Kennedy's Preschool

Kennedy had her last day of preschool today and I have to say it was a bit emotional. Her teachers are so sweet and have made her class so much fun. Kennedy has absolutely loved preschool this year.

Kennedy's teachers are amazing. Laura and Trisha have been so cute with Kennedy and even with Alex and Dylan. We hope that the boys can get in their class when it's their turn for preschool. It's fun to see Kennedy go to class each day and not even hesitate to go through the door. Her teachers always give her big hugs and make her feel so welcome. We will miss them!

Kennedy brings home great little crafts and art projects each day, and constantly talks about school. She asks me at night when she gets to go to school again and if I say "tomorrow morning", she reminds me to make sure I wake her up so she won't miss class. It's fun to see her so interested in school and having so much fun. We'll see if she keeps that attitude when she starts bringing home homework in a couple of years!

Here's a few pictures of a field trip that Kennedy's class took to Fairmont Park last week.



The kids made little boats and decorated them and them watched them float down a little stream. Kennedy had so much fun with her boat and Alex joined in by floating his basketball down the stream as well.


Dylan just hung out with the crew and was a good little boy, as always!


In the past couple of week, the class has also been to the zoo, Wheeler Farm and had a fun water day. Kennedy has had an awesome experience in preschool, so Laura and Trisha, thanks for your hard work and thanks for making it such a fun year!

Kennedy's Big Dance Recital

Kennedy ended her year of dance with a final recital last Saturday. After a couple of months of debating whether she liked dance or not, she finally decided that it is okay and she might want to sign up next fall. I think she mostly likes to be on the big stage, performing for an audience. Kennedy and her class did a great job on their little dance.


Here's a cute video of the dance. Kennedy is the tallest dancer, of course. I'm sure I'm a little prejudiced, but I think she did a great job!

Deja Vu- All Over Again

On Wednesday night I received a phone call from Tara telling me that the Xterra died on her as she drove the .5 mile from the Rec to our house.

"What do you mean it died? This is the car we just dumped a bunch of money into last month."

"I mean, it quit on me as I was driving down Highland Drive. I was lucky to coast into a driveway along side the road."

I piled the kids into the van and we went out to rescue Tara from the broken down SUV. Sure enough the vehicle we put a new fuel pump into 6 months ago was dead. The battery turned over, the starter was working, but nothing was happening. I pushed the car into the parking lot and headed back to the Rec to finish work for the night.

As amazing as this is to me, the Xterra needed to go back to the mechanics. The car that traveled a total of 4 miles in the past two weeks needed another $200 repair. This time is wasn't the fuel pump, but rather a type of mounting bracket that connected to the fuel pump.

I can't believe the last 6 months with this vehicle. Since we decided we were going to buy a new car we've had to put over $2500 into the SUV that sits in the carport 98% of the time. We're almost like the little old lady that simply drives her car to church and back. Well, with the amount of money I've put into the Xterra each time I drive it for the next year will be worth about $30 a trip. Great.....

Toadally Frogs

It seems like we've been making more an effort to take the kids out this month to see some different places. Today Tara brought the kids up to campus and we headed over to the Museum of Natural History. I know, museums and kids usually don't mix very well, but the new exhibit was all about frogs and we knew Kennedy and Alex would love it.

The exhibit was pretty cool. The kids saw several different toads and frogs. Some that I'd seen before, but most that were new to me. I thought one of the best displays was a tank that allowed the kids to go inside the middle of it and look around. Kennedy thought it was crazy.

Once we'd finished with the frogs we searched through the rest of the museum to see what we could see. There were all kinds of displays on wildlife and local animals. There was a room full of bugs that delighted the kids and freaked the moms out. Spiders aren't Tara's favorite and there were plenty to observe, although I don't think she looked for them very hard.

My favorite part of the museum was turning the corner to enter the dinosaur exhibit. Alex is totally into all things dinosaur and I knew this would blow his mind. He was a little scared at first because he thought they were real. After realizing that it was all "fake" he quickly warmed up and went from display to display making his dinosaur growl and saying, "big dinosaur."

It was great to have Tara and the kids come up to the U to see me. It was even better to take a couple hours off and spend some time with my family. It was toadally worth it....

Dylan's Big Smile

Lately, I've been trying to get Dylan to smile as much as possible. He is such a sweet kid and his smile melts your heart. Sometimes he is quick with a grin, other times he needs to have a little encouragement. In this video I'm not sure if he's smiling or has gas. Either way I'll take it.