Keeping Up With the Kaune's: 5 on Friday

Happy Friday! Here's what's been on my mind this week:

1. Who watched The Bachelorette?!?! LOVE ANDI! Love her smile, love that she's a southern girl who says "ya'll" and love that she's a Phi Mu of course. I will say that after the first episode, I was very tempted to go and read the spoilers on realitysteve.com because I am convinced that she is going to pick Josh M. Especially since he's from Atlanta so she wouldn't have to move. But, I resisted the urge! My other favorites were Marcus, Chris and Marquel. Marquel stole my heart with the cookie sampling! I have such a sweet tooth! I liked Chris because I loved the whole "farm boy" thing plus he seemed really genuine. And Marcus? Umm, he's just hot! Who are you rooting for so far?

2. I love Gymboree but I usually only shop there during their semi-annual sales because they are a bit on the pricey side. My friend Carmen doesn't have any kids so she loves to spoil Kennedy. Recently, her and I went shopping and she spent over 100 dollars at Gymboree on Kennedy! She used my rewards card, so that earned me 50 dollars in Gym Bucks that I can't wait to spend this summer!

3. The school year is coming to a close. I am really going to miss my class this year. They have been a really good group. However, I have to say, my all time favorite group was my class during the 2011/2012 school year. They are in 5th grade this year so they will be graduating JES and moving on to middle school. :( I am really going to miss seeing them around school. Their class was my smallest class ever, only 16 students, so I think we just really bonded and had such a strong classroom community. Honestly, they were just an all around great group of kids. I have so many memories from their class and I think my all time favorite was around this time of the school year telling them I was pregnant with Kennedy. They were so excited!!! A bunch of them bought me gifts when Kennedy was born that fall even though I wasn't even their teacher anymore. I am the chair of the morning news team at school which is made up of fifth graders so I have been blessed to have 5 of them on the news team this year. One of them, Kinsley, danced in our talent show Tuesday night to this song:

It's called "Mean Girls" By Rachel Crow. Kinsley's parents own a restaurant and when we were eating up there a few months ago, her mom told me that Kinsley had been having a really hard time with bullying this year. Kinsley is slightly overweight but is such a sweet girl and has a really quirky personality with a great sense of humor. She always made me laugh and was never afraid to speak her mind or be herself when I had her in 3rd grade. It made me so sad that she was having such a hard year. Ya'll, I bawled like a baby through her whole dance. Many of those "mean girls" her mom had been telling me about were in the audience. It took so much courage for her to get up there. I am so proud of her. If you get a chance, you must listen to this song. I had never heard of until now, but it has such a great message. Bullying stinks!

4. My dad moved into a rehabilitation center this week. He is making great gains in physical therapy and the therapists say if he continues to do well, he can be released in 2-3 weeks. The main goal is for him to be able to walk on his own. I am going to see him this weekend. My sister says I will notice a huge change in him, especially with his speech. Thanks for the prayers! Keep them coming!

5. Kennedy has had a fabulous week! Today is her last day in the Toddler 1 classroom at school. Tuesday, she will move up to the Toddler 2 room, which is for kids 18 months and older. We are excited for her to move up but we are really going to miss her teachers especially Ms. Angie, who was her favorite! Here's what else she has been up to this week:

We went on a walk with Jessica and Janna on Monday and stopped at our neighborhood park. Janna and Kennedy had a blast together. Janna held Kennedy's hand and walked her up the steps on the jungle gym to the slide, so sweet! I of course stood over them like a "hover mother" the whole time but Kennedy went down the big slide all by herself, no fear! Jessica stood at the bottom to catch her and she said Kennedy had the biggest smile on her face! Wish I had it on camera!

Aunt Gretchen, Uncle Ben, Marley and Tabatha bought Kennedy these legos for Christmas. Kennedy hadn't really been interested in them until this past weekend. Nick was soooo excited that she wanted to play with legos because so far Kennedy has been "all girl." She had a blast building with her daddy!