Meet the Teacher

We received teacher assignments and Dad went straight to the teacher websites to see what they were like.  Mom pulled the first one up for Elizabeth’s teacher.  She has been there several years and a friend of ours had her two years ago and loved her.  Sounds like a win for us!  Then Mom clicked to Ben’s teacher.  Her jaw dropped.  Dad was immediately worried.  Mom said – “it isn’t bad, there are just no words.”  Finally – “she was my first grade teacher!”  Yes, Ben has the teacher that taught Mom in first grade 28 years ago!  Wow!  She was in a different school and district at the time, but has been in our school district for 25 years now.  Mom is just a little beside herself and pretty eager to “meet” the teacher.  In preparation, we have enjoyed looking at old yearbooks, especially seeing what Mom looked like in the first grade.  Ben’s face was priceless when we told him the news.  It was a combination of excitement and maybe a little horror.  It is going to be a great year!!

Open Houses

We are toying with the idea of moving to a nearby neighborhood and have let the kids go to a few open houses with us.  Seeing the houses through their eyes has been really funny.  Ben “eliminated” one because the pool had a few leaves in it.  Elizabeth fell in love with a couple because of the toys they had.  They each announced which bedroom was theirs.  Luckily most everything we saw had a boy and a girl room so there wasn’t any fighting.  They knew we had asked them not to touch the people’s things, but E asked about every other room if she could touch something.  She had a logical reason for each item and why it needed to be touched.  Ben snooped on the people and guessed ages of kids by the size of clothing in their closets.  They think it is our new pastime and actually enjoy looking at houses.  And usually we enjoy taking them along for the kid commentary.

Grandma and Grandpa Week

The kids were lucky enough to be invited to spend the week in Kansas with Grandma and Grandpa in late July.  They got to go to Deanna Rose farm in KC.  Elizabeth rode a pony and they both panned for rocks and minerals.  They also enjoyed a children’s museum and park in Topeka.  Mostly they both just wanted to play in the basement and swim in the pool.  Ben’s goal was to swim twice a day.  They settled for once a day, so they could have other fun as well.  The kids each had their own bedroom upstairs and enjoyed ruling the roost for the week.  Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed their time as well, but likely needed a vacation to recover afterwards.  Ben was glad to see us upon their return, but asked why it couldn’t be two weeks.  Elizabeth was glad to see us, but moped for a few days because she missed her Grandma and Grandpa so much.  Mom and Dad also enjoyed a kid-free week filled with various cuisines, a movie and coming and going as they pleased.  What a blessing for all!