Really, I'm thankful!

Our Thanksgiving weekend was fun and crazy! We were so excited for a visit from Grandpa Kerry and Grandma Karrie. They arrived here Tues. night, came over and surprised the kids as they were getting ready for bed. It was SO good to see them after almost 4 months. We talked and played games and made our big weekend plans.

The first thing we planned was a trip to Independence and Liberty Missouri. These two cities are a little over an hour away and they are church history sites. There is a Visitor's Center in Independence where we watched a video on the importance of family, and how families can be forever. It was so fun to see this with our kids and my parents. They also have interactive displays, copies of the Book of Mormon in all the different languages, and other fun things for the kids to see. The favorite part was a pioneer display, They have a model of a log cabin where you go in and learn about the pioneers who came to settle in Independence. There was a play area where the kids could play pioneer style with checkers, a covered wagon and a kids' size cabin. It was a fun place to see.

After the Visitor's Center we headed to Liberty so that we could go to jail. That's what the kids kept saying anyway! We went to see Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith and several others were held for over four months. They rebuilt the jail on the original floor in the exact place where it once stood and built a visitor's center around it. This place is amazing! The sister missionary who was giving the tour told us that the spirit is unrestrained in the room where you view the jail, she wasn't wrong. The spirit was so strong there, it was such an amazing experience to share with my family. I was so glad that we took the time during our thanksgiving break to visit some church sites.

Of course when we left for our day I grabbed the camera, but forgot to charge the batteries! So pictures? yeah, I got nothing! Such rookie mistakes, when will I learn? Kev and I decided it would be a great reason to go back again!

Thanksgiving day was so not what I had planned. Kevin and Preston went to play football with other families from the ward, like always. What wasn't like always was the phone call I got that morning. Kevin called to tell me he thought he had broken his collar bone during the game and that we needed to go to the ER! SERIOUSLY! At first I didn't believe him, I thought he was kidding me like usual, it took him a few times of explaining before I took him serious. So off we headed for x-rays. Yup, he broke his collar bone, not just fractured it, BROKE IT IN HALF!!! Yup, it's his right arm. Yup, he's right handed. And yes, finals are only a few weeks away! We don't do anything the easy way. It was a nontraditional day with a nontraditional dinner (ham, way easier!), and several rounds of dominoes. Despite the difference, we still had a lot of fun; well Kev probably didn't have quite as much fun!

On Friday we got the news that our dog Molly wasn't doing well and needed to be put to sleep (see previous post). It was a hard morning for us with lots of tears. I'm glad my parents were here to be with the kids, they were such a great help. The day was beautiful, almost 70 degrees outside, so we (except Kev of course) decided to get out for a break. I found this place the day before, the Family Fun Center where the kids got to hit golf balls and get some coaching from Grandpa. We also drove a few laps in the go-carts. Preston was stoked that he got to drive his own, and he was the only one on the track for his turn. I took Nick with me, my dad took Kaydie, and my mom took Palmer. We all had a great time. It was so fun to see the smiles and hear the laughs. We needed it that day! We also took my parents on a little driving tour of Topeka and got treats at Dairy Queen. We had such a fun day hanging out together.

Saturday was the day that came too fast, grandma and grandpa had to start driving home. We spent the morning together playing more dominoes and war, then we had lunch at Red Lobster. It was so hard to say good bye. At least it was more of a see you soon, since we'll see them for Christmas. We had such a great thanksgiving with my parents, I am so grateful they made the trip. Thanks Mom and Dad! We all love you so much.

Now for the wound photo gallery!

Notice how his right shoulder slumps a little compared to the left?


Yes, he's my hairy gorilla. No, it doesn't bother me! I love him like crazy:)

His right shoulder blade looked like it was kind of sliding off.
One of these shoulders is not like the other!



I should have paid more attention to what day it was when I took these pictures.
I'm not sure how many days had gone by, but the bruise had turned a spectacular yellow!

