Daddy Daughter Date Night

Daddy and Kari went to a Purdue-USC volleyball game tonight.

Tooth Fairy Delivery

Kari set high expectations for the exchange of her tooth.  Fortunately for her, the Tooth
Fairy delivered!  A silver dollar was well worth the wait.

It's Out!

Kevin finally convinced Kari to let him take a little tug on it, and it popped right out!  Minimal blood and no tears!  Yay!

Monster Birthday For Our Little Monster

Two weekends ago was so busy!  I can't believe I'm just now getting around to posting these pictures.  In addition to it being the last weekend before school starting and the ice cream social, we also managed to throw a birthday party for Brycie.  The monster theme emerged from a couple of things. One, Bryce has found a new tv show about monsters and this has become a new favorite.  Two, as you might expect or know firsthand, Bryce has been a bit of a monster the last twelve months.  We knew from past experience with Kari that leaving Three behind and heading into Four is a time to rejoice and we're slowly getting there with Bryce.

So, in keeping with the monster theme, it was super easy to come up with a couple of party ideas.  Our usual party guests were invited- the grandparents- although we did have to split it up over two days due to an unplanned conflict.

Grandmo found these really nifty monster pouches that dually served as table decoration and party favors.

 The monster fruit salad was the centerpiece of the party.  This was Grandpo's job Saturday morning and he mastered it beautifully!

 We also had a small activity making monster visors.  Kari loved this; Bryce not so much.

 Monster trucks for a monster birthday!  Grammy Pammy and Dale totally hit the mark!

 Kari was in charge of decorating the cake.

 Oh!  I almost forgot about Kari's favorite part of the party- the eyeball goblets for our Kool-Aid.  Big hit with the kiddos, for sure.  And no, Dale is not massaging Bryce's head; just trying to get him to stand still long enough for a picture.

Gran, Beep Beep and Luise arrived Sunday afternoon for a lovely lunch on the deck.  Bryce got his first baseball tee, ball and glove.  That's one happy little guy there, folks.

Ready For School!

We've had a busy few days around here!  Kari's first day of 1st grade went off without a hitch.  Armed with a new backpack, familiarity with her school, and knowledge that she'd already know three kids in her classroom, she was ready to go. She wasn't as excited as this time last year, but I chalked it up to high expectations for her teacher.  In her eyes, it was going to take a lot to live up to Mrs. Salmon.

 It was rather a chilly morning for the middle of August in Indiana.  Kari is proudly sporting her Stanford jacket with a sweater underneath.

Even though it was the first day and there were lots of parents, grandparents and siblings, the number of kids getting on the bus significantly increased from last year.  It's going to be a busy bus stop this year!

Kari also got to see a number of other friends, neighbors and her cousin throughout the day which always makes the 1100 student school feel a bit smaller.  Lunch is early this year, 11:30, and with no scheduled afternoon snack, I anticipate she's going to come home hungry each day.  By the way, Kari came home fully endorsing her new teacher, Mrs. Younts.

Three days earlier we hosted a neighborhood back to school ice cream social for the second time.  It was a great way to gather the neighbors and visit while the kiddos ran around the yard hyped up on ice cream and mounds of toppings.

Landscaping

Hard to believe we've lived here for 13 years this month.  You know it's been a long time when the original shrubbery becomes so overgrown and unruly that you have to pull it out and start over again.

Before

And while we were at it (don't kid yourselves, we hired someone to do all of this), we decided to increase our outdoor living area.  Fall weather and football season, you're welcome to arrive anytime now!

 Before

Birthday #4

Happy Birthday to our favorite little guy!

Kari's 1.5 Seconds of Fame and Walmart

We've had to keep a little secret under wraps for the last six weeks until it was approved and finalized.  Kari and Daddy will be appearing in a national back to school commercial for Walmart!

A while back I received a somewhat suspicious email via YouTube.  I initially discounted it, thinking it was just creepy spam.  Eventually curiosity got the best of me and I did a bit of digging and it appeared that the company and the sender of the email were legit.  So, we moved forward.



Kari and Kevin had to sign their lives away but we didn't tell Kari what she was signing (ahh, the joys of being the parent of a minor!), so when we showed her the video for the first time, she immediately burst into tears.  It was not quite the reaction we were expecting, but has become somewhat typical for her when watching videos of family or memorable events.

And now we wait for the commercial to air.  Grandmo has impatiently announced that every other major retailer already has their back to school ads going and Walmart is just wasting time now. :)

We're looking forward to seeing her on TV as this will probably count for her 10 Seconds of Fame in her life time considering it'll be aired across the country.  Hope you get to see it too!