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.

Here is a close-up of the stove so you can see the push buttons that turn on the heating elements!

This is our cute kitchen. I am so glad the 70's are back in because it makes decorating this place so much easier! I have a picture of our stove, I'm pretty sure that it is older than I am. Yes, those are push button controls, don't be jealous. The hardest thing for me is there isn't a clock! I keep looking at my stove to see what time it is and nothing! We had to laugh at our beautiful stove that the maintenance crew was able to get working good for us! I guess GE makes good stuff, hopefully my avocado and chocolate towels compliment the mustard yellow!

So we finally have the internet at our little townhouse so I can show you some pictures! This is the kids squished into the car for our journey to Kansas. We had to get so much stuff in the car I was sure the kids would go bonkers, but they were great sports. The presents they got for the drive were so nice, I want to tell everyone thank you so much.

We left soooo late, it was 2:00 by the time we made it to I-80. But we were troopers and made it to Colby Kansas at 3:00am central time. It was a long drive, but it made Thursday's drive of 5 hours a lot better.