It's now been a little over a week since the big game and he's doing a lot better. We now think he might have cracked a couple of ribs along with breaking his collar bone. Our bishop who is a doctor also told me he thought Kev had done more damage than just his collar bone from watching the way he is holding himself and the way he is moving. You know how turkey bowl is, go big or go home! Really, the football part had nothing to do with it, he was running to catch a long pass, stepped in a hole, and fell hard. He will want me to clarify that yes, he caught the ball!

Finals start this week, he will be able to dictate his essays and circle answers instead of fill in scan tron bubbles, so he should be fine for those.

It has been been all kinds of crazy this past week, but what's life without the crazy? If we didn't have the crazy could we appreciate the good times? All I know is that it was a good thing we started off thanksgiving weekend by learning about how Joseph Smith was very kind and gracious during his time of adversity in Liberty Jail. That put a broken collar bone in perspective, it can always be worse, so why not just smile and make the best of it?!

Our Molly

Our dear sweet Molly passed away.

Kevin and I adopted her almost 10 years ago.

We knew she was the right dog when she leaned up against the gate so that we could touch her.

We could not have picked a better dog. She was such a friendly and loving dog.

Preston and Molly were the best of friends. It was so hard for him to leave her behind when we moved. He spent our last morning outside with her. You can see how hard it was on him by the look on his face. Kevin and I couldn't bear to watch him pet her and just sob. Our hearts were broken for him that morning.

Even though she was an outside dog she was the seventh person in our family. She has been with us for nearly ten years. The kids have never known life without her. They loved playing with her in the back yard even though she would never fetch. They loved playing with her in the snow, feeding her snowballs and watching her bounce all over the yard. They fought over whose turn it was to give Molly treats, and probably gave her way more than she needed. They got a kick out of watching her get "baths" in the summer when we would hose her down on hot days, and they always laughed when she would dig in their sandbox. They loved their Molly.



Leaving Molly behind was a hard decision for us, the only reason we could do it was because we knew Aubrey and James would be so good to her. They moved Molly inside with them and their dogs. She was happy to hang out all day on her pillow. She quickly found a place in the Pratt family. We are so thankful that she had such good care and so much love in her last few months.

Molly was an old dog and was suffering from being old. She had arthritis that made her stiff and it got worse this fall. She had a hard time getting up and down stairs, and was starting to have difficulty squatting. Then on Thursday her foot was injured and she needed to go to the vet. He told Aubrey and James that her quality of life was quickly going down hill, and he did not think that she would get better. So together we made the hard decision to have her put to sleep. We were so sad at the timing because we would be home to see her in three weeks, but we didn't want our Molly to suffer. She passed away Friday morning.

We love you Molly. We'll miss the way you "talked" to us. We'll miss your bum wagging. We'll miss your floppy ear. We'll miss you howling at sirens, and we'll miss you sitting on our laps. Keep Grandpa Joe company while we wait to see you again. We love you.

Preston saves the day

WARNING... Not for young viewers!!!!

About a month ago I was making dinner and Preston came up to me and told me that he knew who the tooth fairy was. I knew what he was talking about so I gave him a wink and smile. Then a few days later Palmer lost a tooth. Palmer wanted to save his tooth and get some money, so he decided to write a letter to the tooth fairy asking her to leave his tooth behind. By the time he remembered to write it and leave it under his pillow about a week had past since he lost the tooth. Well, crazy life took over, and that night the tooth fairy forgot!! Palmer came into our room with his chin quivering "Well it looks like I don't get any money." (CRAP CRAP CRAP) I asked him if he had looked everywhere, then I started quickly thinking about what I could do to save the day. Then Preston comes in and says "Palmer the tooth fairy left you some money, it's right here(he holds out some coins), I found it under your pillow." Preston had hurried and gotten some of his own money to save Palmer's day! This a moment that will make me smile forever. Preston was so funny all that day, he kept rubbing it in. I would get comments like "I guess the tooth fairy was really tired last night." We had a good laugh about it.

