The Kansas Kids Closet

Tagging, packing, putting on hangers, sorting out sizes....THIS is what I'm busy with right now!!! Stress - I have so much clothes, and it has to be done by tomorrow when I have to drop it off by 6pm! This is the first time that I'll be selling stuff this way, and I hope that I will get rid of a lot before our move. I was there before Christmas and got a lot of things very cheap for the kids.

There is a lot to do to prepare, all items has to be put on hangers, sets needs to be put together with safety pins and the tags needs to be printed and tagged on with safety pins as well. All in sizes and of course this times 2 and for girl and boy department separate.

Then there is little hats, socks, mittens etc etc that needs to be put together in Ziploc bags  and taped down. I sure hope that it pays off. I have to finish this early today so I can let my neighbor that is pregnant have a look, but she doesn't know yet if they will have a boy or girl, that would make such a difference for her in what to buy! This is what a consignment sale might look like: This is what I'm looking for in toys..  pics google

More shopping..

Today I had the car as I drove Chris to work around noon, and then I went straight to Walmart and Target to get the last birthday presents ready for Cassie. I also had to buy night diapers and regular diapers, and as I had coupons that expires on March 30, I bought a lot! Well - we will use them for sure! I finally went up one size in diapers, size 3 now on day diapers. For the night diapers, they still have size 4, that's the smallest they have here..

When I was there I also picked up a few things for the twins. I had been looking for sunglasses that you put around the head with Velcro so they stay on, and I found them at Target. They also had a cute bathing suit for Isabella and surfer shorts for Benjamin with a shirt. Perfect for his sensitive skin in summer! They also had started to put out some cute onesis with Mommy theme- I'm guessing for the upcoming Mother's Day. It's not until May 8th, but still, I bought a couple that I thought were really cute. I also found two dresses for Isabella.

Shopping

Last week we did some shopping when Cassie was home at her Spring break. She has grown a lot since last summer, so she really needed some new shorts and capris for school. Here in the US they are very particular in the schools that shorts/skirts/dresses are not allowed to be too short, so all the jeans shorts that she has and still fits into she can not wear to school. A rule is that is has to be longer than the fingertips when standing up holding your arms down by your sides. If it's shorter than the fingertips, then it's not acceptable for school.

Something that they have a lot here in the US, that I know that they didn't use to have in Sweden a lot is "Skorts", skirts with shorts inside. Perfect for little girls that sits and play outside and inside and don't show off their panties and perfect for playing in the grass/sand etc! Cassie had lots when she was younger, and I will for sure buy this again for Isabella when she is a little bigger. For the bigger girls it doesn't seem to be that many options with skorts, which I think is a shame, I really liked them and so did Cassandra. Perfect for riding bikes, climbing around at the playground, in the swings etc..Anyway- I think it's fun to see clothes bought for other little ones on other blogs, so here comes some photos of what I bought:

Little Easter outfits for the twins

The hats from the Zoo

Summer onesies for the twins

Shorts for Cassie

 Shirts for Cassie

 Shirt for Cassie

Capris for Cassie

Skorts pictures google

Welcome home daddy!!

Yesterday my husband came home around noon. The ride home took a little bit longer than the ride there as they took the north route home through Colorado, so in the middle of the night they got stuck in snow, and had to call the towing truck to come and pull them over the mountain. Everything  else went smooth, and luckily they didn't have to wait that long.

It was great to see him again, we had all missed him and the twins were so excited and crawled all over him on the floor playing and having fun. Chris picked up Cassandra from school, which he never can do, and that was a great surprise for her! Here at home we took it easy in the afternoon and the kids also got really nice presents that daddy had brought with him!

Cassandra got a little bear key chain for her schoolbag, a big towel with Las Vegas on it, a purple Tshirt with the hotel Luxor on it, a pretty pink shirt with sparkles and glitter and pink sweatpants. She also got a little chihuahua, which she named Las Vegas right away...

