Kalahurka Kiddos

Our move day is getting close.  Scary close!  It is starting to sink in that we are really going to do this!  Yikes!

Last Friday was my last day at work.  I will be honest.  It was a hard day.  I’ve worked with the same wonderful people for ten years.  They are like family.  I can’t imagine not seeing them every day.  It was difficult to say goodbye.  I’m going to miss those guys.

The Friday before was my going-away run with all of my running buddies — with the “Sisters.”  We all met up for the Austin “Midnight Moontower Run,” consisting of a 13-mile route centered around Austin’s historic moontowers and starting at midnight.  We used the time together to share our favorite running stories.  Like the time that Steve got carted off the marathon finish line in a wheelbarrow.  Like the time Clea convinced me that it would be a good idea to run 62 miles through the California hills.  Like the time a crazy owl swooped down and grabbed Meghan’s pony tail . . . . I could go on, but I’ll spare you.  If you are not a Sister, you wouldn’t get it anyway.  I’ve been running with those guys for twelve years though.  I won’t kid you, I’m going to miss them terribly.

This past Sunday, we spent our last (until our first visit in July) Sunday afternoon with Nanny & Paw Paw.   All four of my brothers and their families came over to see us off.  We spent the afternoon eating KFC (my favorite) and chasing cousins.  It’s going to be hard to be so far away from all of my family.  I sincerely hope they take us up on our invitation to come visit in KC.

And so that brings us to it.  The packing is almost done and the moving trucks will arrive tomorrow.

Next week, the Kalahurka family will be Missourians.

Is that even a word??  “Missourians??”

Somehow it does not have the same ring as “Texan.”   My guess is that the stars at night, are not quite as big and bright in Missouri.  My guess is that Missourians don’t proudly don running shorts in the image of the Missouri state flag.  My guess is that there are no parades or celebrations commemorating Missouri Independence Day . . . in fact, there is no such thing as Missouri Independence Day!

sigh

But that’s okay.  Just because you take the Texan out of Texas, it doesn’t mean you take the Texas out of Texan.  Bill promised I could bring my Texas pride with me.  Also, he assured me that this won’t somehow conflict with my being a Royals fan.  But just to make sure that the Kalahuraka Kiddos don’t forget that they were also born in Texas (and are therefore native Texans like their Mom), we grabbed the camera and hauled them down to the state capitol this past weekend for a photo shoot.  My favorites are below.

Next week’s blog from KC — Yikes Again!

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Amelia’s idea of an agreeable sibling is a sibling who agrees with her.

I have noticed in recent weeks that the Kalahurka Kiddos seem to really enjoy picking fights with each other.  For example, Billy has learned that Amelia enjoys turning off Sesame Street in the mornings when it is time to leave for school.  He has worked out how to use this knowledge to his advantage, quite effectively pushing her buttons.  Here is how his scheme plays out.  When I announce that it is time to leave for school, Billy runs to the television, places his finger on the on/off button and then looks around for Amelia.  He waits until he sees her heading for the television, and only then does he actually push the button to turn it off.   As a cherry on top, he then smiles at her and says, “No, you don’t turn it off.  I turn it off!”  Consequently, we frequently carry the Kalahurka Kiddos into preschool with Amelia crying hysterically and with Billy sporting a self-satisfied, $*it-eating grin.

But let’s not feel too sorry for Amelia.  She is reciprocates admirably.

For example, when it is time for their after-school snack and show, Amelia will wait until Billy names his show of choice and then she will quite intentionally pick something different.  She does this because she knows it will make Billy very upset.  How do I know that her choice is intended to antagonize?  Because I know which show is Amelia’s favorite, and she will outright refuse to watch it if Billy has chosen that show first.  Also, the other day I asked her first:  “Amelia, what show do you want to watch?”  And her response was a very sly, “No Mommy, ask Billy first!”  She was the picture of innocence, but I know my sweet Amelia well enough to know that she wasn’t being generous.  The sly twinkle in her eye totally gave her away.  She just wanted Billy to pick so that she could upset him by demanding something different.