Then, I started to wonder if he had any other suspicions about the holidays? So last night we were talking to my dad on speaker phone, and my dad asked what Santa was going to do with us going home for christmas. Nothing was leaked, we got the speaker off and the subject changed before anyone noticed, but I saw Preston's light click on. When we sent the kids to bed I asked him to hang back for a minute. He looked at Kev and asked "Yeah, so what IS Santa going to do this year?" I asked him what he thought about Santa, and he looked at me and says "Well, I hope Santa does better than the tooth fairy!" He is so funny. We had a little chat about being a good actor for his brothers and sister. I'm excited for a new experience this year...watching Preston play Santa's little helper!

A friend of mine invited us to a bike park last week and my kids LOVED it. It is a BMX bike park so it's a dirt track with tons of hills.

It was so funny to watch them learn how to ride up hills, and learn how to roll back down the ones they couldn't quite get up:) I think they ran their bikes up as many as they rode up. We had a great time, and they did NOT want to go home. They were begging to go there all weekend.

They were out of school yesterday and we went again so they could have another go at those hills before the weather goes bad. They did so much better the second time. Preston cruises around most of it, Palmer and Kaydie still can't get up all the hills, but most. Some of them are really steep and tall!! Nick likes going down the hills and could get over the small hills, but I did A LOT of pushing yesterday:) We found our newest favorite place!

Cold Stone Anyone?

Our new holiday candy tradition

Make your favorite ice cream!!

Too bad I didn't think of it 'til Saturday.

When mom and dad don't eat all the candy for you there is

still a pretty good selection....even a week later:)

Bring on Valentine's Day!

Happy Halloween

Oh the fun of halloween! All the strategy that goes into everything. These are the pumpkins for this year. Preston's is on the right. He did it himself. I didn't get a good angle on it, but he carved a face on the front and a monster on the back but the monster part broke. He worked so hard and did such a good job, I was sad for him. Nick and Kaydie's pumpkins are in the middle, Kaydie's is on the left. She insisted that she carved it by herself, and she did. I helped her a bit, but she did pretty darn good with the little pumpkin saw. Nick was happy to let me do all the carving, he wrote on the back of it with a pen when I was done. He's goofy. Palmer's is on the left. Again, he had to do it by himself. We laughed because everything he carved was so little. Halloween on a Saturday was awesome, they had a lot of time to spend on their masterpieces!

And then there were the costumes!

Harry Potter. He loves the glasses and the scar. He wore the tie to church

Miss Hermione Granger. She could have won the look alike award! I think she picked the perfect costume this year!

The Death Eater. Darn those masks,

why can't you wear them to anything?

The hunter. He can't wait til he can wear the camo for hunting! Too bad he'll have probably outgrown this set by then:)

Our halloween weekend was pretty fun. Friday night was the big trunk-or-treat at the church. We had yummy chili and homemade pie. I went as a referee, Kevin almost dressed up too! He put on his Nicaragua baseball shirt with his jeans and went as "Ward Softball Guy" it's the most he's done in ten years so I'll give him credit. Maybe next year we can see if we can get him to do more! We had a great time and got lots of candy. The kids liked how they were able to fill up their buckets in about 20 minutes!

Saturday was pretty laid back. We carved pumpkins and hung out most of the day. I didn't want to trick-or-treat in our complex because I don't know very many people. It feels weird to teach your kids that strangers are okay on halloween. So we went to a little spook alley that the office staff here put on, it was so awesome, they went to a lot of work to make over the offices. After that we had dinner and played the Wii and some halloween games. The kids missed our halloween traditions from back home, but they adjusted and had a good time.

Now we get to look forward to a visit from grandma and grandpa for Thanksgiving, we can't wait!!

all I want for christmas is....

my two front teeth!!!

we love halloween

Last Friday night kicked off our week long halloween extravaganza. We had our first halloween party with the JRC. We dressed up with high hopes of winning the costume contest, made our best Clam Chowder for the soup cook off, and got ready for the donut eating contest.