For the twins Chris got really cute onesies with the motive "Mummy's boy" and "Mummy's girl" (due to the Egypt theme of the Luxor hotel), M&M onesies and a princess Tshirt.

And yes - I got a present too, but I didn't get a photo of that one..A beautiful bird that the princesses used to have in Egypt. We had a great night talking about everything that he had done, catching up about the kids, talking about his friends and just enjoyed being together again.

Army Wives

Writing about the military and deployments, I of course just realized that tonight there is a tragic episode of my favorite show "Army Wives". Tonight one of the wives will get the news that every spouse in the military pray that they never ever will hear. For you not living this life it might be difficult to understand and to put yourself in that position, but for us who do, every time we watch something like this - we put ourselves in the position that it could be us...The movies and series about this touches your heart in a different way when it' close to your own life.

Watch the episodes from Army Wives here.

Dear Chris

I watched the movie Dear John last night, with a few interruptions due to my two little ones that had a bad evening/night again. Anyway, back to the movie. I liked it, even if I must say that I thought it would be even better. Always when I watch movies like this, the thoughts naturally goes back to my life and the love of my life who serves in the military.

During the year 2004 I started many letters with just Dear Chris, while he was deployed in Iraq. It wasn't that many on "real" paper, but very many over email and a few cards and care packages. That was back then when internet and everything was rare over there, and the situation that they were in didn't often give them time, possibility or chance to use the internet even on days that it was up and running. Plus those days there was a long line for I don't know how many computers. There was also many days where the internet was extra shut down, especially because the military didn't want people to spread the words about losses and injuries before they had been able to contact the families.

In 2004 I was living in Germany and I didn't have my own computer. Had just moved to a small apartment and didn't have the money. I walked to the public library every chance I got, to send emails and see if there was maybe an email in my inbox from him....So many hopeful, exited walks that ended in tears on the way home, when there was nothing...Many afternoons I sat at my friend Christina's house and she was a big help for me during this time, to talk to and to be able to share my fears and hopes. I had my love in a war zone, and I didn't know from time to time if he was even OK.

From the end of January 2004 when he left California, I didn't even speak to him over the phone until he came home late October 2004. Every contact was through letters/emails. Of course you can imagine how difficult it was watching the news and living in Europe where they criticized everything the US military did there. To see all the reports of causalities and bombings and knowing that he was in one of the worst places in Iraq where it was the most critical that year.

Instead of just missing him, I didn't even get to talk to him. I didn't know all the time where he was and if he was safe. Sometimes it took 2-3 weeks in between the emails from him, sometimes it was just a short few lines, like I'm OK, don't worry. Sometimes it was page after page of reading. Sometimes he had been able to write a few on his laptop and didn't have the connection to send them off, so then it would be 2-3 at a time, and then he too (like in the movie) numbered the letters so I would know which one to read first..

Writing to him was also difficult. You want to ask about all the things that he goes through, but still you maybe don't want to hear the answer (if you would even get one, so many things are classified..) You want to ask about the worries, but still you want to keep the letters positive and upbeat. You want to complain about this and that, but nothing is as bad as what he's going through. You want to involve him if you have problems, but still you don't want to make him worry about you - he has to be totally focused on his task there and not having his mind on something else..

To love someone in the military is different. You don't just have the day to day stuff to worry about, but you worry and think so much more on the bigger picture. Love and trust, hope and fear gets a whole new meaning.

My Marine hasn't been deployed since then. He has been working in a undeployable unit at Camp Lejeune, and now we are on recruiting duty. But now we are standing at another cross road. Not knowing what the future will bring. This duty ends this fall, and we still don't know where we will be heading next. We have set our hopes for California, but we don't know if it will work out. We also don't know what unit my husband will be joining, most likely it will be a deployable unit again. "Marines deploy - that's what we do", he has told me many times especially in the beginning, and I know, that's what they do....but still you always hope that just your Marine doesn't have to. Hopefully if that does happen, we will be able to have a better contact. "No news are good news" - is something that I had to learn and that held a whole new meaning.

