The Kassel Family Project Life 365

We are so proud of our girl!  She is doing great this year.  She’s meeting all the expectations, but she is doing the best in writing.  Her only concern in writing is that she confuses a “b” with a “d” at times.  This is quite normal for this age, and she is working on it.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with this one because her Mom used to do that all the time!  She also needs to work on being more fluent with her reading, but I suspect that will come.  As I said, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and Grandma Marianne and I always seem to have a book at the ready.  She’s accomplished a lot and I can’t wait to see her improve over the year.  Way to go Laura!

Yes, I know it’s another week until we leave for the Chicago area for Thanksgiving, but the “packing” began today.  Laura and I finished packing the bag for her soon-to-be American Girl doll.  “Lauren Mary Kassel” will have red hair and freckles just like Laura.  She will also be quite stylish!  I made sure to get matching pajamas and American Girl t-shirts for both Laura and Lauren.  Along with those, she also has two pairs of shoes, bunny slippers, a dog named “Lucy,” an American Girl purple sleeping bag, and a fur coat.  I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that not only is Laura looking forward to finally getting Lauren, but her Mom is kind of excited too.

I bought some really large, red grapes yesterday that I finally got around to washing tonight.  Because John is John, he had to have a couple.  I picked a couple of the monstrous grapes and handed them to him.  He slowly wandered away and I go back to what I’m doing in the kitchen.  A minute later, I hear him giggling and I turn around to find Big Cheek Boy!  That silly kiddo put the grapes in his cheeks and looked like a chipmunk.  Love him!

It was a busy Daisy Scout weekend.  Today was Laura’s regular meeting and the two-hour meeting flew by.  After the opening ceremony, the Daisy Troop went to their room to listen and talk about the story that goes along with earning the Purple Petal for “Respecting Myself and Others.”  Then, in honor of Veteran’s Day, the girls made cards for patients at the local Veteran’s Hospital.  Each girl made five cards and took their task very seriously.  It was surprisingly quiet in a room filled with eight First Graders.  The girls all worked very hard and I know the cards will brighten the days of our hospitalized Veterans.

Next weekend is the Holiday Parade and the Girl Scouts will be the Grand Marshals!  The Daisy Scouts will be dressed in their uniforms and also wear Angel Wings and Halos.  Of course, they have to wear decorated Angel wings, so the girls did that during the second hour of their meeting.  Laura made sure to add lots of feathers and she worked so hard.  Andy will cut out the wings tomorrow after the lettering dries and we’ll poke holes in the middle so that we can attach them with string.

It was a great meeting and Laura said that she is very much loving being a Daisy Scout.  She’s so proud of everything that they do and, as a parent, I have to say that it is just amazing to see her this way!

Laura, along with her Daisy Scout Troop, attended the Kappa Delta International Girl’s Day event at the MU Kappa Delta House.  She had a blast!  They did all sorts of fun things and she came home with a lot of neat crafts.  Her favorites were the pipe cleaner flower that she gave to me for being a “great Mom,” a sock puppet, and an inspiration journal.

As part of the event, the Daisy Scouts were working on their purple “Respect Myself and Others” petal.  It was so great to hear Laura be so excited about respecting herself and others.  You have to start teaching respect and confidence when kids are young and this was a really neat way for some valuable lessons for Laura.  She couldn’t wait to get home and tell me all about everything that happened and to show off her new t-shirt.  What a fun day for our little Daisy!

It was a Friday evening of fun for all of us and we got to hang out outside until it got dark because the weather was gorgeous!  First, Andy installed the new stereo in the truck.  He was grinning from ear to ear.  Literally.  I have to admit that the stereo sounds great (better than the original) and it’s got some very nice features like integration with our phones.

Then, Andrea picked up Laura for a night of fun with Kathryn at Sturgeon School’s Fall Festival.  Laura got her face painted *and* won the Cake Walk!  Did I mention she told me that she was afraid to do the Cake Walk?  Hmmm?  Did I?  Laura also got to spend the night with Kathryn and I’m sure they had lots of fun!

With Laura gone for the evening, Andy, John and I had a nice steak dinner and then watched the movie “Brave.”  It was fun spending time with just us and the little man.  John did say before bed that he missed “Sister”, but it was still a great evening for all the Kassels!

What was the most exciting thing to happen to me today you ask?  Why it was buying Chicken Leg Quarters with the Back Portion for 88 cents per pound!  No.  Really.  That *was* the most exciting thing to happen to me today.  Really.  I mean it.  (And note that it was exciting enough that I took a photo of the label and posted it to my blog.  Can you say scrapbooker?  Anyone?  Anyone?)