Some stuffs

You might remember that the girls found a kitten at church last summer.  They named him Father Jo, and since orange cats are generally male, I never checked, just assumed it was a boy.  Until today. We realized that Father Jo was acting like “he” was in heat.  Ummmm yea- father Jo is a girl. What other Jo goes to our church and happens to be celebrating her 80th birthday this week?  Joellen!  Problem solved - Father Jo is now JoEllen. And a trip to the vet will be scheduled.  Again.  No kittens necessary in this house with 4 house cats already!  

Saige tried out for, and made the 8th grade quiz bowl team.  Tonight she had her first meet.  She correctly answered 14 questions- which was the most on her team and elevated her to team captain.  She came home excited, happy and looking forward to the next meet.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know she was going until last minute, and so it was too late for me to drive.  Meaning we didn’t get to go watch her.  Maybe next week!  Good job Saige! We are super proud of you!  

This one always on the lookout for snacks.  

Which she can if have because this is Harper’s contribution to the bingo prizes for this weekend’s band fundraiser.  I love doubting stuff like this together. I had so much fun.  

And that’s about enough for this day.  On to bed so we can dive into the weekend.  

 

Kansas Day

My little buddy has a lot of facial expressions.  It cracks me up how he is only a month old, but seems to have so much personality already!

Colin told me he liked his first tub bath until they got the camera out, and then he was done!  Poor little guy - no privacy!

Spencer sent me a photo of Colin getting his work out in by bench pressing the baby.  Seems completely normal....we must be sure to tell Easton DO NOT let your dad pull your teeth!

But look at this sweet face!  Obsessed!  Can't wait to get my hands on him and squish his cheeks!

Another thing I am obsessed with - these sock pants.  I hate socks.  I hate wearing them, hate mating them, hate losing them, hate them!  So when I saw they made sock pants for babies, I bought some for Easton.  That sent me down a rabbit hole - I want sock pants!  And they do indeed make them for adults.  But then I remembered how I have a touch of OCD and how my feet have to exactly match up in the toe line of the socks, and how if the sock slips around I have to take off my shoe to fix it, and how much of my time is consumed already, when my sock is not hooked to my pants, and I wondered if they would be a good thing or not.  But as I was opening the bus door and the wind blows up my pant leg from the bus steps, I think, maybe.......

Or maybe I just need to buy longer socks and tuck my pants into them?  OR....so many problems I didn't know I had until now. And really, all of my problems could be solved by just simply having the temperature not fall below 50 degrees.

Side note - the sock issue is real for me - so real that when I see Jim walking around the house with his socks slid sideways or sliding down off the end of his toes, I literally cannot stop wondering how he doesn't notice.  I teeter between wanting to fix his socks (like he is a 3 year old) and being somewhat jealous that he can just wear his socks all willy-nilly like a crazy person.  

Kansas Day is only a "holiday" if you work at a school....a school in Kansas.  I think they look for stuff to break up the winter.  This is a flashback photo from the year that Quincy dressed as Willie the Wildcat for the school wax museum.  Grandma helped her make her Willie head out of paper mache.  I feel like this was a long time ago, and yesterday all the same.  One thing that cracked me up about it was that Quincy came home exasperated.  She had to wear that Willie head for a long time - and it was really hot in there, and she could smell her own breath!  I guess lesson learned about brushing your teeth before the wax museum!  ;)    

Tuesday night was Jim's frat brother bbq tour.  They get together now and then to test out bbq restaurants in KC.  Since it was in the evening this time, when he asked if I wanted to ride along, I said sure - but I told him I was inviting my own "frat brothers" and wouldn't interfere in his dinner.  So I called up Grace, and Cameron and we had our own little table of fun.  The place was called Harp's.  The food was really good, but they only cook a certain amount and then when they run out, they close.  When we got there, they didn't have much left, so we had to order a smorgasbord of the things they had left.  It was a little bit on the expensive side to do it that way.  We did have quite a few ribs left over to bring home to the girls, so that was good.  I would eat there again, but would go earlier next time.  I did really enjoy the company, and it was nice to see some of Jim's old buddies!

 

Who woulda thought

I was home for 3 whole days. Three. whole. days. I didn’t leave the house except to feed animals.   Heck, I didn’t even really get dressed.  I’ve been slumming around in my pajamas, and although I have showered, I am not sure I have fixed my hair or even looked in a mirror.  It has been glorious.  Except for the weather that is.  

