Skip to main content

Cass hit double digits!

My baby is 10. How is this possible? For birthday dinner, she requested pho.


For a birthday celebration she asked to go camping. Cassidy's campout was a wild success, even though it was freezing out on the coast. Huge thanks to Mollie for taking pictures and the three families who braved the chill to celebrate with us!  























How is it kids don't feel the cold? These fearless little ones were dancing in the waves, playing in the sand, and just creating entire plays and dramas while us grown ups were huddled near the bonfire. Also, if you ever have the chance, I highly recommend grilling a cruller in bacon fat while camping...








For her present, we asked family and friends to chip in $5-$10 so she could swim with sharks. Yes, you read that right. For the last three years Cassidy has been fixated on being a marine biologist or oceanographer. The more we keep her connected to that dream, the strong that connection becomes. At the zoo in Tacoma, you can "swim" with a professional and learn about sharks up close. She is beyond excited about this experience! I'm not getting in the water with her, Matt has signed up to dive with her. 

10....it is happening so fast. She is more than halfway on her way to college, out the door, into grown up adventures! I took her in for her check up and at the registration desk, when asked to confirm her info, I said her birthdate and started crying. Crying. Hard. No shame. They all got it. Cass just rolled her eyes and sighed, "Mammaaa. I'm not that old." 

She is funny. And smart. And learning empathy. She is inquisitive. And math inclined. And learning to be kinder to her sister. She is brown curls bouncing. She is strong. And learning her place in the world. 

She is 10. 









Comments

Popular posts from this blog

After you clean your room...

This evening Cassidy revealed to me a small secret to keeping her occupied. After dinner she asked me if she could watch a show. We don't have tv, but we do have netflix through the wii on our tv and we watch all the greatness that PBS and Nickelodian have to offer! Except for Caillou because I think he's kind of whiny. Anyway, she gets to watch limited amounts of Diego, Dora, Dinosaur Train, Super Why, Word World, etc and sometimes we throw in some Cosby Show for good measure. She'll pick two shows and watch one, 20 minute episode of each and then we call it good. Well tonight when she asked for a show, I told her she could watch one episode of her favorite after she cleaned her room. She went into her room and as she started putting toys away, she started playing with them. She'd go to put books away and start "reading" them. Twenty minutes later she'd start putting crayons away, then start drawing with them. Ten minutes later she'd start putting awa...

Dancing

Cassidy loves to dance. So far, any type of music gets her going! In this video we were cleaning the kitchen when she decided to break out. When she saw the camera she started saying cheese because she thought it was a real camera. I hope you can see it!

NASPA @ NOLA 2025

I am very excited to get to serve on the annual conference team for NASPA 26 in KC! As part of the planning team, we have several onsite meetings. One is at this year's conference to be in transition with this year's team. Several of my staff members were able to attend the conference as well. Below are some photos with friends and colleagues who I was so happy to reconnect with!  The rest are notes I took from a few sessions. I as going to delete them, then thought, y'all might be interested in some of the random things always on my mind and in process. Take a peek! Also, NASPA stands for National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. While there opportunities all year long to engage with different groups and regions, in person and online, the annual conference is the premier event where you can learn and hang out with over 6,500 of your peers in higher ed work!  Notes: The balance of crisis management and change management is ongoing. Rest is essential. Decisio...