The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Sitting at dinner tonight with Laura and John, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my babies are growing too fast.   This is the first picture of the kids where Laura was excited to have her picture taken with her baby brother.

A conversation at dinner tonight made me think of this picture and I was seriously wishing I could turn back time even if it was just for a day.

• Laura:  Johnny, I will be going to Kindergarten next month.  Mommy ordered me my new backpack.  Do you know what that means?
• John:  No.
• Laura:  I won’t be at daycare every day with you because I’ll be at Kindergarten.  My big kid school.
• John:  Oh.
• Laura:  You will be the BIG boy at daycare and you will have to help Miss Cheryl and not be a bad boy at all anymore.  You have to show Bubba (aka Ben, the youngest at daycare) how to be a grown up boy.
• John:  I will Laura.  I promise.  I will be big boy and take care of Ben.  What about Shae (the younger girl at daycare)?
• Laura:  Yes, you have to help take care of Shae too.  Make sure to give her hugs and loves.
• John:  OK!  I will do that Laura!

Recently, Andy has been mowing our neighbor’s yard.  We have lived next to her for almost the entire time we have owned this house and he’s always had sort of a love/hate relationship with her yard.  Last year, her new husband worked very hard and kept the yard up.  That has not been the case this summer.  Andy got frustrated one night and mowed the yard.  Then, he did the same thing the next week and the next week and so on….  About three weeks ago, she stopped by with cookies and a flower arrangement for me to say thank you for it.  She told us that her husband had been transferred to St. Louis and she would be joining him soon.  She also has asthma, making mowing difficult.  Andy felt badly for being frustrated after discovering that information.  He has continued to mow because it helps her out and keeps her yard looking nice.  Today, she stopped by with a small envelope that obviously had something in it.  She told me that she and her mother very much appreciated Andy helping her out because it was making things much easier for her this summer.  Upon opening the envelope, I was shocked to discover this…..

The envelope contained a very nice Thank You card, $10 gift certificates to Applebee’s, Chuck E. Cheese, and Wal-Mart, and $30 in cash.  I felt bad accepting it, but I also know that she would very much insist that we keep them because it’s been so helpful to her.  It made me remember that sometimes our actions, no matter how seemingly mundane, can really affect others.  It is a nice thing to be reminded of now and then.

Cheese, Pepperoni, Red Sauce, of course, with a Brown or White Crunchy Crust

This was Laura’s response to Cheryl when she asked each of the kids what kind of pizza they wanted.  All the other kids just said pepperoni and cheese.  Laura felt that she had to be more specific.

Today was so much fun!  Great friends, great food, and great fireworks!  The Lowerys, Hendersons, and Jeremy came over to celebrate with us.  Fireworks are legal in Boone County, so we always celebrate our nation’s birthday at home.  It’s always a unique experience as fireworks are set off all over our subdivision and the ones beyond.  Each year, I have a few “wow moments” where I stand in awe as I watch all the different colors exploding in the sky.  This year was no exception!  It was truly an awesome weekend and day!  I am sad to see it end (even though all of us will be exhausted tomorrow)….  Now on to pictures!

The food included smoked chicken legs and barbecue sauce, baked beans, fruit salad, chips, cornbread, marble brownies, and Atomic Buffalo Turds.

I went to pick up the kids’ bedroom before heading outside to watch the fireworks and found this…..  The Grinch IN a box WITH bunny ears….  Rachel and I laughed so hard!  Kids do the goofiest things!

Of course, the fireworks were the main event.  The men had a great time blowing up the neighborhood, and the kids had a great time chasing parachutes and playing with Snap Pops and Sparklers!

All the kids LOVED the fireworks, but John seemed to enjoy them the most!

Once it got dark, Uncle B and Andy released the lantern.  The kids loved it and waved bye as it floated away.

Bye bye Lantern!

My favorite fireworks picture from the evening…

My favorite “other” picture from the evening…

It was another great Kassel family and friends 4th of July!

After a morning of grocery shopping, yard work, cleaning, and some laundry (had to wash a bunch of sheets), we set up the new “Finding Nemo” Slip N Slide for the kids.  They had a blast!  Laura just needed a bit of practice to get herself to slide on her tummy all the way to the end.

John figured out how to slide on his tummy after numerous attempts of sliding on his butt.

As you can imagine, after being out in the very hot sun for a while today, we were all a bit tired.  After I showered, I realized it had gotten VERY quiet downstairs.  I wandered downstairs to find….

Think they were tired?  Yes, that is John’s head sticking up.  I have no idea how he managed to get into that position.

Andy, Laura, Uncle Jeremy, and Uncle B did the all important fireworks shopping for our July 4 bash this year.  It was Laura’s first time fireworks shopping and she was quite the little help to Andy.

When they got back to the house, Laura came running in to me jumping up and down with excitement over all the things they bought.  We even set a few off for the kids (that would be the big kids and the little kids loved it too)!