Awesome kids

I realized I haven't bragged on the kids and their accomplishments for a while.  This seems like the appropriate venue for just that!  

Over Valentine's Day (yep, it's been a while and I forgot to share), we make hearts about something we love about a different family member.  We post those up on our doors.  The kid's school asked to share a way you show kindness to your family or community, and Daniel and Leslie were featured not only on the school website, but also on the Lee's Summit Government Facebook page!  

Daniel completed his "black belt" in Ninja Math at school.  He was in the first group of kids to complete it!

Leslie's kindergarten teacher was so impressed with Leslie's writing and illustrations that she asked Leslie to show her work to the principal:

Both kids ended the 3rd quarter will ALL M's, meaning Meeting (the highest score you can get).  We're impressed by that, but perhaps even more so by the fact that both of them also got all 4's (the highest score you can get) for behavior - things like self control, listening, following procedures, etc.  We sure are proud of these kids!  

In family news, we completed the Spring edition of Trek the Trails (our neighborhood hiking challenge) which gets us out on to new trails within the area.  It's fun to explore the new paths and the kids get SO excited when they see a marker.

We also met up with some neighbors/friends to clean up the trails:

And a funny story.  Leslie and I made puppy chow, or some know it as muddy buddys (rice Chex, chocolate, peanut butter, powdered sugar).  After lunch she wanted some, so she asked if she could have some of those "dog biscuits"!

Easter & Updates

Spring is here and we're all happy about the nice weather!  We've been enjoying the great outdoors much more - hiking, playing outside, going for walks, and enjoying playgrounds... just to name a few!

In indoor news, Daniel is advancing in piano.  He's to the point now where he needed a legitimate piano; the keyboard can't cut it anymore.  He genuinely enjoys playing the piano and his lessons, so I guess we're all in now! The first day we had it, he played for almost 45 minutes exploring the features of the digital piano.  He has his first piano recital (where people can actually come and watch!) coming up next month.

In Leslie indoor news, she lost tooth #5!  She's a pro and so brave.  She wants those teeth outta there!  She also still adores playing chess.  Since someone can't always play chess with her, she had to get creative...

Leslie also wrote a book for your enjoyment, I Love Things.

All things Easter... The day before Easter, Leslie was invited to an Easter egg hunt at her friend, Willie's, house.  It was just Willie, Leslie, and another friend from their kindergarten class, Owen.  She had a lot of fun.  My favorite part though was at the very end when we were getting ready to go back to the car.  They started saying their goodbyes, and Willie walked Leslie to the car... then opened the door, and gave her a hug!  What a little gentleman!  It was absolutely adorable.  When we were driving home, I asked Leslie how that made her feel, and she said, "I felt like a queen!"  

Later on that Saturday, we had Bobby's brother, Jake and his girlfriend, Sara, join us for dinner.  They live in Overland Park, but we haven't managed to see them very often.  Hopefully that will change now with vaccinations and better scheduling since they don't work weekends anymore.  We talked and caught up, played some Mario Kart, ate dinner, and played Camel Up - a fun board game.  It was an awesome time and we can't wait to have them back again soon!

Easter morning started out with the excitement of seeing what the Easter Bunny left:

Then, once we'd eaten enough sugar to get our systems really going, we went on a hike.  The kids enjoyed it because someone from the neighborhood hid eggs on the trails and at the playground.  We saw several, but only kept one egg each so others could enjoy the fun too.  

After we got home from our hike, we dyed Easter eggs.

Later in the day, we went to a park and met up with some friends, Jarod and Alissa, and their son, Decker.  He just turned one a couple of weeks ago, and he sure is cute.  I didn't get any pictures of the little guy... he was pretty attached to his Mommy and Daddy, but by the end of our visit I had him smiling and laughing.  It was cute to hear our kids interact with Decker.  They sure were sweet with him!

We hope everyone had a happy Easter, and that you are all well and healthy!

Visitors and Easter Egg Hunt

It's Springtime!  Life is starting to feel a little more "normal-ish".  

