KansasMama Blog

Howdy, I’m KansasMama. I’m a mom from Kansas who loves to write, read and enjoy to spread love and kindness.

I’m currently absorbed by books and writing.

  • An update on our Pokémon Pokédex Journey

    Well, we ended up taking a break from looking and collecting Pokémon cards. We took a break from everything to be honest. Well, we recently got back into it, and now we are even making a vlog as well for YouTube about our Pokémon journey.

    Since our last update, we have done pretty well in finding cards. Let me break it down of how we are doing.

    • Gen 1 – 135/151
    • Gen 2 – 76/100
    • Gen 3 – 105/135
    • Gen 4 – 78/107
    • Gen 5 – 119/156
    • Gen 6 – 51/72
    • Gen 7 – 58/88
    • Gen 8 – 79/96
    • Gen 9 – 89/120

    Here is a link to the current cards that we do have in our Pokédex as well: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OXzqdqih9RwH7V90SRK45JClK75daFO1XHm_1–xu0E/edit?usp=sharing

    The kids have recently been coming across YouTubers who are also collecting cards and completing challenges to get master sets. That is when I was asked if we could start our own YouTube channel. I said why not. So we are currently vlogging our adventures when we go to card shops, as well as when we go to any card shows. They have also come up with the idea to just make fun videos about us. My kids are something else, that’s for sure.

    If you would like to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/@kansasmama1

    Hopefully, my goal is also to be able to blog more in general. This is more of a place for me to get my thoughts out and give updates.

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  • My February Book Goals!

    So last month I read a total of 11 books. For this month, My goal is to read another 11 books, whether it be physical books, e-books, or audio books ( which gets me through my work day.)

    Most of the books I read are romance, fantasy, or very very much smut. My favorites this year have been Onyx Storm, the Edge of Darkness trilogy, and Blood of Hercules.

    What book would you recommend?

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  • My January Reading.

    So as I have previously wrote on here that I like to bullet journal. Well this year I added something to help me keep track of my reading and how much I read. So, I’m going to break it down here as well. 🙃

    Books read this month: 11 books

    Pages read this month: 2,230 pgs

    Books bought this month: 0

    Books Borrowed this month: 3

    Paperbacks: 4

    Hardcovers: 1

    Met goals this month: Yes

    E-books: 6

    Wow! That is a lot of books read for 1 month! Do you think I can beat 11 books for the month of Feb?

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  • Not Quite Dead Yet – Book Review

    I started this book on January 5th via audio book. I finished it the next day. I couldn’t stop listening to it!

    I did enjoy it! 4⭐️

    I will be honest that the main reason I read this was for a reading challenge on Good Reads and I didn’t think that I would like it but man was I wrong.

    The best way to describe this book is solving a murder that hasn’t happened yet. So I would definitely go give this book a read if you have a chance.

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  • What are my goals for 2026?

    This is a post to help me hold myself accountable throughout the year for my 2026 goals. At the end of each month I will see how far I have made is so far.

    1. Start to go to the gym more and lose weight.
      • I want start working out more as well as stay on a diet. I hope to start Hard 75 one day this year. I do not know when yet.
    2. I want to read at least 25 books this year, either fiction or non-fiction.
      • In 2025, I read almost 20 books but I want to be able to surpass that this year. I want to be able to set time away to read.
    3. I want to be able to cross off more “Let’s To-Do” things off the list.
      • I started a list to do things together as a couple and as a family. We didn’t get to do much of it in 2025 but I know that we can do it for 2026.
    4. I want to be able to write more with this blog.
      • My dream is be able to post more than once a week but I have to get into the habit to write at least daily or every other day.
    5. I want to be able to save more for our dream honeymoon.
      • Our dream honeymoon is to go to Colorado and Nevada but it will cost us quite a bit as we want to fly there then rent a car which will not be cheap.
    6. I want to take more photos and make more videos.
      • I have always been a creative photographer and videographer, I’m hoping to get my photography out there more.

    I know that this post is not very long but this is me and I know that I will be able to do all of these things.

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  • How am I creative?

    There are many ways that I am able to be creative, whether that be with photography/videography or other ways.

    As of lately it’s been more hands on creations like rainbow loom or lacing crafts. I feel like those are ways to keep my hands busy. My daughter recently wanted to make bracelets for her friends on her competition team so that’s what I have been doing. She wants to have at least 6-7 but I am going to try to make as many as I can by her next meet, which is in early January. I might also make some plastic keychains for some of the girls too. *If you are an older millennial you might remember back in grade school asking for a friend to start a key chain for you so that you can finish it.* Well I have recently taught myself how to do more than just 2 colors.

