I Heart Independence: Football

Whenever there is a home game, the whole town shows it's school spirit. There is only one high school here and everybody knows someone that plays. If they don't know somebody, it doesn't even matter. Gamedays, everybody and their dog (literally) is dressed in Orange and Black. Go Bulldogs!!!

I Heart Independence: Bella Vita

Last Friday Corky and I went to a great Italian resturaunt here in town that was FABULOUS! Our neighbor watched our kids while we enjoyed a lovely evening of wonderful food while checking out the amazing architecture. This resturaunt is located in the Hotel Booth. I only know small details of it's history, but the age itself makes it fascinating. It was built in 1911 and is now kept as an apartment building. It is also the home of my new favorite sit-down resturaunt in town, Bella Vita. And Italian food isn't even my favorite. Not to mention, we felt we were at a fancy dinner place but walked out of there spending less than $20. For all of that, I ate the best pizza of my life and Corky had an amazing chicken parmesan sub sandwich.


Corky and I looked at the floors and fancy moldings, and tried to imagine what kind of events took place in that room so long ago. It is definitely one of those places where you think, "if only walls could talk!" We imagined well dressed folks arriving for fancy dinner parties and receptions. I thought of the rich oil tycoons that were so frequent to this town, coming to the bar to wind down for the day.



I didn't want to look too touristy by taking so many photos, so I kept my flash off for some of these photos. I lightened them a little so they may look a little grainy, but they'll give you a small idea of how neat that place was.




I heart Independence.

Miss Emily's Back to School Survey

Emily

Age: 3
Height: 29 1/4 "
Weight: 35 lbs
Hair color: dirty blonde

Favorites:
Animal: dog

Food: Sah-getti (spaghetti), pepperoni pizza, and cheese pizza

Game: Hi Ho Cherry -O!

Toy: a pretend snake

Thing to do: Play one of my games

Book: The Sleeping Tiger Book (DK Bedtime Peekaboo!)

Color: green and pink and purple and white and brown and black

Movie: Mickey Mouse and Special Agent Oso. And Enchanted too! (finally got a movie in there!)

Song: "Baby, just say yes!" (Taylor Swift "Love Story")

Primary Song: I Lived in Heaven

My best friend is: Ashton and Mason

Other friends I like to play with: Jake and Easton even though

they spray me with water guns

Things I like to do with my friends: Excercise and play with them and ride bikes. (can you tell I send them out the door to "play and get exercise!" haha)

If I had a pet it would be a: dog

named: Belle

What people like about me: "They know my name and know that I am awesome because

I am 3!" (hahaha her exact words)

Things I can do really well: I pretend books are computer and I dance like this *proceeds to shake her booty and shoulders. trust me, it's hilarious!*

This girl had her first day of preschool today. How is that even possible? With her silly personality really pouring out lately, this is how all the recent pictures of her look like.

I love it.

She walked in and knew just what to do. She found her name, hung her backpack up, then went and picked out a puzzle and started playing quietly. (I am hoping that tidy behavior can begin happening more often at home!)

2 Wheels!!

Emily and Gracey LOVE to ride their bikes outside. Gracey has been on just 2 wheels for a while now and Emily has never vocalized a desire to try her bike without training wheels. She's only 3. We don't do "Bicycle Boot Camp" and yell obscenities until their 4th birthday. Just kidding.

Corky and I were both excited to hear her mention it and Corky took the opportunity to take the training wheels off immediately. I held the video camera while Corky did the whole "not letting go" thing. I haven't uploaded the videos yet to my computer or I would post them because it is hilarious. You basically see Emily, like all other kids learning to ride a bike, insist that her bike isn't let go of. Then it is let go, the child realizes it, then falls. She didn't want to try again.


Finally I urge her to come watch the playback on my camera and she can actually see she did it for a split second. So we convince her that that split second was the coolest thing in the world and I tell her to try again as I videotape so she can come watch again. That happened over and over. Get on the bike, watch the video, back on the bike, watch the video, until finally, Emily was zooming up and down the street!


I usually describe Emily as not the outgoing one of my children (did that make any sense?), but since moving here to Kansas, and she has really opened up to trying new things. It makes us so happy and proud!

And of course, here is Gracey. She has been a pro on the bike for a while. Just tonight she showed us her new trick. She gets the bike going, then puts both legs up and rests on the bar. She is dangerous and hilarious.

It's also a special day because Corky turned 31! We love him. A lot. Happy Birthday, old man!

I Heart Independence: The Carrousel

There is a great park here in Independence, and I am talking real great. One of the highlights of the park that my girls have enjoyed is the carrousel. Now that Labor Day has come and gone, the house of operation are quite minimal, but we look forward to regular visits next year.

Get this...only $.05 a ride! There is a city statute that says that price will never rise. The girls love to go up with their nickels and dimes and buy their own tickets and I get to watch them absolutely enjoy themselves for the price of next to nothing!

This carrousel was put together I believe in the summer of 1950! 60 years later, it is still being used and loved! I found some awesome old pictures of the construction. Of course, I am emotionally attached to this place already, so these pictures are really great to see!



I heart Independence.

Lunch with Emily

Little Miss Emily doesn't start preschool until next week, and even when it starts, she will go only twice a week. She is the youngest kid on our street and the only one not in elementary school, so her and I have a lot of time to hang out.

Gracey started school yesterday, giving Em the first real taste of not playing with kids all day. Since moving here, she hangs out with Gracey and all the other kids non-stop. I didn't want her day to suck too bad (is suck a bad word to anyone? I use it regularly) so we drove to Corky's work, about 30 minutes away, to pick him up and go to lunch.

We went to Braum's, my new favorite place, and had a fun time.


Today is our 2nd day of just the two of us and I must say, I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. I was sure that I would struggle keeping her entertained, but so far so good. She is my best little buddy and helps me with everything. I will post a picture or two of our adventures this afternoon making 4 meatloaves!

Miss Gracey's Back to School Survey

Gracey

Favorites:
Food: Ramen Noodles
Game: Chutes and Ladders
Toy: "Pretty much all baby dolls and my kitchen!"
Thing to do: Playing with friends

Book: My princess book. (A large book full of stories of all the Disney princesses)
Color: Pink and Red
Movie: Alice and Wonderland (the new Tim Burton movie)
Song: My Little Pony song
Primary Song: Follow the Prophet

My best friend is: Mason (the new neighbor girl)
Other friends I like to play with: Jake, Easton, Ashton (all of our new next door neighbor kids)
Things I like to do with my friends: Ride bikes and scooters and find mysteries
If I had a pet it would be a: cat

named: Sleeping Beauty
What people like about me: "They like my blond hair and my name. They like that I...ummm...that's pretty much all!"
Things I can do really well: "I ride my bike really well and I do hard work really well. Like, I make my bed every day, and that is hard!"

This little lady had her very first day of Kindergarten and she loved it. She was so excited to be there that after every picture I took she would say, "Bye Mom!"

I wasn't quite ready to leave just yet so I snapped another picture. Once again, "Bye Mom!"

After about four "Bye Mom's" I figured it was time. I sure do love that kid!