ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

We've been in Wichita just over a year now and have had a chance to kind of learn our way around and figure out what we do and don't like about living here so far. So here's my top 10 things I like about Wichita (so far).

10. Movie theaters. Drive-in theater and Warren Theaters. I always think drive-ins are cooler than they are but it's nice to have one to go to when we want. Warren Theaters are just really nice. Love them. Love that each theater is different and has various advantages over others. Love that there's an ice cream shop inside the one by our house. Love that there's one within walking distance of our house.


9. Small airport. Easy to get in and out of.

8. Milder temps. The heat in Texas didn't bother me too much but it's nice that even when it's 102 during the day here, you can count on it being in the 70s early in the morning. That helps when we're heading out on an 8 mile run. And when you're trying to grow things.

7. Super convenient trash pickup. Don't laugh! They pick it up right by our house and we don't even have to take it to the curb!

6. Exploration Place. Love visiting there which is why we are season pass holders.


5. The kids' schools. They have been awesome so far. So much different from the Texas schools.

4. I can breathe. For whatever reason (less stress, better air quality, both?), I can really breathe here which is what lead me to start running.

3. My job. I love where I work and I have the best coworkers. Never imagined a place where I'd get to be my (weird) self at work. Now I can.

2. Having local family. We've never really had people near us and now that we do, we realize we were missing out. It's NICE, y'all.

1. Easy drive to Kansas City!!!

Everybody here rides the bus so I won't have pics of Blake at the school, just at the bus stop. The kids at his bus stop are really nice and a few years older then he is - one 4th grader and two 5th graders. One of the 5th graders is the next door neighbor boy who Blake adores and is so polite. "Would you like me to walk Blake home after we get off the bus?" Sigh. Sweet kid.




I may or may not have teared up walking back home. Everything Blake does is like a mourning process on some level, knowing it's our last child to ever do that thing. So happy for him though - he's ready for first grade.

1.) We have never balanced our checkbook. We know how, we just don't.
2.) Blake and I don't like museums unless they are interactive. Or zoos.
3.) Our kids don't eat sandwiches. Or cereal. Andy and I love both.
4.) We all take naps. At least a couple of times a week.
5.) We've never been to Chicago. I think everybody we know has. We hope to go next year.
6.) Other than music, our house is very quiet in the morning. No TV, very little talking.
7.) We've never cursed in front of the kids except once last fall when I missed a turn and said the "d" word. Payton said "I KNEW you had it in you!"
8.) Stupid and shut up are considered curse words at our house.
9.) We never go into our backyard. Ever. Also have never used the hot tub that's on and ready to go. We go to parks, we go on bike rides, we walk but we never go into our backyard.
10.) We think our house is too big. We'd be good townhouse people especially given the previous item. The extra rooms we hoped to use for company usually go unused especially since Andy's family usually stays with Bob and Nicki.
11.) We have 8 loads of laundry per week. We don't know anybody else who has as much laundry as we do for 4 people.
12.) We've never owned a new car and probably never will.
13.) Our kids aren't allowed TVs or computers in their room (the TV you saw in Payton's room has rabbit ears and won't work after January. It's not hooked up to anything including satellite or a DVD player.)
14.) Although we love gadgets, we aren't early adopters of anything. We wait for them to come down in price. And I really don't like big TVs regardless of price.
15.) We always have music on in the house even when we aren't home. I like to come home to a house that feels "alive" so the music stays on 24/7.
16.) We don't watch the news. After 9/11 I felt the news was just too anxiety-inducing so we just started reading it instead. I never knew what Kerry's voice sounded like until the debates. We do watch election coverage and I can see us watching more and more news again. I love good reporters but with Tim Russert gone there's even fewer left.
17.) Clothes with words across the butt are not allowed. Especially for Andy. You know how he is.
18.) We talk to each other via cell in our house. Going up or down two flights of stairs when you're tired is too much to do sometimes.
19.) No rewards or punishment for school achievements. We want the kids to be self-motivated and not depend on us for their motivation. We can't accompany them to college. That being said, if grades or behavior ever got bad, we may have to figure out how to help fix it but it's never come up.
20.) As I've talked about before, allowance isn't tied to chores at our house. Learning to handle money and contributing to the household are different things in my mind.
21.) When we hear a phone ring, we very often don't answer it. Blake never even flinches like some kids I've seen who will say "answer it, answer it!" We call back later.
22.) We like to play games but never patronized the kids by playing the little kids games. All kids can play Uno!
23.) Payton begs us for a baby sister and Blake begs us for another dog. Life's a *&@(&, ain't it? :)
24.) If we leave the kids alone for more than an hour, Payton gets paid to watch Blake. Blake gets paid (a smaller amount) to listen to Payton. Any period of time under an hour is just called "being helpful."
25.) At dinner, we all take turns telling one thing that happened that day. Getting Blake to be serious and getting Payton to share is sometimes a challenge. I also thinks it helps the kids see us as regular people who have good and bad times throughout the day just like they do.
26.) I hate when the kids have homework. Hate it. We are so busy and I hate when the school takes up our evening time for schoolwork. Luckily the schools here recognize that so it's not as bad as it was in Texas but I know some parents who actually like it when their kids have homework.
27.) We tell the kids it's ok to hit back if they are hit. Doesn't make us very popular with teachers but also doesn't make our kids very popular as bully victims. Luckily it hasn't had to be tested.
28.) (Knock on wood) Nobody in our house has ever broken a bone.
29.) We never write the kids' social security numbers on anything other than tax forms. Not on medical forms, not on school enrollment.
30.) We've always based our lives on surviving on one income which has come in handy since we've both been laid off at different times. Going forward, we'll be relying more heavily on both incomes as we look at paying for teenager-y things including college.

I think every family has little things that would surprise people. What's on your list?

Tonight was Meet the Teacher for Blake and school visiting time for Payton.

Blake and his first grade teacher, Ms. Taton. She seemed super nice.


Payton had a chance to find her new locker and load her supplies in it.



Tomorrow is going to be a practice run for Blake where his alarm is set for 7 and we head out at the same time the bus is due to pick him up. He starts on Wednesday with Payton starting on Thursday. Then we have to take both kids out of school Friday to attend a wedding. Darned Uncle Nick - we tried to get him to plan it a week earlier! :)

Okay people....

So this past week, we ran a total of 17 miles including an 8 mile run on Saturday morning. The runs weren't too hard and felt really good. This next week is supposed to be a total of 19 miles. Yowza. My feet hurt just typing it.

Weight-wise, I lost another 1-2 pounds this week. I'm able to get my "goal jeans" on but they aren't comfortable enough to wear. A couple more pounds and I should be able to get those puppies on and actually wear them somewhere.

This week is a busy one so fitting in 19 miles of running (plus a 1 mile race with Andy's family so make that 20 miles this week!) and healthy eating will be more challenging but we should be able to make it work. Wish us luck.

Today we drove to Oklahoma City for Reaghan's birthday party, a.k.a., Presentpalooza, which was at Unpluggits, the same place that Payton and I visited w/Kami and Reaghan a couple of weeks ago. It's even more fun when it's filled with a bunch of kids who are all having a lot of fun.

In the play structure room....

Reaghan and Ethan...

Elyse, the fearless not-quite-2-year-old...



In the party room for craft time...





Cake and present time...







We got Reaghan a few sets of Little MissMatched socks because she liked the last set I got her so much. So cute. I always love buying for her.

Elsewhere, the men were hanging out in the living room type area watching the Olympics and chatting.


Nice little day trip to OKC and it was good to see Kam's family again. Next time it's Kam's turn to come to Wichita. :)