A Little Recognition

Each trimester, the 4th and 5th grade students at Blue Oaks Elementary are recognized for their outstanding achievements in academics and school character pillars. Karly was beaming with pride as she joined fellow students on the school stage to soak up the applause. Karly received three awards this trimester: all 3's on her report card (like A's of old school), reaching her AR goal and exceeding it by 25%, and the surprise award for her was the Respect award. She was voted by her class for the "Everybody has a right to stay and feel safe" award.

It's a cool program. A way to reward the kids and offer them some positive reinforcement for all their hard work! Awesome work Karly!

Ahhhh!!!!!

The Kern team had a most restful Thanksgiving week! We hope you did too! We did lots of nothing sprinkled in with: Almanor time, golf for the boys, reading for the girls (okay, so I read magazines and leave the novels for Karly), 24 hour family for Gilligan (a treat as he's not used to having company all day) and oh yes.....eating! LOTS of eating!

A great week of relaxation it was! We are thankful to have slowed down-something we plan to practice again!

Vandal's Crime Exposed!

The culprit: Canis lupus familiaris (aka Gilligan)


The crime:


We hereby give public notice that this is not the Canis lupus familiaris (aka Gilligan's) first offense-therefore additional grounds patrol during the late hours of the evening will be implemented. It will also be necessary to transfer funds from one public departments to another in order to replenish the garden hose population.

"Between Us Men"

The Scene: Dinner time at the kitchen table

Event of Interest: Kent and Kyle are laughing and teasing about an incident earlier in the day-something to do with girls calling boys-hehe (don't worry it wasn't Kyle they were talking about). Karly asks what's so funny and wants to know the scoop. Kent tells Karly, "it's between us MEN, right Kyle?"

Taking Action: As we continue eating Karly gets up without attracting any attention and heads for our junk drawer. She comes back like this:Karly says, "Now will you tell me?" As if her paper mustache qualifies her!

Kent laughs until he cries, she's too stinking clever! She completely surprised us all. LOL!

Future Leaders of America?

Karly came up with that title. She wanted to add Future DORKS too. I told her Mama has veto rights!

Here's the kids in their new student council attire. Every Friday they will wear these and help promote school pride. Their current student council projects are a canned food drive and taking nominations for naming the new school mascot-a huge Bear.

I love the opportunity for both kids to shine as leaders. They lead with different styles, but I am proud of them both! Go Bears!

My Pumpkins!

Sandwiched between the fun that a Friday night Halloween can bring and the few raindrops that fell upon our heads, Halloween was fantastic here at the Kern house. We started the evening with our neighbor friends and pizza. Then it was off for costumes and hitting the neighborhood for some treats! As always, the Kern kids laughed and smiled their way about the houses drizzled with every scary, gross or spooky this or that one can imagine. (Why do people put so much money into Halloween decor?) Anyways, our skinny boy turned Sumo Wrestler and Angel of a daughter came home with a bucket full of sugar and it was too funny to watch them trade favorites with each other and their friends. In case you are wondering? Karly's favorites are twix and almond joys. Kyle picks the peanut butter cups and crunch bars!

Exploring the Riverside!

A beautiful day's exploration along the river banks. The foothills are just gorgeous this time of year! The kids had a fabulous time just hiking along, throwing rocks, jumping along the riverside and more! We saw huge tad poles and few craw-dads and heard lots of creatures moving in the brush--though we never did see them! Karly and I were happy with that.

Awesome day!