I only got 1 out of three! My costume didn't win, a couple dressed up as Ken and Barbie took that one. Nerts! Then our Clam Chowder didn't win either, but some awesome tortilla soup did, so no hard feelings. BUT, I totally rocked the donut eating contest, BOOYA! The donuts were on a string held up by guys on the stage(we were at the church). Kaydie sat on the stage and helped me eat it. I would hold it still so she could take a few bites. I didn't realize that either I'm a hog or I have a really big mouth cuz that thing was gone in about three big bites. I won a gift card to Cold Stone as if I needed more junk! I have to share with Kaydie though because she helped.

These are the costumes for this year. It's a Harry Potter year, other than for Preston. Nick is Harry Potter, Kaydie is Hermione, and Palmer is a death eater. Preston wants to be a hunter. I am trying to get a witch costume together for this week, we'll see how good my sewing skills are. I bought the beginnings of a witch costume but it's too short so I need to make some capris to go with it. Why do all adult costumes have to start with "Naughty" or "Sexy"???? Can't I just be a good old witch? If it doesn't work I still have Princess Leia on standby.

We are excited for our halloween week. We have the school parties on Wednesday (because there is no school Thurs or Fri., Sweet!) Then we have the ward party on Friday, and then we're having our own family halloween party on Saturday. Lots to do, but so much fun!

I have to start this off with my own personal disclaimer: I am usually so far behind the times it's embarassing, so I'm sure this will only be new to me. That being said, I have to tell you about my new favorite things.

1. INSIDEOUT A CAPPELA. Two words: AWE-SOME! I LOVE their music! My kids heard some of their songs in primary one Sunday and couldn't stop singing them, so I ordered this CD. If you haven't heard them, find their website! Your kids will never sing Once There Was A Snowman the "right" way again, but it will be so worth it! They have another album called Sharing Time that I'm gonna have to get. My kids love these songs, we haven't stopped listening to the CD.

2. cakewrecks.blogspot.com is my new favorite website. It makes me laugh out loud. I love seeing things that make me feel like maybe I'm not so dumb! It is full of professionally made cakes that leave you wondering. If you have time to spare or need a laugh, check it out.

Sick of Sick

I love fall, but I HATE the cold/flu season! We have already had a turn with a round of colds. Palmer was sick over conference weekend, then Nick was sick a few days later, then Pk got sick last Saturday. Last week I had someone home sick from school 4 out of 5 days. This week hasn't been any better. The kids had the day off on Monday, but Pk was still sick. He stayed home on Tues. That night I was feeling good about the rest of the week because everyone seemed fine. Then Palmer came in our room at 2:00am Wed morning saying his ear was killing him. He wanted to ice it, when I told him that wouldn't work and he needed to take some medicine he decided maybe it would be better to just cut it off! He's not at all dramatic when he's tired and not feeling well! I wasn't too much better, my patient side wasn't awake either. Thank heavens Kev was nice enough to get up and talk Palmer into taking some medicine. I think we all got about an hour's worth of sleep after that point. I took Palmer to the doctor and sure enough he has an ear infection, which is odd because he hasn't had one since he was a baby. I don't know what happened there. He also has a blister on his ear drum! I took this picture of him because this is what he looked like all day yesterday. He wasn't really asleep, but he couldn't keep his eyes open either. I felt so bad for him, I felt worse when he was getting ready for bed and he told me that if he woke up during the night he wouldn't bug me:( Did I mention that I wasn't very patient with him when he was up all night? Another mom of the year moment for me! I told him it was ok to get me if he needed anything, luckily he got the full night's rest he needed. Fingers crossed and knock on wood that we're done for a while! I'm sick of everyone being sick!

One More Down

Finally!! Palmer has lost another tooth! He has been worried that he is behind loosing teeth, and compared to Preston and Kaydie he is (which Kaydie likes to remind him about:) Both of his top front teeth are loose, the left one was more loose, and Nick finished it off last night when he accidentally bumped Palmer while he was drinking out of a water bottle. After a few nervous minutes Palmer let me pull it out with the pliers. Now he is super excited to have a hole in his mouth!

Oh, and Nick was reading this while I was typing, and he insisted that I added the "accidentally"!

