The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Today was a *BIG* day, and I mean *BIG*.  We took the kids to the dentist for their six-month checkups.  Up until today, John would only let the dentist glance at his teeth and that was generally if he was crying.  Well, that all changed today.  We had two amazing Dentists, a great Dental Hygienist, and the best Dental Assistant.  We also had the world’s best big sister who told him all about the “tickly” toothbrush that the Dental Assistants use to brush your teeth.  Laura went first and John observed.  By the end of Laura’s visit, he was ready to hop in that chair!  John did not do the X-rays, but he did everything else.  I can’t even tell you how proud Andy and I were of the little man!

Both kids were great and they are both the proud owners of two new “No Cavity Club” t-shirts and several toys.  It was a successful visit for both our kids.  Most importantly, it was a successful visit for John and I think he is now over his fear of the dentist!

Do not panic.  None of us has head lice, *but* there is a case in Laura’s classroom at school.  The notice came home today.  It’s one of the joys of having kids in school – head lice, flu, colds, stomach bugs, etc.  Kids are little germ factories.  We did check Laura thoroughly and she does not have head lice.  Hopefully, it will remain that way as head lice is a pain in the ass to get rid of.  By the way, does anyone else’s head itch when you think about head lice?!?  Mine *always* does!

Nothing like watching Daddy read to the kiddos…

The Kassel Boys went to a car show at Nifong Park this afternoon.  I’m not sure who was more excited – Andy or John.  They headed off around noon for the car show and stayed for nearly three hours.  Both of them really enjoyed themselves as evidenced by John rambling on about the different cars for nearly thirty minutes upon arriving home.  A favorite car for both of them was the Dodge Daytona replica built from a normal Dodge Charger.  It’s why the license plate reads “Forgery.”  Guessing from the excitement I saw in *both* the Kassel Boys, I see more of these types of days in their futures.

We took the kids to Shryock’s Corn Maze for some family fun.  I was a little concerned that Laura and John would get really tired from all the walking, but they were excited to be there.  We roamed through the maze looking for checkpoints.  We let the kids lead us around and we managed to locate four of the eight checkpoints.

After about an hour, we headed back to the Big Red Barn to enjoy some hot chocolate and the three-story tall gumball machine.  I would like to say that just the kids were fascinated by it, but I think that Andy and I could have watched it for hours too.  It even had a ferris wheel!

After two gumballs each for the kids and being mesmerized for quite a while (did I mention my neck hurt from looking up for so long?!?), we headed back outside to enjoy our hot chocolate by the fire.  It was a great end to a chilly, but really fun, afternoon at the corn maze!

Laura finally decided that she would like to be a Daisy Scout.  Even though all her first grade friends were part of the Daisy troop, Laura was not interested.  She missed the first meeting because she was not interested and I was too sick to take her.  All that changed on Wednesday when I got an email from one of the troop leaders about a fire station tour.  Laura decided that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be a Daisy.  Since Andy picked her up from school today anyway, he took her to the fire station tour.  She had a great time!  She told me all about fire safety and said that she can’t wait to go to her first meeting.  I have to order her Daisy tunic (uniform) and she is already working on the Girl Scout promise.  I think I’m more excited than she is because *I* was a Girl Scout and I even remembered the Girl Scout promise.  Cookie sales here we come!

Chippy, our new Elf on the Shelf, arrived today via UPS.  The kids couldn’t wait for me to open the box and see our new “family elf.”  They are both excited that Chippy will be reporting every night to Santa over the Christmas Season.  Laura even told John that he had to be “extra special good” now because Chippy would be watching very closely.  It was too cute!