    Obviously I am creative with photography and videography but I haven’t really had the time to go out and take photos. I know eventually when it starts to be spring time I will definitely be going out to take photos again.

    I know that this is a short post but I have been wanting to sit back and think about what I want to post to this blog more. Do I want to do more book things or do I want to do something like day to day life in my life and house hold? What do you think?

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  • To the man who changed my world

    I got this writing prompt recently, ” Describe a man who has positively impacted your life,” and I wanted to write about my husband. I don’t know if he reads my blogs or not but we’ll find out. 🙂

    Let’s start from the beginning. We didn’t meet like the traditional place like school, work, church, etc. We actually met on a dating app but little did we know that us matching would be the best time of our lives. Yes, you read that correctly we met on a dating app. We talked for a bit prior to actually meeting each other. He knew I had kids and I didn’t want to pressure him so I asked to wait until I didn’t have my son with me but he insisted that I bring him to our first date. That first date will always be the way that showed me what his heart truly showed.

    We were dating for only 8 months and he decided to ask me to be his wife and he took all of my dream things of an engagement and pulled it together within a week. This included having someone hid to take photos, dancing in headlights, and much more.

    This man had made my world so much better. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband. He has shown me what it truly meant to be loved and has been an amazing bonus dad to the kids!

    I love you babe! You make me the happiest woman in the world

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  • Where have I been?

    I just realized that my last post prior to my Pokèmon post yesterday was back in July of this year. I’m sure your asking Kansas where have you been? Well let me tell you.

    First I want to say that from July I was just super focused on the wedding and yes we did get married! I got to marry my best friend in front of our friends and family. It was a stressful day as Aaron and I hadn’t seen each other since the night before our wedding because that is the one thing we did try to keep traditional. Yes I will add some pictures in here to show how it turned out.

    Since then I have been more focused on my outside of this blog job as well as family things such as sports for the kids, bible quizzing for David, and so much more.

    I figured I would give an update on why I haven’t posted since July. I am hoping to post much more!

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  • Pokèdex with Pokèmon Cards

    My family and I have decided that we are going to combine our cards and create a Pokèdex with them. When we first started this, I was just going to do Generation 1 for it, but we decided to try to get all of the generations completed. The kids came up with the name of our Pokèdex. The name is….. “The Bird Family Pokèdex.”

    So far, this is the total number of each generation of the Pokèdex.

    • Gen 1 – 132/151
    • Gen 2 – 69/100
    • Gen 3 – 88/135
    • Gen 4 – 72/107
    • Gen 5 – 103/156
    • Gen 6 – 38/72
    • Gen 7 – 45/88
    • Gen 8 – 70/96
    • Gen 9 – 51/120

    It is nice to be able to do this as a family. If you would like to donate any cards that we don’t have, you are more than welcome to comment, and I can find a way to message you to send them to.

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  • Family Trip to Omaha

    This past weekend my family and I took a trip to Omaha Nebraska. My family was myself, Aaron, David, Callie and my mom. We left our house right after I got off work and we went straight to Omaha. It was fun on the way up there because we were laughing, telling stories and the kids were making bracelets. Once we got to the hotel we decided to go out for dinner. We chose a Chinese buffet that was maybe a 10 minute drive from the hotel. The Chinese buffet was called Grand China Buffet. We all enjoyed it and was so full after eating. We then went back to the hotel to get rest for the next day.

    The next morning I was the first one up, which is surprising because usually Aaron is typically the first one up as his sleep schedule he is always up early for work. I woke up and started to get everything ready for the trip to the zoo. I think the kids were excited to get up as they didn’t fight to get up. We packed our bags and headed out. We did stop for breakfast at McDonald’s. We got to the zoo at 8:30 am which I am lucky we did because it was already pretty busy. We got our tickets and a scooter for my mom and then began our trip.

    After the zoo we went back to to hotel so that the kids could go swimming for a bit before dinner. For dinner it was a belated birthday dinner for me because we wanted to have a special dinner this year. So we decided to go to dinner at La Mesa Mexican restaurant. This place was so delicious that I ended up trying to find out if there was one closer to home. Yes there is and I’m excited. Did my family embarrass me while at dinner? Yes they did. There is a video but I would rather not put that on here. We then called it a night and all went to bed.

    The last day in Omaha, I decided to do a few fun things for the kids. We got to go see the Joslyn Castle and then walked the bridge to where the kids were on the state border.

    The way home was peaceful and quiet as everyone was just so wore out from the walking over the 2 days. We can’t wait to see what our next trip will take us.

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