Maybe it will happen maybe not, but if he has to deploy again, I again will start my letters with Dear Chris...

Dear John

This is what I'm about to watch tonight. My absolute favorite movie of all times is The Notebook, and with the same author it seems like a good one. To you swedes out there, Lasse Hallstrom is the director! That is also has the theme of love and the military - of course adds the spark of interest. The fact that Channing Tatum is starring in this movie isn't that bad either.. My husband will think that this is so a chick-flick, so I'd thought I better watch it on my own with a big bowl of popcorn.

 

Storyline : While John is on leave in his hometown, he finds Savannah, a college student visiting the town. Although love was unexpected, it doesn't mean they didn't find it. With the knowledge of John having to leave for the army, their love still lives, until his re-signs on due to the 9/11 attack. Troubles invade and their love put on hold. One cannot bear it anymore; can the other?

Luxor Hotel

all pics google

This is where my husband is right now - Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas. He's having a good time with old friends on his reunion. Today he was heading out to do some shopping for the kids, he called a couple of times to make sure that he got the right sizes. Tonight they are all meeting for a steak night, and I hope that he'll have a good one. I'm not a steak person, but he is! It's the last night, he might just enjoy it, it'll probably be a while until he gets to meet these guys again.

Waffles for dinner

 Isabella enjoying her first waffle!

 

 Benjamin enjoying his first waffle!

 The chef herself!

When we came home from the post office, it was time to eat dinner and get the twins fed. While I started with the twins, Cassandra stepped in and took care of our dinner. As I had talked about the waffle day earlier with her, she asked if she couldn't make some for dinner instead. Why not? She did everything herself, I only helped getting one out of the iron as it got stuck, the rest she took care of. Setting the table accordingly with Swedish attributes as well.. We all enjoyed the dinner - and the twins could hardly believe their eyes when I gave them a piece to nibble on! After a minute or so, I had to brake it down in small pieces, otherwise they would have stuffed themselves!

Packages

After Skate Land we went shopping for party supplies, invitations and candy for the goody bags for Cassandra's upcoming birthday party. We found lots of stuff, and now she just has to write all the invitations and hand them out in School on Monday. The party will be held next Saturday, April 2, as her birthday is on the Thursday, March 31. This year she will have the party at the YMCA and have a pool party. We will invite the whole class, you can invite up to 25 people, if you want more than that, you pay extra for an extra lifeguard. I think that plenty, and I don't think that everyone in the class will be able to come anyway.

Not being able to have the car all the time, I wanted to take care of as much of these things this week, when Chris is in Las Vegas and I have the car at home.

Another thing that has been put of and I haven't been able to take care of earlier, is to send some packages by mail. My dear friend Linda's boys have been waiting for some birthday presents for a while now! Then we had wonderful news from Sweden from our friends Hans & Lotta. Their baby boy decided to come earlier than expected. We are so happy to know that Truls is doing just wonderful and is gaining weight at home! I hope he will still fit into the things when he gets his present!

Then we received even more wonderful news a couple of weeks ago. This time from Switzerland. Friends Sarah & Kofi had another beautiful baby girl!! I hope that the little things that we picked will suit her well!

I'm so glad that I finally got all the packages sent off, not so happy was the staff at the post office when I came in with the things to send off 10 minutes before closing time, and as some of you know, you need custom forms filled out and special boxes and envelopes...... It took longer than just a few minutes, but I was happy that they let me stay after closing time and get all the things ready.

picture google

A bear at Skate Land

Today we went to Skate Land for some skating in the afternoon. The kids always get free tickets from there in School to use when they have school break, and today was the last day to use it. It was cold outside, and we had to put on hats on the babies and what hats to wear when there is only winter hats and sun hats to find in the stores - I had to put on the little cotton hats (perfect for spring weather) that they wore as newborn. They were a little bit tight ofcourse to say the least, but it worked.

