Mother's Day Weekend

 This weekend, we tried to catch up, see all the kids, and rest.  Resting didn't happen, catching up is on the solid side of "meh" - but we did get to see all of the kids/grandkids!  Overall, good weekend!

Last weekend, Cameron ran a 5K.  He didn't die from it, so this weekend, he decided to run a 10K.  I am not sure what plans he has for next weekend....half marathon perhaps?  

We did finally get to meet his girlfriend, Tatum.  We liked her instantly, she is very sweet, and she seems to match up with Cameron's insanity.  What's not to like?  :)  I hope after spending Mother's Day with us, she is still talking to him!  

All of the kids came down for Mother's Day.  Best gift I can ever get is a day with all these people!  

And except for the part where Spencer got hurt, it was a great day.  Sorry about your knee, Spencer....I hope it heals up quick!

We hadn't seen our little buddy in a while.  He has grown so much!  He is the happiest little baby.  He looks to me like his mom, but he has the happy, sweet personality that I remember from when Colin was a baby!  (Spencer may have also been a sweet baby, but I didn't know her then).  

My grandkids are the sweetest things ever!

This weekend Saige had her 8th grade field trip to World's of Fun.  She got a good lesson on economics there....how much did the ticket cost vrs how many rides did she go on vrs how much did she stand in line?  AND mom gave me $40 to eat lunch and dinner, plus get snacks and drinks - and the chicken strip lunch is $20....what am I going to do to balance that out?  She said she had a great time, and she was exhausted when she got back.  

We had to drop her at her bus at 8:30 in the morning.  I stupidly thought if I went straight to town when it was still early, I could have the town to myself.  You know, people like to sleep in, and nowhere would be busy.  I forced Jim to get up early, so we could go manhandle Sam's club before the crowds.  Have I mentioned that not all of my ideas are good?  We did get everything that we needed for this weekend and Saige's graduation party, but geeezzzz there is NEVER a time when Sam's club is not packed, particularly on Saturday!  The good news is that I got a bucket of chlorine before they run out for the season, and so maybe I can have my alone time while I float in the pool, surrounded by zero people.  (I mean in theory, my ideas and goals of staying away from the general public are good....just never happen the way I envision). 

  

I worked in the garden while Jim worked on removing some tree stumps to make it easier to mow.  Harper cleaned the house.  We got a lot done, but this time of year it is just relentless.  I will be happy when the garden is in, and when I get the pool opened.  I love the outdoor work, but wish we had more free days to really tackle stuff.  

Harper and I did finally break down and dig around in the nest box.  We have had a really hard time getting rabbits to raise their kits.  This litter looks awesome, 6 babies!  One is a blue, which thrilled me!  I hope we can manage one more round of breeding this spring (diffrent moms) and maybe have a few things for the girls to show.  These babies are 2 weeks old, and they haven't been handled, we must start that process, because they are wild little things!  But so cute.  I just love babies!

We are headed into Saige's last week of gradeschool.  Time just never slows down.  I was sitting in a room with my family, and I just can't get over how blessed my life is.  Happy Mother's day!  

Concerts and catchin up

Wow!  That weekend went by too fast!  We had a great one, but it was just a whirlwind! 

Friday evening, the girls had their year end - all school- band-a-poolaza. 

They have each band preform, starting with grade 5 beginning band, and go all the way through the high school bands.  While it is neat to have a physical demonstration of how the kids progress from beginning band, to being actually amazing and playing great music together....this concert is long!  So long that I just have a hard time enjoying it.  But I do love listening to the bands, and I do love my girls! I know how hard they work to keep up with band stuff.  And both of their bands sounded amazing! 

They thought it was hilarious to pose in front of the school van when i told them I wanted a picture of them.  Dorks!  

Friday, Uncle Cam Cam had the day off, so he went to Wichita and hung out with Colin and Spencer and baby Dale.  Apparently, Dale is either a very good fisherman, or a very heavy sleeper.  (I cannot believe they threw a fish on top of a sleeping child).  

More to come.  Stay tuned!

 

Cinco de Mayo

Sometimes, a person makes a big impact on your life, and when they are no longer with you, it leaves a hole that can never be filled in.  My grandma passed away 15 years ago today, and that hole is just there.  It never goes away.  I miss my grandma.  I still pick up the phone to call and ask her questions.  I still start to make copies of ball schedules for her.  I don't think I will ever not miss her.  I wish she could know my grandkids.  She would be tickled at the ornery antics of Wrenley, amazed at the intelligence of Evelyn, and awed by the sweet chunk of Easton.  She would be amused like the rest of us at Lawson's funny sayings.  I wish Saige and Harper had memories of her.  I wish I could get information from her brain on how to do stuff, or have one more slice of her chocolate pie.  I hope I see her again someday.  