The R Jar

This is the latest in our attempts to help our kids behave. We call it The R Jar. I got the idea when Kevin and I were in a combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting and our Bishop was speaking about reverance, and the lack thereof.

Kevin and I had been struggling with that with our kids. We knew it was a big adjustment to move, and we tried to give the kids a little extra room for behavior since they were getting used to all the new. But this was back at the end of August, and we had given them a month, and they were not calming down. We were sitting in this meeting and I was feeling like our family could really use this lesson because the kids were struggling, and I didn't feel like I was setting the tone when in frustration I would yell and get mad. So I had my inspiration!!

I came up with this R Jar, r is for reverance and respect. When the kids do something good, or show reverance or respect to each other, at church, help without complaining, whatever, they get to put money in the jar. When they are disrespectful, disobedient, or naughty, they have to take money out. Kevin and I get to choose the amount that goes in or out. This way if they're really good they get a good reward, if they're really bad, or I'm really annoyed, they have to take out a bunch! I was really excited for this because it can be a reward and a punishment, and it helps me focus on the positive a lot more. We told the kids when they earned ten dollars we would take the money and use it to do something as a family.

Success!! This is our first party to celebrate earning ten dollars!! We decided to buy Monsters Vs. Aliens and have a late night/movie night. It took the kids about a month of a few cents in and a few cents out, but they made it!! It has been a fun experience having a fun incentive for the kids. They have been more helpful with jobs, and they are getting a lot better at not complaining or fighting. We're not perfect, but a lot better. Yeah!!

September

September is almost over and I have been neglecting my computer! The Kemps are alive here in Kansas! We've had a good month.

Kevin told me a few weeks ago that he missed hearing the piano, we had to leave our piano behind. We had talked about buying a keyboard here so that I could have something to play, and be able to teach the kids how to play, but we hadn't looked into it much. So he jumped on his computer and started researching keyboards. After reading up and speaking to a guy at a keyboard store he bought me this! I have the sweetest husband! This is so much more than I expected!

We are having so much fun with our new piano. It sounds like a grand piano, an organ, strings, accordian, orchestra, and tons of other things! The kids also enjoy the helicopter, gun shots, dog barking, baby crying, race car, and other fun sounds! Whatever gets you to practice right?!

I am so thankful for my new piano, it was hard to leave mine behind, and I am so glad to be able to play again.

Kevin and the boys had a Father and Son's activity on the 11th. They got to spend an evening fishing. The event was a campout, but we are not equipped for that, they still had a fun time.

We have yet to catch a mid-west monster fish, I guess we haven't lost enough lures to the lakes yet! We'll keep waiting and trying.

I'm not sure if Palmer and Nick knew they got bunny-eared! Preston can't help teasing.

This is Preston's big ol' trombone. He has band class three mornings a week and is having a lot of fun learning how to play it.

I'm glad fall is here, I love the cooler weather and the leaves. The kids are all getting their halloween plans started. I am going to start going to the gym at the crack of dawn this week, I'm going to give that "early to bed early to rise" thing a try and see if I can't get more accomplished in a day. See if I can get myself into some better habits!

We've been here for 2 months now! Where does the time go?

It's another week down, holy cow time goes by fast (which is good right?). Life is good and crazy busy, I'm glad we've made it to our first long weekend.

On Monday Preston got his trombone! Yeah!! His first band class was Tuesday morning, when he came home from school I asked him to show me what he learned, all they did was practice blowing into the mouthpiece. Baby steps! Kevin and I went to his class on Friday morning, they didn't do much more than they did on Tues., but they are learning the notes, and practicing counting, Pk struggled with the rhythm, we had a good chuckle. Preston isn't discouraged with the class not moving quickly, I think he's so excited for something new that he doesn't notice. But don't worry, he's figured out how to make his trombone sound like an elephant! he has a good time goofing around with the sounds. Maybe if I let him get it out of his system now he'll be able to concentrate when he has to practice real music!

