The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Andy and Laura went to the first “Science Sleuth” event on the University of Missouri campus.  It’s a science-themed activities fair and Laura LOVED it.  Her name tag had blanks on it that each booth would stamp with a new letter until the completed card read, “Think Like a Scientist.”  She was so excited to tell me all about how she learned about archaeology, engineering, and DNA extraction.  Her favorite thing was learning how to extract DNA from a strawberry.  Hopefully, they will do this science fair again next year because I think John would love it too!

Today was John’s last day with Cheryl Nichols as his daycare provider.  He has been at Cheryl’s daycare since he was three months old.  John really didn’t want his picture taken so it took some innovative thinking involving tickling to get him to smile!  Here he is with Cheryl and Grandma Sylvia.  Thanks to both of them for everything they have done for him for the past four years!  John said that he will miss you!  Truth be told, I’ll miss you both too.  Thanks so much for taking such great care of both of our kiddos over the past six years.  Enjoy retirement in South Carolina!  It won’t be the same without you all every day.

Andy and I went to St. Louis this evening to the annual Sid Weber Barbecue for Sigma Chis.  He’s been going for years, but this was my first trip with him.  It really was a great time and I’m glad that I went.  For Andy, it’s an evening to see and talk to some of his fraternity brothers.  I spent the evening chatting with a few of the other sweethearts (women) that were there.  I’ve been attending Sigma Chi functions like these for years now, but I’m still constantly surprised at just how much of a brotherhood there is between these men.  It’s quite a sight to see.  I was shocked when I checked my watch and realized that three hours had gone by and it was time to leave.  I guess that means it was a good evening!  As always, one of the highlights for me was listening to the men sing “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” to the small group of women that were there.  It was sung to me for the first time at our wedding and it still gets me every time.  I’ll be going with Andy again next year provided we can find a babysitter again.  Thanks to Brian, Jenna, and Jeremy for stepping up so Andy and I could go!

…a few months makes!  At the end of May in school, Laura was still largely spelling phonetically, meaning she would spell words like they sound.  I was stunned to see a math paper that came home today with a word problem.  Laura’s response was not only readable, but largely correct in the spelling.  It is truly amazing because in May, she would have written something like this, “Str wt th hol n tk awa th prt u nw.”  Amazing.  AMAZING.  What a difference just a few short months makes.

Today was bittersweet.  It was Laura’s last day with Cheryl Nichols as her daycare provider.  She has been at Cheryl’s daycare since she was three months old.  Here she is with Cheryl, Grandma Sylvia, and Jessica (Cheryl’s daughter) in the background.  Thanks to you all for everything you did for Laura over the past six years!  Laura said that she will miss you all lots!

Note:  Laura didn’t want to smile for the picture until Andy asked her if she wanted to see his butt.  That got *all* of us laughing…  It’s not so easy to take pictures when you are laughing and the camera is moving!  🙂

After turning on “Spy Kids” on the downstairs television this afternoon, I did some cleaning upstairs.  I go downstairs about thirty minutes later to find John sound asleep on the couch.  It’s rough being four.  All that playing really takes it out of a person.