All the things (in reverse order)

Today, we (happily) ran to Wichita to move  Quincy home 

For the summer.  I’m excited to have her back for a few weeks - I have really missed her!   She is planning some summer adventures, has a couple jobs lined up, and will keep us all entertained.  I asked Cameron if he missed move out day - he said well sort of.  Since he is a dorm professional, we asked him to come along and help.  Honestly, easiest move out ever.   Quincy had everything she could pack in her car already loaded, had the big stuff she needed our car for in a cart.  We rolled it out while Jim found a front row spot.  We were done in less than 15 minutes!  She is not sad to be leaving dorm life behind.  She is sad about leaving her friends though.  She has an apartment rented for next semester, and will be back at it soon!  I can’t tell if she liked or disliked Cameron’s “move out music” that he blasted as he pushed her stuff down.  

After we got loaded, we met Colin and Spencer for lunch.  Colin was excited to take us to this cool restaurant that is beside an airport.  You can sit on their patio area and watch the planes fly in and out.  The food was really good, and we all enjoyed it there.  It was a beautiful day so sitting out on the patio was amazing.  I’d go back. It was fun! 

Harper and Saige decided to stay home and do a few projects they have been working on.  Oh and Harper has been using Quincy room as an “overflow” space, so she had to clean that mess up before Quincy got here!  

Madison sent me these cute photos of the girls going to the park.  

Friday night, the girls had their year-end band concert.  It is the whole school concert.  The band boosters served dinner.   Every band from 5th grade through high school and the jazz band performed.  

Our band program is amazing.  It is really cool to visibly be able to see the progress from 5th grade playing simple nursery rhyme type songs all the way through to the jazz band, which truly sounds amazing and the high school concert band, which is fantastic.  The downfall - the night is really, really long.  As in we started cooking hotdogs and wrapping them at 4 - I got there at 5.  Kids start arriving (and eating) at 5:15. Concert ended at 8:45.  By the time the band boosters got everything cleaned from the dinner and put away, I got home a few minutes before 10.  As I said, long evening.   

Also- Quilling the most amazing band teacher ever - has resigned. He is going to work for the Topeka fire department.  And whereas I support people chasing their dreams, this one hurts.   A lot.  He has been here 18 years.  His first year here was Mallory and Madison’s first year of band.  He was a baby.  First job after college.  We were immediately impressed with his kindness, and his excitement over growing a program.  And he has.  There are 118 kids in the high school band. For reference sake, there are roughly 320 kids in the school.  So roughly 1/3 of the kids are in band.  Who has ever heard of that?  He turns no one away.  If your mom can’t afford an instrument, he has managed to get several donated. He will “give ya a loaner.”   He said he never wants money to be a reason a kid cannot achieve a music education.  But not only the fact that he will make sure every kid has an opportunity - he also makes sure they have a place in his program.  They fit.  It gives them a Place to be.  The strange kids?  Fit.  The athletic kids - fit.  The overachievers?  He challenges them to jazz band.  It is truly remarkable to see him know and love every single kid.   I actually cried last night and I doubt that will be the last tears I shed over it.  As I said- happy for him - sad for us. Not to say that the assistant who is taking over won’t be amazing. She totally will. But there’s just something about Quilling.  

I did not get any good photos.  I took a few videos, but they are weird and hard to hear.  Harper and Saige (and Clayton) did great!  They make me proud.  

Time to move on from Easter, and get ready for summer.  I might be enjoying this a little bit too much!  I even got Skully some socks.  I can't wait to see Evie's face!

My roses ae blooming!  We need to do some weeding, but I am thrilled that my clearance sale roses are back, blooming and alive!  

While we were in Wichita, Mallory dogsat for Maude - she was doing a bunch of outside work, and she said Maude could hang with Daisy and Olive.  When we got home, Maude was so happy to see us -- but she was also exhausted!  Mallory must have worked her pretty hard!

We weren't in Wichita very long, but I was so happy to get to see some of the kids and spend some time with them!  When we got home, I told Jim I was planning to mow the yard, and work on the garden.  He said he was also planning to start in on some yard work.  Cameron volunteered to help.  I think when you live in an apartment, you start to miss doing outside work.  Cameron got the back yard mowed, helped Jim and I fill the extended strawberry raised bed with dirt, and we all took turns mowing the side yard (which takes a bit).  I thought I had done a good job picking up the sticks, but as we started mowing and the grass was shorter, I discovered I missed a lot!  I am happy we got so much stuff done though.  It always feels better to me when the lawn looks pretty!  Now all we need is more gas so we can finish it!  I was also happy that they were able to get my tiny tiller running, and we got some of the weeds tilled out of the garden, which is starting to grow, and Jim got the snow fence erected to keep the wild rabbits from having another feast in there!  I hope it works! 

