projects

Well, this isn't a project, but he is cute and I do love him!  My little buddy is sick.  He has bronchitis.  He got put on breathing treatments.  They can't seem to catch a break!  Hoping he is feeling better quickly!  Love you little buddy!

This is a project that wasn't supposed to be a project.  Our neighbor who owns/farms the ground to the east of us decided he should put the terraces back in the field.  One of the terraces was sitting on the property line.  He asked if we would be ok if they tore down some of the trees, as well as the fence (which is in terrible shape) in order to get the terrace back in place.  We said sure.  Then he asked if we wanted the track hoe guy to clear some of the cedar trees on our property.  Since he was paying the move in fee, it would be fairly cheap.  We agreed.  Mistake.  He did not clear half of what he said he could do in the time allotted.  And when he said "clear" he just basically meant knock over.  Now we have a path of stumps and junk that needs removal and cleaning/burning.  

And I know better.  I know that what I envisioned cannot be accomplished with a track hoe.  I do this for a living.  Oh well, I guess we needed something to do right?  

The good news is that I will be filled with time when we wean the bottle kids later this week.  Right?  

We have had a rough go with our rabbit project.  I have been changing their nutrition and learning more about feeding more grasses and greens and less pellets.  I believe it is working.  We had our first litter born that survived.  There are 6 of the cutest little bun buns.  We are cautiously optimistic that things are going to bet a little better now.  These babies happen to be mini Rex babies.  A breed we were looking to get out of.  But now, the girls are planning to show this batch this summer.  We are still working on getting some Flemish giants.  These can stay - they are easy keepers.  And they are cute! 

My broiler project.  They are officially to the gross phase of their lives.  They are growing well and we have a date with fate coming up in a couple weeks.  I am pouring the feed to them.  I would estimate they are between 4-5 pounds right now.  I would like them to be about 6- 7 pounds, which is doable I think.  Either way, I am ready for them to fill the freezer.  The poor things are just messy and dirty no matter how much I clean and put in new bedding.   

Also, when I bought the chicks, the hatchery had a couple of offers.  One was that they would give you a free pullet if you would agree to donating eggs to people occasionally (a feed America pledge).  The second was a free rooster.  I said yes to both.  I don't usually keep roosters.  Chickens lay just fine without them, and they seem to end up mean no matter how you handle them.  I refuse to have mean animals.  I am not going to have myself or my kids afraid to go into the barn!  I still said yes to the rooster, knowing they are easy to cull if needed.  This morning, I went down to take care of the babies.  I heard a crow.  But not a "teenage chicken" type crow.  I heard the crow of a bantam rooster!  And it cracks me up.  Such a wimpy little crow.  I do not know what I will do with a bantam rooster with my standard size chickens, but at this point, I am hoping he doesn't turn out mean, because I love his little wimpy noise!  Maybe he will be Harper's show chicken?  :)  

 

Saige's first game

Saige had her first game(s) last night.  All of her games are double headers.  Last night, they swept Lyndon.  Her team hasn't had very good luck with practices - their practice schedule was interrupted by storms, and holidays.  Luckily, most of these girls have been playing for a while and know the basics.  Saige is playing back at Overbrook this year, after a year off, and a few years of playing at Carbondale.  So she is new to this team.  They did a great job.  She played a little bit of second base, a little center filed, short stop and 3rd.  And you know me, I like a little summer evening at the ballpark, complete with a little concession stand food, and chatting with people.  Fun times! 

Good eye!  :)

Evie also had a game last night.  Wrenley got to do some dirt digging and concession stand eating as well!

Summer - so many things to love! 

 

Holiday weekend…..all over the place

This girl is basically back on her feet after surgery.  She’s going to try to move back home tomorrow.  I know she has her own space and her own stuff to do, but I have enjoyed having her around.  I am glad she is feeling better though.  

This family is adapting to Spencer being laid up a little bit.  They seem to be handling things ok.  Spencer says that the brace they put her in is heavy and dragging it around is tiring.  

