The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Despite a very rainy start to the morning and us deciding at one point that we would not go today (or basically this year because we are busy all day tomorrow), we finally made it out to the Salute to Veterans Airshow about noon.  Are we glad that we did!  Despite being windy, it was perfect weather – almost chilly!  That is a far cry from past years where the temperature has been into the 90s and made even hotter by the tarmac concrete.  Because of the rainy morning and wind, the airshow schedule was modified, but we still got to see a lot of airplanes in the air and on static display.  I think this was the first year that John really “got it.”  He was so excited about all the planes and he almost couldn’t decide what to do first.  The highlights this year were the Kansas City Air Dawn Patrol flying the World War I replica planes and the AeroShell Aerobatic Team.  It was just a great time and worth our sunburns!

It’s the beginning of Memorial Day weekend!  It will be a busy, fun weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.  The day began with an actual ending…  It is Laura’s last day of Unit A/First Grade.  It’s hard to believe that when she gets off the bus this afternoon, she will be a Second Grader!  These past two years just went so fast!  I can’t believe that she will be seven this summer…  Oh, Baby Laura, where has the time gone?!?

We spent the evening at a 50th Birthday Party for a great friend, Greg Van Hove.  (Special thanks to Keith and Andrea for watching our kiddos!)  We went to the Victorian Country Inn for a Chuck Wagon dinner.  Our stage coach got robbed!  It was a unique, beautiful evening and we had a great time!  The food was amazing.  Everything was cooked over a fire and the Chicken and Dumplings was absolutely fantastic.  I do have to say that the Chocolate Cake trumped the Chicken and Dumplings and *that* is saying a lot!  We were glad to help Greg celebrate his 50th birthday on such a beautiful evening with great friends.  It was perfect!

You know that the end of school is coming quickly when “the stack” arrives in Laura’s backpack…

After the last two years at IML, I had forgotten what it was really like to *work* at work.  We did virtually nothing because the office was on the decline and eventual closing.  Today reminded me of why I originally loved my job at IML.  I had the type of day where my phone rang constantly and there were many, many things on my “to do” list.  I may have run around like a crazy person yesterday, but I knocked several things off my list and accomplished a lot.  That’s a great thing for me because being busy is way more fun than being bored!  My hope was that I could slow down when I got home…  Unfortunately, that did NOT play out the way I had hoped.  It was a race to the finish just to get the kids in bed.  I need them to go to bed because I am both mentally and physically wiped out.  The glass of wine and season finale of Criminal Minds was exactly what I needed for the last two hours of my day.

I got the honor today of dropping off a group appreciation gift to Laura’s Unit A teacher, Mrs. Katie Hanney.  The first grade families from her class each put in some money and we got her three gift cards to enjoy a night out on us.  It’s the *least* we could do after all the days that she has been there to teach and guide our kids!  It hit Laura as we were out buying the gift cards that it was her last week in Mrs. Hanney’s class and Laura (and I) got teary eyed at the thought.  I was asked to write something heartfelt on the card and I made sure to take a picture so that all the families could see what I wrote.

After opening the envelope and pulling out the card, she began to cry as she read it (She made me cry just watching her reaction!).  She saw the $30 gift card to Orange Leaf and said, “Thank you so much!”  several times and gave me a big hug.  Then, I said, “There is more in the envelope.”  She pulled out the $75 gift card to Flat Branch and the $25 gift card to Hollywood Theatres and she began to cry more.  She was truly and completely stunned at the gift and kept saying, “I’m so touched!  I just can’t believe you all did this.”  She really deserves it as we could not have asked for a better first teacher for our kiddos!  Thank you Mrs. Hanney for loving our kids and being such a fantastic influence.  For those of us with kiddos who will eventually have you as their teacher, we look forward to those two years because we know how great their Unit A experience will be!  For those of us whose journey with you is ending, thank you for everything.  What an amazing two years!

I found this in John’s folder at preschool today.  His writing is doing so amazingly well!

Today was John’s turn at FlipzUSA for a birthday party.  One of his preschool classmates, Elaina, had her party there.  He was very excited!  According to John, he jumped (on the trampoline), ran (everywhere!), and swung (on the rope).  He declared, “It was super fun Mommy!”  He also told me that he was sad when the hour of playtime on the floor was up and he had to go upstairs for cupcakes (NOT cake).  However, judging from the photo, I *think* that he *maybe* enjoyed his chocolate cupcake with purple frosting…