 

A few words

 Since she announced it on fb, I am just going to throw a few words out about this girl.  When she was 7 years old, we read the Little House on the Prairie series.  She became obsessed with 2 things - pioneers, and becoming a teacher.   The part where she wanted to be a pioneer quickly died when we spent a week without power during an ice storm, however the determination to become a teacher never left.  She wanted to teach.  There was no question about college choices for her.  There was not any hesitancy about majors.  There was no pauses or questioning of whether she should change majors.  She wanted to be a teacher.  And when she graduated, there was no hesitancy about teaching in her home town.  She interviewed and landed her dream job.  When that school told her she should get her Master's degree, also no hesitancy.  Jump in and do all the things.  

And she is a good teacher.  Actually, she is a great teacher.  I cannot tell you how many people have stopped me to tell me how wonderful she was with their kids.  I cannot tell you how proud I have been of her.  She has been teaching for 7 years.  Never a doubt in my mind that she was fufilling her calling. 

Until this year.  This year has been rough.  Not for the reasons that you would think.  These teachers - 

they put up with parents who think they know more about educating than you do, despite them having no formal education.

They put up with behavior issues

and attitude problems.

They are handed kids who have severe medical issues.  Allergies to nuts, milk, wheat.  And if you 'forget' they could die.  And it is your job to make sure nobody else in the school forgets either.  

They figure out how to afford projects and make sure special things are done with the kids.  They take money out of their own pockets to buy things for the kids, for their classrooms, for snack times.  They will literally do anything and everything to make sure kids have a chance at success.  And I have seen it.

I have also seen the tears.  The disappointments.  The worry about a kid who was removed from their house.  The stress of wondering what will happen to them.  The love.  

I have seen the tears from being yelled at by a parent, and an equal amount of confusion after that same parent requested you the next year for child #2?  And I am only looking from the outside.

But this year.  This year, I have seen my daughter, who has always wanted to be teacher cry tears of anger over decisions made by the district.  Tears of sadness over being told to "do less."  Tears of frustration over the way  the administration chose to conduct themselves.  And I watched her lose her heart for teaching.  They were beating her down.  I was angry, but I understood clearly what was happening, and stood powerless to help.  I was also angry.  Nobody gets to suck the life out of my kid's dream.  

But then, an opening at a private school in Topeka.  An opening at a school where we personally know the principal.  He invited her to come for a special night they were having.  And she stopped by here afterwards to tell me that "this is what school should be."  Creativity - allowed and embraced.  Science - encouraged and believed in.  Math and Reading - of course!  Hands on acivies - expected.  And she was back.  Excited about teaching again.  Wanting to do more for kids again.  Believing in possibilities again.  And for that I am extremely thankful.  I don't know what will happen at her new job next year, but it cannot possibly be bad if it puts the spark back in her eyes as I have seen this week!  I am proud of you, Mallory, for stepping out of your comfort zone.  For undersatnding that sometimes in order to grow, we have to let go of the past and that dreams can change a little bit.  I am praying this will be a wonderful experience for you!  

Weighed and tagged

 4-H goats are all weighed and tagged. 

We had to stop off for a new collar - it always makes me laugh to take goats to dollar general.  

Harper’s goat weighed 33 pounds. 

Saige’s weighed 40 

Wrenley’s (which we are using as a back up) weighed 30.  

Happy to have that little thing taken care of.  

Some anniversaries are not good ones

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of losing my grandma.  She has been gone for 14 years now.  It is surreal to think of how many birthdays, ballgames, anniversaries, graduations, baptisms, births, deaths, and basic life events she has missed.  I miss her every single day.  She was the person we all looked to for advice, for guidance, for party planning, the one who was always in the stands watching, cheering for you (possibly in an aggressive, competitive manner).  The one who wanted to spend her own birthday going to a Royal's game, and taking everyone along.  The one who drug us to horse races, fishing, swimming, taught us to can foods, garden, work hard/play hard.  The one who taught us that if you win, you have to earn it.  Who regularly made wagers with us, and expected you to pay up if you lost.  Who played cards for blood.  Who could whip up a huge meal and feed everyone like it was a zero effort thing.  Who baked the best pies.  And helped to raise all of us.  Lying was not accepted, cheating was definitely not accepted, being lazy - occasionally accepted if it was only for a few moments.  She was always teaching, always working, and I don't remember a time when she wasn't involved in some project, including projects at all of our houses.  You were painting?  She was there with her brushes.  You wanted to tear out a bunch of bushes?  She was there with her new electric chainsaw.  Needed a babysitter?  She would do it.  You just can't imagine how intertwined someone is in your life until they are gone. I wish I could call her up, ask her for advice, take her the kids ball schedules, or look up and see her at my table again.     The hole can never be filled.  I hope someday, by the grace of God, I can see her again.  

