"Bye, Mom! See You Later!"

That's all she said after a hurried smooch and our little Kensley was off to the world of school. It's preschool for our big girl and was she ever ready!!! Many of Kensley's friends have gone to preschool, which has given her an itch. Having a later birthday, I held her back so she could start with the kids with whom she'll be going to public school. Kensley's teacher seems very compassionate and super-excited to start the school year with the little ones and we are so happy for a positive start to Kensley's school experiences.
**I forgot to mention that upon entering her classroom, Kensley told her teacher, "This is my mom. She is here right now, but she isn't staying today." Ms. Marlo looked at me as if to explain and I did... "Yes, I am Mom, but I won't be staying today like I did for Open House." Kensley was clearly ready for this new indepdence.

Cramming it in

Our last few weeks of summer have been filled with visiting. We had The Zions come down for a visit and to let our kiddos get more than just a couple of hours together. It was fun to catch up with them and to see the kiddos in action.

Not long after The Zions left, Kensley, Libby, and I headed back up to ATL to see the grandparents before Kensley starts school this Tuesday. While we were there, we got to have my childhood friend, Pamela and her family over. Raleigh is 9 weeks (almost to the minute) younger than Kensley and it has been fun to watch them together the past few summers.

We also got to take a Mini trip over to Athens one night. Kensley loved seeing all of the "hotels" where Uga and his family reside. (She's referring to all of the different departments and their respective buildings.)

We are looking forward to school. Kensley had Open House at her school this past Friday and can't wait to go to school like all of her friends. Her teacher seems very, very compassionate and we look forward to all of the things she will learn this year.

Little Miss Sun-shiner

Because Kensley can't get submerged for another few days, we took her to the splashpad at our outdoor mall. She was hootin' and hollerin' and having a great time, when BONK! She ran into another little boy and they bumped heads. I immediately knew she was hurt and went to get her and assess the damage. After I checked to see the grinning little boy was ok, I saw one big ol' bruise right under Kensley's left eye. She was a champ, though, and held ice on her cheekbone very diligently and she's totally fine now.

How Do You Spell Relief?

E-N-T. That's right folks, Kensley finally had enough ear infections - or the single, never ending ear infection - that she got a referral to an ENT. We saw him and two weeks later, we were in the outpatient center waiting on Kensley a "whopping" 12 minutes to be rolled into recovery after getting tubes. She was a perfect little patient and seems to be just great.

We are so thankful she has relief, can hear, and that it went very, very quickly. It's amazing how this is a no-big-deal type procedure anymore.

Kensley should have them in 6 months to a year. At that point, we'll evaluate their effectiveness and hope that she's grown enough for those Eustachian tubes to cooperate. We're happy to have a healthy little girl on our hands again.

Ode to Dads

This is about a month overdue, but here is my shout out to the dads in our lives.
I am very thankful for all that we have been blessed with in our lives. Having the dads in our lives is no exception.
Kensley has to be the single most fortunate little girl in the world to have two phenomenal grandfathers and a daddy who is so madly in love with her that I am sure it hurts. All three of these men have already made their mark in her little life. My hope is that she will grow up to acknowledge and respect them and their love and devotion to their families.
I look at my blessings and see that I have a daddy who has been the most positive male role model in my life and who set the bar so extremely high for my own husband. He has worked very hard in his lifetime to provide for his family, to be part of our family, and to instill traits in us that would allow us to have success and become successful. I have a phenomenal husband who loves me, who loves my family, who loves my baby, and his county. I would not want to experience life without him.  Beyond that, I am among the few who have a father-in-law who I admire for so many reasons - the single most important being the influence he has had on my husband. His devotion to his family, work ethic, and love for his country are among the values that have moulded Mike into the man I love so dearly.
Thanks you, dads, for being you for us. I hope in 40 years when Kensley is allowed to get married (ok, 30?), she will look back and be able to say the same things about the family she knows.