The Works Everything you need to know for greater peace of mind.
September2017
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September Is NICU Awareness Month N.I.C … What?
and three scares later, our little man came squawking into the world, surrounded by about eight doctors and nurses. We were lucky — all to the credit of the team at St. Luke’s. He had no major lung problems and no cognitive or physical impairments. JB simply needed to grow. So, for a little over a month, Allison and I made the daily pilgrimage back and forth to the hospital to be with our son while juggling work and the random obstacles that life presents. All the while, the NICU team worked tirelessly to monitor his health and make sure he hit his benchmarks for going home. These nurses and doctors work 12-hour graveyard shifts and manage multiple tiny patients without ever losing an ounce of patience or compassion. JB was released from the NICU in mid- December, two weeks before his expected due date. At his 9-month checkup, he weighed in at 18 pounds, 3 ounces, and he is now in the 50th percentile for length and 25th percentile for weight for full-term babies his age. None of this would have been possible without St. Luke’s outstanding NICU team. NICU nurses and doctors all across the country routinely make miracles happen on a daily basis. Critically ill infants who otherwise would have no shot in this world grow up to be healthy adults thanks to the tireless efforts of these wonderful people. If you have a family member, friend, or acquaintance who works in an NICU, take a moment to thank him or her on my behalf for all that they do for the families facing the darkest and most frightening hours of their lives.
What does NICU stand for? If you asked me this prior to last year, I wouldn’t have had a clue. That all changed on November 3, 2016, when I became intimately aware of the neonatal intensive care unit and the amazing doctors, nurses, and support staff who comprise it. On that day, my son was born two months ahead of schedule, weighing 3 pounds and 11 ounces. It was the best and most terrifying day of my life. My wife, Allison, was severely pre-eclamsic, and anyone who has endured pre-eclampsia knows that it is a gut-wrenching tug of war between the health of the mom and baby. After being admitted for a week, the doctors decided that Allison’s health had had enough. About 12 hours
This is obviously a cause near and dear to our hearts for both Allison and myself. If you would like to learn more on how you can get involved to support NICU patients and the health professionals who care for them, please visit nicuawareness.org. Another fantastic organization providing research and support for families of premature infants is March of Dimes. Their website is marchofdimes.org.
From my family to yours, happy NICU Awareness Month! We are eternally grateful.
See you soon.
-John Thompson
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The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.
SCHOOL LUNCH HACKS Get by When School Lunch Isn’t Cutting It
Jokes about the quality of school lunches are about as old as lunch itself. But children’s health is no joke. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that 67 percent of middle school students who eat school lunches are overweight.
GIVE THE POWER TO THE KIDS. Nothing tastes better than the power of choice. Homemade fruit cups, hard-boiled eggs, and other healthy foods have a refrigerator life of more than a week. That gives you time on the weekend to make up a snack bar for your child to pick from every morning. MAKE FRUIT COOL AGAIN. Colorful melons look more delicious if you use a small cookie cutter to cut them into interesting shapes. Also, pen ink looks great on an unpeeled banana, so try inscribing a funny joke or an embarrassing message, like “I love you,” on the outside. With these tips, your child will never have to worry about being served mystery mush again, and they’ll be happier and healthier for it.
Packing a better lunch can be a hassle, especially if you’re trying to choose food your children actually want to eat. Here are a few hacks to make bag lunch better for your kids. UTILIZE JARS. You want to pack your kid a salad, but you keep losing the itty-bitty container for the dressing. Try using a jar, but put the dressing in first, followed by items that won’t get soggy, like corn or cherry tomatoes. Put the lettuce on top. You can also use jars for dippable foods like celery sticks and peanut butter. THERMOSES AREN’T JUST FOR YOUR MORNING COFFEE. Kids with a cold lunch from home might look over at Tommy’s unpleasant school lunch and think, “Hey, at least the mystery mush is a hot meal.” Use thermoses to keep chicken nuggets and other warm foods at their ideal temperature. At KC Estate Works, we are dedicated to your estate, tax, and business succession plans. We’re here to help you achieve peace of mind by getting your affairs in order and minimizing the burden placed on your loved ones. That’s why every referral you send our way makes a difference. We get to help even more people. And for that, thank you for your referrals and thank you for placing your trust in us not only to help you, but to help the people you care about. Your Referrals Make a Difference
Testimonials
“John is very knowledgeable about estate planning. He is great at sharing legal information and putting it in a context that is understandable to the average person. He has great people skills and has wonderful advice and guidance for clients interested in estate planning and trusts. Highly recommend!”