I turned a new corner on Thursday. After 9 years I became an employee again! Tuesday will be my first day as a food service worker at the kids' school. That sounds all official, but you can just call me lunch lady. I get to wear a hair net and everything! And after observing the job, I don't know if it really should be called food services, more like food-slinging! I keep having MASH flash-backs.

We kicked off our holiday weekend by going to a Royals game on Friday night. I didn't check the batteries in the camera before we left, so no pictures. Dang-it! Oh well, we'll get 'em next time.

We went to the game with a bunch of people in the JRC (J. Reuben Clark Society), and we had fun even though we were at a Royals game. I shouldn't complain too much about the Royals though because they are actually affordable. There is a grocery store here where if you buy $50 bucks in groceries you can use the receipt to get half off your tickets, and Friday night was dollar night where they had hot dogs, peanuts, and drinks for $1 each. To top it all off there were fireworks after the game.

We had good plans, but like I said we were at a Royals game. They were playing the Angels, so Pk was excited to see them and have a good team to cheer for. He is an Angels fan because that is the team he was on this last season. The game was OK, but SUPER slow. The Royals finally lost after about 3 1/2 hours, so we could get onto the fireworks. Nick ended up falling asleep after the seventh hour, I mean inning, stretch. So he missed the fireworks all together. Those of us who were awake only missed most of them! The air was so heavy that the smoke wouldn't clear, so after the second or third firework the smoke was so thick that you only see glowing smoke! I had never been to a fireworks show where you couldn't see the fireworks, it was great! We all had a good laugh.

We are going fishing tomorrow, hopefully we'll have some success. Kevin and the boys are getting anxious to catch some of the big Mid-West fish they've been reading about. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Birthday pictures

Here are some birthday pictures. The kids had a lot of fun going out to dinner. I can never get them to take a good picture when they are having fun, someone always cheeses it up. In this one Nick is smiling with his mouth FULL of food.


They had fun giving dad his present too. Nick was the one who suggested giving the bbq, I was glad that he wasn't offended when I told him that it was from all of the kids. Birthdays this year have been a lot of fun. We are blessed to have very selfless children who get excited for every ones' birthdays, not just their own, they have made this year very special. Now that the crazy summer has ended, our birthday season has ended too, 9 months and counting until we start all over!

This is Kevin's favorite birthday treat! We all like it so much that I made 2! I make pie like a samurai (for all you Backyardigans fans). I never thought I would be able to pull off a homemade pie, but I can! (crust and all), and it's fun!!

Updates and a birthday!

It has been a litttle while since I wrote anything new, I guess I have been waiting for a new picture to write about. But like Missy Collard can tell you, I'm lousy at taking lots of pictures, so this will be a reading only!

We have had a great couple of weeks, but not lots of exciting stuff. Kev and the kids are all getting into the routine of school. This is Kevin's first real week, with all of his classes, so he's still trying to fine tune his schedule and stuff. The kids are doing great, they love their school! Preston came home last week very excited about the music program that the school has. They have a begging band class for 4th grade, and the music teacher demonstrated all the instruments for the kids. Preston has decided that he wants to learn how to play the trombone! We are excited for him, he will have three years of music lessons in school! Hopefully he'll be pretty good when we get back and he can try out his skills in the middle school band. The school also has beggining orchestra starting in third grade, so Palmer and Kaydie have already made plans to learn the violin during the next two years!

Kevin used to donate plasma for extra money, and found a donation center here, so he asked me if I would want to donate twice a week for grocery money. It sounds weird, but it's easy money, and we need all the help we can get, so I figure why not? So last wed. I went in to do my first donation. It took FOREVER to get through the screening and mini physical that they require, so by the time I actually got on a bed to get hooked up I had been there like 2 hours. The donation part went good, blood and needles don't bother me, so I was feeling pretty good about our little financial decision. When I was finished I went to the recovery area to sit on a chair and wait for a band-aid, and then for my money. I started feeling a little light-headed, so I told a lady, and she had me lay back down on a bed and eat some crackers and drink some water. I laid there for about 10 min. and felt better, so I sat up for a minute. The guy who pays you called my name, so I went over to the counter. He asked me if I felt ok, I told him I was a little light-headed again so I leaned down on the counter. Next thing I know the nurses are waking me up and I'm on the floor! I totally passed out! in front of a room full of people! I have never done that before, it was so weird, and SOOO embarrassing! I was so mad, I am not the wussy girl who passes out! But life has a way of humbling you. It took me a little while to shake it off, but I was able to drive home and eat a good lunch. It was such a memorable day! But I couldn't let it beat me, so I went back last Fri. and again today and made it through A-OK! My kids think that it's hilarious that I passed out, they keep teasing me.

