The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Laura had “IGE In Action Night” at Ridgeway Elementary School today.  IGE means individually guided education, which is the teaching method used by Laura’s school.  They also turned the entire school into an art show, displaying one piece of work from every student.  Grandpa Ken and Grandma Marilyn came down to attend with us.  Laura was very excited and she was so proud to show off her writing portfolio, her book of “favorite things,” and her watercolor artwork.  Her writing really has progressed quite a lot in the past nine months.

I finally got a chance to take a picture of Laura with her teacher, Mrs. Hanney.  We love Mrs. Hanney and I’m very happy that John will also have her as his Unit A teacher when he starts at Ridgeway.

Laura loves Mrs. Hanney too and her watercolor artwork is a picture of “Ms Hanney out std in a grdin in my yrd” (Translation-for those who can’t read “Kindergarten”-Mrs. Hanney out standing in a garden in my yard).  I told Mrs. Hanney that Laura used her as her artwork subject and she smiled.  She said, “I’ll have to go find her picture!”

John decided to get strep throat with a side of ear infection just for some added fun.  Surprisingly, he hasn’t acted that sick.  It was more like he was just off.  If he hadn’t gotten a fever yesterday, I probably would have given him ibuprofen and thought it was over.  Due to the fever, I took him to the doctor today.  The doctor looked at his ears and said they were pink, but not red.  Pink is a sign that the infection is there, but not really bad yet.  Then, the doctor looked at John’s throat and took a swab.  The doctor pretty much knew that the strep test would come back positive.  On a good note, he said the ear infection was most likely secondary due to the strep and not the other way around.  With John’s history of tubes in his ears and seven ear infections before he was one, that was a relief, but the doctor did say, “The counter starts today”.  If John gets three infections starting from now throughout a year, then he’ll be referred back to the ENT clinic for another round of tubes.  It’s all wait and see.  For the most part, John didn’t act sick much of the day.  He did watch a movie tonight before dinner and fell asleep.  I had to wake him up to take his medicine and this was the look I got for my efforts.  I’m not sure he even knew I was sitting in front of him…

…for 30 minutes anyway.  Andy took the truck to Joe Machens Ford to have the oil changed and tires rotated.  While waiting, he talked to the salesman who sold us the truck.  Adam asked when we would be trading in the Alero.  Andy said, “It will still be a while, but we’ll be looking for a nice, reliable family car like that Mustang over there.”  Adam began laughing and they walked over to check it out.  Andy asked Adam if he would mind taking Andy out in it.  Instead, Adam offered up the keys and let Andy take it out by himself for a bit!  Andy called me at work and asked if I had a couple of minutes to go for a ride.  He pulled up in that beautiful, yellow 2012 Ford Mustang.  I can’t even tell you how giddy Andy was driving that car.  He was grinning from ear to ear.  What a great time driving the dream car even if it was for only 30 minutes.

The kids at 6:47 am…

I have to wake up these two most of the time now.  Nearly every morning these days, I get to sleep in a bit, take a shower and get ready, get lunches together, straighten up the house, get the beds made, and just generally have a peaceful morning.  Sometimes, it’s the little bits of freedom for Mom and Dad that matter the most.

Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children.  -Sam Levenson

So true, but yet still so great to be Mom to two fantastic children that make me laugh, cry, smile, scream, happy, sad, giggle, annoyed…  Well, you get the picture.  I love being their Mom even if I can’t ever manage to go the bathroom without one of them following me into the bathroom.  We went to Cosmo Park today for a picnic lunch (Laura’s idea) and we had a great time.  We got a lot of great pictures and I thoroughly enjoyed the time.  The big smiles on the kids faces as they were running around just made me happy.  The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and I couldn’t have asked for more.  I love these kids!

Oh, and what did I get for Mother’s Day?  Laura made me a great card at school and John made his handprints on paper that Cheryl then framed.  Andy wanted to get me Chocolate-Covered Strawberries from The Candy Factory, but they were closed.  Even if he had managed to get them, that still wouldn’t have been the best gift.  The best gift cost absolutely nothing…  I got an entire hour of blissful silence this morning from 7-8 am.  I was not woken up by two children at 6 am.  I actually got to sleep until 7.  Then, I got to enjoy TWO full cups of coffee before the bombardment began.  Ahhh……

The kids have a new movie of choice, “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”  Kids LOVE this movie; adults not so much.  It doesn’t matter what the adults think, because there is nothing better than “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” with your friend.

Laura had her “birthday” celebration at school today.  We passed out sugar cookies with pink cream cheese frosting, the kids sang “Happy Birthday”, and Laura got to take the first bite.  She was so excited to get to celebrate her birthday at school even though she has a summer birthday.  On a side note, I was surprised when Laura’s teacher said that in the six years she has been teaching at Ridgeway, Laura is the first of her summer birthday students to have birthday treats at school.  Sometimes, it’s good to be the first one!