I have to say that, as a somewhat-exhausted mommy who just wants one freakin‘ thing in her day to go smoothly, all of this is quite infuriating.

My sister-in-law, Ashley, has a Masters degree in Social Work and teaches parenting classes on a regular basis.  I figured she might have some ideas about how to quell the rising number of sibling disputes in our household, so I asked her about it the other night.  When I asked, I used the particular example of the Kalahurka Sibling’s after school show dispute.  Ashley’s response was, “Simple.  Just tell them that neither of them get to watch a show until they both agree on which show to watch.”  

Genius!  I couldn’t wait to try it!  Here is a quick video of the result:

Let’s just say that the experiment didn’t exactly go off without a hitch.  It also didn’t solve all of our troubles involving disagreements among the Kalahurka Kiddos.  Since instituting the enforced compromise policy, however, I have noticed that the Kalahurka Kiddos are a little less eager to start a fight.  Apparently, it’s not as much fun if victory cannot be achieved without compromise.

Whatever.  I’m counting it as a victory for mommy.

Next problem, how to get Bill to stop encouraging the children . . . one more video . . . .

This evening was nice.   Really nice.

Things seem so much more settled in our world right now, and after all of the additional stress lately, a little settling makes our usual chaos seem almost . . . well . . . relaxing.  For at least a little while, it feels like we’ve come up for air.  I’m trying to take this opportunity to breathe deeply, before we take our next inevitable plunge.

Since last week, we sold our house.  Most of our belongings are packed.  The house is clean (at least temporarily).  Work is a bit more manageable.  Bill’s job at UMKC is finalized and his semester is winding down.

We can see the end of all of the recent craziness and uncertainty.  It’s as if we’ve stepped off the tightrope and back onto solid ground.  Ahhhhhhhhh . . . . 

Tonight, the weather was really nice.   After dinner, Bill and I sat in lawn chairs in the backyard, enjoying a beer and conversation while the kids ran naked and screaming through the water sprinkler.  Now they are upstairs with Bill for their baths.  I can still hear plenty of loud bumps and naked screaming.  It’s good screaming though.  It’s good because I’m not the outnumbered adult in the wet and noisy middle.

So this past weekend was quite busy.  We sold our house (already mentioned that).  The kids and I spent Friday night at Nanny & Paw Paw’s in San Marcos and then continued on to San Antonio to meet some friends at Sea World.  After splashing in the water park, riding some rides and seeing some shows, we drove home and attended a craw-fish boil at a co-worker’s house.  Then we did projects — bubble snakes and home-made ice cream in ziplock bags (video below).  On Sunday morning, Amelia and I ran the local Bun Run & Kids’ K with some of her preschool teachers.  Then off to Nanny & Paw Paw’s again with both kiddos.  We topped the weekend off at Green Mesquite with some WST Bluegrass, delicious BBQ and a pleasant visit with our friends, Steve and Mary.

I’m exhausted, but it is a happy, satisfied kind of exhausted.  I feel like we’ve been through the ringer and come out on the other side.  I’m trying not to get too comfortable though.  This next week is going to be full of goodbyes, and that is going to be a little rough.  The reality of actually leaving all of my family, co-workers, running buddies and other friends is starting to set in.  I’m trying not to dwell on it too much.  Think positive.  Think new beginnings.  It will be okay.

Moving on.

My favorite Amelia quote from this week:  “Mommy, why are we moving to Kansas City.  Tell me the truth!”

My favorite Billy story from this week.   After watching Amelia use the potty he said, “My Turn!”  Long story short, Billy has used the potty about 4 times this week!  I’m not kidding myself that we are potty training yet, but I am pleased to realize that Amelia may be a significant asset in this effort.  Again though, I’m not going to get too excited.  I’m sure she will figure out a way to use this to her advantage, or worse, launch some kind of potty conspiracy.  She’s crafty, that little one.

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We have been frantically preparing to move.  Cleaning, organizing, boxing — packing everything up.  And in doing so, I keep wondering how in the world did we manage to pack so much into our little house on Clifford Avenue??  But probably not in the way you might think . . . .