Today is Kevin's birthday! He's 32, but people in his classes think he's like 40! It's hard when you get older and your birthday just can't be an all day event anymore! He spent the day in classes and donating plasma! We took him out to dinner at Applebees, I do have pictures of that, but we changed computers, and I can't figure out how to load the pictures because I have to somehow get them from the printer where the slot for the card is! Stupid computers, when Kev shows me what to do I can add those. Anyhoo, dinner was fun. The kids heard the servers sing a birthday song to another person, and Nick spilled the beans about his dad's birthday when our server came back, so Kev got serenaded too. Nick was pretty proud of himself, Palmer made us promise that we wouldn't go to Applebee's on his birthday! After dinner we came home and opened presents and had some cold pumpkin pie, his favorite! The kids got Kev a small grill for the back patio, one of those tiny ones you see on decks. The kids weren't sure we could make it three years without a bbq! We tried to make today a special day, I hope we pulled it off. But, it's now 10:15 and he's been studying at school for the last 3 hours. He had to go back when the party was over. Why can't birthdays be like they were when we were kids?

Well that's about all there is, I'm sure I'll think of a bunch of stuff as soon as I post this! I won''t wait for pictures next time since the whole point of this blog is to keep in touch!!

First day of school

The Kempers have reached another milestone--all the kids are in school!! Yesterday was the first day of school for them, and it was a great day. Kev and I celebrated by playing a round of golf!

We made the kids get up on Tues. morning and have a "dress-rehearsal" for getting ready. I've never had to have everyone up and ready by 8:00 and I wanted an extra day to practice. After everyone was dressed and ready we drove our route to drop Kevin off at school and then the kids so we could time it. Then we surprised the kids and took them to breakfast. They thought we were pretty cool. After breakfast we took them to Walmart so that Preston and Palmer could pick out a new shirt for school. Preston found one first, then Palmer decided he liked the layered look as well, but the only shirt in his size was the same color as Preston's so they were twins. It's a good thing Pk is so easy going, that could have spelled disaster. Palmer was so excited for this new shirt, he couldn't stop talking about it. The first thing he said to me when I woke him up yesterday was "Did you get my shirt ready?" He was the first one dressed, and then he was strutting all over the house! He is so all about the look, check out his pose!

If you can't tell, Kaydie was very excited too! We went to back-to-school night on Mon. and she was a little bugged when she found out school wasn't until Wed. She loves school and I am so glad that she gets to be in school all day this year.

And then there is goof ball Nick. I don't know if he'll ever be serious! He was so excited for kindergarten. It was so funny to watch him, I kept waiting for him to be nervous, but he took it all in stride. Kindergarten here is all day, so he gets to eat lunch at school, he was excited for that. He was funny about his clothes too. I asked all the kids to show me what they wanted to wear the night before so I could have everything ready, I don't remember what he picked. When Nick saw what Preston and Palmer were wearing he had to change his outfit so that it was like his brothers! He can be all about the look too.

And last but not least is my Pk Ripper. He has been such a trooper moving here, it has taken a quiet toll on him. He was the same old kid getting up and getting ready, cool as a cucumber. The routine at the new school is a little different, but that kind of stuff doesn't seem to bother him, he just goes with the flow. After school Kevin talked to his teacher, and it sounds like Preston was right at home in school. He is a talker, and the teacher noticed! His class all were supposed to bring 5 things from home that describe them and the things they like to do. He brought Harry Potter, a fishing reel, a golf ball, a base ball, and a paper cut out of the state of Utah. His teacher said that he showed the class all his stuff and then said that he was from Utah and he wanted to tell them some things about Utah too! I am so glad he is back in school, he came home so happy.

