Now that we are older....

Our lives (Jim's and Mine) are getting a little bit weirder.  We have only 2 kids living at home now.  The 2 we have are incredibly helpful, incredibly smart and self sufficient, and also, they dislike leaving the house unless it is necessary - like for school.  They aren't really into sports, don't really have any desire to be in activities at school, could care less about going into town once they get home for the day from school.  They are both in 4-H and band, and that is about the extent.  We have gone from having multiple children involved in everything, to having just 2 kids who are basic homebodies.  Which means, I have to continually entertain myself.  Saturdays in a wrestling gym are replaced with home projects and working at the liquor store.  Basketball tournaments have been replaced with garden centers.  Leading children into runs for chickens and baby pigs and auctions - replaced with oh wait, I am actually still doing that.  :)  We have gone from the boys and Quincy being Jim's right hand men, to Hope being Jim's right hand (wo)man.  So when Jim came home last night, and the entire county was on fire, he was excited about getting out there to burn some piles he has made.  I tagged along, as I don't trust him to be lighting fires without supervision!  The girls agreed to cleaning the kitchen, and putting away our Chewey delivery.  Jim, the dogs and I were off to the land of fire.  

Another sunset filled with smoke and wispy clouds, interesting colors and breathtaking beauty.  The dot in the sky is the very tiny sliver of the crescent moon.  I took a little break while Jim was spraying out our fire with his new handy, dandy spray rig, and took the dogs on a drive.  The dogs are so funny.  Carlos and Blitz - LOVE to ride.  Ollie, tolerates it, but definitely wants to be where you are.  Maude - she curled up and took a nap on the back seat!  She'll get there someday!  :)  

Side note - when I broke my shoulder last fall, I had some bulbs that I wanted to plant.  Mallory came out and helped me - which I really appreciated.  I appreciate it even more now, as my yard is filled with beauty!  Thanks Mallory!  

Ok back to the point - the dogs and I helping Jim.  We took the puppy, not thinking she would be in danger, however, as we lit the pile, Maude crawled into the pile under the branches.  Crazy dog!  Luckily, she loves Jim and came running when he told her to!  We have to take her with us, as every day's goal is to wear her butt down!  Too much energy!  Blitz absolutely hates her little sissy.  Ollie is infatuated.  Carlos is coming around.  I even saw them playing together multiple times yesterday.  Blitz is getting old, and I am noticing she doesn't hear as well as she used to, which I think causes her some problems.  She is sort of a grumpy dog nowadays.  

My husband is a pyro.  I guess everyone needs a hobby right?  :) 

The girls are enjoying the warmer weather.  I cut both of their hair.  I can't help but notice how big Wrenley looks now.  It is just too fast!  

I may not have as many places to run for my kids, but I see many activities to run to in our future!  This one in particular is going to need to be kept busy!  

The peach trees are starting to grow leaves and little branches.  I am so exited about it.  Fingers crossed some day we will have some peaches!

Also new - I am attempting to plant bushes in the raised beds.  These are blackberries.  I have blueberry and raspberry bushes started in Preston's room, but I feel like it is still too cold out to put them outside yet.  I did plant more strawberry roots this week as well.  Fingers crossed that someday I will be successfully getting lots of berries for jellies and afternoons of snacking while floating in the pool!

I am not ready to just sit in a rocker yet....projects and weirdness it is!

 

weekend things

We had a pretty good weekend around here  Got to see some of the kids, got to relax a little bit, got a lot of puppy snuggle time, and a little bit of grandkid snuggle time in.  You know, happy stuff.  I also worked at the liquor store, helped Jim work on moving dirt into raised beds, fertilized the strawberries and prepared soil for my "berry patch" that I am planning.  The only mistake we made, was taking a small break, and then it started raining, so we didn't quite get finished.  That's ok though, we got a lot done!  

