The Kassel Family Project Life 365

We arrived in Rockford a little before 5 pm this evening.  After getting checked into our hotel, we put our feet up and relaxed with great family!  Everyone came over to our hotel to go swimming, eat dinner (thanks Kristena!), and hang out.  Between us all, we had 14 people in our hotel suite.  It was a *little* cramped, but no one cared.  We all got a chance to talk and catch up.  I even got the privilege of spending some time with just Avry, Elliotte, and Ryleigh talking about their lives.  It was the perfect start to our Thanksgiving trip!

I got to join John today at the Unit A Thankful Feast at Ridgeway.  It is a unique event that teaches about and celebrates Thanksgiving.  Before the Thankful Feast, the kids are taught about the holiday and each kid creates a booklet explaining what he/she is thankful for.  It’s a neat experience and John loved it!  I had a great time getting to sit and snack with him and to talk to some of his classmates.

After the Thankful Feast, it was home to pack, pack, and pack.  By the way, packing stinks.  It really does, but at least the end justifies the means.  See you tomorrow Chicago Area!

Andy and I went to the MU Men’s Basketball game this evening.  Special thanks to Jeremy for watching our nutty, tired kiddos!  I have to admit that I really do not enjoy these early season games.  Mizzou rarely, if ever, plays a good team and the games are generally boring.  Also, Mizzou tends to be sluggish when playing lesser teams, which is frustrating to watch.  Last night’s game was pretty much exactly that, but it was still nice to get out of the house without the kids.

Laura’s Brownie Troop marched in the Columbia Holiday Parade today.  I was very concerned about the temperature as the high was supposed to be 33, so I stopped by Target and picked up some thermal underwear for the kids.  Laura’s are pink and John’s are camouflage.  I think they were both very happy I did that because it really helped keep them warm for the two hours that we were outside.  It was plenty warm for the Girl Scouts while we waited for the parade to start because we were in the sun.  Once we actually started walking, it was a *bit* on the chilly side because the downtown area was largely shaded.  Either way, the girls did great and it was a fun time!

Once we got home from the parade, the kids stripped down to their thermal underwear (they refused to take them off) and I made them some hot chocolate.  Andy and I opened a bottle of wine and relaxed.  After a tasty dinner, it was time for another milestone!  Laura no longer has the piercing studs in her ears.  She is wearing *regular* earrings.  She said it hurt to take the studs out, but she didn’t even notice when I put the second earring in her ear.  She was very excited once she had the actual regular earrings in her ears.  She has to wear earrings 24-7 for six months, but I don’t think that will be a problem!  She was very excited to have in regular earrings.

Oh, and the kids went to bed in their thermal underwear.  Both decided that those things are extremely warm and cozy.  I’m thinking I am going to have to buy another set… Or two…

After a busy morning at a birthday party for one of Laura’s friends, we headed home to dig out some of the Christmas decorations from the crawl space.  Since we are going out of town on Wednesday for Thanksgiving, I wanted to get all of the decorations up except for the two Christmas trees.  I am proud to say that I was largely successful in my endeavors and it only took about 3 hours.  Go Me!  By the way, if I stand only looking at the wine rack, it appears that I am completely done putting up decorations.  Maybe I should just pretend that I accomplished all of what I wanted to do?!?

We went to watch the Missouri Volleyball Team going for the University of Missouri’s first SEC Championship in *any* sport this evening.  We knew the Hearnes Center would most likely have more spectators than usual, but we were NOT expecting a record crowd of 7,879 people!  Awesome!  While the team didn’t play as well as they usually do, it all came out just fine.  They brought that SEC Championship home for the University of Missouri and extended their regular season record to 32-0.  Two matches to go to a perfect season!  Congratulations Tigers!  You earned it through hard, hard work and it was great to see you win!  You deserve it!  I just wish we could be there to watch you finish your regular season!  34-0 would be quite a feat.

There was simply only one downside to the entire evening.  Note to the Missouri Men’s Basketball team…  I don’t know if you were forced to attend this match or what, but your behavior was ridiculous.  You should have shown some support to this amazing team!  You sat in the front row in the cushy, padded seats not clapping and playing with your smartphones.  You looked completely and utterly bored.  You didn’t even stand when the band played the MU Fight Song.  *THAT* is both disrespectful and inexcusable behavior to the University and FANS who support you.  If that was *YOU* going for the school’s first SEC Championship, those ladies would have been there cheering their heads off for you.  They *DESERVED* much better than they got from you.

What do you see in John’s drawing?  Well, I saw a white caterpillar, but it is NOT that.  This is the night sky with the moon and Neptune, Venus, and Mars.  I really upset him with my caterpillar comment until I offered to take a picture of him…