I’m not really all that amazed about the quantity of things/belongings/junk we have accumulated.  Sure, we have lots of all of that, but it’s to be expected.  What amazes me more is how many experiences, how many memories, how many good times, how many laughs, how many tantrums, how many challenging times — in sum, how much love we have packed into just 1,300 square feet during the past six years.  Loads of it!!  That’s how much.  LOADS!

It’s hard when you are packing and sealing everything away not to think of this time as an ending of sorts.  An ending of an era, if you will.  In this particular case, a very happy era in the life of Stephanie.  And so I guess that’s what is bringing on the nostalgia, and with it, frequent flashes of sadness and even wariness.

I’ll try to explain.

As we disassembled our IKEA bookshelf this past Saturday, it reminded me of the day I moved into my little house almost exactly 6 years ago.  Bill and I went on an IKEA shopping spree just so that we could fill a small portion of what at that time seemed a huge and empty space.  I remember sitting on a bare extra bedroom floor with him, passing allen wrenches back and forth, while we puzzled out complicated assembly instructions.  That time seems so surreal to me now.  That peaceful, quiet, just-the-two-of-us time.  Little did we know, it was only the beginning of something wonderful.

Later, as I packed up our closet, I was reminded of a Wednesday afternoon in late November 2007.  That day, I came home from work to find a whole herd of monkeys waiting to take me on a scavenger hunt proposal.  I think the monkey proposal  gifts doubled our furniture inventory, and my final favorite monkey was waiting on one knee in this very closet.  It marked the beginning of the time that we would officially plan our futures together.  The beginning of Stephanie Kalahurka.  So great!

Yesterday, as I took photos of our kitchen for the real estate flyer, I had a flash-back to the night when we walked through that door from the garage carrying a very tiny Amelia.  I was exhausted, but so happy to be home!  I remember turning Amelia’s carrier around so she was facing the inside of our house and saying, “Welcome Home Little One!”   It was the first time since she had been born that being a family — being a parent — felt real.

Last night, as I rocked Billy to sleep in his room — the same room that held our IKEA bookshelves before they were crowded out by a changing table and a crib — I reflected on how many nights I sat there with him rocking, looking out the big window at the dark street below and thinking about how much bigger he seemed than just the week or month before.  But there was some comfort in that, at least here in this room, it has always been easy to just shut my eyes and conjure up the tiny Billy infant days.  The times when his head fit in my palm and when his legs didn’t hang off my lap.  When I do this, it is still easy to vividly recall sitting in the exact same spot and holding my babies.  I swear, I can feel, hear and even smell them.

It worries me that in a new house, in a different room, with different neighborhood sounds coming in from the night below, it won’t be so easy to remember.  I’m a little worried that when we move, I will lose my grip on those precious times and they will slip away from me.

It also makes me a little sad that there will be no more, “This is the spot where Billy took his first steps,” or

“There is the table where Amelia said her first Kalahurka Family Dinner Cheer,” or

“Do you remember, Dr. Kalahurka, how excited you were when you came through that door and announced that you defended your thesis?” or

“This is the toilet that Billy loved to go splashing in,” or

“There is the spot where Amelia landed the night she learned how to climb out of her crib,” or

“Do you remember that night when we sat around this table and made ooey gooey slime . . . ?”

I could go on, but you get the idea.  I also realize that I’m rambling again.  I should get to the point, so here you go.

Looking back at this post, I note that the fondest of my recollections from our little house on Clifford avenue are memories that mark big changes, and also big beginnings.  And so I guess if you flip all of this on its head — packing everything up and ending our time in Austin is just another beginning — the beginning of The Kalahurka Family Adventures in Kansas City.  I should also note that while changes and new beginnings can be scary, they are also exciting.  And that not all endings are sad.

I suppose that as long as the Kalahurkas have each other, we are capable of making many wonderful new adventures, which lead to fantastic new memories, and so there is no need to cling quite so tightly to our past.  As I continue packing then, I will try not to think of this as the end.  Instead, this is the new and exciting start of something really wonderful.  After all, we are not getting rid of all of our experiences, memories, laughs, tantrums, good times, and challenging times.  We are not getting rid of our loads of love.   We are only packing them up and moving them across the country.