I left work on Friday knowing this was a possibility.  I brought home a couple of things to do so that I could stay home today.  I did them. I fielded calls from here and actually took care of a couple of problem issues.  When it was time to take Quincy to retrieve her car from the mechanic, and go buy feed, I pawned it off on Jim.  I had a list of things I was going to get done and by today, I realized I had accomplished none of them.  So while Jim was in town. I started in on the top trim for the wainscoting in the bathroom.  Determined to finish that project so I could say I did at least something on my list.  That bathroom is now 100% done.  I posted some “before” photos below.  It looks so much better!  Brighter.  Happier. Lighter.  Cleaner.  I like it.  Is it professional grade?   Uhhh negative.  But for my first time doing some of these things, it is a solid B. 

B’s get degrees.  Or something like that. 

Talked a little to Colin and Spencer today - love getting little updates about my buddy!  

Please ma’am can you give me some more of those leftover pancakes?   Funny old boy.  Lives to eat and eats to live.  

The before shots.  I’m so glad it no longer looks like this.  

Shout out to these 2 girls. They have helped me keep critters alive, put up with me cooking a bunch of cold weather foods that they may or may not have been excited about, been helpful with letting dogs in and out since they can’t stand the cold for very long at a time, and helped me with some other stuff this weekend.  I enjoyed spending time with them and Quincy. And Jim too of course.  

Tomorrow, back to the grind. Maybe I’ll finish the rest of my list next weekend!  

 

Photos and thoughts

 

Easton turned a month old Saturday. Colin and Spencer spent the day doing some one month old photos.  He’s getting so big. I just love this little boy.  Sad that I wasn’t snuggling him as planned, but glad that they share pictures and stories of what he’s up to.  I know with them living in Wichita, it will be harder to see him as much as we would like, but I am thankful today for technology allowing us to be updated easily. I think FaceTime will be a very beneficial app in our near future.  

Church was cancelled, meaning we had 2 full days with no place to go.  Seems almost unheard of around here.  School was already been cancelled for Monday due to wind chills and possible bad roads.  I’m thankful for them taking these precautions.  Sometimes I wonder how much thought is actually given to the bussing when they consider these things.  Driving a bus puts a lot of responsibility on the driver’s shoulders.  Yet we get no voice in whether or not we should be out there. I understand it, I truly do, but until you drive where I drive, experience the roads that I experience, and have to do that while also making sure kids are safe, and having zero authority on how those kids are dressed, or if they have coats (or even pants) on - it gets to be fairly stressful.  I’m glad I do not have to worry about that tomorrow. 

Reason 100473 I hate the cold.  Frozen animal water. Messes in the house from the defrosting.  Chores taking longer due to having to change out water and bed things down. All of it unnecessary if the weather would just stay nice.  But I still would choose this over another life.  I love my little “farm,” my collection of critters, the chores, reason to go outside, the work, the responsibility, the knowledge that we have taught our kids how to work, and where their food comes from (unless you are Saige - since she lives on carbs), and the idea that we are at least partially capable of producing our own food. Plus goats and chickens are better neighbors than people.  

Is anything cuter than baby overalls?  

I used peanut butter and bacon grease to make some bird seed cakes. The birds were very impressed with my culinary skills.  I enjoy watching them, and it makes me happy to see so many different kids of birds coming up to get a snack. 

Today I am being mindful and thankful for time.  During the week, and even sometimes on weekends, our days are regimented and scheduled out and time is something we manage more than enjoy.  I never cook breakfast during the week.  Ever.  Sounds awful but I already get up early and leave the house around 6:00 am - and I am by nature not a very good morning person - getting up even earlier to cook is just not in the cards.  I do keep a variety of oatmeal, granola, cereal, and other breakfast foods around.  There is almost always fruit in the refrigerator. I tend to make a lot of breakfast burritos and egg cups and freeze them so if you want a hot breakfast, a microwaved one is easy enough.  Nobody goes hungry, unless you want to.  But I do love breakfast foods. And sometimes, just because we have the time, I cook up a big old fashioned breakfast.  Today was one such day.  We slept in a little, took care of animals, and I cooked.  By the time we ate, it was more like a brunch, but I enjoyed eating and visiting with the girls a little bit.  It’s nice to have some time to just hang out, have a meal, talk a little bit and remember that these days will go by too fast. 

Colin and Spencer said they spent 45 seconds to take snow photos of Easton in his first snowstorm. That kid is going to be an outdoor boy I bet.  

Thanks to my neighbor boy, we can no longer say we are snowed in.  Although I might pretend I am if the bus boss calls.  Thank you Brandon.  

Last week I purchased a couple of Flemish giants. I wanted to switch to a meat breed, but one that is gentle and that the girls could show.  The more I look at these the more I am convinced that they aren’t Flemish giants.  They are cute though.  I might try breeding them just to see what we get.  I think they might be mutts.  They were very cheap (one was free).  

One thing I love about the goats - they don’t seem too affected by the weather.  They just eat and want attention no matter what is going on.  They are happy if they have a dry spot to lay and feed in their pen.  We should all be so content.