What I need...

Would it be too much to ask that weekends were more evenly split with weekdays?  A week has 7 days in it right?  So shouldn't a weekend be half of those days?  Or maybe a 3/4 split?  People need more time to relax.  More time to hang out.  I need more time in my weekend.  Yes, I.  It is completely about me.  (rant over, but seriously).

We had a good weekend.  I had to work on Saturday, but it was an easy shift, and I came home to Jim having gotten a lot of things done in the yard.  When I got home, Jim told me that Andrew and Madison were camping with the girls at the county lake, and they "needed" him to come out there and bring them firewood, and fishing bait.  He was also going to 'help' them with their fishing. 

I was actually happy about this, as we seem to have accumulated quite a lot of bait type things in my freezer, which I was happy to see leaving!  :)  Jim did ask if I wanted to go along.  So I asked a very important question - "how long will you be fishing?" because I would love to go see the grandkids and see their campsite for an hour, or possibly an hour and a half, but I know my husband and son in law.  They don't make small fishing trips.  He smiled, and said he thought he would be home by dark.  Sooooo 5ish hours?  I opted to stay home! 

I got a few things done in the garden.  I ran Maude around the yard trying to get her calm.  After a while of being outside, I started to realize that we had a goat who was crying.  Goats often call out and make a lot of noise if they can see you, but they were not all screaming, they were content.  So having one cry over and over usually indicates a problem (most likely they have stuck their head through a fence and gotten horns stuck).  I went hunting for the little noise maker.  I found him - baby goat had stuck his head inside a plastic chicken waterer, and had himself in a predicament.  Good news, with that plastic bucket over his head, I had zero trouble catching him!  :)  

Having Jim out fishing, the girls and I made dinner and then I sat down to watch some tv.  I have a list of stuff that I intend to watch "someday" and was thinking I would knock something off my list.  Instead, I was awakened by Jim coming through the front door, a couple hours missing and no shows crossed off of my list!  

Yesterday, the girls and I attended mass and then ran to town to get some goat food and Saige wanted to use some of her money to get some new earrings.  We weren't in town very long, and had to come home to clean the house and get going on laundry.  Andrew helped Jim get the parts on the lawnmower, and get the cover off of the pool.  

We had fun entertaining the feral child - she is a complete nut!  At one point, I had her out on the swing set.  She was climbing up and sliding.  She hears Andrew start some power tool, and off she ran.  Nobody gets to run power tools without her!

She also rode her "pony" and at one point was seen biting the pony on the butt!  She also walked up to Poppy, as he was watching videos with Evie, and bit him on the toe! 

And she insisted on sitting in the big girl chair, and eating with Skully!

Never a dull moment if Wren is around!

Of course, as we were cleaning up after dinner, I came into the living room to see this one standing on the table, singing and dancing.  I came in to tell her the tv was too loud, only to see that Poppy was controlling the remote.  Maybe I should just say never a dull moment - not just from Wrenley!

Andrew and Jim did get the parts on the mower, and got it running.  Unfortunately, we have a flat tire, so the mowing still didn't happen, but that is an easier fix!  Jim did do some push mowing around the house and barn, as he knows I like to keep the high traffic areas cut so we can see if there are little "friends" in the yard before they bite us!   They also got the cover off of the pool, but not without an incident where Jim fell off the pool deck.  Scary moment, but he seems to be ok, thankfully.  The water in the pool is going to need a bit of work, but not as bad as last year!  I am hoping to get the filtration hooked back up in time to catch the rain that is supposed to hit later this week.  No sense buying water, if you can catch some for free!  :) 

I am so thankful for family time, time at home, green grass, warm temperatures, sunshine, garden projects and peace.  Which is probably why I want longer weekends.  My happy place will always be at home. 

 

Field day

Today was Evelyn and Mallory’s field day.  When I got up this morning, it was not cold.  I did chores with the girls in a short sleeve shirt.  I left on the bus and it was sprinkling but not cold.  I was a driver for the field day, along with Madison and GG.  I stopped off for fuel before I picked the up the kids.  I was freezing!  The wind kicked up and it was cloudy.  That is the way it stayed all morning!   It didn’t seem to affect the kids at all! 

I had a great time hanging out with my mom, Madison, and Wrenley, watching Evie.   I can’t believe she is almost finished with kindergarten.  Time goes too fast!