On Sunday, it was noticeably cooler, and cooler weather makes me not want to work quite as much outside.  We smoked some ribs, cleaned the house, did some laundry baked Saige's cookies for her class bake sale, and hung out with the grandkids.  Mallory and I decided that Wrenley, Evie and Saige would probably eat hot dogs better than they would ribs, and Mallory agreed to pick some up for me to save me a trip to town.  She got to our house and realized she forgot them.  She took Blitz on a ride to retrieve the hotdogs (save the day for some little girls), and Blitz was so happy about it!  That dog will literally load up and go anywhere you want to take her.  She loves to go!  

Wrenley loves Maude.  Maude loves Wrenley's stuff.  She wants to chew up her babies, her sippy cups, her shoes, her extra diapers, her legs.....Wrenley doesn't seem to care, but she really, really wants the dog to be covered under the blanket we have in the kennel.  It is a funny little show that amused me for quite a while.  

Maude did end up getting sort of snippy with Wrenley, not in a bad way, but a playful way, but we had to put a stop to it before someone got hurt.  Maude got to hang outside with Olive, Daisy Paige and Ollie.  She didn't seem to care.  

Cameron came down for Sunday dinner, and told me he was not really that impressed with his "new baby sister," however, I did see him taking photos of the baby a couple of different times, so I think he secretly loves her!  Cameron was making me laugh with his new found friends, a group of nuns at the church he has become active in.  At least if he is hanging out with nuns, he won't be getting in trouble right?   Interestingly, when I was pregnant with Cameron, before we even know if he was a boy, I had a dream that he would grow up to be a priest - Father Cameron.  He doesn't really seem to think that is going to happen, but.....

And as per my usual, weekend left me, work reclaimed me, and I am sad about it.  I am happy that this week is not quite as insanity filled as last one was!  I am happy Jim is back, happy that we got some of the to do list done, and that we have a few evenings free this week to finish some things!  

Happy to see April! 

 

Inspiration

 

Colin and Spencer have worked so hard on their downstairs bathroom.  I love what they have done.  I also love that they send me photos of the progress that they have made.  Seriously, I love the tile choices, and that they have worked together to make it happen.  I started thinking, I should redo the basement bathroom.  The one that the dog had puppies in, and then when the puppies got big enough to run around, I shut the door.  Blitz apparently panicked, ripped up the wall and the flooring trying to escape.  We patched it, but did not do a good job of it.  The floor looks terrible.  Also, we put in a new toilet, and Jim's "plumbing skills" got the best of him, and there had to be a few more patches done as  a result.  During the pandemic, I mixed together some old paint and used it to paint the walls, and let's just say, it is hideous.  So now, after seeing how nice a bathroom can look, I feel inspired.  But I am also lazy.  I don't want to learn to do tile work, and I am not redoing anything for resale value like Colin and Spencer are currently trying to do.  Which made me think.....I should do a fun color with a fun theme down there.  Yes....that is exactly what I should do.  But what?  

And then it hit me....pooping puppies in a bathroom that is barely used, hardly ever seen by anyone outside of the family.  That would be hilarious.  I got my first piece of decor.  I love good inspiration, and fun themes.  And projects - I love projects!

We turned the babies out with their moms this week.  They seem to approve of having more space for rambunctious running and jumping!  They are adorable!  Of course, Betty is not impressed, she was head butting them and acting like a fool.  Their moms will straighten her out.  :)  

Madison's crew was sick this week.  Sorry about it, but happy they are getting better!  

Andrew was home sick and was going to keep the girls home, but when Madison started to leave, Wrenley wasn't having it.  Being a bus rider is her job.  :)  

I took my friend to surgery this week.  Adreinne and I have been friends since we were 4 years old.  We I do not remember a time when she wasn't front and center in my business.  Although she had surgery, we also had plenty of time for catching up and visiting, a novelty we don't get often.  She came through her surgery ok, and is recovering at home now.  Lifelong friends are the best.  Of course, you can never break up with them, they know too much!  

The weekend is looking like a jumbled mess, but at least the scenery is different!  Jim made it home from his water conference.  I am happy he is back, more drivers needed around here!  :)  

League band for Saige and Clayton

 

Santa Fe was the host for league band this year.  League band is pretty cool.  They get together with all the other bands in the league - they work together on several pieces (that the band directors have selected before hand and started working on).  Then they come together and perform a concert.  There were 290 kids who performed together yesterday.  Since Jim is in Wichita for a water conference this week, I did some video, but in order to save them here, they have to be short clips.  They did a cute piece called "Clarinets pack up early" where after each verse, the clarinet players took off part of their instrument and put it in their case, by the end they were just playing their mouth pieces - it was so cute!  Saige is hard to see after they combined the bands - but if you squint you can probably find her!  

