Kindergarten - Week One

Everyday after school I try to ask very specific questions to the kids.  If I simply ask "How was your day", I get "Fine." as a response.  "What did you do today?"  "I don't know.  Nothing."  So I try to be specific in my requests for information.  The first day of school I asked the kids for the names of two kids in their class who were NOT in their class last year.  It made them think of names that weren't their most familiar names and was a successful question. Day two, after a full day including lunch at school I asked Isaac what he had for lunch.  "Oh, I had milk,....*pause*....salad, and bread & butter."  I responded, "That's it?"  That was it.  "Chloe, what did YOU have for lunch today?"  She replied, "Mac &Cheese, cheesy broccoli, bread & butter, fruit, milk, and salad.  I took EVERYTHING."  Upon hearing her answer a lot went through my mind, and I slowly put the puzzle together. 

At Holy Family they are allowed to graciously say "No thank you." to any item offered at lunch, including the main course.  To make sure kids get enough to eat+ they must take three items for their plate and milk counts as an item.  There is always lettuce salad as an option and my kids are great salad eaters.  In prepping Isaac for school lunches we had always told him these things.  You need to take three things, milk counts as a choice, and if you don't like what is at the counter then you can get salad when you get in the lunch room."  Well, it kind of hit me that he thought he could ONLY take three things, milk included, and he knew he would want salad so he turned everything else down!  Poor kid!  What kind of lunch is this?!?  After clarifying my intended message to him about number of items on his plate he was pretty quiet.  If it had been information he already knew he would have said, "MOM, I KNOW!"  Since I didn't get that response I knew his wheels were turning.  The next day he reported "I took a LOT more stuff today!"  Whew! 

On Monday I asked the kids "What did you do today that you have not done your other days of school?"  Isaac excitedly shouted "I had computer class today mom!"  "Great!  Was it fun?" I asked.  He said, "Well, ya, but I didn't get to play very long because my computer was not working right."  I responded with "Oh, that's too bad!  Was it just your computer that was having a hard time or was it everyone in the class?"  His answer was priceless:  "No, just mine.  And well, Blaise's too.  Blaise was next to me.  *pause*  *pause*  BUT, I did figure out that I was wearing Blaise's headphones and Blaise was wearing mine!"      Yep.  That would be a problem!     Silly boy. 

I love this age and his enthusiasm!  Chloe has always been so confident and matter-of-fact about everything that Isaac's little bits of drama make me smile.  He is such a light-hearted boy and I love him to pieces. 

Ten Years!

August 16, 2003

Our wedding party!

August 16, 2013 we celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary.  We really had a fantastic day.  Chloe and Isaac had school and the twins were home.  The weather was nice, we had windows open all day, and everything about it was just great. 

 

We exchanged gifts right before lunch.  I got Royce a 9mm Glock handgun.  He gave me a beautiful right-hand diamond ring.  I'm getting it sized and can't wait to get it back!  Of course, Royce has had an issue finding ammo for his gun to even take a shot with it but Dustin had some so Royce lucked out.  This ammo supply issue is crazy!

 

We had a babysitter for the evening.  We just went to dinner as we are going to New Orleans in a few weeks to celebrate.  But dinner was wonderful at Sake2Me Sushi here in Hays.  Their sangria is AMAZING and they had live music so we enjoyed all of it. 

 

Sangria & sushi satisfaction!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Here's to many, many more.

First day of school 2013-2014

August 14, 2013

Holy Family Elementary

Isaac's first day of Kindergarten

August 14, 2013

"When I grow up I want to be a dad."

 

Chloe's first day of 1st Grade.

August 14, 2013

"When I grow up I want to be a horse trick rider."

 

I hope the kids appreciate these answers when they are older!

Love them!

 

Isaac was excited for his first day.  He was really relieved when he got Mrs. Cristy Dinkel, Chloe's Kindergarten teacher.  I don't always want Isaac to fall into Chloe's path, but this year in particular I thought it was great because he had really wanted her and I think he will have that little boost of confidence to start his year.  Chloe also got the teacher she had hoped for, Mrs. Karen Rohr.  After a half day then a whole day the kids were pleased with school so far!

 

Summer outings

We didn't take much of a summer vacation, at least not a far away vacation.  We went to Manhattan at the end of July.  You see, we are in Manhattan often for football games but we don't ever DO much else in Manhattan.  So we loaded up and headed 2 hours east for a couple days.  Manhattan has a new Flint Hills Discovery Center we checked out.  It was really neat and the kids had a good time.  We got caught up with Gina, Chris, and family.  The next day we went to Sunset Zoo and had a great time.  It actually rained in the morning so we waited until most of it passed, then it sprinkled on us off and on while at the zoo.  It was a perfect day to be there, not hot or cold, and not very busy. 

 

 

We also made it to Kansas City before school started.  It was nice to see everyone; the kids hadn't been to KC since last June.  We made our usual rounds and had a great time!

Summer Snapshots

4th of July festivities

On July 4th we went to Grandma Donna's.  Matt & Morgan were in town for a few days.  Probably the last time we see them before they move to England for 3 years.  I know we'll see them at Jamie's graduation next summer but I HOPE we see them in England in the next 3 years as well!

 

Amelia & Caroline were little fishies and loved being thrown in the air. 

July 5th I took Chloe and Isaac to the lake. 

Galen & Debbie, Steph's family, and mom & Ron were out there.

Papa drove us to the swimming beach in his Ford.  Chloe and Isaac were amazed by the window cranks..."Mom!  Look what you have to do to roll up the window!"

They also liked helping Papa shift gears.  It was fun watching them.   

 

Watching fireworks @ Cedar Bluff 

 

July 6th was the Wild West Fest parade.

Robynn, Matt, & Morgan ran in the 5K earlier in the morning.

It was nice for Matt & Morgan to join us for the parade as well!

July 6 & 7th we spent at the farm again.  Chris & Gina and their

kids were in town so we all camped (indoors because of the rain) and had

a nice time.  The kids get along so well and it's fun to get them together as often as we can. 

 

Castle Rock

The Wentlings wanted to make a trip to the lodge and to Castle Rock this summer.

We enjoy very similar activities so we knew it would be a fun weekend. 

 

I'm not going to caption each picture.  It was just a great weekend exploring what God created!