Parent's Day and Random

Anna's preschool held a Parent's Day at the beginning of April. Luckily my Dad was able to come into town to watch Jane and Kevin was able to be in town to attend as well.

Name practice time!

 It was a nice opportunity to see some of the things Anna does and what she's been working on throughout the year. 

Anna and her classmates all made books and they loved showing us their work and "reading" them to us.

We had a great time sharing a little bit of Anna's day. 

Kevin had to head off to work but my Dad came with me and Jane to pick up Anna after preschool let out. We drove around a bit to show him around Olathe and had a nice picnic at the K-State Olathe campus. 

I've been trying really hard to go through my phone and upload pictures from it since I take quite a few photos on it. These are kind of random but I like them. 

Sonic Happy Hour and and the Park

At the KSU Olathe Open House

On a trail not far from our house

Jane and her many pattern choices.

Birthday Party Weekend!

Our last weekend in March ended with back to back birthday celebrations. First it was Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate our friend Riona's 4th birthday. 

It was a Saturday afternoon and it was a little chaotic and we may have felt like cattle being herded around by the staff so they could accommodate all the parties but the kids loved it. 

My favorite part was when Riona and her best friend started jumping up and down yelling "We love Chuck E! We love Chuck E!" over and over and over. 

Kevin and I decided to divide and conquer with the girls since they both wanted to play different games and it was so busy. Jane was my buddy for the day and we had fun. 

I didn't see much of Anna but I'm pretty sure she had just as much fun with Kevin.

Immediately following Riona's party we drove over to Rainbow Play Systems for Ethan's 4th birthday party. I had been looking forward to this party for quite some time and I really enjoyed seeing some of my closest "Mom friends". 

The kids loved all the playhouses available to climb and explore. 

This was the week that Anna and Jane decided to make the same goofy face for pretty much every picture.

My favorite Mama's from the Ridgeview Parents as Teachers Playgroup. I hold a special place in my heart for these lovely ladies. 

Meg, JoAnna, Me, Amanda

The girls were worn out but it was a great day and we're thankful for such wonderful friends!

Wisconsin Wedding

In March Kevin and I were able to take a fun road trip to Wisconsin. A friend of ours from California (who now lives and works in Madison) was getting married. Since we have family there it worked out for us to drive up a day early and stay the night. It's always so much fun seeing the Koch side of the family and doesn't happen often enough. My cousins were able to come over as well so it turned into an awesome mini family reunion. 

My Aunt Deb had things going on the next morning but it gave Kevin and I a chance to talk with Uncle Kent a little bit more. He showed us around his shop and let us see some of the numerous projects he has going on. Thanks Kent and Deb for letting us stay!

On that Friday we made the drive from Waukesha to Madison. That evening we met up many old friends from California and met some new friends as well. I didn't take any pictures form the evening but it was wonderful to catch up.

The next day I went with my friend Rachel for a manicure and pedicure before leaving for the wedding.  I always love my time with Rachel! The wedding was at a beautiful barn north of Madison. It had rained earlier so it was a little too wet to venture outside and enjoy the scenery but the gorgeous atmosphere of the barn made up for that. 

Rachel, Haley, Me

This is pretty much the only photo that I could bring myself to post of the two of us. Kevin took it upon himself to make crazy faces for pictures most of the night so I didn't have many to choose from. 

These guys were all on the softball team Kevin played on while at Stanford. We're only missing James in the picture but we'll excuse him since he was sort of busy getting married. 😉

This was a nice moment captured by the photographer. It truly was splendid seeing friends...many I hadn't seen in over 3 years. 

With lots of wine and beer the night got a little wild!

This picture cracks me up. I'm not sure why I'm the only person with my hands in the air at this particular moment but I was clearly having fun dancing. 

Rachel, Chris, Dennis, and Me

It was a wonderful evening and I'm so glad my Mom and Dad were able to take the girls for 4 days so we could have a much needed kid-free getaway. 