We had thought that a friend of Cassandra's was coming aswell, but they never called back, so we went on our own. There were several kids from school there, so she had fun with them anyway, until something happened that made the Mama bear in me come out!!

Here in the US the kids go skating without helmet. Inline skating, or on ice, always without. Hardly that they wear helmet when they go on their bike either...Anyway, I wouldn't let Cassandra go without helmet outside, so why go without just because it's inside? Cassandra has never questioned this, and I have always been super proud of her for not being shy or getting uncomfortable about it especially when nobody else is wearing one. Sometimes kids ask, and she answer them with that she wants to protect her head! We have been there skating many times and never had a problem, until today....

She was out there and I kept to the sideline with the twins in the stroller trying to get them to take their afternoon nap in the noisy place and it was very busy. Then Cassandra comes up to me tears in her eyes and tells me that a boy had been teasing her and laughing about her helmet. He had been knocking on it on his way passing by...I told her not to worry about him and ignore, and if it happened again, she should tell me right away. I kept my eyes on this guy and her almost the whole time, but when I was busy with the babies, it did happen again. He had skated really fast next to her and then knocked and laughed and asked really stupid like "do you have anything under there? Like if she has something in her head...She got so upset and I got furious!!

 Mama bear

This boy was unattended there, at least I never saw him skate by or talk to any grown ups there, being older than Cassie, I would take a guess about 11-12 or so. If I would have seen any parents I would have approached them instead of the boy. If it had been a boy in her age or younger I don't even think that she would have cared that much, she would have told him herself that he should stop etc. But being a couple of years younger than the boy, she felt bullied, upset and scared that he would come up to her again. I HAD to step in.

I tried to find him on the skating rink, but didn't see him first. A little while later I caught him. He looked really shocked that I actually approched him, and I can tell you that I really told him off. I didn't scream or anything at him, but I told him with a VERY firm voice that I was so upset with him and his behavior and that he had no reason to either tease or comment on her helmet and that he even touched her - that was way out of line. I told him that he'd better go up to Cassie (who at this point was back at skating) and give her a sincere apology and mean it - and that right away so I could see it!! I couldn't really go with him as I had the twins there. He looked at me and said like ok, and off he went and I almost thought that he would ignore me, but I followed him with my eyes and well - he did look around until he found Cassie! He went straight up to Cassie and told her that he was very sorry for saying stupid stuff and for touching her. (This she told me afterward when I asked what exactly he had said...

Ohhh, my heart melted totally when after the apology Cassie turned around looking for me with her eyes and we looked eyes and she gave me a big happy smile and I could read her lips saying: Thank you - I love you mommy!

She said on the way out of there that she was so happy to have a mom like me that cared and that I supported her and stood up for her! Always sweet heart!!! Always!!

 Mama's got your back baby!

Waffels

 
Våffeldagen, which is usually celebrated on March 25, is the feast of Marie Bebådelsedagen ( Annunciation day ). That was the day, nine months to the day before Christmas,  in Christian ideology, the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus.

As the holiday progressed, it also began to commemorate the first day of spring. Waffles come into play because on March 25th the women of Sweden would set aside their winter tasks like chopping wood and knitting, and began their spring tasks... the most notable of which was apparently preparing waffles. Swedes have found a great way of celebrating this day: eating waffles!

To be honest, I have never eaten as many waffles in my life as since I came to the US. We eat waffles or pancakes once in the weekends for a big family breakfast. With bacon, fresh fruit, eggs etc we make our own little buffet. When in Sweden the waffles are mostly thin and crispy, they are here thicker and softer. They are both good, but I do think it would be nice to have some Swedish ones again. With jam and whipped cream. Here we/some people also use maple syrup on the pancakes or waffles, and I must say that even if it's sweet, I like it!

source and pictures: google

Crispy Swedish waffles

 

American Waffles

 

I didn't have time to make some waffles for breakfast today to "celebrate" this day. Thinking about it, Cassandra actually made the waffles for breakfast last Sunday for me and her when Chris was working. Maybe she'll make them later!