The Wild Wild Midwest

This year the weather in Kansas has been off the charts!  Blizzards, ridiculously cold below 0 temperatures and wind chills, and lately tornadoes!  We have lived in tornado alley before when we were stationed at Fort Sill, OK, and yes you expect tornadoes and stormy spring weather in Kansas, but this is just insane, especially when you are alone with 3 kids! 

We had one very bad scare here when we were under a tornado warning, and not 3 minutes after the warning posted our tornado sirens went off.  The sirens don't go off when there is just a warning, they only go off if a funnel cloud is in the area. 

We don't have a basement in our house, so our "safe spot" is in the bathroom.  Right before the warning posted Rory and I gathered all of our supplies and put them in bathtub, these included shoes for everyone (since the kids were already in their pajamas), snacks, water and a first aid kit.  We also got the cat carrier out so we could take Chloe in with us.  I gave a call over to our neighbors to make sure they knew about the weather warnings, as her husband was out of town for the night.  Now, Rory knows that the neighbors have a basement, and as soon as Rory figured out who I was talking to, she screamed "I'm going to our neighbors basement".  Molly (our neighbor) had asked if we had wanted to come over, but I at first, didn't want to risk it, Rory however as soon as she heard the invite opened the front door and as soon as she pushed the screen door open the tornado sirens went off.  Her feet I swear never touched the ground as she high tailed it to their front door.  I, of course, was struggling with Brendan and the bag of supplies on one harm, and Jack holding onto the other hand.  I didn't even have time to shut the door as I knew I didn't have any keys with me!  We rushed into the neighbors and hurried into the basement.  Poor Rory had no color in her face and was shaking like a leaf!  We, the adults, tried to stay as calm as possible, if it was even possible.  About an hour later we had the all clear and we headed home back to our own home.  Needless to say I had a full bed of 3 kids and a cat that night!

Since then we have been super-ultra prepared for the tumultuous week of weather that was to come.

Our supplies...

My weather watchers...

Fortunately, we never had a touchdown in our immediate area, however all around us there were communities that were devastated by tornadoes.  Those areas included Reading, KS (2 hours to our southwest, this was also the same storm that came over us and triggered the tornado sirens), Joplin, MO (3 hours to our south) and Sedalia, MO (2 hours to our southeast).  I had a list of items that these areas were in need of so I got my coupons out and made a list of things to buy.  Rory saw what I was doing and she came up with an idea.  She knew that in her purse she had some gift cards that she had received for her birthday and for Easter (as did the boys) and she suggested that we use the gift cards too because "If we had a tornado I would want other people to help give us stuff that we needed." Made me a very proud mama.

Our loot to donate!

Now, in the true Kilbride spirit as well as the saying "No good deed goes unpunished", as soon as we had loaded all of this stuff into the car, and I was loading the kids in still basking in the glow of what wonderful caring kids I have, Rory stats using her markers to decorate the wall of the backseat and Jack makes his attempt to bolt into the middle of the parking lot.  Oh well, such is life, and in the end it was a very good day, and I'm glad my kids were quick to remind me that while they are great kids, they aren't perfect, just like their mom!

Here's to a quiet summer, weather wise!

Last day of school

Just a little comparison of the first and last days of school.

Rory:

First Day: August 18, 2010

Last Day: May 26, 2011

Brendan:

First Day: October 27, 2010

Last Day of School: May 26, 2010

Rory is 6!!

It's hard to believe that 6 years have passed so quickly...

Mystery Reader

At Rory's school, parents were invite to come in and be the Mystery Reader of the day.  April 29 Bryan was Rory's mystery reader, and through the technical difficulties, you can still she the pure joy and surprise in her face of Daddy being there.

The Next Generation of Royal Wedding Watchers

I have successfully passed down a family tradition....watching royal weddings!  Now, anyone who knows Rory knows that she is obsessed with Disney Princesses, the movies, the dress up and all the accessories.  When she found out that there are real life Princes and Princesses, well it was a whole new ballgame!

I too have to admit that I love anything Royal, starting with Princess Diana's wedding in 1981.  I remember it clearly, and I remember collecting anything that had to do with it!  I still have the little purple book from the Royal Wedding!  So when the collection of Princess Diana's dresses came to Kansas City I thought it was a good opportunity to share the moment with Rory!  So off we went to see the dresses of a real life Princess!

It was really something to watch her eyes light up in amazement when she saw all of these things that once belonged to a Princess.  The best part was when we went into the room with the wedding gown.  Now, yes the dress was very 1980's, but holy smokes it really is quite impressive!  At the back of that room they had a television that showed video from the wedding, of Diana getting out of the glass carriage and walking up the steps to St. Paul's Cathedral with her train behind her.  Rory couldn't take her eyes off of it!  There were several other older ladies in there at the same time, and they all made sure they stood behind her and were just watching her reaction and listened to her ask me several questions.  When we turned to leave these ladies all had huge smiles on their faces saying things like "Wasn't that something special" and I really couldn't tell if they were talking about the wedding or Rory's reaction to it.