They had a guest band director, who was a petty cool guy and seemed to really get the kids motivated to play together.  It was impressive to get this number of kids to come together and sound so good after only one afternoon!  Once again, I am blown away by our band program.  I am thankful to our district for continually keeping the program alive, and to our directors, Mr. Quilling and Mrs. Rice for making band so successful here.  It makes the nerd in me smile!

I attempted a panoramic photo to get an image of how many kids were playing.  My photographic skills are lacking, but you get the picture.  I also took some photos of my nephew, Clayton, but since he plays trombone, and was in the back, it was sort of hard.  My cousin's kids Jaden and Lily also played last night.  It was a fun night.  

When we got finished with the band concert, I came home to find Mallory running Maude for me.  Literally running her around the yard.  Playing fetch and chasing her.  She was a tired girl!  Which was good, because Mallory has to serve breakfast to the Kansas Teachers of the year this week.  I volunteered to make breakfast burritos for them.  I then decided I would make burritos for the entire staff at her school.  That meant 50 burritos - and then I found out that they are actually doing breakfast in Scranton, so I decided to make breakfast for that building as well, so make that 75 breakfast burritos!  Now, I have eggs coming out my ears, so this was not as expensive as it sounds, however, Preston was home over the weekend and he loves eggs so I sent some back with him.  Let's just say we are waiting to gather today's eggs to finish this project.  I believe we need to make about 15 or 20 more.  We are about finished though!  With Mallory's help, I even had the kitchen cleaned up and sat down to watch the 10 pm news!  

I love cooking and feeding people.  I am happy to help out, but that being said....when I volunteered to doing this little breakfast project, I did not realize this was the week Jim is out of town.  I did not realize how many other things we had going on either.  This week is insane!  Oh well, no rest for the wicked I am told.  

Saige and I did take 30 seconds on our way home to take photos of the sunset.  I love how the smoke hanging over the horizon traps the colors of the setting sun.  One of my blade men was in my office this morning.  They had been out fighting those fires as one got out of control, and he was telling me he came very close to not being ok today.  I am thankful for the people who volunteer on our fire department, and will hope and pray for their safety -especially during the burn season.  

She done

Sadly, spring break is over.  It was a wild, crazy week of I can’t even remember what.  I always love having the kids home, and Harper and Saige helped me with quite a few projects.  Also, I was able to see all our kids this week - not all together, but seeing each one is almost as good.  I enjoyed seeing everyone.  I am so proud of them all.  Seriously not even because I’m just a bragger mom.  They truly are growing up to be such good people. Working hard, making good choices (mostly) and I truly feel blessed.  

This little dog made some new friends today.  Wrenley absolutely loves the pup!  She had so much fun dragging the dog’s blanket and watching Maude chase her around and around the house!   

They also played outside together.  It was sweet and funny.  Also, hilariously, Mallory was highly insulted because she had been trying to get Wrenley to say “Mal” for weeks now.  Wrenley won’t say it but she did say “Maude” today!  Haha Aunt Mal!  

Jim and I made Maude walk all the way down the driveway and back tonight.  Goal - neither of us spending the night rocking a dog.  It seems like it worked as she went right into her kennel, gulped down her food, and fell over, sound asleep.  Fingers crossed she has a good night. 

Evie was excited about the flashlight that she got at the discovery center. It has little attachments and flashes cool shadows onto the wall.  She had a great break, including getting to go to Disney on Ice with grandma Rachel.  

I am sorry my “sleeping in” week is over, but also I know how fast the last quarter of school always goes by.  It will be summer before we know what hit!   Preston got an internship and will be spending the simmer in Tulsa.  I guess I know what city we will be looking for things to do at!   Summer is shaping up to be awesome and I’m here for it!