“My husband and I recently worked with John to write a new operating agreement for our company. John is very knowledgeable in his field. He worked with our CPA to create just the right agreement that worked for our company. “I would highly recommend John to anyone needing legal estate or company agreements. John is very professional in his work.”
– Greg Jensen
– Ronda Hey
“My husband and I recently worked with John for our estate planning needs. We found him to be extremely knowledgeable in his field and the utmost in professionalism. I would highly recommend John to anyone requiring estate planning services!”
“John is the best. He took the time to make the process very simple for us and explained things in an easy-to-understand manner. I would recommend John to anyone looking into estate planning.”
– Marissa Brewster Funk
– Matt Redhair
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Having a Kid Changes Everything ESTATE PLANNING FOR PARENTS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
Even if your estate lacks substantial assets, estate
choose someone who shares your parenting philosophies and will raise your children the way you want them to be raised. Proper planning can help ensure that your children seamlessly transition to their new home, selected and planned by you.
the consequences that might result from lacking the assets to cover the liabilities you leave behind.
Layers of Protection
planning is still extremely important, especially
When you plan, you have the opportunity to change beneficiary designations, create trusts, and change how property is titled to make sure that everything passes just as you would like without ever probating your will. The will then acts as a safety net to make sure that anything that slips through the cracks is still distributed in accordance with your wishes. Even if you don’t have substantial assets, estate planning ensures that your wishes will be followed and that your children will be protected if anything were to ever happen to you. Contact me at 913-214-1884 to plan your estate and ensure your children’s well- being.
Funding
as a parent. What happens to your children if something happens to you? Who will care for them? Who makes decisions
In the event that something happens to you and you leave children behind, you’ll need to consider how they will be provided for. Proper estate planning can help ensure that the money you leave behind is managed properly and held in a trust for your children’s needs.
when you are unable to do so? Proper estate planning can address each of these concerns and more.
Selecting a Guardian
An Honest Evaluation
This is by far the primary reason that every parent should have an estate plan in place. As part of your estate planning process, you will designate a guardian for
Beyond planning what will happen to your current assets, proper estate planning will give you an honest evaluation of the obligations and burdens you may leave behind. With proper planning, you can avoid
any minor children you may leave behind. When selecting a guardian, it is important to
WINNING APPLE CRISP
Laugh Out Loud
Ingredients
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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1/2 cup butter, softened 4 cups chopped, peeled apples
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1 cup water
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract Vanilla ice cream, optional
1 cup packed brown sugar
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1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture into a greased 2½ quart baking dish or a 9-inch square baking pan. Cover with apples. 2. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thick and clear. Pour over apples. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. 3. Bake 60–65 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm, with ice cream if desired.
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Recipe courtesy of tasteofhome.com.
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Meet JB
Try These School Lunch Hacks Your Referrals Make a Difference Does Your Estate Plan Consider Your Children? Winning Apple Crisp
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The Unstoppable Rise of the Bullet Journal
The Unstoppable Rise of the Bullet Journal
In the modern age, where the internet is constantly flooded with productivity apps and trends promising to fix our schedules, unlock our potential, and improve our lives, it’s difficult not to wish for something simpler. We want an object we can hold in our hands that doesn’t come with a bunch of unwanted features. Enter the bullet journal: the humble, easy-to- use notebook system that’s taken the world by storm. Instead of maintaining a separate to-do list, calendar, and diary, the bullet journaling system rolls everything into a single economical notebook. Partitioned into minimalistic “modules” — the Index, the Future Log, the Monthly Log, and the Daily Log — bullet journals encourage you to write
down everything on your to-do list, single-line tidbits recounting important daily events, and little notes you take throughout the day. Everything is marked by a particular bullet: dots for
beautiful layouts, bearing intricate calligraphy and embellished with incredible designs. As
tasks, circles for events, and dashes for notes. At the beginning of each month, bullet journalers examine last month’s list, eliminating completed or now-irrelevant tasks and migrating long-term or continuing tasks to the current month. Bullet journals may seem simple, and they are, but they’ve acquired an explosive following on social media. At the time of this writing, there are over 791,000 posts on Instagram tagged with the #bulletjournal hashtag; there are posts upon posts of users’
the bullet journal’s creator, Ryder Carroll, told New
Republic writer Josephine Wolff, “The most valuable part of the bullet journal [is] the inventiveness of its community.” But don’t be daunted by users who seem to spend hours on every page of their journals. Really, it’s a simple system that only takes a few minutes to learn. Check out bulletjournal. com to learn how to start your own modular notebook. But be warned: You may get obsessed.
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The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.
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