A Room with a View

This is the view from room #822 at Hawthorn Suites in Wichita, KS. It was stormy on this night and I have to admit, I love the humidity.

The VIVINT Guys

Every day at noon, these guys have a meeting. They pile in 1 room and go over daily goals, sales, news, changes, etc. It was hard to miss these guys walking all over in bright orange shirts. It made us feel like part of a team and that synergy has been awesome.

Kansas Kind

I want to remember how kind people are in Kansas and if I were to describe HOW or WHY they are kind, here are some examples:

1) Everyone says "hello" or acknowledges you in some way. They look you straight in the eyes when they greet you and they smile. There is not a barrier to this kindness that would be construed as shy or snobbish. They seem very genuine.

2) When we walked into a restaurant, the staff would greet us and then bend down to greet our children. They would ask how old they were, how they were doing and were very complimentary towards Lucy. This didn't just happen once or at a certain location, it happened every time.

3) Bill is selling door to door here. He said the people are so nice that they will talk to you for 30 minutes before they will tell you they have no interest in what you are selling. There is good and bad to this as Bill felt it was a waste of time, but they were still kind.

4) The teachers at the school (all of the teachers, not just my kid's teachers) would greet you as you walked down the halls.

5) Max got a terrible splinter in his foot so I asked the Manager of the hotel we stayed out where we could find a medical. She offered to take it out for him. I lacked the first aid supplies needed, but she pulled out a kit and proceeded to do "surgery". He kicked and screamed for over an hour in her office. She was in a business suit on the floor with a needle working hard to help him. It took 3 people and over 2 hours to get it, we finally did. Because of her kindness we were able to save money on a medical bill. She was very gracious about helping us. I was so grateful.

6) I was shocked when I realized the ringing phone was in our "hotel" room. It was the Bishop of the ward here. He has a fabulous Australian accent. He just wanted to welcome us and see if there was anything the ward could do for our family. Nice!

7) When I called before we left for Kansas to find out what ward we attend there, the Bishop's wife was darling. She offered a lot of information and included her 2 daughters as babysitters. I sure wish I would have taken her up on that offer!

These are just a small few examples, but the hospitality and kindness of the people in Kansas is not lost on my family.

TO my kids,

LIFE LESSON: Be kind.

Love, Mom

Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet School

Though this school is old and don't you just love the light blue tiles up the walls? But what I really love is that this is the hallway where they have set up these little "centers". It's difficult to determine from my cheap camera (got my camera for free from Visa Rewards = CHEAP) how wide the hallways are that there are centers on each side of the hall and plenty of room for all of the students to walk in the middle. I also love the amount of natural light that comes in from the windows.

Another thing I love about Minneha is that the teachers stand outside their doors every morning and greet each student and say, "Good Morning" to all of the parents. This made it easy for me to talk to the teachers and ask questions.

Zoo Day Cont'd

From the back: Tinneris, Max, Rita, PJ, and Bailey (I think Bailey is Max's crush, though he would never admit it.)

Zoo Day in Wichita, KS for Kindergarten--Max

Lucy was my helper.

Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet School

The first thing I noticed about this school was the grass. It's terrible! The grass here is either really lush and green or really bad like the school's.

However, the teachers are nice and very accommodating to our kids.

The school requires uniforms: plain shirts without any logos or markings on them in red, white, navy or light blue. Tan or navy pants/shorts can be worn.

Minneha is named after a group of Indians known to this area.

Core Knowledge is based on a core curriculum the Kansas School Board approved.

A magnet school is one that gives students from all over Wichita an opportunity to attend Minneha through a lottery. Thus, it's very diverse.

The building itself is enormous! For comparison sake, it would be similar to stretching out 5 LDS church buildings and lining them up in a wide V-shape. (Kind of intimidating for young kids!)

The boys enjoy eating hot lunch and I enjoy not having to pack lunch. I drive the kids and pick them up. I also have to walk them to their classes and it takes me a full 6 1/2 minutes to walk from one end of the school for Jack's class to the other end for Max's class. (When you are always late like me, 6.5 minutes is a LONG time!)
Max attends Kindergarten full days and the schedule is similar to that in Utah: 9am-4pm. His teacher is Mrs. Deutsch (pronounced Die-ch). She seems very kind and was delighted to meet Max. She has told us repeatedly what a sweet boy he is. She has been teaching for 26 years.

Jack's first grade teacher is Mrs. Lamb. She lives on a farm and their class shares a baby chick with the class next door. Jack made it in time to see the egg and then the baby chick hatch. Super cool!

Jack and Max are on opposite sides of the school and do not have the same lunch or recess schedule. By the end of the day, they are so glad to see each other.

I am soooo proud of them for going to a new school and giving it a try. They are very brave boys. Now that they have attended for a week, they say it's OK, but they do not like uniforms! :)