#RoyalCelebration Recap: Heading to Downtown KC with a Crew of Fourteen!!! Part One #FriendlyBlueWalkingDead

So for those of you living under a rock, THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS WON THE WORLD SERIES SUNDAY NIGHT! My family listened to the games from before the playoffs on, we watched the games we could, we cheered the Royals on, we wore our blue, we did our chanting and our clapping and our superstitiousness and WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS for 2015!!!

For those of you familiar with National Lampoon's Vacation, this was fitting because the city shut down! Schools were cancelled, work was cancelled in many cases, our religious ed classes were cancelled, people called in sick and took vacation days to attend the parade and rally for our Royals on Tuesday, November 3, 2015.

Okay, so our morning started with me singing a song to get my kids out of bed. It went something like this:

"People say we are BRAAAAVE to go to the parade today,
But I saw we are CRAAAAZY,
Maybe kinda STUUUUUPID ...
Wake up!"

We knew if we did not have kids we would have been Downtown at 6 a.m. with all the other nutjobs but you can't do that with this many kids if you want to maintain a shred of sanity so we picked up our friends at 10 a.m. The parade was supposed to start at noon with the rally at Union Station at 2. Our original plan was we were to be dropped off as close to the parade as possible then I would park the van SOMEWHERE and hoof it back to my posse. But then friends and the news had us all freaked out about parking and it seemed like I wouldn't be able to park my huge van anywhere within miles of the city. So we opted to give the shuttle a try, even though we heard how long the lines were for those.

First stop: pick up our friends the Connors. Oh, and Julia was out of school and she's our go-to plus-one, so she is there also. My 12-passenger held 14 but don't tell the cops.

My gorgeous friend Jill. You know if she puts up with me she must be awesome and ever-patient.

We parked at Loose Park and walked to the Country Club Plaza. So far so good, still in good spirits.

A quick pit stop on some historical figures

Photo courtesy: Jill Connors ... the line for the shuttle bus to Downtown wrapped AROUND an entire city block and also wound down into the parking garage. At this point we were still happy but thinking maybe we had lost our minds.

Come back for Part Two to find out how our crazy idea went ... how long did we wait? How far did the bus take us? What will we do differently next year when we win again? How did the kids do walking (spoiler alert) EIGHT MILES PLUS IN ONE DAY? Did we see any of the parade? The rally?

Was it all worth it?

ABSOLUTELY!

Why Do Kids Say They Don't Know When They Clearly Freaking Do? #IDontKnow

"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" for a Big Family

I had heard of this book before, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, many times. I was intrigued. I wonder, how is it different from other books I have read on organizing? The other day my friend Jill said she was reading it and that is was really making her think about getting rid of a lot of things and that she knew it would help with her peace of mind in general. That sounded goooood to me as well! (disclaimer: I have now figured out that if you buy the book from my site using the link below I might make a few cents)



I mean, I feel like I've gotten rid of a lot of things over the years. And we don't hit every gift shop on the way out of every zoo anymore ... I'm not trying to buy my kids' love so much anymore or spoil them with presents because presents take over our smallish house with seven people living in it. So I have put the brakes somewhat on buying things and acquiring things for the kids and I have given away a lot of my own stuff but we still have a lot, especially that "just in case" stuff and "aspirational" stuff like smaller or bigger clothing and books I may or may not read someday.

So I feel like I have a PRETTY GOOD grasp on the whole "get rid of crap" concept. So much so that I see other people's clutter lately and I am itching to help organize it and carry half of it to the recycle bin and another 25% to Goodwill. I feel like if I had a psychology degree I could really be a professional organizer and help some people out for a side job!

As usual, I digress.

So I have this book on hold as an audiobook at the library. I'm hoping to get it soon so I can walk and learn how to awesome-size my life. Mr. Kerrie would certainly be happy if I did this. I hear the author has no kids herself and thinks the purge should be a MAJOR EVENT, but kids outgrow crap so we'll have to make this MAJOR EVENT happen probably twice a year.

I'll just apply her ideas to kids and see how we do; I hear she has tips for organizing children and those with ADD, which I seriously have a touch of. My mom doesn't believe me but I'm like, "Mom, how many times did you guys call me SIDETRACK and ride me for getting lost in trying to clean up my room?" I'm the same way at 44 only probably a bit worse and focus is like a 4-letter word in my world unless I'm working on a writing project or really in the zone with homeschooling or something. So it sounds like the author has tips for those of us who can't fathom tackling a huge project like this and suggests things like (I'm totally making this up) "organize just the spoons in the drawer, not ALL the silverware."

Check out this quote then go buy the book!

I'll probably have to write my own version for those with kids and then for those with big families for inexpensive, self-published ebook world where I live!

Teaching Kids to Slam Medicine Like a Shot

Do Not Eat My Son's Snack Cake #funnykids #bigfamilyproblems

*Michael is my most mild-mannered kid, the quietest and also hilarious. I opened the fridge to this yesterday morning and couldn't stop laughing. I did not eat the snack cake, that's for sure. (it's something he does where he coats and Oreo with some cream cheese and sugar concoction)