A couple of weekends ago, we enjoyed seeing our friends, the Hilliards.  We haven't been able to see them for quite some time due to Covid and our schedules not cooperating.  They were taking a trip to Orlando and flying out of Kansas City.  We met them at their hotel the night before their flight.  The kids enjoyed swimming at the hotel pool, eating pizza, and playing video games together.  Leslie also loved some chess time with Mark, a formidable opponent!  So fun to see them even if only for a couple of hours.

Speaking of visitors, Bobby's dad and Ann came for a visit over the weekend!  The weather was beautiful.  We went for a walk and showed them the creek where the kids like to play.  We ate some delicious KC BBQ, chatted and laughed, and of course, Leslie played chess with Papa, another formidable opponent (she's getting good!).  Such a fun time!

Papa and Nani went to the garden center near our house and took Leslie too.  She came back with this sweet flower!

On Sunday, our neighborhood hosted its annual Easter Egg Hunt.  We were happy to see it still happen.  The kids wore masks, and loved seeing their friends outside of the school setting.  We hiked there and back (about 25 minutes each way).  Gotta earn that candy!  On the way home, Daniel's friend and neighbor, Shafer, joined us.  It's funny to listen to boys just talk and talk - mostly about explosions and how cool they are... sigh.  It was nice for Daniel to have a friend to connect with.  We've still tried to social distance, but after a year of this, I think we're all ready to have more social and less distance, especially for the kids.

This is the first year Leslie has really known other kids at social neighborhood functions.  She saw her friend, Willie, from her class and was so excited!

More misc. pictures/videos...

A Birthday and Visitors

 Life is still pretty quiet these days, but we have had a bit of fun lately.  I turned 40 last week!  It was a fairly normal day, but we capped it off with Amy's amazing cupcakes and some fun presents (yay - video games! boardgames!) and some family game time together.  Amy and the kids always know how to make me feel special and celebrated.  

I took the day after my birthday off of work so Amy and I could have a nice date day together.  It was fantastic!  We ran a few errands and had an amazing lunch together. 

This week, Amy was to be summoned for Jury Duty.  Grandma and Grandpa headed down to help with the kids so that I wouldn't have to take any time off of work.  Amy ended up being called off and didn't have to report after all, but we still had a great time with our visitors.

Going for a walk

A day at the Spa for Grandpa

The nicer weather has also allowed us to get outside and play a bit more...finally! 

But it wasn't too long ago that we had snow and were doing fun activities like this:

Snow + food coloring fun

We're glad the weather has warmed up now though and it was especially fun to have some visitors.  

One last quick note.  Leslie still loves to play Chess (and is able to beat me more often than not) and Daniel is still doing great with the piano!

Superbowl and Stuff

While the outcome of the Superbowl isn't what we hoped, we sure had fun celebrating with our little family at home. The Chiefs lost... by a lot... It was probably their worst game of the season. For us though, it's been something fun to bring us together as a family. We made sliders and cookies with red and yellow M&Ms. The kids celebrated at school each day with a different theme (Mahomes Monday, Tropical Tuesday, etc.), so they really got into it too. We're already looking forward to next season... Go Chiefs! 

Bobby met the KC Wolf (again!) at work

Leslie made a Patrick Mahomes headband at school

Last weekend we indulged in a Patrick Mahomes inspired cupcake

Our Chiefs M&M cookies

In other news, it's cold - really, really cold here. The high today is 14, the warmest of the next 7 days. BRRRR! In a typical Midwest temperature pattern, it was near 60 a few days ago. We wanted to take advantage of the warmer days so we checked out the newly opened park just minutes from our house (which also has a coffee shop within walking distance!). It's awesome! The kids loved it. It has an area for both big kids and toddlers. We're looking forward to going there more once the weather warms up again. 

Most days though, we hang around home. The kids are getting really good at chess. Leslie has legitimately beat Bobby a few times, and they ask to play with him all the time. If Leslie can catch Daniel in the right mood, the two of them will play together. 

They even play chess on their tablets

Bobby has also taken up a new hobby... french braiding! I was really impressed with his first attempt with Leslie. I had him do my hair too! That Daddy... he's always up for learning something new!