured out what kind of memories I had of mornings like this.

Just before the sun was rising I was passed by a car that had a family of four in it. In the back seat were two kids rummaging through a fast food bag probably digging through and handing out the breakfast they got for the ride. This really brought back some great memories of family vacations. Waking before dawn, before the sun even thought about waking up, helping my Dad meticulously pack the car, the birds chirping so loud it was almost piercing at times, the morning dew all over the car and that cool morning air. It was an awkward feeling, a feeling of almost sickness because you were up so early but you were so fired up about the vacation that you couldn't stand it. I remember my parents rounding up us kids and taking one last walk through the house making sure everything was turned off and put away and locked and safeguarded. I remember being old enough to ride co captain on that first leg of the early morning trip pretending to know where we were, probably talking my Dads ear off, wondering why some houses never mowed their yard, and anxiously awaiting that first stop of the morning.....MCDONALDS!!!

We would always stop at a McDonalds about 2 -3 hours into the trip for breakfast. This is were we would get out and stretch and start waking up to take on the day. This is where me and my sisters would get in to our first round of trouble because we would get all giddy and slap happy and annoy Mom and Dad. This is where we would say stupid words that would stick with us for years. This is where memories were made.

As I watched this family pass me this morning I hoped that that little bag of breakfast would bring as much joy and happiness and memories as it brought us.

Happy Easter everybody, make some memories.

Photo by Leo Patrone

Kinfolk Magazine

You Never Forget Your First

Ki has had a wiggly tooth for the last few weeks or so and he has been so anxious about it, asking lots of questions about how it will come out, will it hurt, bleed, etc. Well last night my Mom came into town and we went to Olive Garden for dinner, which was lovely (any old school fans out there?). After a round of bread sticks and toasted ravioli, the little chocolate Andes mints were delivered. Ki immediately tore into one and during his first bite, out came his first tooth. You would have thought he took his first steps all over again. We became the giddy, overly eccentric parents taking pictures and causing an over the top obnoxiously happy scene. He did good though and after the initial shock wore off, he got a little nervous about the tiny bit of blood and tried real hard to regain his composure. I got up and took him to the bathroom to rinse his mouth out and word had already started to spread around the restaurant. Every waiter/waitress, greeter, patron that we passed asked "Did you lose your first tooth?" and rewarded him with more chocolate mints. It was a really funny ordeal and really made me proud of him for how he handled it and graciously reaped all the chocolate rewards.

Now he has a quirky little lisp and he sucks in his bottom lip through the opening. I left this morning before I heard the final figure on what the tooth fairy left for him,but I'm sure he made out pretty good.

There's a tooth in his hand, it's just small, if you look closely you probably still can't see it. You get the idea.

Before bed, excited for the tooth fairy, you would've thought Santa was on his way.

February Happenings

When I started this whole blogging thing I thought " Man, this will be so fun and easy. Blogging everyday, showing pictures and projects. Blah Blah Blah!" It seems to be a little tougher than what I expected. The winter months are slow for projects, for me at least. I really have no excuse other than it's winter and it really hasn't dropped below 40 degrees and is hasn't snowed and it's been sunny for the most part. So basically I have no excuse except for pure laziness.

Here are a few things that have happened so far in February. Misty and I took a trip to Chicago for her birthday. It was a blast but guess what, the only pics I have are of an old fashioned made with lime, my new Red Wing boots, and the Carhartt store in Wicker Park which was amazing I might add.

Then it was Mistys "real birthday" and we came home to a fully decorated kitchen with streamers, a cake, and a little art from Ki. It was awesome and sweet and he could barely hold in the excitement.

We had parent/teacher conferences that week as well. I took a couple pics of the art that the kids do in class and it blows me away. The way each little brain interprets the way he or she draws or paints or glues or builds, its awesome.

Then it was Valentines day. Ki wanted to build a robot, but as we started I said "This kind of looks like an army tank." That's all it took to change the direction. Misty said the morning that she dropped him off for school he got real shy and worried about what the teacher and principal might say about having a tank at school. She assured him that it would be fine and it turned out to be a big hit. Here's the "Love Tank" and the soldier that was blowing up hearts (cheese) on Valentines day. He was giving me that Dad I'm tired and don't want my picture taken look.

Dad, I wanna look good....

Last Friday night Misty had to work late so me and Ki met here for dinner. He got all excited after he got to pick the place and said " dad, I wanna look good tonight. " I told him to go pick out what he wanted to wear and this is what he came up with. Not too bad if you ask me. He borrowed one of my watches and little bit of cologne and he was ready to rock it. Needless to say he pretty much had every girl in the place giving him compliments all night long....stud!

Pre Birthday Bash

Ki loves hotels. He gets so excited when we get to go to a big city or a beach somewhere and stay in a hotel. This past weekend we surprised him with a little "get away" (only about 10 miles away from our house) for his birthday. There is a new aloft hotel in Leawood that is very trendy and really out of the norm for that area, I don't think I saw one Van Dyke Brown wall or Espresso colored matching tables or wrought iron spindles anywhere. Lots of cool decor and best of all....a pool.

We started the day at a holiday kids fest that had blow up jump play things, live kids music, and all the rude stroller pushing militant horribly dressed worn out suburban moms you could ever wish to see. He jumped and played and danced and got free candy and other swag and I kept a lookout for these evil four wheeled carts full of whiny children that kept running into my ankles.

Next stop was the hotel. As we pulled into the parking garage he got sooooo excited and said " YES! We are staying at a hotel!" We checked in, got our room, people watched for a half hour or so, went swimming for a while (really cool raised infinity type edge pool all the way around might I add), then got ready and went to one of his favorite places California Pizza Kitchen. Went back to the hotel and played some pool and then after about an hour or so and a 30 degree drop in the weather we remembered there was a new gellato place that opened up so we got bundled back up and finished the evening with some awesome gellato.

It was a fun day and he really enjoyed every minute of it. Happy Pre Birthday dude.

The Midnight Hour Is Close At Hand

The Halloween bug has finally hit our house. Me and Ki decorated the other night....well more like I put stuff where he told me too. My niece and nephew visited a few weeks ago and I had the kids make these styrofoam and cheesecloth ghosts. I got the idea by walking past a Pottery Barn store and peeking in and saying "Are you freaking kidding me, I can make those!" They look cool when there is a light breeze and almost dark....MUUUAAAAAHHHHHHHAAHHHH!!! (evil laugh) The skeleton and spider are leftover from last year but the spider webs are a new addition and kind of fun to work with. Trick or Treaters beware, this is one scary house.

Last weekend we hit up the pumpkin patch. My wife's cousin and her husband own a ton of land in the river bottoms just outside of Jefferson City. A few years ago they started a pumpkin patch fully equipped with a corn maze, hay rides, livestock, sugary snacks, the list goes on and on. It has become a very successful adventure and they do a great job at keeping everything in order and running smoothly. We went out and cut our own pumpkins and loaded up the wagon and hauled these bad boys back home to KC. Thanks Kim and Jay @ Fischer Farms Pumpkin Patch. You guys are rocking it and it's a great vibe.

This year we decided to just paint the pumpkins instead of carving and I think they turned out pretty cool.

***EGO BOOST ALERT**** I did my annual haunted house painting...but seriously look at how cool Ki's pumpkins turned out.