It’s official.  The Austin Kalahurkas will be relocating to Kansas City in May.  This is going to be a tough transition.  I love the people I work with everyday and I also love all of my friends and family in Austin.  It will be hard not to see them as often as we do now, but Bill’s heart has always been in KC.  When an opportunity to move there virtually fell into our laps, deep down we just knew it was the right thing to do.  And so it’s official.  We are going.  YIKES!!

In large part due to the anticipated move, this weekend was an interesting one.  Bill and Billy spent the weekend in KC finalizing his interview process at UMKC and looking for a place for us to live.  Amelia and I had an official “Mommy & Me” weekend.  It was great!

On Thursday night, we went to GattiTown where we ate regular pizza, apple cinnamon pizza and even CHOCOLATE PIZZA!!  Then we played a bunch of silly games and won loads of candy and enough tickets to get Amelia a purple “My Little Pony” doll.  From there, we proceeded across the parking lot to the movie theater where we got some popcorn, more candy and sodas.  I was proud of Amelia, she and her new pony sat through the entire movie and she only asked about 57 questions.  Usually it’s twice that.  Luckily, we were the only two people in the theater, so I don’ think anyone was offended by our running conversation . . . .

Oh yeah, and when we got home, we brushed teeth.  We seriously brushed them!

On Friday night, we decided to go “Fancy.”  Amelia and I both put on fancy dresses, our “treacherous shoes” (heels) and went out for a fancy dinner at the Salty Sow.  We even made it official with a reservation.  Amelia was delighted that green eggs and ham were on the menu.  She was even more delighted about the chocolate cake that we had for dessert.  Mmmmmmmm . . . .

Then home for more serious teeth brushing . . .

I think we may have had a little toooo much fun because Amelia was a little under the weather after we got home Friday night and Saturday morning.  She perked up again on Sunday though and, by the time we retrieved Billy and Bill from the airport, she was full of stories about our “Mommy and Me” weekend.  I’m not sure who enjoyed it more.  We definitely made some great memories.

Well, I expect the next couple of weeks are going to be hectic and more than a little stressful with packing and moving and getting the house ready to sell.  When I crawled into bed last night, I noticed that Bill had a very pensive look on his face and I thought that maybe the stress was already getting to him.  I asked, “What are you thinking?”  He responded, “I’m thinking about the cubic equation . . . .” 

I guess some of us stress more than others.

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I promised you that this week’s blog would be less of me complaining and more about fun with the Kalahurka Kiddos.  Until yesterday, it was a pretty regular week.  I was beginning to worry that I wouldn’t have anything interesting to blog about.  And then last night, something REALLY fun happened.  The kids had their first spontaneous onstage performance with Austin’s Legendary WST Bluegrass Band.  But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.  Let me set the scene.

Spring has come to Austin.  The bluebonnets are in bloom.  The temps are in the 70s and the days are long.  No better way to end a weekend than to relax with a little outdoor BBQ, a beer and some Texas bluegrass.  So you can guess what my answer was when my buddy Steve invited our family out to Green Mesquite for an evening of just that.

If you have never been to Green Mesquite on Sunday evenings, you should go.  They have an outdoor patio with picnic tables.  The kids get sidewalk chalk to play with while you order dinner.  And best of all, WST Bluegrass (a legendary Austin band complete with banjo, mandolin and fiddle) provides a background of gospel, bluegrass and other southern favorites.

We had a great time visiting with Steve and watching the kids dance to the bluegrass music.  Then, to top off the evening, the band invited the little ones up to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  I didn’t think the Kalahurka Kiddos would go for it, but boy was I wrong!  They stepped right up to the mic and belted it out.  Billy got stuck in the back for the first round, so not to be outdone, he made his way forward for a solo encore performance before relinquishing the stage.

We managed to catch a little of the evening on video.  I’ll put it in below.  Thanks, Steve, for such a good time and for some really fun memories!!  

Finally, if you have a little more time, I’m also posting  a link to our family Easter movie.  Billy was much less disturbed by the Easter Bunny this year!