Of course during the exhibit you have to go through a few rooms that house just some of the memorial books that people signed and then a room that had video of the funeral, and that's when I had to explain to her that Princess Diana died in a very bad car crash.  She seemed fine with that very simple explanation, and then off we went to see the rest of the very "fancy and sparkly" dresses.  I was so happy that I was able to share that experience with her, even though the one thing she told people about our trip to that exhibit was that "I saw Princess Diana's dresses and she DIED in a really bad car crash when all the glass hit her".  Ah, the joys of being 5.

On Easter Sunday night in preparation for the Royal Wedding on Friday a cable channel ran the Diana and Charles wedding, and I swear Rory watched it that night and every other night leading up to Prince William's wedding.

That's her all snuggled up on the couch watching Charles and Diana's wedding

Then the day of the REAL royal wedding arrived.  I did not wake Rory up to watch it live, as I like her Kindergarten teacher too much!  So I admit that I did get up, made my coffee and ate my croissant at an ungodly hour, and I loved every second of it!  By the time it was time to get the kids up and ready for school the wedding party was on it's way out of Westminster Abbey and back to Buckingham place, so like any good mother, I let Rory eat her breakfast sitting on the coffee table watching the coverage.

Later that night, Rory and I donned our most appropriate Royal Wedding attire, made Princess Tiara cookies and settled in to watch the whole wedding.

It was quite an experience from beginning to end, and I hope one day she tells her daughter that she remembers watching the Royal wedding with her mom, or maybe she'll tell her that her mother was nuts, which would be accurate too!

The most selfless act of kindness

I will forever remember this moment of pure joy and happiness for my daughter and for myself I will remember this selfless act of kindness for the rest of my life, and I can only hope that I will be able to pay this one forward.

Every year the Knights of Columbus at our Parish host a Father-Daughter Dinner/Dance.  Of course the first weekend they made the announcement after mass my heart sank, was Rory going to hear this, was she going to want to go, how do I explain again that Daddy can't be here for it and that there is always next year.  At this point in the deployment we have both grown weary of the explanations of why Daddy can't be there always followed by sobbing tears. In the end, we got through that Sunday without Rory hearing about it, and I was safe for the following Sunday because we went to mass at another Church.

The next Sunday, there was that moment again, and I knew she heard the announcement that time. I saw her ears perk up and smile come across her face, my heart was now in my shoes.  Then came the most incredible moment.  Our neighbor Ryan scooted his way next to me right after the announcement from the altar and whispered to me "Would it be OK with you if I took Rory to the Father-Daughter Dance with Audrey and I?"  Well, the flood gates opened and I couldn't stop crying.  To me, this was the most selfless act of kindness that I had ever experienced.  Ryan offered to give up his special time with his daughter Audrey to take Rory along with them.  I was beyond speechless. 

Rory took her Daddy along with her

Ryan, his daughter Audrey and Rory

Rory and Ryan and Daddy

Being a military family isn't easy, and being a military child is even more difficult.  As an adult I can express my emotions and I understand my feelings of loneliness, isolation, stress and worry.  I can ask for help.  Kids, especially the ages that our kids are, have no idea what to do with their emotions and even though in Rory's lifetime of all almost 6 years, her daddy has been away for about 2 years and that's no including nights in the field and weeks in Washington DC.  She has been so great and understanding of why Daddy can't physically can't be there at some things, but she is very proud of her Daddy and she is a Daddy's girl.  So when it came to the Father-Daughter Dance I think only another military Dad could understand how a little girl feels, and Bryan and I will forever be grateful to Ryan and his family who have made this deployment a little bit easier.

Spring Break

It seems sooooooo long ago, well it was over a month ago, but it's worth recapping the week, at least I think so!

We started off by going to see the Imagination Movers in Concert in Kansas City!  They are a kids group that have a show of the Disney Channel and my kids are addicted to them.  They have songs that the whole family can listen too, and Bryan and I don't get annoyed with hearing them over and over.  So off we went, and yes I took all 3 kids by myself, and yes I am crazy, but I knew that they would all Love it, and they did not disappoint!

Rory and Brendan posing by the concert sign...Jack didn't want to be photographed!

3 of the 4 Movers, Scott, Rich and Smitty

The other big event of Spring Break was celebrating St. Patrick's Day, which is a HUGE day in our house.  This year we had some very special visitors....My best friend for over 15 years Becky and her youngest daughter Juliette!!!  Here they all are patiently waiting for the parade to start...don't they look sweet and innocent!

 

A trip to Leavenworth must include the Carousel Museum...Juliette wasn't too sure about that

Rory was right at home

Juliette, Jack and Brendan were a little happier in the "Twisty Seat"

Of course the favorite thing was the quarter tornado...

The week went by all too quickly, but it was so great to have such wonderful visitors and the kids had such a great time!!