The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Let me introduce you to Laura Kassel, First Grader!  Laura was very excited to start first grade today.  In fact, she was so excited that *she* was out of bed like a rocket this morning and was telling John to get moving so she could get to school.  As we did last year, we arrived at the school about 8:20 and went around the front to take some pictures.  As we were walking to the front of the school, Laura saw her friend Hannah and couldn’t wait to catch up to her.  Here is the big girl by the school sign.

Here she is in front of the school.

After we were done taking pictures, we headed to the playground for a bit.  Andy and I spent most of that time talking with other parents from Laura’s class.  It turns out that *all* the first grade girls were just sooooooooo excited to get to see each other again!  Apparently, summer is like an eternity.  After about 15 minutes, it was time to head inside to the gym to wait for each class to be called and sent to their new classrooms.  Once in her classroom line, Laura turned around and waved at Andy and I and then she was off!

As a special treat, Andy picked her up after school.  They picked me up at my office because Laura has been wanting to see my new work.  I asked her how her day went.  She was so excited and proclaimed it “GREAT!”  She declared that her favorite part of the day was Choice Time, which is when the kids get to play for 30 minutes at the end of the day.  I think we’ll call the day a success!  She can’t wait until tomorrow!

Tonight the kids discovered bubble wrap!  I foresee fighting for the chance to pop bubble wrap in the future.  Don’t worry…I promise not to hurt them when I have to fight for my chance to pop the bubble wrap.  I’ll just play the Mom card and take it away.  😉

Ridgeway Elementary had their open house this evening.  Our big First Grader was so excited to go and see her friends again!  Mrs. Hanney, Laura’s classroom teacher, and her gym teacher both commented on all her missing teeth.  After Laura and John sorted school supplies into the appropriate piles, we headed outside for the popsicle party and time on the playground.  It was great to see everyone and Laura said that she can’t wait until school starts on Thursday.  She’s very excited to be one of the “big kids” in her classroom.

On a funny side note, we talked to the mom of one of the girls who came to Laura’s sleepover party.  Her daughter came home from Laura’s party and said, “Mom!  I want to have a sleepover party when I turn 7.  I’m not sure I can wait though.  Can we just have one now?”  Amy said, “Hannah, did you have a good time at Laura’s party?”  Hannah yelled, “YES!”  Amy said to us last night, “Thanks for ruining the simple 1 1/2 hour birthday party for everyone!”  Then, Amy cracked a big smile and we all got a good laugh.  At least I know Laura’s birthday was a great one!

Yes, that is a “72.0” in the lower lefthand corner of Andy’s weather station.  No, that is *not* the inside temperature.  It’s the outside temperature!  After many, many days of 100+ degree weather, I was actually cold when I stepped outside for a minute today.  It made the fact that I was home all day running a fever a bit easier to take…  Weather predictions for this coming weekend are in the upper 70s.  I can hardly believe it!

Andy was hard at work today on the new flooring in the little area outside the downstairs bedrooms/bathroom.  It’s going to look fantastic when it’s done!  This particular area is challenging because it has so many angles, but Andy is doing a great job with it all.  We need to purchase transition strips for the carpet to new flooring, but we will buy those after the flooring is down.  Just from today, I’m very excited to see the finished product.  On a side note, John commented that the new flooring is “comfy.”  Yeah, so, I’m not sure I agree with that, but it does look great.  🙂

And another tooth bites the dust today!  She’s looking pretty toothless now…  It should make for an interesting school picture.  🙂

John learned to buckle his own seatbelt.  It’s a reminder of another thing that we no longer have to do for our kids.  Our friend, Melinda Adams, once told us, “I call those little bits of freedom.”