In the meantime, I am growing strawberries, because they will forever remind me of her.  Did I get a huge crop?  Negative, but I kept he plants alive, and Quincy and I had enough to have a little snack after lunch yesterday!  More may still come on...I am hoping to make a batch of jelly.  Actually, I just want a bowl of strawberry jelly foam on toast.  :)  

Impossible to tell what this is a photo of, but on the bus yesterday, a bald eagle flew in front of me.  He then stayed on the road in front of the bus for quite a while before landing in a tree beside the road.  I tried to take a picture - which is the black lump.  It should have been a good photo, but I inherited my photography skills from my grandma!  If you know....you know!  

The kids on my bus like to listen to the radio.  There is a song out right now - by Hardy, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen and Tim McGraw - I hear it almost every day "When you pass on, what you gonna pass down?"  Sort of makes you think - or maybe I have too much time in the driver's seat in the middle of nowhere.  Thank you grandma, for passing down the family values, simple ideas, canning and gardening knowledge, and the love.  I miss you more than words could ever say.

 

Weekend of something

Ever have one of those weekends that were packed with so much to do that you almost dreaded it?  A Saturday packed full and almost more than you can do in a day?  That was what we had this week.  Sure, some of it was fun and some was even enjoyable but there was just so much. 

Unfortunately I didn’t get to go snuggle a cute little baby.  That makes me sad!

We did have to clean the church, our last weekend to cover that for now!

We had a Mother’s Day/women’s appreciation breakfast for Evelyn’s class.  They served pancakes and sang a song. It was very nice. 

We attended a memorial service for my mom’s brother.  He passed away a couple months ago.  My uncle Marc was not a person who I saw a whole lot in my adult life.  Our relationship mostly consisted of chatting on messenger about politics.  I do feel bad for his wife and my cousins. And my mom who has had enough loss.  I miss the political banter and his insight on how to look at things a bit differently.  

We had to leave the memorial service a bit early.  Harper wanted to attend a birthday party for a friend of hers.  Harper rarely asks to go anywhere.  I was happy to drop her off on my way to set up for Saige’s 8th grade party.  

Couple of things about this party.  First - I find it odd that the school wants this party done, they basically beg for parents to host it and then they make sure we understand it isn’t hosted by the school, they are not responsible, and there is no money for it.  But also, they are going to micromanage it and basically tell you how to run it.  And 2- with the exception of Quincy, whose 8th grade party was cancelled by Covid, I have hosted this party for all the kids.  And every single time I leave there thankful for my own kids.   And 3- we are 10 school days away from having all our kids out of grade school.  I feel like I should be sad about this.  I am not.  I am not sad.  Thinking of this being my last 8th grade party to host made me almost giddy with happiness.  Is it horrible?  No.  It isn't.  It was a nice party, and a lot of kids showed up and had fun.  But....I just cannot contain my disappointment in certain things. For example - there are 76 kids in this class.  Eight parents volunteered to help.  8!  A couple others expressed their opinions on how we should do things, but when it was all said and done they were nowhere to be found.  Some did donate food/drinks, which helps, but I always flash back to "many hands making light work" and the disappointment gets me every time.  And what if nobody did it?  There would be a huge bunch of people whining about that as well.  About how bad the parents of this group of kids has.  But the 8 of us got it set up, nobody got hurt, nobody got in trouble, and most importantly, nobody got pregnant during the party, and we left the school as clean or cleaner than we found it.  I guess it was a success.....and for me another crazy thing checked off of my to do list.  

Saige said she had fun, so that is a win.  

When it was over, I went home, dropped in a chair and wondered what I forgot to do!  Thankfully, Jim picked up Harper, so I believe we got it all done! 

Cameron sent me some photos from the 5K he ran on Saturday morning.  He did not place, but he did not have a heart attack, so that is a sort of win!  

On Sunday, after church, it was a race to get some stuff done before we lost the entire weekend.  We had a hot dog and ice cream sundae bar for Sunday lunch.  Jim started mowing while I used our new tiller to plant the plants I got at the plant sale a couple weeks ago!  Side note - Friday night, Jim and I ran to get groceries, and he talked me into buying a battery operated tiller.  Against my better judgement, I consented to it, figuring it wouldn't work very well, not enough power. However, since I broke my shoulder, and honestly even before that, I have a very hard time pull starting anything.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well this thing works.  Sure, you can only till for about 40 minutes before you have to recharge it, but who tills for longer than that at a time anyway?  It is light weight, easy to use, had quite a bit of power,  and best of all, I don't have to beg Jim to help me get it running!  Definite win!  

We got everything watered, got Saige to her ball practice, wormed goats, and turned our billy goat in with the does....hoping for fall babies!  

If you look close, you will see Saige's 4-H goat on top of their little house.  Wrenley was not  amused! 

 

We survived the crazy weekend, and the upcoming week isn't looking too much better on the scale of calm and free.  

Maybe next time!