Kevin with Josh and Chris

The next morning James and Jessie had everyone over to their house for brunch. I was impressed they wanted everyone over to their house the morning after their wedding. It made sense though. James is from Australia and many guests made the trip. Both James and Jessie have made friends in grad school and medical school that are now scattered all over the U.S. as well that made the trip too. We enjoyed having a chance to talk with both the bride and groom a little more. 

James, Kevin, and Dennis

We had a great time and we look forward to catching up with everyone again...hopefully soon!

Valentine's and a Fence

The girls worked very hard on their Valentine's this year. Lots of stickers, stamps, and glitter glue was involved. It kept us busy one day when we were stuck home because of a fever the day before. 

We also did several heart themed activities. 

The girls worked on making their names with conversation hearts. I enjoyed seeing the different approaches each girl took. Anna completed each letter in order and Jane started at the ends and filled in from there. 

I had grand plans to make heart cookies and decorate a bunch of cookies with Anna and Jane. We got busy so I ended up buying sugar cookies and we used store bought frosting. There were sprinkles involved though so the girls were still pretty happy. 

Yummy!

Over the last 6 months or so we haven't had a chance to do many major house projects. A few little things here and there but with Kevin's travel it has been tough to fit things in on the weekends. Kevin did tackle one project...he finished our fence! There was a missing portion on one side of the house. It needed a gate there as well. 

After lots of planning Kevin was able to get the posts in one weekend. 

The following weekend the pickets and the gate went up. 

Since these photos Kevin has now finished the handle on the door and a couple pickets on the ends that needed cut. It's so nice having our yard completely fenced in now! The girls can be outside and we don't have to worry as much if we have to run in the house for a bit. 

A couple other random photos from my phone. Jane and I hang out at an open gym while Anna is in dance class in the same building. When it's nice we go to the playground at the end of the parking lot but the gym is a nice option for getting some energy out when it's cold or rainy. 

I was snack helper at Anna's preschool a couple times this year. It was fun seeing a snapshot of what Anna's day is like when she's in school. We absolutely love our school and the teacher's have been amazing so far. 

Winter: An attempt to catch up

As usual I'm in a position where I am ridiculously behind in posting on here. In part because of how much Kevin is traveling with his current job, in part because neither Anna or Jane nap anymore, and we're also busier with activities and house projects. I'm aware that basically no one reads this anymore but I've been terrible about writing anything in my 'kid journal' so I'm not wanting to give this up. It's at least some attempt of documenting and organizing my photos. Many of these are going to be from my phone so they are somewhat random. 

In January and February we went to open gym at Debbie Howard's several times. There is a long trampoline, a foam brick pit, climbing structures, balance beams, a bouncy house, and more. When the weather is bad it's worth the $5 per kid to let them get tons of energy out. 

We put up a bird feeder in the backyard and we enjoyed watching the variety of birds we attracted.

Lots of goofiness happens in the Kent household.

In February we had some unusually nice days so we tried to get outside as much as possible. 

I posted this picture on Facebook with a fun story about Jane. We'd been at a park near where Anna has dance lessons on Wednesday mornings. After class Anna joined us and we continued to play. The girls were climbing the 'spider web' structure when the an older boy was telling Jane that she was too little to climb it. She responded somewhat aggressively that she could indeed climb it. Then she proceeded to climb up it (not the entire way up but she definitely proved herself). Jane can be exhausting at times with her strong will but in situations like this I'm very proud. She's going to stick up for herself and isn't going to take crap off of anyone!

Another trip to Debbie Howard's Open Gym. 

I've been adjusting to Jane dropping her afternoon nap and as a result I haven't been motivated to do as many crafts as usual. We did fit a few in to help us get ready for Spring and St. Patrick's Day. Our virtual book club (which I've been very lazy about participating in) was doing a week on rainbows so we checked out some books about rainbows from the library and did a rainbow craft. 

We also did a rainbow-number matching activity which was a big hit for some reason. I guess kids love rainbows!

I'm hoping to get some more posts up soon!