I can't believe we've made it here so fast!!! It seemed like I had babies for so long, and they are growing up before my eyes! It feels like I even lost an extra year with kindergarten being all day, I don't have the afternoon to hang out with Nick that I had been anticipating all last year. But life is good, I'm going to try and work at the school in the lunch room to make a little money and have something to do. I am also looking forward to having days where I can do what I want too! I am so hittting the gym every day. The kids have come home from the second day and it sounds like it was a good as the first. It's going to be a great year, we really like all their teachers, and they all have so much enthusiasm, Kev and I are going to enjoy watching them learn and grow!

This isn't about school, but I thought I'd share. On Tues. afternoon we went fishing again at a lake called Lake Perry. Palmer kept us from being skunked, he caught a small large mouth bass. All the kids can now cast on their own so that's good. While Nick was fishing he yelled to me that he could see a snake in the water. I'm like it's just a stick, and he kept yelling come and see! So I went and looked, and sure enough there was a snake with its head poking out of the water not too far from him! I HATE HATE HATE snakes! I wanted to leave, but I was being brave in front of the kids, just trying to be cool about it. The snake went away, and I had the kids fish a little closer to me. Then about an hour or so later Kaydie kindof screamed and said there was a snake by her line. I looked over and I couldn't see anything, so Kev and I said she was seeing things. Then she screamed again and said no it's right here, then a snake head popped up by her! We left after that! I know that a snake is not going to charge out of the water at you, but still! It's freaky to watch a snake pop up out of nowhere. After Pk came home from school yesterday he told me that he was talking to the student teacher in his class, telling him about the snakes. His teacher said you have to watch out for water moccasins and cotton-mouth snakes at Lake Perry! I still have the heebie jeebies!!!!

Here is our little accident-waiting-to-happen again! This time it was in the library. Nick decided to jump off a wooden boat that is supposed to be a chair for kids. I guess he thought he was doing a cool jump but landed wrong and fell into the boat with his face! I

heard the crying while I was helping Palmer find a book, and found him with a nice bump on the cheek. Later that night Palmer made sure it would look good when he kneed him in the same spot! This was all on Thursday, the bruise is starting to go green, he has a halloween look to his face today! I know boys will be boys, but this kid is driving me crazy! He didn't want to go to church today because he didn't want people to see his shiner. Hopefully it will be better by Wed. so that the first day of school isn't filled with too much drama!

This is our trip to Gage Park, we went on Friday to try out the fishing. There is a big pond where you can catch crappie, sunfish, blue gill, and catfish. The kids were all ready to catch a 40 pounder.... they only caught bait!! We had fun though, Palmer and Nick learned how to cast by themselves. We have to get another push button reel so they don't have to share (fight) one! Kaydie wasn't too thrilled with the idea of fishing so she and I went off to explore the park, it is so fun. It is right in the middle of town, just a few minutes from where we live. The zoo is there, they have a big water park that is cheaper than going to a movie! There is a carousel and a mini train you can take a ride on. Kaydie was pretty glad that she got to try these out first while the boys were fishing. There are also gardens and lots of play areas. The kids had a ton of fun even though it was crazy hot and sticky. One thing I've had to get used to is covering the kids in bug spray when we go out, the mosquitos and chiggers get you any time of day. The different animals are also fun. The kids were so excited to see a squirrel, they were adament that I had to take a picture. I wonder how excited they'll be to see squirrels in a few more years! There was also the turtle in the pond. Preston thought it was pretty cool to be fishing by a turtle.

The more I see Topeka, the happier I am that we chose to come here. There are so many parks and fun cheap things to do with the kids (they want to go fishing every day!). It is such a pretty city, and there are so many nice people here. Even though Utah will always be home, Topeka will be a great place to live.