Easton turned 5 months old.  5 months.  How crazy is that?   He is the happiest little guy and I just can’t get enough of him.  

Evelyn spent part of her first week of vacation traveling to a family reunion with grandma Rachel.  They went to New Orleans.  She seems like she had fun!  She got back this evening.  I can’t wait to hear her stories. Wrenley didn’t get to go on vacation, but she did get to go fishing with her dad, and then go fishing and out to dinner with her dad and poppy.  She caught a monster carp too!   

The garage swing is a hit.  I was told the carrots he had for dinner were not a hit!   

I enjoyed the extra day off.  I probably should have paused a little bit on Memorial Day to honor the people who earned this day for us, but I didn’t.   I did work my rump off though.  And so did Jim. I got a lot planted in the garden.  Jim and I built another raised bed.  I managed to do some work at the end of the driveway.  I forced mallory and Harper to leave the house and go to the farmers market in town.  And then I bought nothing.  But it was fun to go anyway. Saige spent the day at the city pool with a friend.  

 

Saige had ball practice yesterday.  I told Madison I would go water the fairground flowers since it is their week but I was already going to be there with time to kill.  When I planted the plants up there, they were not blooming yet.  I was shocked to find that one of the petunias is black!   I absolutely think it is the most beautiful petunia I have ever seen. I had purchased some flowers from the same sale and am sad that I didn’t end up with this one in my yard!  Next year I will pay more attention.  Heck I may even try digging it up at the end of the season - I could winter it in my office!  

Cameron and Tatum had a bbq and swam in her complex pool.  He made tiny grills out of brownie bites.  They turned out so cute!   Good job Cameron!  

Preston and Sunny flew in from Hawaii, packed up their cars and took off towards summer internships.  Preston is back in Tulsa for the summer.  Sunny is back in Springfield.  Preston stopped in for dinner and a haircut on his way.  It was great to see him for a few minutes.  

We had a fun weekend.  They always go by too fast.  Three day ones are no exception. This week is busy but fun. Roll on summer.  

Summer!!!

Yesterday, we finished up the 2025-26 school year.  And while I am sad to say time is flying by too fast, I would never be sad about the arrival of summer! 

And just like you’re supposed to, we spent our first summer evening at the ballpark.  Although, if I’m at the ballpark I would prefer not needing pants, warm socks and a coat!  

This girl got accepted to preschool for next year.  She is pretty excited!  To celebrate, she ate her weight in concessions!  She did share - although aunt Bubba didn’t seem overly excited about the wet, sort of dirty cotton candy! 

It was pretty cold.  Evelyn played well, but her team didn’t win.

She did get a couple of hits, but they were foul. 

Other updates- Preston and Sunny made it safely to Hawaii!  I can’t wait to hear more about their trip. 

Colin is teaching Easton that when storms roll in, you should watch from the garage like a good red blooded Kansan.  Spencer got rough news about her knee. She has a tibia plateau fracture.  Not the news we were hoping for.  Waiting to see if she will need surgery. 

Saige of course finished 8th grade.  And Harper finished her sophomore year.  It is weird how fast my babies grew up!  They both had good years despite a whole lot of drama from the school district as a whole.  It is sometimes  hard to stay positive.  The girls worked hard and kept their grades up.  They both make me very proud. 

Mallory had her gall bladder successfully removed.  She’s getting around pretty well, following doctor orders and working hard to feel better.   We are looking forward to having her back running correctly.   Jim is having a colonoscopy this morning, so she is being cared for by expert level nursing staff Harper.  

Evelyn finished first grade!  How in the world?   So fast.  

I finished my 10th year in bus world. As buses go, I had a lot of really good kids this year and it wasn’t a bad year at all!  Always happy to park it for a while though.  Keeping kids safe and super early mornings with regimented schedules need a break.  I am supposed to do some driving for the nursing home this summer. I guess we will see how that pans out. With the price of gas being what it is, I’m not sure how many activities they will want to do. 

For now, we are just planning to embrace each day as it comes and squeeze out some joy and family time where we can.