Sunday, September 29, 2013

Surprise Sprinkle for Amy!

Casey and I threw our friend Amy a surprise Sprinkle Shower!  Maybe we wanted to throw Amy a baby shower because Amy is the kind of friend who bends over backward for her friends and everyone loves her or maybe it was because we all really, really don't envy her upcoming reality...Amy is pregnant with her 3rd baby in less than 3 years!  In about a month, Amy & Bryan are welcoming Caroline.  They have 2 rough and tumble boys already and this baby girl is a welcome addition, but I know how hard this last year was for Mike and I, I can't imagine adding a third Kerschen to the mix! 
Casey hosted, we got Amy to come over telling her it was a girls housewarming dinner at Casey's new house.

When she arrived, Amy was shocked to see her mom, aunt & sister there!

It was a great excuse to get the girls together for the evening!

And to shower Amy (and Caroline) with some girly cutesiness!

Friday, September 20, 2013

"New School"

As if Jak and Lillian haven't had enough change in 2013, they are now adjusting to a new school.  Mike and I couldn't be happier with the change, Jak, as usual, is going with the flow and Lillian (also as usual!) required a bit more time to come around.  But here we are in our 4th week at the Wooden Shoe and Lillian is eager to go to school every morning and quick to kiss Daddy goodbye to play with her new friends!  (A welcome change from the 20+ minute drop offs he used to have with her!)

Both kids have Spanish class, Gym class and Music class a couple times a week.  They have an events calendar with real lesson plans and organized art projects.  Jak gets to paint with food and Jell-O, Lillian has Science class with edible experiments. And when Lillian moves up to the 3year old room next week she gets swim lessons twice a week too!  The best part is, it costs the same as what we were paying at Busy Bees! 
Our only complaint is that they didn't put Lillian in the 3 year old room right away.  Some of the other kids in that room aren't quite 3, but they needed to be at least 2 1/2, potty trained and verbal.  I tried to tell them Lillian is potty trained and very verbal, but of course she was acting shy when they met her and didn't show off her language skills.  It wasn't much of a surprise when the director called me to say they want to transition her up to the next room, and here we are moving to another room after only 4 weeks!
Lillian has brought a new tradition home to the Kerschen household, we now pray before we eat.  At the Wooden Shoe they say, "God is great, God is Good and we thank him for our Food, Heyman!"  Of course, they end the prayer with Amen not Heyman but you can't tell Lillian that.  She's adamant about her version and we say it even before we have a snack! 

This week we signed permission slips for Lilian to take a hot air balloon ride (Jak was too young).  Someone at the school has Remax connections and they brought the Remax Balloon to school today for the kids to ride in, FREE!  Lillian was so excited!  She wanted Daddy to ride with her, but Mike explained that the balloon was only for the kids and that Miss Shelley was going to ride up with her.  Lillian and the other kids couldn't wait, they had smiles as big as their face, they skipped all the way down to the baseball field in anticipation, the balloon operator fired up the Hot Air and it let out such a noise, all the smiles turned to looks of trepidation!   They all started crying and not one kid in Lillian's class went up in the balloon... Mike said if the operator had just made it fun for the kids and let them countdown to the big noise, they might have gone.  Oh well...maybe next year!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

End Of Summer Fun

I can't believe summer's coming to a close!  I guess we say that every year, but this summer really was so much fun.  After the initial trauma of moving into our "20 Year Home", as Mike likes to call it, we chose not to dive into all the boxes, and immediately start decorating our house.  Instead, we chose to enjoy the summer, the new neighborhood, the pool, the zoo, our friends when we can squeeze them in and of course our family.  Here are some pictures to catch you up on the miscellaneous events of the last couple of weeks:
She may be a little girl now, but kitchen sink baths still make Lillian's day!
 
I love it when they share their toys...not sure if two kids on one Rocking Horse is what I had in mind though!
 
Our friend Zander discovered a great play yard for kids at the Denver Zoo.  Jak loved climbing in the tree house.
And Lillian loved racing the wooden boats in the river.

The Giraffes are a must-see for the kids...
But the elephants have always been Lillian's favorite, the first time I took her to the zoo, Lillian turned to me at the elephant exhibit and sighed, "thank you". 

Grammy & Opa were visiting over the Labor Day Weekend.  They enjoy using their Children's Museum membership with their 5 Denver Grand Kids.  It so hard to get a picture of Jak these days, he's always on the move!
We have unpacked a few boxes since we moved in, they quickly become a boat, space ship or car for the kids to enjoy!

Daddy promised Lillian, "The day the pool closes, I'll fill the hot tub for you." He was true to his word and filled it up this week!
Aunt Casey & Uncle Rob just bought a house in Stapleton.  We love the sand playground down the street from them!
The sand park has all these fun beach toys available for you to play with, and the rock behind Lillian squirts a waterfall every couple of minutes!
Some Day Keira will enjoy it, but for now she just enjoyed a "fresh air" nap in her stroller!

Last outdoor concert of the summer! 
Two tired momma's...sure wish we had the time to go get pedicures like we used to!  We deserve it more now!