I present to you...

...the Kjelshus Graduates of 2008!

McKenna recently graduated from preschool. It was very cute. Her class sang and signed The Alphabet Song, along with a few others. Each child was presented with a diploma. The teachers read something about each child (written by the parents) and shared what each child wanted to be when s/he grows up. McKenna said she wants to be a doctor.

Arthur also celebrated a graduation. As most of you know he has been steadily working on a degree in Communications while working full time at the MN Dept. of Health. Arthur now carries a B.S. in Communications with an emphasis in Business. He is an official graduate of Bethel University. We didn't make a whole lot of "pomp" about this "circumstance" because he will start working on an MBA program in the next 12 months (either in September or in January). When that is all said and done (the program he is looking at is 26 months long, 1 night a week) we will definitely make a lot of "pomp" in his honor.

Ella and I ....

...were able to spend the day together last Friday. McKenna went to a friends house after school. So, Ella and I headed to the Children's Museum. She had pure, 100%, undivided mommy attention. What a fun day?! She talked quite a bit without big sister there. She was very proud of and brave at the conquering of the ant. You'll see she is sitting on one. Sitting on, or even getting close to, the ant was/is a feat big sister hasn't accomplished yet. Over lunch we discussed shapes and crackers. That particular day her crackers were shaped like hexagons. You'll notice bunny friend, Allison, in one or two of the pictures.

May 26th--Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Dale!

Look at this...

...old picture of McKenna! Does that look like me as little girl?

A Day at Teddy Bear Park with Friends

In our backyard the other morning....

Can we pet it? Can we feed it?

Why can't I hold it?
I am NOT touching that!
I am hungry?
When are we eating?
When will we see the pigs (while looking at the horses)?
I want to pet the horse (while looking at the pig)!
Can we eat?
Do you have a snack?
I'm thirsty.
What are we doing next?
When's the hay ride?
When's the hay ride over?
Where are we going on the hay ride?

These are just a few of the questions that were repeated to me while I took the girls (Cora too!) to Hugo Animal Farm. You'd think that I forgot to feed them breakfast. Actually, they each ate a bowl of cereal and a lot of crackers.


Here are a few of my responses:


Those are the farm rules. The Tom Turkey might bite you if you hold it.
You don't have to touch it. Don't worry!
We'll eat at lunchtime.
We'll see the pigs soon. You need to be patient.
We just saw the horse and you didn't want to pet it.
We will eat soon.
No, I didn't bring a snack.
You'll have a juice box with your lunch.
I don't know what's going on next. Maybe we will see some more animals.
The hay ride is soon.
It just started so it will be a few minutes.
I don't know where we are going on the ride; down the street a bit, I think.


Most of these questions were from McKenna and few were from Cora. Ella, however, was quite content and happy to be where we were at the time that we were there doing whatever we were doing.

Ella was also eager to pet everything. She didn't show any real fear of any of the animals. She was a little hesitant of the calves. She certainly didn't have any reservations when approaching the two Belgian horses: weighing in at approximately 800 pounds, stand 5'9" tall. You'll see the picture below.

Another fun farm to visit: Pinehaven Farm!

Beware there are lots of pictures.

Ella's 1st Sleepover!

A little girl from church stayed over last night. Her younger sister had been pretty ill, in and out of the ER, so we thought it would be a fun break for Cora to spend some time here with us!

McKenna had a VERY HARD TIME giving Ella some space with her friend. McKenna really tried to dominate the evening (not with bad intentions, but...). I like to say that she is honing her leadership skills!

Cora came home with us from the last day of Mom's Day Away (the program that I teach in @my church). The girls played dress up, played with musical instruments, drew with sidewalk chalk (Boy, this sounds like a previous post, doesn't it?), played in the backyard, did spin art, watched The Bee Movie with a popcorn snack, took a bath, had story time and finally went to bed at 9:45pm.

I must say that Cora was a VERY GOOD listener! She was also brave to spend that much time away from her family. What a trooper!

Yes, I was very much pooped out after teaching 10 2-3 year olds all day then pretty much doing the same thing at home with the addition of cooking dinner and cleaning up after it. Arthur was home and he was able to spend some time with the girls. That was helpful!

Princess or ballerina?

McKenna had a friend from preschool over the other day. We had missed her birthday party and wanted to have her over to play and give her a birthday gift. They colored, played princess, played ballerina, played in the back yard, drew with chalk on the driveway, etc...

Playtime with Ella and McKenna

The other day we had some friends from church over to play. Ages (of the little ones, not the big ones) ranged from 10 months to 5 years. Ella and McKenna enjoyed playing with Sophie, while the younger ones: Levi, Jack and Owen explored the playroom.

We sang songs with felt stories, did an art project, played outside, played in the playroom, watched the girls perform a pet show/circus, ate lunch, etc...

Jack doing art!

I should explain the art project. It is mess free painting! Squirt a dab of paint onto a sheet of paper that will fit into the container or bin. I used a big round tub of cheese balls from Sam's Club. Toss in a golf ball (marbles would work) and roll away. The ball leaves neat impressions on the paper and it is fun for the toddlers/babies to roll, kick and shake the tub.

Levi's turn!

Ella pushing Sophie in the car.

McKenna pushing Ella on the swing. Can you see Ella's animal friend, Fifi, squished between her legs? It's a gray kitten about the size of a beanie baby.

A-tisket a-tasket, a cheap Longaberger basket!

Boy, oh boy! Did Adrian and Joann hit the jackpot for me!? While perusing other people's treasures at an up-scale, city wide garage sale event, Adrian managed to get 5 Longaberger baskets for less than $50.00!! Wahoo! If you know anything about these baskets. They aren't generally less than $50.00!

They also found several other wonderful treasures for our family. Many were quite cheap!

Beware! Cheap and shameless plug ahead:

For more info on how to get Longaberger Baskets visit this site:

http://ic.longaberger.com/esuite/home/lyndamiller

I need your advice!

Puleeze, can someone help me? My cat seems to enjoy nibbling on my house plants. The girls (in their various Sunday School classes and ECFE classes) have planted a few flowers for me over the course of the past month. The cat has nibbled the plants to, literally, to death.

Please leave a comment with your suggestion.

And, I know many of my family members (Jim and Sara, I am talkin' to you!) will sarcastically say something about dumping the cat. Well, I am not sure that is an option. So...

...please leave a comment with your reasonable suggestion.

Super Secret Super Spy

McKenna and her friend Gabe play VERY well together! He is quite the young man. Currently, they plan to marry and live in Disney World so that they can give me (and Gabe's mom) free tickets.

On this day they were playing a spy game of some sort. They called themselves Super Secret Super Spies.