SIPRESS SCOOP

Last Spring we began to discuss preschool options for our four year old son.   With me being a stay at home Mom we felt it was important to socialize him, get him used to taking directions from other adults outside our family and also get him adjusted to a classroom routine. As we began our search we quickly realized that full time pre-k courses could cost $500 a month and up.   One perk to our location on the west hill of Kent is that we were surrounded by options.   I stumbled upon a cooperative preschool in Des Moines.   It is about a ten minute drive away and the teachers are all just amazing.   A few weeks before school started we meet up with some of the children, moms and teachers at the park for a play date.   Issac was super excited and picked out his outfit beforehand.   At the park both children interacted very well with all the students, parents and teachers and I knew it was going to be a great fit for us.   On the first day of...

    Early on in the summer we had discussed a Labor Day camping trip with Tyler’s brother Jayson.   We haven't been camping since before we had Josie.  The age of our kids concerned me a little because of the fire and the woods.  As June rolled in to July and August approached we realized we needed to get on it.  With Jayson's school in session we wanted to be considerate and pick a spot close to them.  I had read an article online about the most kid friendly camping locations in Washington State & that is how we choose Battle ground State Park. I reserved the very last available camping site for the long weekend.   Although it was not our site of choice, our campsite was very large and fairly private.   The six of us and our three dogs had plenty of space.      To avoid the Friday traffic madness we decided to leave Saturday morning first thing.   We stopped in Kelso where my brot...

At the beginning of the Summer I read an article about savoring the summers with our children because you only get a few years to create the bond with your children that will last a lifetime. The writer, who is also a Mom, wrote about summer activities and day trips for all types of weather… That night as Tyler & I laid in bed talking I discussed this article with another one I had read about trying not to say “No” all the time. We also discussed a news article I had seen about a little girl who lost her battle with Cancer & the mother asked that in her memory people had banana splits for dinner. Certainly there are plenty of times to say “NO” to our children for safety reasons or cost reasons. But how many times as parents do we find ourselves saying “No” simply out of laziness?   Be honest with yourself and you might realize that you have missed out on a number of memory making opportunities.   So that night as we lay in our bed we decided that this summer we were...